by Carver Pike
He rolled his eyes and threw up his hands.
“Hey, figments!” he shouted. “Y’all go on and leave us alone. We ain’t tryin’ to cause no trouble with you. We just want to go on about our business!”
The figments didn’t move. It looked to Gabe like they were sizing up their meal. With his hands down, Gabe kept them ready, fearing that the monsters would resume screaming at any moment.
“How did you do that?” Dozier looked up at Conductor. “How did you deal with the pain?”
Conductor squatted down next to him and leaned in close.
“What?” he asked.
The growling figments remained still, as if daring them to make a move. They had one hell of a weapon and knew exactly how to use it. Gabe looked down at the gun he’d unwillingly dropped and considered diving for it, but he dreaded the possibility of falling prey to another of the figments’ deadly sirens.
The decision was made for him when he saw what was slowly approaching from behind the figments, creeping its way over to them. Goody Bones and his small army were slinking slowly through the shadows, without a doubt preparing to open fire on all of them.
Gabe cautiously lowered his hand as he kept an eye on the figments and used his peripheral vision to watch Goody Bones.
If Goody Bones was afraid of the creatures in the alley, it didn’t look that way to Gabe. He half expected the voodoo madman to turn around and hightail it in the opposite direction, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, he kept leading his army towards them.
“Dozier,” Gabe said through gritted teeth. “We’ve got more company, buddy.”
Dozier, who was on all fours in front of him, looked up at Gabe, exhausted, a mixture of spit and blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
“Hey, Haissem, ain’t you ever got good news to tell us?” Dozier asked as he tried to peek behind him without being too obvious.
He rubbed at a spot on his neck and turned a little, as if shaking off the pain. He saw what Gabe saw, the moon overhead casting a shine off someone’s gun back in the shadows of the alley.
“Oh, it’s the human kind, or image, whatever the fuck.”
Gabe wrapped his fingers around his pistol grip and rose up on one knee while Dozier grabbed his axe handle. For a moment, Gabe thought Dozier looked like a pissed off cartoon pit bull, and it almost made him laugh.
“Y’all done fucked with the wrong bull!” Dozier suddenly yelled as he leapt forward and pulled the axe high up over his head.
“A little more warning would have been nice, asshole!” Gabe shouted at his friend as he too sprang into action.
Dozier brought his axe down hard in the center of a figment’s head, as it was about to pounce on Gabe.
“You’re welcome!” Dozier said before spinning around and taking the head off another figment.
Both the head and the body turned to ash and scattered in the wind.
As Gabe expected, Goody Bones took that time to attack. Like knights on a battlefield, the drugged-up gang ran noisily from the shadows, screaming as they attacked.
Gabe grabbed Ivy’s arm and swung her out of harm’s way, as a barrage of bullets struck the ground where she’d been kneeling. If the figments had attacked at that moment, Gabe and Ivy would’ve both been dead, but instead, the figments seemed to be more interested in the new foes.
“Take cover!” Gabe yelled at the rest of the bunch.
Haylay, who was already hiding behind a metal trash dumpster, peeked around the corner at Gabe with his mouth agape.
“Motherfucker, you take cover! You all out in the open like Superman and shit!”
Gabe and Ivy crawled to the dumpster and joined Haylay in his hiding spot. Gabe reached around the metal barrier and fired a few shots before ducking back again. He scanned the alley, trying to figure out a good avenue of escape. He looked across the way and saw Dozier, Language, and Conductor all huddled in a recessed building entryway. Brick shattered and sprayed dust as bullets struck the building next to them.
“We gotta get outta here,” Gabe said.
He peered around the corner and saw Goody Bones’ men focused on the figments. They seemed to have forgotten about Gabe and the rest of them.
“Who’s winning?” Haylay asked.
“Umm, the bad guys?” Gabe said sarcastically.
It seemed that Goody Bones’ men were doing quite well against the beasts. Much better than Gabe’s gang. Haylay reached around Gabe and looked into the alley.
“They think they’re all bad ass. I’d like to see them deal with the screamy thang them monsters dish out,” Haylay said.
Gabe looked over at Dozier and the others and saw them whispering, actually more like bickering in voices drowned out by the fighting. Dozier seemed to be using hand gestures to explain to Conductor, who was angrily dismissing Dozier’s plan.
Conductor pushed Dozier away and cautiously stepped out of cover. Gabe shook his head and used his hands to try and wave Conductor back to the recessed hiding spot.
He appeared to be searching the ground for something.
“Are you crazy!” Ivy yelled. “Get out of the open!”
“He can’t hear you,” Gabe reminded her.
Conductor found what he was looking for. He looked up at Gabe and grinned as he pointed down at the ground. Conductor howled in pain as a bullet whizzed through the air and splashed into his thigh. The man stumbled forward and then sank into the ground. He’d fallen into an open manhole.
“The sewers!” Ivy yelled.
“He’s out in the open. We gotta get him out of there!” Gabe said.
Conductor was in extreme pain. His shoulder was at an odd angle, like he’d dislocated it when he’d stopped himself from falling all the way into the manhole. His face was beet red as he gritted his teeth and screamed something that Gabe couldn’t hear, but assumed was a cry for help.
A figment reached around the dumpster, grabbed Ivy, and flung her through the air. She hit the brick wall and slid down to the ground, holding the back of her head in pain.
Gabe leapt at the creature, grabbing it by its neck as he threw his right foot behind it, tripping it up, and slammed it against the ground. He crawled on top of it and rained punches down against its face.
He looked back at Haylay as he fought the figment.
“Get her out of here!” he yelled.
Haylay ran to help Ivy up off the ground.
“This ain’t no fight for a hooker,” Haylay shouted. “I shoulda just let y’all go on about your business. Turnin’ tricks ain’t never been this dangerous.”
Gabe put the barrel of his gun beneath the figment’s chin and pulled the trigger. Ashes went everywhere.
***
Back in the main alley, Goody Bones and his men fought the figments. They scattered them quickly, seeming to get the upper hand. Goody Bones laughed maniacally as he shook his gun in all directions, spraying bullets at anything that moved.
When he accidentally shot one of his own men in the back, a figment lashed out and took off the man’s head with its claws
“Ah, I’m sorry Jiggy, baby,” Goody Bones said. “Ya got in my way, man.”
He pointed his gun at the figment that’d decapitated his man and pulled the trigger, scattering it to the wind. He stopped firing and glanced all around him. Plenty of his men had fallen prey to the figments, but the monsters seemed to be gone for the most part. He watched as one of his men stuck his knife into the neck of the last remaining beast.
“Yeah, muthafuckas!” Goody Bones called out. “Hey, Belgrave! Who’s afraid of the alleys now? Bitch ass motherfucker.”
Suddenly more figments stepped out of the shadows, surrounding Goody Bones and his men. He looked down at one of his men who was clearly dead and kicked the man’s leg.
“Hey, man. Get up. There’s more of ‘em. Hey.”
Goody Bones kicked him once more, and sniffed a large dose of Coral from the vial around his neck. His eyes opened wide again.
“Pussy,” he said to the fallen man. “Stay down then.”
The figments moved out of the shadows, floating across the ground. They surrounded the voodoo man and his followers. As if on cue, the figments opened their mouths at the same time and let out their ear piercing screams.
Goody Bones and his remaining men dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. His men cried out in pain, but Goody Bones refused to. Saliva seeped out through his clenched teeth, but he would not cry out. Then, with a crazed, teeth-clenched grin, Goody Bones rolled over and pointed at the yellow foam earplugs in his ears.
The figment he was grinning at continued to shriek. Goody Bones took both hands away from his ears and pointed his gun at the figment.
“Told you I’m the baddest,” he said as he pulled the trigger, shattering the figment.
Goody Bones’ men unfolded from their balled up positions. They all wore the earplugs.
“Yeah, we heard of y’all,” he said as he shot the nearest figment. “Ya need to find a new secret weapon, motherfuckers!”
The figments pounced on Goody Bones’ men. One of them lashed out with its clawed fingertips and slashed the face of one of the soldiers, tearing the flesh down to the cartilage in his nose. The man continued to fight, but the figment’s next strike ripped out the man’s throat. Blood sprayed everywhere.
Another figment dove at a soldier and sunk its teeth right into his neck. The man went into spasms and shook violently before it threw him to the floor, dead. It became clear to Goody Bones that the figments had kept their true rage on reserve and had finally unleashed it.
His soldiers were no match for the monsters destroying them. The figments’ shrieking turned out to be their passive weapon, and that weapon had ceased for the time being in order to allow them to pull out the real arsenal. Teeth, claws, and fury were their real bread and butter, and Goody Bones had successfully pissed them off.
He backed up into a darker alley and watched as his men were being ripped apart. He would never admit that a twinge of fear had started to creep into his throat or that the thought of fleeing crossed his mind. After all, nothing scared Goody Bones.
However, seeing the limbs of his flunkies flying through the air and blood spurting across the wet alleyway floor was enough to make him consider a simple retreat in order to regroup and plan a second attack.
That was the plan he was devising when he saw himself walking across the alley. There he was, right in front of him, in full voodoo garb, crouched down with his gun in his hand, approaching one of his soldiers. The real Goody Bones stood in the shadows and watched as the impostor fooled one of his men. He wanted to yell out and warn the guy, but didn’t want to bring the attacker his way.
The soldier turned and saw Goody Bones crouched down, gesturing for him to follow.
“Come on, we’ve gotta get out of here,” the impostor said.
The soldier knew better than to go against the order of his leader so without hesitation he quit fighting and followed him. The fake Goody Bones led the soldier into the same alley where the real Goody Bones was hiding. The real Goody Bones ducked down in the shadows and held his gun out in front of him, ready to fire if the impostor realized he was there.
“What about the others?” the soldier asked.
The impostor spun around and grabbed the soldier, yanking him into its embrace. The face of Goody Bones began to dissolve and the skeletal figment face loomed over the man. He tried to break free of its grasp, but the monster was too strong. It sank its teeth into the soldier’s face.
The real Goody Bones watched the scene unfold in front of him, but didn’t pull the trigger. He felt that his life was more important than a common soldier who’d already had his face bitten off. What would be the point of giving away his hiding place now?
Chapter 12 – All Hell Breaks Loose
Gabe tried to help Dozier pull Conductor out of the manhole, but he was stuck, and each time they tried to move the man, he cried out in pain. His shoulder looked bad. Gabe looked over at Haylay, Ivy, and Language, who were watching them fumble with their fallen friend from another recessed doorway, and rubbed at his temples. What the fuck were they going to do?
“Dammit! How the hell did he fall in there so easily if we cain’t get his fat ass out!” Dozier cursed.
“Try pushing him down,” Gabe suggested.
As soon as they applied pressure though, Conductor screamed and swatted at them with his good hand.
Gabe looked back at the battle still going on behind them. Goody Bones’ men appeared to be dwindling, but so did the number of figments. Dozier followed his gaze.
“Hell, we might be able to sit the rest of this one out. Neither of them’s gonna be wantin’ to fight us after. They’re rippin’ each other apart,” Dozier said with a chuckle. “You see, Haissem? Everything happens for a reason.”
“You, of all people, are getting spiritual on me right now?” Gabe asked.
Conductor yelled something they couldn’t understand.
“What?” Gabe asked.
He repeated whatever it was he was saying. Gabe looked at Dozier, hoping he’d understood.
“What’re you lookin’ at me for? I couldn’t understand the sumbitch before. I dang sure cain’t understand him now.”
“Wait, you hear that?” Gabe asked as he squatted down.
“I cain’t hear shit over all that ruckus back there!” Dozier yelled as he pointed to the fighting in the background.
“Shh,” Gabe said again.
He lowered his face so that his ear was an inch above the ground. A strange humming sound was coming from beneath Conductor. It seemed far away but getting closer by the second. It was a soothing sound, like a grandmother softly humming her grandchildren to sleep, but oddly out of place.
“What the hell is that?” Gabe asked.
“What is what?” Dozier replied.
The humming sound was getting louder and louder. Suddenly a loud cackling sound exploded from beneath Conductor, scaring the hell out of Gabe, and sending him crashing onto his ass.
Insane laughter screamed out at them and if Conductor couldn’t hear it, he definitely sensed something was below him. The memory of Conductor’s look of terror would forever be ingrained in Gabe’s mind.
Dozier reacted quickly, once again trying to pull his image friend out of the ground, no longer caring if it caused the man pain. Conductor screamed in agony as his arm twisted in Dozier’s grasp. Conductor wasn’t making it any easier as he thrashed around violently. Gabe grabbed the man’s other arm and tried to help.
“Come on,” Dozier yelled as he tugged.
Suddenly Conductor stopped screaming and thrashing. He yanked his hand away and looked up at Dozier and Gabe.
“Ah! Ah!” Conductor screamed as his body was jerked from underneath him. Something was tugging on his legs, and he screamed out in fear and pain. With nothing to shoot at, all they could do was watch as their friend shook and his eyes rolled back in his head. Deep guttural noises came from his throat.
The sounds of growling and chewing came from below, like Conductor was being devoured. Blood spurted from the man’s mouth and then his head rolled to the side, lifeless.
“No!” Dozier yelled.
He pulled Conductor’s arms, but it was too late. Whatever was below him had already torn him apart. The man was yanked out of Dozier’s hands as the body was dragged down into the manhole. Conductor disappeared.
Gabe grabbed Dozier’s arm and tried to lead the large redneck away from the hole in the ground, but he was frozen solid, staring at his empty hands.
“I had him right here,” Dozier said.
He looked up at Gabe in confusion.
“I let him go,” he added.
Gabe bent down to pick up the axe Dozier had dropped in his attempt to save Conductor. He slapped the handle into Dozier’s open palm. Dozier looked down at the axe and seemed to snap out of his stupor.
“We need to get out of h
ere,” Gabe reminded him.
He backed away from the hole in the ground and Dozier followed his lead. When Gabe spun on his heels, he saw the figments approaching. It looked as if they’d grown bored of Goody Bones and his men and returned to their original fight. They slowly drifted forward, gliding across the ground.
“In here!” Haylay called. “Hurry up!”
Gabe looked back to see Haylay and Language at the edge of one of the side alleys. They were ushering him over. Ivy ran out of the alley and grabbed Dozier by his arm.
