Thrilled to Death

by James Byron Huggins

“Oh, Connor,” she whispered. “Did you see it?”

  “Yeah,” Connor nodded. “I saw the whole thing. I tried to get a shot at the thing. But I couldn’t. It was something between the two of them. And it ended with them.”

  Beth closed her eyes and cried openly.

  Barley silently bowed his head.

  “Thor sealed himself in the cavern because it was about to catch us,” Connor continued, after he had rested a moment. “And he was right to do it. In another second it would have had us. So someone had to . . . somebody had to slow it down. And Thor stopped to hold the ground.”

  Beth leaned against the same computer terminal that supported Connor, lifting a hand to her face.

  Turning slowly upon a large steel platform, Frank came to the edge of the railing. Connor reached out, embracing his wife, feeling the same tears fall from his face. Somehow, he knew, they would never recover from this, from all of this. Beth sobbed against his chest and Connor held her close. Then he glanced past her to see Jordan asleep on the wide, sprawling computer dais, wrapped warmly in a blanket, sleeping.

  Frank was staring, clearly afraid. Connor regarded the scientist for a long moment. “What is it, Doctor?” he asked loudly. “Did you think that thing would live forever?”

  “No,” the scientist replied, truly remorseful, “I just never thought ...”

  “Well you better think it, Frank,” Connor said, tightening his arm around Beth. “Because that thing is finally dead. And it died hard, too, just like you designed it. Thor just died a little harder.”

  For a moment, Frank said nothing. Then he raised his hand to the headset and spoke. “GEO, what is the status of Leviathan?”

  “Leviathan’s heart rate is not measurable. Leviathan has no measurable EEG activity. Leviathan’s internal temperature has dropped to two hundred degrees and is continuing to descend at the rate of—”

  “Terminate answer,” Frank said quickly, turning to Connor. “Connor,” he continued hastily, “I’m sorry, but I need to know something. How did Thor kill Leviathan? How did the battle end?”

  Connor stared for a long moment. “What do you mean, how did it end? Thor killed the thing.”

  “No.” Frank leaned forward, speaking with concern. “I need to know exactly what Thor did to kill it. I need you to describe the fight.”

  An angry moment passed and Connor replied. “The whole thing lasted for about three minutes. Thor went out to meet it, standing in the middle of the cavern, holding the battle-ax. And that thing came full at him, using its claws. But Thor was strong. He was almost eight feet. Half as tall as Leviathan. It couldn’t push him around. Couldn’t take him down. So they went all over the cavern. From one end to the other. It hit Thor again and again with its claws, its fangs. It slung him against the walls, busted stalagmites with him. But Thor held on and kept hacking at it with that battle-ax, over and over again, just over and over and over, trying to take it to the ground.” Connor hesitated, face darkening. “There wasn’t any backing down. For either of them.”

  “And how did Thor finally kill it?”

  A frown turned Connor’s mouth. “He hit it across the neck. Hit it deep, cutting through the armor. That’s what dropped it. Then he hit it again like he was chopping wood. He took chunks out of its neck. And that’s what killed it, I think. But by then Thor was too injured to survive. He lived longer than it did, ,but not much longer.” He was silent. “That’s it.”

  Silence.

  “How come,” Connor added sullenly, “Thor’s ax could cut through that thing’s armor when bullets couldn’t?”

  Frank turned his head to the side. “It’s just ... composition,” he replied vaguely, gazing away. “Leviathan’s armor was never designed to withstand the impact of an edged weapon. We never ... imagined anyone getting close enough to use anything like that.” He stared. “Did Thor sever Leviathan’s head?”

  “No, Frank. He didn’t have to. It was dead.”

  The scientist paused, lifting his hand again to the headset. For a moment he seemed afraid to speak. And Connor frowned, his brow hardening. He stepped forward with a measured anger. “What’s the problem, Frank?”

  “I’m not sure, Connor. It’s just that Leviathan has an enhanced healing factor that could allow it to ...”

  Connor took another step, alarmed. “What are you saying, Frank?”

  No reply.

  “What are you saying, Frank?”

  “I’m saying that Leviathan might still be alive!” the scientist shouted, losing control. “I’m saying that if Leviathan’s head isn’t severed, then its enhanced healing factor could be using stored carbohydrates in its vertebrae to correct a life-threatening injury!”

  Beth raised a hand to her throat, turning to Connor.

  He held her closer, turning her face into his chest.

  “We’ll see,” he whispered. “We’ll see.”

  Chapter 36

  Blood, blood ...

  It convulsed, green eyes opening. Its neck was stiff, stiff, hard-stiff. And then it remembered. The man, the man with the primitive weapon! He had done this!

  It felt a rage, but the rage passed as it continued a Systems Damage Scan that began in its wedge-shaped tail and continued in a lightning-fast electrical synapse up its spine to strike the cerebellum in a stunning bolt of energy that transmitted a picture of internal and external injuries.

  RECONSTITUTE!

  Instantly its dragon-form emptied all acid-storage cells into muscular mixtures that superheated its blood, elevating its heart rate to a level that could sustain its form. It convulsed, legs spinning in the air for a volcanic moment before dark claws found the ground. Then with flaring strength it gained balance, placing all four legs solidly against the stone, staring.

  Gaping fangs stretched toward the ceiling.

  Black winds …

  “You must kill the man, the woman, and the child ...”

  Black fire bolted through the Dragon’s brain, and instantly its head snapped down, eyes locking on the tracks.

  YES! . . .

  The child must be destroyed!. Just as the other child was destroyed! But that child was destroyed so long, long ago ... the child of great strength that took the world from us!

  Eyes erupting black light, the Dragon stood.

  A galactic intent caused the gaping fangs to smolder like coals. Then something otherworldly shadowed its dark breath and the Dragon knew that the child would destroy us ... just as the other child, the child born in the desert, had destroyed us BEFORE!

  Leviathan raised death-eyes to the all-powerful darkness.

  Roaring allegiance.

  ***

  A moment passed. “All right, Frank, if that thing revives itself, what’s it going to do?”

  Frank stared. “I don’t know, Connor. It might try to reach Crystal Lake and get into the ocean. It’d find enough food to reconstitute. But, then again, it might still want to finish this fight. I don’t know.”

  “We’re going to the power plant,” Connor muttered. “That’s the only way to get to Crystal Lake and it’s the best place to wait this out anyway. The power plant might even have what we need to kill this thing, if it can come back from what Thor did to it.”

  “How are you going to kill it?” Frank asked, amazed.

  “I’m going to kill it the same way you created it, Doctor,” Connor responded, turning to Barley. “Gather up whatever weapons we’ve got! We’re going to the power plant!”

  Standing straight though he was burdened with a half dozen weapons and ammo belts and even an extra LAW he had collected during the last hour, Barley poised at the edge of the computer dais. His muscular face was angry and grim and fatal.

  “What are we gonna do in the power plant, Connor?” he asked.

  Connor gently held Beth in his arms.

  �
��Send that thing back to hell.”

  ***

  Darkness swept before it – a galactic black shadow through the night.

  It saw the heat-tracks of the human but it knew the man could not escape. No, no man could escape because it was stronger than all of them together.

  It had even defeated the man with the ax, the man who fought with such strength. But it had defeated him too. Yet as it moved forward it felt the man had taken something from it – something it did not understand. Then it remembered the last, roaring blood-dark image of the man; the man who thundered with his arm raised high, burned by flame but always fighting, always fighting, refusing to be defeated.

  As the others had been defeated.

  Thunder struck as the battle-ax descended to—

  Blackness.

  It remembered no more. It sensed only an awakening; a rising, searching for the man that had injured it. But he was gone. He had fled, as the others had fled. And it was alone in the chamber, searching for tracks.

  A clawed foot struck a fallen girder and the Dragon sprawled in the corridor, roaring and vengeful. Instantly it reached its feet to glare down, hate-filled eyes glowering, red. With a growl it swiped down to hurl the girder down the hall, rebounding from beams.

  NEVER!

  It would never allow defeat!

  Because it was the end... the end of the earth! And nothing could stand against it! Nothing but the child! But the child would die, it knew. The child would die and then it would feast upon his blood.

  As you did before!

  Snarling, Leviathan turned burning red eyes to the tracks. It shrieked into the night.

  Raging.

  Promising.

  ***

  Connor!” Frank screamed from his place in the power plant. “GEO just told me that Leviathan is alive!”

  Connor fell to the floor, gasping.

  “You okay?” Barley called out.

  “Yeah,” Connor mumbled numbly, finding the strength to rise. “I’m just worn out. But I’m not shocked.”

  Connor swayed, raising his face to the ceiling, feeling the deep cuts inside his palms. He was so exhausted that he needed something to wake himself up. But all he had was pain. So he clenched his hands, feeling the dry blood inside his tired grip. He clenched his fists tighter, breaking the blood-dryness until he felt his soul touching his life in the wounds. Trembling, Connor held the pain for a long moment, finally releasing.

  It was enough.

  Releasing a long withheld breath, Connor turned to stare at Jordan secured high on a fiberglass walkway suspended by cables far above the power plant floor. It was by far the safest place in the cavern.

  The boy was clutching his own hands, staring in a child’s true fear. Burned down by exhaustion and fear, Connor barely had the strength to stand, but he smiled, and his heart lifted slightly as Jordan smiled back. Then Connor turned away to study what he had done.

  He gazed down the long passageway that entered the power plant. And in the distance, in another tunnel, he knew that there were three additional traps awaiting the creature, traps he had set on his fast run through the complex. With those, he knew, he might kill the thing, because he had gone for maximum power on everything, hammering overkill, figuring he would need it.

  “Maybe,” he whispered.

  A moment more and Connor shook himself from his daze, staring at Beth. She was working feverishly on a communications relay that she had rigged through a satellite. Violently hitting the keyboard to make the code mirror the NSA code, she was attempting to overlay the encryption system. It looked like she might succeed.

  Connor asked, “Haven’t you reached Reykjavik yet?”

  “No,” she replied, concentrated.

  “Well how much longer is it gonna take?”

  Unfazed, she reached up to minutely twist a dial. “A few minutes, Connor. But I’m not trying for Reykjavik. I’m trying for Neskaupstadhur. They’ve got a twenty-four-hour watch on the maritime frequency and they’re closer. Plus that, the North Atlantic Sea Patrol has three 130s stationed there. They can be here in less than two hours.”

  “All right,” Connor rasped. “But hurry it up, Beth. We’re almost out of time. I’ve got to go out into the cavern.”

  Startled, Barley stood from where he was tying a can of gasoline to a truck parked at the entrance of the power plant. It was one of Connor’s last-chance defenses.

  “You’re going out into the cavern?” he asked, staring. “For what, Connor? Why don’t we wait for that thing to come to us?”

  “Because I’ve got to wear it out before it gets here,” Connor replied. “I’ve got to break it down so we can finish it. If that thing makes it through this cavern to reach the lake, it’s gone forever. It’s going to be loose in the world and we can’t live with that.”

  Grimacing in fatigue, Barley said nothing for a moment. He seemed embarrassed, as if knowing that he should have known. “Then I’ll go out with you,” he said finally. “Maybe we can get it in a crossfire or something. I’m ready for it.”

  “No,” Connor shook his head. “I want you to stay here, Barley.”

  The big man’s brow furrowed.

  “Why?” he asked angrily. “We’ll stand a better chance if we go out together.”

  “Because this is personal, Barley. That thing took something from me and now I’m going to take it back. And one of us needs to stay here and take care of things in case it finishes me.”

  Barley, strong and wise beyond whatever was visible, turned to stare at Beth and then Jordan, positioned high above the floor on the gazebo. “All right,” he said, turning back to Connor. “I understand.”

  Connor stared a moment. “You’re a good man, Barley. Like Thor.”

  Barley’s grim face bent, his expression turning to pain. “The big man was a hero,” he said. “We should all die like that.”

  A short nod and Connor spoke more softly. “You’ll take care of my family for me?”

  A solemn pause and Barley nodded. “With my life, Connor.” He reached up and ripped down the Velcro flap concealing the detonator of the C-4, still wrapped around his chest. “With my life.”

  Connor blinked and nodded, touched by the friendship they’d forged. But there was no time for anything else. He glanced at Beth and she looked up, rising, knowing. Then, together, they mounted the steps of the gazebo, moving toward Jordan.

  To say good-bye.

  ***

  “What are you going to do?” Beth asked carefully.

  Connor bent over her, staring at the soft brown eyes. “I’m going to lure it through the cavern. Hit it as many times as I can. And if everything fails, I’ll have to bring it in here.”

  Beth reached up, brushing back the hair from his forehead. “You’re too hard, Connor. You always have been.” She stared at him. “Please, please don’t push it. I’m asking you. Please ... be careful.”

  Connor laughed. “I’m—”

  “I know,” she said, grimacing. “You’re always careful.” She paused a moment. “But you’re not.”

  Connor met her gaze, grimacing.

  “When are you leaving?” she asked.

  “In a few minutes. As soon as Frank tells me that it’s coming this way. And one way or another, it’s got to come this way. It’s either going to come for us or it’s going to try to make it to the lake.”

  Beth lowered her face and Connor hugged her. Then he reached out and drew his son closer, holding him strongly in his arms, communicating strength. “I’ve got to go out for a little while, buddy,” Connor said softly, separating to stare his son in the eyes. “But Mommy’s going to stay here with you. And everything’s going to be okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Jordan was hushed. Trembling.

  “Are you going to kill the monster?” he asked q
uietly. “Like you promised?”

  Connor blinked, stunned, “Yeah, buddy. I’m gonna kill it for you.” He felt himself choking. “I promise.”

  “I know. ’Cause you’re my daddy.”

  Connor hugged the boy so that he wouldn’t see his tears, then he kissed his forehead, his eyes. Finally they separated, holding the small, pale face in his scarred hands. Eye to eye, Connor whispered.

  “I’ll be back for you, son.”

  Jordan nodded, blinking a tear.

  “I know,” he whispered. “‘Cause you’re my daddy.”

  Chapter 37

  How much time do we have?” Connor asked. “Probably half an hour before Leviathan closes on the power plant,” Frank replied, leaning back from the computer panel. “Leviathan is still trying to stabilize its life-support system. It’s hurt really, really bad.”

  “How bad is that?”

  Frank shook his head. “It’s hard to tell. But GEO says Leviathan’s vital statistics are thin. Its EEG activity is spiked, like it’s on the edge of stroking out. Clearly, it’s starving. Blowing the freezer was a killing move because it would have found the food eventually and used it for strength.”

  “So if it’s starving,” Connor mumbled, “and it’s hurt so bad, how can it still be moving?”

  Without hesitation Frank said, “Right now Leviathan is emptying storage cells located in its vertebrae to generate acidic blood-heat, trying to compensate for energy loss. It’s a last-ditch defense to stay on its feet. Which means it’s dying. Fast.”

  “So it’s going to try to reach the lake.” Connor didn’t say it as a question.

  “Probably, Connor.” The scientist stared at him. “But it’s going to have to come through this power plant to reach the lake. It’s going to have to come through us.”

  “How much strength does it have left, Frank? What’s your best guess? Can it still use flame?”

  Frank shook his head shortly. “I don’t know. It might still be able to generate gel pressure but it’s definitely lost its speed. Those enzymes were meant for a kinetic reaction – to charge an enemy. And now they’re being used just to keep it on its feet. Which means Leviathan will be moving really, really slow. You’ll probably be able to move as fast as it can, to a point.”