by Carver Pike
“How many of these do you have?” Gabe asked.
Language reached around behind him and nonchalantly shot a harbinger that was only a couple of feet away.
“I thought these things only traveled in groups of fifty or so!” T-Nate yelled.
“I guess this is more than one group!” Sergio replied.
“Gabe’s image has really pissed some people off!” T-Nate screamed out as he blasted another harbinger between the eyes.
Language handed Gabe two more grenades and then raced over to where Ty was doing his best to help Dozier navigate the rugged cave floor. He hopped on one leg for the most part, only setting down his injured one when necessary.
Gabe was still back in the cave when he glanced over his shoulder and saw that Language, Ty, and Dozier had reached the cliff.
“There’s water at the end of this cave, right?” Gabe asked T-Nate and Sergio. They both shrugged their shoulders.
“I guess,” T-Nate replied. “It’s called the falls!”
“Maybe that’s cause people always falls,” Sergio joked.
Gabe pulled his trigger and fired at a couple of harbingers. They were beginning to thin out, but loud cackling could be heard from farther back in the cave.
“Let’s hope the name relates to water somehow!” Gabe said.
“Jesus, how many of these things are there?” Sergio asked.
“It’s like a big one’s back there giving birth or something!” T-Nate said.
Gabe stared down at the three grenades in his hand. “Fuck it,” he said. “Get ready to move.”
Sergio looked down at the grenades and nervously returned his gaze to Gabe. “I hope you’ve got a good plan, hombre, cause we ain’t gonna be able to hold these little motherfuckers off for much longer.”
Sergio and T-Nate continued shooting at the oncoming harbingers. Gabe stood in a pitcher’s stance with a grenade in his hand. He looked down at it for a moment and contemplated what he was about to do.
If he screwed this up one of two things could happen; the shrapnel and fire would destroy the three of them or the walls around them would come tumbling down before they had the chance to get out. If he did it right he could possibly kill most if not all of the attacking creatures.
“Alright!” he yelled. He removed the pin and launched the grenade over the monsters’ heads and into the back of the cave. “Run!”
Gabe, T-Nate, and Sergio stopped shooting and ran. Gabe removed the second grenade’s pin and tossed it over his shoulder. The blast from the first grenade was powerful. It shook the walls of the cave and dropped debris down from overhead.
The harbingers howled as the shrapnel and fire consumed them. Gabe, T-Nate, and Sergio didn’t look back at the damage. They were too busy trying to reach the end of the cave, with several harbingers hot on their trail, chomping their teeth and cackling, when the second grenade went off.
Sergio rolled his arm around and aimed his gun. He pulled the trigger while he ran and blew the legs off one of the creatures. They quickly came upon the cave’s opening.
“Toss the other grenade!” T-Nate yelled.
“Not yet!” Gabe replied.
They raced towards the barely lit opening of the cave, not even contemplating what they would do when they reached it. A gang of harbingers was only a few feet away from them. Gabe pulled the pin out of the remaining grenade and clutched it in his hand tightly.
“Jump!” he yelled.
He rolled the last grenade behind him as they reached the cave’s opening. Gabe launched himself over the edge of the cliff with T-Nate and Sergio close behind. They leapt out of the cave, plummeting towards the rocky pool below, uncertain of its depth.
Two harbingers dove out of the opening, chomping their teeth in mid-air as the fire shot out behind them. It licked at their heels and they screamed in pain, still very much alive. The cave opening crumbled, sending ash and debris down over the pool surface.
Gabe hit the water first, spiraling towards the pool floor in a white cascade of bubbles. T-Nate and Sergio touched down safely somewhere else in the pool. Gabe peered up above him and saw that one of the harbingers was swimming aggressively towards him, paddling its arms wildly.
He pointed his gun at the creature, praying that it would fire under water, and screamed an inaudible scream as he fired shots at it. The harbinger jerked backwards when the bullets slammed into it, sending streams of red out its back. The creature’s eyes went lifeless as it sank.
Sergio struggled to hold his breath as he wrestled with the other harbinger. They rolled around under the water. He dropped his gun as he held the beast by its shoulders and tried to dodge its head. T-Nate swam towards them, placed the muzzle of his gun at the monster’s head and pulled the trigger. Sergio turned and swam to the bottom of the pool. He found his gun half buried in the muddy bottom.
The men all popped up at the water’s surface at the same time. They swam to the rocky shore where the others were waiting. Lisa’s relieved expression was priceless. She let go of the Soothsayers arm and ran to help Gabe up out of the water.
“Oh thank God,” she said as she met Gabe at the shore and wrapped her arms around him.
He pulled back and stared into her face, contemplating kissing her, but then pulled her in close for another hug. The timing wasn’t right for their first romantic encounter. He wasn’t sure if the timing would ever be right.
“I thought you were dead,” Lisa cried.
“Not me,” Gabe assured her.
T-Nate raised his hands in victory and shouted at the collapsed cave above. “Ha! Take that, motherfuckers!”
The Soothsayer looked directly at T-Nate as if he could see the excited man in front of him. “There will be more,” he said.
“How many more?” Dozier asked.
“Too many to fight. You must go to the train and leave here immediately. Come now, let’s go to the surface,” the Soothsayer said.
Gabe grabbed Lisa’s hand and gave it a squeeze as they followed the Soothsayer.
Chapter 7 - Beer and Chips
The other side of the mirror, the side where people mowed their suburban lawns and children were free to visit daycare. The other world, where the sun shone down on beach sunbathers and fans could sit without worry and laugh at comedic actors on the big movie theater screen, where there was no real fear or pain or agony.
This was the world he now inhabited, and unlike the others around him, Cutter was there for one reason, and that was to bring horror to a world that knew none.
On this day, Cutter walked into a gas station and past the attendant on duty, a young nerdy type with long greasy hair and glasses. His unbuttoned work shirt sat open as if it were a jacket only meant to be draped over his vintage Atari T-shirt.
The attendant glanced up at him for only a moment, then continued reading the comic book on the counter in front of him.
Cutter walked down the aisle, letting his fingers run over every bag of chips. A couple of them fell over and onto the floor. He was still overwhelmed by how organized everything was on this side of the mirror.
If you found a store on the other side, it was usually full of voodoo-type items and raw materials wrapped in leather hides. There were no yellow packs of fruity bubble gum or plastic bottles full of green dew meant to caffeinate your body. There were no prepackaged food items.
He picked up a piece of beef jerky and eyed the package, amused by the fact that a piece of meat could be left on a shelf and not go bad. He peeled the package open, took a bite of the dried meat, and then chomped on it a bit before he spit it out on the floor.
He was after something that would give him the type of buzz that a little bit of the orange powder, coral, would have given him on the other side. He’d slapped Ivy around a little bit until she told him that beer would give him a bit of a buzz, but not nearly as much as the drug he was used to.
Cutter reached the cooler, perused the many selections that stocked the shelves and then finally set
tled on a twelve-pack of Heineken. He hoisted it out of the cooler and then marched towards the door, grabbing a large sack of potato chips along the way.
The attendant looked up from his comic book in time to see that Cutter wasn’t planning to stop by the counter on his way out the door.
“Uh, hey, buddy. You plannin’ to pay for those?” the attendant asked.
Cutter turned around and stared at the attendant, raising an eyebrow in his direction. He couldn’t believe that this pipsqueak was challenging him. He’d never paid for a single thing on the dark side of the mirror and he’d be damned if he was going to pay here.
“Yeah, you. Habla Español? Dinero?” the attendant asked sarcastically.
Cutter kneeled and placed the twelve pack and chips down at his feet. He walked over to the counter where the young greaseball stood with his arms folded in front of his chest.
“Uh, I’m gonna need those to scan ‘em, buddy,” the attendant said.
He gave a short laugh as if he couldn’t believe the stupidity of the man in front of him.
“Buddy?” Cutter asked. He’d never been called buddy before.
“What?” the attendant asked.
Cutter noticed a map display. He reached over, retrieved one, and tucked it under his arm. The attendant leaned over to see what he was doing, and as he did, Cutter sprung forward, grabbed him by the hair and slammed his face into the wooden counter. Blood splattered out of the man’s nose and mouth.
Cutter reached into his belt and pulled out his large hunting knife. He moved the blade back and forth and admired the way it glinted in the sun shining through the window.
But as quickly as he was amused, he lost interest. He turned back to the cashier and ran the blade across his forehead. He sawed back and forth, scalping the young man as he screamed in agony.
When he was done, Cutter strutted out of the gas station. Murder was a way of life for the notorious image and it was his ruthlessness that earned him his horrific reputation.
He enjoyed being a wanted man. If someone wasn’t looking to kill him, he had no need to watch his back, and with that came the loss of adrenaline that constantly pulsed through his veins. Such a loss would be like the loss of life itself. This is why he clutched the attendant’s bloody scalp in one hand, swinging it from side to side, letting the blood drip down over his dusty boots
He reached Gabe’s car in the parking lot and tossed the bloody scalp through the driver’s side window and onto the dashboard. He took the beer and chips with him to the trunk, where muffled cries and banging sounds greeted him from within.
Cutter was amused by the occupant’s desperation and her willingness to completely piss him off even though she knew very well what his anger could bring. He slammed his closed fist down again and again on the trunk
“Shut…the…fuck…up!” Cutter yelled.
He popped the trunk open. There, inside the cramped space, lay Ivy tied up with curtain rope. Duct tape stretched over her mouth. She was bruised and battered. Dried blood had caked at small cuts all over her body as well as in the corners of her mouth and nose.
Ivy tried to scream, but the tape drowned out all but the deep, muffled groans. She breathed heavily and tried once more to scream. Cutter had had enough. He leaned forward and punched her in the mouth one time before ripping the duct tape off.
Her eyes rolled back in her head as she started to pass out. Cutter wasn’t about to let her off the hook that easily. He grabbed her by her bangs and yanked her head upright. Her eyes slowly began to focus until she was as alert as before.
“Cutter, let me go, please?” she begged.
He ignored her and grabbed a beer, flicking the bottle cap at her. He watched it bounce off her forehead, took a sip, then poured the beer all over her face. She turned her head and winced as some of the booze splashed into her eyes.
“Thirsty girl?” Cutter said, and laughed. “You hungry, too?”
He opened the bag of chips and poured half of them on her before he slammed the door closed.
“Let me out!” Ivy screamed.
Cutter laughed and banged on the trunk.
“Eat up.”
He walked over to the driver’s side and climbed into the car. With a swat of his hand, he sent the bloody scalp flying onto the passenger seat, where he parked the rest of the beer next to it. The rearview mirror captured his attention so he glanced up at it and gave his reflection a wink.
“Handsome son of a bitch, ain’t he?” Cutter asked himself, then laughed.
Next, he pulled the map out and unfolded it. He studied it for a few seconds and then ran his finger through the sticky blood that had pooled on the seat beneath the scalp. Then he drew a circle around New York City.
Chapter 8 – Crazy Train
The Soothsayer led Gabe and the others out of a tunnel that exited onto a desert plain. What had been a grey, stormy morning had managed to change to the black of night. The cracked earth begged for water and the dull night air was an inkblot above them. No stars riddled the sky.
The world around them was lifeless and eerily quiet, intensifying the sound of the wind blowing and their feet crunching against the parched ground.
The Soothsayer’s guard held onto his arm and led him carefully away from the cave, with the only remaining torch in his hand. Gabe followed with Lisa holding onto his arm. The others weren’t far behind.
Dozier still limped along, but seemed to be doing much better. He was a hardened man, toughened up by his stay in the dark mirror world and there was no way he would allow himself to be defeated by shit eating little creatures like the harbingers. He’d reminded them all of that fact any time someone asked if he was okay. Dozier lifted his aching leg up off the ground and shook it.
“Be good as new in no time at all,” he said.
The Soothsayer walked ahead of the rest of them. He opened his arms wide and tilted his head back a little, enjoying what little breeze he felt. In the stillness of the night, even the dark side of the mirror could seem peaceful.
“You need to head north to catch the train,” he advised them.
“Wait, aren’t you coming with us?” Lisa asked.
“No. This is your journey. I’ll go back to the Dwellings and wait for your return. If you return,” he replied.
“How do we even know that this freight train is in working order?” Gabe asked.
“It always works,” the Soothsayer informed him. “It’s how food gets back and forth between the provinces. The farmers supply the food and Colossus makes sure that it is delivered.”
Gabe’s interest was piqued. He’d assumed that there was no order, no rhyme or reason for the way things took place in the insane world around him. To hear that there was actually a system in place to ensure that food was delivered seemed unreal.
He’d seen a man jab a syringe into another man’s neck. A man pushed another man into a bonfire and laughed about it. How could there be order in such a place?
“Farmers?” Gabe asked. “You guys have farmers over here? I thought everyone was a killer or a rapist or…”
“Violence and rage is everyone’s nature here, but some have become good at controlling it, like those living in the Dwellings. People still have their talents and some of those people are farmers. Like the hunters and gatherers of the old days,” the Soothsayer preached.
“And who is this Colossus I keep hearing about?” Gabe asked as he touched the brand on his chest.
The reminder of Gabe’s brand seemed to excite the Soothsayer. He whirled to face Gabe, with his pupil-less eyes staring him down. He wagged a finger in the younger man’s direction.
“You are in great danger. You have been marked as property of Colossus. There is a bounty on your head now and you will be hunted until you are either turned over to him, or you are dead and your head is handed to him.”
Lisa grabbed Gabe’s arm and stared up into his face with a look of extreme concern. Gabe ignored her and kept his attention on the S
oothsayer.
Dozier limped forward and angrily approached the blind oracle. He stood with his hands on his hips, demanding an answer.
“And you didn’t see this comin’?” Dozier asked. “You’re the damned Soothsayer. You’re supposed to see everything.”
Language stepped up and put a hand on Dozier’s shoulder, attempting to calm him down, but he shook her off.
“I still ain’t convinced that you saw anything about this guy,” Dozier said while jabbing a thumb in Gabe’s direction.
“I’ve never claimed to see everything,” the Soothsayer said. “I only speak of what I can see, and what I do know is that the Haissem is here, and he is this man in front of us.”
