FULL MOON COUNTRY (FULL MOON SERIES (vol. 2))

by Terry Yates

  They sped past the dead werewolves, looking behind them as they did. The beasts disappeared into the night as the trucks continued, leaving them scattered along the highway.

  The sign read “Hospital 1-mile”. This would be the acid test, Potts thought. Let’s see how many of these hairy assess were hanging close to home. The moon was big and bright and directly over the hospital. They were going to speed by it as quickly as possible, and then just follow the highway until they hopefully caught up with the others.

  After a half-minute, the hospital came into view on the right. The white paint shone through the darkness.

  “Turn off the lights, but keep going,” Potts said softly to both drivers over the radio.

  Immediately both sets of truck lights went out. Mary Sue didn’t mind turning them off as long as they were driving straight. Once they got past the hospital, they were out of town, after which the winding roads began again.

  So far, so good. No yellow eyes.

  “Keep it steady, both of you. Roger?” Potts whispered, releasing the ‘Talk’ button.

  “Sheriff Carter Roger’s that, Colonel,” came Williams’ voice.

  “Mr. Murphy Roger’s that. Over,” replied Jordan.

  “Over,” Potts told the both of them.

  As Potts was reaching down to put the radio in his belt, a sudden, shocking jolt hit the side of the truck, almost picking it up on two wheels, and sending it crashing into the second truck. Potts hadn’t seen it coming and was thrown to the other side of the roof, almost causing him to land on the other truck’s roof, where Jefferson was hanging onto the side of the roof that was now up in the air, because both trucks were now on two wheels. Potts heard first the radio, then the rifle sliding off of the top of the box roof. Those wily bastards had lain in wait for them and slammed into the side of Potts’ truck, sending it into the other one.

  Mary Sue had been startled by the sudden impact and fell left against the door, causing her to pull the wheel left, subsequently knocking the one truck into the other. Rex also had not been expecting the collision, but unlike Mary Sue, Rex’s reflexes kicked in and he cut his steering wheel hard to the right in an attempt to push back so that he didn’t turn over. There was a curve in the road just past the hospital and they were just about to reach it. The hospital flew past them and the curve in the road loomed ahead. Rex kept pushing against Mary Sue, now trying to right both trucks. As they went into the turn, Rex could see that on the left was nothing but a steep ditch, then woods. It was too dark for him to see on the right. He’d driven that road a thousand times in his life, but at the moment, he wasn’t sure, but the odds were better than what was on the left.

  As they came to the arc in the curve, both trucks were still on two tires. Mary Sue yelled and grunted as she tried to pull the wheel to the right as hard as possible. When Rex saw that both vehicles couldn’t make it out of the curve, he decided to push Mary Sue’s truck as far over as he could.

  “Jump when you get a chance!” Rex screamed at Jordan whose door was pinned shut by the other truck He wasn’t sure what was happening to Jefferson and Potts.

  When the two trucks came around the curve and into the straightway, Rex gave Mary Sue one last hit before slamming on his brakes. Mary Sue’s truck went into the straightway. She yelled and gritted her teeth as she slammed on the brakes. Next to her, Williams sat petrified, both knuckles and face a matching white. She felt Rex letting go. As she tried to bring the truck to a halt, she heard a crash from off to her left.

  “Rex!” she screamed, but she didn’t have long, because she was going into a fishtail.

  The big truck spun around three times, but stayed in the road. She thought that her feet were going to go through the floorboard as she pressed on the brakes. The tires screeched as the truck semi-fishtailed again before finally coming to a quick stop. Immediately, she heard something rolling across the roof.

  “Not again, Goddammit!” came a muffled voice, just before Potts came sliding down the windshield on his ass and continued over the hood and disappeared into the dark highway.

  Even after the truck had stopped, Mary Sue could neither open her eyes nor unclench her fingers from the steering wheel. Sitting there in the middle of that dark, lonely highway, all Mary Sue who could hear was her own heavy breathing, mixed in with William’s own rasping.

  “Rex!” she suddenly squealed, before starting to get out of the truck. As she did, she heard a noise from the top of the truck. Williams grabbed her arm to stop her, but he needn’t have. She froze as she slowly moved her eyes toward the roof of the truck. They both raised their pistols as they heard scuttling just above their heads. The thing had moved onto the cab.

  “God dammit, Carter!” Potts screamed, suddenly appearing at the truck window, causing her to yelp and point her gun at him, who immediately ducked upon seeing the .357-barrel aimed at his face.

  “There’s something on the roof!!” she screamed pulling back the hammer of her revolver.

  “Of course there is, ya’ dizzy…”

  Potts thought better of finishing his sentence, especially when the subject it was aimed at was aiming a .357 Magnum. They heard a small scraping sound and then a thud before seeing a form drop to the ground. It was Jefferson.

  “How…when…” Williams stuttered, his eyes wide.

  “I jumped off of the other one just before it…”

  “Rex!” Mary Sue screamed again, this time, getting out of the truck.

  “Jordan,” Potts said, rubbing his leg.

  The group left the truck and began to sprint down the highway.

  “Rex!” Mary Sue called out.

  “Jordan!” Potts shouted.

  They heard a groan from down the road. Jefferson, Mary Sue, and even Williams left the limping Potts behind as they ran toward the noise.

  “Keep an eye out for those things!” Potts yelled after them, pulling his revolver. “They’ve already tricked us twice tonight and it’s still early.”

  As they pulled their revolvers, they heard a second groan and began to run faster, leaving Potts farther and farther behind. Both knees were hurting him now.

  Jefferson reached Jordan first. He was lying on his back, half in and half out of the road. When Mary Sue and Williams arrived, the three bent down over him. Jordan’s shirt was torn in several places and he had a small gash on his forehead. He was groaning as he held his elbow. To Mary Sue, Jason Jordan did not look like a hardened assault rifle carrying warrior, but more like a red-headed, freckle-faced little boy who’d fallen off of his bicycle.

  “Where are ya’ hurt?” she asked, removing her flashlight from her belt

  “My elbow,” he grunted, eyes closed, his head rolling back and forth.

  “Let me see,” she said, handing the flashlight to Williams, who shined the light on Jordan’s injured elbow.

  “It’s not too bad,” she hissed, not because of any broken bones, but because of the bitch of a cherry he was going to have on it.

  “My ribs smart a bit, too,” Jordan moaned, trying to lift his head.

  Mary Sue, Jefferson, and Williams gently helped Jordan to his feet.

  “How’d you get out of there?” Jefferson asked him, while pulling several pieces of gravel off of the young man’s face.

  “I jumped.”

  “Where’s the truck?” Mary Sue asked, suddenly remembering Rex again.

  Jordan painfully raised his arm and pointed. The trio turned around. Under the bright moonlight, they could see the turn in the road, where just past it, they could see skid marks going off of the highway. They’d run right past it. It wasn’t like on television where there was the loud twisting metal, followed by the Wilhelm Scream, followed by the small explosion, followed by an even bigger explosion and a fire two stories high, but here there had been none of those things, with the exception of the twisting metal and after that…nothing…just stillness under the bright starry night.

  Mary Sue left Williams and Jefferson to help wit
h Jordan while she ran across the highway, absentmindedly looking both ways before crossing. The truck was lying on the driver’s side in a deep ditch.

  “Hello? Rex?” Mary Sue asked aloud from the road.

  For a moment, there was no movement from the truck, but after a few seconds, she noticed it rock back and forth a little. Through the top, she saw a head appear. Actually, it was the passenger window. The figure grunted as it pulled itself through.

  “Rex!”

  The figure continued to pull itself through the window until it was completely through. It sat on top for a moment before jumping off onto the ground. As it limped up out of the ditch and onto the road, Mary Sue could see that it was Potts.

  “Is Rex okay?” Mary Sue asked, holding out her hand for Potts as he stepped out of the ditch.

  “No,” Potts replied ignoring her hand. “He’s…uh…dead.”

  “Did you say that he was…dead?” Mary Sue wasn’t sure that she’d heard him right. Potts had said it so matter of fact that he could’ve said anything.

  “Yeah,” Potts nodded. “Broke his neck and the steering wheel smashed him up pretty good.”

  “Are you sure, Colonel?” Williams asked.

  “I know dead when I see it, Son. The man’s dead.”

  Mary Sue put her face in her hands and began to weep.

  “I’m sorry for your loss…uh…Ma’am. I reckon he was a friend of yours.”

  Mary Sue put her hands to her mouth and silently nodded her head.

  “Well, Sheriff,” Potts continued, “you’re gonna have to do your grieving later. We’ve got people out there, and we’ve got to get to them. Williams, you drive the truck.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be possible, Colonel,” Williams answered, looking at the remaining truck.

  They could hear and see steam coming from the engine, and it looked as if the battery was hanging out of the side of the hood.

  “Shit!” Potts cursed. “All right, Jefferson, put Jordan down and help me get some of those weapons out of the back of the truck. Williams, grab something and put a few snacks and a couple bottles of water in there, too. We don’t know how long we might be walking.”

  “You can’t just leave Rex in there!” Mary Sue cried out.

  “I’ve covered him up as best I could,” Potts replied. “Come on. We’ve got some miles to get yet.”

  “Sir?” It was Williams again.

  “What is it?”

  “Why don’t we go to the hospital and get a car from…”

  Before he could finish his sentence, and with thumb still pointed over his shoulder, they heard a howl coming from Harmonville. This howl was soon followed by several more, until there were at least ten, all howling at their new mother The Moon.

  “Any other questions?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Good. Now, let’s work some of that fat ass of yours off. Come on.”

  “You can’t just leave him!” Mary Sue said loudly, wiping her nose.

  “Look,” Potts said softly as he moved toward Mary Sue, stopping just inches in front of her face, his blue eye gleaming. “I’m really not good at this shit, but what I CAN tell you is that he’s dead and you’re alive. Now, he’s not coming back to life, but you can end up dead…if we don’t get out of here. Those things out here are tricky…they’ve already stranded us. We’ll come back when we can and tidy up the dead. I’m sorry for your loss, Sheriff, but we’ve got to get the hell out of here.”

  Mary Sue quickly moved her hand toward Potts’ face, who automatically flinched and grabbed her wrist. She waited for a moment until he relented, and then adjusted the bobby pin on his bandage. She reached up and took another one out of her hair, and fastened it securely alongside the original. Potts managed a small nod.

  “Everybody ready?” Potts asked, adjusting his backpack. “Jefferson, did you hide the rest of the weapons?”

  “Yessir, Colonel…as many as I could. There’s a lot of ammo in there.”

  “I don’t like leaving any weapons if possible, but we’ve got to get out here. Did you hide the large box?”

  “Yessir…what’s in it, Colonel?”

  “That’s none of your business, Private.”

  “Sir.”

  “You okay to travel, Jordan?” Potts asked the young man.

  Williams had cleaned him up as best he could in the five minutes he was given.

  “I’m just glad it wasn’t my gun hand,” Jordan answered in his Mississippi drawl, his toothy smile visible in the dark.

  “How’s the rest of you?”

  “Ah hell, Colonel…if you’re waitin’ on me…you’re backin’ up! I’m fine.”

  “Sheriff?”

  Mary Sue looked back at the truck, wiped her eyes, and then nodded.

  “Okay, keep it down and let’s stick to the road. Who knows, maybe we’ll find a car in between here and there.”

  Potts nodded at the group before turning around and leading the group silently down the road.

  CHAPTER 63

  No Neck reached the top of the stairs. He wanted to see if the Bumpkin needed anything. That dipshit redneck gave him a wad of bills that totaled almost a grand. For a grand ‘Tommy Texas’ could pretty much do what he wanted…and more. He’d sent Bambi (Marie) and Jasmine (Suki) up to the VIP ‘lounge’ and he was betting that ol’ Tex was worn out and it was just now getting dark.

  He stopped at the VIP room door and straightened his collar before knocking. As soon as he knocked, he put his ear to the door even though it was nearly impossible to hear anything with the club noise. He thought he may have heard the bed squeak, but he wasn’t sure. He knocked again, and again nothing. Boy, this guy must be going to town, he thought. He would give it another knock, and then he would have to let himself in. It was also part of his job to make sure that the girls were unhurt or manhandled, and at his size, he didn’t have a lot of trouble with that, but once in a while, they would get some freak in there who wanted to smack the girls around, or sometimes worse.

  He gave one last knock, and getting no answer, took his keys from his pants pocket and slid them into the lock. As the door cracked open, he automatically saw the usual…complete darkness with two small red lights, the overhead light and a small bedside lamp. Both bulbs were so red that they screamed, “There be whores here”.

  No Neck stuck his head through the door and into the dark room.

  “Hey, Buddy?” he asked aloud, placing his hand on the light switch. You need anything? Buddy?”

  As he was about to flip the light switch, he heard Simon from the dark.

  “Don’t need a thing, Buddyro. I’m happier’n a puppy with two peters,” he replied from the dark, “Right, Ladies?”

  The was no answer from the darkness.

  “Ladies?” No Neck asked. “Jasmine? Bambi?”

  “Who-o-o-o isss ittt?” an obvious male voice sang out.

  “That ain’t funny, Pal. Ladies…you okay?”

  “Aya ama fine, Senor!” sang the voice again in an obviously Hispanic accent. “I am arso fline,” came the same high voice, but sounding Asian this time.

  “Sorry, Buddy, but I gotta check on my…”

  No Neck flipped the light-switch on as he stepped into the room. He was met with a sight that made him want to vomit. Bambi (Marie) was lying on the bed…in pieces. Her head was on the pillow, her eyes and face frozen in a scream of terror. Her torso lay sideways on the bed, with one leg under its arm. No Neck didn’t see the other leg.

  “She just sort of came apart on me!”

  The goon looked up to see Simon standing across the room, naked, covered with blood. It was matted in his hair and across his chest. He was holding a small knife that was covered in blood.

  “Now this one here,” he continued, “is a bit of an experiment.”

  No Neck looked across the room where he saw Suki…or who he thought was Suki…pinned to the wall. Her arms were broken and the bones were sticking into the old plaster w
all. Her legs were bent behind her, the bones from the shins and kneecaps were also sticking into the wall. Her head lolled forward, her dark hair falling over her face.

  “What the shit, Man?”

  “Wait! Let me show the experiment, Buddyrub.” Stunned, No Neck watched Simon walk over to a small table and take a laser pointer, then walk back over to Suki. “Now, Jasmine here,” he started, grabbing her hair and lifting her head, “as you can clearly see…is majorly fucked up.”

  He pointed the laser at her right eye, which was hanging down on her cheek. She also had no lips.

  “It started off as a kiss, but then I just sort of caught carried away,” he said smiling as he licked his lips. “Do you think in three hours, I’ll be hungry again?” Simon let out a loud laugh. “Get it? Chinese food? Chinese? Or was she Chinese? Come to think of it, Suki sounds more like a zipperhead name. I did get her real name while she could still talk. Now, here’s where my experiment begins. Now watch.”

  Simon slapped the young hooker’s cheek…and she shrieked. The goon fell backwards against the open door. He hadn’t been expecting her to still be alive.

  “Freaky, huh? Little whore’s hard to kill, but now look.” Simon pointed the laser pointer at her neck. “I bit her just here. Now, here’s the rub. I’m just curious to see if she makes it to the next full moon…my feeling tells me tomorrow…to see if she heals herself from all of this. What do ya’ think? Hey, Buddy…you okay?”

  No Neck continued to lean against the door, in shock, still trying to take it all in.

  “You sick, fuckin’ piece of shit!” No Neck said in a voice that was trying to sound angry, but was sounding more frightened.

  No Neck reached into his jacket and pulled his gun. As he started to aim the revolver, Simon pointed the laser into his eye, blinding him. In a matter of nana-seconds, Simon had jumped across the bed and landed right in front of the Guido just as he was recovering.

  “Jesus!” he screamed, recovering his sight just in time to see a smiling Simon just inches from his face. No Neck wasn’t sure, but he was guessing that it was a piece of flesh that was hanging off of the side of Simon’s mouth.