In Memoriam

by Matt James

  Pointing at Jack and Tara, the duo is ordered to head around to the front of the building. They do without a reply, hustling off to the north. I tap Andy on the shoulder and motion to a side door fifty feet to our right. She nods her head, and Jill and I cover the distance in seconds. There, we wait for her signal.

  With Jerry in tow, Andy and Cooper edge forward, closer to the truck’s entry point and the dust cloud obscuring the contents within it. I tried to get a look inside when we ran by but had no luck. It’s probably what she’s waiting for too.

  My radio squawks to life.

  “Contact!” Tara says. Her warning is followed by gunfire.

  Without a word, I watch Andy duck her head and barrel into the opening. Cooper and Jerry are close behind her. Jill and I follow suit, but not as gung-ho. I yank open the door but wait to see what happens to it first. When no one immediately responds to our arrival, I snap my head around the corner and take a look.

  It’s an enormous carpet storehouse, from what I can tell. Jill and I meet glances, and I give her a nod. She’s flat against the wall on the other side of the doorway. She nods back and lifts her gun higher in front of her chest.

  I go first and dart into the building. I immediately head left and stop just a few feet inside the door. Jill slips in beside me, and we both get down to one knee behind a massive roll of carpet and wait. It’ll act as an improvised shield, absorbing anything the shooters can throw at us.

  Unfortunately, the first thing I hear is the chatter and growls of the Unseen. They’re inside too. Not only are there two dangerous suspects within the structure, but there are multiple creatures as well. The skittering of claws on concrete sends a chill up my spine, so does the door slamming shut behind us.

  Dammit, dude, I think, looking up at the only light source in the building.

  Windows line the upper portion of the entire hangar-like structure, giving us a solid visual throughout. I can, more or less, see all the way across the space. I can't take it all in because there are a couple of rows of tall vertical stacks of carpet rolls that dot the warehouse grounds.

  Throw rugs, maybe?

  Unlike the roll of carpet to my left, which is still four-feet-tall even though it's on its side, the others are skinny and are stored upright. They kind of remind me of the ones you’d see at Target or Wal-Mart.

  The disturbance of the slamming door is answered by screeches. I get to my feet, lean into the tightly wrapped carpet, and roll over it. Sticking the landing, I try not to gag when I look down, right into the face of an “aged” cadaver. It’s plain to see that someone else foolheartedly rushed into the warehouse some time ago.

  Probably just trying to get out of the cold.

  Jill successfully hops the carpet and reacts the same way, in silent disgust. Her nose turns up, but she keeps her head down as a siren stalks into view. This is bad news.

  Even while squatting, I’m just tall enough to watch her investigate the origin of the sound. She sniffs the air and tilts her head side to side. Her face turns right toward me. I know she can’t see me, and I react as such, which is to say, with no physical reaction at all. Jill stays put too. The only thing I do, in fact, is slowly raise my gun.

  The siren steps toward us. She’s hunched, per the usual, and again, per the norm, has clawed fingers curled. She continues to sniff the air, snarling and baring her fangs, sounding like a big cat. It’s not quite a purr, nothing friendly at all. She sounds more like an interested lioness.

  Laying her filthy, blistered hands atop the roll of carpet, she leans forward, still slowly sniffing the air. I’m not sure if she can detect us within the mustiness of the warehouse. Plus, there’s a rotting body beneath our feet.

  Closer and closer she leans, her face locked into a grin because of her hideous, black teeth. She couldn’t stop smiling even if she tried. Now, only inches away from my gun barrel, she stops and looks right at me. I am her Alan Grant, and she’s my T. rex. I can literally feel her breath as she exhales.

  So, why don’t I simply pull the trigger and finish it here and now? Easy answer. I’m not sure how many other creatures are lurking in the shadows, gun-toting lunatics too. I’d like to end this predicament as quietly as possible. Jill goes a step further, already having switched out her Glock for her knife.

  With a steady hand and a sloth’s speed, she carefully brings her blade up to the siren’s neck. The weapon is only centimeters away from her flesh now. If she leans in any closer, she’ll, essentially, slit her own throat. All Jill will have to do is move the knife horizontally.

  A volley of automatic gunfire erupts somewhere further into the building. The siren turns her head slightly and exhales with one final snort before retreating to her side of the carpet roll. We watch as she ducks down and disappears back into the maze of carpets. I lower my Glock and let out a breath—then, shove Jill out of the way when the siren appears in the air above us.

  It seems that she didn’t go to investigate the origin of the gunshots, after all. Instead, she catches us by surprise and knocks my gun out of my hand as she descends. She also takes me off my feet too, colliding with me in a tangle of thrashing limbs.

  I’m defenseless.

  But I’m not alone.

  Jill pops up behind the siren and buries her blade into the creature’s back. It’s the same maneuver I used inside the candle shop earlier today. Wounded, the siren shrieks and turns to face the more dangerous threat, Jill.

  Still on my back, I kick the woman in the ass with both my feet and send her stumbling forward. Jill quickly reacts and plunges the blade into the siren’s gut. She leaves it there and promptly backs away. I back away too and get to one knee, looking for my sidearm.

  With our cover blown, and our presence announced, Jill draws her pistol and shoots the Unseen in the back of the head.

  The shot startles me, and I look up to see what has happened, just as I’m showered in the siren’s blood. Sighing, I stand and face Jill.

  “Oh, sorry,” she says, wiping liquid from my cheek.

  I know I should be more disgusted than I am, but I’m not. I’m too tired to care.

  “Eh,” I say, shrugging, “it’s not the first time I’ve had monster blood on my face today.”

  24

  The Unseen cry out. Thankfully, Jill and I aren’t the only ones making a lot of noise now. Gunfire comes to life all over the place. Some of it is directed at us normies, some not. By my count, there should be nine non-Unseen inside the massive storehouse, our group of seven, and Farrell and her companion.

  If that’s even who we’re chasing.

  It may be just more of her followers taking potshots at cops. Still, they’re better off on the run from us, not getting into it with us. We all have a more formidable enemy than each other right now.

  “What is this place?” I quietly ask. “Seems awfully big for a carpet warehouse.”

  “Don’t know,” Jill replies. “This is new. There were rumors of a big company moving here a few years ago. I think they got a great deal on land and taxes to move their distribution center here. It brought a lot of jobs to the area too.”

  “But Gatlinburg?”

  Jill shrugs, and we move on.

  I notice that the oversized rolls of carpet have created aisles. We’re currently heading left, west down “Aisle One.” I glance behind me and confirm that we entered at the halfway point of the building, to the south of it. Andy, Cooper, and Jerry went in through a hole near the southwest corner of the facility. That means Jack and Tara would’ve headed around to the eastern side where the front door is.

  A column of sunlight, the size of a, well, a truck, pours in just up ahead. It marks the spot where Andy’s trio rushed into battle.

  Bullets tear into the carpet beside us, forcing Jill and me to the ground. We don’t stop, though. We army crawl forward, make the turn against the back wall, and continue north in search of our friends. Gunfire from somewhere else in the building silences the people that were shoo
ting at us.

  “We’ve got you covered, Frank,” Cooper says through our comms. “Keep moving. Turn right at the break in the carpets.”

  I get up on my hands and knees and start moving much faster.

  “Copy that,” I reply, shuffling forward.

  “Frank, behind us.”

  I awkwardly look over my shoulder and see what Jill does. A small cluster of goblins just arrived through the hole in the wall. Like a dog discovering something new, they don’t enter right away, wary of what’s inside. One of the creatures leans in, sniffs, and then backs away. They’re nervous. They probably smell the siren’s blood, among other things.

  “Come on,” I say. “Before they grow a set.”

  We find the break in the carpets that Cooper mentioned and enter it with caution. You never know what could’ve shown up in the interim. From here, I can see all the way to the front wall. Reaching for my mic, I stop when I see a familiar redhead lean out from behind a carpet roll and wave us on.

  I start moving, but Jill doesn’t. I see that her eyes are focused on something behind us. With her in the way of my line of sight, I lift my head ever so slightly and almost lose it to a sniper round. The bullet goes low and impales itself into a dense roll of carpet and misses me by inches.

  But I know what she did by shielding me.

  I activate my radio. “Burners. Two of them.”

  “Awesome,” Cooper says.

  “Just wonderful,” Tara says from somewhere else.

  I can’t imagine that she and Jack have made it this far yet. Before entering the building, they were forced to circumvent the sizable distribution center. To top it off, they had to come through the front doors to the east, only if, Farrell didn't prevent access for them.

  Sounded like they may have made it this far already, I think. I’d imagine that Jack or Tara would’ve let us know if they were stuck outside.

  One of the burners heads east, back towards the side door. The other one follows our present path. Jill and I scoot around the end of the roll before he sees us. We quickly put our backs up against the roll, guns up. Now, we wait. If we engage the combustible creature at such a close proximity, it’ll be bad for our health. Like, worse than second-hand smoke kind of bad. I look around. The building’s contents are mostly polyester, but still highly flammable. Any spark will quickly spread like wildfire.

  And that’s precisely what happens.

  The bullets come from the same direction as before. Two impact the burner making his way to us. He erupts into a fireball and sends everyone within the blast radius scrambling for cover.

  Jill and I stand and dive over the next roll to the east. Next, we press our bodies up against where it and the floor meet. Then, we cover our heads as debris falls all around us. Luckily most of the debris is thrown deeper into the facility and our position is left mostly clear.

  Additional fires ignite near the core of the distribution center. Oh, and a wall falls on us…again. This one isn’t as bad as the one in Manhattan, though. Still, the metal siding collapses inward, weakened by the burner blast. After it comes crashing down, it creates a low ceiling for Jill and me to camp under.

  I’m kidding, I’m kidding… We scream as it fills with smoke and crumbles to pieces.

  “Back!” I shout, happy to feel Jill is already on the move. If not, I’d be kicking her in the face.

  We slip out from beneath this section of rubble and find the open, fresher air. We’re back in the main east-west aisle, but we can’t see the other side of the building anymore. There’s too much debris in the way.

  CRACK.

  I look up with squinty eyes. I shouldn’t be squinting right now, I’m indoors. The smoke isn’t that bad up here either. Uh, oh… Above me, the sun creeps through. Then, the ceiling starts to fall apart on top of us.

  “Oh, shit…”

  Jill is up and running before I am. Another round of gunfire is directed toward us as we flee away from Andy and the others’ positions. More of the roof caves in, chasing us further and further toward the northern end of the building.

  Jill and I push ourselves as hard as we can and dive under a metal workbench in the northwest corner. Everything comes down around us. We cram ourselves deeper beneath the stout table, pressing hard against the metal siding behind. Then, the siding rumbles and the joint between the western wall and the northern wall splits and spills us back into the cold, December air.

  We get to our feet and run away from the collapsing structure. Horrified, we watch the damage continue to have a domino effect.

  Huh?

  Weirdly, though, it stops at the halfway point. There are several thick support beams that run down the middle of the large space. Plus, like some prefabricated homes, even immense structures like this are built a half at a time. The half that was ruined is the only half to collapse, thank God. The incoming rush of cold air extinguishes a few of the fires, but not all of them. A couple smaller ones still rage on.

  Dusting ourselves off as we move, Jill and I keep our eyes peeled for danger. We’re currently out in the open and without cover. If Farrell and her companion open fire on us, it’ll be pure luck if we aren’t injured or killed. So, we stay low, and move as fast as we can, and head right back into the shitstorm.

  “Andy, you copy?” I ask, speaking softly into my mic. There’s no response. “Cooper, what about you and Jerry?”

  A pair of gunshots reverberate past us, making us leave our feet. We dive headfirst and slide on the snow-covered ground, right into the nearest section of metal siding. Together, we bang into it. When I make contact, I feel a wealth of heat wafting off the metal’s surface. The cold air mixed with the heat from the burner’s explosion has caused this section of wall to steam like crazy.

  All is quiet.

  Then, I hear something out of place. It honestly sounds like someone is laughing, cackling even. I’ve overheard the Unseen make a similar sound, but it ended up being nothing. They were actually just snarling at one another. I was in an alley, and it echoed, resembling that of a laugh.

  Jill’s left eyebrow raises. She’s confused by what she hears, just as I am.

  “Jack?” I ask on my radio. “Tara? Is anyone out th—”

  “Hello?” someone replies.

  I break out in a shiver. It’s not because of the weather either. I’ve heard that raspy voice once before. What’s worse is that the speaker is using one of either Jack or Tara’s radios.

  The gunshots.

  I close my eyes and shake my head. Two more of Andy’s people are dead. Casey Farrell just killed them.

  “Farrell?” I ask, needing confirmation.

  “Who’s this?” she replies. It’s definitely her. “I don’t know you.”

  Sitting on the ground just outside the smoldering warehouse, I lean around my cover and speak.

  “Who me? I’m nobody, just the guy who killed your people up the street a bit. The Conrads too.”

  She growls into the radio. “You… I’ll fucking kill you!”

  I laugh. “Many have tried. Bring it on, bitch.”

  I know, I know, antagonizing a murderer of Farrell’s degree isn’t the smartest thing. I’m hoping that in her deranged mental state, that she’ll do something dumb and give away her position. I watch and listen, Jill does too. We get to our knees and wait.

  From all around us, carnivorous cries rise up. The destruction of the distribution center has caught the attention of every Unseen in the area. The first of the creatures is spotted by Jill, coming up from behind us. She taps me on the back to get my attention and jabs her thumb over her shoulder.

  I turn and see them. Four goblins just crested a hill to the northwest, and another five or six are coming up the driveway to the south. Who knows what’s coming up behind Farrell and the front of the building to the east?

  Gotta find the others too.

  I mouth “Andy” to Jill and point to the area we last saw her and the guys. My wife nods, and, staying down, we cr
eep out of our cover. The Yukon is still where we left it, and that’s where I’m headed now. My eyes shift back and forth between it and the interior of the building, hoping to see movement from anyone, friend or foe.

  If anyone besides Farrell is alive, they’re doing the same thing we are and smartly staying out of sight. I hope that one member of our team, Andy, Cooper, or Jerry is closing in on Farrell. If we can trap her and force her into a firefight…

  Rushing for the rear of the Yukon, we make it without conflict and stand up straight. Taking a second, I try calling Andy and Cooper again while watching the Unseen close in on our location. I don’t care if Farrell hears me or not. It won’t change much since she doesn’t know where we are. All she knows is that we are alive. We don’t have long, whether we take the Unseen head-on, or we make a run for it and leave the others behind.

  Or maybe there’s something else we can do?

  Neither of the CPD officers reply. The only thing I hear is Farrell cackling back at me. She really did kill Jack and Tara, didn’t she?

  I keep my head low and duck back into the building, using whatever path I’m given—the one of least resistance. Jill and I zig to the right and then zag up-and-over a smoldering roll of carpet. The stench of burning synthetics, insulation included, is nauseating, to say the least.

  Probably being poisoned too.

  We’re already close to where Andy, Cooper, and Jerry were, but all that’s in front of us are large pieces of metal siding and roofing. They might be buried beneath it. Seeing a tunnel of sorts, I duck down into it and see an accessible crawlspace. I don’t wait. I scurry into it, feeling my eyes and lungs burning from the fumes.

  I look over my shoulder at Jill. “Stay here and keep watch.”

  25

  “Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs…”

  It’s one of my favorite quotes from Die Hard. I feel like John McClane right now, in fact. Honestly, I feel like a beat-to-shit Bruce Willis most days. Even now, I’m on my elbows and knees, slinking through a dirty and disgusting air duct-sized pathway.