“Man, I gotta head over there,” Noble said, indicating the restrooms. Shaw nodded in return. “Get me a burger or something, please?”
“No problem,” Shaw replied, but the man seemed distracted. He was scanning the rest area while the others stood in line in front of the Burger King station at the food court. There were a few more at the pizza place and another at the Mexican place, apparently craving tacos.
Noble dismissed Shaw, the man was always paranoid, always looking for something. The pain in his kidneys and bladder was much much more important to deal with. He stepped into a kind of half-jog to head toward the bathrooms, pausing for a moment to study a monitor set high on a support pole that showed the weather.
There was a short line out of the door for the women's restroom. The men's room was almost empty. Noble shot down the hallway, realizing that there were two areas of stalls and urinals and choosing the one furthest down the hall. He barely reached one of the urinals, got his pants undone, and then there was blessed relief. He thought, there are few sensations in this world better than when you really have to go and then get a chance to relieve yourself. How is that possible? Life was strange even before you threw in the knowledge of alternate dimensions and realities.
"Wow, just made it."
Noble opened his eyes when the voice cut through the silence. There was a guy in a blue hoodie at the stall just to his left. The man had his head down, focused on the task at hand, but had long brown hair.
"Yeah," Noble replied. He was never one to engage in small talk with people he did not know, particularly at a time like this. He even hated asking for things at stores and really hated engaging in conversation with the women who cut his hair.
"Traveling far?" the man asked.
"Chicago," Noble replied, irritated, but glad that he was nearly finished.
"Not too bad," the man said.
"Yeah, the weather looks good," Noble threw that in just to show the guy that he was not a total jerk.
Noble zipped up and headed for the sinks. He ran his hands under the warm water. A moment later the man in the blue hoodie was at the sink just to his right.
"So, Noble, how long do you think you can keep this up?"
Noble froze, his hands still under the water. He had his head down, studying his fingers, but he slowly raised it now. The man was to his right, his head down, the long brown hair still hanging over his face. As Noble turned to stare at him, the man in the hoodie turned his head.
He had no eyes.
The man's face was round, with a small nose and thin lips. Everything about him was normal, except for the fact that where his eyes should have been there were just black holes. A sneer crossed the man's face.
Somewhere outside, in the restaurant area, Noble heard people screaming. He heard footsteps.
"Noble!" It was Shaw, calling to him.
"We know it all," the man said in Whitten's voice, but with that other voice just behind it. Void. It was the Void. "You're doomed."
The man reached out to touch Noble's arm. He yanked hit away and then shoved his shoulders into the man’s chest, avoiding any touch from the man’s hands or bare skin. The blow knocked the man away and his chin gave way in a manner that made Noble's stomach churn. Black ichor oozed from the side of the man's mouth and the man laughed.
Noble ran.
It was chaos out in the restaurant area. There were people running everywhere and the men that were with him in the van had their guns out. There was gunfire and Noble saw another person, dressed in a Burger King outfit, turn into black goo and dissolve. There was another scream and he saw an old woman flash white and vanish as another tourist with black eyes touched her.
Shaw stood at the door screaming and waving his arms frantically.
Noble saw one of the Starbucks workers touch one of the men from the van. There was a scream and the man vanished. Noble decided he had seen enough and the paralysis was broken. He sprinted for the door, wishing he had decided to carry a gun.
There were people all around him. It was impossible to tell which person was a black-eyed avatar and which was a doomed tourist. Noble's ears were filled with the sound of screams, running feet, and laughter. That horrible laughter.
Noble reached the glass door and ran past Shaw into the parking lot. There were more black-eyed men and women out there, touching people. There were tourists vanishing all over the place. He saw another of his own team get touched in the middle of the back by one of the black-eyed avatars and vanish screaming.
"Get into the van!" Shaw screamed from directly behind Noble. The good doctor had his pistol out and he fired into the head of a black-eyed man running right for him. A black hole formed in the middle of the man's forehead and the entire body exploded into black goo and vanished.
The men from the van, including Dash and Orval, ran across the lot now. They also had their guns out and were firing. Cars were pulling out of their parking spaces. The black-eyed creatures were now forming a kind of line, pouring out of the rest area.
Noble got into the van. The rest of the men, minus at least three now, dove in after him. Shaw started the van and shifted into reverse before Dash could even pull the door closed. The van collided with the front bumper of another car, but Shaw didn’t pause. He just shifted into drive and shot forward.
"We need to get gas!" Shaw cried.
"What?" Noble called back. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"
"Orval, get all the guns you can," Shaw called back. "Get on the roof and keep them away from us!"
"Roger," Orval said, and the others handed pistols and guns to him.
They stopped at the first open gas tank and Orval and Shaw got out of the van. Dash joined them. Behind them there were dozens and dozens of black-eyed avatars running and stumbling toward them. Noble was immediately reminded of the zombie movies he had seen.
Orval got onto the roof and fired. One by one he took down the first row of avatars. Men, women and children fell, turning into goo and vanishing. Orval fired fast, the blasts right on top of each other, and Noble saw an avatar fall with each shot. There was a clatter from the guns as he dropped them when they were empty and then pulled out two more, firing again.
Noble felt useless.
Dash began firing, too. Noble wanted to get out there and help, but as soon as he moved one of the other men put his hand on his shoulder.
"No," he said, "you stay in here."
Shaw shoved the gas nozzle into the gas tank and then pulled out his own pistol and began firing into the crowd of avatars. The avatars, meanwhile, had started moving a bit more slowly.
It seemed to take forever for the tank to fill. Shaw threw the nozzle down, letting gas pour out of the nozzle onto the ground, the fluid rushing toward the oncoming horde of black-eyed avatars.
"You're all doomed!" The horde called in that Whitten/Void voice. "You'll never stop us!"
Dash, Shaw and Orval climbed back in. Shaw shifted into drive and shot away from the station. As they got near the entrance ramp, Orval leaned out the window and fired one shot back toward the gas station. A second later flames bloomed and rushed toward the oncoming swarm of black-eyed avatars. There was a horrendous explosion as the gas tanks went up. All of them could hear the sound of the Whitten/Void voice screaming in rage inside their heads.
***
There was little talk about what had happened inside the van. They had lost three of their number. Shaw was breathing hard. Orval and Dash had their heads down. Any of the good humor and feeling that had been inside the van was gone. Fear had replaced it.
First rule, there were no more stops. Not until they got to Gemini.
There would be no surprise. Whitten and Void knew they were coming. That changed things.
The sun headed down toward the horizon. Each shadow was once again filled with menace. The men in the van got tense, began talking to each other to keep themselves from going crazy. The van felt more and more cramped. The entire idea of this whol
e endeavor suddenly began to seem ridiculous.
Noble folded his hands and kept his head down and tried to focus. Imagine the mission, he thought. Imagine what life will be like once this was over, he thought.
They shot past the city and into the suburbs. It was as if fate were clearing out the traffic that would normally jam the roads. Soon they were among large houses with yards and lots and lots of forest. The sky was turning a darker blue with lighter hues toward the horizon.
"We're almost there," Shaw said. "So far we haven't seen anything to stop us, so we're going to have to assume that it's all there at Gemini Tower."
They got off the highway and through the back roads. The woods got thicker, the traffic lighter, the sky darker. They found the side entrance, overgrown with weeds and shrubbery, and Shaw parked the van far off of the road and under the brush. They all climbed out.
The air was cool and there was a strong breeze. There was also the smell of rotting vegetation in the air. Somewhere, nearby, there was another sound of an animal howling at the sky. Coyotes.
The men all gathered around the back of the van and got their weapons. They donned their coats and hats and goggles, too. Noble felt his stomach churning.
"OK, then," Shaw said, "let's do this thing."
They stepped into the road and approached the rusted gate, pushing away the branches and shrubbery. Just as they reached the gate, the horizon burst into light and a strong humming sound filled their ears. The sound wave hit all of them so hard that four of the men fell down.
"I think Whitten and Void know we're here," Shaw said.
***
They entered the property of Gemini Industries. As soon as they got beyond the gate the forest around them burst into life. They could not see anything in the shadows, but the sounds of animals and things moving around in there got very loud. The entire grounds came to life. The lights began to change from white to blue to red and then back again. All of it was centered around the Tower.
"Make sure that your shield is up," Shaw said. "I doubt it will add too much protection, but everything helps."
Noble adjusted a button on his wrist device. The air was filtered and sounded odd to his ears. The world itself loomed red from the goggles. Numerals began flashing around the edge of his vision. One indicator, a small arrow, glowed and faded, glowed and faded, indicating where the Rift was. It pointed toward the tower.
The group walked across an overgrown driveway. All around them the world was suddenly alive. Noble could feel rifts opening and closing all around them. There were things moving. Some of them looked human, but many did not. The ground was vibrating. At first Noble thought it was trucks passing by on the road, but then he realized it was coming from something else.
"All roads lead to the tower," Noble muttered.
"Exactly," Orval replied.
Noble realized that everything he muttered was picked up by a microphone and broadcast. Something let out a roar that reminded him of a time when he visited the zoo and heard the pride of lions at feeding time.
"Hello intrepid travelers!"
The voice came over their headsets. Noble knew immediately that it was Whitten/Void and felt a sinking in his gut. They had been monitoring their conversations the entire time.
"I'm so glad that you are here," Whitten/Void said. "In particular, I am glad to see you here, Mr. Randle. I’m so glad you all survived our surprise at the rest area. That was quite a show, wasn’t it? Mr. Randle, when I spoke to you in the elevator, I felt that I had to try and warn you. It was the sporting thing to do. However, I left that elevator hoping that you would decide to stick around. I have quite a surprise for you, especially, when you make it to the Tower."
A long pause as the ground beneath them vibrated even more.
"IF, you make it to the Tower."
Just then the sky pulled apart right in front of them as if he air were made of paper. It was a bright Rift in the sky. One of the men screamed. Noble realized, crazily, that he did not remember that man's name. A huge black tentacle snapped out from within the Rift and wrapped around the man's waist. The screaming got louder, higher pitched, more intense. The man fired his weapon, a machine gun, into the tear in reality. There was the sound of a great beast screaming and the man was yanked through. Just gone.
Noble ran toward the hole. He could jump through there, find him, rescue him, and then jump back. He'd seal the Rift. A hand clamped down on his shoulder. Shaw yanked him nearly off his feet.
"No!" Shaw yelled. "You're too important. We knew the risks. Stay back!"
"I can't sit here and do nothing while the others sacrifice themselves for me!"
"Yes, you can," the voice was in Noble's ear, but it was not Shaw that spoke. It was Ezekiel "You have to. Noble, your purpose is to get to the Tower. Once you get there, you can throw your life away, but if you vanish now, we're all doomed."
Noble threw Shaw's hand off of his shoulder and cursed. Then, to add emphasis to his displeasure, he stomped his foot on the ground like a child having a tantrum.
"Fine!" Noble shouted. "Let's go!"
The group clustered closer together and ran across the cracked pavement. The path wound left and then right. On either side the trees loomed and the shrubbery appeared to be growing unchecked. There was silence save for the vibration of the ground. It was hard to stay running straight, but Noble was determined.
They ran for several minutes, the path seemed much longer than it looked on the map. The horizon glowed. Blue, white, purple, alternating like a rock and roll show. The top of the Tower was visible above the trees, glowing like a lit cigarette.
Just as they settled into a regular rhythm, the ground heaved in front of them. Noble was thrown backwards, landing on Shaw, who fell to the ground. The earth in front of them rocketed into the air and split in two. Bright red light emanated from within the pit. Noble heard someone screaming, and then another, two of their number tumbled in, vanishing from view. Something within roared and arms ending in vicious talons emerged , reaching for whomever or whatever was at the edge. One of the hands grabbed another man in a long coat, the talons sinking into the man's leg.
More screaming.
Then dragged down into the pit.
"Get back!" Shaw called. "Head into the woods!"
"Jesus," Noble muttered.
He followed Shaw as they headed off the path and into the brush on the right side of the road. Whatever light there was from the glowing Tower or the moon vanished. Noble felt as if he had already been swallowed by the Void. They had not taken four steps into the woods and suddenly the trees themselves came to life.
Gunfire and some kind of plasma energy flashed into the night, striking the trees, blasting them apart, setting them on fire. Noble saw one of the taller trees reach down with branches that resembled the talons from whatever creature lay within the pit behind them. Someone was lifted into the air, machine gun firing wildly, kicking and screaming, and then vanished into a dark maw that must have been what passed for a mouth.
Noble opened fire. He didn't know which trees were from some other hellish dimension and which ones were normal, so he fired into everything and anything. There were more screams and Noble realized, after a few moments, that the trees were also screaming.
"This is a fucking nightmare!" he cried.
"Just keep moving!" Shaw called, reloading his own gun. "Keep moving! Whitten and Void are using the weak spots that we probably created by bringing everyone over into our world to create these pocket dimensions. It's only going to get worse!"
"Did you know that this was going to happen?" Noble asked, firing into another tree that had suddenly formed a face, complete with a mouth ringed by wooden fangs.
"We thought that this might happen," Shaw admitted, having now reloaded his gun and firing away. "That's why we brought such a large number across with us."
"You guys are insane."
"Noble, we had to get you to the Tower," Kolthrax's voice was in his ears now.
"We knew the risks. We asked for volunteers. These men all agreed to risk their lives for you. Now quit complaining and focus on the task at hand. The walls are getting weaker with each moment. We just got word that two more dimensions have been lost to the Void. We also have heard that Knorr is experiencing supernatural phenomenon unlike anything they have seen before. More people are dying than just those with you. Move!"
Noble decided that the man had a point. If he just sat here whining about this, he'd end up dead. That wouldn't help anyone, including his wife. He ran, kicking at the shrubbery, vines and branches that grabbed at his legs and threatened to trip him. He fired into the trees as he ran, heard more men screaming, but didn't stop until the trees were no longer moving and growling and grabbing.
Noble stopped suddenly. Dash and Shaw came to a stop behind him. Noble looked around. There were maybe twenty of them left. Orval came stumbling out of the tree-lined area, his own guns firing, moments later. The man looked exhausted, his head bloody from deep gouges. Dash and Shaw both looked tired and both of them were bloody as well.
"How much more of there is this?" Noble asked.
"We still have about a mile to go before we can get to the tower," Shaw said, pointing to the horizon.
Noble looked up, seeing the rest of the men silhouetted against the horizon. The glow of the lights were so bright now that he had to shield his eyes. The entire building appeared to fade in and out of existence. All around them there were sounds of things moving and they were much closer.
"Everyone reload," Shaw announced. "There's more inside these woods. I have no idea what -"
Just then something burst from the darkness and the shrubbery. Noble caught the movement out of the corner of his eye. Whatever it was it grabbed one of the men. There was screaming, gunfire, and then he saw blood, black against the sky, flying into the air. There were more screams that abruptly cut off and there was the sound of crunching bones and wet noises.
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