by Ian Woodhead
Ben shook his hand. “Thanks. Thanks for showing up went you did. You truly are an angel sent from God.” He grinned then placed his hands on the other man’s shoulders. “Did I not tell you that we would be saved from the demons?”
Raymond sighed. “Sure you did, old man. To be fair, you’ve said that a few times already.”
Callum turned to the girl. “I’m truly sorry about the others.”
She shrugged. “You don’t have to be sorry. You did what you could. I’m just glad you were here at all. We’d all be dead if it weren’t for you, Callum.” She looked back towards the devastation. “To be honest, apart from Linda and Alice, I didn’t know any of the others.”
He guessed the girl to be around fourteen, perhaps fifteen. She’d be around the same age as Callum’s own daughter. Oh Christ. With everything that had been going on, he hadn’t paid a single thought to Kylie! What sort of a father was he, for God’s sake? Callum felt the tears starting to flow again.
“Hey, are you okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Lots of extreme emotions flying around. My heads a bit mashed up, I guess. Shock and adrenalin. Beats vodka and crack hands down.” Callum did even know where Kylie and her mum had moved to. He knew they weren’t in Brandale anymore. That much he was sure about. Visiting their old home was the first action he’d undertaken once Callum’s head was back into some kind of order. Callum didn’t think they’d still be there and he wasn’t disappointed. The new owners hadn’t been much help. A large man, armed with a cricket bat, had run out and chased Callum down the street, threatening to call the police if he ever showed up again.
His next stop found him at Brandale’s small library, located on the edge of town. His search there proved just as fruitless, but at least the nice old librarian hadn’t chased him off the premises with a cricket bat despite his rather unpleasant body odour emptying the building in ten seconds flat. Callum hadn’t really been too bothered about his smell while drinking himself into oblivion or abusing his body with whatever narcotic he was able to get hold of. That changed once he’d left the library after the nice lady patiently explained to Callum how to use the Internet to search for people, a skill he’d never even known existed twenty minutes previously.
“Are you sure you’re okay, mister?”
The sound of Emily’s worried question pulled him back to the present.
“Yes, sorry. I was miles away.”
“Wish I was,” she replied. “Where were you going? If you were thinking of going back into the centre, then I’d seriously think about choosing somewhere else. The streets are full of those bloody monsters, not to mention that I think the big one’s coming back.” She looked at the others, her gaze landing on the older man. “Anywhere away from that Bible-bashing tosspot would be nice as well.”
The question of where to go next had plagued him since the arrival of those monsters too. If that column had come anywhere near Harry, then Callum would have bet his back teeth that the soldier from another world would have tried his best to blast it back to hell and unlike these Johnnies, Harry would have probably succeeded too. “Emily, have you seen anyone else on your travels? Three men. Two older than me, the third one a bit younger. That third man carried this weird-looking rifle.”
She shook her head. “No, apart from the ones who you saw a minute ago. I didn’t want to join up at first, ‘cos the big guy in the black leather jacket would stop staring at my chest, but the kid and the dog seemed to like each other.” She shrugged. “Dunno, maybe I’m a soft touch. Besides, if the big guy had tried anything, he’d have received a swift kick in the bollocks. Kinda feel a bit shitty about thinking all those horrible things about him now. You know, with him being dead and everything.”
“Don’t let it worry you, Emily.” He left her alone and hurried back towards the corner of the building, hoping the monsters had moved off now that they had eliminated the threat. Callum choked back a terrified sob when he found one of the living tanks almost touching the outer wall. Thankfully, it faced the other way. Despite the terrible danger, Callum inched a little closer. He wanted to find out what they were doing. When he looked over the top of the beast, he immediately wished he hadn’t. The living tanks were still protecting the other creatures.
They were busy sucking up the lumpy sludge deposited across the street. So much for them moving off. There’s no chance of them sneaking back that way. He wasn’t even sure his new friends would want to go back the direction they came.
What was he going to do now? Callum turned around and hurried back to the others while keeping his body against the wall.
When he returned, Callum found out that where they were to go next had already been decided. Both Mrs. Howden and Gavin had climbed off the roof and were already introducing themselves to the newcomers.
Gavin had already made a beeline towards the pretty girl and judging from her strained expression, the boy was trying out all his best chat-up lines. Unbelievable. You couldn’t make this up. They were in the middle of the possible extinction of humanity and that fool was thinking with the contents of his trousers.
He walked over to Mrs. Howden who had caught the old man. She didn’t look all that concerned that a couple of minutes ago, Callum had been so close to losing it with her. Then again, looking around the group, it looked like only he was showing the strain from their dire situation. Well, him and the kid. Maybe the others were better at hiding their feelings than Callum? He sighed. More than likely, they were just relieved not to actually be dead.
“Callum, I would like you to meet my minister. Thanks to you, our church will live on.”
“Was it not the guiding hand of Jesus who showed him the way, Jessica?”
The woman nodded, like she’d just heard the most profound answer ever uttered by man or woman. Callum took a step back and wished Harry was here. That guy would soon knock some sense into these clowns. He wasn’t though, and no matter how freaky their beliefs, they were his responsibility. He wasn’t too sure how that came about, but it did feel like the right thing to do.
“Well, there’s not much point in going home now,” said Mrs. Howden, “now that my minister has returned to me. Perhaps we should all take shelter in our church? Minister, what do you think?”
Callum decided to stay silent on the big husband and burly son lie.
“I agree. The demons will not enter a place of God. That much, I am sure of.” The old man looked to his right. “And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet unto them.”
“Yeah, right. Look, is the place secure? You know, big heavy door, stuff like that?”
The old man nodded. “Of course. Thanks to the generous donations from the flock, we have the most up-to-date security. It seems that it is not only Brandale’s unsaved who we have to keep out now.”
Callum turned around and gathered the others around him. “This guy has a church not far from here. I think if might be a good idea to rest there and regain our strength. Perhaps have something to eat or something?” He felt relief at the collective nodding. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if half of them decided they’d rather face the monster than listen to any more crap spewing from the gob of this Bible-bashing weirdo. Still, the one good takeaway of saving his arse is that Mrs. Howden won’t be bothering anyone else now.
“Okay, Minister. The floor is yours. Lead the way. Preferably, away from the things behind us.”
The old man nodded. He smiled at Mrs. Howden then began to walk north. The old man’s posture had changed dramatically. He no longer looked like he was about to fall apart. Callum grabbed Gavin as he passed. “How many diffusers do you have left?”
He shrugged. “Not sure, about ten, I guess.”
Callum stuck his hand out. “Give me a couple.”
“Why, what are you planning?”
“I think she likes you, Gavin,” he said, changing the sentence. “Come on, pass them over, d
ude. Hurry up, she’s getting away from you.”
“You’re not coming with us, are you?”
Callum shook his head. “Don’t worry, Gavin. I just need to try something out. I’ll catch up. I know where you’re going.” He took off before Gavin had a chance to reply. He did feel a little guilty about leaving them to fend for themselves, but he believed it was worth the risk; besides, the church was only about a ten-minute walk from here.
The infusers that he had taken from Gavin were honeysuckle and morning dew. Callum wasn’t sure that the last one was even a smell. He took a tentative sniff and immediately wished he hadn’t. The stuff in the glass was just vile. “And people buy this shit?” he whispered. Callum then found himself thinking about all this parallel words stuff and wondered if there was a world where he didn’t join up and consequently destroy his life. He saw another version of himself walking into his wife’s house, kissing his daughter’s forehead, asking what was for tea. He sighed. Even if such a duplicate did exist, Callum knew without a doubt that the other version of himself would think the liquid in here smelled like arse as well.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the others had already gone. That made him feel a little better. Callum didn’t think he would ever be comfortable around people, not after being on his own for so many years. He reached the end of the building and looked around the corner. The convoy had already moved on, taking with them the puddles of dissolved people. They won’t be too far. Callum didn’t think they could move very fast.
Perhaps it might have been a better idea to climb onto the roof first? He shrugged to himself. It didn’t really matter. It shouldn’t be too difficult to pick up their tracks. Callum ran over to the car the others had sheltered behind and leaned to the right so he could glance down Edward Street. There was no sign of them down there. He ran over to the truck on the other side of the square and grinned when he noticed movement. “There you are!”
Callum raced after them. He got the vial ready. The first monsters in the column turned into Grandford Road. “This is for the ones you’ve just killed!” he yelled. Callum stopped, flung his arm back, and chucked the vial. It arced through the air and smashed against the armoured shell of the last tank in the line.
Nothing happened. The foul-smelling liquid just flowed off the surface and dripped on the floor. “That’s not fair, you bastard,” he shouted. “You’re supposed to dissolve!” Was it the armour? Maybe it only worked with the soft parts? He ran forward and only stopped when he almost collided with the last monster. Callum threw the remaining vial, whooping when it smashed into the walking containers. Again, nothing happened, apart from the armoured monsters finally noticing human burger meat standing next to them. Two of the living tanks began to pivot.
“Oh shit!” Callum spun around and ran as fast as he could, heading back towards the alley in between the two buildings. That dreadful whining had already started. He dived to the left and smacked into the side of a black-panel van. He moaned in terror, fully aware that if he didn’t get out of the way, he’d be dead!
Callum dropped to the floor and rolled under the van, a split-second before a stream of corrosive liquid gushed past the side of the van. He suppressed the urge to vomit then rolled out the other side. Surely, nothing else could go wrong?
Why hadn’t he tried this whilst on the rooftop? Oh no, not Callum. Why not sneak up on them and just hope for the best? He managed to get back to the alley without any of the living tanks following him. Perhaps it was a good job he sent them off without him. At least that way, he wouldn’t have put any of them at risk.
Without him around, they were so much safer. It made him wonder why he was so eager to catch up to them.
Callum only slowed down when he caught the sight of the dog. As he turned into Benson Street, Callum saw the rest of them all grouped up outside a bus shelter.
He couldn’t understand why they had stopped. The church was only across the road. Unless they were waiting for him? If that was the case, why weren’t they hiding in the shelter?
The closer he got, Callum noticed something weird about the air, a couple of metres from the shelter. It was like gazing into the distance on the boiling hot day. Everything beyond the effect rippled and gyrated. Is that what he was looking at? A curtain of heat?
The minister pulled away from Mrs. Howden’s grasping hands. He put his arms in the air and started to walk towards the phenomenon while singing at the top of his voice. Callum stopped dead. He clenched his hands into fists while attempting to control his jittery guts. “Turn back, you silly bastard! Turn back…”
Before he could finish the sentence, the minister walked into the barrier and burst into flames.
“Things surely can not get any worse,” he murmured, “and don’t call me Shirley.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The several survivors were all huddled at the far end of the damp cave. Their quiet conversations drifted over to where Harry sat. He felt uncomfortable for thinking it, but the people he had managed to save now reminded him of well-fed hens, all huddled together, all equally anxious while hoping the foxes and dogs outside do not discover their hiding place.
In his world, the dogs and foxes, as well as most other four-legged mammals, had died out decades ago, but they still had hens, as well as ‘other’ predators which preyed upon a terrestrial creature stupid enough to venture outside.
After a moment’s contemplation, Harry decided that it wasn’t harsh at all to compare them to such a simple animal. The humans in this world, with the exception of the first few homeless individuals that he encountered last night, were all so ill-equipped to cope with this traumatic disaster. Quite frankly, the sheer fact that even a few of them had managed to stay alive for more than a couple of hours after the Goliaths invaded surprised him.
He tore his gaze away from the setting sun, casually wiping some of the cavern moss from the palm of his hand and onto his blanket before turning his head. The six men, women, and one teenage girl behind him, all huddled together at the rear of the cave, were quietly talking amongst themselves. Strangers before the traumatic events a few hours ago, now becoming fast friends, all together because of the two Goliaths and their familiars, currently hunting down every human in the vicinity.
Harry’s keen hearing picked out a few words from their conversations. The teenage girl grieved the loss of her mother. Something took the woman while she was in the bathroom. She heard the window smashing, followed by a long-drawn-out shriek. The teenage girl told the assembled audience that seconds later, she heard what sounded like screaming coming from every other person on his street.
If he hadn’t heard movement from above his head when Harry had searched that particular house, then it is likely that the girl, now being comforted by an older woman would now either be dead, taken by the type of creature which took her mother, or wandering the deserted streets, looking for anyone to help her.
Now that Caroline had finished her tale, the others were either shaking their heads in sympathy or reassuring her with false hope that perhaps her mother may have gotten away with whatever had pulled her through that window. One of the other survivors, a middle-aged woman, took Caroline in her arms and gave her a gentle hug while asking her if she had anyone else.
Caroline explained that her younger brother was with her dad. He always went over to his flat every other weekend. Dad took him to the match. Little Pete so loved his football. It was supposed to be her turn to go see him next weekend. Dad had promised to take her to see the latest Disney movie.
The older woman cracked a faint smile. She ordered the girl to keep telling herself that before she knew it, Caroline would be back in the arms of her dad and her brother. The woman looked over at Harry and gave him a soft smile before turning back to the girl and telling her that perhaps her dad and Pete were in one of the other groups.
Harry nodded at the pair of them before turning back towards the cave entrance. The evening sun had almost touched one of the few
remaining buildings not destroyed by the two Goliaths. When the light vanished, Harry would feel a little easier to move his chickens and join up with the others.
Once he had rejoined the others at their temporary base, Harry fully intended to find somewhere safer and a lot deeper underground for the remains of this town’s population. This tiny pocket of humanity needed to survive, and Harry was prepared to do everything in his power to ensure that it did.
He had already sacrificed too much recently to allow the familiars and their Gods to finish off this town. Harry looked across at Caroline who had begun to relax, still in the arms of the older woman. Was she dreaming of a possible reunion with the rest of her family? It saddened him to know that the reunion was never going to happen. He knew for a fact.
The house had shown Harry a glimpse of another individual before he eventually discovered the girl hiding under her bed. From the description which Caroline gave to the woman, Harry could only assume that the mutilated corpse that he fell over in the living room was the girl’s little brother. How he got there without Caroline knowing was a mystery which would never be solved as Harry never intended to reveal the truth to the girl. He feared that news like that could send her over the edge.
They all needed time to recover from their individual traumas. Harry knew that many would not fully mend, but hopefully the mental scar tissue they grow over the wounds would be at least thick enough for them to contribute to the new existence which now lay ahead. A life where the monsters would rule this world for another one hundred years.
He decided that perhaps he was being too harsh on them after all. It would just take a little longer for them to adapt to their new way of life, certainly far longer than the likes of Malc and Dosser. Harry found himself stroking the surface of the blanket, once again, marvelling at this world’s incredible ingenuity. They still had a few blankets left over from the time when the Goliaths invaded his world, but none felt as luxurious as this one.
The blanket’s softness so reminded him of his surviving humans. Soft, a little plump, and obviously used to a more sedate lifestyle. Just like the hens, he remembered from when he was a child.