Naturist, Red in Tooth & Claw

by Stuart Pitsligo

  Suddenly the creature threw itself towards her back, throwing her to the ground with it on top of her. She screamed as she hit the floor, and the staff outside the cage yelled in surprise, someone shouted “its attacking her!”, but it had made no move to bite her, only to hold her down.

  “Aaarrggghhhh!” screamed the woman, seemingly in agony, “its fucking me, get it off, its fucking me!” Her screams continued for several minutes as the creature thrust itself into her from behind, its grunts getting louder and louder in her ear. She screamed all the way through until the creature made one last loud grunt and fell back, seemingly exhausted. The second he let her go the woman scrambled through the double doors, blood streaming down her legs, screaming in pain with every movement, before rolling over and falling to the ground on her back once she was outside.

  “This event took place four months ago” the now familiar male voice began, “and the pregnancy that resulted in the victim has now been terminated. There was no indication that the foetus was infected, in fact it was healthy and normal. Doctor Mackenzie has made a full recovery from her ordeal with no physical ill effects. We have since determined that the urge for the subjects to mate is not consistent, only showing itself when the subject is both well rested and well fed.”

  “Shit, these things have sex drives” said John, surprised at this new development.

  “Why not?”, asked Heather, “These experiments deal with the most basic of human instincts, so the sex drive must be in there somewhere.”

  “Bloody hell, can these things breed?” said Chris, still struggling to take it all in.

  “Clearly they can”, Heather replied, “but the infection wasn't passed on, so it's not sexually transmitted. If the mother was infected I assume it might be passed on though.”

  “Hang on”, said John, “if it's passed on by bites, that means Annie...” His voice tailed off as all three turned to look at Annie. She was kneeling on the floor, looking up at Chris, her eyes dulled and lifeless like the creatures. She had pulled her shoes off and was now completely naked, resembling the wild animals the other creatures had reminded them of, seemingly with no trace of her humanity left.

  But she was not aggressive. There was no move from her to attack or to run, in fact she seemed almost submissive to them, her head bowed slightly as she looked up.

  Heather knelt down before her and took her hands in hers.

  “Annie” she said, staring into her eyes, “can you hear me, are you still in there?”

  But there was no response. She just stared endlessly at Chris, her eyes not leaving him.

  “What do we do with her?” asked Chris.

  “We take her with us” replied Heather as she stood up. “We're all naked, so she's not a threat. If we can get her back to my house we can contain her and try and get help.”

  “How do we get her back?” asked John, “do we tie her up and carry her.”

  “I don't think we need to.” Heather replied. “Look at her. Look at how she stares at Chris. She loved him with all her heart. I think there's something still in there that loves him and would follow him to the ends of the earth.”

  “Base instincts” said Chris, a sad emptiness echoing through his voice.

  “Exactly” said Heather. “She still loves you and she needs you, now more than ever. Now come on, we're getting out of here.”

  Heather turned to walk back out the door, but she stopped when they heard a noise coming from down the corridor.

  “It's more creatures, isn't it?” said John, “But we're naked, what are they doing here?”

  “You guys were wearing clothes up until a few minutes ago.” said Heather. “They must have sensed it and followed us.”

  As they began to move out the room, Annie instinctively got to her feet and followed. She grabbed hold of Chris's arm and held it tightly as they began to slowly walk back towards the exit. There was a creature in the lab, but it was seemingly dormant, slumped against the wall, watching them without any movement. More creatures were in the corridor to the exit, some standing, some shuffling slowly on the spot, others dormant like the one in the lab.

  Heather turned to the others, holding her finger up to her lips.

  “Shhhh” she said quietly. “Do nothing to attract their attention.”

  The group continued down the corridor, one slow step at a time. The creatures paid little attention to them, giving them nothing more threatening than the occasional glance. But as they moved further towards the exit, the glances began to linger a little bit longer. Then a creature turned to follow them slowly, then another. Before they realised it, there was a group of around a dozen of the creatures slowly following them at a distance.

  Annie seemed to notice it first, holding Chris tighter and making soft whimpering noises. It wasn't until Heather turned round to see what was wrong with Annie that they noticed their followers.

  “Uh-oh” said Heather as she stopped to turn and face the creatures, “this is new.”

  The moment Heather and the rest of the group stopped, the creatures stopped too. The creatures stared intently at the group, seemingly hypnotised by them.

  “Why are they following us?” said Chris. “We're all naked.”

  “They're not hunting us” replied Heather, “they don't hang around like this when they're hunting.

  “They're not following us” said John. “Look at them, they're all males. They're following Annie and Heather.”

  “He's right” said Heather. “Chris, you stay right by Annie's side, make sure they know you have a claim to her.”

  Chris nodded and wrapped one arm round Annie. She responded by nuzzling up to him, but no one could tell if it was out of affection or a feeling of safety. One thing was clear though. She wanted to be with him.

  The group began to move again, and the gathering mob of creatures continued to follow. More and more creatures joined the mob, some shuffling along, some crawling on their hands and knees. They seemed intent on staying close to Annie, always following, never stopping.

  Eventually, they reached the door. As they stepped out through it, the creatures seemed to pick up their pace, but Heather and John quickly pulled the door shut.

  “Okay, let's hope that holds them.” said John.

  “Well, they don't seem too smart” replied Heather, “maybe they won't figure it out. Either way, we'll be safe from them once we reach the boat.”

  Using the cover of their nudity, the group moved much faster out of the compound than when they came in. Their progress was swift out through the gate and through the forest. Annie slowed their progress a little, but her unswerving devotion to Chris kept her going.

  Down through the path they moved, passing the occasional creature that would begin to slowly stir as they passed them. But they were moving too quickly for them to be a threat.

  “Woah!” said Heather suddenly, stopping and turning round. “I know that face.” She walked up to the last creature that they had passed, a female that sat up against a tree by the path. Heather knelt down and looked her in the eyes, staring deep into her.

  “Who is it?” asked John.

  “Its Doctor Mackenzie” Heather replied. “At least it was.”

  “Who?” said John.

  “She was on the video, the one that got raped” Heather replied. “And look at her.” Heather placed her hand on the creature's large stomach. “She's pregnant.”

  “So they can breed” said Chris.

  “Apparently so” Heather replied before returning her gaze to the creature that was once Doctor Mackenzie. “Oh you poor thing.” she continued, “You did some horrible things, but do you deserve this?”

  Chris and John both looked at the creature, beginning to see her as a human being for the first time.

  “I don't know”, continued Heather, unsheathing her knife, “But you deserve this.” She leant back and pulled the knife up above her head before plunging it straight into the creature's eye socket. Heather stabbed her in the hea
d again and again as she screamed in anger .

  “You fucking bitch!” she screamed as something snapped inside her and with all her strength she drove the knife into the creature's skull. “YOU.....FUCKING....BITCH! You killed my family!” was all she said, over and over as each thrust of the blade sprayed the blood of the now dead creature over Heather's face and body.

  Heather began sobbing as she stabbed, her anger and strength giving way to her grief again. Eventually she just sat there crying, her hand holding loosely onto the knife embedded in the creature's skull. She felt the arms of John around her, and she fell into them, giving up her anger for the comfort they offered.

  John held her silently for a few moments, allowing her anger to subside. But he knew they didn't have time for this and that they needed to move.

  “Heather”, whispered John, “Annie's not safe here.”

  “I know” said Heather in a soft and almost timid voice as she looked up at John, wiping the blood soaked tears from her face. “I know” she repeated as she slowly stood up.

  “You okay?” said John as he looked at her face, his arms holding her by the shoulders.

  “No, not really” she said, shaking her head slightly, “but like you say, Annie's not safe.” She paused to wipe away another tear. “Let's go.”

  The group was on the move again, as the distant sound of an approaching mob of creatures could be heard from behind them. This time they didn't stop, nor did they intend to, not until they were safe.

  Eventually the forest path gave way to the open, sandy beach were their boat waited for them. Four creatures lingered by it and Heather, so full of anger and rage, decided to take no risks. She stabbed the first two creatures in the head before the rest of her group even realised what she was doing, and the other creatures, sensing some terrifying danger, slowly backed off.

  “We need to find Claire” said Heather, glancing across the beach, looking for some hint as to where she might be.

  “Surely we can't stay and wait for her” said Chris.

  “No”, replied Heather, “we'll circle the island, calling out to her. Hopefully she'll hear us.”

  “I don't think she's going to hear anything” said John as he looked into the boat.

  Heather's heart sank at the tone in John's voice. She began walking to the boat, a sense of dread overwhelming her. As she slowly cast her eyes into the boat, her worst fears were realised at the horrifying sight that she saw within it. Claire's body had been brutalised, most of the torso had been eaten with a few ribs and vertebrae remaining, leaving only from the waist down and her head untouched.

  Heather dropped to her knees, her hands clutching at the sand as her shoulders heaved with each heavy breath.

  “We've got company” said Chris as creatures began to emerge from the forest.

  “Come on Heather”, said John, kneeling beside her and placing his hands on her shoulders. “We need to go now.”

  “I want to kill them” said Heather through clenched teeth, “I want to kill every last one of them.”

  “Does that include Annie?”

  John's words made Heather sick to her stomach.

  “Those were people, weren't they?” said Heather in a weak voice..

  “Yes, they were” said John, answering Heather. “They might still be again, who knows.”

  “Guys, they're getting closer” said Chris as he watched the creatures slowly shuffling towards them

  Heather didn't move, instead she just stared into space. It was only when Annie began to whimper at the sight of the approaching creatures that Heather began to respond.

  “Can we get Brandon's body?” asked Heather as she stood up and looked across the beach to where they had left him.

  “That's a no then” she said in answer to her own question as she saw the mass of creatures between her and the body. She took one last chance to glance across at the island, this damned place that had brought so much tragedy to her life, before turning and grabbing hold of the boat.

  John and Heather pulled the boat in to the water and held it while Chris climbed in. Annie became distressed as he climbed in, but he quickly turned and lifted her into the boat. As John and Heather climbed in the boat began to drift away from the beach and into the currents, finally carrying them safely away from that place.

  Heather stared aimlessly at the sea as John began to paddle the boat back to the mainland. She thought about her parents, and their last seconds of life, captured on screen and seared into her memory for all time. She thought about her cousin, how she died alone and in terror. She thought about Brandon, lying dead on the island. But right now she thought most of all about Annie, who had lost her mind, given over to the insanity that the infection brought.

  Heather knew they couldn't take Annie back to civilisation. If she looked for help, Annie would be institutionalised or subject to experiments. And if she got loose, she could infect others, spreading the infection who knows how far.

  I can't abandon her thought Heather. There must be a way to save her.

  Chapter 24

  Flames rose into the air above the dunes as the sun slowly set on the worst day of all their lives. The boat had become the funeral pyre for the remains of Claire and of several other bodies they had found on the beach. Piled high with all the other driftwood they could find, the flames sizzled and crackled as the dampness in the wood boiled away in the heat of the fire.

  John and Chris stared at the pyre, hypnotised by the fire, feeling almost relaxed as their eyes lingered on the dancing flames. Heather stared at Annie, her mind racing, desperate to find some way to save her.

  “We can't go to the village” she said, thinking out loud.

  “Where?” said John.

  “The village to the south of here we were heading for before we went to the island.”

  “So where do we go?” replied John

  “We can't go back to your cottage” said Chris, “not with all those creatures out there.”

  “She'll be safe in my house” said Heather.

  “They'll go after her though, you saw them back there” replied Chris, “I don't want them to hurt her.”

  “We can protect her at my house”, said Heather,“and if we take her to the village, she'll attack anyone with clothes on.”

  “You don't know that” said Chris, becoming defensive.

  “And what happens to her when we reach the village?” said Heather. “They'll take her away, lock her up.”

  “I won't let them take her”

  “You won't be able to stop them. But bring her to my house, I'll look after her.”

  “We have to try” said John, joining in the conversation. “I'm willing to risk going back through the mountains.”

  “See?” said Heather. “Your friends are with you Chris, we're with you and Annie.”

  “We'll make it” said John. “We all owe it to Annie.”

  “Are we agreed then?” asked Heather.

  Chris and John nodded.

  “In that case” she continued, “we'll spent tonight close by the fire and leave at first light.”

  Heather sat awake by the fire, watching the light flickering on John's sleeping body. She gazed longingly at him, thinking of all the times the past few days he'd stood and fought at her side. He'd never given up, never backed down, never turned back. He'd been loyal, dependable and brave.

  He was everything she'd ever dreamt of in a man.

  She gently ran one hand across his shoulder, and down across his back. His skin was rough, bruised and scraped in a hundred places. But every swollen bruise she felt, every drop of blood she touched, all made her skin tingle with excitement. Her heart raced just touching this man, and she knew now just how much she wanted him.

  She'd waited years for the right man. Now she'd found him.

  But distractions were everywhere tonight. Soft moans came from the silence beyond the safety of the camp fire. Shadows seemed to dance in the distance, flickers of something beyond the
night, something close by, something dangerous.

  Reaching to the fire, Heather took a large plank of wood out the flames for a torch. It burnt brightly, and with its protection in her hands she walked away from the fire, into the darkness.

  She found herself standing between two huge sand dunes, the light from her torch flickering across the underside of their crests. The light from the main fire still burned brightly behind her, but in just a few feet she'd be round the corner and into darkness. Slowly, carefully, she began to make her way round the corner, her torch throwing light into the darkest places.