Empire Of Salt

by Weston Ochse

  Within moments, it was all over.

  The only thing left on the access road were the soldiers' bags and pools of blood.

  Natasha realized she'd been holding her breath and released it, then gasped again.

  One creature still remained. It stood in the bus's headlights, head cocked as if listening for something.

  Then she noticed the soldier huddled behind the bus. He looked terrified, his hands covering his face. Even from where she stood, she could tell he was shaking. Her heart went out to him. She desperately wanted him to escape.

  The creature approached the bus. Its wrinkled skin was mottled green, and black hair lay lank against a balding skull. The nails of its hand were long and malformed. It was bare-chested, but tattered and ruined pants covered its crotch down to its knees and it wore black boots.

  The soldier scooted to the left side of the bus and seemed about to peer around to see if anything was coming.

  The creature came around the same side and Natasha knew that if the soldier were to look, the creature would most certainly see him. She began to repeat to herself over and over: "Don't look. Don't Look. Don't look."

  As if he had heard her, the soldier backed away, glanced upward and saw a pair of handholds on the engine access panel. He pulled himself onto the roof of the bus, where he lay perfectly flat and still.

  The creature suddenly sprinted the length of the bus and rounded the corner to the back, but it stopped when it found nothing there. It cocked its head.

  The sound of an air horn tore through the night, and the creature turned and sprinted for the water. It dove awkwardly, without using its arms, and was soon lost beneath the tide.

  The soldier let himself down, grabbed his bag and headed towards the entrance to the quay. Sump pump #2 chose that moment to belch; both Natasha and the soldier jumped at the sound.

  The air horn cut through the night again, and the gate opened. A strange military vehicle with no windows and heavy armor exited. Two uniformed men came from the back and set about picking up the bags left behind and preparing the bus to tow it inside the fenced area.

  They found a soldier near the water's edge. He moved slightly as the uniformed men approached. But instead of being helped to his feet, one of the men put a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger.

  Natasha jerked her head back in surprise.

  When she looked again, the body had been removed and the vehicle was returning from whence it came.

  Natasha tried to find where the surviving soldier had gone, but she'd lost him when her attention had been drawn to the vehicle. If he was smart, he'd hide inside one of the abandoned trailers.

  But which one?

  She settled into her chair, drew her legs beneath her and sat staring at the night sky for a long time, staring into the night sky and listening for the creatures. The last thing she thought about before her dreams stole her away was what Veronica and Derrick would say when she told them what she'd seen.

  All her muscles hurt, burning beneath her skin. She wanted to sit up, to change position, but she didn't think she could even move. It took a moment for her to remember where she was: the creature, her flight, her destination.

  And Trudie.

  She looked at the unmoving dog in her arms. Her little tongue stuck out from her mouth, her eyes were mere slits, her chest didn't move, and the skin beneath her fur felt cold and hard.

  Abigail drew in a rattling breath and sobbed, whispering the dog's name. The worst of it was it was her fault.

  Her sobs caught in her throat as she felt a hand press against her head.

  Another hand reached for Trudie and pulled the dog free from her grasp.

  She had no choice but to let it go. She remained still, straining her ears to hear what was happening, and was shocked to hear the sound of a child making cat sounds to her dead dog.

  "Meow. Meow."

  As strange as it sounded, the tiny fake cat sounds soothed her for a time. So she listened.

  Natasha had been aching to leave all morning, but Auntie Lin had her and Derrick moving furniture and cleaning the inside of the trailer. Natasha had thought it clean, but it wasn't to Auntie Lin's standards, so the greater part of the morning was spent wiping down walls, baseboards and the floors.

  Derrick had known that something had happened; Natasha had tried several times to tell him, but it seemed like every time she'd been able to get a moment alone with him, Auntie Lin had popped into the room with yet another cleaning directive. Auntie Lin was probably Natasha's closest confidante, but she couldn't see herself telling the old woman about the creatures she'd witnessed the night before.

  She realized that she should be scared; and she was, a little bit. But more than scared, the prospect of the creatures excited her, for the first time since she'd left Pennsylvania. As morbid and terrible as it seemed, Natasha wanted to see these creatures again and find out what they were about.

  On a more sobering note, her father hadn't come home last night. Although she doubted something bad had happened, she wasn't about to leave Bombay Beach without him, no matter how troubled he was, no matter how terrible he was at being a father. The fact was that he was their father and the only parent they had. Natasha dreamed of a day when he'd come to terms with his problems, and wanted to be there for it.

  Every now and then, during the course of the morning, she'd stop and think about what she'd seen, reliving the terror she'd felt for the soldiers when the creatures had surged from the sea, while simultaneously trying to put it in a context she could understand.

  It all just seemed so unreal. Perhaps part of the reason she wasn't as afraid as she should be was because of her distance from the events. She hadn't been down there on the ground with the creatures when they'd attacked. She'd viewed everything through the telescope's lens and, by doing so, had removed herself from the event. It had been little different from watching it on television, except that what she'd seen was real.

  Or was it? her fickle mind tickled back.

  They worked until ten o'clock, and then Auntie Lin left, with the reminder that they'd need Natasha's and Derrick's help for lunch at the restaurant.

  So now, with Derrick close behind her, Natasha made a beeline for Veronica's trailer. Not that the girl would know what to do, but she was Natasha's only real friend in town.

  As it turned out, Veronica wasn't home and her aunt didn't know where she was.

  Derrick kept pestering Natasha to tell him what had happened, but she just told him to shut up and let her think. Kim Johnson had been on her roof last night as well. Maybe the older woman had seen something.

  Natasha grabbed Derrick and they ran the four blocks to a quadruple-wide trailer, so big it was square. The sign read Lot's Church of Redemption, and a bunch of smaller signs plastered over the structure's bright yellow siding asked if you wanted to be "Born Again."

  Natasha knocked for several minutes before giving up.

  So much for that idea.

  She knew Veronica's uncle worked for the Duvall Brothers, so they tried there next.

  Half of the inside of the giant tent they used as an office was filled to the ceiling with blocks of compressed salt. A set of workbenches ran along one wall holding various tools and several dive tanks. Rico Duvall was sitting at a large light table going over a map of the bottom of the Salton Sea. The area nearest Bombay Beach was colored in red hash marks with the words "RESTRICTED AREA" marked prominently across the space.

  Rico looked up when he heard them enter and greeted them. He told Natasha that his brother and Veronica's uncle had gone out harvesting salt in the region just south of Bombay Beach and wouldn't be back until mid-afternoon. He didn't know where Veronica was.

  Natasha was disappointed. She'd been so excited at the prospect of telling Veronica about last night, but now it all felt kind of flat. She and Derrick walked out of the salt warehouse and into the heat of the day.

  And there was Veronica, walking down the street with Carrie and
three of her kids, having an animated conversation. She waved at Natasha, said something to the Carrie, and ran over to join them. She wore white shorts that ran past her knees, a long white tank top that could have been her uncle's, and basketball shoes.

  "What's up?" Then: "What happened?" She looked at Derrick.

  "I don't know. She won't tell me."

  "I just wanted to wait until we're all together." Natasha glanced around. "Come on. Let's go somewhere cooler so I can tell you what I've been waiting to tell you."

  They went to Veronica's room. This time Derrick was too interested in what secret his sister was keeping to look at the pictures.

  So it was, with Veronica and Derrick sitting on the bed with their mouths hanging open, that Natasha relayed what she'd seen. Awed, they grilled her, asking her questions, which she answered as completely as she could. Finally Natasha announced that their next step had to be finding the missing soldier.

  "Do you think he's still here somewhere?" Derrick asked.

  "Where else could he be? Look around you," Veronica said. "This is the middle of the middle of nowhere. That's exactly why my Mom sent me here in the first place. Trust me, there's nowhere to go from here."

  "We have to find him," Natasha insisted. "You know that Hopkins and his men will go from house to house looking for him tonight. Then it will only be a matter of time."

  Veronica held up a manicured hand. "Wait. No one has asked the most important question."

  Natasha raised her eyebrows. "What's that?"

  "Who all is involved with this? You said Hopkins is involved, which doesn't surprise me. People have suspected him of bad things for a long time. But who else? The Mad Scientist? The Deputy Sheriff? The Duvalls? I mean, if there are creatures in the water then this is big. Super big. There have to be a lot of people involved. It can't just be that Hopkins guy."

  "We can leave out my dad and Auntie Lin, and probably Maude too," Natasha said. "We weren't even around when this started. The only one here was my grandfather. I bet if we're ever able to decipher that notebook, we'd learn that strange things have been happening for a long time."

  "Then leave out my aunt and my uncle too," Veronica said.

  "Not so fast," Derrick countered. "Doesn't your uncle spend all of his time on the water? If there are creatures out there, how come he doesn't get attacked? Maybe he knows something."

  "Fuck that," Veronica snarled. "No way could my uncle ever be involved in something like that. He's given up a lot for me."

  "But we can't rule them out," Derrick persisted.

  Veronica surged to her feet, eyes narrowed and fists clenched.

  "Whoa! Stop, Veronica!" Natasha held her hand out. "We're not saying they are involved. We're just pointing out that it could be anyone. I mean, don't forget Lu Shu. He fishes every day too. Or Kim Johnson. She runs the local church."

  "Or Carrie Loughnane for that matter. Or that Elvis guy with the cans. Or even that guy we saw in the golf cart with the hooks for hands. What's his name?

  Veronica stared at them, steaming. Finally she said, "Gerald. His name's Gerald." Veronica breathed through her teeth for a few seconds, as if to relax. "Okay. You guys have made your point." She put her hands on her waist, and began pacing back and forth. "It could be anyone - Will, the Duvalls, Maude, the Mad Scientist, even Kristov the Elvis guy could be involved. We don't know so we can't tell anyone about this."

  "You can scratch the Mad Scientist off that list. I know that he isn't involved," Derrick stated, crossing his arms.

  "What makes you so certain?" Veronica crossed her arms too. "I thought we just came to the conclusion that it could be anybody."

  "Almost anyone, yeah, but not the Mad Scientist." Looking at the two girls, both waiting expectantly for an answer, he added, "It's obvious because of the hand we saw him working on. It must have belonged to one of the creatures. Why would he work on it in secret in his laboratory if he was part of the whole thing and had access to the plant?"

  Both girls stared at him, then Natasha nodded.

  "Okay then, the Mad Scientist goes on the good-guy list," she said. "Auntie Lin and my dad are on it already, but we should add Maude too. I don't think she's involved."

  "Why do you think that?" Veronica turned her stare on Natasha. "Her boyfriend is dead and her girlfriend is missing. Of course she could be involved."

  Natasha groaned. "I can't believe that." She remembered how warm the woman had been to her when she'd made grilled shrimp on the deck of their trailer their second night in Bombay Beach. "I refuse to believe that." Then a thought came to her. "We need to warn people so they can -"

  "No!" Veronica hissed. "That's the last thing you want to do. You tell anyone and Hopkins will find out. He probably has snitches all over the place. He probably even has snitches who don't know they're snitches, just passing information along because they think it's the right thing to do. And do you really think your father will keep quiet about this? Do you really think he won't try and call in the state police or the FBI or someone?"

  "How's he going to call? There's no cell phone service and no internet here. If someone wanted to, they could cut the telephone lines too, like they do in movies. Hell, we don't even know where he is."

  "So let's say your father resurfaces and finds out and then tries to get the word out and fails. That makes the situation better? He'd be a sitting duck."

  Natasha saw the grave truth of Veronica's words. "And we don't know to what level this goes. There's no telling who in the government has knowledge of this." Then she paused; she'd been holding the question back, but now seemed the perfect time to ask it. "You mentioned before that you didn't go outside at night because of what's out there," she asked, carefully. "Was it these creatures you were afraid of?"

  Veronica smiled for a moment, then let it slowly fall as she noticed that Natasha was deadly serious. "Stories," she finally said. "Rumors. There wasn't anything concrete, just people saying, 'watch out after dark,' or 'beware of the green.' Just stupid stuff that was enough to make you look behind you at night."

  "So you didn't know about this already?" Natasha asked.

  "No. Just what people talked about. People talk about a lot of things around here."

  "That guy Frank told me to beware of the green," Natasha said. "And Kristov told me to watch out for monsters. I thought they were drunk and stupid."

  "They probably were, but it makes you wonder, right? How much people really know about what's going on."

  "So what are we going to do?" Derrick asked.

  Natasha clapped her hands. "First we're going to find that soldier. He's probably scared and hungry. Then we ask him what he's doing here in the first place. My guess is they brought these soldiers in to fight the creatures, so he probably knows something about what's going on."

  "Doesn't sound like they did too well last night," Veronica said.

  "Last night they didn't have any guns. If the bus hadn't broken down, then they'd have stood more of a chance." Natasha snapped her mouth shut and frowned. "Do you think Hopkins has Gert?" She turned to Derrick. "Do you think he has Dad?"

  Derrick suddenly looked young and frightened. "I don't know. Maybe. Unless they're -"

  "Don't even say it," Natasha snapped.

  Derrick looked down.

  The silence settled over them

  Veronica put a hand on Natasha's arm. "Come on. There's no sense worrying about things over which you have no control. You're right, we need to find that soldier. He has more answers than we have questions."

  Natasha thought about Auntie Lin and how she'd wanted them to help with the lunch service. They were already late and Natasha really didn't want to help out in the restaurant anyway.

  "What are we waiting for?" Derrick's face brightened.

  "Nothing," Natasha said.

  "Nothing." Veronica smiled as she readjusted her pony tail. "Just let me get some things from the fridge for him to eat. He's sure to be hungry."

  Veronica grabbe
d three green chili tamales, a can of Mountain Dew, a vanilla pudding pack and a plastic spoon, and tossed them all into a bag. Natasha told her to add one of the bottles of water. On their way out the door, Veronica's aunt asked why they were taking the food, and Veronica said it was for a picnic. Her auntie made a comment about the nutritional value of their choices, but the kids were gone before she could finish.

  It was already two in the afternoon; the sun beat down from a cloudless sky. Even so, they began their search by sump pump #2. Veronica climbed the stairs to sneak a peek at the quay. When she came back down she said that she couldn't see any blood, although there were a lot of flies on the road.

  They worked together, deciding to start at the quay and move their way inward towards the center of town. There'd been some talk of separating, but they knew that might be dangerous. Natasha figured that when they found the soldier he was going to be scared. The last thing they needed was to be alone in a dark, abandoned trailer with a man who was scared and had been trained to kill.

  So the idea was to announce themselves whenever they went into a trailer. Deciding who would go first was another matter. Natasha and Derrick thought that Veronica should always go in first.

  "Oh, sure, send in the Mexican."

  Derrick snickered. "You're Mexican?"

  "Veronica Lopez sound Chinese to you?" She sniffed.

  "I was just kidding," Derrick said.

  "Not because you're Mexican," Natasha pointed out. "Because you're from L.A."

  "Just to set the record straight, we don't have creatures coming out of the Pacific Ocean attacking soldiers in L.A., so I don't think I have any particular expertise."

  "But you've been involved in..." Natasha let it hang. "You know."

  "What do I know? I've been involved in what?"

  "Gangs."

  "Yeah," Derrick repeated, "Gangs."

  "Oh, hell. Gimme that!" Veronica grabbed the flashlight from Natasha. She stomped towards the first trailer, mumbling to herself something about how kids from Pennsylvania couldn't find their asses with both hands if it weren't for a certain Mexican chick. She shone the light inside. "Hey soldier? You in there? I'm a bad ass Mexican gangbanger who's going to make enchiladas out of your ass if you don't come out." She turned to Natasha. "Is that better?"