Afraid of the Dark

by Chris Hechtl

  “Ma'am, I want to know the truth. Are you willing to contribute to this group? Or are you just going to be a leech?”

  “I... I'm not a parasite!”

  “You could have fooled me,” Bill said. “The definition of a parasite is someone who lives off of another while doing bodily harm to them.”

  “We're not hurting anyone! You've got plenty of food!”

  “We've got food for now. And Bill is right. If you aren't contributing then you are a problem. A parasite.”

  “So... what do we do with them?” Roberto asked.

  “Well, the lady,” he nodded to the woman, but by the tone of his voice he was making the lady part as ironic as he could, “is going to be escorted to HR and will get her ID card. Then she's going to either find a job within twenty four hours or she'll be escorted out of here. She wasn't apparently involved in the crime so we can't hold her.”

  “And her partner?” Bill asked before the woman could object or put her foot in her mouth.

  “He's guilty of theft and assault. Possibly other charges. I'm thinking a little judicial punishment is in order.”

  “Hanging?” Bill suggested. The woman's eyes went wide. She bit her lip.

  “No, that's a little extreme. No, I was thinking of something... medieval.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Jen glared at him as he turned. She had her hands on her hips and her eyes were flashing. “Afternoon babe,” he said.

  “Don't even start. What the hell is this?” she asked. He turned.

  Their erstwhile Robin Hood was in a pair of metal stocks he had Jesse fab up in the middle of the lower section of the mall, right behind the elevator. He was on a platform for all to see. People were pausing to look at him and the sign at the base of the stocks.

  “Judicial punishment.”

  “It’s cruel.”

  “So is life. He assaulted a couple with a knife. Tried to rob them and threatened their lives. He's apparently been living off the grid with his wife for the past week, sucking what he can from anyone he can.”

  “So...”

  “So, I'm not going to give into my dark side and hang the bastard. Or cut off his hands or some other part of his body. But this will punish him while serving as a warning for others.”

  “Oh.”

  “So it’s not you getting your kink out?” Jayne asked from his off side. He turned and cocked an eyebrow as he snorted. Jen had obviously told stories out of school.

  “Jen knows better than that.”

  “Sometimes I wonder,” Jen muttered. She blushed a little though, remembering some of their more... kinky adventures.” She brushed her hands. “How long is he there for?”

  “Doc's going to check on him regularly, so I'm just heading that question off. He's there twenty three hours a day for four days.”

  The man heard that and moaned.

  “Of course,” Shane turned to look at him. “If he disturbs the peace we'll either gag him or he'll be dropped outside of our borders somewhere far from here.”

  The guy's eyes widened and he shook. He shook his head. “I'll be good, honest!” he said over and over.

  “Good.” Shane turned to the ladies. “Now,” he said, resting his arms over each of their shoulders. “I think we've got a dinner date and then a council meeting. My day was shot, but I at least will be here to attend the council meeting this time.”

  “What about feeding him?”

  “What about it?” he asked as they walked. “He gets bread and water and some supplements. That's it.”

  “Oh.”

  “The couple were just his latest victims. We've been getting reports of others now that he's been exposed. Apparently he threatened to kill anyone who reported him. So no, I don't have any sympathy for him. None whatsoever.”

  “Serves him right,” Jayne growled.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  On the fourth day Robin as everyone called him was released. He shook and groaned as he got up and stretched. His wife rubbed his shoulders and glared at everyone. Wayne and Torres took them in hand.

  When Shane wondered about their whereabouts he asked Wayne.

  Wayne shrugged. “Gee, he must have taken a walk.” He had his best innocent expression on. Shane shook his head and left it at that.

  The warning that if someone broke society's rules they would be punished started to filter through the group. Also that a career criminal would not be tolerated. If they misbehaved and it continued they would be dropped off outside.

  This freaked some people out, but others who had been angry over malingerers and people who had been getting away with causing hate and discontent nodded grimly.

  HR reported a run on ID cards and the job listings for several days after Robin was released.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “What stinks?” Shane demanded. He turned to see a couple people holding vials of some blue crystal ick at arm's length. “Someone want to tell me why you have that crap?”

  “Piss actually,” one of the guys answered, wearing a respirator. “Your wife wanted it.”

  “What is it?” Shane demanded.

  “Crystalized predator piss. From the big cat like creatures. She's got a theory that they are marking their territory.”

  “Okay.”

  “So?” Someone else asked, turning away and swallowing. The stench was bad.

  “So, she said something about zoo's use it to keep animals in check. You stick this around a perimeter and the animals wont cross it. They smell predator and go the other way.”

  “You are talking herbivores.”

  “And small carnivores,” Jen said. “Oh dear, that does have a pong,” she said, waving a hand in front of her face as she coughed. “Let's get that outside. We'll take a small sample to the lab. The excess we'll dribble around a test perimeter. We'll need cameras...”

  Shane shook his head as his wife took charge of her helpers and walked them off. He took a deep breath and then coughed. “Damn stuff lingers. Someone get some air freshener,” he growled.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The second week of October they arranged an election and vote. It was all electronic. The new temporary rules were overwhelmingly supported. Also, a vote of confidence for Shane and the council as the leaders of their community was put through and overwhelmingly supported without his knowing. He was amused by that when he found out.

  Chapter 33

  Torres scowled as they got out of the truck. One street after another. There was no end to this. They cleaned an area only for the damn things to come right back the next night. Or the night after that. They had stopped trying to dozer entire neighborhoods; they just didn't have the fuel to support that sort of effort. The aliens bred like cockroaches, filling the void almost overnight.

  She saw four eyes and claws in the drainage slit and her scowl deepened. “Gremlin,” Torres said, nodding her chin to the drain. She was behind Ursilla as the woman came around the truck. Ursilla turned. “Where, the hedge?” she asked, hand going to her sidearm.

  There wasn't much left of any of the hedges. Or most of the Terran plants for that matter. Without water they were dead or dying. The alien plant eaters just stripped them bare, right to the roots sometimes and then moved on. The alien plants were cropping up where there was water, but that was getting scarce. That was keeping them small and contained.

  Ursilla nodded to the others. “We've got some rats to flush out,” she said snapping her fingers to the others. Tom grimaced and grabbed his flame thrower.

  “Nah man, let's do this another way,” Torres said. She opened the back of the SUV and pulled out a camera on a stick.

  “Somehow a Dunham joke is floating around somewhere,” Ursilla said shaking her head.

  “Funny,” Torres said. She checked the camera. Gabe had rigged it with a video screen on the handle end so they could see into stuff.

  “Here,” Torres said, taking out a popper on a stick.

  “Okay, disco?” T
om asked smirking. She glared at him. He shrugged it off. “Yeah, yeah, I know, get serious,” he grumped. He pulled a crowbar out of the truck and then headed over to a manhole cover further down the sidewalk.

  “Posts people,” Torres said, handing out tools. Jimmy and Jake were already taping IED packets to poles. Jake swore and shook his hand as he cut himself on a jagged piece of metal sticking out from one of the packets.

  “Why the hell did we switch from nails to junk?” he asked, popping his thumb in his mouth.

  “Cause we've got a lot more jagged metal than we do nails and screws,” Ursilla growled. “We need them to make stuff. We don't need piece of shit tore up cars.”

  “Ah,” he said as he finished tapping his IED. “Ready,” he said looking up to Torres.

  “Right,” she said, going over to where Tom was and sticking the camera down the manhole. She panned the camera around, not seeing anything on the bottom of the sewer. She tipped the pole at an angle and smiled as she spotted red eyes glowing at her from the ceiling.

  “Gotcha,” she muttered. She did a count. She could see at least a dozen Creeplings, maybe one or two midsized Gremlins. They were hanging from the ceiling by their damn claws, like bats.

  “Dozen,” she said, turning around the rim of the opening to check in other directions. “Just the pack here,” she said, using the blade of her hand to point in the direction of the pack.

  Ursilla nodded. She went to a manhole in the indicated direction and popped the cover off with difficulty. She put a popper down and turned and gave a thumbs up.

  “Jake...” Torres said.

  “I'm going, I'm going,” Jake said heading over with his IED. His partner Jimmy, a freckled red haired teen came over with his own IED and Popper.

  “Let's do this,” he said excitedly. Tom just shook his head as he stepped aside for Jimmy to set the popper down. “Ready,” he said.

  “They're moving your way Ursilla,” Torres said watching the pack. A few had dropped to the bottom of the sewer and were splashing their way in her direction. They were walking like chimps, swaying. They hissed at the light streaming in from the openings.

  “Popper going on,” Jake said. He flipped a switch and the popper came on. Dazzling light flooded the tunnel. They could hear screeches. The sound echoed since it was in the cement tunnel.

  Jimmy grinned and flipped his own on. “Got it,” he said as Torres pulled the camera stick out. They could see lights flickering and a loud high pitched speaker.

  “Ready?” she asked as Jimmy ran the wires from the IED up the pole. Each IED was like a claymore, a shaped charge behind a shrapnel pack. They would more or less throw the shrapnel in the general direction they wanted, toward the enemy.

  “Almost, yeah, there,” he said nodding.

  “On your end?” Torres asked looking over her shoulder to Ursilla and Jake. Jake gave a thumbs up as he dropped the IED down. He angled it in the right direction for the most effect.

  “Remember Jimmy, angle it so it gets the ceiling this time,” Torres said over the caterwauling under their feet.

  “Yeah boss lady, I got it,” the kid said. He twisted the pole and then moved it so it was at an angle and then stepped back. “All set,” he said, holding the detonator switch in one hand.

  Tom and Ursilla pulled the poppers and then laid flat against the ground.

  “Fire in the hole!” Jake said, squeezing the trigger. Jimmy did his right on cue. Torres and the others crouched and took cover covering their ears.

  The IED's went off with muted roars, flinging shrapnel and flames down the tunnel to intersect at the drainage slot. There was a flare of fire and smoke, then debris, most of it purple and blue guts, spurted out of it.

  “Damn that's cool,” Jimmy breathed getting up and dusting himself off. “Can we do it again?” he asked.

  “Plenty more of them where they came from kid,” Tom said slapping his shoulder. He looked over to Torres who was checking the hole with the camera. She gave a thumbs up after a moment.

  “Yeah, unfortunately,” Torres said, shaking her head. “Come on, we're burning daylight.”

  ...*...*...*...*...

  “Boss, boss!” Shane woke to someone shaking him. He looked up to see Jolie, Kyle's kid shaking his arm. He scrunched his eyes closed and turned away when she shone her flashlight in his face.

  “Get that thing out of my face! What? What is it?” he asked muzzily, trying to prop his eyes open as he wiped at his face. “What?” he looked at the clock. It was two am.

  “Boss, dad said to find you. Sparks got a call on the radio. A ship is on the way.”

  “Huh?” he started to sit up. Jen stirred beside him.

  “What's going on?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

  “Go to sleep honey, I'll take care of it,” he said. He kissed her cheek then got up. He put a finger to his lips and led the kid out.

  “What is it?” he asked again, taking the time to put his boots on and then wrap his belt on and check his pistol.

  “Sparks said it's a ship. Gunship he said. Dad said it's a puffy looking to do some damage.”

  “Oh,” he said nodding. He rubbed his hair and then shrugged. “Be a good kid and get me some coffee. Some for your dad and the others as well please.”

  “Sure,” she said trotting off.

  “Right,” he said softly, looking back to Jen, longingly thinking about getting back under the covers. He'd been up another eighteen hours and had only just gone to bed an hour ago. Damn he felt like shit. He shook himself and then hefted his shot gun and started moving.

  “What's up?” the sentry asked. He waved him back. “Sparks got someone on the line who wants me to hold their hand apparently,” he said in passing.

  “Can't they call at a decent hour?” the sentry grumbled. “People always gotta call when you’re on the shitter or sitting down to dinner.”

  Shane smiled a bit, nodded and moved on a little faster.

  He rounded the last corner a few minutes later and noted the door to the radio room was open. He could see the light spilling out and hear the excited chatter. He pushed through the half open door into the room.

  Hernandez looked up and grinned. “Boss man we've got some help above.”

  “Really?” He wasn't surprised Mateo had beaten him in.

  “Yeah, puffy man, dragon ship. She's going to rain on these alien mother fucker's parade something sweet. Wish I was outside to see it.”

  “What's the hoot?” he asked turning to Kyle.

  “C-130 out of Nevada. She's been tasked to clear the area around the base if possible.”

  “Ah, I take it Firebrand was a scout?” he asked.

  “No idea. For all we know they could have had a predator drone overhead and we'd never have known it,” Kyle said shaking his head.

  “Maybe,” Hernandez said, nodding sober.

  “Okay, so what do they want from us?”

  “A lay of the land. We told them to focus on the lakes man; they just hammered Lake Mathews and Lake Perris. They're not quite out of ammo yet so they want to do some more damage before leaving the area,” Hernandez said.

  “Um...” He rubbed his jaw, ignoring the stubble. “Um... He turned and looked at the map. He traced his fingers over it.

  “The Moreno valley ranch lakes?” Sparks suggested.

  “Too tight to get in there, it’s too close to some buildings that are still occupied I think,” Kyle said.

  “Canyon lake area maybe. It’s all track housing here,” Shane said pointing and tracing his finger along the lake. “We can't get in there, its too dense.”

  “Yeah, I see where you're going,” Hernandez said. “Want us to see if they can clear us a road?”

  “Maybe. See what they say. Tell them to light up this area.”

  “Puffy this is Mall Three, your target is Canyon Springs lake.”

  “Can you get a laser on it?” the pilot returned. Kyle glanced at Shane who shook his head.

  “N
egative its over our horizon Puffy, we can point you in the right direction though,” Hernandez said.

  “What are you doing?” Kyle asked.

  “Giving them something to go on instead of just a general direction.”

  “Um...”

  “He's right,” Shane said. He turned as Jolie came in bearing a tray of coffee. “Jolie, want to take a walk?” he asked grinning.

  “What? I just got here!” she said.

  “Outside I mean,” he said, smiling even more as her eyes widened.

  “Dude, you're nuts!” she said.

  “No, just the roof,” he said, pointing up. “We've got to laser an area for the boys in blue to hit.”

  “So I get to call the fire?” she asked eyes suddenly lit up.

  “That's the plan,” Shane said amused. He glanced at her dad. “If its okay with you?”

  “Keep her safe, that's all I ask,” the man said, nodding.

  “Good, let's go,” he grabbed a laser designator off the shelf, knocking a manual on the floor. “Oops,” he said.

  “I'll get it,” Hernandez said, waving them. “Get going, that spooky can't orbit forever man,” he urged as he bent over.

  “Roger,” Shane said. He and Jolie broke into a sprint for the nearest ladder.

  “What's going on?” the sentry called.

  “Calling the ball, fireworks inbound!” Jolie said running.

  “What?” the sentry asked then radioed it in as they got to the access and went inside.

  They managed to get up the ladder without dropping the laser then through the network of gear on the roof to the area he wanted to be at. Just over the barn. He wished he'd brought a camera. Something to show the people that something was going on. Damn. He'd have to check with Gabe, see if they could pull footage from the security cameras. It may not be much, but it would help morale a bit.

  “Okay,” he said softly hunkering down. He didn't whisper, whispers could be heard easier than a soft voice sometimes. He handed the girl the laser.

  “Its like a gun. Point it at where we want them to go,” he said, pointing in the direction of the lake.

  “Okay,” she said hunkering down. She took a kneeling two handed stance and pulled the trigger. “Like this?”