by R. W. Ridley
Minutes passed and nothing happened. We were almost ready to let ourselves believe we were out of danger when we heard the front door open and slam shut. Before we could tell ourselves it was the wind, we heard a low clicking chatter, like locusts swarming a field.
Kimball immediately crouched down. He crept forward ready to attack. Ajax moved in front of us. His hair was standing on end again. They were two warriors ready for battle.
Lou squeezed my hand so tightly I thought she might break my fingers. She was biting her lip to prevent herself from screaming, and rocking little Nate back and forth trying to keep him calm. I was too scared to breathe.
We followed their motion through the building by the chattering. They moved to the opposite end at first. It was obvious they knew we were in the store. It was just a matter of time before they found us. Slowly they made their way toward us. It was torture listening to them go up and down every aisle as they made their way to the frozen foods section. The chattering grew louder and louder.
Wes couldn't take it anymore. "I can't take that awful noise," he said, his voice low and shaky.
Lou suddenly screamed. They had found us. At the end of the aisle, there stood a Taker or a Greasywhopper, whichever name you prefer. I estimated it to be at least eight feet tall because it was taller than the shelves that housed the food. And just as Wes had said, it was covered in a thick coat of greasy black hair. Its eyes were a blazing red, and it had a short snout with a wide nose and mouth. Its ears were big and pointy and stood on top of its head like a wolf's. The chattering came from it clicking its rows of nail-sized teeth together. It had long fingernails on the ends of its long fingers that dangled from long arms.
Ajax beat his chest and bluff charged the monster. It retreated a step or two. Kimball joined Ajax and began to bark. The Taker backed away even more. They advanced some more on the creature and it gave a little more ground each time. As I was about to let out a sigh of relief, I turned to my left and saw another Taker standing just six feet away from us. I stood with both hands holding on tight to J.J. Wes followed my lead. The Taker spread his arms out and let out a screeching roar. Lou was paralyzed. I tapped her with my foot, "Stand up."
She didn't move.
"Lou," I said. "Stand up."
She looked at me, her mouth agape, tears freely falling down her cheek.
"We have a mission, remember," I said.
With that she attempted a smile and slowly stood up.
I looked at the other end of the aisle. Ajax and Kimball had the other Taker surrounded. The creature was more than double their combined sizes, but it retreated like it was under attack by a huge advancing army.
The Taker that stood just feet from us was another story. It crept toward us, opening and closing its mouth, gnashing its teeth. It was almost as if it were playing with us. Huddled together, we backed away. It skulked after us. Wes lunged forward with his knife, hitting nothing but air, and retreated.
"Get away from us, you Greasywhopper sucker!"
The Taker flailed its arms and chattered madly.
Behind us I heard the other Taker scream in horror. I turned to see Kimball tearing a chunk of flesh from the monster's thigh. Ajax pounded the beast's back with his powerful fists. The Taker swung its arms wildly, but never laid a hand on either Ajax or Kimball. It was then that I realized the Taker couldn't see them.
Ajax grabbed the Taker's right leg and yanked it out from under him. The creature crashed to the ground, screaming for its life. Kimball dashed in and out on the fallen monster extracting a piece of flesh each time. It was as if Ajax and Kimball understood the Taker could not see them. They began to tear into it with reckless abandon.
Our Taker had no problem seeing us. It snapped its powerful jaws at Wes and managed to catch his shirt in its mouth. Wes thrust his knife forward and stuck the beast in the shoulder. It did not flinch. I swung J.J. and caught the Taker on the hip, leaving a gaping wound. Still the creature advanced on us.
Nate let out a gurgled cry. The Taker was momentarily distracted. It sniffed the air. Nate cried again. The creature leapt forward with a fury, tossing Wes aside and pushing me into the open-air freezer. Grease dripped from its protruding jowls as it bent down and sniffed Lou. It was looking for the baby. Its large hand ripped Lou up by her neck and held her out in front of it. It examined her with its red eyes.
A roar echoed throughout the store. Ajax and Kimball, having disposed of the other monster, were now focusing their attention on our Taker. The creature retreated. It was struck with a sudden rush of fear. Holding tightly to Lou, it backed away. Ajax stood and pounded his chest, pock-pock-pock. He was claiming his territory. The beast tried to run with Lou in tow, but it was tackled by Ajax. The Taker released Lou to fight off its attacker. Lou scrambled away. Within seconds Kimball had joined Ajax in the assault. A cacophony of growls, screams, and hoots filled the air.
I crawled out of the freezer and helped Lou to her feet. Wes lay dazed under a pile of 2 liter plastic bottles of soda that had collapsed on him when the Taker tossed him into the shelf. It wasn't long until Ajax and Kimball ceased their bloody assault on the creature. They stepped away as it lay there motionless, obviously dead.
I looked Lou and Nate over. Lou was a little shaken, but she would survive. Nate was howling away, but that was normal for him. I turned my attention to Wes. He was regaining his senses and trying to sit up. I helped him to his knees.
"Goodness knows," he said. "That was ugly."
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Not hardly, but I reckon I'll live." He breathed in deeply through his nose and blew air out through his mouth. "Whoa, sure don't want to do that again."
I looked at our troops. Ajax was pacing and breathing heavily. Kimball was sitting calmly, licking his paws. Lou had a pained look on her face. We were all battle-fatigued, but we were not beaten. I gathered up the others, and we headed out of the Kroger's.
Once we were back in the mattress store, I found Stevie's comic book, rolled it up, and stuffed it back in my supply wagon. "You shouldn't have gone through my stuff," I said to Lou.
"That book's about us," she said. She had Nate out of the sling and was cradling him in her arms. He was fussy and on the verge of having an all out crying session.
"What are you talking about?" I said.
"It's about us," she insisted. "I saw my name. I saw Ajax. I saw the…"
"Don't say their name," I said.
"Just what in the hell is going on here?" Wes asked, irritated.
"Nothing. Lou just shouldn't have gone through my things."
"Make him show you the book," Lou said.
"No," I said emphatically.
"Let me see it," Wes insisted.
"I can't," I answered.
"C'mon, boy."
"No," I shouted. "Don't you see? They're invisible until you see them."
"That's just plain crazy talk," Wes said. He walked over to my supply wagon and started looking through it.
"No!" I grabbed his arm.
"Boy, you better let go of my arm."
Kimball came to my defense. He didn't growl at Wes, but he let him know with a look that he didn't like Wes's tone. Wes heeded the warning.
"Listen, we can't look at the book. It brings them out. I wasn't sure of that until just now, but if we read that book, they'll come back, and my guess is they'll be more of them this time."
Wes sat down on a nearby mattress. "Let's burn it then."
"We can't," Lou said. "It's about us. It might show us how to beat these things and bring back…" She stopped herself. She didn't dare say it out loud.
"Bring back, what?" I asked.
"Our parents," she said. "Maybe there's a way."
"You're dreaming," Wes said. "I say we burn it." He reached for the wagon, but before he could lay a hand on it, Ajax pulled it away and grunted. "What the…" Wes leaned over farther, and Ajax pulled the wagon farther away. Wes leaned over even farther, but this time Ajax sla
pped his hand hard. Wes pulled back. "Ow!"
"Doesn't look like Ajax thinks we should burn it," I said.
Ajax snapped his forefinger and middle finger on his thumb. I scrambled to find his book. It lay underneath the bed. I hurriedly opened to the chapter on American Sign Language and found the sign, "No." He then held his palms up and wiggled his fingers. "No burn." He laid his hands out and mimicked the opening of a book. "No burn book." He made a V shape with his forefinger and middle finger and waved them over the palm of his other hand. I flipped through the pages, and could not believe my eyes when I found it.
"What'd he say?" Wes asked.
I hesitated. "He wants us to read the book."
FOUR
Lookie, here," Wes said. "You do what you want, but I wouldn't listen to no go-rilla if I was you." He hoisted a case of beans up on the wagon. "You best burn that comic book."
With great difficulty, I lifted a box filled with trail mix bags onto the back of the farm wagon. "I don't know, something tells me I better listen to Ajax for now."
He turned and looked at Lou sitting inside the mattress store. She was making sure Nate was fed and changed before we took off for the interstate. The run-in with the Greasywhoppers the day before had convinced me I didn't want to make the trip by myself. "She say anything else about what she saw in that book?"
I shook my head. "She hasn't said much of anything since… You know."
"Yeah," he said. "I know." He looked over the well-stocked wagon. "Okay, you got food, first aid kits, blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes, water. They'll be plenty of places to re-supply along the way."
"You think we'll run into anyone else out there?"
"Bound to," he said. "They're not all going to be friendly either, so take extra care."
"Sure you won't come with us?"
He rubbed his grizzled chin. "Working on something."
"You said that before," I said.
"Still working on it. I may be able to catch up with you." He patted Ryder. "Don't push the horses too hard. They'll let you know when they're ready to stop. Stick to the interstates, 24 to Chattanooga, 75 to Atlanta, 20 to Columbia, 26 to Charleston. It's the long way, but it's the safest route."
"I know," I said. "You've only told me about a hundred times."
"It's important." Kimball chased Ajax down the sidewalk. They were playing like they didn't have a care in the world. "You're going to have a go-rilla, a dog, a baby, Lou, and two horses on this trip. Might as well call you Noah."
"I guess we better get going." I stepped toward the store. "Saddle up, Lou. We're going to hit it."
Lou picked up Nate and put him in his sling. She gathered up as many baby supplies as she could carry (even though we had plenty on the wagon) and exited the store. Kimball leapt onto the wagon with no problem. Ajax hesitated and then pulled his huge frame onto the back of the wagon.
I shook Wes's hand. "Wish you were coming."
"We'll see each other again," he said. "You can count on that."
I wanted to cry, but I didn't feel like it was the manly thing to do, so I didn't.
Wes bent down on one knee in front of Lou. "Thanks for…" He started to cry. I guess he thought it was the manly thing to do. "For letting me call you Lou. It sure was nice to have my little sister around again." He hugged her, careful not to smother Nate.
Lou began to bawl. All she could manage to say was, "I'm going to miss you."
Wes picked her up and lifted her onto the wagon seat. I gave the supplies one last look and then walked around the wagon and climbed up on the other side of the seat. We both gave Wes one last goodbye, and then, with a flick of the reins, we were off on our journey.
***
Lou and I didn't speak much that first day. We were scared to. Not because we were afraid the Greasywhoppers would hear us, but because we were afraid we would talk each other into turning back and staying with Wes for the rest of our lives. It's funny, if everything was normal, if my parents were still alive, and all I had to worry about was school and the Titans next game and anything else a thirteen-year-old boy spends his days thinking about, I would have never given Wes another thought. He would have been just some hick mechanic who needed a bath. I would never have taken the time to get to know him. I guess normal times aren't all they're cracked up to be.
We stopped at the Days Inn on top of Monteagle. The horses had pulled us up a long and winding mountain road, and they were badly in need of a rest. Luckily the motel still used real keys, not key cards. We located two keys to adjoining rooms on the first floor and set up camp for the night.
I unhitched Phil and Ryder and wiped them down with some towels from the motel. They were soaked in sweat. The temperature was somewhere in the 40s on top of the mountain. I was sure they were going to catch colds and die. Lou and I both had two double beds, so I ripped the covers from each of the extra beds and placed them over the horses. It wasn't much, but I hoped it would do.
Lou prepared a meal for everybody, formula for Nate, fruit cocktail for Ajax, Alpo's finest for Kimball, and water and canned beans for her and me. We had a small propane camping grill, but we decided we would use it sparingly, so we ate the beans cold.
After dinner I got up and walked around the motel a few times. My butt was killing me from sitting on the badly cushioned wagon bench all day. I was hoping I would be able to walk out the kinks.
As I walked around the complex, I recalled my family's last vacation. Pop took us to Charlotte so we could watch the Titans play the Carolina Panthers. We stayed in a motel a lot like the Days Inn. It may have even been a Days Inn. I can't remember. What I do remember was having the time of my life. The Titans won in overtime, so that made it even better, but the funnest part was being with my Mom and Pop, watching a football game, eating hotdogs and popcorn. It wasn't much and it only lasted three days, but it was the best time I think I ever had in my life.
Back at the rooms, I checked in on Nate and Lou. They were fast asleep, as were Ajax and Kimball. I lay down on my bed, closed my eyes, and tried to will myself to dream about the Titans' overtime victory and the best vacation I ever had.
The next day Lou and I had some trail mix and cokes. The caffeine, sugar, and protein woke us up. Nate was his usual cranky self. Ajax and Kimball had awakened earlier and were outside exploring the grounds of the empty motel. Lou and I sat on her bed dreading the day of travel ahead of us.
"My butt's killing me," I said.
"Mine, too," Lou said, fighting with Nate to get him to take his bottle. "How much farther?"
"About 450 miles."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't suppose you got an uncle in Chattanooga." She chuckled.
"Hey, you wanted to come," I said.
"I had to." She made a point not to look at me.
"Okay," I said. "Let's hear it. You've been looking at me like I've got a third eyeball and some horns ever since you looked through that comic book. What gives?"
She hesitated. "You were mean to him?"
"Who?" I asked even though I knew the answer.
"Stevie Dayton. The boy who wrote the comic book."
I cleared my throat and shook my head. "He put that in there?"
"He called you Ozzie the Titan." She pointed to the Titans sweatshirt I was wearing. "You made him do things."
"I wasn't the only one."
"Yeah, but you were the only one that he cared about."
I looked at her like she had just shot an arrow through my heart. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"He liked you. He looked up to you."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because," she said, "he made you the hero of his comic book."
"Yeah, right," I said, feeling more and more ashamed the more she told me.
"It's true. You're this mean boy most of the time, but when there's an emergency you always save the day."
It was all a little overwhelming. I never felt more like a rat than I did sitting there listening to her tell m
e what Stevie Dayton had written about me. "You get any ideas how to beat these Greasywhoppers in that book?"
"I only got through the first couple of pages, but I got a pretty good idea what they want," she said.
I gave her a befuddled look. "What's that?"
She looked down at the wriggling baby in her arms. "Nate."
I furrowed my brow and almost laughed. "What in the name of Vince Lombardi would they want with that little crap factory?"
"Vince who?" she asked.
"It's something my Pop used to say. He's an old-timey football coach for the Green Bay Packers."
"The Green Bay what?"
"Never mind," I said. "Why do you think they want Nate?"
"I don't know why," she said. "But I do know when that Take… "She stopped herself from saying Taker. "When that Greasywhopper in Kroger's yesterday saw Nate, he didn't waste his time with you and Wes anymore. He went right for the baby."
"That doesn't mean anything," I said. "Maybe…" I regretted starting the sentence.
"Maybe, what?" She asked, insistently.
"Nothing," I said.
"Finish what you were going to say," she said.
"Maybe they like the taste of babies better." As soon as it came out of my mouth I regretted it. It was hateful and insensitive, but I feared it was as close to being the truth as anything else. Her jaw dropped and she looked at me with utter disdain.
"You think they eat people?"
I couldn't believe that thought had never crossed her mind. "What do you think they did with everybody?"
She struggled to come up with an answer that was as plausible as mine. We both saw the hunger and hate in the creature's eyes when it tried to get us in the grocery store. Its gnashing teeth, its vicious attack, how could anyone not think it wanted to eat us?
"I don't know," she finally said. "But I do know where we can find out." She looked at me waiting for my protest.