by Ryan Husk
“Seems like a long shot, goin’ to this limestone cave,” Marshall said. “Fuckin’ underground caves. How’re we supposed to live long-term like that?”
“Ed says there’s some supplies already there,” Wade said. He glanced to his left. On that side of the road, a couple of trees had been broken in half. It looked recent.
“Yeah, but how long will those last, if they’re even still there?”
They came to the graveyard proper, and, just as Edward had promised, he turned off the main path and started driving across the graves of the dead, careful to avoid the tombstones, of course. In his rearview, Wade saw Margery made a sign of the cross in the air. Driving across graves had to be blasphemy of some kind, Wade imagined, though he didn’t recall that in his Bible.
He looked ahead, at the forest at the far side of the graveyard, which, he assumed, they were about to plow through. Many of the trees looked splintered. Again, it all looked recent, like some giant’s foot had raked through the forest, leaving devastation in its wake.
“I’m jes sayin’, Wade, we might do better if we hole up at the farm for a while, listen to the ham radio some more, see what’s a-goin’ on out in the wide world.”
“Mm-hm. Hey, Marsh, you got yer gun?”
“Huh? Yeah,” he said, patting his sidearm. “Got it right here. Why?”
“Marge, you got yers?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“Get ’em out, both of you.”
They did as bidden. Marshall asked, “What’s up, boss?”
“Don’t know yet. But I’m seein’ things I don’t like.”
As they approached the mangled forest, Edward slowed down. There was a chain-link fence that marked the perimeter of the cemetery, and it had also been torn and twisted. Ahead of them, the F-150 slowed. Edward came to a stop. He senses it, too, Wade thought. He pulled out his revolver, and waited. Ahead of them, Edward opened his door, and stepped slowly out of his truck. He glanced back at Wade.
“What the hell’s goin’ on?” said Margery.
“Keep yer eyes peeled,” Wade said.
Edward started walking towards them. Then, he stopped. Wade watched as Edward’s eyes went wide. He pulled out his Glock, and pointed it right at Wade. For a second, he thought the guy had actually gone full-on psycho, and was about to shoot them. Then, he realized that Ed was actually pointing at something behind them.
That’s when Margery screamed.
Wade glanced in his rearview mirror. Coming up behind them, running like mad towards Colt O’Hare’s truck, was a partially skinless man. And behind him, rolling along the ground, was a gray, slimy thing about the size of one of their Harleys. It rolled like a giant tire, with squid-like tentacles flapping about from its sides, and with several orifices opening and closing on its body, each orifice filled with yellow teeth and bleeding red gums.
Wade shouted something, he never remembered what, but Marshall reacted by hopping out of the truck and aiming his pistol at the creature. Wade followed suit. He didn’t remember who fired first—him, Marshall, or Ed—but he would afterward recall the sight of the man running towards them, half his torso’s flesh hanging off him like coveralls half removed, his pants torn off, a gaping hole where his penis ought to have been, and his face looking like it had been put through the blender, a single eyeball hanging out. He would also recall what it looked like when the creature danced around the poor man, pushing and prodding him with its tentacles.
Wade squeezed the trigger, thinking, Like killer whales with sea lions. It’s playing with its food. A horrendous sound like hyenas laughing came up from the belly of the beast, and the man screamed and ran in circles, looking stupidly out at the world that no longer made any sense, until at last the creature grabbed each of his arms and legs by its tentacles, and pulled him apart in an explosion of blood and viscera.
“Get back in the fuckin’ truck!” Marshall screamed. He fired as he ran backwards. Wade looked over at Edward, who did the same, leaping over someone’s tombstone and flower bouquet as he sprinted back to his Ford. Colt O’Hare drove his truck around Wade, slamming into someone else’s tombstone and half knocking it over as he headed for the woods. Jeb did the same, but was moving slower in the Porsche, firing backward from his driver’s seat.
“Wade!” Jeb yelled as he drove by. “Get back in the truck! Get the fuck outta here, man!”
Wade fired until his gun was empty. The creature didn’t even notice him, or the bullets impacting against its shell. He kept squeezing the trigger, partially unaware that the gun was dry. Something compelled him to keep firing. Thinking…It has to die. God in heaven, this can’t be real. He looked at the thing, multiple tongues licking out from its mouths, savoring the juicy morsels that had been the screaming man.
“WADE!”
Marshall’s voice cut through the shock and horror. He turned and ran back to the cab, dove in, and put the truck in drive. He floored it. They were right behind the Porsche, which swerved as Jeb overcorrected on the damp soil.
Margery screamed. “It’s…it’s following us!”
Wade glanced in the rearview mirror. It was, indeed. The roly-poly was tumbling end over end, tentacles whipping out at the tombstones. One of those tentacles carried the left leg of the man it had just made a meal out of. The thing was fast. As they sped up, so too did it. They made it into the forest, running over what was left of the chain-link fence, and running over bodies. Or, at least, pieces of them. Wade saw guts strewn all over the trees, half a torso hanging from one limb. It looked like a bomb had gone off here, and sent body parts flying everywhere. There was an arm up ahead, which was flung out from underneath the rear left tire of Jeb’s Porsche. There was a naked woman, her midsection scooped out, just a huge empty cavity where her belly had been. Her face was completely gone. She was leaning against a tree, as if she’d gone there to take a nap.
The forest looked to be the nest of some horrendous creature, something that stepped right out of a nightmare and into reality. Wade saw intestines hanging from limbs, as if in decoration. He saw large, gray, pus-seeping eggs, the size of basketballs, clinging to the trees. Dozens of them. Like a spider’s hatchery.
“What the fuck is this?” Marshall said, in a low voice, as if to himself.
Margery was sobbing in the back.
In the rearview, Wade could see the roly-poly still coming after them, maneuvering through the forest of horrors it had made, until—
They finally came to a break in the trees, and into a large open field. Here, they all floored it, fanning out rather than staying in a straight line. Ed took his truck over a hill, crashed through a fence, while the O’Hares and Jeb went around it. Wade followed Ed, then pulled up beside him. A check in his passenger-side mirror revealed that the roly-poly had stayed on them. It was coming, and with clear intent.
“What the fuck, boss?” said Marshall. “What the—”
“Here,” he handed Marshall his gun. “Reload me. I put the bullets in the dashboard.”
Marshall did so quickly, then handed the pistol back to Wade.
“Marge, you all right?” asked Marshall.
“I can’t…I can’t…”
They topped another hill, then another. All the while, the creature continued to follow. Continued to gain. They came upon a herd of cattle, which began to stampede as soon as they saw the vehicles approaching them. Ed had no choice but to go through them, and Wade followed the path he made. Jeb and the O’Hares were able to go around the edge of the herd. In the rearview, Wade saw the roly-poly tear into the cows, but it did not play with them, just killed them. It kept coming after Wade and his people.
It only likes to play with us. That thought terrified him.
The thing got nearer. Wade already had the pedal to the floor, they were going 100 mph. It wasn’t going to be enough. Marshall fired a shot out the window. Then another. He unloaded his entire revolver at the creature. He might as well have been spitting in the eye of a shark, for al
l it noticed. It grew larger in his driver’s-side mirror. It bumped their back tire. One of the tentacles slapped the back window. Margery screamed.
It started climbing into the bed of the truck. It clung to them. Its weight was considerable, started to slow them down. It wrapped its tentacles around the truck. The tailgate came down. The creature started climbing up. One of the tentacles stuck to his window, and Wade saw dozens of suction cups along its tip.
The truck started slowing down.
Wade looked to his left. He saw the other truck pulling away. Ed was leaving them. Figures. He’s a survivor. The thought made him both angry and content. This was the end. Why be angry at the end? Why take that with you?
He looked in the rearview again, saw the creature mounting their truck like a tick.
I’m not ending up like that guy back there, he thought. I’m not gonna run around skinless and naked, a plaything for a demon. He put the pistol to his own head. Never in a hundred years had he considered suicide. Linda, I’m coming home to you, girl. I’m comin’—
That’s when Ed came out of nowhere, slamming his Ford into the side of their truck, knocking the roly-poly off-kilter. Wade looked to his left. Gordon had scooted over to take the wheel, and Ed was hanging out the window, with an AA-12 in his hands, firing it over the roof of the truck at the monstrosity.
* * *
Janet covered her ears when Edward let out the first shots. The combat shotgun roared as it ripped into the sides of the creature. She had been watching from the back seat, clutching Atlas and screaming as the monster mounted Wade’s truck like it meant to mate with it. It slowed the truck down by gripping with half of its tentacles, while the other half dug into the ground. It looked like a lion trying to bring down a water buffalo in those nature shows.
Edward had started to drive away, started to leave Wade and the others to their fate. But Janet had screamed, “Do something!” It didn’t seem to have sunk in. Then, Gordon had reached over and punched Edward, calling him a coward. Edward’s eyes had flashed murder. He’d muttered something like, “Why you—”
Then, he’d done something terrifying. He’d started laughing. Then he shouted, “Take the fucking wheel, then, Gord-O! Janet, reach into my bag, get out that tan-colored shotgun. Hand me the shell box next to it.”
Presently, Edward hollered down to Gordon to keep it steady, while he took careful aim, firing into the creature again and again. Chunks of black and red viscera came splashing off it, some of them splattering against the passenger side windows. When he was empty, Edward reached his hand through the window, which he’d told Janet was the signal to hand him more shells. She handed him a twenty-round drum mag, which he popped in quickly while handing her the empty one. He fired a dozen more times, until finally the creature came off of Wade’s truck and turned towards them.
“Get us outta here, Gordon!” Edward shouted.
Gordon steered them to the left, using his left leg to reach across from the passenger side and floor the gas. As they pulled away from Wade’s truck, the monster gave chase, and Edward sent five more rounds into its many faces. It never stopped chasing them, but it did slow down. When he came back inside the truck, Edward handed Janet the shotgun, and said, “Safety’s on, but don’t point that anywhere but at the windows!”
“Okay,” she muttered.
He shoved Gordon away from the wheel, and rolled his window up. After a glance in the sideview mirrors, Edward said, “You two happy now?”
They drove on in shocked silence. Occasionally, Janet glanced back at the monstrosity that followed. It eventually receded into nothingness. Wade’s truck pulled up alongside them. The red-bearded biker gave Edward a thumbs up. Edward waved back casually.
By reflex, and for something familiar and safe to do, Janet pricked her finger and checked her blood-sugar: 100 mg/dl. Pretty good. She rummaged through the food Margery had divvied up to them, and found a small bag of Doritos and a Coca-Cola. She dug into them. When she was finished, she belched. “Excuse me,” she said.
That seemed to break some spell. Gordon looked over at Edward. “Sorry I hit you.”
“You get one freebie, since I hit you first,” Edward said.
“You only hit me because I pulled a gun on you.”
Edward shrugged. He looked at Janet through the rearview. “You okay back there?”
She nodded.
Edward reached back and gave Atlas a pet. “How ’bout you, boy?” The dog licked his master’s fingers.
“Was that…a demonspawn?” she finally asked.
“I’m guessing so,” Edward said.
The truck hit a dip in the earth, and they all jumped.
“What’s happening?” she said. “What was that thing?”
Nobody said anything.
Ahead of them, more clouds had gathered. A red-glowing Eye was appearing out of the hazy distance, coming up over the horizon like the sunrise in Hell. The Face was coming back around the Earth. Minutes later, the grin followed. The great Face was oriented east-to-west across the sky, portions of it vanishing behind the clouds. From its jaws, black tendrils hung, as if it had just finished devouring some meaty meal, and bits had stuck in its teeth.
“I don’t understand any of this,” she whispered.
Atlas pushed his muzzle into her hands, and licked her fingers. That mollified her some. Then they passed by a group of horses torn to shreds, and she felt lightheaded again.
XII.
The next three hours were uneventful. In that, at least they saw no one, and no more monsters. They hit upon a dirt road, followed it until it terminated in some woods. There were small walking trails, just big enough for the vehicles to travel on. Jeb had the hardest time in his Porsche, but he made it work. They passed a sign that said NATIONAL FOREST AREA BEYOND, and Edward checked for that on his topographical map, saw where he had drawn the boundaries to the national forest area two years prior, back when he’d first researched Silvid Valley.
They came to a gravel road, and the others followed him west on it. All the vehicles drove slow now, as if they were afraid of waking more demonspawn hidden all around them. Overhead, the Face glared down at them through rapidly shifting clouds.
Twice Janet pointed and said, “Is that it?” And twice they drove off in the direction she indicated, only to find a small footpath and a pit where someone had dumped excess gravel.
“Good eyes, Janet,” he said. “But keep a lookout. The entrance will be nondescript, very hard to see. Collinsworth wanted it that way.”
They drove between many forested hills, over a small bridge, through a small creek.
Then, finally, Gordon said, “I see it! I think I see it!” He pointed to a hill that had just emerged from around the side of another. It was lightly forested and there was a clear dirt path at the start of it, but there also looked to be a gray area on the ground. Perhaps the start of a paved road? Edward turned them towards it and a minute later they were passing an old rusted sign that said SILVID VALLEY.
Thunder rolled. After a few minutes on the road, it started raining. It lasted only a few minutes, then went on its way, though the clouds continued churning above them and grumbling their discontent. Eventually, the path narrowed and started winding around and around the hill. They came to a steel gate that was chained shut, and stopped. “All right,” he said. “I think this might be it. Bolt cutters.” Janet rummaged through the bug-out bag and handed the cutters to Edward. He got out, cut the chain, got back in, and they were on their way.
They finally came to a large gate, one with three rows of chain-link fencing topped by razor wire. A giant sign said KEEP OUT! and right beside it was a security camera that didn’t look like it was plugged in to anything. And beyond those rows of fencing, there was a steel gate. They could probably climb over it, but they wouldn’t be driving through it.
“All right,” he said. “We hoof it from here.”
Edward shut the engine off, then hopped out and waved for everyone to
do the same. They all gathered around and discussed briefly what needed to be done. It took the better part of an hour to get through all the defenses. They used the bolt cutters to get through the chain-link fences, and then Edward, Wade, and Janet climbed up onto what was probably once meant to be a guard shack, which allowed them to get over the steel gate. Rope from the bug-out bag helped get the others over.
No one talked about the demonspawn. The shocked look on their faces said it all. They were only afraid and wanting to get to shelter.
Marshall had to be delicate helping Margery over. Edward noticed she was holding her head, and squinting hard.
To get Atlas over the wall, Edward used the dog’s harness, looped the rope through it, and he and Wade raised the dog over. Atlas was used to this. He’d once been airlifted out of hot zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, no biggie for him.
The other side of the gate was nothing but a long stretch of dirt road, with some parts paved. Edward took in the serene beauty of the land. The dampness of the trees. Leftover raindrops like liquid diamonds leaking down branches and trunks. Soil so soft and mushy underfoot. A tranquil scene. Nothing was awry. Even the birdsongs weren’t missed. The illusion was that everything was okay. A quick glance up at the sky ruined that illusion.
The path terminated in the side of the hill, where a loading dock had been built. The doors were chained closed. Another application of the bolt cutters, and they slid the doors to one side. There was a twenty-foot, pitch-black corridor inside. Edward had three flashlights, which he distributed to Gordon and Wade. They walked to the end of the corridor, which was cold, damp, and made of rock, with only two steel beams giving the roof support.
They came to the blast doors. Two-foot-thick, solid steel doors. There was a control panel on one wall. Thankfully, it wasn’t asking for a six-digit access code or anything. There was a green button and a red button. Edward tapped the green one. There were three loud chimes, and then, the doors slid smoothly to one side.
