by Jacob Rayne
‘Unless she’s been eaten,’ Mark chipped in.
‘Good point.’
The cop flicked on the news.
There was no mention of the epidemic or the sightings of the mutants.
‘Maybe in an hour or two,’ Duggan shrugged.
‘I’m calling this in,’ the cop said. ‘We’ll sort things out from there.’
Duggan dreaded the thought of going back to the cop station, they’d be sitting ducks there.
He listened as the cop called in the details of the crime scene then tentatively enquired if there were any reports of people acting strangely.
‘Trust us, this is genuine,’ Sadie said, showing the photos and the video to her boss.
‘Looks like a hoax to me.’
‘It is real,’ Joyce said. ‘I’ve seen those things too.’
‘Go to Taunton yourself if you don’t believe us,’ Sadie said.
He looked from one woman to the other, a look of suspicion written on his face.
‘The two of you working together. I’d have thought that’d only happen when hell froze over.’
‘Exactly,’ Sadie said. ‘We wouldn’t be working together if it wasn’t an emergency.’
‘Ok then,’ he said. ‘I’ll run it. If it does turn out to be a hoax I’ll have both your jobs.’
Duggan and Mark were hauled off to the station when the cop’s back up arrived.
The cops openly poured scorn on their story and laughed in their faces.
Duggan fell silent first. It took a little longer for it to sink in with Mark but when it did he shut up too.
No sense in wasting words on the disbelieving.
They were locked in the cell together and left in the darkness while the cops laughed outside.
‘Chin up, kid, we’ll get out of here,’ Duggan said, smiling.
He hoped he wasn’t lying.
For those in the towns and cities surrounding Taunton, the news broadcast was frightening and confusing in equal measures.
No one knew whether the video and photos were genuine or the work of a prankster.
The reports were sketchy at best, but the fact that Sadie and Joyce – two of the news’ biggest names – were on board reassured people.
Both Sadie and Joyce told their versions of events and both mentioned the mysterious biker who had told them about the outbreak.
The public armed themselves and prepared for war.
‘Of all the people to be holed up with,’ Abbott moaned. ‘Six billion people and we get this fuckbag.’ He shook his head furiously.
Jeffries ignored him – and the barrage of peanut shells that flew from his hands – and stared at the monitor showing the corridor outside.
Subject I was enjoying his moment onscreen, throwing himself against the concrete walls of the shelter. He was achieving little with his efforts.
‘Fucking horrendous looking thing, he is,’ Abbott said, landing another peanut shell on Jeffries’ head.
‘I know,’ Jeffries said. ‘Scares the shit out of me.’
‘You should have killed it while you had the chance,’ Hammett spat.
‘Yeah,’ Abbott added. ‘’Fore it had us trapped in here like wasps in a fucking jar. How the hell are we going to get past that thing? I don’t want to die in this concrete hellhole.’
Jeffries failed to suppress a smile.
‘The fuck you smiling at?’ Abbott barked.
‘There’s an ace up my sleeve yet,’ Jeffries said.
‘What?’ both soldiers said.
‘I’ll call my guys first, let them know I’m doing alright.’
‘Yeah, make sure they don’t let any more of those fucking things loose,’ Abbott said.
Jeffries pulled out a smartphone and carefully punched in numbers.
‘Hey, Blake, it’s me. I’m fine, except for being holed up in a bunker with two of my biggest haters. No, it’s Subject I. He’s come for me, like we figured he would. Yes, keep the labs locked down unless you don’t hear from me. And send Atkins over with the device. It’s the only chance I’ll have to get out of here. Just do it.’
He hung up without giving Blake chance to reply.
‘You want to tell us what the hell you’re so happy about?’ Abbott said.
‘There’s a way of killing these things,’ Jeffries grinned.
‘How?’
‘Well, when they are still in human form, a strong electric shock to the base of the skull will dislodge the creature and cause both host and parasite to die.’
Abbott and Hammett nodded.
‘When they’ve changed, like Subject I has, the same principle applies, only the force of the shock required is much higher, due to both the thickness of the skull which has grown over the creature and the size and tenacity of the parasite.’
‘So are you telling us that you’ve developed a weapon to kill these things?’ Hammett said.
‘Give me some credit,’ Jeffries said. ‘I knew the parasites were hardy and I feared one day they would break out, so, yes, I invested a large sum of money into research on how to subdue and kill them.’
‘I’ll give you credit when that thing’s deader than sunny Jesus,’ Abbott said. ‘And not a second before.’
‘Now, it’s only fair to warn you that the weapon is still in the early stages of development – so it may not work correctly – but there’s a good chance it will hurt Subject I.’
‘Well that’s good,’ Hammett conceded.
‘How good a chance are we talking?’ Abbott asked.
‘Thirty, thirty five, if we’re lucky.’
‘Fucking hell,’ Abbott said. ‘We’ve got a one in three chance of killing that fucker?’
‘If we’re lucky, yes.’
‘Better than we’d have without it,’ Hammett pointed out.
Abbott shook his head. ‘Crying out loud.’
The cops gathered around the station’s small TV.
A couple of them hooted and cheered as they saw Sadie Willow – the blonde bombshell with the tight ass and legs that stretched all the way up to heaven – on screen.
‘Shh,’ Sergeant Dylan said, turning up the volume so they could listen in.
‘—in Taunton earlier today. This video contains scenes that some viewers may find distressing.’
Sadie’s pretty face disappeared, replaced by a shaky video.
At first the images weren’t clear, just showing flames flickering amongst derelict buildings and rubble.
The camera zoomed in a little, showing an image of a woman huddled over a dark shape on the floor.
She seemed occupied with something, her back to the camera.
The angle changed, showing the woman’s face, illuminated by the glow of the dancing flames.
Her eyes were glazed over, staring ahead into the distance.
A grin was on her face, as permanent as if it had been carved into the flesh.
The woman was shoving scraps of skin into her mouth. Blood dripped from the flesh and onto the woman’s chin, joining the blood already smeared there.
The camera panned around, momentarily going out of focus then focussing on a man who was roughly ten feet away from the girl.
Like his fellow video star, he was hunched over a body, tearing the skin off with his grinning mouth.
The footage cut off abruptly and Sadie came back onscreen.
The men and women in the station remained quiet, waiting for the laugh or the telltale smirk from Sadie. It never came. Her face was grave as she carried on with her story.
‘—eating human flesh. These people are dangerous. You can identify them by their black eyes, lurching gaits and their blank expressions. They are resistant to bludgeoning and gunshots. The official stance has not yet been decided, but we are working on getting a comment from the mayor.’
Joyce appeared on screen. A couple of the men booed. Joyce was old and wrinkly, not a patch on sexy Sadie.
‘We are also keen to speak with the mysterious man who ga
ve this information to Sadie and myself. He is roughly six two, two-ten pounds, wearing a biker jacket with ‘Taunton Terrors’ on it. He looks to be in his forties with grey hair and a grey handlebar moustache. He was last seen in the Taunton area.’
‘Anyone with any information on this man, or his young companion, is encouraged to ring the number on the bottom of the screen. Any information leading us to this man will be generously rewarded.’
‘Thanks, Joyce,’ Sadie said, coming back onscreen to one solitary cheer from the cops. ‘So call us with any information about this man and stay out of Taunton until we’ve had official word from the mayor. If you do encounter one of these things, my advice would be to run as fast and far as you can in the opposite direction. I’m Sadie Willow reporting live with Joyce Sturm.’
The two reporters faded from the screen as the hotline number enlarged and took over the screen.
‘You see that fucking thing?’ one cop shouted.
‘I hope that was a hoax,’ said another.
‘I’d eat Sadie alive,’ a young male cop leered.
‘You’re disgusting,’ a female cop said.
Sergeant Dylan brayed on the table with the butt of his gun. ‘Shut up.’
The voices fell away.
‘Now, it’s obvious there’s going to be hell on when this story sinks in. We need to keep people calm and make sure there’s not chaos out there. Also, it’s quite obvious that the biker we took in earlier is the man they’re looking for.’
‘I’m gonna claim that reward,’ the cop who’d wanted to eat Sadie out shouted.
‘You’re claiming nothing,’ Dylan said. ‘The reward money will go towards rebuilding the city. Now, I’d best call and see what’s what.’
Sadie’s mobile blared.
She dreaded opening it, reckoning it was probably another crank saying that they were the biker who’d helped out.
She almost didn’t answer but the thought of ignoring the real biker made her pick up.
‘Sadie?’ the voice on the other end of the line sounded excitable.
‘Yes?’
‘I’ve got a cop on the other line. He says he’s got the biker in the cells.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yep. Says he was found in a motel with two bodies. One was the maid. She was being eaten by one of the test subjects.’
‘Shit that sounds like it could be him.’
‘Get this, Sade. He killed it too. They found the dead creature hanging out of the back of the kid’s head.’
‘Put him through.’
After listening to the cop’s story and deciding that it sounded like a genuine case, Sadie called Joyce and the pair headed over to the station.
Dylan pulled Duggan from the cells, leaving his cuffs on, and put him in the interview room ready for the journalists.
A car screeched to a halt outside the station and the two reporters rushed in.
Duggan smiled when he saw them and they when they saw him.
‘Are you happy to be interviewed?’ Sadie said.
‘Yep. Get the camera rolling. Let’s get everyone clued up on what’s going down here.’
‘Can you give me your name, please?’
‘I’m Jim Duggan.’
‘And can you describe the events which led to your arrest?’
‘I can, yes, but it ain’t pretty.’
‘Please, continue. Leave nothing out.’
‘Boy we had help us out was asleep for a long time. We were staying in a motel. I put the boy to bed while me and my son went for a meal and a few well-earned beers.
‘We came back to the room to find Jake, the sleepy kid, was gone. I thought maybe someone had gotten him – me and my son have been in the wars the past few days – but I found him in the bathroom eating what was left of the maid. I put her out of her misery and put a round from my shotgun into his head too.’
‘What effect did that have?’
‘Well, better than I’ve seen some of the things react when they’ve been shot. He fell down, stunned by the blast. Then I managed to kill the creature. Unfortunately it also killed Jake.’
‘How did you kill it?’
‘I got the knowhow from Mark, my son. He told me that he saw these guys in gas masks handling one of the test subjects with Tasers. They put them on the base of his skull and set them away.
‘I did the same with the wire off an old razor. Burnt all the flesh on the back of his neck before it worked, but it killed the creature. That’s the secret; an electric shock at the back of the skull. That’s where the creature is. The charge loosens its grip on the host. Only thing is you kill the person too, but you know what they say ’bout omelettes ‘n’ eggs.’
Sadie smiled. ‘Thank you, Duggan.’ She turned to face the camera again. ‘So there you have it, people. A powerful electrical charge to the base of the skull is enough to kill these repulsive parasites. There is hope after all. This is Sadie Willow, Channel Six news.’
Duggan walked out of the station a hero, Mark by his side.
They’d been recruited to help the cops prepare against the waves of escapees.
Each of them had been given a shiny new Taser, fresh out of the box. They hoped they would be powerful enough to kill the parasites.
‘Best if you expose the creature first,’ Duggan said. ‘Cutting or shooting the back of the head gets it out in the open. Then it’s more likely to die from the shock.’
The cops nodded.
‘Mark, I think you should find some place safe to stay,’ Duggan said.
‘No way. I’m staying with you.’
‘I really think—‘
‘I’d give my life for you, cos you’re all I’ve got, Dad.’
Duggan smiled and pulled Mark into a bearhug.
‘Ok then, but for the love of God be careful.’
Jeffries’ phone blared, startling Abbott out of his daydream. He’d been sharing a desert island with Megan Fox and that lady off the Channel Six news and was understandably unhappy about the interruption.
Jeffries only said, ‘Yes, fine. Thanks,’ before he hung up. He turned to Abbott and Hammett, a smile on his face. ‘They’re on their way down the tunnel,’ he said, before adjusting the cameras a little.
The long range view showed three gas-masked, heavily-armoured men pushing what looked like a crude marriage of a hotdog cart and a minigun.
‘What the fucking hell is that?’ Abbott asked.
‘That, gentlemen, is our salvation.’
‘Looks…’ Hammett said, searching for the right words.
‘Looks like something from the three fucking stooges,’ Abbott raged.
‘Trust me, it will be worth it,’ Jeffries said.
They watched the three men trundle the cart up the tunnel for a few seconds then turned back to Subject I.
The creature had stopped hurling itself at the door, only succeeding in spreading a thin layer of its dark blood over the concrete.
It seemed to sense trouble and was waiting, staring up the tunnel towards the three men and the makeshift weapon.
‘I hope this works,’ Hammett said.
‘We’re fucked if it doesn’t,’ Abbott grimaced.
Jeffries couldn’t help but agree.
Sadie and Joyce watched the police gathering outside the tower block, riot shields, Tasers and electric cattle prods at the ready.
The subjects were already starting to move towards the line of policemen.
Duggan’s phone hummed against his leg. He plucked it out.
‘See you got your face on TV,’ Abbott laughed.
Duggan laughed too.
‘We’re holed up with the motherfucker responsible for these things.’
‘Who’s that?’
‘Fucking Jeffries. Smarmy son of a bitch. We’re somewhere beneath Greenville in a purpose built bunker. If it all goes tits up get yourself and as many as you can find here, there’s enough food and water for everyone.’
Jeffries grimaced.<
br />
‘It’s the least you can do, you fucking prick,’ Duggan heard Abbott say to someone in the background. ‘Sorry, Duggan. There’s an old cigar shop on the main street. Go in back of there and there’s a metal door. Down from there’s some stairs. Keep going down the tunnel to the left and you’ll find us. But keep your eyes open and your fingers on the triggers cos one of those things is down here with us.’
‘Thanks, Captain, that’s good of you.’
‘Figure you may need a place to hide. You take care. Kill some a them creepy S.O.B.s for me.’
‘Will do. Good luck with your escape.’
‘Thanks. Looks like we’re gonna need it.’
Duggan hung up and smiled.
At least they had a fall back if it all went south.
Which, he was disappointed to say, was looking increasingly likely.
‘Look, they’re almost here,’ Jeffries said, his face lit up with a hopeful look that was almost childlike.
Abbott felt the urge to slap the expression off him, but stared intently at the screen instead.
The three men were still trundling their cart down the tunnel towards Subject I.
The creature waited, his armoured chest rising and falling with each of his ragged breaths. He looked mean and ready for action, but so did the three masked, armed men.
As the cart neared it began to seem more credible.
They saw the huge calibre barrels and the light which was building on each side of the cart like a miniature sun.
‘That’s how they keep the weapon from overheating,’ Jeffries said, a hint of pride in his voice.
The three men stopped the cart roughly ten feet from Subject I.
One of them grabbed the handle of the weapon and started making adjustments while peering through a large scope on top of the cart.
He pressed a red button at the base of the weapon. The light at the side of the cart intensified, quickly becoming a glare.
Subject I moved forwards so fast that he was a blur.
The man pulled the trigger.
Light shot from the end of the barrel and slammed into Subject I’s chest.
Sparks flew from the dark chitin and Subject I fell backwards.
‘That was a fairly tame blast too,’ Jeffries grinned.
