Canopus and Keel - The Hive.

by Stephen Jarrett

  “Blu-Dates!” she said a little too loud. The dating app worked by Bluetooth and Canopus also had it installed on his phone, thanks to Jenkins. If Canopus was close, she could send him a message. Keel reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile. The light lit up the morgue drawer. Her battery light was still flashing red, so she moved down the brightness till it cast out a dull light. She tapped the app and the Blu-dates logo appeared. She saw that she had a previous match with Sid and some others from the coffee shop. A photo of Canopus was there, but the small circle near his profile image was red, showing he was out of range. Underneath Canopus’ photo was the word ‘The Cannon.’ Under Sid’s was ‘Dream McQueen”, his circle was green. Out there, with Sid’s body, his phone was still connected to the app. Keel felt relieved, “This could work,” she whispered. She stared hard at the phone waiting for the little red circle next to Canopus’ photo to turn green, hoping that her mobile battery wouldn’t run out before he came. Just to be sure, she sent a message to Sid’s phone – Jon, trapped in cold storage drawer. Shoot monsters in heart. Keel. She heard a faint ‘ding dong’.

  Outside the creatures pounded the door of the cold storage unit and screamed.

  EIGHTEEN.

  At the end of the corridor leading to the morgue, Drexel and Canopus stood before a large white door. Written across it in large red letters, was ‘Morgue ahead. Look alive!’

  ‘That always makes me laugh,” Drexel said, chuckling. He slowly opened the door a crack and peered through, “Holy shit on a brick, they are loose, all of them!”

  “Can you see Keel?” Canopus asked, concerned.

  “Negative. Can’t see her or the boy. Oh shit, wait! There are two bodies, they are pretty chewed up too.”

  Canopus pulled out his gun. Then that is it, he failed. He was going to take as many of these creatures as he could and then he was going to kill Lillian Fox himself. He reached for the door.

  Drexel pulled him back and pointed “Hang on cowboy, look! That one is Sid, poor kid. I recognize his bad taste in jackets and unless Keel had a dick she was hiding in her pants; the other body isn’t her either.”

  Canopus peered over Drexel and into the room. At least ten shroud infested human hybrids were walking around, pushing and shoving each other, trying to get to the remains of the two bodies on the floor. Other occupants were pulling open the morgue cold chamber drawers and eating the cadavers. An empty corridor led off from the room and into darkness, it was filled with cells, some were open, others still had screaming creatures inside.

  Drexel was right, the bodies were both men. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  “She isn’t there. Doesn’t look like Vince is either. They must have gotten out.”

  “Yeah, well, as the elevator and the stairs are broken, the only way out is through that window and that leads straight to the cliff’s edge. I’m pretty sure there used to be a door blocking that corridor there too.”

  “So, you are saying we have to go through them?”

  Drexel smiled. “I have a plan.”

  NINETEEN.

  Vince opened his eyes and screamed from the searing pain in his leg.

  “What’s your name fella? Can you tell me what happened?” asked a nurse wearing a blue shirt and white coat. The nurse reached out and touched Vince’s shoulder as he lay on the stone steps of Du Bey hospital.

  “What I...” Vince craned his neck and looked around, people were rushing around him.

  “Your name?”

  A weak voice whispered in Vince’s mind, “Tell him a name.”

  “It’s Simon, Simon Red.”

  “Mr. Red. I’m Danny, a nurse here. Your leg looks pretty bad, but it's a clean break. We’ll get you inside.” And with that, Vince was lifted onto a stretcher and carried up the stone steps and inside the hospital.

  “What happened?” asked Vince to the Red-girl, but the nurse responded instead, “You tell us Mr Red. We just found you outside, screaming. Gave people quite a scare.”

  “Very weak, took a lot of effort to get you here. Need to rest.” replied the Red-girl.

  Vince grabbed Danny’s arm, “Was there another with me, a woman?”

  “Just you. Is there another hurt? Can you remember what happened?”

  Vince closed his eyes and shook his head. Danny gently pulled his arm away from Vince’s grip.

  ‘What happened? Where is Keel? This is my first question of the day, answer me.’ asked Vince in his mind.

  There was no reply.

  TWENTY.

  “That’s your plan?” snorted Canopus, “That’s suicide.”

  He paused.

  “But it may just work. Now tell me again.”

  “We grab the fire extinguishers on the stairwell. I’ve seen at least three, plus this one here.” Drexel patted the fire extinguisher next to the door. We throw them into the room and shoot them. BOOM! goes the fire extinguishers, releasing clouds of carbon dioxide. We then charge in and climb through the window. Easy.”

  “That window looked pretty small and we are not small men.” Canopus patted Drexel’s stomach.

  “I can get through it. Been through smaller. Just don’t go through it too quickly, it’s a cliff edge on the other side.”

  “Gets better and better.”

  “Don’t be a baby. The kids climb in all the time and if you fall, you are just going to get wet. You can swim, can’t you?”

  Canopus nodded.

  “And I’ve got these too, well three of them actually,” Drexel said, face beaming.

  Drexel opened his jacket, three grenades were hanging on a piece of string, looped around his chest. “Would’ve given you a big surprise if you shot me in the corridor. We’re gonna be like frigging Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Just like Redford and Newman in the movie, charging into a room, smoke, blaze of glory!” Drexel wiped a tear from his eye. “If we frig-it up, it’s a hella-way to go and I couldn’t ask for a better man to go with.”

  Canopus shook his head, “You crazy, soft son-of-a-bitch.” He felt better knowing that Keel wasn’t dead in the room, but he was still concerned she was with a two hundred year old serial killer. If this was a chance to warn her, then he would take it.

  He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as it emoted a ding-dong sound. He quickly took it out.

  “What is it? Hard to get a signal down here,” enquired Drexel.

  Canopus looked at the screen, the Blu-dates app was flashing. He clicked the icon.

  Drexel narrowed his eyes as he saw Canopus’ sudden smiling face, turn to dread.

  “Well the good news is Keel is alive.”

  “Right on. Told you that girl is tough, what’s the bad news?”

  “She’s trapped in one of the cold storage drawers.”

  Drexel rubbed his bald head, “In the room surrounded by monsters that are pulling out those drawers?”

  Canopus nodded.

  “Did she say which drawer?”

  Canopus wrote back. ‘Outside room with Drexel, which drawer?’ his phone emoted a swoosh indicating the message was sent. He could see next to Keel’s portrait, a green light to show she was online and close by. Under Keel’s portrait was the name “Keeler Queen.” Animating dots showed that she was replying.

  “Ding dong,” beeped the phone.

  “She replied.”

  “Read it out.”

  ‘Bottom drawer, 3rd from left. Shoot hybrids in heart. Plan?’

  “I’ll get the fire extinguishers, you tell her the plan,” and with that, Drexel ran to grab as many fire extinguishers as he could, leaving Canopus alone outside the door.

  Canopus peered once more into the room and watched the hybrids as they pulled open the cold storage drawers, tearing at the flesh of the bodies they found inside. They were at least twenty drawers away from Keel’s position

  Canopus typed back, ‘Can you get out if we create havoc?’

  ‘100% Yes’

  There was a character limit to how much
you could send in a message, so Canopus sent a flurry of small messages.

  ‘When you hear explosion, leave.’ ‘There will be clouds of smoke’ ‘you won’t see. Head to window.’ ’jump.’

  ‘OK. When? Hurry. cold. Scared.’

  Drexel ran back holding three extinguishers. He nodded at Canopus, breathing hard.

  ‘30 seconds.’

  “Ready Drexel?”

  Drexel passed Canopus two fire extinguishers, “I’m ready. Your partner know what to do?”

  Canopus nodded.

  “She said, shoot them in the heart.’

  Drexel nodded. “Got it. Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  “Then let’s do this!” Drexel kicked the door so hard it flew off its hinges.

  The hybrids turned.

  Canopus and Drexel threw the extinguishers in the room and two grenades.

  They fired their guns.

  Explosions.

  And then all hell broke loose.

  TWENTY-ONE.

  “Awake.”

  Vince’s head felt heavy, as did his limbs. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a white ceiling with a pale blue line snaking across it. His eyes followed the line to the grey wall and then with a huge amount of effort, he lifted his head and followed the line as it continued down the wall, to the grey tiled floor and then to the tall golden skinned woman at the end of his bed.

  She smiled, but didn't come closer.

  Vince felt the hair on his arms tingle.

  “Hello,” said the woman.

  “Are you a nurse? I don’t feel great,” stammered Vince, his lips felt unconnected to his mouth.

  The woman licked her lips and smiled. “And you will not feel great for a long time. You may even die.”

  “If you work here, your bed manner sucks.” It was weird to talk, due to the heaviness of his lips and teeth.

  Lillian Fox watched, as the shroud she had attached to Vince wriggled over his body, it’s almond eyes blinked frantically as it sucked against his neck, its long fingers probed and penetrated his skull.

  “I’m wondering how the little red bitch inside you, deals with the gift I just sent you both.”

  She held up a hand. “Don’t bother replying, it’s going to be too much effort for you. Just know that I can see her, sleeping, like a little red mouse tucked away inside you. When my pet finds her, that is when it will get interesting. You are not enough to feed it alone, too old, too worn out, your energy is almost gone and how would you say? Artificial? That works, yes, artificial.”

  Lillian Fox tapped the metal frame of the bed twice. “Touch your left eye”

  Vince’s hand rose and his index finger extended. “Hey, what’s going on. Stop!” yelled Vince, as his finger slowly moved towards his eye.

  Vince tried to close his eyes, but couldn’t. His finger finally rested against his pupil, which started to sting and spasm.

  “Push,” commanded Lillian Fox.

  Vince, first started to whimper and then scream, as his finger pushed harder and harder against his pupil. His vision blurred, as he felt his finger push against something slimy and protective. Then there was crack, no louder than breaking the shell of a hard-boiled egg and he felt his finger penetrate goo.

  Lillian Fox, took a deep breath, savoring the sorrow. With the wave of her hand, Vince’s hand withdrew and the eye repaired.

  ‘Sleep,” she commanded.

  Vince closed his eyes and fell back into unconsciousness.

  Just when she thought that Bonners Ferry couldn't get any duller, a resurrected boy with a little, weak Zeph inside him turns up. She stopped and giggled to herself. Zephs were pathetic creatures, they thought themselves as gods, but they were nothing in power compared to an angel. Also, she heard they tasted delicious.

  After seeing the Zeph in the boy, she had immediately created a shroud by manipulating a passing lost soul. The hospital was full of lost, wandering souls, most hospitals were. She laughed. The shroud would soon devour the Zeph and feed its energy to her. Twice today, Lillian Fox had felt refreshed with the unknown. First the twins and now the Zeph, it’s usually so dull being immortal, but not today.

  She danced her tongue across her teeth, wondering once more what the Zeph would taste like.

  “Take him to the hive.”

  The shroud blinked its large almond eyes, while its bony fingers danced in and out of Vince’s skull.

  Eyes still closed, Vince stepped out of the bed and walked towards the door, barefoot and dressed in his hospital gown. Lillian frowned. “Well we can’t have that.” She touched her lips with her fingers and blew. A single pink petal, left her mouth and landed on Vince’s head, whereupon it shuddered and then disappeared.

  Vince continued to walk, but with each step he started to blend into his surroundings, until he was practically invisible.

  Lillian Fox smiled and headed to the children’s ward.

  TWENTY-TWO.

  In the cold chamber, the drawer’s walls violently shook from the explosions outside. Keel’s face smashed against the hard metal wall and she felt the sticky wetness of thick blood explode from her nose and down her face.

  In the darkness, she reached above her head, placed her palms against the drawer’s roof and pushed backwards, forcing the drawer to open.

  The morgue was filled with clouds of cold white smoke. Through the haze, Keel could see shapes, large and small, moving fast. Some of the shapes, she was sure, were of the shroud hybrids, others she guessed, were Canopus and Drexel, but she couldn't tell which was which.

  She sat up and stepped off the drawer, pain shot through her broken right leg and she immediately broke out in sweat. She tried to call for Canopus, but when she opened her mouth the gas burnt her throat.

  Covering her mouth with her sleeve, she hobbled to where she remembered the window was located. With each limp, she ducked and swerved from the shapes around her. Arms, black tentacles, faces lunged in and out of the gas, but Keel kept moving.

  Anyone else in the room, would have been disorientated with the noise, moving shapes and thick C02 gas, but not Keel. She ran the schematics of the room through her mind. Her father had taught her to remember every detail, when you entered a room through intense observation techniques. You let the details of the room seep into your mind and categorize the objects, entrances and exits.

  Keel knew how many drawers were in the room – Forty-Eight.

  How many round objects? Three. A clock on the wall that would now read 3:35pm, a stress ball on the desk and the top of the waste paper bin.

  How many square objects? Fifty-Two. The desk was made of two squares forming a rectangle of 5x3 feet, two door frames, one window and forty-eight drawers.

  It was so natural to remember everything, that at night she sometimes felt her head was going to explode.

  Keel knew where she was going and knew how long it would take her. She stopped in the center of the room and ducked as a thick muscular arm, swiped through the gas. Placing her hands in front of her, she searched the floor until her fingers felt the familiar texture of her grimoire. She grabbed her grimoire and then her broken satchel. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the pain from her leg away and hobbled ahead towards the faint glow of the small window.

  Keel paused, as the silhouette of a large creature moved before her and violently pushed another shape against the wall. She hoped it wasn’t Canopus.

  Gritting her teeth through the pain and moving as fast as her broken leg would allow her, she reached into her jacket and with her left hand, withdrew her machete. It was too risky to wave it around at the shadows, but If anything grabbed her, it would be cut in half. Still holding the grimoire tightly, she rubbed dry blood from her nose, it fell to the floor, crimson snowflakes against the white clouds of gas. For a second, she paused at the beauty and then was hit hard, by a charging creature.

  Keel fell, skidding across the floor through the haze. Breathing hard, trying to ignore the pain in her
leg, she could see the shadow of the hybrid moving towards her. Loud tinny music suddenly blared from somewhere in the room, stopping the advancing creature, which promptly turned and moved back the way it came. The music continued to play, it sounded familiar to Keel, but she couldn't place it. Music wasn't something that Keel understood and even remembered, the lyrics were too hard to understand.

  Turning back to the wall, she gently lifted herself up to the window ledge above, shifting her weight away from her broken right leg.

  Grabbing her machete hard in her hand, she smashed the blade against the window, the noise was hardly audible, against the roaring of the hybrids and the music.

  Careful to not leave any jagged glass, she ran the blade across the frame. Light blared through the window, causing the clouds of gas to appear as solid white walls.

  Lifting herself up, she easily fit through the window and fell head first, into the coarse bushes below.

  Back in the room, the music stopped.

  Keel took long gasps of the clean lake air and looked down at her swollen broken leg, it felt hot and tender, she tried to move it to a better position and then started to slip down the cliff, her right hand grabbed hold of some small blueberry bushes, but their coarse branches snapped, tearing at her skin. Grabbing the machete with both hands, she dug it into the ground, but the soil was too loose and she sped faster and faster down the cliff edge.

  Large round rocks sped past her, before she was able to dig the machete into the base of a small, overhanging tree.

  She was safe, but had fell at least thirty feet from the base of the window. Sixty feet below her ankles, she could see the murky green water of Bonner Ferry’s lake.

  White gas billowed from the smashed window above her. Arms shaking, Keel pulled herself up towards the trunk of the tree, gritting her teeth through the pain in her useless leg.

  Back pressed against the tree, she took a stick and drew a half circle in the dirt around her leg. Gunshots echoed from the room above, followed by the scream of a hybrid. She hoped Canopus was safe.