by Crae, Edward
Obviously they smelled something other than Frankie.
Eric looked through the scope again, scanning the dead ones, trying to find out if any of them were paying attention more than others. They all seemed to be focused on the store now, most of them abandoning the smoldering pile of Frankie flesh. Something had gotten their attention and had drawn them to the front of the store. But one thing stuck out in Eric’s mind, and in his vision.
One of them was staring back at him.
“What the fuck,” he whispered.
He took aim, squeezing the trigger when the creature’s face was centered in the crosshairs. Its head exploded in a cloud of blood and brains; unusual for something that was supposedly dead. Once it fell, Eric looked toward Cliff. The man was staring back at him.
“Did you see that?” Eric mouthed silently.
Cliff nodded and went back to looking through his scope. He fired a few shots, taking out more of them in the back. Eric scanned more, hoping he wouldn’t see what he had just seen. The thought that there was a sentient dead one was unsettling, but even more unsettling was the fact that it may be something else. What if a human was walking among them?
Nathan had done that once.
“Fucking shit,” he whispered again.
Things were getting even more bizarre.
“They’re getting closer,” Toby said as he peered out of the small gap in the OSB.
One corpse came within a few inches of the barrier and almost looked as if it were peering inside. Toby stuck the barrel of his pistol out of the hole and capped the corpse in the head. The sound was almost non-existent, but it still attracted the others. Even though the corpse fell, others came to replace it.
“Shit,” Toby cursed. “They heard it.”
“Eric and Cliff are cappin’ them outside,” Royce said. “But they can’t get ‘em all.”
Toni came up, her revolver in her hand. Toby glanced at it, hoping she wouldn’t be stupid enough to start firing a .357 Magnum when there was a horde nearby.
“I don’t like this new gun,” she said. “But it’s good for close encounters. It’s loud as a mother fucker. I can go outside and try to draw them away.”
“No,” Grace protested. “You’ll draw the bulk of the whole herd here if you do.”
“They’re already here,” Toni insisted. “If Eric and Cliff keep cappin’ this little horde, the rest will come for sure.”
“Guys,” Royce said. “We got bigger problems. There are a few that keep looking this way like they know we be here and shit.”
“What?” Toni said.
Toby looked outside, looking at all the faces that he saw. They were all mindless zombies, he noticed. But when a few of them parted, he saw what Royce meant. There were two among them that were heading straight for the doors, their eyes perfectly trained upon them.
They weren’t dead.
Toby raised his pistol, knowing there was just enough space to use his sights. He aimed carefully, making sure his eyes were at the right spot. With a slow and purposeful pull, he pressed the trigger and watched as the creature was transfixed by the tiny hole that Toby’s bullet put in its head. It slowly stumbled forward, dropping to the pavement.
The other one looked down at its companion, scowling as it looked back up.
“Is it a person?” Royce wondered out loud. “What the fuck is going on?”
“It can’t be,” Toby said. “It’s rotted just like the others. Not only that, but it’s angry now.”
“They was angry before.”
“I have no clue what’s happening,” George said. “But I don’t like it. We need to get out of here.”
“No way,” Toni said. “Not without the others.”
“That’s right,” Jeff said. “I want Dan with us. Jake too. And we need Max. He’s smart and we have shit that he can get running.”
As Toby watched, the second sentient creature fell to a bullet. He guessed that either Eric or Cliff took it out. Thankfully, he noticed, there seemed to be no more of them. However, the bulk of the herd was beginning to turn their way.
“God damnit,” Toby said. “We’re fucked.”
Chapter Eleven
“We’ll need more fuel,” Micah said. “What we have left is only enough to keep the generators running for a few minutes.”
“Fuck,” Drew cursed, looking at Dan. “We have to scavenge for more.”
Dan nodded, somewhat expecting this situation. “How much do you think we will need?”
Max leaned in, shaking his head slowly. “I have no idea how long this Lanny thing needs to focus the energy.”
“Why don’t we ask him?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Micah said. “With the amount of fuel we have around the area we can only run it for about a half hour. That should be enough.”
“I would hope so,” Max said. “The amount of power we’re about to generate would definitely be picked up by the baddies.”
“That creature is one of them,” Micah said. “One of the Archons that rule over them. They fear them, and might stay away.”
“Unless of course they realize what’s going on,” Max said.
“Let’s not worry,” Dan said. “Just tell me what we’re looking for and we’re off.”
Drew led them away, leaving Micah with the generators. He did his best to describe the fuel cells, and where to find them.
“They’re about a foot long,” he said. “And six inches wide and six inches high. There is a glowing green strip going all around the middle, with two big copper plugs on one side and a metal handle on the other. Look for old cars, tractors, and other shit like that. We’ll need as many as we can find but four should do it. Maybe.”
“There were some cars I saw on the other side of that crumbled wall,” Jake said.
“Check ‘em,” Drew replied. “Most of them have probably been taken, though.”
Dan followed Jake around the other side of the wall. It looked like it was once a stone barrier, something decorative; maybe there was a park here at one time. The vehicles Jake had spotted were typical passenger cars that were eerily similar to models one would see on Earth; compact sports cars, sedans, and even something that looked like a Corvette.
“I wonder what they called this,” Dan joked.
“Probably a Shovey Dorkette or some shit.”
Jake opened the door, pulling it hard as it squeakily protested. Then, with one jerk, Jake ripped it off its rusty hinges.
“Damn, Conan.”
Jake grinned, reaching inside to pop the hood. “I’m guessing the fuel cells are under the hood,” he said.
They were. Jake spotted two metal handles and grasped one of them. He tugged hard, and the cell came out with a bit of difficulty. The green stripe wasn’t glowing.
“Dead.”
He pulled out the second cell, chuckling as he saw that it was still charged.
“Well,” Dan said. “There’s one.”
Drew led Max toward a cluster of construction vehicles. There was tractors with a logo on them similar to the ones he had seen in his own life. Barty’s memories began to creep in as they approached, and Max realized he knew where at least two cells were.
“That big backhoe there,” he said. “That one has two.”
“How do you know that?” Drew asked.
“I don’t. Barty did.”
Drew picked up the pace and headed toward the backhoe, going around to the engine compartment. There, nestled among the electrical parts were four cells; not two.
“Two are dead,” Max said, grinning.
Drew pulled one out. Dead. He pulled another out. Still glowing. He pulled the third one out. Still glowing. The last one was dead just as predicted. Drew shook his head, smiling.
“That’s creepy, man.”
In the distance, Max could see Dan and Jake. They were walking toward them, Jake having one cell in his hand. Then, Dan veered off and approached what looked like a cop car. After fiddling around under th
e hood for a bit, he emerged with a glowing cell, and Jake pulled out another.
“Looks like we have five,” Max said with a grin.
“We’re in business.”
Cliff scanned the herd again, looking for more of the strange sentient creatures. When he couldn’t find any from his vantage point, he slowly rolled over to where Eric was positioned. The larger bulk of the herd was beginning to cross the parking lot of the nearby grocery store, stumbling along seemingly blindly, but also with a strange sense of purpose.
Something was leading them this way.
“Maybe those dead ones that looked around are some kind of shepherds,” Cliff suggested. “Whatever woke these things up may also create smarter ones.”
“That’s a thought,” Eric agreed. “That might explain why this same fucking herd has been wandering around Nashville. A real herd would just keep walking until they were gone.”
“Yeah, but I wonder why they are being led around in circles.”
“I wonder if this is the same herd we saw at the impound lot,” Eric said.
“Maybe. But I thought the explosion led them away. Besides, there was that little nuclear winter right afterward.”
“True,” Eric said. “So when were these things awakened?”
Cliff shook his head. Good point. Maybe one of the Robert creatures was recently born and woke them. Who knows?
“There’s one,” Eric said.
Cliff looked through his scope in the direction Eric pointed. He saw it immediately. Unlike its companions, it wasn’t stumbling. It appeared to be looking around, bumping against the others to keep them in line. It was almost human-like.
But then it jaw fell off.
“Well,” Eric said. “That answers one question.”
He pulled the trigger, and Cliff saw its left arm fly off at the shoulder. The creature kept walking, looking around, and herding its cattle toward them.
“Definitely not alive,” Cliff said. “Curiouser and curiouser.”
“See any more of them?” Royce whispered.
“No,” Toby replied. “But the bigger herd is headed this way.”
“Mutha fucka.”
“This might help,” Toni said from behind them.
She had a crossbow in her hands, a nice one with a compound bow setup.
“I’ve never fired one of these before,” she said. “Trade me, Royce.”
Royce grunted. “I ain’t never shot one, neither,” he said.
“Yeah but you’re probably stronger than I am and I can’t pull this mother fucker back.”
Royce shook his head, handing Toni his handgun. He placed the nose of the crossbow on the floor and put his foot through the cocking handle. With a seemingly effortless tug, he pulled the string back and locked it into place.
“Smart ass,” Toni said.
Toby saw another strange zombie go down after its jaw and arm were blown off. He chuckled to himself, realizing his initial thought was wrong. He remembered Nathan approaching the house in the woods by walking amongst the dead and moldy creatures, acting like one of them and smelling like them too. This was different. These things were actually dead… just different.
That was a relief.
“We might have to lead them all away like Toni said,” Toby whispered to them. “But we’ll need to get rid of the… herders first. Yeah, that’s a good name for them.”
“Herders,” Royce repeated. “Yeah.”
Dan lugged his share of the burden, straining against the weight of the power cell. The four of them met after the line of the cars and headed back toward the generators. As they approach, Dan could see the strange creature standing in the center of the generators, crouched over Rose. Micah stood by, keeping the other people at bay until the time was right.
“They go in the big slots in the bottom of each generator,” Max said. “Right below the high voltage signs.”
Dan and Jake each picked a generator and plugged in the power cells, looking at each other nervously as a high-pitched ringing sound began, as if the generators were charging up to begin their spinning.
“Stand back,” Max said. “Micah, you have the strobe?”
Micah handed Max a contraption that looked like a medieval lantern, but Dan recognized it immediately. It was a dance club strobe light, altered to be hand held and operated with a small battery.
“Everybody ready?” Max asked.
He nodded to Micah, who reached up behind the main operator’s panel to pull the switch. Lanny’s tentacles immediately went to metal walls of each generator, and he held his strange back as he absorbed the magnetic fields. His eyes began to glow blue, and with a quick nod to Max, he signaled for the strobe light.
“I’m sorry, Rose,” Max said as he held the light out in front of him. “This might hurt, but you’ll be alright.”
Rose swallowed and looked up, ready to begin. Max turned on the strobe, and the whole complex was awash in the rapidly blinking light. Everyone peaked around the corner, curious to see what would happen.
“We need to hurry,” Lanny hissed. “The others will be drawn here. Make the strobe brighter.”
Max turned the dial on the strobe light, increasing the intensity of not only the light, but its speed as well. Rose’s eyes began to roll back, and her body began to tremble. To Dan’s horror, and Jake’s as well, she began screaming like a banshee. Her form blinked quickly in and out of existence as Lanny’s eyes glowed brighter. She was in pain, and so was he.
Just when Dan’s heart was about to explode, there was another flash, this time from Lanny. Rose began to appear and disappear in the same daisy pattern that Max described, screaming loudly and shrilly as she opened the vortex.
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
“Damn it!” Cliff cursed as the horde began to cross into the store’s lot to join the others. “Something’s drawing them here.”
He looked at Eric for a response, but he noticed that Eric was patting his hair. His curls were standing straight up, and he was licking his lips.
“What the fuck, dude,” Cliff said, suddenly realizing that his body was tingling.
What was happening?
Below, among the smaller horde, a blue glow began to appear. There was the faint sound of a girl screaming, and a blue flicker began to surround the center glow, appearing and disappearing seemingly randomly.
“I think we should get the fuck outta here,” Eric said.
Cliff nodded. That was a good idea.
“Maaaaaan,” Royce said, dropping the crossbow. “What the hell is going on out there?”
“Are they getting closer?” Toni asked, looking through the peep hole.
Toby laughed. “Nope,” he said. “Something else. What did it look like when Dan disappeared?”
Toni leaned her head back, laughing at the ceiling. “Just like this shit. Those mother fuckers.”
“They’re coming!” Lanny yelled over the deafening vortex. “Give me more power! Fire at them!”
Rifles blasted in the air as the people began firing into what Dan saw was nothingness. It was only after the missiles exploded that Dan saw the aircraft. They came quickly, firing lasers everywhere. Dan grabbed the nearest rifle he saw lying on the ground, trying to aim at the shimmering battle ships.
“Just go into the vortex!” Micah screamed at him. “Go home!”
“Not without everyone here!” Dan shouted back.
Max grabbed him by the arm, roughly pulling him away. “Someone has to stay with Lanny until the vortex closes,” he shouted. “Otherwise Rose will die.”
“Then I’ll stay!” Dan shouted back.
“No!” Max hissed. “The guys need you!”
“We need you too, you fucking prick!”
There was a sudden woosh of energy as the portal fully opened. Rose was nowhere to be seen, but Dan could still hear her screaming. He saw Micah pushing people through, making sure everyone alive stayed that way. But then, Micah’s chest exploded as a laser blas
t blew him to pieces.
“No!” Dan shouted.
“Go, Dan!” Max shouted again. “I will get them all through! Fucking go!”
There was another bright flash, and then silence. Dan opened his eyes, seeing that the entire world was still. Lasers hung in midair, people were mid stride, and the aircraft hung there like they were painted onto the smoke.
But Lanny was approaching him.
“Dan,” the creature said. “Go home. You do not belong here.”
“Come with us,” Dan said.
“No, I am needed here. There are others like Rose around the world who can help me take all of the survivors to other worlds.”
Dan shook his head, confused about the whole thing, especially the fact that time had stopped.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I am called an Archon,” Lanny said. “I am a subspecies of what you call the aliens. My kind rule over them, but like me there are others who rebel.”
“There are humans on my world that become like you after the infection.”
“Yes, and we do what we can to kill them, and the other mutants that threaten us… and you.”
Dan thought for a moment, realizing that Max had said the aliens were human. That explained a lot.
“Why the comet?” Dan asked.
“Your kind is not ready to join the collective, and never will be. It was decided that the human race must be destroyed, but other lifeforms on your world should be saved or altered so that someday, they join the higher orders. The alien creatures, including myself, were tasked with doing so, as we are the most modern evolutionary incarnations of the human species.”
“Then we are doomed, no matter what?”
“No,” Lanny said. “On your world, you may survive and evolve the necessary minds to transcend your primitive nature. That is my belief, and that is why I rebelled.”
Dan looked around at everything; the death, destruction, and the chaotic strands of energy that hung still in the air.
“How do we stop them?”
“You cannot,” Lanny said. “In your universe, the Archons do not exist, other than those humans that were mutated. You may find more of them, and you must kill every one of them. My kind will aid you from across the dimensions as we did before in that parking garage on your world.”