Spiderstalk

by D. Nathan Hilliard

  He hurried after Olivia as she quickly made her way to the aisle. She knelt briefly at the end of the row, then stood again as he caught up.

  “Rear doors,” she ordered while re-shouldering her bag. She pulled him past her then propelled him in the direction of the screen. “I’ll cover you.”

  Adam stumbled down the inclined aisle, then fought to stop as the import of her words hit home.

  Olivia intended to get between him and the homicidal Amazon…and people who did that had a nasty habit of ending up dead.

  “Oh, hell no!” he yelled and turned to go back.

  Unfortunately, that was when his luck, along with his balance, ran out. Even his improved equilibrium required a level floor, and he hadn’t fully stopped before attempting to reverse himself. Even worse, the act of turning had brought his cane out of position to be any use.

  He stumbled and pitched forward, rolling helplessly three rows down the aisle before coming to rest against a bunch of seats.

  Shit!

  Adam tried to fight his way back to his feet, only to discover one of his braces had gotten wedged under a chair.

  “Olivia,” he gasped, “I’m stuck! It’s too late! Just get out of here!”

  Olivia did a quick back pedal, still facing the doors to the lobby, and knelt by him. Taking a quick look to assess the situation, she rose again, stepped over him, and went around to the other side of the chair. The young woman grasped his foot and gave it a firm half turn before pushing it out from under the chair. She might not have been a superwoman, but her strength still surprised him.

  Unfortunately, time was up.

  Adam looked up the aisle from his place on the floor to see the swinging doors to the lobby open, and Death step into the theater.

  She stood inside the doorway, looking back down the aisle at him, grim as judgment day. The woman didn’t say a word. She simply reached back over her shoulder and drew the pistol he had come to know so well.

  “Maggie!” the Spider Tribe teen’s voice sounded weakly over the seats. “Stop it! You’re not supposed to be here! We’re under a truce!”

  If she heard, she gave no sign. She continued to glare at Adam with a rage so intense he could practically feel it.

  What the hell? If you hate me so much, then do it! Just get it over with and get out of here.

  A second later he lost his view of her because Olivia stepped back over him and stood between them.

  The two women faced each other down the short distance of the aisle…the six-foot blond with her gun now hanging by her side, and the raven-haired analyst with her hand resting in the bag slung over her shoulder.

  “This is most disappointing,” Olivia stated. “I had assured my Chieftain that the word of the Spider People meant more than this.”

  “Move,” Maggie answered. She didn’t appear in the mood for a conversation.

  “We are under truce,” Olivia’s voice remained calm, but an undercurrent of disdain laced her words. “I did not come here for a fight tonight.”

  “Then leave.”

  “I will not. I am responsible for this man, and my word means something.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  “Dammit, Maggie! Stop!”

  The sound of a hammer cocking seemed to thunder despite the sound of the movie behind them. The woman had just started to raise her gun, then froze.

  For a moment, Adam thought it must be from a gun in Olivia’s bag but then realized it had come from a different direction entirely. He struggled to his knees and saw a third person had entered the standoff.

  Billy Clayton still stood in the middle of the next to last row with one hand pointing at the enormous spider on the wall. But now his other held a pistol aimed straight at the woman in the doorway. The strain on his sweat drenched face betrayed the enormous effort he expended in holding the great arachnid from coming after them. And judging by his gasping for breath, Adam wondered how much longer he could manage. The boy looked on the brink of collapse.

  “Billy?” The blonde tilted her head but still kept her eyes locked with Olivia’s. “Are you going to shoot me, Billy?”

  “Maggie, please! Just leave! Don’t do this!”

  “Would you? Over an outsider and a Dog Woman?”

  “Stop it,” Olivia hissed. “This isn’t about you.”

  “You’re not giving me any choice!” the boy cried.

  “Maybe you can do it,” Maggie replied in a suddenly musing voice. It was neither taunting nor disbelieving. “Okay, Billy. Let’s find out. It’s easy, all you have to do is sight down the barrel and block me from seeing what you’re about to do. With my attention divided like it is right now, you might be one of the few people who could pull it off. Then I suppose everybody’s ‘honor’ would be satisfied.”

  “Maggie,” the boy groaned. “No.”

  Adam gazed wide-eyed at the woman. What the hell was she doing? Was she here to kill him? Get herself killed? Both? Or what? This was definitely the same woman who had come after him at the hospital. Yet at the same time, it wasn’t. She still radiated menace like a supernova, but her whole demeanor had changed. Instead of the fury that usually twisted her features, her face bore a look of resigned determination…a familiar look…

  …a look he had seen before.

  And then he understood.

  Aw hell, she has his eyes. This doesn’t have a damn thing to do with honor. Something has caused her to hit rock bottom, and the boy unwittingly gave her a shot at something she didn’t even know she wanted. Now she’s just daddy’s little girl and she wants to finish what he started and then go join him.

  “How dare you,” the blonde refocused on him with a glare of raw hatred.

  And of course she just read my mind. Me and my brain’s big mouth…

  “Adam, get ready…”

  “HOW DARE YOU!”

  And then a whole lot of things happened very quickly.

  The boy screamed, the woman’s gun leaped into firing position, Olivia shoved him off his feet into the row beside him…

  …the world went white with a thunderous bang…

  …two gunshots that were barely audible over the ringing of his ears sounded at almost exactly the same time, splinters from the chair in front of him blasted into his face, his ear felt like it caught on fire, a second explosion shook the very air, then he hit the sticky floor in a tangled heap.

  Adam scrabbled to move as soon as he hit the floor. Blind, deaf, and disoriented, he still understood the seats provided no cover against an assailant who could pinpoint him through telepathy and shoot thru walls. What he didn’t understand was who started World War III? What the hell had Olivia been holding in her bag? A rocket launcher?

  Then he remembered her crouching at the end of the row right before he arrived and she pushed him down the aisle.

  She was planting a mine! That’s the source of the first explosion. Sweet Jesus, she fights like she plays chess…six moves ahead…and you’re still in a room with telepaths so STOP THINKING ABOUT HER!

  His vision began to clear as he once more fought his way to his knees. As it did he found himself gazing through a hole blown through the seat in front of him. The hole brought his focus into the present in a big hurry. It had been that close. The burning of his ear and the blood running onto his shoulder bore silent testimony to that. Apparently, getting blown up didn’t hamper the aim of the madwoman very much.

  Speaking of whom…

  The sound of her cursing prompted Adam to peek over the seat to see his would-be assassin picking herself up off the floor as well. Blood covered her arm and the side of her face, but otherwise she just looked really pissed off. On the bright side, she must have lost her pistol in the second explosion because both her hands were now empty. On the other hand, she wasted no time in pulling out a knife that would have made Jim Bowie weep with envy.

  Holy shit! This psycho is a one woman advertisement for overkill!

  Adam had no choice but to totter to h
is own feet and step out into the aisle to face her as she approached. He tried to take comfort in the fact he had a weapon of his own as he readied his thumb over the tear gas and stun gun buttons on his cane. But somehow his arsenal seemed pretty tame compared to the gleaming, saw-backed blade in the Amazon’s hand.

  “Hold it!”

  They both looked over to see Olivia had popped up in one of the rows on the wall side of the aisle. She now held the blonde woman’s pistol and had it pointed straight at her head. Adam realized she must have gone diving after it when the other lost it in the explosion.

  “Good luck with that,” the bloody Valkyrie monotoned and continued her approach toward Adam.

  Adam retreated, trying to keep the cane between him and the oncoming maniac. The angled floor had already put him down once tonight, and now he was trying to walk backwards…something he avoided even under ideal conditions. He saw Olivia try to pull the trigger, then use both hands to try again with no result.

  It appeared the pistol had been customized for Maggie in more ways than one.

  “Adam, continue backing up,” Olivia instructed. She tossed the pistol in the nearest seat and pulled what looked like a steel wand out of her bag. Electricity arced with a loud snap between two prongs at the end of the device. She started down the row, where she would come out behind Maggie and put the blonde between them. “My prod has settings…and mine is set to kill.”

  Apparently Olivia was capable of customization of her own.

  Unfortunately, if her statement were meant to intimidate their assailant, it didn’t. If anything it had the opposite effect. The blonde’s eyes changed into something inhuman, and a look of pure savagery crossed her face as she twirled the knife and closed with Adam.

  “MAGGIE!”

  The new voice thundered through the theater, bringing the crazed young woman to a halt.

  Adam recognized it right away, and wondered if its volume were real or an effect of Grandma Lilah’s abilities. The old woman’s hunched form now appeared in the lobby doorway. Two other men with rifles stood behind her. Olivia slowed, obviously trying to gauge the intent of these newcomers.

  “Not now, Granny,” the tall blonde snarled. “Maggie is busy.”

  She twirled the knife again and crouched for what Adam understood to be a lunge. He braced and kept the cane end pointed toward her, praying it had the juice to stop her. So far, nothing else had. Not guns, not a squad of cops, not explosives…

  “DAMMIT, MAGGIE! LOOK AT BILLY!”

  He didn’t intend to, but Adam couldn’t help but glance up to the back of the theater where the boy had been holding off the other major danger of the evening. His eyes widened at the sight, and the blonde must have been reading his mind because she whirled to face the back as well.

  The spider had the boy down.

  Instead of joining the woman in her fight with them, the monster had attacked her fellow tribe member.

  It must have lunged off the wall at him, driving him back over the seats and pinning him across the tops of them. It hadn’t been gentle either, for the teen’s back and arm bent at an awkward angle that had a decidedly broken look to them. The great spider reared over the boy, its fangs raised to strike.

  Billy Clayton was about to die.

  “Molly, NO!” the blonde shrieked.

  The color drained from her face in an instant, and she sprinted back up the aisle. Olivia stepped into a row, keeping the lethal wand at the ready, to let her pass.

  “No, Molly! Get out of here! Now! Go back to the truck!”

  The creature froze, as if torn between following the order or finishing the attack. It hesitated a moment longer, then turned and fled. The spider leaped to the rear wall, then scuttled up its surface and back across the ceiling to the vent hole. All eyes tracked it until it disappeared into the black opening.

  Then Maggie literally vaulted seven rows of seats to reach the boy.

  “Billy! Talk to me! Did she bite you?! Oh God, I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

  “Maggie?” The boy’s plea reached Adam’s ears as he watched this new drama unfold in horrified fascination. The teen’s weak voice shook as if on the verge of tears. “Please, Maggie. I know you’re hurting, but please don’t go rogue on us too.”

  Maggie winced as if struck.

  “I won’t,” she cradled his head, “I promise, I won’t. Just hold on, Grandma Lilah is right here.”

  The old woman and her escort reached them, and Adam lost sight of the boy.

  Olivia silently moved down the aisle and came up beside him, her attention on the same scene. Her hand found his and he took it immediately. The tightness of her grip caught his attention and he looked over at her. She was pale and her eyes had a wideness uncharacteristic of her. Every inch of her slender frame almost vibrated with tension.

  Adam realized she must be running on pure adrenaline. All things considered, he marveled at her self control. It had been made plain she was an analyst and not normally a “field operative,” and only seconds ago she had crossed horns with an enemy almost too frightening to believe. Now she stood in a room with a bunch of people who would normally kill her at the drop of hat, simply because of who she was.

  And as that thought crossed his mind, he came to the conclusion he wanted her out of here.

  Right now.

  Everybody here could talk honor and “truce” all they wanted but there were bullet holes and blood on the floor bearing mute testimony to what that was worth. Antonio had been an idiot for leaving her here, and he had been an idiot for putting her in this situation.

  “Olivia,” he whispered, not knowing if there were even a point in a room full of telepaths, “I think we need to go now.

  “Not yet,” she whispered back. Her grip told him she was badly frightened, even if her face revealed nothing. But she still remained and studied the other group with laser intensity.

  “Olivia…”

  “Adam, this isn’t over yet. Leaving now would only make things worse. You’re going to have to trust me on this. We need to see how this ends. Besides, time is a factor here so it can’t be long.”

  Adam sighed and nodded. If Olivia said it needed to be done, then it almost certainly needed to be done. Such was his life nowadays. He wanted out of here in the worst way, but he still gave her hand a reassuring squeeze to let her know he would support whatever she did.

  As it turned out, he didn’t have long to wait.

  The two men moved to the aisle, and then waited as Maggie gently lifted the boy and brought him to them. The careful ease with which she carried him once again demonstrated her great strength. The men took his limp body and hustled out of the theater.

  That left the two Spider Tribe women standing together in the aisle. They stared at each other for a prolonged moment. Neither spoke, but then Adam grasped they were communicating on a whole different level…and apparently it wasn’t a friendly chat. Tension hung in the air between them.

  “I accept that judgment,” the blonde suddenly declared in a dead voice. Then her eyes narrowed. “But know this, it’s only because I see the truth in it. And I will deal with it the way I think appropriate.”

  The old woman snorted and shook her head. She glared back down the aisle toward Adam and Olivia as if this whole disaster had been their fault. Then she snorted again, turned, and hobbled out through the lobby door.

  That left them alone with the woman who only minutes earlier had been trying to kill them.

  Maggie watched the doors swing closed. Then the big girl turned and walked slowly back down the aisle. She entered the row Olivia had formerly inhabited, and picked up her pistol from the seat.

  Adam held his breath as the bloody woman stared at the gun in her hands. She cradled it as one would a priceless treasure. He could see her lips move as if she were speaking to it. Then she straightened and slipped the large pistol into the holster slung across her back.

  “Adam Sellars,” her flat voice carried across the the
ater as she returned to the aisle, “come here.”

  She stopped and stood waiting for him in the walkway.

  Taken aback, he looked over at Olivia, who stared at the blonde with narrow eyes.

  “You may bring your woman with you.”

  Olivia studied her for a second longer, then looked up at him and nodded. Adam realized they presented an easy target where they stood, so he could see no point in refusing. Whatever happened now, was going to happen. With this reality in mind, he set his jaw and started toward the waiting Amazon.

  At the same time, fatalism was only a so-so defense against fear and this woman frankly scared the shit out of him, so he approached her more slowly than he otherwise might have. She towered there in the aisle like a grim statue. It took an act of will to keep the death grip he had on Olivia’s hand at a level she wouldn’t find painful.

  But he did go, and he didn’t stop until he stood right in front of her. The two of them studied each other from a distance of about three feet.

  The side of her face was a bloody mask streaked by pale tracks that marked the path of tears. The black t-shirt on her right side was shredded as well, and blood ran down her pants. Yet she showed no sign any of her injuries bothered her in the least. But her eyes were what caught Adam’s attention the most. They were fully human again, but looked like they belonged in somebody far older.

  “I want you to know,” she spoke in a leaden voice, “you aren’t worth a single one of the people who have died over you. Not a single damn one. Not my father, not the cop at the pool, not any one of the people I killed trying to reach you at that hospital. Not one.”

  He felt Olivia tense beside him and squeezed her hand as a signal not to interrupt. This was not the place for an argument. Besides, this hardly came as a new sentiment to him. Hell, a small part of him still had the sick feeling she might be right.

  “But know this as well…” the empty-eyed woman continued as she reached behind her head and grasped her hair by the braid while her other brought up that huge knife. “It’s over. I’m done. I have shamed myself over you for the last time.”

  Adam stared in shock as she sawed the braid off only inches from her scalp.