by Maxey, Phil
Apart from the scattered glass it appeared relatively unchanged. A door to his left, the one with the sign above it mentioning ‘library’ was still closed. The monster must have left…
He walked onto the smooth and loud floor leading to the entrance, avoiding best he could the fragments of glass which announced themselves as he walked forward. His breath appeared as white mist as he neared the door. The Parking lot was covered in white. Snow, at least a foot thick covered the steps, the vehicles and the surrounding trees which sat upon a small rock outcrop which covered the back of the lot. Something he had not seen during the early hours, and the sky was a uniform light gray.
Down the steps… right… third vehicle.
He stepped over the ruined threshold, squinting against his bright surroundings, then realized the ground was the perfect recording device for what had gone before. He scanned the icy covering for any tracks, but it was pristine. Wherever the creature went, it did so before the snow came. That was good. He walked forward, his boots sinking a few inches, and quickly spotted Meg’s silver truck, despite the layer of snow blanketing it.
He took a step forward and—
A drop of brown goo passed an inch from his nose, landing with a thud then disappearing beyond the topmost step.
He pivoted, looking up, and almost fell back off the step. Something was hanging like a bat, a bat three feet across, and bigger in height, directly above him where the building’s arched roof reached its peak.
He froze, not knowing to run back or go for the pickup. Another drop fell, landing exactly where the first one did, this time with more of a splat.
It’s asleep… or something…
He had no idea how he knew that, and if he had been honest with himself in that moment, it was only a guess with a large amount of hope added, but he was sure that whatever it was, the thing dangling ten feet above his head, was not aware of his presence.
The problem was the plan would soon put an end to that. He could go back in, let them know, get them to all come out, and walk past in silence, and then go for the pickup, or… He looked to the snow-covered steps, and walked down them, taking each step as slowly as he could, being sure not to slip into the small pool of brown gunk that lay at the bottom.
Walking backwards, then sidewards, always watching the thing above, he made his way to the pickup and—
A gunshot rang out, somewhere in the town and instantly the thing that had been merely the size of a large dog, grew in size, wings spread out, as well as legs… lots of them, legs of a spider, larger than a human’s, and within the body was… a face… a human face caught in anguish and terror…
Landon felt sick but forced himself down beside Meg’s truck, not knowing where the thing was looking or even if it needed to, to know he was there. A rush of wind preceded a large shadow sliding across the steps, then him and the pickup, and he watched the unnatural concoction of nature glide across the lot until it moved beyond a row of buildings.
He immediately clicked the key fob, cringing at the beep which came from the car and pulled the driver’s side door open and upclipped his radio from his belt, switching it on and clicked the ‘talk’ button once. A similar click came from the speaker.
As he frantically shoveled snow from the windshield with his hand, more gunshots rang out from the direction of the first, but they were now accompanied with screeches. Whoever was over there was fighting to stay alive.
Crunching came from the entrance. He flicked his head around to see Sam, Josh, Jess and then Meg appear, each stepping over the putrid brown liquid. He leaned over and pushed open the passenger’s door. Jess climbed in, then the kids and Meg in the back.
“Damn it, I knew I should have put the chains on yesterday!” exclaimed Meg, her breath apparent from the rear seats.
Landon fired up the ignition and immediately reversed.
“Did you hear the gunshots?” said Jess. As the pickup surged ahead, the rear end sliding out a little as the wheels worked for grip against the snow. They quickly arrived at the entrance to the lot. He went to turn left.
“No, right!” said Meg.
“Our place is left!” shouted Jess.
“But I’ve got supplies, guns at my—”
Screams and shouts came from somewhere left, further into town. Accompanied with more gunshots.
Landon looked at his wife. “There’s room in the bed in the back. If we’re quick…”
Meg shook her head, answering for her. “Fine!”
Landon hit the gas before Jess could respond, the pickup sliding again but quickly gaining traction, and they sped along the road.
“Watch out!” shouted Sam, but her father had already seen the abandoned car, half buried in snow sitting in the middle of the intersection and neatly swayed the pickup around it. The wintry scene of wooden lodges and snow-covered green and orange-brown trees would have been something to admire at any other time, but each of the occupants were scrutinizing the sidewalks and parking lots for any movement.
A thirty something man burst out from a group of trees, skidding and sliding across the road, some twenty yards in front of them. In an instant Landon had a plan to skid to a stop alongside him, but as soon as he started to hit the brake, they all saw what he was running from. A creature which seemed to lack any skin, a mass of muscle and sinew, galloped after him, its four legs driving it through the snow with the power of a lion.
“Hold on!” shouted Landon, increasing their speed.
Grunts and cries came from around him as they surged forward. The man and creature both turned at the same time, at the sound of the engine, but it was too late for the beast which the pickup slammed into, causing an explosion of red and brown to hit the windshield, while the rest of the thing was thrown tens of feet away into the snow.
“Get in!” shouted Landon to the man, who was crouched down waiting to see the outcome of the collision. He got to his feet and ran forward as fast as his shoes would allow on the almost frictionless surface.
Meg threw open the rear door, but his look of hope only lasted a few seconds as a blur from the sky, plucked him into the air, his screams quickly becoming a gurgling, then ceasing altogether.
Landon, Meg, and the kids froze for a moment in shock, but Jess was already scanning the streets around them. A group of people, were running in the distance, using the pickup as a distraction. They funneled into a side door of an apartment block.
“Daryl?” said Jess.
Landon hit the gas, the wheels spinning, then hit the horn trying to get the former doorman’s attention before he followed the others into the building. Daryl turned as Jess leaned out of the window, waving. Landon glanced towards the heavens, trying to see where the creature had gone, but couldn’t see any sign of it.
He turned the pickup, bumping up a curb and skidded to a stop on the path which led to the entrance of the block.
“Come on!” shouted Jess and Landon to Daryl, but he hesitated near the open door, looking back and forth between his two options.
“I’m with others! Get inside!” he shouted, while waving them to him.
“Why we waiting let’s go!” shouted Meg.
A screech came from somewhere high above them, making the kids look skyward.
“There are others, maybe we should go in there!” said Landon to the two adults.
As Meg and Landon argued, and the kids cried for them to leave, Jess ran the numbers in her mind.
More people, more risk, but Daryl doesn’t know he’s immune for now… He needs to know.
She looked at her husband. “Wait here.”
Before Landon could react, she had opened the door, looked at the sky and not seeing anything up there, ran across the snow-covered path to the man whose face was full of fear. “You’re immune!” she shouted a few feet from him.
He shook his head incredulously. “What?”
“Close the door!” shouted someone from inside the building.
Jess stepped close to him
, while looking inside the building making sure there was no one near. “The chocolates. There was something—”
A burly man with a fur lined hat appeared from the gloom. “In or out Daryl?” The older man’s eyes skirted upwards, then widened. Before Daryl could ask any questions, the man grabbed him by the top of the arm and pulled him inside, slamming the door in Jess’s face.
She spun around, ready to run back to the car then saw it. Perched on the opposite roof, merely twenty-feet away, was an abomination of man and beast. The image almost confounded the fear flowing through her. The thing’s hairy appendages gripped the wood and tiles, while a head that had human features, but was mostly that of a cockroach appeared to be looking at her. Her eyes flicked to the pickup and her family who were begging her to run towards them. But would she make it? Her brain resorted to science.
Twenty feet. I can run at maybe five or six miles per hour, the creature can move… Not going to make it.
She had already seen how fast the things could move. Despite their awkward appearance each one was a killing machine. Their prey being dead before they realized it.
I don’t want to die…
She equally couldn’t deal with being apart from her family. The thing roared in her direction. It knew she was there, and before she had a chance to take another breath it launched in her direction.
“Go!” she screamed at the pickup, then turned and slammed her fists on the door. Her life belonged to the people inside.
The children will see, the children will see me die.
She could feel the vibrations in the air of the bat-like wings growing closer, while the pickup’s engine roared, and its horn filled the air. As she beat the wooden barrier in front of her, she knew what Landon was trying to do. To distract the thing about to take her, to eat her? No worse, to absorb her—
The door flew inwards, a hand grabbed her and pulled her into the shadows.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
7: 58 a.m. Town of Rocky Pine. The Rapid Bear apartment block.
“Get out of the way!” cried a woman wearing a blue jacket at Jess, then pulled her to one side, while two men rushed forward, piling furniture up against the door which was shuddering on its hinges. The thing outside wanted in.
“It’s going to get us!” shouted a teenage girl who then sneered at Jess. “You brought it right to our homes!”
Jess ignored the accusation and ran through the small square lobby, trying to find a window back to the road, but there were just walls and no doors. She could still hear the pickup’s engine and horn, and deep within both sounds, she was sure she could hear her children screaming. A woman stood near an entrance to a ground floor apartment. Jess pushed past her, leaving her protests behind and moved through the living room hoping to see the road outside, but the glass was gone, replaced with wood, haphazardly applied to where the windows should have been. She climbed over a sofa, almost knocking over a candle and looked through the tiniest of gaps. The creature was in the air, flying low down the street, but there was no sign of Meg’s truck. Had they got away?
Got away. Must have.
She turned, letting out a breath, and slid down the wooden planks, her legs losing any ability to hold her upright, until she hit the ground.
“Jess?” said Daryl, moving into the living room.
She awkwardly stood. “You’re alive.”
He smiled. “Sure am.”
“What happened at the medical—”
There was a commotion outside, which was followed by footsteps, and the thickset man appeared with the two other men who had barricaded the outside door. Jess quickly noticed the shotguns they were all carrying.
The woman who presumably owned the apartment tried to push back into her living room.
“Wait outside, Jackie. We gotta have a conversation with this lady.”
Jess took a step back towards the boarded up windows.
“Ain’t no words necessary, man,” said Daryl. “She’s good people. Saved me in—”
The man that Jess already disliked didn’t speak to Daryl. He didn’t need to. “I’m Norman Colm. Mayor of this town. That you destroyed.”
Jess’s fear wanted to turn into anger, but the double barrels the three men were holding prevented it. “We had nothing to do with what—”
He raised his gun.
“Now come on man, no need for this.”
Colm repeated the searing look of contempt to Daryl, with the same result. “I heard what she said to you. And after what you told us about what happened back in Denver, it makes sense.” He slightly turned his head to the two men, but kept his eyes fixed on Jess. “Outside, she said Daryl was immune from the virus. Said it had something to do with chocolate.”
One of the men scoffed, but the other’s expression remained serious, almost pained.
“Chocolate?” said the laughing man, the oldest of the group. “You heard her wrong.”
“My ears work fine, Charles.”
“I never said any of those things. But I do know Daryl, he was the doorman in our building. I wanted him to come with us.”
“Where?” said Colm.
Jess’s jaw tightened. “To leave the town. Head north.”
Colm smirked. “You’re lying. Over thirty years being a politician gives you that skill. No… I know what I heard.” He glanced at Daryl. “He say’s you’re some scientist or something. And you came from Denver where all this shit started. Makes sense if you know about—”
“Can you cure it?” said the third of the group to Jess. His first spoken words.
“Cure what?”
Colm frowned. “Even if you found Vera, you really think you can make her what she used to be? Leave it be Matt. Vera’s dead, just like my Sophie.” He nodded towards Jess, whose hand grasped a small lamp behind her back while the men in front of her were distracted. “I reckon we hit the lottery jackpot, fellas. Reckon this scientist knows why we lost our loved ones.”
Jess swung the lamp around, holding it in front of her like it was a flaming torch. “Stay the fuck away from me.”
Daryl shook his head. “Jess. Better if you just answer their questions.”
She turned angrily towards him. “I don’t know anything!” Then back to the others.
Daryl briefly looked away. She hoped he had enough sense to keep what she told him to himself. “I’m sorry, Jess. I can’t keep quiet about what you said. I need to know.” He took a step towards her, now it was him she was holding the lamp towards. “What did you mean, I’m immune?”
“I didn’t say that. You miss—”
Colm’s gun pointed directly at her, making the lamp feel distinctly futile. “Last night, the woman that I married twenty-two years ago…” His face threatened to show emotion. “Changed… then what she became tried to kill me. I had to put it down. Matt, lost his wife too. You know why that happened, don’t you?” Jess shook her head while backing away. “You’re going to start talking or things going to get real messy…” He turned slightly to the two men behind him. “Hold her.”
The younger man, Matt, walked forward. Jess swiped the lamp at him, but missed as he deftly leaned back, grabbing it, then her wrist. The kick between the legs didn’t miss though, and he collapsed to the ground as she scoured the small room for any other—
Something solid hit the back of her head and she went down, losing consciousness before hitting the floor.
*****
Ten minutes earlier…. Just outside the Rapid Bear apartment block.
Landon and the kids watched in horror as the creature slashed and hacked at the door. He hit the horn again.
“She’s safe! But we won’t be if we don’t get—”
The thing turned its fur-covered neck, its semi-human head craning to face them in the pickup, stopping any further thought or words from Meg. It pulled its wings to its side, then walked forward, using them as crutches to move.
“G… g…”
Josh’s attempt at speech was just backgr
ound noise to Landon, as were Sam’s screams and Meg’s protests, for all he could see was the creature coming towards them, and his wife somewhere trapped in the building behind.
Someone was shaking his shoulder, begging him to leave. It was Sam. She was crying while pleading for him to drive.
He hit the gas while steering them back to the road. The creature picked up pace, its wings now being used to give lift and bounded after them.
“Watch out!” screamed Sam, as the pickup careered towards the wrong side of the road and parked cars, sliding on the icy surface.
Landon steered into the slide, correcting the drift, but the truck’s tires still struggled to find enough grip.
“It’s almost on us!” shouted Meg.
He steered left then right, the pickup sliding almost uncontrollably across the road into parked cars, but corrected its course just in time. He hit the gas again, but the wheels still lacked enough resistance for them to accelerate away as they drove up a hill, moving out of the town.
The kids scanned the surrounding sky. “I can’t see it!” said Sam.
“Have we lo—”
Something heavy landed on the bed at the back, sending everyone flying into whatever was in front of them, for Sam and Josh it was the headrests but Meg missed both and awkwardly flew between the seats, her hands just raising in time before she hit the dashboard. Landon’s weight held him against the seatbelt, but he was already flooring the gas, trying to pull their vehicle loose from the mass of fur, skin, insectoid-like legs and wings that he caught glimpses of in the rear mirror.
A metallic pang accompanied a large dent appearing in the pickup’s roof as those in the back crouched and yelled. The pickup skimmed over the crest of the hill, and with it came momentum. Landon knew what he had to do.
