by Jeff Strand
No. Fuckin'. Way.
Mark opened his mouth to say something out loud to that effect, but nothing would come.
The trees were still rising into the air and he couldn't decide where they were going to fall.
Mark slammed his foot against the gas pedal again, and Hannah pulled into a fetal position and screamed bloody murder. He really wanted to join her, but there just wasn't time.
The first tree landed ten feet to the left with a thunderous crash and snapped in two upon impact. Mark twisted the wheel to the right and kept it turned that way, spinning the vehicle almost a full half circle. The second tree rolled across the ground where they'd been a moment ago, shedding limbs and thick bark as it went.
Mark glanced up at the rearview mirror long enough to see that they had, indeed, avoided death by tree.
Then he looked forward and saw the wyrm recovering from the beating it had given itself. Bloodied and pulped or not, it was moving again, heading directly toward them.
The only good news was that it was moving slower now and looked like it might bleed to death before it could eat them alive.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the wyrm started pushing itself into the ground, the heavy feelers at the front of its mouth slicing the hard-packed earth apart and letting the gigantic beast disappear in a matter of two minutes, tops. During that time, Mark hyperventilated and said his thanks to God above, Hannah slowly recovered from her panic attack, and Booth sat silently in the back seat.
Finally Mark drove back toward the road as another tree started rising behind him, making up for the two that had been dislodged from the ground.
Up ahead, he could see Dover's Point a little clearer as the sun started to set. He could also see the fires burning at several of the houses.
He drove faster, worried not just for himself and for Hannah, but also for Chloe.
He tried to call again. No answer.
The ground shook and rumbled beneath the car as the wyrm burrowed deeper, but the beast was no longer his concern. Now he had to worry about what he would find when he got home.
* * *
The closest military installation was just over thirty miles from the Haunted Forest. The first of the military forces to make it to the area were in helicopters loaded with as many soldiers as they could manage while still carrying emergency medical supplies and firepower.
Four personnel transports landed at Dover's Point after hearing from the recon helicopter that there was simply no room to actually land at the H.F. Enterprises headquarters. The entire area surrounding the building was engulfed in trees or would be within the next few minutes.
The recon pilot also made a point of calling for more backup, because from what he could see they were flying into a massive clusterfuck.
Dover's Point was under siege, there was no other way to put it. The trees were rising from people's yards, from the street, and through most of the structures in the small town, including the Baptist church and what had been the town hall.
Colonel William Tyson did not like what he saw. What was happening made about as much sense as a barbed-wire raft and looked almost as painful.
They didn't try to set up a proper command post, because they couldn't guarantee that any part of the ground would be safe from another tree coming up.
Tyson assessed the situation and called for more troops. He was promised that they were on the way.
In the meantime, he found out who owned the construction site at the edge of Whittaker Street and immediately got their people to start moving the bulldozers, forklifts of varying sizes, and the excavator on hand for serious digging. After a very brief argument about local regulations regarding the dispersal of explosives, Tyson had his men break down the door to the explosives shed and confiscate all of the dynamite.
The battle for Dover's Point was loud, to be sure. Trees rose up and fell down almost as quickly, but like weeds, more rose to take their places. Still, the soldiers made slow progress toward removing the worst of the invading plant life.
Then things took a turn for the worse. With the sun lowering on the western horizon and most of its light blocked by the unexpected plant life, the soldiers didn't see their attackers at first. They were looking at trees, and somehow the idea of searching the sky never crossed anyone's mind.
That changed quickly enough when the flying creature dropped out of the sky and attacked, sinking powerful talons into Private Hugo Lee's back as it captured him. Lee screamed for all he was worth but dropped his weapon.
The sleek, feathered beast lifted Lee high into the air and began feasting on him even as he struggled. It dropped the soldier around the same time that the bullets tore it and its meal nearly in half.
But there were other creatures in the air. Plenty of them.
The soldiers gave up trying to take out the trees when the black oak came out of the ground and crushed Colonel Tyson against the side of the Huey he was using as a mobile command. It kept pinning him until his chest caved in and smeared across the protesting metal side of the helicopter. A moment later, the whole machine slid sideways and toppled onto its side. The tree kept growing, not the least bit concerned about the colonel or the five-million-dollar flying machine it turned into scrap metal.
After the colonel died, the soldiers concentrated on rounding up the remaining citizens and getting them on their way to a safer place. Flying creatures plucked residents of Dover's End off the ground as if they were choosing treats from a box of chocolates.
The trees kept coming, and by the time most of the locals had been pulled from their homes, the road leading into and out of town had been overgrown.
Countless beasts leapt from the trees, seeking prey. There was prey galore at first. But the food supply dwindled quickly and new trees brought new mouths to feed.
Chloe Harper dragged herself across the floor of her kitchen, which was difficult to do with only one arm. Three different animals tore chunks of flesh out of her legs as she frantically tried to get to the phone.
Her final thoughts were of her husband.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
No...
Christopher's mother was not dead. That was not acceptable. She was a kind, sweet woman who found joy in the smallest things and had an unparalleled zest for life. People like that did not meet their end in this manner. She was destined to pass away quietly in her sleep, not be decapitated by a fucking demon while mistakenly believing that she'd saved them all, instead of dooming them.
Not acceptable.
Christopher stood there silently, dripping blood from the seemingly infinite number of cuts he'd sustained during Pestilence's extended torture session. He stared into the eyes of Lee, Barbara, and Tina. Their expressions conveyed sympathy, horror, and an intense desire to get the hell away from there.
Her blood had splashed all over the bottom half of Lee's face. He looked as if he wanted to wipe it off, but wasn't quite sure if Christopher would take offense to the gesture.
At this moment, the only thing Christopher wanted to do was throw his head back, let out an ear-exploding wail of misery, and rip out his hair in large handfuls.
He did not do this. His mother would not have approved of her son creating a ruckus and causing the death of the few remaining Haunted Forest Tour survivors.
So he remained silent.
Everybody continued to stare at him.
"Forgive me for stating the obvious," said Lee, finally, "but the trees aren't parting like the Red Sea."
Christopher shook his head. "No. No, they aren't."
Barbara stepped forward. "Oh, Christopher, I'm so sorry. But she didn't die in vain."
Christopher couldn't help but let out an incredulous laugh. "Actually, she died to fulfill part of a demon spell that, from what I understand, may signal the end of humanity. I may be exaggerating—I didn't get all the details. So, no, her death wasn't in vain, but it wasn't one of those deaths that's going to cause people to erect a statue."
B
arbara seemed unsure how to respond to that. "Oh."
Christopher nodded. "Yeah."
Lee looked down. "Uh, Tina? You've got...you've got something on your foot."
Tina glanced at her foot. There was a small chunk of Mindy's skull on it, with an eyeball attached. She gasped and kicked it away.
"Okay, so, so, so, so I don't completely understand what has just happened here," Barbara admitted. "How exactly have we signaled the end of humanity?"
"The demon that rules this forest needed a sacrifice," said Lee. "He tried to get me to offer up Tommy, and then myself. After I refused I guess he went after, uh, Mindy."
"He went after me before that," Christopher said, turning around in a circle so they could all get a good look at his cut-ridden chest and back. "Oh, I had a jolly fucking time after the bird snatched me. Time of my life. Cut, cut, cut, slice, slice, slice. Do I sound like I've gone insane? I feel like I sound like I've gone insane. Stop me if I sound that way."
"We really should get out of here," said Lee.
Christopher nodded his agreement. "Don't let the insane guy stop you. Did I just pass out?"
Barbara gave him a strange look. "No."
"Oh, good. Thought I passed out for a second. Listen to me, all of you. For all of us, there comes a time in every man's life—woman's too—when he has to take matters into his own hands. We can't rely on Eddie coming back with the Justice League of America to save us. Eddie didn't come back, right?"
"Right."
"Good. I mean, bad. I mean, I didn't think so. So it's up to us to save ourselves. I'm tired of letting this forest push me around. I'm tired of the bugs and the tooth-bearing things and the blood and the fur and the claws and the...the stuff. I'm tired of the forest stuff. Lee, could you hold me up for a second? I think I'm going to pass out for real."
Lee rushed forward and placed his hand on Christopher's shoulder. Christopher winced in pain.
"Sorry," Lee said.
"It's okay. You won't find any uncut parts. Did I pass out?"
"No."
"Good. That's very good. This all goes way beyond a bunch of tourists who were too stupid to go to Disneyland. There is a human host, and that motherfucker is going to make it possible for a nasty-ass dimension to completely overtake our own. I think. Again, still not one hundred percent clear on the details. But we can't let this happen."
"How do we stop it?" Tina asked.
"No clue."
"Find the host," said Lee.
"That works," Christopher agreed. "Are any of you the host?"
Nobody responded.
"The host isn't here," said Lee. "Look, I talked to the Proof Demon—"
"What's a Proof Demon?" Christopher asked.
"I think it's either part of the demon that killed your mother or a follower or whatever. I'm not sure."
"Why is it called a Proof Demon?"
"Because it's proof of the supernatural."
"Why would Pestilence need proof of the supernatural?"
"That's what I named it. Christopher, I know you've just lost the most important person in your life and you're losing a lot of blood, but stay with me."
Christopher nodded. "My elbow hurts."
"Anyway, I'm not saying that we did a Vulcan mind-meld or anything but—"
The trees shook, sending down a shower of pine needles, as a demonic voice howled: "Wheeeere aaaaaaare yoooooooou?" The force of the voice was enough to knock Lee and Christopher to their knees.
"What the hell was that?" Tina demanded.
"Pestilence is pissed," Christopher noted.
Lee stood up and then pulled Christopher to his feet. "Maybe something went wrong. That has to be good for us, right?"
"Yeah, because we're not in any danger standing out here in the middle of the forest," said Tina.
"Look, we have to get out of here," said Christopher. "We can't count on anybody to do it for us. Did I already say that? Anyway, we have to assume that help is not on its way, that Eddie is lying dead somewhere without his nose. We are the last remaining survivors of the Haunted Forest Tour, unless any of the people who stayed behind in the tram made it, which I'm pretty sure they didn't. Lee, Barbara, Tina, Tommy...Tommy's still alive, right?"
The little boy opened his eyes, peeked over Barbara's shoulder, and nodded.
"Cool. Lee, Barbara, Tina, Tommy...we're it. We're the only people who are going to get ourselves out of this mess. And we're not going to get out of here by standing around talking. Lee, I'm feeling barely conscious again, could you prop me up?"
Lee put his hand back on Christopher's shoulder.
"I'm not good at big speeches, and I'm not good at inspiring people, and I'm not good at oral exams, but goddamn it, I know when I see four people who deserve to live. You all deserve to live. We all deserve to get out of here. And we're not going to let that scaly prick who murdered my mother win. We're going to get out of this, and we're going to do it ourselves, because nobody is going to help us."
"Do you hear a helicopter?" Barbara asked.
Everybody listened.
A familiar voice boomed over a megaphone: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Eddie Turner, here to save your asses!"
* * *
Booth squeezed his eyes shut and winced in pain. Mark stopped the car and looked back at him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm—ow, shit!"
"Migraine?"
"Something like that." Booth rubbed his forehead with both hands. "Don't worry about me; just get me out of here."
Mark glanced over at Hannah. "Do you have any aspirin?"
"I don't need aspirin!" Booth shouted. "I need for you to start driving!"
"Yes, sir." Mark applied the accelerator again, hoping very much that it was Booth instead of himself who went to prison. The way things were going, they'd end up sharing a cell and have to alternate bitch duties.
"It wasn't my fault!" Booth shouted. "They made me!"
"Who made you?"
"I swear, it wasn't my fault!"
Mark glanced up in the rearview mirror. Was Booth actually crying? He and Hannah exchanged a concerned glance.
"It wasn't my fault," Booth repeated, although now Mark couldn't decide if he was speaking to some unseen presence or to himself. "Not my fault."
* * *
Eddie would've loved to fly over the forest in a military chopper, armed with missiles and tear gas and gallons of monster repellent made from Booth's blood. Swoop down, snatch up the survivors, then be the one to press the button that wiped this forest right the hell off the map. Then he'd fly over to the MapQuest offices and make them revise their online directions to the forest at gunpoint.
But he wasn't in a military chopper. He was, in fact, in the Eye in the Sky Traffic helicopter for Channel 8 news. The young pilot was not thrilled to be flying over the Haunted Forest after hearing that the last helicopter to do so had been torched by a dragon, but the traffic reporter was ecstatic about the idea of covering the potential rescue.
They did not have missiles or tear gas or monster repellent. They did have one hell of a nice rope ladder that the military let them borrow, and plenty of guns.
Eddie pointed down at the reclamation plant building. "Any chance we can land on that thing?" he asked, shouting to be heard above the noise of the aircraft.
"Are you kidding me? It has a rounded top!"
"Just asking. I drive a tour tram, for Christ's sake. Get down as low as you can."
The pilot shook his head. "I'm staying above the trees. Gotta watch for dragons."
"Okay, okay, whatever you need to do." Eddie leaned out of the open helicopter door as far as he could without vertigo setting in and peered down at the ground, two hundred feet below. No sign of anybody, but they were probably inside.
"You sure they're still alive?" asked the reporter.
"Of course not. If they are, I hope they stayed put."
* * *
"I told you we should've stayed put!" said Tina.
> To be honest, Barbara couldn't remember if Tina had been in favor of leaving the reclamation plant or against it. Not that it mattered. All that mattered now was to get back to it before Eddie gave up and flew away.
They'd make it. They hadn't walked far, ten minutes tops, and they'd been going slowly. If they really picked up the pace they'd be okay.
Christopher stumbled and almost fell, but Lee held him up.
Tommy on her back felt like he weighed four hundred pounds.
"I'm going to run ahead," said Tina.
"No, we shouldn't split up," Lee told her.
"Why? Are you guys going to protect me?"
"She's right," said Barbara. "Run ahead; make sure Eddie knows we're on our way."
Tina nodded.
Then she screamed.
She pointed at something behind Barbara. Barbara spun around to see what it was. Nothing there. She spun back around to face Tina.
"What? What is it?"
"It's on Tommy!"
She twisted her neck around so quickly that it hurt. Tommy's eyes were closed, but she couldn't see anything on him.
"On his shoulder!"
"I still can't see it! Tommy, you have to let go!"
The little boy's arms were wrapped around her in a death-grip. She frantically tried to pry them off...how could a six-year-old be so strong?
"Tommy, please! Let go so I can help you!"
Something scraped the back of Barbara's neck.
Lee rushed forward. Christopher wobbled a bit but didn't fall over.
"It hurts!" Tommy squealed.
Barbara grabbed Tommy's wrists and pulled as hard as she could. "Tommy, I can't get it off you while you're on my back!"
"Don't worry, I've got it!" Lee assured her. She couldn't see what he was doing, but Tommy's squeal suddenly intensified.
Barbara counted three—no, four—sets of glowing eyes watching them through the trees.
Christopher stumbled over to help Lee.
Barbara finally pried Tommy's arms open. She gently but quickly knelt down and wiggled out of his grip.
"It hurts it hurts it hurts!"
