Clickers

by J. F. Gonzalez

  “I feel tired,” Annette said. She looked it. The dark circles she had under her eyes had gotten bigger.

  “Try to rest as much as possible,” Glen said. “If you feel the need, pull up one of those blankets and lie down in the corner and try to get some sleep.”

  Annette nodded and said that maybe she would a little later.

  Glen joined Rick and Lee back in their informal little group. Rick looked at Glen. “What do you think?”

  “I think they’ve left,” Glen said. “And I think we should at least take a look outside to check the status.”

  “Okay.” Rick grabbed the metal bar that ran through the handle of the door frame in a makeshift lock and started to remove it.

  Janice stepped forward. “Rick, no.”

  Rick removed the bar. “Somebody’s got to check it out.” He turned to Janice and read the fear in her eyes. The others looked equally fearful, but a little relieved at the same time. He had jumped into the task without a vote taken that somebody should go out to check out the parking lot. He had done it without thinking, because he knew it had to be done, because he had to see. But most of all, he did it because he also knew there would have been a period of awkwardness after Glen’s proclamation that it sounded like the Dark Ones had left. People would have shuffled their feet and cast their gazes around, as if searching for a candidate, yet at the same time trying to be conspicuous and invisible. Because they wouldn’t want it to seem that they were trying to finger a candidate without asking. Plus, they wanted to be passed up by their peers and he was still a relative stranger.

  Rick placed the metal bar on the ground and grasped the door handle. Lee and Fred stepped forward, and now Melissa joined them. Glen nodded, his features showing no emotions. “Take it slow. Just go through the store slowly and if you hear, see, or smell anything out of the ordinary, run like hell back here.”

  Rick nodded, then turned back to the others one last time. Janice looked like she was showing the strain of the last two days; her face was worn, fatigued. She looked like she was going to break down and cry any minute. Rick leaned forward and kissed her. “I’ll be fine. You take care of Bobby.”

  Janice wiped the tears from her eyes, mustering a smile. “I must be stupid crying like this every time you have to go out and make sure it’s safe.”

  Annette came forward. “No, you’re not stupid, dear. We all feel this way.” She placed a comforting arm around Janice and looked at Rick. Her features were strong and honest. “God bless you for taking the risk for us,” she said. Then she smiled, as if reassuring herself that all would be well. “We’ll be right here,” she said, as if telling him and everybody else that they would be waiting for him when he came back.

  The fear began to build in Rick’s limbs as he turned to the door. Now he didn’t want to go out, but there was no other choice: they couldn’t stay locked in here forever.

  Glen opened the door and Rick slipped through, feeling the heavy steel door close softly behind him with a silent click of the lock. He heard the metal bar going back through the door handle. It sounded like his fate was being sealed.

  He was in the store.

  And he was alone.

  He stood at the door to the freezer for almost a full minute, letting his senses grow accustomed to the store’s surroundings; the cold atmosphere, the darkness, the smell of the sea and of something else, something slightly fishy. He almost took a step back but then he saw the smell for what it was. The meat aisle was littered in plastic wrap and white Styrofoam, strips of meat dotting the floor. He took a step out into the aisle; to his right were the meats, to his left was the seafood department. Both had been plundered. There was hardly anything left of either, and what was left hardly amounted to much. The scent of meat and fish hung in the air and now Rick knew where that smell was coming from.

  It was chilly in the store’s interior due to the power outage and the cold wind blowing from the broken windows and doors. Lack of fluorescent lighting made it appear darker than outside. The air was cold and wet, but clean and crisp smelling. A faint smell of mixed fruits came to him, wet and cloying, and he saw its source a moment later—a spilled aisle of fruit juices. The entire store would be smelling like a mixture of foods along with the cold wetness of the rain.

  Rick started moving slowly and quietly down the aisle toward the cash registers. He didn’t hear anything unusual. The only sound he heard was the steady fall of rain outside.

  He paused once before reaching the cash register just to catch his bearings and try to get a sense of his surroundings. He stood beside a rack of canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, letting his ears pick up all the sounds around him; the falling rain, the wind blowing and whistling around the corners of the building, the steady drip of water from rain blowing through the windows of the store. That was it. He didn’t hear or sense anything else. He didn’t catch the gooseflesh prickly feeling of another life form in the store with him, didn’t get the feeling that something was just a little more off-kilter. The place was deserted.

  He crept out of the canned goods aisle, flanking the registers. Past them were the large plate glass windows and the dual double doors that opened out into the parking lot. The sky showed through several panes of broken glass; it was dark, bruised clouds blotting the horizon. The rain was falling hard on the empty parking lot.

  He almost didn’t believe his eyes when he saw the Chevy Blazer pull up in front of the store.

  The vehicle parked in the closest parking slot; the only space between the Blazer and the store was the twenty feet of median strip. Rick moved forward slowly, cautiously, through the checkout stands and crept to the plate glass windows. The Blazer was red and from this distance he couldn’t tell who was in the vehicle but he thought he made out a woman in the driver’s seat. He was about to step outside to warn them of the possible danger when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye.

  It came from the immediate right, around the corner of the store. A huge, hulking green figure crept from the alley between the Lucky’s and the Barnes and Noble next door. It crouched there and watched them, right at the mouth of the alley and enough behind the Blazer to avoid detection. Rick froze. He was firmly convinced that the

  Dark Ones pretty much went on motion similar to snakes, and moving now might alert this one, if not others, to his location. So he stayed put, watching as the creature began creeping toward the Blazer followed by three smaller Dark Ones.

  Rick squinted, trying to get a glimpse of the occupants of the Blazer. He thought it was two women and two other people in the back, but he couldn’t be sure. They looked to be of African-American descent. Either way, he had to warn them, he had to do something—

  Scream! If their senses are like reptiles or amphibians they probably have limited hearing. Scream at the people in the Blazer. You’ve got to try something!

  The Dark One in the lead began creeping forward faster. It was now thirty yards from the Blazer and the women in the vehicle still didn’t see it. They were gathering purses and getting ready to clamber out.

  With no real plan of action in mind, Rick stepped through the broken pane and outside into the cold, stormy parking lot and began waving his arms and screaming.

  * * *

  Brenda had just gotten her door open and was halfway out when she saw the man with the long, dark hair come out of the grocery store waving his arms and yelling like somebody had stuck a pitchfork up his ass. “What the hell is wrong with him?” She asked aloud.

  “What’s that?” Gladys asked on the other side of the Blazer. She was climbing out, too, and suddenly everything seemed to slow down. Brenda slowly clambered out, her mind registering the man’s screams which were unintelligible, the wild waving of his arms. She looked at him dumbfoundedly, wondering what in the hell this crazy white boy would be screaming at, when movement came out of the corner of her eye so fast that the pain of the Trident slashing through her abdomen came after she saw it pass through her
body in a wet stream, her blood spurting out in a huge geyser followed by the red and purplish mass of her intestines. Then the pain came, the ringing in her ears, and she could barely hear Gladys screaming before she saw the large green thing open a maw of yellow jagged teeth and then she knew no more.

  * * *

  Rick continued screaming even after the small Dark One—which loped past the bigger one who’d led the attack—swung the Trident in a deadly arc that sliced through the woman’s midsection. Her face went ashen and she went limp as the creature swooped in and buried its maw over her face.

  The large Dark One reached the other woman who’d exited the passenger side door and before she even realized what was happening, the creature leaned forward, mouth opened wide, and bit her head off in a hearty crunch. The other Dark Ones moved toward the rear of the vehicle, and Rick saw now who the occupants in the backseat were: two pre-teenage boys screaming their heads off.

  Rick snapped out of his sudden fear. The commotion seemed to have awoken the Dark Ones out of whatever retreat they had taken within the last few hours. Rick could see them emerging from Main street, from around the north corner of the parking lot, from the alley where the first wave of Dark Ones had come from. They all converged on the Blazer and swooped in, wolves to the kill. Each victim now had two or three Dark Ones chowing down on them; some of the creatures resorted to a mad sort of tug-of-war. Rick could make out the first woman being the object of such a tug-of-war between two Dark Ones, one tugging at her legs, the other at her upper body before the strain finally gave way and she came apart in a sudden spray of blood and guts. There was a wet plop as she spilled onto the wet pavement. Rick turned and began running back the way he came, past the registers, down the canned goods aisle, and he could hear the sound of pursuit as footsteps pounded after him, footsteps that came with a heavy stride, their sound wet and strong, accompanied by a click as claws hit linoleum, and then Rick was at the frozen foods counter, then he was skidding around the corner, hitting the wall, rebounding back up, crashing into the steel metal door of the meat freezer, pounding on the door with his fist as the running footsteps grew louder, louder, the thumps as the creature made the turn, the sudden bang as it hit the wall and Rick felt his breath whoosh in and out of him, his hair standing on end, his body light with adrenaline, he felt and heard the lock give way as somebody disengaged it from inside, felt the door give way from under him as he propelled himself in the meat freezer as the door opened, dived inside as he sensed the creature rebound off the wall behind him and charge after him with such a force that the steel door was pounded back so hard that it knocked Fred, who had opened the door, on his back.

  Rick dived through the hanging slabs of beef, feeling the creature behind him pause briefly in its pursuit to assess its new surroundings. He felt the instant rise of alarm among the people in the meat locker, and he dived toward the rear of the freezer where he and Janice had made a stockpile of the weapons and ammunition. He pounced on it, yelling all the while at the top of his lungs: “Watch out! There’s more of them outside!”

  Glen moved toward the open freezer door and slammed it shut. Charley slid the metal pole through the door handle, locking it. Rick rummaged through the weapons, looking for the rocket launcher he and Janice had looted from the Sheriff’s station. Why the hell that thing was among the cache of weapons at the Sheriff’s station, Rick didn’t know, but he was glad it was there. Melissa, Annette, and Anne screamed and quivered in the corner. Rick wished he had time to reassure the women that they would be all right, but he didn’t have time for that, or for their hysterics. If he could only find that goddamn launcher—

  The Dark One moved from side to side, checking out its surroundings. It stood easily seven and a half feet tall—big by normal conventions, but small compared to some of the other specimens Rick had seen. The Dark One was greenish blue and appeared more reptilian than amphibious; it bore scales and a frilly ridge of skin that protruded along its backbone, starting from the top of its head and extending down to the base of its hips like an iguana. Its forearms were both large, human-like and reptilian in form and structure; it seemed to move and grasp things like a man, but Rick saw that its forearms could also be used to go down and crawl on all fours if need be. The toes of its front and rear claws were webbed. Maybe they were still evolving, Rick thought. Maybe they were still evolving and—

  The thing swept its eyes across the room, its mouth a grin full of razor sharp teeth. Very crocodilian. Then it tipped its head back and roared. Fred, who was slowly regaining his composure, jumped back at the sudden, ferocious sound of it. Charley moved back into the corner between the steel door and the wall. Annette screamed at her husband. “Charley! Oh Charleeyy!”

  The Dark One regarded them briefly and stepped forward.

  Now Janice was beside him, Bobby behind her, cowering in fear. Rick felt a need to sweep them both in his arms and protect them, but with no handy weapon around, his efforts would prove futile. If only the rocket launcher was where he’d left it…

  The Dark One roared again, fixing its sights on Melissa, Annette, Anne and Bobby, who was cowering with his mother next to Anne. The monster charged and Lee Shelby stepped in front of it, seeming to debate whether to join the fracas, then launched himself at the creature.

  The Dark One picked Lee off its chest. It grasped him in its sharp talons and lifted him in the air, holding him at eye level. Lee screamed, his legs kicking frantically. The Dark One seemed to smile through all those teeth, and then it leaned forward and with a quick motion it bit Lee’s head off in a clean bite.

  It lifted its head from Lee’s body. Blood fountained up from the neck stump like Old Faithful.

  The women screamed. The Dark One chewed as if it was dining on King Crab at a fine seafood restaurant. Outside, beyond the steel door, Rick could hear more of the Dark Ones converging upon the frozen meat locker, pounding on the walls, trying to find a way in. The Dark One dropped Lee’s headless body and advanced toward them. Its mouth was a bloody maw. Rick grabbed a rifle from the stock of weapons; surely an ineffectual weapon. He raised it and pulled the trigger.

  The heavy resounding shot reverberated through the air, the force of it knocking him back against the wall. Half of the Dark One’s head exploded in a spray of scales and mush. It tipped back on its hind legs, flailing its arms wildly; Rick could see its mouth through the blown away portion, could see the craniofacial system as the creature bellowed in rage and pain. He looked down at the rifle in amazement. Surely he hadn’t blown the creature away with this!

  Janice stepped forward, the smoking rocket launcher in her hands. She looked like a woman ready to go into war; her mouth was drawn in a hard line, her eyes were cold flints. She lowered the weapon, reached down for another rocket, inserted it, then raised the weapon over her shoulder, the stock against her cheek, and pulled the trigger. This time a chunk was taken out of the creature’s chest in a spray of bone and gristle. The shot knocked the creature on its back. The creature flopped to the ground and Glen and Charley darted out of its way so as not to be hit by its wild thrashings. It thrashed around for ten seconds then stopped, stiffening in death.

  For a moment there was silence inside the meat locker.

  With the exception of the wild pounding from outside the locker. Where the Dark Ones were now converging in their attempt to get inside.

  Janice collapsed against Rick, the rocket launcher falling to the ground. Rick held her and motioned to Glen, who skirted the headless body of Lee as he made his way over. Rick motioned toward the rocket launcher. “Take that and make sure nobody hurts themselves with it.”

  Glen picked up the smoking weapon and handed it to Fred, who took it and moved toward the door to assume sentry duty. Glen knelt down beside Janice, Rick and Bobby, concern showing on his face. “Are you all right, Janice?” he asked. “Do you feel okay?”

  Janice nodded, her features tired, strained. She looked like she was going to sob but she was so tired
that her body couldn’t muster up the energy. “I’m…I’m…” and then she did sob, falling into Glen’s arms with a loud bray. “I’m so tired, Glen. I’m so tired!”

  “I know,” Glen said, holding her as she sobbed against his chest. He looked at Rick over her sobbing form and mouthed the words how’s the boy? Rick made a circle with his thumb and forefinger. Glen nodded, soothing Janice as she cried, the strain of all she had gone through finally taking their toll.

  Rick led Bobby over to Annette and Barbara. “Can you take care of him for a minute, please?” he asked.

  “Most certainly,” Barbara said, transforming into a Mother Hen. She held her arms out to Bobby who went into them effortlessly. “You come here darling and have a rest with us. Your Mommy will be with you in just a minute.”

  Bobby’s features were blank. He looked up at Rick with solemn brown eyes. Rick smiled and winked. “That’s my boy,” Rick said. “I’ll be right back.”

  It was hard to say a thing like that when the sounds of the Dark Ones slamming themselves into the metal door could be heard above all else. Their roaring and gnashing came through sounding like effects from some B grade horror movie. Fred stood back, the rocket launcher loaded again, resting on his shoulder, ready to fire the instant the door burst open. Rick grabbed a semiautomatic rifle from the pile of weapons and loaded it. Others began to stock up, too; Melissa armed herself with the remaining semi-automatic rifle, while Annette picked up the another rifle and began to load it. Charley and Anne had reunited from their brief separation and were now standing in the corner, holding each other. Rick bent down and selected a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum from the two remaining handguns, and a box of shells. He got the cylinder open with no difficulty, and with fumbling fingers began to load it. He watched Melissa and Annette out of the corner of his eye as he loaded his weapons; both women seemed surprisingly adept at firearms and Rick felt embarrassed to even be in their presence. He was fumbling with his Smith & Wesson like a preschooler while they loaded and stocked their weapons with the accuracy of a professional.