by Jesse Wilson
“Crazy, maybe he is, but I wouldn’t be so quick to count him out,” Bruce said to her and smiled. It wasn’t a friendly smile, and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
He reached over, grabbed the phone, and set it back down on the receiver along with her hand. His hand was burning hot, and it was causing her pain to be touched. He never lost that smile.
“How would you two like to have your lives have purpose and be changed forever?” he asked them.
“No thanks, mister, I’m just fine being a nobody, really. I’ll pass on the offer,” she replied to him and he shook his head.
“It wasn’t really a question,” he said, and Shiro felt something stab her hand. She drew back and hit the far wall. Bruce rolled a small black orb of slime between his fingers and threw it at the man cowering on the wall. The thing splattered on his forehead, came to life, and crawled into his eyes.
The both of them were screaming as the alien flesh expanded through their veins in seconds. Soon, neither of them were making any noise at all. The man stood up, head lowered and arms at his side. Shiro was the same way.
“Now, let’s give this world a wakeup call it’ll never forget,” Bruce said to them and looked back outside. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do yet.
The four of them were wandering around in the dark, only guided by Sippy’s blue light. Suddenly, the sounds of jets were overhead.
“Military must be investigating,” Heather said, stating the obvious.
“Either that or they are keeping the news helicopters away,” Alex said and pointed into the sky in their direction. The realization hit them all at the same time. They had been with Xule for long enough to get used to him and isolated from normalcy for so long that the fact he was an alien skipped their mind entirely.
“Are you ready to be famous?” Bob said to them as he looked at a helicopter coming down towards their direction, attracted by the blue light.
“Famous is a word for it,” Xule said as the helicopter landed and two people got out, a reporter lady who was six inches shorter than Bob and had long black hair, wearing a green shirt and black slacks, and a guy with a large camera over his shoulder who was a lot less professional-looking with blue jeans and a black T-shirt.
The four of them started to walk to meet them half way. Heather waved at them as they approached.
They stopped together and the cameraman focused on all of them.
“What can you tell me about the explosion on the air base known as Area 51?” she asked them as the bright light of the camera got in all of their eyes. It was only then that the cameraman noticed one of them wasn’t human and trained the lens on him.
“Uh, Rose, that’s an alien,” he said but kept true to his craft and didn’t lose focus.
“Yes, hello, my name is Xule, and I am what your people would call an alien, and you’re all in great danger,” he said, attempting to warn them. All the other three just groaned as Rose was predictable.
“In danger? Is there an invasion coming? Have you come to warn us of an alien invasion?” she asked as she inched closer to Xule, still not sure he was safe to get close to.
“Yes, but the enemy is already here. The invasion is happening right now,” he replied to her. The cameraman immediately pointed his lens to the sky, but saw nothing.
“I think we’re being had. There aren’t any ships or anything. Are you sure this isn’t some cosplay prank?” Rose asked as her naturally skeptical nature kicked in.
“No, lady, listen. He means that the invasion has already started, as in the alien is already here likely in Vegas. Is the city under attack by a giant black…dinosaur?” Heather asked her, trying to explain the best she could.
“Uh, no, no dinosaurs are attacking the city. How long have you been out here?” Rose asked them, feeling like this was a waste of her time. She didn’t believe the alien was even what he said he was.
“Lady, you have to believe us, it came out of the base and flew in that direction towards the light. It’s going to start, and everything is going to get very bad. You have to warn people to get out,” Xule said again to them and Rose just rolled her eyes, but another fighter jet screamed through the sky in the direction of the burning base.
“Can you at least give us a lift back to civilization?” Bob asked them and just wanted out of the desert.
“Prove he’s a real alien and we can go back. With all the activity in the sky, this is about as close as we’re going to get,” Rose said. Xule pulled out his blaster, pointed it to the side, and pulled the trigger, sending the deep red beam into the ground. It was silent, but the earth melted on contact.
“Proof enough or do you need to see what it does on people?” Xule asked her and waited for an answer.
“No, no we’re good. We can fit you in on the trip back,” Rose said and was stunned about what she had just seen.
“Let’s get out of here. Those jets are coming back. If they haven’t seen us by now, they will soon. An actual alien on earth is going to make our careers,” the cameraman said to them and all started back to the chopper.
The pilot had no idea what was going on when he saw them all coming back after the light show.
“What in the hell is going on?” he asked as the cameraman slid the door open.
“We need to get back to the station as soon as we can. We have a huge news story. A real-life alien, if you can believe it,” Jeff, the cameraman, replied to him. The pilot shook his head and laughed.
“If you say so, buddy. We can get everyone in, but we’ll need to leave right now. The boys in green just declared this a no-fly zone and gave everyone ten minutes to leave,” he said to him over the rotor noise.
“Alright, everyone in. It’ll be a tight fit, but we can make it,” the pilot said and they all started to get in. Heather and Rose went first, followed by the alien. Once everyone was inside, the helicopter took off into the air and began heading back towards the city.
Bruce walked towards the entrance of the gas station when an older tan car pulled up to the pump. A woman got out after the engine died. She was a black-haired, late-twenty-something lady who wasn’t very tall and had eyes of blue. Bruce walked out and smiled.
“Hey, miss, you might want to look inside,” he said to her and she just tried to ignore him. This city was filled to the brim with crazy at night, and she was doing her best just to get gas and get out of here. Bruce walked up and put his hands on the roof of her car.
“Hey, didn’t you listen, there are monsters inside. You should really look at what’s shambling your direction,” he said as the glass doors were thrown open so hard they shattered on impact. This got her attention. She looked up, and behind this stranger, two people were coming her way.
Their eyes were deep yellow, mouths filled with long black razor teeth, and skin painted with deep black veins that pulsed with a sick rhythm.
“Oh my God, what is going on? What are they?” she said in a panic and backed off until she was against the pump. It was only then she realized that he didn’t seem concerned in the least.
Bruce had it all planned out. This was going to be a causal event. Sometimes, he just liked to see the terror in the eyes before he did his thing. It was then the sharp cry of an infant came from inside the car. Bruce held up his hand and the two infected ones stopped in their tracks.
“What do we have here?” he asked and gently opened the back door.
“No, you stay away from him before I—” Bruce looked at her, and his yellow eyes glinted in the passing traffic lights that were completely unconcerned with what was going on just off the road.
“I just want to look; relax, Mama Bear,” he said to her as he bent forward and his body stretched inhumanly forward into the car. The kid was staring into the eyes of the alien.
“Hello there, little guy, how are you?” he asked, and the only response he got was another scream. “Woah there, calm down sparky,” Bruce said and looked to the floor. There was a bright red p
lastic plane down there. He picked it up and placed it on his lap. The kid, now sated in having his toy recovered, was perfectly happy again.
“See, I’m not so bad,” Bruce said as he touched the kid’s nose, getting a small giggle out of him. Bruce slithered out of the back seat and shut the door carefully. “You and your kid need to get out of town. It’s going to get ugly here, and there are going to be some changes,” Bruce said to her.
“I don’t understand, what are you?” she asked, still terrified and confused.
“I am, well, special. The gas is on the house; get in and get far away from here,” Bruce said to her, turned, and walked away. The two infected followed him as he left. The young mother wasn’t quite sure what had happened, even now, but it was enough to convince her to take the advice.
Bruce never looked back as he walked away from them. He could afford to be kind because he was sure that this was all going to work out just the way he wanted.
“Shiro, guy I don’t know. You wait here. I’ll get this party started,” Bruce said to them, and with one leap from the sidewalk, he landed in the middle of the street. His sudden appearance caused cars to swerve out of the way. They crashed into one another, spinning out on the road trying to avoid him.
One green SUV slammed on its breaks, but the car behind him pushed him into Bruce, who in turn reached out and stopped both cars’ momentum with his left hand. The frames of both of them crumpled as if they’d slammed into a wall.
“What in the hell just happened?” someone screamed, barely being heard over a blaring horn of another car. Others were coming to their senses after coming to such a sudden stop. Bruce watched as the telltale lights of various phones were coming to life in the car.
“Yes, call for help,” he said as the person who ran into him forced open their door and got out with a metal baseball bat in his right hand.
“I’m going to smash your face in for that. Jumping out in traffic, what kind of moron are you?” the man said. He was in a daze of pain and anger as he swung the bat at Bruce’s head. Bruce caught it with his face, and as it did, the man immediately dropped the bat in shock. The driver went from anger to horror in seconds, as the impact had no effect. He quickly backed off, only to be tackled by Shiro, blindsided.
Shiro sunk her black razor fangs into the man’s neck. Bruce watched as those teeth snapped off and slid under her victim’s flesh. The man squirmed on the ground in pain, but seconds later, he stopped as the black veins quickly appeared under his skin. Shiro’s fangs quickly regenerated, and the man stood up. He was in the same condition as the other two. Then he heard the sounds of sirens approaching from the distance.
“It’s about time,” Bruce said to himself and was more than ready to deal with the police.
Chapter Eighteen
Soon paramedics and cops alike arrived from the other direction; even a helicopter was overhead, soon shining a spotlight on the massive pileup. Shiro’s attack didn’t go unnoticed, and some people who could still walk were trying to run away from the wreck.
“Uh, I got civilians running from the scene. They appear to be all victims due to their condition, and I have four potential suspects standing close to you, over,” the pilot said into his radio.
“Yeah, we see them down here too. This could be a terrorist thing so we need to take them down first, over,” Officer Dodd replied into his radio as he brought his squad car to a stop and opened the door. The others did the same thing, and soon a line was formed.
“Hey, that guy looks normal, but what about the other three. Are they wearing masks? Body paint maybe?” Officer Logan, Dodd’s partner asked him once they could see the situation better.
“I don’t know, but we can’t be too careful,” Dodd said and put his hand on his sidearm just to be ready.
“You four, get on your knees and put your hands on your head,” Logan said into the loudspeaker.
“I don’t want to. The ground is so hard on knees, you know? Maybe you could throw some pads over first?” Bruce yelled back at them.
“What in the hell? Is this guy some kind of comedian?” Logan asked Dodd. The response from someone who didn’t look armed at all didn’t set well with him. Something about all of this felt wrong.
“Give them a taste of the new future,” Bruce said to his three infected ones. The three of them screamed at the police and ran at them.
“Oh Jesus, what in the hell?” Dodd was shocked to see this happen. “Stop, don’t make us do this, freeze,” Dodd pleaded with them, but the way they looked, they had to be on some kind of drug to make them act this way. “Open fire,” Dodd ordered with a heavy heart. He’d never shot at anyone before; Logan hadn’t either.
Ten years on the force and in a big city, he’d felt blessed, but tonight, the streak came to an end. He pulled out his Glock and took aim when it became apparent that they weren’t going to stop for any reason. Dodd squeezed the trigger, aiming for their legs.
“Let’s try not to kill them if we can,” Logan said into his radio to the other cops doing the same thing, but knew it was a pointless thing to bother with because he knew how eager most of the people he worked with wanted to shoot someone just to see what it felt like.
The bullets shredded through their legs, chest, and head. Logan, in particular, got a good view of the headshot that the woman suffered. In a violent four seconds, the three of them lay on the pavement, black blood pooling around them.
“That just leaves the ringleader,” Dodd said and refocused his gun on him.
“Get down on the ground and—” Dodd was cut off as the black pools of blood began to flow back into the fallen bodies.
“What in the hell?” Logan said and couldn’t believe in what he was seeing. No one else could either. Shiro was the first one to sit back up. Logan got on the radio as fast as he could.
“Uh, Command, we have… I don’t know what we have; we just put down three perps and they are…regenerating,” Logan said in a panic.
“Please repeat last transmission, Car 54,” the voice responded.
“We have super-powered zombies down here. Call SWAT, call the damn Marines,” Logan said, threw the radio down, grabbed the shotgun, and regained his firing position. He cocked the weapon and now was very afraid.
“Did you just tell command we have super zombies down here?” Dodd asked as he watched them stand up.
“Yeah, the Asian chick got shot in the head and now look; there is barely a scratch on any of them. If you say it’s just body armor, I’m shooting you next,” Logan replied with a strong sense of terror in his voice.
“I didn’t plan on saying it was, but we need to get the hell out of here. We are not ready for this,” Dodd replied and got back in the car, starting it.
“Boys, there is something unnatural about this. SWAT is about three minutes out. We’re getting out of here,” Dodd said into his radio as Logan got in the car, closing the door.
“Are you sure about that because I think it’s just—” a man replied, but was cut off with the sound of breaking glass. Logan looked over and saw the Asian woman throwing the windshield aside after putting her fist through it.
“Dale was going to say body armor, and look what happened to him,” Logan said as Dodd put the car into reverse and slammed on the gas.
“Dale always was a bit stupid, I guess. I didn’t know him all that well anyway,” Dodd said as he spun the car around and sped in the other direction. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw the other cops try and stand their ground. Then he watched as the strange things sunk their black fangs into their necks and throw their convulsing bodies to the ground. Logan didn’t see any of this; he was talking on the radio.
“I am dead serious. I know you’re not going to believe me, but we have zombies. I’ve seen television shows. I know what a goddamned zombie looks like,” Logan screamed into the radio, losing all professionalism.
“I don’t think they were zombies, man. I think that was something else. Did you see the g
uy that was leading them? He’s the source of all this, I just know it,” Dodd said to Logan as a black SWAT van sped past them.
“They eat people! They were mindless. What else is there to see?” Logan said as Dodd began to slow down.
“Why are you slowing down?” Logan asked him.
“We should go back to help. We can’t just run away,” Dodd replied and stopped the car. By now, all the commotion down the road was gaining the attention of the local bystanders.
“Yes, we totally can get the hell out of here, get our families, and get out of town. You and I both know how well the SWAT is going to do in that situation. They are going to get eaten, so let’s not get eaten and get out of here,” Logan pleaded with him. Dodd couldn’t shake what he saw in the mirror when someone knocked on Logan’s window, scaring them both. Logan caught his breath.
“Hey, cop man, what’s going on down there?” a black man asked him. Logan swallowed and rolled the window down a little bit.
“Well, I believe the zombie apocalypse is starting, and if you were smart, you’d get as far away from here as you can,” Logan replied to him as calm as he could as Dodd came to his senses and started to drive away.
“I want whatever pills that cop is taking. Zombies…right,” he said as he watched the cops drive off.
Chapter Nineteen
“Chopper 5, come in Chopper 5, you read?” the radio came to life on the helicopter.
“This is Chopper 5, go ahead,” the pilot responded.
“You’ve got a new assignment on the western side of town. The cops sent in a strange report, and Rose is the closest one to the scene,” the voice came back.
“Strange how?” the pilot responded.
“Get this, Phil. I didn’t believe it either, but the cops are saying that out on Lone Mountain Road, all hell’s breaking loose. Some guy caused a massive car pileup, and three others took on the cops. Apparently, they got right back up after being gunned down. The word zombie was used more than once. SWAT is on the way there now,” the voice on the other end said.