by Ian Woodhead
She directed them to a table by the window. “I know you’re brimming with questions, and you’re desperate to find your friends.” She held up her hand when Jefferson opened his mouth. “Don’t worry, cutie. Janine’s already filled me in on the valid points.” She sat down opposite Jefferson. “She told me that you two weren’t affected.”
“What do you mean?” Jefferson asked.
“She means your sci-fi gas, you idiot.” David grinned. “That’s what you mean, it is, isn’t it?”
Jefferson tried not to smile when this new woman gave David that look, the one Sandy always saved especially for his annoying friend. “No, I came in from outside. He was doing what he always does when our boss leaves the shop, he skived in the toilets.” He looked out of the window and saw the bigger dinosaurs had left the carcass to the smaller ones now. How many of the mall’s shoppers had fallen to those bastards? It must have been absolute pandemonium up here, if this was where everybody had come to. His mind showed him hundreds of panicking people running in all directions while those things leaped on their backs, or knocked them down, before ripping into their soft bodies.
He took his eyes off the mixed collection of little dinosaurs fighting over what was left of that body and scanned what he could see of the concourse floor. There were a few bloodied footprints on the tiles, but they belonged to the dinosaurs. Even if they had eaten everything including the bones, there should still have been some evidence left behind. He doubted they would have eaten the shoes, mobile phones, pushchairs, and backpacks.
The thought of that miserable janitor wheeling his squeaky trolley down the concourse sprang to mind, picking up bits of chewed-up meat, ripped clothing, and dumping them in his trolley before he mopped up all the blood. It was such a ridiculous idea, and yet, he could still picture that weirdo doing just that. His name was Desmond; he was sure of it.
Jefferson jumped when Janine sat down beside him, and her fingers slipped into his.
“We were like obedient little sheep,” muttered Lindsey. “I must have been one of the first ones to succumb to it. One minute, I was serving that couple over there, Kevin and Margaret, the next, I was walking straight out of my shop with those two behind me. There must have been well over a hundred people standing in between the shops, all still and every one of them with a strange smile plastered across their face. I guess I must have looked the same as them too. What I found more frightening than anything was the silence. All I heard was the jolly tunes playing over the tannoy system. I was screaming, Jefferson. Shrieking until I was blue in the face, and yet just like the others in that crowd, I never made a sound.” She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to continue. The memories are too bitter.” She looked over to the mad couple. “Those two weren’t so off-kilter when they first came into my shop. This whatever it was has screwed up their minds. I guess that if we do get out of here in one piece, that couple will be in therapy for a long time.”
Janine squeezed his hand. “That’s a little what I felt like, I guess. Only a lot milder.” She gazed at Jefferson. “You could say I was under the influence when my knight saved me from the dragon.”
David made vomiting sounds.
Lindsey leaned over the table and tapped on the glass. “The ones who did this to us are all congregated close to Martin’s.” She looked at Jefferson. “That’s where the rest of them are. I guess it’s where you’ll find your friends as well.”
“Who are they?” asked David. “Come on, don’t keep us in the dark. What do they want with us?” He turned to Jefferson. “A tenner says they’re aliens.”
“Will you shut your gob for a second?” He guessed that they were directly above Sandy’s Beauty Parlour, and as the level followed the plan of the ground floor, they would need to get past the shopping centre’s cinema to see the other end of the mall. He saw no movement outside now, even the little dinosaurs had moved away. Still, it didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be anything waiting for them as soon as they left the relative safety of this restaurant. “I’m sorry about him, Lindsey, he’s a constant embarrassment. Are you staying here?”
She shook her head. “No, we only stopped here because we saw that big dead thing’s head poking out of the Happy Mex. That’s when your lot showed up. We’re going to try and get onto the roof.” She pulled out her mobile phone. “Once we’re outside, I’m hoping that my life support machine will start working again. To be honest, I can’t think of any other way out of here. We’ve already tried a couple of fire doors, and Janine has already told me about what it’s like downstairs.”
“There’s still the furniture shop exit I told you about, remember,” said Janine. “I bet we’ll be able to get out that way.”
Jefferson heard the words but didn’t want to believe them. She said we. Janine was going with them, leaving him to find Sandy and Alan alone. He bet David would leave him as well.
Janine reached down and pulled out her sword. She carefully placed it on the table. “Maybe you should let your big friend play with this. It’ll be more effective than his table leg. I’m not cut out to be a ninja warrior.” She rested her other hand over the back of Lindsey’s other hand. “Go towards the furniture shop. I don’t think you’ll get out the roof way. Whoever did this will have thought of that already. Besides, it’s going to be locked and bolted. We’ll join you outside.”
Lindsey stood. “Just be careful, all of you.”
“Wait on!” said David. “You still haven’t told us who’s done this. Come on, lady. I have money riding on this!”
The woman calmly picked up the sword. She gestured the others over and explained the change of plans. Kevin’s didn’t seem that happy about this new development, but he soon changed his expression when Lindsey handed him the sword. She waited for the other five people in the restaurant to leave before she finally turned around. The woman walked straight up to David and pinned the boy against the wall. “There is a good person inside of you, David. I know there is, but it is hidden underneath all those layers of antagonistic bullshit that you use to protect and comfort your inner core. I should take your whiny arse with me and get Kevin to keep an eye on you, but I suspect he’ll end up cutting off your head.”
Jefferson tried to intervene, only for Janine to pull him back.
“There’s a good chance that you will be responsible for the death of your friends, as well as yourself, purely because of how you act. I know there isn’t a chance in hell of you coming to terms with what’s happened in the shopping mall, because those protective layers won’t allow it. The only reason why I’m letting you go with them is because I firmly believe you are a lucky person. It’s the only reason why Lady Karma made you hide away. I think there’s only you left in here who hasn’t gone through that living nightmare of being aware but having no control over their body. It will give you an edge. You’re the back-up plan if Jefferson doesn’t make it.”
She turned around a looked straight at Janine. “The ones who did this to us are terrible creatures. I have never seen anything like the before, but my own psyche tells me that they’re not from another world or demons from the realm beyond this one. They are evil incarnate, though, and do not place any value upon our lives, except perhaps for the amusement they receive from our suffering.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, Janine. My mind and my spirit is still in a great deal of pain from what they did to us. I’m just thankful that the controlling force suddenly vanished. Right now, I know I need to get these people out of here. It’s my calling. Now listen to me, Janine. You alone will be helpless against them. The effect might be lifted but its vile taint still lingers. You need to remember that.”
Lindsey stepped away from the boy, turned, and hugged Janine tightly. “Take care, you.” She smiled at Jefferson. “That goes for you as well. Bring them all back down here, Jefferson. You are a good man, one who’s true to his friends.” She then winked at Janine. “If my friend hadn’t already snagged your heart, I might have been tempted to try and seduc
e you myself.”
“Just go, Lindsey,” said Janine.
“Neither of you have to come with me,” said Jefferson once the woman had left the restaurant. “I will understand, you know.” He looked over at Janine. “You heard what she said, you won’t be able to hurt the bastards who did this to us.”
Janine wrapped her arms around his waist. “We won’t know until we try, will we? Anyway, I’m not leaving you. I thought we’d already established that?”
“As much as I’d love to keep the company of the cave troll, I think that I’m going to take my chances with you. Besides, you heard what Mystic Mary said, Jeffdude.” David grinned while he slapped a laminated menu on the table and tried to cut it in half with his sword. “I’m your lucky charm. Anyway, if I don’t find out who’s responsible for all of this mess, I’m going to go bleeding mental.”
Chapter Eleven
Somewhere behind the warm wall, the constant thudding of hidden machinery kept her focused on the task at hand. It also reminded her, that despite everything that she’s endured since this nightmare began, she still lived. No matter what, Sandy intended to stay that way as well.
She moaned in disgust, as the two fingers she’d pushed into one of the numerous holes in the wall encountered what felt like thick cold jelly. No matter the impulse, she kept them in the hole, feeling through the jelly stuff, trying to find some kind of lever or button that would make the plastic curtains pull apart. She saw the dirty-minded janitor do it on that other door outside her room. So, there was no reason why she couldn’t get it to work in here for her too.
Had that dirty freak managed to find a way out of here? If he had, then Sandy sure hoped that one of the lizardmen who’d completely fucked up her day had found him and slaughtered the bastard. She groaned again when the tips of her fingers found what felt like a match head. She placed her index finger on top of it, said a short prayer, and pushed down. She resisted the urge to leap up and dance when the grey curtains folded back.
She pulled her fingers out of the hole and ran through the opening before it could close. She’d done it! Sandy had got herself out of there. She wiped the gunk off her fingers and turned around, trying to figure out where to go now. There were three more curtains, each one heading off in different directions. She thought the janitor had gone through the one the lizardmen had brought her through, but she wasn’t totally sure. Back then, Sandy was too busy trying to get her limbs to listen to her commands to pay too much attention to the interior of this hellish place.
It had to be that door. That janitor was bound to know the route back; after all, he’d only been inside her room for a matter of minutes. He couldn’t have forgotten the way back in that time. She crouched beside the doorframe and ran her fingers down the surface, until one area felt softer than the rest. “What’s wrong with a door handle?” she growled, pushing her two fingers deep inside the jelly-filled cavity. This time, it only took her a couple of seconds for her fingers to locate the device that slid the curtains apart. Sandy pushed down then stood while they opened. Beyond was yet another corridor, which looked exactly like the one she was leaving. The one difference was it only had two ways out.
Sandy jumped through the opening just before the curtains slid back. She tilted her head and gazed around where she’d found herself, vaguely wondering why such a technologically advanced race of beings didn’t bother with any signs written in English and pointing to the way out. This place seriously gave her the creeps. Everything looked like it was made out of melted plastic.
If this corridor did reflect the one that she had just left, then the curtain directly in front of her must take Sandy a little closer to the final exit. It also meant that the curtain to her side might lead into a room very similar to the one she escaped from. It was so tempting to try and get out of this vile place as soon as possible, but Sandy knew that she wasn’t the only captive that the lizardmen brought on board. She couldn’t leave without at least making sure.
Sandy headed over to the curtain by her side. Now that she was used to how these things worked, she saw exactly where to push in her fingers, but she paused. Sandy knew the lizardmen didn’t just store humans in here. While those bastards operated her like a radio-controlled toy, she saw more of the dinosaur things that had rampaged through the mall. Only these dinos were bigger, a lot bigger. What if she opened one of those by mistake? “Then I won’t live long enough to care,” she said. Sandy placed both her hands flat against the wall. When she passed through here the first time, there were windows along here. From the corner of her eyes, Sandy saw the big dinos pacing their cages; at least, she saw their terrible claws and their vast red and blue-skinned scales.
She dragged her fingers down the edges of the walls, feeling for any kind of depression, while wondering why all the movie dinosaurs were always a crappy brown colour, very similar to these walls. “David would have known.” God, she so hoped her mates were all right. Even David. Oh sure, the lad was a total pain in the neck. He had this really annoying habit of trying to look down her top, but he wasn’t a bad lad, just a bit weird. Come to think of it, David wouldn’t have a clue as to why these dinosaurs were all cartoon coloured either, although he’d pretend he did know. David was good at pretending he knew everything. Hell, the goon would even pretend to know how to get this sodding window open.
After threatening to headbutt the wall, as well as calling it every swear word she could think of, her left forefinger slipped into that familiar but totally disgusting jelly substance. Banishing the thought that the jelly might be toxic to humans, Sandy fiddled about in the cavity until her finger located the catch. She silently counted to three before pushing it in. The brown wall faded away to show Sandy a room exactly like the one she’d escaped from. There were no ugly-looking dinosaurs in this one, just another slab containing a sleeping human. “Oh, thank the Lord!” she gasped when the man inside the room managed to raise his head just enough for her to recognise Alan.
She ran over to the doorway and screamed in frustration when she couldn’t find the depression. “Don’t worry, Alan. I’ll get you out of there!” Sandy’s heart then went into meltdown when her ears detected the sounds of another door close by opening. “Shit, don’t need this right now.” Her fingers finally found the depression. Within seconds, Sandy had the curtains open and was inside the room. She dropped and hid under the window. “Alan, put your head back down!” she hissed.
She heard the distinctive sound of the curtains folding back followed by the lizardmen’s weird chatter. Two shadows fell across Alan’s slab. She clenched her fingers into fists, wondering if she was strong enough to knock them out if they came into this room. They weren’t exactly built like dockers. She reckoned one hard right hook would drop at least one of them before the other lizardman overpowered her. Sandy would rather die than to let those horrid bastards confine her again.
“They’ve gone,” whispered Alan. He raised his head. “Please, get me the heck out of this thing, Sandy!”
She nodded and scuttled over to her friend. She didn’t see how that other lizardman freed her, but she imagined that the process would be similar to the door mechanisms. Sandy ran her fingers along the edge while trying to calm Alan down. The poor lad was in a right state. She found what had to be the release mechanism and pushed her finger in. Just as Sandy found what felt like one of those match heads, an ear-piercing screech blasted through the room. The gel started to solidify. Sandy panicked and tried to pull her finger out of the thickening substance.
The doorway outside opened again, and she saw two lizardmen peering through the window, staring right at her as she attempted to remove her finger.
“Oh God, we’re dead, Sandy. You shouldn’t have come back for me!”
“Shush your mouth, you daft sod,” she murmured, still trying to extract the tip of her finger from the now solid gel. The curtain behind her started to slide apart. Sandy dropped to the floor, she placed both her feet against the edge of the slab an
d pushed with all her might, ignoring the sudden pain as the solid gel refused to relinquish its hold on her skin. She was fully aware of the two lizardmen rushing towards her but didn’t stop her efforts to free herself. The pain became unbearable, and she became aware of something inside her finger slip but was almost free. Sandy shrieked out and jerked her hand back, crying out in agony at the sight of her fingernail still attached to the gel.
She rolled out of the way of the lizardmen, got back on her feet, and booted the nearest one in the back of its spindly feathery leg. Sandy couldn’t believe it when her former captor cried out and fell to the floor. From the angle of its legs, it was quite clear that she’d just broken its leg. Sandy grabbed the wounded lizardman’s thin arm and pulled it over to the edge of the wall. She placed her foot on its broken leg and applied enough pressure to make the thing scream out even louder. “All right, you bastard. I’ll make this easy for you.” She pointed to the other lizardman, and then nodded over to Alan. “If you free my friend, I won’t inflict any more damage on your feathered pal. Do we have a deal?” She applied a little more pressure on its broken leg to make sure her message had gone through loud and clear. Over the creature’s squealing, she watched the other one rush over to the slab. Sandy bit her lip and leaned her back against the wall as the wave of pain coming from her fingertip threatened to overwhelm her. She couldn’t allow that to happen. If she did fall, she doubted these two would be that merciful with her or Alan. “Come on, you shithead, do as your told!”
It chirped out some more of its nonsensical language before its fingers danced along a wall panel beside its head. The noise cut out, and Sandy watched her fingernail drop to the floor. The lizardman glance in her direction before succeeding in doing what she tried and failed to do.
“Alan, do you remember last year’s toy line and how we used to make fun of David because he could be one of the girls who danced around the ring holding up the round numbers?” The black cord had just about vanished back into the slab. “You need to do the Jack Moore Metal Fist move on the overgrown canary.”