Behind him something screamed loud enough to shake his body, but it didn’t matter. The front of the building was coming up quickly and Perez hoped that this Decamp guy the stranger kept babbling about might have some answers. And that they lived long enough to find him.
* * *
The loading bay was an ocean of skittering, flailing, hairy bodies, dropping from the ceiling and carpeting the floor. There was no way they could get out by that route. Calvin cursed and slammed the door shut as Tessa shot a dog-sized spider that rushed at him.
“No dice, Decamp,” Calvin said. “I don’t know what it was like when you came in, but it’s impassable now.”
Decamp said, “Then we’ll have to try the front. The spiders are growing in size and numbers and we have to get out of the building while we still can.”
“What the fuck is going on here, Decamp?” Tessa said. “You said you knew part of it.”
Decamp walked over to the door through which Tessa and Calvin had entered and put his ear to the panel. He looked back over at Tessa and said, “It’s magic, officer Malloy. Dark magic.”
Tessa said, “Bullshit. I don’t believe in that crap.”
“That will scarcely keep it from killing you, my dear. By the way, I assume you two have flash-bang grenades? Standard SWAT issue.”
“Yeah,” Calvin said. “I got four.”
“Excellent. Be so kind as to have two of them ready. When I open the door, throw them through. Officer Malloy, if you’ll shoot anything that attempts to come through the door, that should allow Officer Calvin to lob his grenades. I’m going to close the door before they go off, then after the explosion we’ll go through and try and reach the front entrance.”
Calvin said, “You must have been some teacher. You’re the calmest son of a bitch I’ve ever seen.”
“Years of experience, Officer.”
“Just call me Calvin.”
“And I’m Tessa. If we’re all going to be eaten by AoUSes together we might as well be friends.”
“AoUSes?” said Decamp
“A bad movie joke. Arachnids of Unusual Size.”
“Ah, of course. The Princess Bride. My movie trivia knowledge tends to lapse in times of stress. Now, if everyone is ready, we’ll put this poor excuse for a plan into action.”
Calvin took two M8-4 flash-bang grenades and pulled the primary pins. “Ready.”
Tessa checked the magazine of her M-4 and aimed the rifle toward the door. “Ready.”
Decamp stuck the .45 into a holster on his hip. He reached over his shoulder to a weird carbon black tube strapped on his back and slid a gleaming metal blade from inside.
“Seriously?” Calvin said. “A sword?”
“Call it an affectation. Here we go.”
Decamp grabbed the door handle and swung the door inward. A huge wolf spider pushed through and Tessa blew it to pieces. Calvin noticed that Decamp didn’t flinch even though he was in the line of fire. Had the man seen combat? Calvin popped the secondary pins of the grenades and pitched them through the door. Decamp slammed the door as the flash-bangs went off. As soon as they heard the explosions, Decamp swung the door open and drew his .45. With gun in one hand and sword in the other, he charged through the doorway.
Calvin went next, and Tessa took her usual position as rear guard. For once, Calvin didn’t mind giving up point. Decamp was the man with the most intel. Let him lead the way.
To Calvin’s surprise, they weren’t attacked the second they stepped through the door. The flash-bang wasn’t designed to do much damage, but at close quarters it had still killed a couple of the creatures. The others however seemed to be milling about in confusion. That’s what Calvin would have expected from humans exposed to the flash-bang, but could spiders even hear?
“Their disorientation won’t last long,” Decamp said. “Head for the entrance.”
Decamp began swerving around the confused spiders and Calvin and Tessa hurried after him. A large wolf spider, which had apparently been far enough from the blasts to be less affected, lunged at Decamp and he decapitated it with a deft flick of the thin sword. Calvin was impressed. The blade was stronger than it looked and had to be razor keen. A second spider lost two front legs and Decamp shot it with the .45 for good measure.
Several more spiders seemed to be shaking off the effects of the flash-bangs and they came swarming toward the fleeing trio. Calvin fired in controlled bursts, saving ammunition. He only had one magazine left for the rifle and he did not want to run out of ammo in this place.
Decamp reached the door and stepped out, looking all around. It was well that he did, as a large spider that looked different from any they’d seen so far dropped from above. Decamp stepped nimbly to one side and hacked the spider’s head off. Calvin made a mental note not to make fun of the guy’s sword again.
Calvin shot another spider then stepped through the door and turned to make sure Tessa was with him. She vaulted a bloated spider corpse and leaped through the door. She spun and slammed the door shut behind her.
A chorus of shouts from his left made Calvin turn toward the sounds. Perez, Jenkins, West, and two guys Calvin didn’t know came running around the side of the building, followed by a wave of spiders.
“Jesus!” Tessa said. “What the fuck do we do now?”
Decamp said, “Head for that van. Everyone.”
“That won’t keep them out,” Calvin said. “They can break through the glass.”
Decamp said, “Just do it. Trust me.”
Calvin nodded and sprinted for the SWAT van. He had no idea what Decamp had in mind, but they were probably all dead anyway, and he had no other plan.
As Decamp passed close to one of the two new guys he said, “This isn’t going well, Jonathan.”
The other man smiled. “Noticed that, did you?”
When the group reached the van, Decamp said. “Stand as close to the van as possible. I need everyone to hold the spiders off for just a few moments. Concentrate your fire on keeping them back and try not to shoot me.”
With that, Decamp took his sword and jammed the tip into the ground. He ran around the van in a tight circle, never letting the sword lift from the earth so that he cut a narrow line in the dirt all the way around. When the circle was completed he said, “You can stop firing. They won’t cross that line.”
“You’re out of your mind,” the big man said, still firing at the spiders.
Decamp shrugged. The wave of creatures rolled up like some mad tide of horror. Calvin gritted his teeth.
The spiders stopped.
Decamp said, “Everyone get in the van, and whatever you do, do not step outside the line.”
Tessa said, “What did you do? How the hell did you do that?”
“More of that magic you don’t believe in. Now into the van, please. We don’t have much time.”
The group crowded into the van. It was hot inside, but no one wanted to open any windows or doors. Calvin didn’t like the way West looked. His face was pale and waxy and Calvin figured he might be in shock. And who the hell could blame him?
Decamp said, “As I just told Officer Malloy, this situation is going to get worse very quickly. There are thousands of arachnids in this area and all of them are being mutated and will soon be out, searching for food. This facility is fairly isolated, but the spiders will soon begin looking for food closer to Bergen.”
“Jesus,” Calvin said. “We need to call in and let headquarters know what’s happening.”
“I don’t believe you’ll be able to do that, Calvin,” Decamp said.
Ignoring Decamp, Calvin pulled out his radio. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought to call in for back-up earlier or for the fucking National Guard. Blame it on giant fucking spiders.
“Dispatch, this is SWAT Team One. Come in please,” Calvin said. There was no answer. Just a hiss of static. “Come in, dispatch.”
Again static, but this time Calvin thought he could hear a sort of whispering sound.
He tried to talk again but the whisper seemed to grow louder, echoing from the radio. Calvin couldn't make out any distinct words, but he seemed to hear a series of sounds.
“Something's wrong. All I hear is what sounds like someone repeating gibberish. Like atlachna something.”
“Atlach-Nacha,” said Decamp. “The spinner in darkness.”
“What?”
Decamp said, “One of the Great Old Ones. An ancient god associated with spiders.”
“You're not making any sense, Decamp,” Calvin said.
“I'm making perfect sense. You just lack a point of reference for understanding.”
“I'm a smart guy. Explain it to me.”
“All right. All of you, listen please. My name is Carter Decamp and this is my associate, Mr Crowley. We are both experts in what you would call the occult. The supernatural.”
“Bullshit,” said Jenkins.
Crowley said, “Since you're only alive right now because you're sitting inside of Decamp's magic circle, you might want to listen to him.”
“If it makes you feel better, imagine there's a scientific cause for what's happening. Radiation or some such. In any case, you are surrounded by giant mutated spiders and there will be worse things later.”
“But what's causing it?” Perez said.
“In simple terms, an incursion from another dimension. Call it the Outer Dark. The void. I refer to it as the other side. But it's a dimension, the very nature of which is inimical to our own. Something from that dimension has crossed over into this one. A being or an artifact, and it is causing these spiders to mutate. The fact that your radio is manifesting voices from beyond and that they mention Atlach- Nacha perhaps explains why spiders are the first things affected. But there will be more.”
“This is fucking crazy talk,” said Jenkins. “What we need to worry about is how the hell we're going to get out of here and warn the town.”
“Very true, Officer Jenkins,” said Decamp. “How would you suggest we do that?”
“We're in a van, sir. How about we drive away?”
“Would you just leave whatever is causing this to continue its baleful influence?”
“We can come back with flamethrowers or whatever it takes.”
Crowley said, “If it gets a foothold it will take more than that to stop it. Decamp and I came here because we both were made aware of a flare-up of Eldritch power entering our reality. Don't interrupt, Jenkins. Just trust me on this. We thought whatever was causing the incursion was inside this facility. We were wrong. But it's close and we have to find it and deal with it.”
“How will you do that?” said Tessa.
Crowley smiled, and Tessa leaned away from him, resisting the urge to flinch. “Won't know that until we find it.”
“What brought you here, specifically?” Calvin said. “You got some sort of spook energy detector?”
“In a way. Jonathan is sensitive to such things and I have a grimoire that gives me warnings of this sort of occurrence.”
“But you say you missed your mark.”
“Only by a narrow margin,” said Crowley. “Now that I know this is related to Atlach-Nacha, I can pinpoint the source. It should be somewhere on the slope behind this plant.”
Decamp said, “What we need to know is can we count on you to help us reach it. The situation has grown out of hand faster than we anticipated.”
West, who had been sitting quietly said, “You want us to go back out there and fight our way past those things? You are out of your minds.”
Decamp said, “In some ways it's a moot point. The circle of protection that surrounds this van only works as long as I'm inside of it. It can only last a few minutes once I leave it.”
“So it's go with us or stay here with the spiders,” said Crowley. That smile of his flashed again. Either he was enjoying their discomfort, or he was a madman.
“Maybe we won't let you go,” Jenkins said.
Crowley said, “That would be an error in judgment.”
“We're going,” said Calvin. “Like the man said, we don't have much choice. Serve and protect, people. That's what we do. We can't let these fuckers overrun Bergen. What's the plan?”
Crowley, said “What sort of suspension does this van have?”
Calvin said, “Top of the line. Four wheel drive. Heavy duty shocks. Why?”
“Maybe we can drive to the source of this situation.”
Decamp said, “Would you take the wheel, Jonathan?”
“Since you asked so nicely, sure.”
There was something seriously unsettling about Crowley. He looked average enough, but Calvin just got a weird vibe off the guy. Of course, given the way things were going that might be good.
Decamp said, “As soon as we leave the circle the spiders will be on us. We don't want them turning the van over so we're going to have to take some action. What weapons do you have available?”
Perez said, “Couple more M-4s and a pump-action shotgun in the locker behind you. Beyond that it's what you’re looking at.”
“All right,” said Decamp. “Let's use two more of the flash-bangs to send the spiders around us running. It's dark out now so they won't like the light and the noise.”
Calvin voiced the question he had thought of earlier, “Can spiders hear?”
“Strictly speaking, no,” said Decamp. “They don't have ears. But they have sensory nerves on their legs that look like hairs. They can pick up vibration. They don't see well either, despite their multiple eyes. Mostly light and motion. It makes them quite susceptible to the flash-bangs.”
Jenkins said, “We're really going to do this? All right. I'll use my M8-4s. Just tell me when.”
The big man got up and opened the van's side door. Calvin felt his stomach lurch as he looked out at a sea of gleaming eyes and waving legs. He had never really been afraid of spiders before. That had sure as hell changed.
Crowley got into the front of the van and started the engine. He turned on the headlights and that sent a lot of the spiders scurrying for cover. He said, “They don't like the high beams. That will help.”
Decamp said. “Everyone shield your eyes. Use the grenades, Jenkins.”
Jenkins flipped the grenades out of the door and Calvin put his forearm over his eyes. He heard the blast and felt the concussive force and then the van was in motion. The spiders didn't indeed like the headlights. They scrambled away as the van plowed around the side of the building, heading for the slope behind the structure. A few fell in behind the vehicle and Perez shot any that came to close through the rear window.
They hit the slope and the van found traction and started up. Calvin could feel the bottom of the van scrape on rocks and limbs and he had a moment of panic as he realized the vehicle could get stuck at any second, leaving them in the dark woods with the spiders. He glanced around the van at the faces of his companions and realized he wasn't the only one having such thoughts.
Crowley drove the van with surprising skill. The trees on the slope weren't too thick and he was managing to find wide enough open areas to get through. As the van bounced and lurched, the headlights flashed on scenes out of hell. There were large areas of white webbing stretched between trees and in them he could see forms that were without doubt human. For a moment he thought he saw a pair of pleading eyes that were swiftly covered by a weaving spider.
“Something ahead,” Crowley said. “Looks like a light of some kind.”
Decamp moved up to Crowley. Calvin looked over his shoulder. Beyond the trees ahead of the van was a weird, coruscating purplish radiance.
Decamp said, “It looks like it’s inside the mouth of a cave.”
Calvin was about to ask a question when something smashed through the rear window. The front part of a wolf spider pushed through the opening. Something else hit the side of the van and the vehicle fishtailed and slammed into a large shape that shrieked and thrashed for a moment before quieting.
Everyone was thrown to the floor of
the van. Calvin got his 9mm out and shot the spider stuck in the window. The sound was incredibly loud in the close confines of the van. One of the side doors had popped open and Jenkins started screaming as a spider lurched through the door and sank its fangs into him. A moment later Jenkins was jerked through the door into the dark.
Shit!” Tessa said. She drew her Glock and lurched over to the door. She shone her flashlight out and fired several round. “Jesus! They’re tearing him apart!” She continued firing until the Glock hit empty.
Calvin hurried to Tessa’s side and gently pulled her away from the door. “There’s nothing we can do.” He slid the door shut.
Crowley said, “We need to move before they swarm all over us.”
“Agreed,” said Decamp. “We’ll have to make for the cave.”
Perez said, “The cave? Are you fucking nuts? It’s probably full of these things.”
“It’s the only defensible position and our only chance of finding the source of these creatures.”
Calvin said, “Same drill as before? Flash-bangs, then run like hell?”
“Why mess with success?” said Crowley.
Calvin got two grenades ready. Perez opened the door, firing a short burst with his M-4 in case anything wanted to come in, then leaned away as Calvin threw the flash-bangs. With Mag-lights on full, the group climbed out of the van and started running toward the cave.
From the corner of his eye Calvin saw what Crowley had smashed with the van. He wished he had not. Scorpions were creepy enough without being the size of a horse. The thing was still alive and still twitching. They were lucky. The tail had been broken away from the base of the vile thing.
Calvin swept his rifle left and right, firing at anything that came close. Perez's cousin Guillermo stayed in the center of the group, obviously terrified of getting left behind. Tessa had the rear guard as always, and West was staying a little further to one side of the group than he probably should have. Calvin yelled for him to tighten up the formation but he didn't seem to hear.
Decamp moved along, using the sword when he needed. Crowley seemed to be able to evade the spiders, almost as if he knew what they were going to do before they did it. If by some miracle they got out of this alive, Calvin was going to have a lot of questions for the pair of 'occult specialists’.
SNAFU: Unnatural Selection Page 8
