The Loki Variation

by James Riley, Sabrina

  Hud went into the bathroom, closing the door. She waited for him, trying to think of anything else they should be looking for. When the bathroom door opened, he was carrying the emptied trash can, and he had filled it with almost everything in the medicine cabinet. When he walked up to her, she saw that he had also added a hairbrush and some hairspray. She imagined he didn’t know much about women, it was probably a nice gesture on his part to add those for her. She acted like she didn’t see them.

  “Ready?” She asked, picking up the laundry basket. Hud nodded and they headed back to the front door. They loaded the items and Hud went back in for the red plastic bin in the kitchen. Sasha waited in the truck, chewing at her nails and watching the door for Hud.

  When he didn’t come out after a few moments, she cranked the window down to see if she could hear anything. Nothing. She waited a few more minutes, and then picked up the shotgun again, getting out of the truck. She edged back towards the house, each step closer making her more nervous, she had a feeling something bad was happening. Although she didn’t trust Hud, she didn’t want to see him ripped to shreds by one of those people, and she needed him to help her and Nora.

  Inside the house, it was silent as a tomb. She went into the kitchen, the bin was still sitting on the counter where Hud had left it. She paused, confused. The house was small, she would have heard him by now if he had been in here. The back door was opened, the cracked sliding glass door pulled back. She quietly walked over it, and looked outside. The backyard was empty, but there was no fence, and she could see the yards of the next several homes. The next door neighbors had a storage shed along the back line of the yard, and its double doors were open. She heard someone moving inside it.

  She ran across the yards, and slowed when she was nearing the doors. When she was just a few steps away, Hud came bounding out, carrying another box. He saw her and startled, which startled her, and she let out a short scream.

  “Whoa!” He said, readjusting the box he had almost dropped. Metal clanked inside it, and he walked past Sasha. “What are you doing?”

  “You were taking a long time.”

  “You were coming to save me?” He looked back at her and smiled. She started walking after him, embarrassed and angry.

  “I want to get back to Nora.” She sounded like she was making up an excuse, but it was the truth. When they got back into the kitchen, Hud handed her the box from the shed then picked up the heavy bin he had filled earlier. Sasha balanced the shotgun across the top of her box, then picked up the box and carried it awkwardly to the front door.

  She had left the front door open, and when Hud got to it, he froze. Sasha was trying to keep the shotgun balanced on the box, and almost ran into him from behind. As she lifted her eyes to find out why he wasn’t moving, her blood went cold.

  There was a crowd of people around the truck, slinking lithely like animals around a fresh kill. They seemed to be looking for something, their hands feeling the still warm hood of the truck, running their fingers along the doors. A few were crouched in the yard, near the truck, and one raised his face, his nostrils flared, breathing in deeply. His head whipped around, and suddenly all of them were running at Hud and Sasha.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Hud was shouting. He had already dropped the plastic bin and was using both arms to slam the door. Sasha had been standing right behind him, now she turned to run, still holding the box. Hud yanked her to get her moving and she dropped the box, and the shot gun sitting on top of it. Fighting Hud’s grasp, she jerked free and ran back for her weapon. She was bent down, closing her fingers around it when the front door burst open again, forced in by the power of the mob pushing against it. She was almost within arm’s reach. She gasped and fell backwards, the weight of the shotgun throwing her off balance. She braced for the impact of the horde coming at her.

  Suddenly she was moving. She was brought to her feet, and stumbled for a moment as she was dragged backwards. Regaining her foothold, she turned around and was running again, and she saw Hud let go of her and shove her, giving her momentum.

  She was through the house in a heartbeat, Hud right on her heels as she flew through the busted back door. She hesitated outside not knowing which way to go, but Hud was already moving to the left, towards the yard next door. She was pushing her limits, running as fast as she could with the heavy shot gun in her hands, staying close to Hud as he darted into the broken back door of the next house.

  Dozens of legs were chasing them, a disharmony of snarls and shrieks to their backs. The house they entered was a two story home, Hud was climbing the stairs and Sasha was right behind him. The pack that was pursuing them had lost their gain, and Sasha was in the bedroom with Hud before they reached the top of the steps. She slammed the door, and she turned, anticipating Hud’s next move.

  He was facing the other direction, looking out of the lone window in the room. Sasha didn’t understand why he was so still when she could hear the horde approaching, then he was running. He jumped into the air, and his body smashed through the thin glass panes, his shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. She watched him descend until he was out of sight, then it was just her. The first of the pack had reached the door, it jolted with the blow it absorbed. She didn’t have time to think, she felt her legs moving her to the window, and she didn’t dare look as she jumped through it.

  Her stomach pitched as she fell, and she didn’t even try to land on her feet. The ground was harder than the grass made it look, and she exhaled sharply as she collided with it. The pain was so intense she didn’t think she could move, but she somehow jumped up and her legs were moving. She realized it was nothing but the adrenaline pumping through her veins that gave her the strength and speed to catch up with Hud, who was a few steps ahead of her. She felt very superhuman and very vulnerable at the same time.

  They rounded the corner to the front of the home, she could see the truck where they had left it a few doors down. She heard the pounding of feet behind her, they had broken through the door and leaped through the window to follow them.

  The truck was close, she saw Hud veer toward the driver side so she ran to the passenger side. Both doors were closed, but Sasha had her side open and was sliding inside, still clinging to her shotgun, closing it just as the front end of the vehicle was taken over by the ravenous human animals.

  Hud was turning the keys she had left in the ignition. The engine came to life, as one of them jumped onto the hood and punched the windshield. A crack shot across the entire width of the window, then Sasha heard an ear piercing bang, and the man fell backwards off the hood, glass shattering and falling into her lap. She realized the sound had come from the shotgun she was holding, she had shot the man in the face from just a few feet away.

  Hud had the truck in drive, and gunned the accelerator. The little SUV was bouncing violently over human bodies, Sasha could see them as they were run down, the look of fury never leaving their faces as they were dragged under the front bumper. She whirled around to look out the back window, and there were still half as many chasing the truck on foot. More were appearing around the sides of homes.

  Hud was driving down the street, slow enough to keep in sight of the ones chasing them, toward the cul de sac at the end. He sped up and turned so sharply in the circle that Sasha was momentarily pinned to the passenger door as he spun the truck back around. When it was facing the way they had come, he stopped. The horde was a hundred yards away, but gaining quickly.

  “Hud! Go!” Sasha heard herself yell hoarsely. He didn’t move. The crowd was closing the gap, faster than ordinary people could, and Sasha felt the panic welling in her stomach.

  “Hud!” She screamed, unable to contain her terror. She could see their faces, those black eyes intent on catching their prey. The seconds felt like hours, and then Hud was slamming the gas pedal to the floor, the tires squealing on the concrete. Sasha was seriously doubting the durability of the small truck, and Hud skirted around the outside of the cluster of savage people
, avoiding any head on damage. A few of the individuals fell victim to the tires, but the truck gained momentum, speeding back down the street towards where they had come from, leaving the pack behind them. Hud put enough distance in between them that there was nothing but road in the rear view mirror, and he screeched to a stop in front of the house they had entered.

  Throwing open the door, he made it to the maw where the house’s front door had been, and had picked up the red bin he had filled earlier before Sasha realized what he was doing. He pushed it between the front seats and into the back as he pulled the door shut, and they were moving again before the horde was even visible behind them.

  Sasha didn’t breathe again until she could see the chain link fence that surrounded the shelter where Nora and Derek were waiting.

  Chapter 14.

  Derek woke with a start, and although his eyes had adjusted somewhat to the darkness inside the shelter, he felt panic rising at his throat. Ripley was breathing quickly, trying to catch the scent of something she had heard. He moved for the nearest light he saw, a thin line that ran the height of the broken door, and opened it just enough to see through. The late day light pouring in helped to calm him until he realized what had gotten Ripley’s attention.

  A red SUV was tearing through the nearby parking lot, tires squealing on the concrete, veering toward the substation. He watched as it got closer, and he could see Hud and Sasha inside. He didn’t understand the need for such reckless speed, until he saw the crowd come around the corner of the building by the parking lot, not a quarter mile away. Derek put two and two together very quickly, and watched as Hud drove right past the gate in the chain link fence, trying to draw the attention of the horde away from the shelter.

  A sandy dust cloud rose behind the truck as it passed, and Derek’s eyes were on the mob following it. They moved extremely fast, bodies so low as they ran that they sometimes had to use their hands on the ground for stability. They were not in any kind of formation, the leaders seemed to switch at random, and Derek saw at least two of them fall and roll wildly, while the others leaped to dodge them. They did not help each other. They were unlike pack animals, each one determined to get the prey first, regardless of the rest of the pack.

  Derek shrank back into the shelter when they approached, hoping they would run past it. Most of them did, but a handful came to a sudden stop, twisting their bodies to change direction, and leaped onto the fence, completely aware of Derek although they could not see him. He stepped outside of the shelter, blocking Ripley from coming out and then pulling the door closed behind him. It may not stop these things if they got over the fence, but he wanted to put something between them and the sleeping Nora. Ripley began barking furiously.

  The first one made it to the top of the fence, climbing with an ease that astonished Derek. The fact that it was a woman, and a young one at that, didn’t seem as shocking to him. She tried to throw herself over the razor wire, and got stuck. It seemed to anger her more so than hurt her, she was screaming with fury as she tried to detangle it from around her body. She was an easy target, Derek knocked her off of the fence with a bullet. She hit the ground and instead of being still like a normal person would have undoubtedly been, she continued to try and get up, although it as apparent she was suffering from several broken bones and bleeding profusely from the gunshot wound.

  Others were tangled in the razor wire as well. Derek was not sure how many shots he had, and wanted to spare them for any of the monsters that got over the fence. He kept changing the target of his pistol, from one climber to the next, unsure of what shot to take. The razor wire was doing its job, and Derek was careful not to watch too closely at the effects it was having on the flesh of the people trying to climb over it. So far, none of them had been able to make it over, and Derek was moving toward the furthest edge of the little substation from them.

  He was across the electrical equipment, what he guessed were switches and transformers, when one of them broke free of the razor wire and fell to the ground. He pulled himself to his feet, to Derek’s horror. The man should not have been able to continue with the damage he had inflicted upon himself climbing over the sharp fence wires and falling at least ten feet to the ground. Derek had his arms up, holding the gun out in front of him, and the black-eyed man charged.

  He came right through the center of the substation, the shortest route from where he had landed to where Derek was standing. As soon as he leapt into the center of the row of drum shaped electrical devices, a large crack sounded, and Derek shut his eyes to protect them from the blinding white light that followed. When Derek opened his eyes again, the man was lying on the ground, smoke pouring from all over his body. Derek fought to keep from gagging as the scent of burning flesh creeped into his nostrils.

  The incredible noise and light seemed to stun the others on the fence for a moment. Most of them fell back to the ground, covering their eyes and shrieking. They seemed to have been struck blind momentarily, the ones still clinging to the fence were motionless, eyes pinched shut or head turned away. Derek was trying to glean some useful information from this surprising display of weakness on their part when he heard the engine of the SUV circling back around.

  It sped past the substation again, Derek’s head followed it until it was behind the control house that Nora was sleeping in, and turned his head again to watch the several dozen predatory humans chasing after it. The SUV came back into view, this time in reverse, and Hud apparently had the pedal to the floor. It came roaring backwards, and the crowd that had been on its tail was now trying to get out of the way. Most of them didn’t make it, the truck bounced over quite a few bodies, and only a few were left standing. Hud kept moving backwards, cutting the wheel so the back end of the SUV was now pointed at the fence where the stunned monsters were still standing directionless and he mowed most of them over as well. The truck came to a stop alongside the fence, the windshield was already busted out and Hud and Sasha both were finishing off the last of the attackers with their respective guns.

  When it was mostly silent, Sasha and Hud climbed out of the passenger side, opposite the fence. Sasha was running toward the gate, frantically trying to unwind the chain around the bars to get inside. Hud was reaching under truck, banging at something. Derek ran over to help Sasha get inside the fence, and was surprised to hear the truck start up again. Hud drove over the crawling, shrieking crowd again, most of them too damaged to stand, but still alive. When he was over the last few that were on the ground, he jumped out, used both hands to pile sand together behind the truck into a small mountain. Derek was confused, but Hud looked determined, and then he knelt down, flicking a lighter. Derek realized that Hud had punched a hole in the gas tank of the SUV, and was going to light the trail of gasoline on fire, burning everything he had just run over. The writhing monsters went up in flames instantly, and Derek shielded his face from the sudden blast of intense heat and searing stench.

  As he and Sasha watched from inside the fence, Hud ran back to the other side of the truck. Derek realized that the pile of sand had acted as a barrier, keeping the flames from following the gas trail back to the truck, giving Hud enough time to pull a large bin out of the backseat. Derek ran around the burning mass to help him, holding his breath. Hud threw a full laundry basket into Derek’s arms, and Derek also grabbed a trash can that was filled with more items, then turned back toward the gate. He saw that Sasha was no longer there, she had run into the shelter, probably checking on Nora.

  Derek carried his load around the gate, Hud was right behind him with the big plastic bin and a smaller box on top. Sasha ran back out towards them, Ripley following, and pulled the gate shut behind them. Derek reached the shelter, and the light from outside revealed that Nora was now sitting up, eyes wide and face pasty white.

  “It’s okay, Nora. You’re safe.” Derek said as he set the laundry basket down. He placed the bag on the ground next to the basket, just as Hud was entering, Sasha right behind him, pulling the door s
hut. The small room went dark.

  Derek flicked his lighter again, a small source of orange light illuminating his face. Sasha quickly went through Derek’s backpack, and pulled out the flashlight she had used at her parents’ house. The beam of light almost lit the entire room, everyone’s faces were visible in an eerie, unnatural glow.

  Hud pulled the lid off of the plastic bin, and Derek was almost overjoyed at the contents. Cans of food, water bottles, silverware, large decorative candles, and a myriad of other things that were not close enough to the top to see. Hud pulled out several of the candles, setting them on the edge of the instrument panel, lighting them.

  He reached into another cardboard box, Sasha recognized it as the one from the tool shed. He pulled out a hammer, and a clear box of nails, and began to reattach the hinges on the door.

  Sasha went to sit by Nora, checking her over again. The girl was just as nervous and fragile as she had seemed before, but the gash on her head seemed much smaller and less daunting now that it had developed a scab over it.

  “How do you feel?” Sasha asked the girl. Nora quietly put her hand up to the side of her head, obviously she felt enough pain to know something was there. Sasha pulled her hand down.

  “No, don’t touch it. It’s not too bad. I gave you medicine earlier, is your head hurting again?” Sasha asked. Nora nodded, and without answering, Sasha was digging through the backpack again.

  Derek needed to feel useful, so he started to look through the laundry basket. He pulled out several blankets, and piled them on the floor. He found the purple stuffed dog, and handed it to Nora, who grabbed it gratefully, just as Sasha was putting the painkillers in her mouth.

  Derek found the clothes, which were of no use at the moment, so he placed them back into the laundry basket and went to the plastic bin. He pulled out a few tea light candles, and several cans of food with the can opener and silverware. He replaced the bin’s lid, set the candles on top, lit them, and then proceeded to arrange the blankets into four pallets around the bin. When he was done, he sat on one of them and opened a can of ravioli. He seemed to be on autopilot, his mind wouldn’t let him think any deeper than to tell his hands what to do to open the can of food.