by Maxey, Phil
“Help… Is there anyone…” Screams came with the words. “E.L.F’s are…”
Carrie stopped in the middle of the road. They all looked around at the small stores and parking lots. “They can’t be far,” she said.
Grant lifted the radio to his mouth then stopped.
“What are you waiting for?” said Carrie.
“Just wait.”
The radio voice continued. “Anyone… Attacking…”
Amy threw her arm out between the seats. “Look! Over there!”
About two miles to the north were clouds of dust, and oily green colored tentacles of things thrashing around near a block like building.
The voice came through again, but clearer. “Is there anyone out there? We cannot hold out—”
Carrie looked desperately at Grant. “We have to help them!”
He looked back at her with bloodshot eyes. “What can we do!”
“But… This is what we do! We help!”
Grant looked at the wide road which moved through the small town. “Drive.”
Carrie looked at him then turned her head to the road, and pushed down on the gas.
*****
Grant looked through his open window at tens of miles of sand, only broken up by blotches of dry greens and browns. The breeze helped with the intense summer heat. It had been three hours since the town and the radio message he wished he never heard. The tiny amount of hope the journey had started with had been extinguished, replaced with a blanket of silence inside the cabin. Every part of him wanted to help the people on the other end of the radio, but he was no longer the leader of a small team that dealt with E.L.F’s, he was only one thing, and one thing only. A father.
As the desert rolled by and he scoured the flat landscape with his binoculars for any sign of unwanted life, he thought about Ethan, then Rose, then Iona. A carousel of faces each one with attached memories and pain. Trying his best to block them out, he looked down at his roadmap. By his reckoning they were still at least ten hours from Roswell, so another lay over to avoid driving at night was going to be required. At least they had hardly seen any signs of creatures in the desert.
“We’ve moved into Arizona. And we’re about to move through some small towns before going back out into the desert, so everyone be alert,” he said.
“We’re getting low on gas,” said Carrie. “Maybe another thirty miles before we’re on fumes.”
He looked back at the map then at buildings below the highway. There was no obvious sign of E.LF’s, but he knew there were probably some down there. “Take the next turnoff. There’s a number of gas stations if you take a left at the bottom of the exit. If the pumps don’t work, we’ll have to take it from other trucks.”
They arrived at the junction. On the opposite corner sat a fast food restaurant.
“I would kill for a hamburger,” said Amy, then realized the ramifications of her statement.
“Well you never know, maybe some of these things, will be like cows and we can eat them…” said Carrie, although the silence in the cabin voiced everyone’s opinion of such an idea. She turned the big wheel driving the semi across the junction to the left.
“Stop!” shouted Grant.
She promptly hit the breaks. “What?” She then saw what he did. Below the overpass they were about to pass beneath, were large orange sacks of organic material. Their surface was moist but partly transparent and allowed a view of things swimming around inside. The whole underside of the concrete bridge was covered in them.
Several gas stations were just a hundred yards away on the other side. “Son of a bitch,” said Carrie. She looked at the roof of the cabin above her. “I reckon we could just make it through without touching any of those things.”
“They’re moving!” said Amy.
Ben was busy drawing.
“I’m not bothered about those things, I’m bothered about what made them,” said Grant. Carrie looked at him and put the truck in reverse.
A clattering of metal rang out around them.
“Where did that come from?” said Carrie driving the semi back a few yards, then turning the wheel so they were pointing to the on-ramp to take them back to the highway.
A creature burst out from near the gas stations. Its head was feathered but its body was still like the snakes of old, except this serpent was easily twenty feet long. It slivered onto the road then rushed towards them, its tongue tasting the air as it did.
“Go!” shouted Grant.
Carrie pushed down hard on the gas and the big engine struggled to push them forward quickly.
“It’s coming!” shouted Amy, looking through the small cabin window.
A noise, half hiss half screech filled the air
“I’m trying!” said Carrie.
The truck surged forward but then hit the ramp and slowed again.
Grant went to talk, but something heavy slammed into the side of the cabin sending Ben to the other side and the world outside tilted as the semi balanced on two wheels, then landed back down. Metal twisted and buckled.
Carrie floored the gas pedal. “We’re not moving forward, there’s something—”
A beak or fang for it was impossible to see, smashed the driver’s side window showering Carrie with glass.
Grant grabbed his rifle then pushed his door open and hung out, looking back and up. The creature’s body was gripping the back of the chassis, its neck and head towering above. As the truck’s wheels spun to gain traction, he raised and went to fire when the thing slammed down on the cab roof, shattering the windscreen and making him lose his grip. He tumbled onto the side of road, only stopping when he hit up against the metal poles of a sign. The creature slammed down again on the cabin, which was crumpling under the impacts. The screams mixed with the creatures own high pitch roars.
He looked around for his rifle then on seeing it scrambled forward picked it up and fired. The snake like creature screeched in pain, its body falling from the back of the truck and onto the road. The tires gripped and the truck shot forward.
Grant got to his feet and ran for all he was worth up the slope, ignoring the pain in his ankle. He went to look back when something hit him, sending him spiraling through the air until he hit the grassy bank behind. Daggers of pain shot through his right forearm and a ringing seemed to be coming from inside his head. He looked up at the creature showing its multitude of teeth at him in the center of the road. It leaned back in preparation to attack and then was replaced with a flash of steel. The semi drove into it at high speed and then over its body cutting it into. The head part of the creature thrashed around on the opposite bank and then fell still.
Grant tried to get to his feet but the pain in his arm was joining with the ground feeling as if it was made of foam, and he fell back to his knees. As the world turned black, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Carrie looked at broken trees on both sides of the road. Her view was partially blocked by the piece of metal they had placed above the dashboard where the windscreen used to be. She still had to drive slower than she wanted though as anything over fifty made the wind surging through the cabin unbearable, even with the temperature now in the mid-nineties. She thought about switching to another vehicle, but that was a plan for tomorrow, right now she just wanted to find a secure place to be able to get through the night.
Ben sat to her right while Amy stayed in the back with Grant. She was sure his arm was broken, and the right side of his face was swollen. He had been in and out of consciousness since they carried him to the cab. Once the threat from whatever the thing was, had gone, they moved back onto the highway, took another exit and made their way to their original destination, the gas stations. One of the four had a diesel pump working and despite what had just happened, they all sighed in relief knowing they had a full tank.
Over the following four hours, she had come to like the young woman in the back, who not only held her shit together better than she had
, but managed to distract Ben enough for him to stop crying. They were lucky they found her.
She looked at Ben, whose eyes were closed. In his lap was the roadmap. She leaned over, picked it up and held the page open where they were meant to be.
Amy leaned forward between the seats. “Give it to me. I’ll see what’s ahead of us.”
Carrie passed it back. “I think we’re coming up to a big town.”
Amy examined the page. “Yeah, Flagstaff.”
“I know it’s still early afternoon, and we could be driving for another five hours but—”
“I agree. A day of rest would be good for him… for all of us.”
Carrie steered to the right, onto an exit. A group of brown two-story buildings sat further back on the right. She glanced at Amy confirming her own feeling. “Nah,” they both said at the same time.
The highway wheeled around and then straightened, taking them underneath it. The town was spread out ahead, but one building stood out being positioned on a hill.
“What about that place?” said Amy.
“I was thinking the same.”
Grant mumbled something making Amy look back at him, but his eyes were still closed.
The truck stopped at a junction.
“Why have you stopped? What’s that smell—” She looked back to the reason then her mouth fell open and she punched her nose. The road, sidewalk and parking lots were covered in the mangled remains of military vehicles and E.L.F’s. Humvee’s, APC’s, tanks and what looked like a downed helicopter, most bent to almost unrecognizable shapes or cleaved in half, as if a laser had been taken to them, laid under and around rotting things, most equal in size to the vehicles. The scene stretched in all directions for at least a mile.
“Man…” said Amy. “This was some battle.”
Carrie strained her eyes for any sign of movement amongst the decaying flesh, but couldn’t see any. She gestured to their right. “Entrance to that place is there.”
She pulled off passing a sign that mentioned a hotel, and following the narrow road up and around and then stopped again. The parking lot had walls of sandbags and more destroyed vehicles.
“I think this place was some kind of military headquarters or something,” said Amy. “Maybe we should try somewhere else?”
Carrie shook her head then drove forward slowly, weaving around bags of sand and vehicles on their sides. “This is perfect. It’s like a fortress, and the monsters have been and gone.”
She stopped the truck in front of another wall of bags, these surrounding the entrance. She turned the engine off then they both sat, listening.
Ben awoke with a start making them both jump. “Whe… Where are we? What’s happening? My dad—”
Amy put her hand on his shoulder. “Your dad’s okay. He’s just sleeping.”
Carrie looked at the boarded up windows on the five story building. “We’re going to try and stay the night in this place. Figured it would be better for your dad.”
Ben nodded, looking at the building himself. “What are those bags doing there?”
“The military put them there we think,” said Amy. “They were here before.”
“Where did they go?”
Carrie’s eyes flicked to Amy’s as she continued scanning for any movement. “They’ve gone. It looks abandoned now.” She picked up her rifle and radio. “I’m going to go inside.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Amy.
“No. You need to stay here with Ben and Grant. I’ll be fine. But if I’m not back say within… twenty minutes. Get the hell out of here.”
Amy nodded.
Carrie pulled on the door handle and with a little effort due to the frame being warped, pushed the door open. She then jumped down and closed it. Being away from the breeze she could feel the weight of the sun’s heat and jogged between the bags, passing a machine gun, to move under the entrance roof and be in shadow.
The glass doors were no longer, having been replaced with just their metal frames. She looked through them to the gloom on the other side. Even being outside she could see the chaos of broken furniture, abandoned military equipment and deep red smears on the once cream colored tiled floor.
She walked forward slowly, her boots crunching the glass fragments and moved through two sets of double doors to a large room. She swung her rifle’s barrel from side to side at the mounds of discarded boxes and crates in case anything should spring up at her, but nothing did. A large white board was nailed above the check-in counter with hastily printed titles and corresponding directional arrows.
‘Ground floor - Supplies. First floor - Medical. Second floor - command. Third to fifth - accommodation.’
She walked forward and carefully lifted the lid on a green crate. It was full of rifle ammo. She walked to another. It was mostly full of grenades. The room was full of similar boxes.
All of this and it didn’t make a difference, she thought.
She looked back at the sign then looked for the entrance to the stairwell. A moment later she was climbing stairs, which were covered in refuge. Bandages, a helmet, the remains of what was. In her mind she could see the faces of the panicked men and women running up and down, trying to defend the building and failing. She arrived on the first floor and listened to the door, then pulled it open. Another lobby. Smaller and almost as busy with litter as the ground floor, but this one had something the other didn’t. Bodies, or at least what remained of them. There were more signs over a counter, which pointed to various makeshift wards.
She ignored them and returned to the stairwell, instead moving upwards to the second floor and then—
A noise came from somewhere beyond the second floor door. Was that a voice? Or an animal sound of some kind?
She took a deep breath and opened the door a few inches and listened.
A muffled groaning sound drifted on the air. There was definitely something or someone in one of the rooms inside.
She went to talk but stopped herself. What if some creature just sounded like a human? She also couldn’t turn around and leave. She had to know one way or the other. She pulled the door open the full way, and looked into the smallest of the lobby areas and thankfully no dead bodies. On the ground was computer equipment and other devices she didn’t recognize, but she didn’t care about that, she was just trying to hone in on the haunting sound. It appeared to be coming from somewhere at the end of the corridor, to her left. She walked forward, her rifle leading the way, watching the shadows for any movement then stopped outside a door. The sound, which now definitely sounded human was coming from the other side.
“Hello?”
The sound paused then continued.
“Look, I’m going to open the door. I’ve got a rifle, but don’t, shoot me or anything.” She turned the gold colored handle and pushed the door. It swung open to a dark office filled with gray cabinets, a desk, monitors, keyboards and in the far corner on the floor, a shape of a man who was shaking.
She fumbled in her pocket for her flashlight then switched it on, pointing it towards the uniformed man. He had his hands clenched over his head and was gently rocking while it seemed, sobbing.
She slung her rifle over her shoulder. “Hey, my names Carrie. Are you hurt?”
The man removed his hands, revealing his graying hair and blue eyes. His unshaven face was covered in dirt with flickers of blood.
“Are you hurt?” she repeated.
He shook his head, his eyes not leaving her. “Have you come to rescue me?”
“Sorry, but I’m just looking for a place to hold up for the night. What’s your name?”
He blinked a few times as if waking from a dream. “Eric… Lieutenant Colonel Eric Tinley.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Carrie, Ben and Amy sat in the large office which had previously been a center of operations. It was filled with desks and monitors, and cabling stretching across walls. Part of it had been cleared and now consisted of a few chairs, sofa cushions, blan
kets and boxes of army rations. The man from the small office sat, seemingly less afraid on a box chewing the contents of one of the silver packets and wanted to know everything about their journey.
“And you made it all the way from San Diego?” said Tinley.
“Yeah,” said Carrie. “But it’s been dicey. The guy in the other room—”
“Grant?”
“Yeah, he got injured some miles back, and the day before that we lost two of our friends.”
He nodded. “That must have been very difficult.”
“What about you? You appeared really upset when I found you…”
He looked down. “I thought all hope was lost. After what happened… If you hadn’t found me…”
“There was a battle?” said Ben.
He briefly smiled. “There was.” His expression then turned cold. “My platoon was stationed here. A thousand soldiers and heavy armor…” His eyes appeared to be seeing something not in the room. “Barret said we would make our stand here. Said we had enough firepower to stop the E.L.F’s from killing those left of the city.” His face tightened as if he had just tasted something foul. “I told him!” Those around jumped a little with his show of anger. “Barret… he wouldn’t listen. I told them, we need to head into the hills, up into the mountains. Make our base up there.” He leaned forward. “I don’t think the E.L.F’s like the cold.”
“But what about the city and the people?” said Amy.
“They were going to die anyway! At least this way, the platoon would survive! Do some good elsewhere!” He saw his anger reflected on the faces around him and looked away, taking a breath. “But instead, we stayed in the city. And everyone died apart from me.”
“I’m sorry…” she said.
He tossed his empty MRE packet onto a small pile and picked another one from the nearby box. “Not your fault he was an old fool. Apricot?”
She smiled and took the silver packet from him.
“What about you young man? Apricot for Cherry?”
