Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

  Samuel saw those terrible teeth coming towards him. He tightened his grip on Chelsea’s hand then closed his eyes.

  Chapter Nineteen

  He ran his thumb along the sole of his boot, shuddering when he felt the huge craters that those things had bitten out of the rubber. Ethan wanted to cry, just thinking about how close that little brown terrier had come to changing him into a monster brought the tears flooding back.

  “How are you doing, Ethan?” asked Georgina. She laid her arms on his shoulders. “We’re okay for the moment, I think.”

  He nodded, wiping his face. Ethan continued to watch the empty street, not wanting to turn around. If he saw her lovely face creased up in anxious concern, he just knew he’d wouldn’t be able to stop weeping. “The DIY store is on the end of this road. I’m sure they’ll have some powerful lights.”

  They had done so well in avoiding the creature’s hunting for any remaining villagers. Only once had those things caught sight of them. Georgina had been trying to restart their knackered car when Ethan spun around and saw one of them scuttling over a roof. It had seen him and leaped from the roof onto the ground just a few feet from their car. Without pausing to warn the woman, he took the lamp out and shone the light straight in it’s face, grinning as its flesh boiled away.

  It seemed ironic that the local wildlife almost killed them. Georgina hadn’t been able to restart the car but it didn’t matter, the caverns were only a short distance away. They encountered no more of the things as they ran towards the carpark. They only slowed down and finally stopped at the sight of the thousands of small animals packed into the carpark, it was like a moving carpet of dark fur.

  Dozens of the animals had broke from the main pack and scurried towards them, they had run back with Ethan sweeping the beam of light behind him as they raced back into the village.

  “They’ll have some batteries at least,” said Ethan. Thanks to those bloody animals, the battery for his light was completely flat. If any of those creatures did spot them, Ethan didn’t know what he’d do.

  “Okay, I think we’re safe, Ethan.” She got to her feet and leaned over the low brick wall that bordered the post office and a charity shop. She grabbed his hand and lifted him up. “Come on, Ethan, we need to get in that shop as soon as we can.” Georgina pointed at his lamp. “We’re helpless right now. Are you ready?”

  He nodded and followed her across the street, feeling so exposed.

  “How far now?” she whispered.

  Ethan took her hand, feeling as if it was the right thing to do. “Come on, we’re nearly there.” He pulled the woman around the side of a telephone box and looked across the road, to a row of cottages, he saw no movement, although Ethan did notice somebody had left their patio door open.

  “The store is over there,” he whispered. Ethan raced across the road, expecting one of those creatures to jump up from behind a garden wall at any second. He reached the front of the store and stopped dead. “Oh fuck,” he said, looking at the shattered window. “We can’t go in there now, it must be crawling with those things.”

  Georgina shook her head then pushed her head into the shop’s interior. “I can’t see anyone,” she whispered, pulling her head back out. “I just think it will have been people like us, hunting for supplies.” She ducked into the shop, keeping hold of his hand then pulled Ethan inside.

  He pulled the woman to the side and ducked down behind a freestanding display of emulsion paint. “I can see torch light,” he hissed. Ethan’s heart almost stopped when the woman jumped up.

  “Hello?” she shouted, “Is there anyone there?”

  “Who’s that?” answered a young man’s voice.

  That sounded like Dan Wilson. Fuck, trust that mouthy little shit to survive. He slowly stood up and followed Georgina towards the torch beams, wondering who else was with him.

  “Hey there, Ethan,” said Dan, walking towards him. The lad flung his arms around him. “I should have known the bastards wouldn’t have caught you. Heard about you and Samuel, dude.” Dan giggled. “Man, your bollocks must be full of concrete.”

  “Either that or you really are fucking mental.”

  Ethan turned to see Colin Grave grinning at him.

  “It’s good to see you, man,” Colin said. “Hell, we thought that we were the only ones left. It’s good to see the both of you.”

  Ethan felt an atmosphere of curiosity as the others gazed at Georgina. He felt her hand instinctively reach for his. Her friendship helped to dispel those awkward feelings when he saw Alison gazing at the pair of them. “Hi Alison,” he said. “I’m glad to see that you’re okay.” He wondered if he ought to tell the girl that he took care of her father.

  “Guys,” Dan said. “Do you two have a plan?”

  Ethan shrugged. “Apart from not to get eaten? To be honest, we don’t know what to do, anymore.”

  Dan nodded. “Well, you’ve done well on the first bit.”

  Ethan jumped back and raised his rifle when he saw a figure running out of the shadows.

  “Relax, man. It’s just my dad.”

  “We need to move,” hissed the man, grabbing hold of Dan’s shoulders. He quickly nodded at Ethan. “Come on, son, I think the bastards have followed us.”

  Ethan heard the sound of something at the back of the shop crashing onto the floor. Georgina grabbed his arm. He turned and saw several figures climbing through the broken front window.

  “We’re so fucked!” moaned Colin.

  He lifted his rifle and fired into the crowd, grunting with satisfaction as one of the things dropped to the ground. Ethan fired again and cursed when the rifle failed to fire. Two of the things giggled and ran towards Georgina. He jumped forward, spun the rifle and smacked the nearest one in the side of the head.

  The remaining one screeched and dived at Georgina. She snatched a screwdriver from the counter beside her and slammed it into the woman’s face. Ethan saw even more of them entering the shop and pulled Georgina away, they raced along the aisles, following the others.

  Ethan grabbed Georgina back as one of them dropped down in front of them and landed on Colin’s head. He raised his rifle but Dan had already pulled the thing off his friend. Dan’s father slammed the creature’s head into the corner of the shelf.

  “Leave him!” screamed his dad, when Dan ran over to Colin. “He’s one of them now” The man grabbed his son and threw the lad towards Alison.

  Ethan gripped Alison’s hand tight and jumped over Colin’s twitching body, while keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling, just hoping that no more of those things were hiding up there.

  Dan frantically looked at his dad. “They’ve covered both exits.”

  Ethan pushed Georgina towards the others then threw his gun at Dan. “Keep her safe,” he shouted. “I’ll be just a minute.” He tuned out Georgina’s crying, skirted around Colin’s body and ran back into the shop. Most of the other creatures had already left the shop. He had no idea why, Ethan was just thankful that they had. Two remaining ones snarled at him as he accidentally booted a mop bucket. “Fuck you!” he snarled, picking up the bucket and throwing it in their direction.

  He saw what he wanted and leaped over the glass counter. Ethan reached up and snatched a pack of batteries. Fumbling with the plastic cover, he ripped the two batteries out and pushed them into his lamp. They fell onto him before he had time to switch it on.

  Ethan saw their jagged teeth reaching for his face, He struggled, trying to kick them off, it was no use, the bastards had him pinned to the floor. The one sitting on his chest giggled.

  “Goodbye, you chicken stealing bastard,” snarled Mavis Corvin.

  The other one was sitting on his legs, thought this was hilarious. “We’re allowed to eat you,” he said, giggling.

  His laughter abruptly ceased. Mavis snapped her head back. The crushing weight on his legs vanished. Ethan bucked and wiggled, he couldn’t shift the changed woman off his chest but it did give his fingers enough freedom for
him to reach his torch. Ethan turned it on and shone the beam straight into the woman’s face, feeling so gratified as the flesh on the woman’s face just bubbled and dripped onto the floor.

  “My mum said your jam tasted like fucking sugary vomit!” He looked up to see Dan pulling a garden fork out of the other one’s head. “Thanks for coming back, buddy.” Ethan helped himself to a couple more packets of batteries and picked up another lamp similar to his own.

  “You really are a weird kid,” he muttered.

  Dan helped him over the counter and they ran through the shop. He saw moving shadows everywhere but none of the creatures dared show their face, they weren’t idiots. Ethan saw the others standing on the first step that led upstairs. He gave the extra lamp and batteries to Dan’s father.

  “You took a stupid risk there, son.”

  Ethan shrugged. “No I don’t believe that I did, Mr Wilson. We have about five hours of darkness left. At least with the lamps we’ll stand some chance of making it through to see the dawn.”

  Georgina pulled him towards her. “Well I think you took a stupid risk,” she sobbed. “Don’t you ever do that again.”

  Dan backed into them, “Dad, get the lamps sorted. We’re not safe just yet.”

  Ethan gasped as he saw dozens of the things climbing through the shop window, they didn’t move once they entered the shop. Dan’s father shut the battery cover shut and turned on the torch.

  “Get up the stairs,” he hissed. “If they are all here, we should be able to get out the back. Ethan, they know you have a torch, they won’t go near you, protect the others. I’ll hold them off.”

  “No fucking way, dad, I ain’t letting you be the hero.”

  “I’m not that daft, son,” he replied. “They won’t come any further into the shop, not with me holding this.”

  Ethan saw Dan’s whole demeanour change when another creature climbed into the shop and pushed past the other.

  “Oh fucking no, oh please,” moaned Dan. “Not her.”

  Ethan stepped back, watching Dan’s older sister slowly approach them, he so felt for the lad and his dad, he didn’t want to think what must be going through their minds right now.

  “Stay where you are, Chelsea!” shouted her dad. “I’m not kidding about, I really will burn you.”

  The girl laughed. “Oh, well fuck me, it’s just like one big family reunion, apart from mummy of course. Good work with that one, dad. I never thought you’d have the guts to murder your own wife.” The woman started to clap. “Now, here’s the deal. The ones who are local, if you come over here right now, I’ll just give you a little nip and your pain will be all over and done with.”

  Dan’s father turned on the lamp. “I think you know my answer.” He stood up. “No more warnings.”

  The girl giggled, “Take your best shot,” she said opening out her arms and walking towards him.

  The man sobbed and shone the beam of light straight into her face. Chelsea just laughed before racing over to him.

  “I’m one of the chosen,” she said, knocking the lamp out of his arms. She pulled his face close to her, opened her mouth and bit into his cheeks, ripping off a chunk of flesh. Chelsea dragged the shrieking man towards the others.

  Dan ran forward, he snatched up the lamp and ran over to the howling creatures. He swung the light across their bodies, howling in grief while the smoking creatures tried to escape through the window. Dan picked up a metal broom handle and ran at Chelsea. She snarled at her brother and ripped the handle out of his hands before following the others out of the window.

  Ethan and the others hurried over to the sobbing boy.

  Alison dropped to her knees and wrapped her hands around his waist. “Oh god, I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

  Dan looked at them. “I know how to stop this.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Nearly everyone he had ever known was down there, with the exception of his parents. Dan forced the tears back, he couldn’t allow the grief to smother him. He needed to keep his wits sharp, before he lost them forever.

  They shuffled in single file, along the middle of the road, towards the direction of the caverns. Their wretched expressions filled his heart with despair. These poor creatures all knew what was to become of them, they truly were damned.

  Eight other villagers flanked the long line, only arrogance and hate filled their expressions. Like guards escorting prisoners, they ensured that the line kept its shape and weren’t slow at dispensing punishment to anyone who slowed down. Dan ducked as Samuel passed their hiding place; his spotted his sister directly opposite the big man on the other side of the line. Dan had noticed that they both carried matching cricket bats, that was so sweet.

  Dan wanted to throw up. They had a good reason to be smug, these bastards were the chosen breeding pairs.

  “I can take Samuel out,” said Ethan. “It’s an easy shot and can guarantee that the bastard wouldn’t get up this time.”

  Dan pushed the barrel to the side. “Use your head man. What would be the point of that? They’d all run over here and fucking eat us.”

  The front of the line disappeared into the cavern’s carpark. Dan heard the sound of a single loud sob. Icy fingers caressed his spine when that pitiful moan abruptly stopped. He knew that voice it belonged to Steven Corvin. Like Dan, that man had lost his family too. The memory of that turned boy from a millennia ago slipped to the front of Dan’s mind. He wondered if Steven’s sudden cry had just pushed him to the front of that monster’s menu.

  “That’s it then,” whispered the archaeologist. “They’ll all disappear into the caverns and that’ll be it, we’ll never hear from them again.”

  He attempted to shake off the paralysing dread, smothering his bones, and pushed away all the mental excuses for not following this through. Dan picked up his dad’s lamp and crouched in front of Alison.

  “Please, Dan,” she moaned. “Don’t do this, there must be another way. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “There is no other way, sweetheart,” he replied. “We all know that.” Dan brushed his lips against hers. “I so love you, baby.”

  Dan stood up. “Guys, no matter what happens to me, come daybreak, this will all be over. At least you’ll be safe.” He turned around and raced towards the Dog and Duck, this time he did allow the tears to flow.

  He ran past the village pub and stopped, glancing behind him, making sure that none of the others had been stupid enough to follow him. After wiping his face, he sat on a low brick wall and opened Ethan’s rucksack. Dan took out the knife and the spare lamp then tucked the bag behind the wall.

  From his vantage point, Dan could see the last of the villagers entering the carpark. He stood up, took a deep breath and ran after them. None of the fucked up animals that Ethan warned him about were visible, he shivered at the thought of a pack of changed tabby cats dropping out of the trees and ripping him to small pieces. He stopped at the main entrance; even from here, Dan could hear them moaning and crying in the chamber.

  He saw no sign of his sister or the other ones that the monster had spared. That worried him a little; would they be guarding the chamber? Dad gripped the handle of his knife, that made no sense, guarding them from what, him and his fucking vegetable peeler?

  Dan quietly entered the building, sure that the chosen ones wouldn’t have followed the turned villagers. It still worried him that he hadn’t seen any of them leave. He ran over to a vending machine in the corner and peered around the side, looking into the gift shop. It seemed like years since he last sat on that stool behind the till, bored out of his mind.

  He saw nobody else in the foyer. Dan turned on the lamp and hurried over to the gate, wondering if he had the guts to kill his own sister, if the girl was still here. He stopped outside the chamber, listening to them all quietly weeping. Dan closed his eyes for just a moment, knowing that there was still time to leave. He knew the light had no effect on the chosen ones, there was a good chance that it might not fuck
up the main monster either.

  “Fuck it,” he muttered. Dan opened his eyes and ran into the chamber. The changed screeched in agony as the white light scorched them as he played the beam along the floor. He didn’t want to kill any more of them but he had no other choice when three turned villagers, standing by the hidden entrance leapt for Dan. He lifted the lamp and swept the light across their heads. As the bubbling headless bodies dropped to the floor, Dan spun around and found that all of the others had pressed their bodies up against the wall at the back of the chamber. He heard the occasional snarl but most of them just glared at him while sobbing.

  “I don’t want to kill anymore of you,” he said. “But, I swear to god, if any of you fuckers do move from that wall, I’ll melt every single one of you bastards.” Dan raced over to the hidden chamber and pressed his hands against the stone, feeling the disguised door shift. His heartbeat accelerated when Dan saw the table in the middle of the room, covered in a clean white sheet. He set the beam to high intensity and slowly walked up to the table. He gritted his teeth, grabbed the corner of the sheet and whipped it off, shining the light down.

  The grinning face of Samuel Lane stared back at him. The man abruptly sat up and knocked the lamp out of Dan’s trembling hand.

  “Oh man! I so wish you could see the look on your face!” he said, laughing. “You see, we just knew you’d pull a stunt like this, now my dad wanted to take you out as soon as you entered the cavern.” He jumped off the slab, picked up the lamp and smashed it against the wall.

  Dan held the knife out in front of him and back away.

  “Oh yeah, cos that’s got me all fucking scared, you daft little turd.”

  “Where is he?” screamed Dan. Oh, fuck, he couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. He knew where the monster was right now, that bastard would be back in the middle of Colbeck, hunting down his friends.

  “Thing is, Dan, I don’t think our master is too keen on going back to sleep, not yet anyway. I told him lots of things about what’s happened since he last slept. Proper upset him, it did.” Samuel reached behind him and pulled out a short thick bladed sword. “This, you fuckhead, is a proper blade. Anyway, he’s fucked off and as soon as I’ve fucked you up, I’m gonna join him.” Samuel roared and charged Dan.