by Wyatt Kane
“Any way you can. I suggest you work together.”
“Really?” I said. “Do you expect the girls to go out there and fight it?”
“Hey!” June said. “First, I’m not a girl, I’m a woman. Second, why are we talking to this thing anyway? Start the van, and let’s get out of here. Whatever the hell is going on, it’s the old man’s problem, not ours.”
I admit to feeling sheepish. Not only for being called out by June, but also because I hadn’t even thought of moving the van. Yet I wasn’t sure I agreed with the dark-haired twin. After all, the Egg had said that all of creation was at stake. If we didn’t do something, who would?
“You will not be able to operate the vehicle,” said the Egg.
I looked at April, seeking her input. The spectacular blonde bit her lip in a gesture that I couldn’t help but find appealing. “Maybe at least see if we can?” she suggested.
It made sense. I crawled into the cockpit and looked around. There were far too many instruments, buttons and levers for my liking. Yet there was also a standard steering wheel, speedometer, fuel-gage and the rest. And an ordinary looking key to start it all up.
I turned it.
Nothing.
I looked about for some sort of clue, but nothing had changed. Was the old van modern enough to need the clutch to be pressed before it would start? I tried it.
Again, nothing.
“I am sorry,” Shell said. “You can go nowhere until the insectoid demon has been neutralized.”
VII
June wasn’t happy to hear it. “You piece of shit,” she yelled at the Egg. “Take us home, now!”
I’d already half-turned back toward them, and could see the girls and the floating, egg-shaped AI clearly. Shell swiveled to face the dark-haired twin. “I am sorry, June. While I have some capacity to control the van, I cannot pilot it. Only the Wise One can do that. So there is no point cursing at me, although your face is lovely when it is flushed in anger.”
The Egg was right, I thought. June was every bit as beautiful as her sister. Not a surprise, really, given they were twins. Interestingly, the AI’s casual complement also seemed to take some of the sting from June’s vitriol. Her cheeks were still flushed, but I thought that might not have been solely due to anger any more.
Either way, it seemed there was only one option remaining.
I sighed. “What do we have to do?” I asked.
<<<>>>
Ten minutes later, April and I stood on the edge of the road with our backs to the van.
We’d torn up the curtains and used them to wrap some of the cushions around our arms, chests, and torsos as pitiful bits of armor. I still wore my jacket underneath, but figured any additional protection would be welcome. For weapons, I held a pair of scissors we’d found in the glove box, and April held an ice scraper. Pathetic, really, and not what I’d choose to face anything, let alone an overgrown bug that wanted to eat me. But they were still better than nothing, or at least I hoped so.
Shell had pointed us toward one of the side compartments next to the passenger seat, where we’d found a set of small transmitters that we poked into our ears. I could now hear myself, April, June, and Shell on an open channel. With her bad ankle, June couldn’t do much of anything, but she had begrudgingly promised to keep a lookout from inside the van.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Shell advised in my ear. “The smaller insectoids may lack the power of the larger ones, but are known to be stealthy.”
“Perfect,” I muttered. April shot me a sideways glance. Her hands trembled, and I reached for the one closest to me and held it.
“Are you trying to make me less afraid?” she asked. She looked undeniably anxious.
“No, I’m trying to make me less afraid,” I said, smiling thinly. I gave her hand a squeeze, and she squeezed back. Funny how dangerous situations brought people together. It had been the same way in Afghanistan, although my Marine buddies hadn’t looked half as good as April. Even in the moonlight, I could see the way her golden hair fell around her face, and I couldn’t help but remember how she’d looked on stage back at the Club. Something in me stirred, and okay, this time maybe it was that sort of stirring.
But it was more than just attraction even then, I think. Maybe it had something to do with my talent for time, but at that moment, with us holding hands, I somehow knew our destinies were linked.
“Ahem,” Shell said in my ear, interrupted my musings. “I am detecting something. Two o’clock.”
My focus shifted to the trees. “Whose two o’clock, mine or yours?”
“Mine.”
That didn’t help. “Which way are you facing?” I asked.
“Did you know time is relative?” Shelly asked.
Seriously? Was the floating AI in the old man’s van trying to make a joke? It was both unbelievable and frustrating at the same time.
“Forget that,” June interrupted. “We’ve got a big-ass cockroach out in front of the vehicle.”
I turned in time to see the monster dart quickly into the trees, but had no idea if it was heading our way or had even seen us. “Damn. Shell, can you turn on the headlights?”
“Yes.”
I gripped my scissors as if they would do any good. “April, stay here and keep a look out. Shell, I’m going to lure it closer, and when I give the signal, turn the lights on.”
I half expected April to object to my ‘stay here’ comment. Her sister would have. But all she said was, “You’re going to blind it?”
“That’s the plan. I figure it’s keeping this forest in perpetual night for a reason, right? Maybe it doesn’t like the light.”
“Not the greatest plan I’ve ever heard,” Shell said, “but it appears to be all we have. Time is of the essence. Good luck.”
I let go of April’s hand, but she grabbed it again and pulled me back. “April,” I said, “you’ve got to let me go.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “You got this, Caleb.”
“Thanks.” Clearing my throat, I stepped away and limped around toward the front of the Bedford. My cheek burned where she had kissed it, but it was very pleasant.
“I just want you to know I’m rolling my eyes in here,” June said.
“It may be the last time we see him,” April replied, her voice quiet but very clear in my ear. “What if he gets killed, like Eddie? I wanted his last memory to be sweet.”
“If he gets killed like Eddie, his last thoughts will be full of pain and terror.”
“Ladies, please,” I said, shivering, “a little silence would be good, if you don’t mind?”
“I forgot he could hear us,” April whispered, sounding mortified.
“I can still hear you,” I said. Maybe it wasn’t great to know that April thought I might get killed, but it was somehow comforting to know that she cared, at least a little.
Holding my scissors in front of me like a combat knife, I stepped carefully forward, walking the edge of the forest. The bastard insect-thing was close, and I wanted to see it before it saw me.
“Caleb, be careful,” April said.
“I’ll be all right.”
“Pain and terror,” June reminded me.
“Thanks, June.”
“No problem.”
There was rustling in the trees to my right, and I spun toward it. The sweat of tension started forming on forehead and made my shirt damp, and I had flashbacks of the desert with its perpetual heat.
“I’m not meant to die yet,” I muttered, forgetting the others could hear me.
“None of us are,” Shell said matter-of-factly, “but the timelines are shifting. Things that aren’t meant to happen can still happen.”
I gritted my teeth. “Not helpful,” I muttered.
Slowly, agonizingly, I stepped toward the trees. Aware that each breath could be my last, I listened with hyper-attuned senses. Every sound seemed like the roar of a dragon to my ears. With a bum leg, I couldn’t move very fast, but
somehow the thought of being eaten by a bug the size of a horse motivated me more than usual.
For three or four minutes, the forest kept up its usual sounds. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked, an owl even hooted, and I listened to it all. In the distance, a pack of coyotes yipped and howled, sending a chill down my spine. Coyotes didn’t attack people, I didn’t think, but I couldn’t really say. The most time I’d spent outdoors was in the desert of Afghanistan, and since coming home, I hadn’t had much desire to become one with nature. Anyway, Afghanistan didn’t have coyotes, although they did have a jackal that looked similar. Not to mention roving packs of dogs, scorpions, and the occasional snake.
With the Bedford maybe twenty paces behind me and a cloud moving over the moon, I heard a soft clattering in the brush to my right. Forcing myself to breathe calmly, I stood still, waiting. Looking back, I should have slowed time right then, before the bug appeared. At the time, though, I had thought to wait until it had emerged.
“Caleb,” June whispered. The transmitter worked so well it sounded like she was standing with her lips to my ear.
“Yes?”
“I found a tire iron. Might be a good weapon.”
“Too late now,” I whispered back. “It’s here.”
The demon emerged from the trees, its scorpion-pincers glinting in what remained of the moonlight. The bug didn’t hesitate, but swarmed toward me like the murderous nightmare-monster from another dimension it was.
“Caleb, look out!” April yelled.
VIII
I sank into a squat, slowing time. As well as the pincers, this minor demon also had a scorpion’s stinger that it tried to impale me with. And again, it seemed to be immune to my talent. I barely evaded its stinger. The creature scuttled sideways, going for another jab, and its entire body was now out in the open.
“Now!” I shouted. “Turn ’em on!”
Shell was as good as her word. She turned on the headlights, and they hit directly in the demon’s many eyes. The monster gave a scream that sounded like the tearing of metal. Just as I’d hoped, it was sensitive to light.
But that’s when things started to go wrong. Instead of freezing in place, the monster flailed about with its pincers and stinger. Even so, I gritted my teeth and charged the bug with my scissors, intending to do as much damage as I could.
I’d been in many dangerous situations before, both in Afghanistan and as a bouncer at the Club. I was more familiar than I wanted to be with the adrenalin spike, the heart-pounding, and the surge of anger and fear that came with it.
But no amount of experience could prepare me for fighting a monster insect from another dimension that wanted me dead, with nothing but a pair of scissors for a weapon. Even though I’d slowed time, the loathsome creature was still quick enough to deflect my first blow. The scissors skittered over its armored pincer and bounced off its thick carapace next to its eyes, which had been my target.
I cursed out loud, and maybe that was a mistake. The bug aimed its stinger right at me. If it had been moving at normal speed, I would have been stung. Even slowed down, the horrible thing had too many weapons to track.
I dodged, hesitating for just long enough to lose my grip on time.
The awful creature screamed again, but instead of continuing to attack, it turned and clattered off into the trees.
“Fuck,” I said. I stood in the glare of the headlights, wondering what to do. Should I go after it? Maybe pick up a branch or rock or something more useful than my scissors?
I was still undecided when April gave voice to a scream of terror. I turned, stepped out of the light from the van’s headlights, and saw where she was looking. A second demon had come out of nowhere and was charging for her at full speed. This insectoid monstrosity had a dozen jointed legs that moved like those of a centipede.
It was closer to her than I was. Even with its weird, undulating run, the vile monster was going to beat me to the van.
“April, get inside!” I called as I lurched into a run.
“Not without you!”
“Now, dammit!”
“Don’t yell at her!” June yelled.
Behind me, I heard the scrape of claws, and I knew that the scorpion-demon had also decided to attack. But for me, April was the priority, so I pushed my body to run faster. April scrambled into the van, but she left the door open.
“Close it!” I shouted.
“Not without you!” came the reply.
I cursed again, knowing I couldn’t get there in time. The second bug was too close and moving too quickly. I considered flinging my scissors at it, but knew that wouldn’t help. April had left her and her sister open to the monster’s attack and there was nothing I could do. Even slowing time wouldn’t be enough. I just couldn’t move as quickly as I needed to.
Except that the old man had given me his remote device back at the Club. “Take this,” he’d said. “You’re going to need it.”
I was willing to grasp at any straw, regardless of how flimsy. As fast as I could, I jammed my hand in my pocket, brought out the remote, and jabbed at a button at random. The Bedford’s horn honked once. I pushed another, and the door slid closed, locking the girls inside.
“Caleb!” April yelled, sounding distressed.
I was just in time. The second bug attacked the Bedford. Its claws scraped across the metal roof sounding exactly like nails on a chalkboard. Gritting my teeth against the noise, I tried to slow it in time and kept moving. As I neared the van, I risked glancing back.
My personal nemesis was so close it could have snipped me in half with its pincers if it were quicker. It was shocking to see, and I flinched out of the way by reflex and circled the van away from the other demon. The first one followed, maybe a little more slowly than normal. It weaved its head as if it still couldn’t quite see me clearly. Good news, I thought, but I was sure it wouldn’t last.
In my ear, I heard April and June saying something, but I had other things on my mind. The adrenaline rushing through my body helped me focus. Somehow, I felt June’s fear as well as my own. It was weird, but I didn’t have time to figure out why.
Instead, I let it fuel me. I promised myself I would protect the girls from the bugs if it was the last thing I did.
Even though it probably would be the last thing I did.
I ducked and rolled as the scorpion tried to sting me. At full speed it would have got me, and there would have been nothing I could have done. As it was, it barely missed, ripping at my cushion-armor as I hit the ground. I felt the transmitter pop out of my ear and heard it roll somewhere under the vehicle.
No time to deal with it then, I thought. I left it and jumped back to my feet.
The second bug had jammed two of its claws into the tiny gap between the door and the frame. It was attempting to pry the van open like a tin can.
“Hey!” I yelled at it, waving my arms at it like it was an old friend I’d spotted on the other side of the road.
It ignored me, making creepy sucking noises as it worked on the metal. With a hiss, the other demon found me. I turned my back to the van, keeping both demons in my peripheral vision. What the hell was I doing? I wondered. I realized I’d trapped myself between two demons, either of which could have killed me without any problems.
The first bug-demon raised its stinger. I waved my hand in front of its face and leaped closer to the second, which was still busy with the van. The nails on chalkboard noise was driving me crazy, messing with my ability to slow time.
Huh? I’d lost the transmitter. How could I still hear her in my head?
“What?” I said aloud, keeping both monstrosities in sight.
“So what—Ah! Got it!”
It was like a light-bulb going off in my head. My pair of scissors was not the only weapon I had against these monsters. I had the monsters themselves.
As fast as I could with my bum leg,
I turned back to the scorpion-monster and kept waving and yelling. Obligingly, it click-click-clicked closer. I had a moment in which to wonder what the hell I was doing, and then the scorpion raised its stinger.
Just as it struck, I dove toward the feet of the centipede-monster.
It worked like a charm. The scorpion, still struggling to see, stung its counterpart in the middle of its segmented body. The second demon squealed and wrenched its pincers away from the van, then turned to attack the demon that stung it.
They scuffled, not quite at full speed, clacking at each other as the first stung the second multiple times. Goo flung from their wounds, hitting me. It sizzled on my skin, burning.
The fight didn’t take long. The scorpion-thing was much stronger than its opponent. It defeated the centipede, ripping into its segmented body with its pincers again and again.
The centipede gave one final cry before dying.
Then the scorpion swung toward me. I used the scissors, taking advantage of the moment before the monster struck. Gathering all my strength, I put more effort into slowing time than I’d ever done before. It didn’t halt the demon, not even close, but it slowed its attack enough for me to step past its pincers and plunge the scissors into its eyes, over and over.
Blood and flesh flew everywhere. The creature screeched, blinded properly now.
Inside the Bedford, I could feel June’s elation at my near-victory. It spurred me on, and the creature slowed even more. I had enough time to stab it through the thinner armor at its the throat three times before its stinger swung down again. This time, evading it was much easier. I had dealt the animal a lot of damage, and it visibly stumbled.
I don’t know what happened. One moment I was happily attacking the bug-demon, confident of chipping away its life one pathetic stab at a time while it stood, held still by my talent for slowing time. And then, somehow, I was on my back with the damned thing looming over me and time returning to normal.
I was stunned. The creature moved closer, its pincers clacking together above me as it sought for its prey.
