by Lex Sinclair
Tony pivoted, staring into the pitch darkness of the woods.
Greg’s heart pounded like a pneumatic fist.
Tony could have only been squinting into the darkness for ten seconds. Yet it seemed like an hour before he returned to pulling the limb out, followed at last by a decomposing corpse.
Bobbie gagged. The night vision goggles offered a clear view of worms and slugs slithering through the cavernous eye sockets and other facial orifices. He glanced at Greg whose face was a mask of terror. The man next to him didn’t look at all like Greg Zane. This whole day had been abnormal from the moment he say Amy at the local convenience store and remembered a couple of days earlier seeing Tony momentarily lit in the spectacle of the fireworks digging fervently. He didn’t know what he expected to find out coming out here in the freezing cold. Tony had clearly lost his marbles. Yet this was even more serious than that. Tony was digging up a dead body.
What happened next caused Bobbie to shriek and drop the night vision binoculars.
The rotting corpse sat bolt upright, arched forward and took a ravenous bite out of Tony’s outstretched arm.
‘Jesus fuckin Christ!’ Greg exclaimed. Then shot to his feet and hurtled into the woods.
Bobbie didn’t wait to see what the outcome would be. He pivoted and darted into the woods, scarcely seeing the dark shape of Greg moving through the woods like a speeding train. He swatted overarching branches and twigs out of his way. Behind him he heard the high-pitched wailing of Tony. The harrowing noise sent an icicle through his drumbeat heart as he ran hell bent into the welcoming pitch dark.
***
On the far side of the woods, Bobbie Hopkins found his friend, Greg Zane lying facedown in the earth whimpering.
At first he thought Greg was hurt from the fall. But a closer inspection told him Greg had collapsed in a heap, exhausted. They were middle-aged men sprinting through the woods at night having endured the biggest shock of their lives. Bobbie lowered himself to one knee and rested a hand on Greg’s shuddering form.
‘You okay, man?’ As soon as he uttered the words he realised what an asinine question it was.
‘What the fuck was that?’ Greg cried, tears running down his quivering face.
Bobbie shook his head. ‘Dunno, man. Don’t think I wanna find out, either. Know what I mean?’
‘Where are my binoculars?’ Greg spat, seeing Bobbie didn’t have them.
‘Shit! Must’ve dropped them. I’ll buy you a new pair.’
‘Did Tony just fuckin’ die or what?’
Bobbie contemplated this question for a moment. ‘I think so... Sure sounded like it. You heard the screams?’
‘Oh, I heard the screams all right,’ Greg said. ‘I’ll be hearing those screams echoing in the valley of my eardrums from now till the day I die.’ He paused. ‘Thanks again for inviting me out here with you and losing my binoculars. Thanks a bunch!’
‘I’m sorry,’ Bobbie said.
Greg manoeuvred himself into a sitting position. ‘What’re we gonna do now?’
‘Police, I guess.’
‘And tell them what?’
Bobbie sighed wearily. ‘Tell them what we saw.’
‘Which is?’ Greg said, wiping his tears away.
‘Greg stop being such a cock will you. I just answered that question. It’s not my fault what just happened. I’m as shocked ‘bout it as you are.’
‘You tell the police that we saw our friend digging up a corpse which then came alive and took a bite out of his arm before killing him and they’ll lock us up in a nuthouse.’
Bobbie did a double-take. ‘What’re you talkin’ ‘bout? We just show them where it happened?’
‘And if the bodies aren’t there?’
Bobbie realised their predicament. However, he was positive that the bodies - or at least one of them - would still be there. Positive, but not definite.
‘Please tell me you’re not suggesting what I think you are?’ Bobbie pleaded.
‘I want my night vision goggles, man.’
‘I’ll buy you another pair!’ Bobbie snapped.
‘I don’t want another pair. I want my night vision binoculars. And I want them tonight. You do that and we see some bodies, I’ll phone the police myself and collaborate with you. Mark my words.’
‘Suppose we shouldn’t have run anyway. Tony needed us, right?’
‘Even if he has been digging up a corpse,’ Greg said.
***
Tentatively, both men ambled through the black woods. Twigs snapped and fallen leaves crunched underfoot, jolting them. Neither man really wanted to do this. However, their story sounded outlandish. Furthermore, if they didn’t have any evidence they could both get rebuked for making a prank call and wasting police time. This wasn’t a normal occurrence. This was something that both men saw in a horror film shown late at night on T.V.
An owl tooted overhead. Greg thought the full moon, shining like a silver disc and the owl noises were an ominous omen. He wanted to turn back the clock to an hour ago. He wanted to go home and sit in front of the T.V. He didn’t want to have any knowledge of what had gone on that he and Bobbie had witnessed.
The alders stood towering, sentries of the night. Birds fluttered their wings and sailed from treetop to treetop. The activity should have comforted them. Instead the sudden noises jolted their hearts. Greg could just about make out the last row of alders and firs as they neared the opening. Nearing the meadow where tranquillity had become a distant memory dispersing into tiny fragments.
They slowed to a halt when they reached the opening and got their bearings. Then Bobbie pointed to where the earth had been disturbed by Tony’s pick axe and spade. He glanced back over his shoulder, eyes glittering in the moonlight. Greg’s Adam’s apple worked convulsively. His eyes protuberant and alert.
Bobbie gave him the ‘thumbs up’ of approval. Greg saw the gesture but didn’t respond. A part of him loathed Bobbie for encouraging him to come out here and see the macabre. Okay, Bobbie didn’t know what they were going to see. However, had he not met up with his friend in the pub earlier and agreed to come with him to spy on Tony he wouldn’t be trembling with fear.
Greg scanned the terrain for any signs of Tony. The land was quiet and empty, save for his binoculars lying on a carpet of pine needles. He hurried over to retrieve them. Bobbie watched, wondering whether Greg would bother to return or merely walk away. At least he’d found them. That made him feel a bit better.
Greg lifted the night vision binoculars up, looped the strap over his head and peered through the eyeholes. The scope had altered and for a second he could see all the intricate lines on the bark of the nearest alder. He adjusted the lens, refocusing. Then he turned the night vision light up a few notches.
He exclaimed and leapt back inadvertently, hitting the back of his head against the unforgiving stump. He heard footfall running, drawing closer behind him, out of sight. He hoped it was Bobbie... and the not the motionless silhouette standing amidst the trees, facing him.
‘Christ, Greg!’ Bobbie gasped.
The binoculars dangling from his neck, Greg struggled to penetrate the dark.
‘What happened?’
Greg tried to sit up but groaned in agony at the lancing pain in the back of his neck. Argh. Goddamn it.’
‘What happened? Bobbie repeated. ‘You saw something, didn’t you?’
‘Yeah,’ Greg grunted.
‘What?’
‘Someone standing over there staring right at me.’
Bobbie turned in the direction Greg pointed and saw no one. He turned back, lifted the binoculars off his friend and used them to see through the pitch dark.
Nothing.
He scanned the woods, to and fro. All his senses were on high alert. But he didn�
��t see, hear or even sense something - or someone - foreboding nearby.
‘Was it Tony?’
Greg considered this for a brief moment. Then said: ‘It was just a shape.’
‘You hurt?’
‘Nah, I’m just lying here for a laugh.’
‘You know what I mean,’ Bobbie said.
‘Think I’m all right. Bad landing, that’s all. Gimme a hand up. Take it easy, though.’
Bobbie got on his haunches, gripped Greg’s hands and with a lot of exertion hoisted him up. He nearly dropped him. But he managed to catch Greg as he started toppling backwards. ‘Jesus Christ. You had a good Christmas.’
And in spite of the night’s harrowing events, both men laughed.
‘What now?’ Greg asked after using one of the alders to keep him upright.
‘You okay to walk?’
‘Just gimme a minute first.’
Bobbie nodded in acquiescence. ‘Gotta check the holes for any proof. Then we’ll decide what to do next. That all right?’
Greg rubbed the nape of his neck, wincing. ‘Hope we don’t find any bodies, man. I dunno how much more my heart can take.’
‘Me too,’ Bobbie said, solemn. ‘Me too.’
After a good five minutes, Greg followed right behind his friend to the meadow that stretched out in front of them. The holes in the ground made the open land look like a giant minefield.
Bobbie slowed, took a knee and gestured towards the torch lying on the upturned earth.
‘Does it still work?’ Greg asked.
Bobbie reached out and then withdrew his hand as though he’d been stung.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘It’s wet,’ Bobbie said. Then he picked the torch up, flicked the switch.
In the torchlight, both men saw the fresh crimson liquid drip off the brightly lit glass.
***
Greg and Bobbie deliberated what they’d found and what they were going to do.
‘Whose blood is this? Tony’s?’ Bobbie asked rhetorically.
‘I don’t think so.’
‘You think the shape was Tony?’
Greg sighed. ‘Oh, I dunno. It’s fuckin’ pitch dark out here. I hit my head. And, I’m not interested in being Columbo. I just wanna go home, if that’s all right with you?’
‘And what if this is Tony’s blood. He could be in trouble?’ Bobbie said, still holding the torch.
‘Then it’s his own fault for coming all the way out here and digging up a corpse! Perhaps he should have thought of that before burying a human being.’
Bobbie shook his head, frustrated. ‘You want to just walk away and not do anything about this?’
‘Yes,’ Greg said, matter-of-factly.
Silence descended.
‘I don’t know if I can,’ Bobbie said. ‘But I need you to support me if I report this to the police.’
‘Report what exactly?’ Greg snapped. ‘It’s pitch dark. We’re trespassing - and in the midst of the dark we think we see our good friend, Tony, digging up a corpse he must’ve buried a while back. But we can’t prove that this statement is accurate ‘cause there is no corpse. On top of that, there is no Tony in sight. What we do have is a discarded torch that could be anyone’s, with a couple of drying drops of blood on it and holes in the earth. Also, Tony’s pick axe and spade are gone.
‘Now, if I were a police officer and I’d been called out by two locals who’d been drinking before wandering onto private property and I had listened to the story with just holes in the ground and a torch with some blood on it, and nothing else, I’d be dubious. Do you see what I’m getting at?’
Reluctantly, Bobbie nodded.
‘If we had a body, fine. I agreed to that. We don’t, though.’
‘Okay,’ Bobbie said, dejected somewhat. ‘Let’s go.’
They traipsed across the meadow back to the stile and clambered over the fence. Then they crossed the main road. Neither man spoke to the other. There wasn’t anything to say.
5.
NOW
January 2, 2015
There was something unnatural in relation to the enveloping fog.
PCSO Eric Leibert felt the unnerving ambience settle into his marrow. Here he was in a small town where the town residents had suffered greatly. And now, he could not see five feet in front of him or hear any familiar sounds. No birdsong. No distant engines growing louder as they neared and not even a faint sound or indication that anyone else was conscious.
‘Diana, I don’t think going out looking for Tulisa right now is a good idea.’
‘What? Why?’
‘The fog,’ Eric said. ‘If you lived in Rhos Meadow then perhaps you could get your bearings and return home. Tulisa can’t be far, I’m sure.’
‘How can you say that? If she hadn’t gone far, she would’ve heard me calling out to her.’
‘Fair point,’ Eric said. But how about we head over to the service station and see if there’s a phone and call for back-up?’
‘I need to find Tulisa,’ Diana said.
Eric could feel Diana’s grip tighten around his clammy hand.
‘Yeah, I know. But I can’t even see my own feet never mind a missing girl.’
‘You’re supposed to protect and serve the public,’ Diana said through gritted teeth. ‘Tulisa didn’t just wander off, she was kidnapped.’
‘Doubtful,’ Eric said, doing well not to lose his patience.
‘But not impossible, though,’ Diana replied.
‘Look, I’ll tell you what we can do; turn on our fog lights and I’ll put my siren on. But if you are right about your little girl being kidnapped that’ll only drive the perp away.’
Eric felt Diana’s hand slacken. He didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not. Then he heard a whimper escape the traumatic woman.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But I have to be honest. I’ve never been in this situation before. I don’t have the training for something like this. I’m thinking logically. I can’t take the chance with the siren. On the other hand, the flashing beacon on my patrol car as well as the fog lights on both cars might help penetrate the fog. I doubt it but it’s worth a try. Then we can check if there’s a phone in the service station. It’s a start.’
‘Okay,’ Diana wept.
‘I’m sure she’s fine. It took me an age to find you in these conditions. Your daughter is young, frightened, in a new place and blinded by the fog. And anyway, the fog won’t last for ever.’
Hand in hand, Eric and Diana crossed the filling station at a snail’s pace. Eric tripped on the first concrete step leading into the convenience store. Diana heard him grunt and felt him topple forwards as he barked his shin and asked if he was all right. Then they proceeded.
Inside the store the lights were on but nobody was home.
An eeriness Eric had only read about overwhelmed him at the ominous sight. Something about an open shop that was brightly lit but unattended and as quiet as a graveyard reduced him to a little boy.
Diana let go of his hand and Eric pivoted and for the first time laid eyes on Diana. She was in her mid-thirties and her long brown mane was prematurely greying at the roots. Her sapphire coloured eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. When she smiled at Eric he could see it took a lot of effort. Hope exuded her tender, fearful gaze. Hope that he’d find Tulisa and repair her damaged heart. Fear that if he didn’t, her heart would be irrevocably destroyed. Eric’s confidence wavered as he stared into her otherwise striking eyes. Now that he’d seen Diana, and memorised the natural beauty of her features to match her stricken, pleading tone, he knew he’d never recover if he didn’t find Tulisa.
You’re supposed to protect and serve the public, Diana’s voice echoed through the valley of his mind.
Eric shrugged inwardly. ‘Is that a good thing or not?’
‘It means for a young man you’ve got common sense and intellect. That’s a good thing.’
‘I’m gonna go to the back of the shop see if there’s anyone around. Do me a favour, stay where you are.’
‘Understood,’ Diana said. Then she averted her gaze to the aisle of snack food. ‘Do you think anyone would mind if I took a bar of chocolate?’
‘As long as you can afford it, sure,’ Eric said without any trace of humour.
‘But there’s no one here,’ Diana said, sweeping her right arm around the deserted shop.
‘That may be the case. But it’s against the law to steal.’
The sapphire eyes pierced Eric’s gaze, frustrated. Then a warmth from somewhere deep inside surfaced. ‘You go by the book at all times no matter what.’
‘The day I stop enforcing the law is the day I stop being a police officer. Pay for it if you want one. Don’t steal.’ With that said Eric glanced around the shop and saw the door to the restrooms. He strode down the aisle, focused.
Diana fished out some loose change and laid it out on the counter. Then she came back down the aisle and took a Crunchie bar, tore open the gold wrapping and ravenously bit through the block of chocolate layered biscuit. The sound of crunching in her ears was deafening.
Meanwhile Eric pushed open the restroom door and saw a beige wall in front of him and two white doors on either side. On his left was a diagram of a disabled person and on the right a diagram of a person standing upright.
He checked the disabled toilet first. Nothing.
Then he pushed open the door to the able-bodied people on his right... nothing.
A sense of relief washed over him. It was only in that moment that Eric realised how anxious he’d been that he’d find the shop attendant either knocked unconscious or gagged and tied down. Nothing like that, though.
Maybe if there had been a sign on the entrance door saying BACK IN 5 he wouldn’t be so suspicious and on edge. But it was as though he and Diana had woken up from a deep sleep with no recollection of how they arrived here. He felt as comfortable about the current situation as he would have done had he found himself stranded on another planet.
