“That guy is batshit crazy,” said Bill, huffing and puffing as the two of them hurried down the unlit hallway. “He even killed the birds, and they weren’t even dangerous. I think he enjoys it,”
“I know,” Joe agreed. “We need to warn the others.”
They reached the seminar room and Joe shoved open the door. Everyone inside woke with a start, shouting out garbled utterances as they were yanked away from their dreams. Joe closed the door and leant his back up against it. “Everyone wake up.”
“We’re already awake! What’s going on? Are we under attack?” Joe recognised the startled voice as belonging to Grace.
“Yes, would you care to explain?” said another voice that could only have been Randall’s.
The room lit up. Joe saw that Bill had managed to rustle up some torches from the stockpile and was placing them around the room to light up as big an area as possible. Joe could now make out the concerned faces of the others in the room. Fortunately, Danny was still asleep.
My son could sleep through the end of the world. Lucky for him, because that may just be what’s happening.
“Victor’s gone mad!” Joe blurted it out, unsure of any other way to approach the subject.
Randall stood up and moved to the centre of the room. “What on Earth are you talking about?”
“He’s in the lab, right now” said Bill. “Hacking away at all the animals in their cages. They’re all dead.”
“That’s good isn’t it?” Shirley asked. “They were a danger.”
Mason was shaking his head, a hand against his brow. “No, no, no. We agreed that they were to be left alone.”
“That’s beside the point,” said Joe. “What matters is that Victor is going around killing things like a twisted maniac.”
“Of course he is,” said Randall. “That’s exactly what I advised him to do.”
Both of Joe’s eyelids opened wide. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I said I told him to do it. The animals in those cages were dangerous. How could we rest with an enemy within our boundaries? Plus, the meat they provide may prove invaluable in the days ahead.”
Mason sighed. “They were invaluable until Victor killed them all.”
“I stand by what I said. We are in too much trouble to risk those things getting out. I voiced my concerns to Shirley and Victor, and Victor was happy to oblige. The man is doing us all a service.”
“I agree,” said Shirley. “Those beasts would happily have done the same to us.”
Joe shook his head. What could he say? There was a certain amount of logic to their argument and, if he was honest, it did feel safer knowing that the caged animals were no longer a concern. It didn’t make him feel any better about Victor, though. The image of the Scotsman dripping with blood and shrouded in shadow was permanently etched into his brain. Regardless of what anybody said, Victor was dangerous.
Joe just didn’t know how dangerous yet.
Chapter Seventeen
The morning arrived in silence. No birds sang their morning tunes and no cars hummed along distant motorways.
The world was still.
Randall had been awake for five minutes, but had done nothing except observe the others sleeping. The incident during the night had riled everyone up, but they had eventually gotten back to sleep. Victor had not returned, most likely still gutting the animals in the lab, collecting their meat. Randall found out that Victor was a Scot’s Guard as a younger man and more than capable of doing the tasks that others were not. Whether the group agreed or not, Victor should be commended for his pragmatism, not derided.
It had been enjoyable to watch Joe and Mason back down and accept that harsh methods were needed, not fluffy thinking. They needed to understand that normal rules no longer applied. Randall was going to teach them all that lesson one way or the other.
The room began to glow as cold grey shafts of dawn-light crept in through the gaps in the window’s barricade. The others in the room began to stir. Randall noticed that there was one other person, besides Victor, who was missing. Grace wasn’t there.
Where have you gotten to, my pretty? This is no time for a woman to be walking around unescorted.
Randall pushed himself up off the floor. His joints cracked, his fifty-year-old body unhappy at spending the night on a thin pile of cushions. It wasn’t something he was sure he could ever get used to, but for now there was no other choice. He stretched out his arms, listened to his elbows click one last time, and ambled over to the seminar room’s exit. Thankfully no one woke and he was free to go about his business undisturbed. He intended to find Grace and see what the woman was doing, but first he had other things to attend to. Randall was satisfied that the corridor outside was empty of both people and, more importantly, animals, so he stepped outside.
He approached the Head of Primates office across the hall and opened the door quietly. Once inside, he closed it just as carefully behind him. The key to the room’s filing cabinet was in his pocket and he plucked it out, using it on the lock a moment later. He took a packet of biscuits from the middle-shelf and popped one into his mouth.
Breakfast.
Once he’d finished several more biscuits, Randall placed the packet back inside the cupboard and grabbed the next item on the shelf – his Blackberry. He pressed the ‘ON’ button and waited for the phone to boot up. It took several minutes, but when it finally activated, something unexpected occurred.
< ONE NEW MESSAGE >
Randall thumbed at the keypad clumsily, failing several times to get the message up, but eventually succeeding. He could not believe what it said:
RE: Emergency Communication
This is a Government message to all cellular devices. Emergency Rescue Operations are on-going at the following locations: Aberdeen, Bristol, Barnham, Blackpool, Dudley, Leicester, Ipswich, Nottingham, Oxford, Preston, Salford, Torquay, Taunton, Warwick, Winchester, Yeovil. If you are able to, please head to these areas. Help will be forthcoming. Do not approach any animal.
Randall stared at his phone for several minutes, re-reading the message over and over. Despite his misgivings, the Government was indeed addressing the situation and were possibly even gaining a foothold. Or are they? Randall considered that the message could have been sent automatically by a dusty computer in the Home Office, and that the areas mentioned were already overrun by animal attacks. The message did not guarantee that help was available. They were probably still safer staying put. Some of the locations were nearby – Leicester especially – and it was perhaps an option to try and reach them. He would have to think about things before making a decision.
Randall switched off the Blackberry and placed it back inside the cabinet. He locked it up and pocketed the key. Then he left.
Outside, in the hallway, he bumped unexpectedly into Victor. The man had cleaned himself up and was now wearing a baggy, brown jump suit that looked as though it belonged to the zoo’s maintenance staff.
Randall raised an eyebrow. “New outfit?”
“Aye, I found it in the warehouse. My other clothes were a wee bit…sticky.”
“Indeed. What are you up to now?”
“Just checking the building’s security, making sure none of the furry bastards can get in.”
Randall patted the man on his shoulder and moved past. “Keep up the good work.”
As he walked back down the corridor, Victor shouted after him. “And what exactly have you been up to, pal?”
Randall stopped and turned around. He thought about the message on his phone before answering. “Me? Nothing, Victor. Nothing at all.”
The less you know the better, my friend. Until I decide otherwise.
Victor scrutinised Randall for a few minutes and eventually cracked a crooked-tooth smile. “Well, let me know if you need help with whatever it is that you’re not doing. I’m very good with secrets.”
Victor sauntered off, leaving Randall alone to consider his comments.
Chapter Eigh
teen
Joe awoke to screaming. He it was Grace as soon as he saw she was missing from her bed.
Danny woke up. “What’s happening, Dad?”
“I don’t know. Stay here while I find out.”
Danny looked worried, but nodded. Joe patted him on the shoulders, kissed his forehead. He then scrambled over to Bill. “Bill, watch Danny while I go find out what’s going on. I think it’s Grace.”
“Of course, go!”
Joe entered the corridor, wanting to rush but trying not to until he knew the situation better. Another scream sounded and he couldn’t help but pick up speed.
The noise continued, coming from one of the offices on his right. Joe pinpointed it to a room marked JEFFREY CARLSON, HEAD VET. He opened the door and pushed himself inside. Grace stood in the middle of the room, shrieking, and clutching at her face. Joe examined the floor in front of her and saw the reason why.
“What the hell?”
She flinched at the sound of Joe’s voice and looked over at him. Her eyes were unnaturally wide. “What do I do?” she asked.
Joe peered down at the creatures by her feet – massive, hairy spiders and armour-plated scorpions. The zoo’s entire creepy crawly menagerie was surrounding Grace in a tightening semi-circle of hissing, spitting menace.
Joe stretched his arms out towards her. “Grace, very slowly…come here.”
Grace shook her head. “I can’t. They’ll get me.”
As if to agree with her, several tarantulas rose up on their hind legs and hissed. A cloud of bristly, brown hairs filled the air around them. Grace let out another scream.
“You have to move now, Grace! They’re getting closer.”
Grace stopped her screaming and attempted to get herself under control, almost hyperventilating in the process. Joe held his breath, waiting for her to do something. It was a relief when she finally managed to take a step backwards.
“That’s it. Really slowly.”
Grace took another step but one of the tarantulas scuttled around and blocked her path. It stood between her and Joe.
How the hell did it know to do that? Spiders can’t behave like this, can they?
“Stay still, Grace. I need to think a second.”
The creatures moved closer. She shrieked again, but managed to get it under control before it took hold. Joe glanced around the room for something to help, but it was just an ordinary office and most the furniture had been taken out. There was nothing he could use.
So he did the only thing he could think of.
Joe lifted his size-eleven trainer and brought it down on top of the tarantula. It hissed and squirmed beneath his heel, but he kept the pressure on, feeling its spindly legs snapping with each twist of his ankle. He lifted his foot again and expected to see a sickly mush, but it was just the same spider – crumpled and broken, but the same.
“Grace, come on!”
Grace saw the opportunity and found enough courage to make a run for it. She took several lunging steps towards him and threw herself into his arms. For a few moments, Joe just held her, glad that she was safe. Then he realised they weren’t out of the woods yet. “We need to get out of here,” he said, grabbing Grace by the arm. She winced and Joe saw why. “Hey, what happened to your wrist?”
Grace eyed the thick gash on the back of her forearm, then looked down at the army of approaching arachnids. “Now’s not the time.”
Joe leapt to the door and held it open. Grace ran through it, followed by a scuttling army of thrashing scorpions and spiders.
Joe slammed the door shut, catching an obsidian scorpion against the frame and crushing it to a viscous pulp. “Are you…okay?” he asked Grace between panting breaths.
Grace nodded, but tears had released themselves and were gliding down her cheeks. “I’m fine.”
“So, are you going to tell me what happened?”
Grace stared at the floor. “I….I woke up and I was cold, so I was looking for some blankets. Those things just came out of nowhere. I still don’t know how they got inside.”
“But how did you hurt your arm? It looks really bad.”
Grace held up the puckered wound and examined it. Blood was still coursing from the cut, but had started to slow down. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe one of those things got me.”
Joe wasn’t buying it. Something about the way she wouldn’t look him in the eye told him that other things were going on. He shook his head. “They wouldn’t be able to do that type of damage. That’s a cut not a bite.”
Grace’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know then. Does it matter?”
“It does to me, but let’s just get it patched up for now.”
Grace tensed up, the features of her face contorting under a sudden rigor.
“You okay?”
Grace stopped breathing, bent over and slumped against the wall. Her leg shot out to the side. Joe looked down and saw something moving.
A bright yellow scorpion was deeply embedded in Grace’s calf by its stinger.
She screamed.
Joe reached down and grabbed the vile creature. The feel of its brittle exoskeleton was repulsive as he flung it against the wall. It shattered upon impact.
But what damage has it done already?
Joe turned to Grace.
Just in time to catch her fall.
Chapter Nineteen
Joe rushed into the seminar room with an unconscious Grace in his arms. He prayed that it was shock and not some sort of toxin from the scorpion.
Mason leapt up from behind one of the desks. “What’s happened?”
Joe lay Grace down on top of the nearest table. “She got bitten by a scorpion.”
Mason went pale, all colour flushing from his cheeks. “What did it look like?”
“I don’t know. It was small and yellow.”
Mason held his head in his hands before staring hard at Joe. “Leiurus quinquestriatus.”
“In English?”
“Deathstalker Scorpion, also known as the Israeli Desert Scorpion. Its venom is amongst the worst of all species.”
“Why the hell would you have those things around?” asked Bill, rushing over to help.
Mason shrugged. He looked so tired that even such a simple movement seemed like an ordeal. “They were kept in the World of Venom building. How they got over here, I don’t know.”
“They’ve gotten smart,” said Joe. “There were spiders and scorpions in one of the offices. They attacked Grace in a group, working together.”
“This is not good. Arachnida have been affected.”
Joe rubbed Grace’s forehead and brushed her damp hair out of her face. “Let’s worry about that later. We need to help her.”
“There’s little that we can do,” Mason explained. “Get some soap and clean the wound, then elevate her leg. With rest, she should hopefully be okay. There’s adrenaline in the lab if she has an allergic reaction, but that doesn’t seem to be the case fortunately.”
“Why did she pass out then?”
“Shock perhaps. Maybe it’s blood-loss from that cut on her arm. How did she get that?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me.” Joe examined the gash on Grace’s arm. It had started to dry, but the surrounding area was caked in dark brown blood. It needed stitches.
Danny came up and held Joe’s hand. “Is Grace going to be okay, Dad?”
“She’s fine, Danny. Will be much better after a sleep.”
“You promise?”
“Of course. You remember when Macho Man got bitten by Jake the Snake’s python, don’t you? He got better.”
Danny smiled up at him. “Okay.”
Bill returned with a bottle of hand soap and started rubbing it on Grace’s bite. The flesh was red and swollen. Joe gathered some cushions and piled them beneath her ankle. She was still unconscious, but seemed peaceful, as though trapped in a gentle dream.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” said Bill.
“I hop
e so.” Joe looked around the room and saw that both Victor and Randall were missing. Shirley was still napping at the back of the room, obviously uninterested in recent events. “Where are Randall and Victor?”
Bill shrugged.
“I’m here and Victor is in the hallway,” said Randall, entering the room. “Is that alright with you?”
Joe turned around. “Fine. Just like to know that everyone is safe and accounted for.”
Mason stepped in front of Joe and addressed Randall. “And what is Victor doing in the hallway exactly? Looking for more endangered animals to hack to pieces?”
“We already discussed that, Mr Mason. It was agreed that Victor’s actions were in the best interests of the group.”
Mason took offence to the man’s statement and told him so. “Actually it was not agreed, Mr Randall. It was a decision that you seemed to make all on your own.”
“Yeah,” Bill added. “What gives you the right to make decisions for the rest of us?”
Randall placed his palms together in front of himself as if to implore their mercy. “Now let’s be reasonable, my friends. In the current circumstances things need to happen with a certain amount of…urgency. There is not always time to consult one another and hold a team meeting. Shirley, Victor, and I did what we thought was best. If it wasn’t a popular decision then I apologise, but it has happened now so let’s move on.”
Joe sighed. “Just don’t make decisions behind our backs again, okay?”
Randall rolled his eyes, but nodded in agreement. A moment later, he seemed to finally notice that Grace was lying unconscious on the table. He raised a coarse black eyebrow at the others curiously.
“A scorpion bit her,” Joe explained. “Hopefully she’ll sleep it off.”
“A scorpion? Things keep getting better and better. I assume the danger has been dealt with?”
“Dealt with, as in the room they were in is locked up and secure.”
The BIG Horror Pack 2 Page 73
