by Maxey, Phil
Jess turned around to her daughter. “It will be okay. Like Meg said, this is very remote. There will probably not be—”
“Probably?” The word spurted from Sam’s mouth. “You want to risk our lives on a ‘probably?’”
Meg caught the young girl’s gaze in the rear mirror. “A few more miles and we’re running on fumes. Do you want us to be stuck out here? It’s a long way to walk to another town.”
“I… I…”
“We’ll be careful,” said Jess. “No need to worry.” She produced another of her smiles, which disturbed her daughter even more, but Sam stayed silent.
“Can I use the restroom…” said Tye.
“Yes! Good idea,” said Meg. “I need it too! I’m busting my britches!” Her enthusiasm was an attempt to make the boy smile, but he merely looked back out into the darkness.
Flag poles, their fabric hanging limp and frozen, quickly came and went within the main beams of the car, then signs highlighting the upcoming motorway rest stop, as well as a nearby inn. All were hardly noticed though by the occupants of the sedan, each person being too focused on the surrounding darkness.
Meg took a turnoff and drove onto the lot of the gas station, which looked as if nothing had changed in the world. The row of four pumps sat innocently, a brushing of snow covering their displays and roughly ten yards beyond, a wide building with a triangular roof and dark windows, which were in contrast to the sign above them.
“Happy eat time…” said Jess, mirroring the gold on white writing.
Meg stopped the car alongside a pump. “Everyone stay in here while I go and try and fill up the tank. If this works and it looks like we’re alone out here, then we can all go to the rest stop together.” Everyone acknowledged the plan and Meg got out, while a gust of cold air came in. They all watched her run around the back, pull the nozzle out and heard her remove the gas cap. The sound of flowing fuel then followed.
“It’s working!” said Sam.
“Yes. I told you. All will be fine,” said Jess. Sam’s brow tightened with a frown and she looked at the building they were about to head towards. She couldn’t see any movement within, but that didn’t stop the hairs on the back of her arms standing up regardless. The clang of the nozzle being replaced made her jump a little, so entranced was she by what could lay outside.
Meg pulled her door open, leaning in. “It’s darker than a bear’s tooshie out here, but I don’t think there are any—”
“We have to leave! Leave, and…” Everyone looked at Jess, who suddenly seemed lost. She looked at the others in the car. “We’re running out of time. We have to get to Missouri, to get the vaccine.”
Sam leaned forward, putting her hand on top of her mothers. “We will mom. But Tye needs to use the restroom, and we can get some stuff here.” Jess nodded, pulling her hand away and pushed her door open.
Meg turned the engine off, but left the lights on, so they would have at least some illumination of the route to the building.
Each was struck by how quiet it was around them. Even the wind which had been buffeting the car on the highway, had fallen silent.
“It’s very quiet…” said Tye.
Meg looked at him. “That’s good. Means we can hear if anything is coming towards us.” He nodded. She looked at the entrance, with its glass multipaneled double doors. “Okay, I’ll go first. Jess, you stay at the back, make sure nothing’s coming up behind us.”
They hurried past the other pumps, across the forecourt, each in the small group straining their senses beyond the few feet that the car’s headlights allowed them, and they were soon on a sidewalk, then path to the entrance doors.
Meg held her hand up, making those behind her pause as she walked forward slowly. The beams from the car hardly gave any clue as to what was inside, but she could vaguely see shapes which she thought were shelves containing chips and candy, and to their side, magazines on a wall rack. She Looked back at the others then the car, then turned back to the door and turned the handle. The door opened with a slight creak and she pushed it all the way, stepping over the threshold. Everyone waited for the inevitable rush of noise and fury from a creature… but none came. Meg turned and ushered everyone inside and then pulled the door closed behind them.
Tye wondered over to the sweets. “Can I have some of these?”
Meg nodded. “Yes, take what you want. Everything’s free today, kid. I thought you wanted to use the restroom?”
He looked into the gloom, beyond the racks of clothes, to where seats for an eating area sat. “I do, but it’s…”
She walked forward. “Come on. I’ll take you.” She looked over to Sam as Jess was already lost around the other side of an aisle. “Can you keep an eye on the car and outside?” Sam nodded, then continued pushing packets of crackers, breakfast fruit bars and bottles of water into a backpack she had pulled off a stand.
Jess had already found her own pack, but was filling it with different things. Her focus was on maps and guides to the way out east. She wanted to keep to the back roads. That would be the best way to hide and—
A noise made her spin around, while backing up into the shelf of books, knocking some to the floor.
Her daughter looked at her, holding a large plastic flashlight. “I found these…”
Jess shook her head. “Yes. That’s good. Umm, make sure we all have one.”
Sam walked towards her. Jess knew her daughter. It was obvious she had something important to say.
She wants to talk to you about what happened to Josh and—
She whirled away from Sam, making her daughter stop suddenly. “And we need some of these road guides. But, it can’t be a dirt track, because we’re running out of time, before…” She looked over the bookshelf, as Meg and Tye reappeared. “You should use the restroom as well.”
Tears ran down Sam’s face, but instead of telling her mother of the pain she was feeling, she wiped them away, putting the pack on the floor and walked past the older woman and the boy.
Meg handed Tye another of the packs. “Fill this with as much candy as you want. And drink, but not all soda!” It was the first smile Meg had seen from the boy. He turned and ran to the food section. She turned to Jess. “We got lucky with this place. We should grab as much stuff as possible. Might not get another chance. How we doing on time?”
“Umm, yeah, that’s a good idea. Er… Not good. We need to get back on the road.”
“You know exactly where to go, right? The address?”
Jess didn’t, but she wasn’t ready to tell anyone that and just nodded.
*****
6: 15 a.m. Highway 70, heading east.
Landon was glad to be able to turn the wipers off. The snowfall had decreased to a few infrequent pieces that melted on contact with the windshield. He looked at Josh and felt a wave of emotion that he quickly suppressed. It wasn’t so much for the close call they had back in the town, but that Jess must have thought they were both dead for her to leave. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through…
He looked at the converging lines of the road beneath the headlights.
She’s on this road, just an hour ahead. We’ll catch up. She won’t have to carry the pain for much longer… She’s strong.
He wasn’t a hundred percent sure that the few seconds he saw of the rear window, as the sedan disappeared into the darkness, also contained Sam’s silhouette, but his gut was telling him that she was with her mother. And that was enough for him to have hope.
He looked back to his son and the small dog laying at his feet and smiled.
Why haven’t you changed? Meg’s dog changed, but you… Ah…
It hadn’t occurred to him until that moment, that animals, perhaps certain species could also be immune.
What should we call you? he thought, racking his mind for a good dog name. Then realized there was a small silver disc hanging from the small canine’s collar.
Bet your name’s on that. We’ll I’ll find out next
time we stop.
He wondered how much time they had left to get to Missouri. How many hours before…
Don’t think about it. Just drive.
His thoughts turned to Daryl and Arlene.
Stupid…
The chances they would both be alive by noon were slim, especially if they ventured out into the streets. They hadn’t seen the number of creatures that the small town contained. They didn’t know what was waiting for them…
He shook his head.
“Do you have a headache?” said Josh.
Landon looked to his right with a smile. “No, I’m good. Just a bit tired. It shouldn’t be too long before we catch up with your mother and Sam. Maybe another hour. How’s your new friend down there?”
Josh looked down at the dog who looked up. He patted his head. “Think he’s okay.” Josh pulled up the plastic bag, pulling out some candy and gave a piece to the dog.
“Not too much, it’s not good for them.”
“I know…”
Silence returned to the cab of the old truck, which lacked any bed, its back just being a chassis. But its V8 engine purred as they charged along the highway.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
7: 06 a.m. Trailstone.
Daryl laid his finger on the blind and applied the slightest of pressures to pull it lower. The street outside was serene. The snowfall was thick, covering everything in a blue-white smudge, but the sky above was clear, allowing the rising sun to get to work on melting the ice.
“How’s it look?” said Arlene behind him. They were in a front office, one which was close to the entrance to the single-story set of offices.
He scoured the dark windows opposite of a few stores, and the alleys dividing them, but couldn’t see even the hint of something there that shouldn’t be. “Looks… clear.”
“See! The cop didn’t know what he was talking about. The monsters are sleeping or something. That’s how it was in Rocky Pine. They don’t come out much in the day. We go out, find some food, water and somewhere to be warm. Maybe an apartment, few stories up, where the monsters won’t go.”
It was a good plan. Maybe she was right, he thought. “Looks like there’s a neighborhood to the left. I can see some hedges, fences and houses behind some trees. That’s the direction we need to head towards.” He looked back at her. Defiance mixed with fear in her eyes. “You ready?” he said.
“Hell yeah, I’m ready! I’m starving!”
“Stay close to me. If we see a thing, we run to the closest building. Got it?”
“I can run pretty fast. Don’t worry about me.”
He smiled, turning back to the street which looked clear of any danger. They moved out of the office, into the narrow hallway. After a little tug to free the ice around the frame, Daryl pulled open the glass door and listened for any movement, but there was just a light breeze. He stepped out onto the snow, his boot sinking a few inches into it and quickly whipped his head across the buildings opposite. To his right, the street moved deeper into the small town’s retail area. Larger buildings with glass fronts. But to his left were pleasant looking homes hidden behind white lawns, some of which contained half-buried Christmas decorations. “Looks good. Come on,” he said over his shoulder.
He started to move towards the residences when he realized Arlene wasn’t behind him. He turned. She was still standing outside the entrance, looking at the stores, twenty yards away. “What are you doing? Come on!” he half-shouted, half whispered, his frustration becoming a white cloud.
“We could get what we need from the stores!”
He shook his head, nervously looking at the other streets. “Are you crazy? There’s going to be food in people’s houses!”
“Nah. We should go into the town. I’m going this way.” She started walking away from him.
“That’s not the plan!”
“New plan,” she said without turning, breaking into a run.
He sighed and quickly caught up with her just as she got to an intersection. A car wash sat on one corner, its shutters open as if they never had a chance to close. But ahead lay the heart of the small town. Stencil covered glass fronted stores lined both sides of a wide road, with offices above them. A few vehicles sat parked outside some of the establishments and everything was covered in a foot of snow. Just another winter day.
He looked back to the way they had come. Nothing looked different, but an odor hung in the air. The smell of burned timber mixed with a more toxic, chemical smell. The motorhome was only a block away.
“Lets find some food!” Arlene ran forward across the road, sounding almost excited. He quickly followed and they moved past a hair salon, clothes shop, appliances store and finally arrived at what she had been looking for. A cafe. She cupped her hands to see through the glass as Daryl looked the other way at the darkness that resided behind all the other stores’ windows, and then higher to the—
The sound of shattering glass broke the silence. He flicked his head back to Arlene holding a metal advertising boarding, and the broken entrance in front of her. She burst out laughing at the look of shock on his face and dropped the implement of his anger.
“The monsters are sleeping! We’re fine!” Before he could respond she bent down and crawled through the new hole she had just created.
“Arlene! Wait! You don’t know what’s in there!” But she was already through the jagged gap and moving behind the counter inside. His eyes darted from street corner to street corner, waiting for the slightest of movement.
The door opened. “You hungry or not?” she said through the gap.
He frowned, pulling it open and went to step over the threshold, but stopped. An inclination or perhaps something else made him turn around, and as he did, his expression became one of horror.
“Hey they got pies,” she said, her face pressed up against a clear case of baked goods. “Should still be good…” She turned to him. “What is it?”
He almost wanted to keep what was a few hundred yards away to himself. Ignore the nightmare that stood, motionless in the center of the street. It was the biggest of the things he had seen. Standing at least twice as tall as his five-foot ten inches, but worse was it appeared to be standing on four spindly insect legs, the front two much larger than the rear and within them was a seething mass of movement. Eyes? Jagged orifices opened and closed.
“Oh god…” Arlene had peered outside, then fell back in the store. She started shaking the glass food case, trying to get it open, but it resisted her efforts.
Something moved to Daryl’s left, causing him to flick his head in that direction. Now it was his turn to waver. He backed up against the frame of the door instinctively, even though the two other things were further away than the first. These were small, but more hideous, being assembled from obvious human parts. One in particular almost froze Daryl with fright. Its bottom half was human legs, even clothed in pants, but its top was just a snapping serpent-like mouth, without even limbs or appendages. Somehow seeing these things in an otherwise bright and beautiful day was worse when they were mostly hidden by the night.
The incessant rattling of metal and glass finally shook him back to his senses, and he turned angrily at the girl. “We have to go!” He moved the few feet into the store, grabbing her by the top of the arm and dragged her back to the entrance. Her eyes widened on seeing the other creatures. He pointed at a three story brick built building on the far opposite corner to them. It looked the more secure of the buildings, he thought, and he didn’t reckon on the things being able to climb or jump to the roof if that’s where he and her ended up. “We’re running for that place!”
This time she didn’t protest and both set off across the icy sidewalk, then road, their hearts beating in time with their arms, their boots trying to gain grip on the slippery surface.
Daryl glanced left and right, catching glimpses of the things.
Moving towards us!
His brain had already entered panic mode, and he jumped over a h
eap of snow and ran up the small set of steps to the secure looking entrance, crashing into it, frantically trying the handle which did not give way. “It’s locked!” He whirled around, instantly seeing certain death, no, worse, absorption.
“Down there!” shouted Arlene at the bottom of the steps, looking along the side of the building. “There’s a fire escape!”
He scrambled down the steps, grabbing hold of the pillar as he pivoted around the corner, and sprinted after her. She was already jumping up trying to pull the bottom of the metal rung down but it was above her head and he leaped and grabbed it in one movement. As the ladder slammed into the ground and she started climbing, he looked to the end of the alley. The first creature, the big one, lumbered into it, its awkward limbs being unsuitable for quick movement. It scraped along the wall bringing masonry with it.
“Come on!” shouted Arlene from above.
Daryl quickly climbed to the first floor and pulled the ladder up. The other creatures, smaller, faster, more agile were now also in the ally, bounding towards them. He clambered up a set of metal stairs to the third floor just as the whole fire escape shuddered. The thing, twenty feet below screeched, but he ignored it and climbed the final ladder, stepping out to the roof and looked back down. “Shit, it’s climbing up! I didn’t think it could do that!” He spun around, looking for another way off, but there wasn’t one.
“What are we going to do!” screamed Arlene.
He turned to her in rage and fear. “You did this! You should have listened to me!”
The clanging from the fire escape was now joined by roars and more screeches. He ran across the small roof to the side facing the main street and almost felt sick. “There are… too… many…” Countless things filled the ice covered space in front of the building. Even in the middle of his terror and acceptance of his fate, he realized something even more fear inducing. The creatures weren’t attacking each other, in fact it looked like they were—
