by Edward Grey
In an effort to spare himself the possibility of running into an officer in the parking lot of what was probably a bar, he decided to walk. He knew he would eventually recognize a landmark. From there, he might be able to find a pay phone or a gas station to get some help from his friends.
After checking the car door one last time, he picked a random direction and started walking.
The thick mist seemed to swirl and moved around him while specks of water kissed his face with their cool lips. He walked for ten feet, and then thirty. He found no sidewalk, grass, building, or even lines denoting parking spaces. He started to worry, but then soon came upon a concrete path that led to the street.
The traffic lights were no longer functioning, and even though the sodium vapor streetlights were burning bright, they were mostly blocked by the relentless fog. He looked up to check the street name, but the mist was far too thick to even see the green tint of the sign.
As he followed the sidewalk, he began to hear noises around him. At first it was just the rustle of leaves, perhaps even the weight of a foot crushing them. He stopped for a moment to listen for it, though he suspected it wasn’t a good idea. If there was someone there, he should keep moving to avoid any confrontation with someone who meant to harm him, but he was far too curious about the sound.
Then, while the soft clouds of the earth’s surface passed him, a deep growl came from somewhere within. It sounded much like a dog, but there was also something darker and far more sinister than even the most rabid dog could produce.
He started to walk again, but because he didn’t know which direction the growl came from, he remained wary of his surroundings. Then suddenly from behind he heard the soft patter of paws trailing him, and he walked faster and faster until he was at full sprint.
With his arms stretched out to avoid running into anything, he pushed himself to the limits. He could hear the creatures nails scrape against the concrete and its sick bloodthirsty growl.
Soon, after a little over two minutes of running, he escaped the blanket of fog into a softer and more manageable mist. His field of view was increased to at least a hundred yards, but he kept running. Occasionally he looked back to see if the creature still followed him, but nothing was back there. It was almost as if it was all just part of his imagination.
He stopped and waited. As time ticked slowly into oblivion, he watched the dense fog, expecting something to rush out at him. He would’ve preferred a creature, dog, or whatever to come trotting out, but because there was nothing, it was as if he made the whole thing up in his head. He was terribly afraid of insanity, and it terrified him to think that he was being pursued by his imagination.
Adam took a deep breath and looked around. The area was familiar, for he’d known the place as a child. On the left side was a small open field, and the right was occupied by a strip mall containing several shops including a gun store and a Chinese restaurant, which he’d worked at when he was a teenager. It was a place that he hadn’t seen for ten years, and he lived at least an hour away from it. Besides, what was even stranger was the place burned down more than five years ago.
2
There was no excuse for any of the building to still be standing. When the place was deemed too risky for a rebuild, the city informed the small community of businesses to relocate so the property manager could tear it down and rebuild. They did tear it down, but he was sure they never finished their work.
Adam walked across the expansive parking lot and went to the restaurant. He peered through the window, and the place looked clean and new. In fact, it looked as fresh as the day he was first hired.
If the place was rebuilt, then they most likely had a phone inside that worked. He just hoped the security code for the back door was still the same.
He followed the sidewalk left and passed a few shops. When he reached the end of the mall, he turned and went around to the back.
The narrow alley was made even smaller with trash bins and official vehicles of the businesses, but there was enough room to squeeze through to the restaurant.
When he reached the door, he was relieved that it was still locked by a keypad. He had to think for a moment, and he remembered his old boss used his daughter’s birthday. They were childhood friends, and so he remembered the code with ease. Adam pressed the month and day into the keypad, and a moment later it clicked.
When he opened the door to the kitchen area, it was even darker inside. The inky blackness was so thick he couldn’t see the small light switch on the wall.
After feeling up and down the wall for a moment, he finally found it. He flipped it up, but nothing happened. He toggled it twice more, but the lights remained doused.
His boss was always so paranoid, and he was very thankful for that special trait. He once gave Adam a lecture on earthquake disaster safety, and even installed little emergency kits in almost all areas of the kitchen.
He knelt down, and searched the lower part of the wall near the door, and found a small rechargeable flashlight plugged into an outlet. He pulled it from the wall and quickly turned it on.
The light cut through the darkness, and he was amused that the store hadn’t changed a bit. Everything from the dry foods to the kitchen utensils were parked and organized in all the same places. It was further evidence that his boss didn’t like to veer too far from the beaten path.
The store smelled of garlic and cayenne peppers. Two of his favorite spices that turned his stomach with a delightful growl. Apparently he hadn’t eaten anything in a while, for he seemed to be seized by intense hunger.
At first, he wanted to check the phone in the office, but if the power was out, it was likely the phone didn’t work either. He planned to check it anyway, but because he was already in the kitchen, he decided to snack on some of the left overs in the fridge. He knew that if he didn’t get something in his stomach soon, his low blood sugar would cause him to start feeling funny, and that would increase his chances of passing out.
He swept the beam of light across several metallic shelves and tables, and stopped on the freezer. He walked to the large door and put his hand on the handle. He gave it a good jerk, but the door did not release.
Adam thought it might be locked, so he inspected the handle for a moment. Nothing seemed to be keeping it from moving, so the only other logical explanation he had was that there must have been considerable amounts of vacuum pressure built inside to hold the door shut.
Leverage would open it; therefore, he put one foot against the nearby wall, and pulled as hard as he could. When the door cracked and swung open, Adam was beat down with the most horrid smell he’d ever encountered. It was so intense that he doubled over, fell to the ground, and vomited.
For a while, the smell of decaying food urged him to heave, but eventually his nose grew accustomed to the odor. He stood, and his body was still shaking from the torment it went through. When he turned towards the freezer, the sight was far more horrific than he expected.
Instead of old food, moldy condiments, and withering meat, he found people. None of them were whole. Body parts were stacked in a pile. They appeared to be ripped and torn free of each other as though some large toothy beast took pleasure in eviscerating them.
Though he tried to look away in disgust, he was actually forced to turn around because he heard the same dark snarl that he’d heard in the fog earlier. It was close and inside the kitchen.
3
If only flashlights had the power to dissolve all creatures as efficiently as they did in vampire movies, he would have felt safe. Sadly, he knew that in the real world he needed a weapon, and the best thing he had was in his hand.
Surely if the creature, or whatever it was, had the strength to rip humans apart with ease, the flashlight or his fist was unlikely to deter its attack. He knew he needed to get out of there fast.
As he moved the light from left to right, hoping to see where the creature was stalking, he was rewarded with a slight view of its body. Behind a fe
w large bags of rice and dried vegetables, it hunted low and peered through the shelf.
Its eyes were amber, but more magnificently copper in sheen than perhaps a cat or a dog. The skin was slick, and its back bones seemed to line its body like the large teeth of a chainsaw only found in second rate horror movies. Dark and deranged, it waited for the right time to strike.
Adam watched it dive lower and move to the back of the kitchen. As it stepped in front of the back door, he realized that it was purposely blocking the nearest exit. Now the front door was his only escape.
Knowing this to be his only chance to move, he tossed the flashlight to distract it, and then ran full-speed to the dining room. From behind, he heard the claws torment the linoleum floor and it followed him through the kitchen.
When he passed the door into the dining area and started passing tables, he knocked over the chairs to attempt to slow it down. Unfortunately, he looked back to see it leap effortlessly over them.
Adam slammed into the door expecting it to burst open and free him into the fog. Instead, the deadbolt held the door firmly closed. He whipped around, and the creature had stopped pursuing him. It seemed to be watching, waiting for him to make his next move.
He needed to think of something, and quick. There was no way he was going to die like this—at least not by a monster. He edged closer to the creature, and it stayed in its spot, lowering its body as if getting ready to leap at him. He reached a nearby chair, grabbed the back of it, and slowly back-tracked to the window.
Although he had no idea if his plan was going to work, he needed to do something. He quickly turned, swung the chair at the window, and as the glass shattered, he jumped through it.
When he turned back to the store, the creature was running towards the window. He picked the chair off the ground, and when it jumped through, he swung hard and smashed it in its head.
Adam hit the creature with force while it was in motion. This alone should have disabled the beast, but instead it seemed only marginally phased by the attack. Its breathing was still strong, and it shook its head as if it was only a superficial wound.
He knew that he couldn’t outrun it. He might be able to run for now, but he had no idea how far he’d get before it caught up to him. The only other alternative was the gun shop. He was thankful for its existence. It not only provided shelter, but also a stockpile of weaponry that would no doubt kill the beast if it tried to attack him again.
Adam bolted to the gun shop entrance and pulled on the door. Like the restaurant, the front door was locked. He glanced at the creature as it began to slowly stand. He didn’t have time to find another way in, so he punched through the glass.
He winced with pain as the jagged edges cut into his skin, but it didn’t stop him from reaching in and disengaging the lock. As the creature ran in his direction, he closed the door.
When he was about to turn towards the store, the creature slammed full-speed into the lower metal panel. It denied the creature, but the door bent inwards. It backed up and slammed into it again.
While the deterrent was a welcome relief, he knew it wasn’t going to last too long. It was likely made from aluminum, and would only keep it out until the metal began to tear. He had three or four more good hits before Adam needed to defend.
He turned towards the store and grabbed the first gun he saw. It was a pump-action shotgun that would most certainly take the beast out.
After grabbing a few shells from the ammo cage behind the sales counter, he loaded the gun. He moved quickly back to the door, and when the creature dazed itself into the metal, he shot it directly in the head. The beast slumped over, and although the shot seemed to have taken part of its skull out, it remained alive and breathing.
Adam loaded another round into the chamber with his bloodied hand and was about to shoot it one more time when he felt cold steel press against the base of his skull. Though he couldn’t know what it was, he did know that he was in a gun store, and if it was something cold, it had to be a gun.
4
No moment in his life had ever been so full of danger. A creature with apparently malevolent intent was hunting him, and now someone had a gun to his head.
“Put it down.” A woman said in a cold familiar voice.
Trying not to make any sudden movements, he stretched his arm out and dropped the shotgun. “Why are you doing this? I was only defending myself against that thing.”
“I don’t care. You could be one of them.”
Despite the terrible predicament he was in, he couldn’t help but be curious about how familiar the woman’s voice was getting. In fact, he had an idea, but he was terrified to turn around and face the truth.
Still, he needed to at least look his captor in the eye, because he wanted her to see that he wasn’t an evil man, but instead a soft-faced survivor of a psycho mutt. Therefore, with the most inhibited movements, he turned and his fear was made a reality.
If he had any doubts that he was crazy, this was affirmation of his assumptions. It was easy enough to explain that burned down building had been renewed. It was even possible that there were species of hounds out there that he’d never seen before. However, Lisa was standing in front of him, and that was impossible.
“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” She said.
“What?” He said, “Lisa, I’m not anything. Certainly not one of those things.”
“How the hell do you know my name?” She said, and then aimed the pistol at his forehead.
“It’s me, Adam.”
Three years ago, Adam and Lisa were one their way home from a late movie. It was a Friday night, and also the eve of St. Patrick’s Day. While on the freeway, a drunk driver swerved into the front left of his car. He tried to keep control of the vehicle, but the speed was too great. It rolled, slid, and smashed into the center divider. Lisa was killed instantly.
“I don’t know you.”
It was devastating to hear those words, but it was worse to see her standing there and without the slightest hint that she recognized him. She was a stone sculpture of a wary and frightened woman who would sooner pull the trigger than listen to him try to explain that he knows her.
Aside from the fact that he didn’t want to be killed, he needed to tell her what she wanted to hear. Sure, he wanted to hold her, touch her, and tell her that he loved her. All those feelings and more rushed into his mind, but he knew doing so was not in the best interest of the situation. Not right now.
He sighed. “Okay, I only met you once at the bookstore you worked at, but I remembered your name.”
“I see.”
“I’m not here to hurt you. I just wanted a safe place to be.”
“It’s not much safer in here.”
“I can see that.” He said, gesturing to the gun in her hand.
“Why should I trust you?”
There wasn’t much he could say to change her mind. Lisa seemed fully aware of the situation, and if he were in her shoes, he would be just as vigilant in ensuring his own safety. “You can’t.”
She eyed him for a moment, and hesitantly lowered her weapon. Though she was still suspicious of him, she seemed to be convincing herself that he wasn’t a threat. He didn’t know what it could be, but he felt pressing the matter would only serve to change her mind in a negative way. “What’s going on here?”
“I have no idea. One day everything just went to hell.” She said, “First this fog rolls in, and then people start getting eaten by these creatures.”
“How long?”
“A few years.”
“A few years? No way. I was just at work yesterday, and everything was normal.”
She furrowed her brow. “Are you drunk?”
“Listen, I may have had a few last night, but there is no way I’d be drunk enough to forget three years of this shit.”
“Whatever the case, we can’t stay here now. The hunters know someone is in here, and they’ll be coming for us.”
“Don’t worry,
I killed it.”
“Doesn’t matter. Once one of them knows where we are, they all know.”
“My God, there’s more of these things?”
“Yep.” She said, “Get your gun, we gotta move. I know of a place near here. When we get there, you’re welcome to stay for a bit, but then you need to find your own place. I don’t like strangers hanging around.”
As he bent down to pick up the shotgun he said, “Let me go first.”
“Fine.”
Adam went to the door, peeked through the glass, and saw that the creature was gone. He hadn’t noticed it get up and leave, but it might have had something to do with having a gun in his face. It was probably still in the area, but he hoped it crawled somewhere to die.
“What’s wrong?” Lisa asked.
“That thing is gone.”
“The safe house is a mile from here. If we hurry, we can use the fog to mask us well enough until we get there.”
“Okay.”
He unlocked the door and started to pull it open. As a result of the beating it took, the frame was warped and caused a loud screech to wail through the dark night.
“So much for being quiet.” He said as he eased out of the store.
The fog seemed thicker, but the breeze had also died down. It was only a matter of time before visibility would return to just a few feet.
“This way.” Lisa said while going around him.
They walked in silence for a while. It was mostly because he didn’t have much to say, but he was also starting to feel the pain that he felt when found out Lisa was dead. It was tormenting to see her walking and talking, alive but never deader.
He wanted to hold her again, tell her that he loved her. All these things he would have done when she was alive. If he was in fact insane, he would be happy to stay within the confines of a padded room if it meant he could spend the rest of his life with her, even if she was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.
