by Russ Watts
Goodsprings was a small, honest town, with a little under two hundred people left. Back when Sharyn was growing up, there had been more, but then the mines began to close and eventually people moved away. Her best friend when she had been growing up, Clare, had moved away when she was fourteen. Her parents had given up and moved to San Diego. The school had been threatened with closure for years, and one by one the stores began to close up. Now half of Main Street was just a series of boarded-up windows and dusty signs advertising stores that were no longer there. Derek’s bar was the only place in town to get a drink and a good meal, and while there were people around, it kept going. Sharyn knew that in reality Goodsprings was a terminal case. There was no cure or remedy, and nobody seemed prepared to euthanize it quite yet. One day its end would come, and then everyone could wring their hands and wonder why nobody had done anything. Until that day came, it just kept slipping away, the cancer eating away at it, sucking the life out of it day by day, prolonging the agony.
Sharyn began to hum as she walked. It was no good dwelling on the negatives. She still had a job, a husband, and a roof over her head. At least for a little while longer, no matter what the bank said. Rusty might be lazy, but at least he was honest. He was always faithful, and treated her right, in as much as he had never lifted a finger in anger to her. He would come right eventually. He was just having a hard time adjusting. She shouldn’t go on at him about finding a job. What was there to do? She was lucky that she still had her part-time job at Derek’s. There were plenty of younger, hotter girls eager to work, and Derek had plenty of choices if he wanted to replace her. That was why she never complained, never bitched about the unsocial hours, and took any job he gave her. Most weekends it was just bar work, but occasionally they would host a function, like the Sharp’s anniversary tonight.
Sharyn approached Main Street and sighed. There was Nancy’s white Cadillac parked up outside the salon, and Pete Wyatt walking past it on his way to work. A dusty Ute was driving slowly down the street. It looked like Charlie was behind the wheel, but she couldn’t be sure, so dirty was the window. The red paintwork was more of a deep ochre color, the Ute’s body clouded by months of grime and inattention. Yep, that was Charlie all right. Sharyn smiled and raised her hand to say good morning to him, but as she did so, the telephone pole above her started to wobble. The wires that criss-crossed the street seemed to sway as if in the middle of a gale, yet there was no wind, just the incessant heat of the sun. A groaning sound erupted behind her, and then the ground began to shake and tremble.
“Jesus, not again.” Sharyn stopped and waited for the shaking to stop. She was stood in front of the old sandwich store that had closed last month. In the window, a faded poster still claimed that they made the best subs in town. As the quake continued, the poster peeled away from the glass, and Sharyn watched as the building itself began to shake. She could barely stand upright and began to panic. This was stronger than earlier at home and way stronger than anything they had experienced in recent months. This was different. A huge roaring sound deafened her and the sandwich store began to crumble, its façade tumbling to the street, showering her in glass and masonry.
Screaming, Sharyn tried to run for the salon, hoping to find help there, hoping to find someone who knew what to do. Even if it was Nancy Sharp, it was better than dying out in the street. Sharyn tried to run, but the ground was jumping, and she immediately tripped, falling into the road. The concrete was tearing in half, splintering like old wood, and she lay flat on the ground, praying it wouldn’t break beneath her. Sharyn was thrown around as she lay there, tossed from side to side as if she was on a waterbed. There was another tearing sound, and the telephone wires were ripped from their pins, falling down and landing on Charlie’s red Ute that had stopped right in the center of the road. Sharyn tried to cover her ears and shut her eyes. The noise was terrifying. It was as if the earth itself was crying out in pain, bellowing in anger as it was torn asunder.
Please God, let me get home to Rusty, she thought. Let there be a home to go to.
Sharyn risked opening her eyes, and saw the roof of Derek’s bar collapse. Huge plumes of dust were sent into the air, and then a fireball erupted. Even though it was the far end of the street, she could feel the warmth. Derek’s bar was no longer there, obliterated as the ground continued shaking.
Suddenly, it stopped.
Sharyn unwrapped herself from the fetal position and slowly began to brush off the gray powder and residue that covered her from head to toe. The collapsed buildings around her had coated her in their remains, giving her an unwanted second skin made of glass and concrete. Some of the glass from the sandwich store had cut her, but as she rubbed her face, she realized it was only a few minor cuts. Her whole body was trembling, and she felt sick. All the noise and chaos had stopped only to be replaced by an eerie silence. There were no cries for help, no shouting or crying, just a blanket of silence that was even worse than the noise of the quake.
Pushing herself up with shaking hands, Sharyn slowly got to her feet. She was surrounded by rubble, and as she blinked the dust from her eyes, she heard a scraping noise from across the street.
“Hello? Nancy, that you?” Sharyn’s eyes were watering, and now she was standing there was a stinging, pinching sensation in her leg. A droplet of warm blood rolled down her leg, and she figured she must have been cut. A jagged tear in her jeans told her exactly where, but as she ran her fingers down her leg and plucked out the tiny sliver of glass, she knew it wasn’t serious. There were going to be people in far worse condition than her. Sharyn called out again, desperate to hear another voice, to know she wasn’t alone. “Nancy?”
“Who is that?” The owner of the voice was hidden behind a white-gray cloud.
“Sharyn. It’s Sharyn Barclay. Are you hurt?”
Stepping carefully, avoiding the large cracks in the road and the fallen masonry, Sharyn began to pick her way across the road to the scraping noise and the disembodied voice.
“I’m okay. You?” The scraping noise stopped, and then a figure emerged from the cloud. “Pete Wyatt,” he said, holding out his hand and helping Sharyn across a large slab of concrete protruding from the road.
“Did you see anyone else, Pete?” asked Sharyn accepting Pete’s hand. He was covered in a fine powder, and his thick curly hair appeared to have turned gray, but he appeared unhurt. “I thought I saw Charlie driving down, but I didn’t see what happened. You think he’s okay?”
“To be honest, ma’am, I don’t think so. Last thing I saw before the world turned upside down was those poles coming down on his Ute. It’s smashed up pretty badly.” Pete wrinkled his nose and his soft, brown eyes bore into Sharyn’s inquisitively. “I don’t think we should hang around here too long. Can you smell that?”
Sharyn guessed what the sweet, invisible smell was enveloping them. “Gas?”
Pete nodded. “The quake must have ruptured the mainline. Probably what took out Derek’s bar? We should try to get—”
Three sharp sounds interrupted him, but not from anything nearby, nor from anything natural. They sounded like an animal looking for something, calling out, and were loud; much louder than any dog could make, and they carried across the town like the gas filling the street. The sound echoed across Goodsprings like warnings, a message that something else was present now.
“What the hell kind of earthquake is this?” whispered Sharyn as she grabbed Pete’s hand tighter. She had known Pete for years, watching him grow from a young boy into the man he was now. If there was anyone she trusted herself to be stuck with in an emergency, it was Pete. She felt a pang of guilt when she took Pete’s hand, knowing that if Rusty saw her, he would have something to say about it.
The sounds came again, closer; short, staccato bursts, spat out rapidly, urgently, sounding almost like words.
“Yakazar-yakazar.”
Sharyn gripped Pete’s hand tighter. Rusty be damned, this wasn’t right. “You know, I’m not so sure
that…”
They were both abruptly thrown to the ground as the road beneath them jolted sharply. Sharyn landed painfully, a lump of jagged tarmac slicing through her skin from her elbow to her shoulder. She cursed and grabbed Pete’s arm.
“Shit, Pete, what the hell is…?”
Panic enveloped her as she watched a shadow cover the both of them as they lay on the road. Something was emerging from the ruins of the main street; something that blocked out the sun and caused the very earth to vibrate with each lumbering step.
“Sharyn, is that you?”
Nancy stumbled from the salon, its door hanging on by a thread in the lopsided frame. Sharyn could see her pale face and the bruising around her eyes. There was blood running down her front, though Sharyn couldn’t work out if it was hers or not. As Nancy emerged into the open, Sharyn gasped. The creature that had caused the shadow was stood right behind the salon now. Its hideous figure was emerging slowly through the dissipating cloud of dust.
“Nancy, don’t move,” hissed Sharyn. She stared up in disbelief as the huge monster stood surveying Goodsprings. Its head swivelled slowly from side to side, as if taking in everything. It had huge teeth poking out of its agape jaws and powerful muscles rippling its arms and legs. Had the earthquakes caused this thing to appear now? Had they brought this monster to life? Had it come up through the many sinkholes that had been appearing around the town of late?
Nancy saw Sharyn looking past her, over her shoulder, and she turned around. When she saw the thing behind her, she screamed and her knees buckled. Instantly, the creature’s attention was brought down to her, and it happened so quickly Sharyn had no time to react. The monster took a giant step forward, and its two solid legs smashed the beauty salon to pieces, sending the building flying in all directions. Sharyn heard Nancy scream once more, and then she was scooped up into the thing’s arms. Claws protruding from its hands dug into Nancy’s body, holding her tightly. Sharyn watched as Nancy fought, pushing and punching at the thing’s skin, but it had no effect. She doubted the monster even felt anything, so thick was its hide. Nancy was raised high into the air, and Sharyn watched as the monster shoved her into its mouth. Huge teeth ripped through Nancy’s body, instantly tearing the upper half of her away. Sharyn heard the crunching sound of Nancy’s bones being devoured and watched as red blood and saliva dripped from the monster’s mouth. It ate the rest of Nancy quickly, and then let out a deafening bellowing sound, a triumphant roar as the final, twitching remains of Nancy slid down its throat.
Sharyn rolled onto her front and began to crawl through the rubble. She was living in a nightmare, in some parallel world. At that moment in time, she would’ve given anything to be back home arguing with Rusty, cleaning up his mess, but the sight of Pete made her realize this was really happening. He was frozen to the spot, horror etched across his young face as he stared up into those monstrous red eyes of the creature. A wet patch spread across his jeans and down his knees as the shadow spread over them again.
“Pete, come on, honey, take my hand.” Sharyn held out her trembling hand to him, but he refused it.
As Sharyn reached for him, the ground shook, and a smell like burnt sausages enveloped her. The smell was foul, as if mixed with burning fat. It didn’t seem right somehow, unnatural, and she knew it was right behind them. She looked at Pete, imploring him to take her hand, hoping he would think of something; yet as their eyes locked together, all she saw was hopelessness and fear. A huge claw like a spear appeared above Pete, and Sharyn watched as it was thrust downward, penetrating Pete’s skull and tearing its way down through his body which convulsed as he was split in half.
Sharyn rolled onto her back and watched as Pete’s lifeless carcass was thrown aside. The monster towering over her bellowed once again as an explosion from behind it sent shards of broken glass raining down on the both of them. Sharyn heard the crackle of gunfire in the distance, and the monster turned away from her, its attention drawn to the gunshots. The monster turned, and as it did so, its tail swung around behind it. It was short and stubby, but ended with a huge club, and it smashed through the rubble with ease. Sharyn sensed it coming, yet she knew she was also incapable of getting out of its path. The tail brushed aside the fallen masonry and wood, and Sharyn closed her eyes. As it scraped across the road, picking it up speed, the tail was whipped smartly behind the creature. The impact was like being hit by a truck at high speed. Sharyn screamed in pain and was sent flying across the street. Her body flew through the air as if she weighed no more than a rag doll, and finally, she smacked into the side of Nancy’s white Cadillac, breaking her leg in the process. Sharyn saw the monster lumbering over the remains of Derek’s burning bar, headed toward the center of town.
Goodsprings was no longer a quiet little town that nobody had heard of. Soon, it would be the most famous town in America. Sharyn looked at the piece of bone sticking through her jeans, just below her knee. At least she was alive. The monster bellowed again, and the blinding sun shone down on Sharyn. The sun faded like a shadow into her unconsciousness and she wondered if she would ever see Rusty again.
CHAPTER 7
Mackenzie knew it was still there. The sun was still shining brightly, and it sparkled off the upturned chassis of the bus, splintering its way through the air like a giant cobweb. The monster was out there, hiding beneath the surface of the Earth. It hadn’t gone anywhere. The occasional rumble, the vibrations of it moving underground, shifting the soil like a giant worm told him that. It was waiting for them, waiting for a chance. He hated it. Mackenzie hated it more than anything he had hated in his life. It had killed innocent people, good people. What did it want with them? Why had it surfaced now?
“Thanks, Mac. Boy, that was close.”
Myles lay on the store’s cool floor, nestled between two overturned shelves surrounded by crushed boxes and spilt milk.
After scooping up Beers, Myles had changed direction sharply and narrowly avoided being crushed by the monster. Mac had ordered him to run and not look back. It was advice that Myles was only too happy to take. As he ran, he could feel the monster literally breathing down his back. Fire surged through him, and he ran straight for the door, not wanting to look back. If he had, he might’ve crumbled, succumbed to the terror and panic that drove him on. He had to get back to Michele, to Alyce, to the store where Mac waited for him.
From where Mackenzie was, with one foot outside and the other nestled against the door propping it open, he could see it all. The giant thing chasing Myles was all muscles and teeth. It was vicious, and its eyes suggested it was enjoying the hunt. It easily dwarfed Myles, and it could cover more ground in one step than Myles could run in ten seconds. Mac was waiting for it to clasp its jaws around him, and it raised its head to snatch the man up into its mouth when it stopped. It gave Myles the extra second he needed, and he ran into the store with Beers tightly tucked up in his arms. Once they were inside, Mackenzie slammed the door shut and watched as the monster stopped again. It stood up on its haunches and called out. This time it was a soft sound, quieter than before. Was it calling to anything in particular, perhaps a mate or another of its kind?
“That was close,” said Myles.
“Yeah, too close,” replied Mackenzie as he peered out of the windows. After losing the chase for Myles and Beers, the monster had retreated to the hole from which it had first appeared. Mackenzie wasn’t fooled though. It hadn’t gone anywhere. It was just waiting, biding its time until someone else made the mistake of going outside.
“I need to see Michele,” said Myles. He stroked Beer’s fur, and the puppy nuzzled up against Myles. “I nearly crapped myself out there. It was the thought of not seeing her again, or not seeing our Alyce that…”
Myles bit his lip, afraid if he went on he would break down.
Mackenzie let out a sigh of relief and picked up a bottle of lemonade. He screwed the top off and took a drink. “Let’s get back there, see how Chris is doing. I’m sure your family will b
e pleased to see you’re still with us. Just do me a favor and don’t pull any stunts like that again.”
Myles nodded, and they quietly picked themselves up.
As they re-entered the store room, Beers bolted from Myles’ hands and ran straight to Alyce. Beers excitedly jumped up and down as Alyce tried to cuddle him.
“You okay? We felt the ground shaking in here.” Laurel took the lemonade from Mackenzie. “What happened?”
“That thing out there tried to make a snack out of Beers and Myles. Luck for them its aim was off.”
Mackenzie saw Myles comforting Michele, both of them watching Alyce carefully. The young girl was happy to see her dog and seemed oblivious to the danger they were in. As Mackenzie looked around the room, he wondered if he wasn’t missing something. That monster out there had great power, and yet it had stopped short of attacking yet again as it had gotten close to the store. He wasn’t sure how long their luck would hold out. It had gone back underground for now, but how long?
“Chris seems to be doing a little better,” said Laurel. “Maria’s got him wrapped up, and the bleeding has stopped. She gave him something for the pain, just some Aspirin. She’s nice. She has a good way about her. Akecheta says we can trust her. It must be hard having us all back here, but she’s not about to kick us out. There’s a small bathroom around the corner too, so we can stay put for as long as this takes. I assume it hasn’t gone?”
