by Sergio Gomez
Most of the creatures jumped away from the truck as it hurtled passed them, all but four of them. These four were the intrepid in the bunch; the ones who John guessed had been making the battle cries, because they jumped on to the truck, latching on with their silver claws.
Out of the rearview mirror he saw with horror as two of them climbed into the bed of the truck, they were moving more like lizards now instead of apes. They continued their approach toward him by crawling up the back windshield and climbing on to the roof of truck. As they went up the back windshield he caught another glimpse of them in his rearview mirror, this vision as horrifying as the other, but in a different way. He saw their underbellies, it was paunchy and tangled with black hairs, and their genitalia (all males) flopped like a deflated balloon. The sight would make him throw up later when he had time to throw up.
He heard the clambering of their claws on the roof and grabbed the shotgun. The truck was barreling at a dangerous speed, especially when the driver wasn’t focused on controlling where it went, but luckily the roads were wide and sparse with a large margin for driver error.
One of the monsters smashed through the passenger window, its large fist shattered through the glass like a sledgehammer. John saw rivulets of blood trickling down the cut fist, then the rest of the creature appeared.
He couldn’t shoot the shotgun in here, no way, his windshield would burst and shards of glass would rain down on his face. He flipped the gun and smashed the butt of the shotgun into the creature’s face. It was strong enough and surprising enough that the creature lost its grip on the vehicle and the velocity ripped it into the air.
Just as soon as that one was taken care of, John felt the flashing hot pain of his shoulder being stabbed. He rammed the shotgun in the direction of where the pain was coming from and hit the creature holding on to him with the barrel of the gun and so the blow wasn’t as strong, it only threw it off balance. At the same time the barrel of the shotgun was out in the clear, and he pulled the trigger. The recoil from the shotgun forced his right elbow to slam into the front console. He cursed as the pain shot up his arm. But more important than a boo-boo on his elbow, the shotgun blew the monster to bits.
He wasn’t quite out of the woods just yet; two more were still hanging on to the side of the truck and approaching the front of it. They climbed the side of the truck like rock climbers on the side of a cliff, stabbing their claws through the metal, finding their balance, then stabbing with the next claw until they cycled through all four limbs and then started over again.
John could hear the claws stabbing through the metal, getting closer and closer. If it weren’t for the adrenaline pumping through him he never would have done what he did. Although the roads were wide and sparse, there were still sharp turns that if you missed would take you right into a ten foot ditch. But he was fighting for his life and had no time to stress over such things. If the creatures got to him at the same time he’d be as good as dead.
He reloaded the shotgun, using his good elbow to keep the steering wheel as stable as he could. And then he stuck half his body out of the window, shotgun aimed. When the creature saw him, it opened its jowls to scream, at the same time giving John a glimpse of those awful teeth. The scream that came out from the creature was ferocious—yet oddly human, almost like it was trying to scream words.
John pulled the trigger, and blew another one to bits. He fell back into the driver’s seat and threw the shotgun to the side so he could stabilize the truck. In the time that it took for John to blast the creature the truck had been swerving wherever the bumps and elevation changes on the road had taken it and was now heading for a ditch.
John got control of the truck back after several seconds of turning the wheel and tapping on the brakes. As the truck slowed, the creature climbing the side of the vehicle moved faster towards him until it was at the window.
Its immense body blocked the entirety of the frame so that John couldn’t see outside. He realized for the first time just how big these creatures were; about the size of a large baboon or a small gorilla, he wasn’t sure. John grabbed the shotgun and went to slam it into the creature's chest, but the creature saw it coming and snatched the gun out of his hands mid-attack.
John had a fraction of a microsecond to pray to God that they didn’t know how to use weapons.
His prayer was answered when the creature tossed the shotgun out of the window like a toy.
This brought another problem, because now he had no weapon to fend the creature off.
Except he did, and it weighed two tons and went 150mph at its top speed. He jerked the wheel as hard as he could to throw the creature off balance. It worked for a few seconds and then it had its bearing back. John jerked the wheel the other way, and again it worked, but this trick wouldn’t get it off of the truck: there wasn’t enough momentum and the creature’s grip was too strong.
He’d have to do something drastic, something that resembled those action flicks he used to take his kids to see in the summer. He wasn’t sure he could do it without killing himself, too, but he had gotten this far already, may as well give it the good ol’ college try as they said.
He jerked the wheel to the left, and two of the creature’s claws slipped out of grip. Instead of moving the wheel again, he kept it steady so that the truck was barreling towards the trees on the side of the road.
His plan was to ram the side of the truck against a tree so that the creature would be caught in the middle of the impact.
As he was closing in on the line of trees, the creature found its balance and was reaching out for him. John moved the wheel left and then right. The truck jerked to the left, moving the creature toward him, then it moved to the right, moving it away from him and causing it to lose its balance once more.
Despite the sudden movement to the left the truck continued to close the gap on the side of the road. The wheels on the passenger side spun off into the grass below, the shift in weight made the creature lose its balance yet again, buying John more time.
One more turn of the wheel and the driver side tires fell off the road and into the grass. The truck was underneath the trees’ leaves now. The creature looked over its shoulder, realizing its fate too late to do anything about it. It tried to jump off on its own, but it was pointless, its back hit the tree and the impact sent it sprawling off the vehicle like a bug.
The movement to do this and avoid the trees with the vehicle was razor thin, and John failed to stay within that razor’s edge. The truck hit the tree and the force sent it bouncing back towards the road like a ping pong ball.
Then the truck hit the elevation point between the grass and the road and hopped up over the lip and was back on the road. John felt his stomach leap up into the back of his throat.
He grabbed the steering wheel like his life depended on it (in some way, it did), and straightened the truck’s path out.
When he caught his breath he could hear his heart beating in his ears, feel his lungs painfully inflating and deflating in his chest, and noticed the wetness on the front of his overalls where he had pissed himself.
He looked into the rearview mirror. All he could see was the road as far as his taillights shined, and then nothing but darkness. It stretched out into what seemed like a void, but he knew that somewhere in that void he had left his farm…and his wife.
And so much more.
10
It was 2PM when John concluded his story. He hid his face in his hands and sobbed.
Alejandro put his finger to his lips to signal to Charlie to keep quiet. He got up from his seat and walked over to John’s side and clamped a hand on the man’s burly shoulder. The gesture seemed to relax him enough so that he could talk.
“Mr. Ramos, I’m not a bad person for leaving my wife behind am I? I’m not, right? Right?” He lifted his head up to look at Alejandro through tear soaked eyes.
Alejandro squatted down beside him and squeezed his shoulder tighter. He wasn’t sure how to respond
, because he wasn’t quite sure if there was a distinction between good or bad people anymore. The dead man at the carnival that had been slain and robbed at the hands of humans yesterday was some proof that the lines between good and evil had been blurred.
“I think the important thing is that you’re here now.” He finally said, wondering if he sounded as convincing as he needed to be.
“I wish I had a re-do or somethin’ like it. I would wait for her, I swear to God I would.”
“I know, I know you would Mr. John, I know.” Alejandro was patting his shoulder now. “You can’t change what happened. It’s already been done, but you can make a promise to your wife that you’ll survive for her.”
John dropped his hands and used his sleeves to wipe at his eyes. He sniffled, then turned to face Alejandro. “I haven’t known you for much longer than half an hour, but I can tell you’re a good man Alejandro. Don’t ask how, I just know it.”
“Thank you,” Alejandro said, getting up.
“Wait, hold up, your turn.”
Alejandro shook his head. “I think one of us reliving the past was enough.”
“Fine by me, when you’re ready young man, I’m all ears.” John shrugged.
“I’m sure we’ll find time.”
“Seems to be what we have most of these days, huh?”
“Except in the nights.”
There was silence between them in which Alejandro thought more deeply about the story. He was extracting the emotions out of it and looking for anything that may be useful in their survival. It dawned on him and he broke the silence.
“The truck works?” Alejandro asked, but as soon as the words left his mouth he knew it was a stupid question. Of course it worked, it was the one Charlie had seen him driving in, but before Alejandro could correct himself John was already answering the question.
“Yes it does, but not like we got anywhere to go with it. Nothing but ruined towns and wilderness from here until as far as the truck will take us.”
“What if I told you I know where there are other survivors like us, with plenty of food and water?”
“I’d say you’re off your rocker. Far as I can tell from my exploring around the area, we’re the only survivors left in the whole damn country.”
“I have something to show you, Mr. John,” Alejandro turned to Charlie. “Charlie, get the radio out of my bag.”
John watched the little boy take out a radio in four pieces from the camping bag.
“What in the blazes?” John muttered under his breath.
“It’s better if you hear it for yourself,” Alejandro said, and couldn’t hold back from smiling.
John got up from his seat. It was almost an involuntary action fueled by the anticipation and excitement and some nervousness. When the radio was put together and he’d hear the message from the speakers, he’d just as involuntarily sit back down. He’d have tears running down his eyes again, but they’d be of the variety that comes from joy.
*
Outside the pretty blue summer sky had been replaced by a gray sky thick with clouds. It was a sky that was more akin to a late fall or early winter sky than a summer sky. Days like these used to be rare in the summer, but nowadays even the sky was disorderly.
Rain poured down in torrents that made it sound like elephants were tap dancing on the church rooftop. Thunder roared and vibrated the ground. Lightning flashed through the windows of the church.
Charlie had his face pressed against one of the regular windows of the church and saw a bolt of lightning a half a mile away strike a tree. The tree cracked down the middle and a good portion of the top tumbled down to the ground like a dismembered limb. He watched the gale lollygag the trees left and right with vigor, threatening to rip them out of their roots.
“Is it as bad as it sounds?” John asked from where he and Alejandro were cleaning up.
“Yeah, there’s lightning everywhere.”
They had been getting ready to leave the church, packing their belongings and cleaning out the food bowls, but when they heard the thunder outside, they all knew they were going to stay put for the night. What place better than the Lord’s home to keep you safe…right? Right, conventional wisdom would say so.
All the same, they had their bags packed and were going to move down to the basement of the church so that Los Noches wouldn’t be able to sniff them out. Neither of them knew for sure that Los Noches could do this, but they agreed that it made sense and the best course of action was to get away from being on ground level with them.
“Used to love storms like these when I was your age,” John said, he was standing next to Charlie now and watching the lightning dance outside. “The farms were really great for lightning shows.”
Charlie asked him questions about his farm; like how many animals he had, what kind of vegetables he grew, what was his favorite fruit to eat off the tree, and things a curious twelve-year old boy would ask an adult who lived a completely different life-style than the one he knew.
Meanwhile Alejandro took this distraction to separate from them and head for the front door. He wasn’t sure why, but he was suddenly compelled to get a good look at the storm.
He pushed the door open.
The wind rushed in to the church and brought in raindrops the size of beetles along with it. The water splashed all over him like it had come from a giant’s showerhead, and it was cold, but he didn’t even flinch. He just looked outside, at the blue streaks cutting through the purple sky, at the trees swaying over like people doubling over from stomach pains.
Somewhere out there were the dark creatures, the ones who haunted and owned the nights. Something unnatural that had, not coincidentally, surfaced up in the aftermath of The Chaos. It was like they had been spawned from it, like a hellhole had been opened up through all of the killing and destruction, or maybe a chemical vault that all of the conspiracy nuts swore up and down the government was keeping secret had blown up and transformed some of the wildlife into these creatures, or maybe it was even something as silly as the Maya returning from the Earth’s core and this was the result of living in there for so long, the clock turning back on them to become primal beings again.
Alejandro snickered at the thought of that, but the humorous feeling went away quickly. It didn’t matter what had created these things, what mattered was that they were out there and they’d have to avoid the night at all costs and deal with them if they couldn’t.
He took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs, then closed the door and turned back to join his son and their new friend.
11
Terrance Williams and Toby Gambino had been camping out in the apartment for months. It had seemed more than a month to them though, it was more like years, and they’d come to think of the apartment as “their” apartment and the town as “their” town even though neither had grown up in the town or anywhere near it. When this transition of the mind had started, neither of them was sure, but the tiny apartment was now a place they considered home.
The food in their home was dwindling down fast—only one package of hamburgers left and a small bag of rice. They had been through the town earlier in the day, rummaging through everything, looking in every nook and cranny of every building, leaving nothing untouched, but they failed to find anything except rubble and dust. Even the water in the apartment was starting to turn a dingy brown. It was getting bad and they’d have to leave town soon or find more food.
The rain continued to pound on the ceiling of the apartment building like Poseidon’s fists. Terrance looked up from the corner where his half of the mattress was bunched into at the leaking ceiling. The paint around where the drops fell from had turned into a brown disc and was chipping.
“We gotta scram out of here soon as that damn storm ends.” He told Toby.
Toby was facing the wall, wrapped in a blanket and trying not to throw up all over himself. About a week ago he had caught a stomach virus or something like that, with no doctor
to diagnose he wasn’t exactly sure what it was but he refused to think it was something worse. He’d be lying if he said his mind didn’t turn to the worst case scenarios sometimes, though. Before falling asleep on some nights he would have thoughts of giant ulcers the size of grapefruits sticking to his gut, killing him painfully and slowly.
He rolled over on his side to face Terrance. “You think?”
Terrance was saddened to see Toby was getting worse. From when he first started to complain about the stomach pains and started throwing up after every meal (a waste of food, which they couldn’t afford to do, goddamnit, Terrance thought) his friend’s face turned paler every day since.
Now, looking at him, he wasn’t sure if it was somehow the lighting from the storm outside or what, but Toby’s face looked a sullen gray. The skin on his face was pulled back so that every jut and edge of his skull could be seen. The sight sent chills up Terrance’s spine.
“You alright, man?”
“It’s just like the mornings of our old college days,” Toby smiled.
Terrance smiled back, glad to see that he was still trying to keep it together.
Although.
The seed in his mind, a seed that was being nurtured and grown by the dismay of their situation, planted itself.
Although, him being sick might weigh me down. It might be better if I wandered by myself. With no one to share any of the food with. Just me.
He thought about how many burgers there were in the package they had left. Eight burgers. Eight burgers could last him another week in this apartment—and truth be told he had grown fond of being here, they had come to think of it as “their” apartment (“my” apartment) after all, and he wasn’t looking forward to moving.
With Toby still around the burgers would only last them four days, and then they’d be forced out of here. It wouldn’t be a landlord and a police with a warrant coming to kick them out like that summer in college, it’d be an authority much higher than that, primal instincts to survive would be kicking them out.
