by Amy Cross
And then someone screamed.
“No!” Gemma yelled, as Kay turned and saw that one of the creatures had fallen onto the back of a stewardess's head and was wrapping its tendrils around her face.
More people were screaming now.
“They're on the floor!” someone else shouted, as the plane lurched slightly.
Looking down, Kay saw two tendrils flicking next to her feet. Panicking, she pulled her legs up as best she could, and then she glanced out the window and saw that the plane was now steadily climbing above the island.
“Help!” a man yelled nearby.
Turning, Kay saw to her horror that the door to the cockpit was open. The plane's pilot was stumbling out, covered in blood and with one of the creatures attached to his neck. He reached up and tried to pull the creature away, only for blood to start spraying from a wound across his throat. A little further forward, the co-pilot was slumped in his seat as the view from the cockpit tilted to show the horizon at a slight incline.
“This isn't real,” Gemma said firmly, staring straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of her face. “None of this is happening, there's on -”
Before she could finish, the plane lurched again.
“No-one's flying this thing,” Kay whispered, before turning to Gemma. “No-one's flying the fucking plane!”
“I'm sure everything's under control,” Gemma whimpered, even as tears began to stream down her face. “No need to panic.”
“We're out of control,” Kay said, staring along the aisle and seeing that the horizon line was slowly rising up the cockpit window, meaning that the plane's nose was starting to dip. “Why aren't any of the stewardesses going into the -”
Suddenly a scream rang out nearby, and she turned to see that a stewardess was struggling against one of the creatures. Black tendrils were wrapped tight around the woman's head, causing her face to start turning blue.
“No-one's doing anything!” Kay snapped. “We're going to go down if no-one acts!”
She hesitated, before unbuckling her seat-belt and then reaching over to do the same to Gemma's.
“Come on!” she hissed.
“The fasten seat-belt lights are still -”
“Get up!”
After forcing Gemma out of the seat, Kay grabbed her arm and pulled her along the aisle, forcing her to step around several bodies that were already on the floor. A couple of tendrils lashed out from nearby compartments, and one sliced across the side of Kay's face, but she pushed ahead regardless and finally she stepped over the dead pilot and looked into the cockpit.
The co-pilot was dead in his seat, but there was no sign of any more creatures.
The plane lurched again, tilting wildly to one side and sending both Kay and Gemma smashing into the opposite wall.
“Okay,” Kay said firmly, leading Gemma into the cockpit and then grabbing the dead co-pilot's arm. “Help me.”
“With what?” Gemma asked.
Grunting, Kay managed to haul the dead man out of his seat and set him on the floor, and then she made her way around him.
“Turn your phone on!” she shouted.
“Why?” Gemma asked.
“Turn it on and sit down!”
Kay took a seat and looked at the array of control, and a moment Gemma sat in the seat next to her.
“I don't suppose,” Kay said after a moment, “that you ever took a flying course and then forgot to mention it?”
“Don't touch anything!” Gemma shouted, as she took her phone from her pocket. “You might make something happen!”
“I think something's already happening,” Kay replied, glancing over her shoulder and seeing that the plane's main aisle was now a bloodbath, with creatures attacking everyone who moved.
“I don't think I should turn my phone on,” Gemma said after a moment. “They always tell you not to do that, don't they?”
“This is an exception,” Kay snarled, before grabbing the phone and switching it on at the side.
Looking ahead, she saw the main town ahead, getting closer and closer.
“We can't fly a plane!” Gemma pointed out, her voice sounding more and more hysterical now. “Be sensible!”
“We're gonna have to,” Kay replied, passing the phone back to her. “Unlock it and try to find some kind of manual, or a video, something like that.” She paused, with fear in her eyes, before reaching out and putting her hand tentatively on the control systems. “It can't be that hard. Down is forward, back is up, right? That's how it works in movies. See if you can get the radio working. Tell them I don't think the auto-pilot's on.”
“This thing is really slow,” Gemma stammered, still tapping at her phone. “I don't have any signal.”
“Then we're doing this the hard way,” Kay said, staring straight ahead at the town as the plane continued to tilt. “Just stay calm, Gemma. We're smart. We're resourceful. We're two smart, resourceful girls. And I swear to you, we are going to save everyone and land this fucking plane!”
Chapter Forty-Three
“I can hear people screaming down the street!” Javier shouted as he and Emma hurried across the plaza near the harbor. “It's all around, it's as if -”
Suddenly he heard a massive roaring sound, and he turned just in time to see an Air Mallaca plane rushing upside-down across the town. He felt the turbulence as the plane passed directly overhead, and then he watched in wide-eyed horror as the plane crashed down just a few blocks away. The ground shook, knocking him off his feet, and a huge explosion sent a fireball mushrooming up into the sky.
Stumbling to his feet, too shocked to know what to say, he saw thick plumes of black smoke rising from the crash-site.
“What the hell's going on?” he said, before realizing that Emma was nowhere around. He looked one way and then the other, and then finally he spotted her wandering slowly across the plaza while everyone else ran for cover.
Hurrying over, he grabbed her arm from behind and stepped around, and he immediately saw a dazed look in her eyes.
“I saw her,” she whispered, her voice filled with shock. “I swear, I just saw my...”
“We have to take cover,” Javier told her. “I don't know what's happening, but a plane just crashed!”
She opened her mouth to reply, and then she simply stared past him.
“What is it?” he asked, turning but not seeing anything. He glanced back at her. “There'll be time for this later. Everything's going to shit, we have to move! We can figure everything else out once we're out of here.”
He turned and began to lead her away, but she held his hand tight and refused to budge.
“What's wrong with you?” he shouted, turning back to her. “Ruth, I need you to stay focused and -”
“I saw my mother,” she said, still staring into the panicked crowd. “Just for a moment, but it was definitely her, just how I remember her. She was standing there, staring straight at me. It was almost as if she wanted me to go to her.” She paused, before stepping forward. “I have to see what she wants.”
“Your mother isn't there!” Javier snapped, grabbing her hand. “Your mother died a long time ago! You're just seeing things!”
“I want to go to her,” she replied, trying to pull free. “She's come back for me. I need to know what she wants.”
“We're getting out of this hellhole,” he said, instead forcing her to follow as he hurried across the plaza. People were screaming all around, and a moment later he spotted a soldier collapsing to the ground with one of the creatures slicing through his neck. “You were right,” he continued. “They weren't gone. They were just waiting for something, but what? It's like they all burst out at once. It's like they were waiting for some kind of signal.”
“Javier!” a voice yelled suddenly, and he turned to see that Merrie was racing toward him.
“We have to get out of here!” he told her.
“Those thing are all over the place,” she stammered breathlessly, “they're -”
Before she could finish, a round of machine-gun fire rang out, and the three of them turned to see that a soldier was desperately shooting at several creatures that were hanging from a nearby tree.
“There are too many of them,” Merrie continued. “There aren't enough soldiers.”
“We're going to take a boat,” Javier said, watching as more and more creatures attacked people over by the cafe. “We're going to take a boat and get off this island. It's the only way.”
“My mother,” Emma whispered, still misty-eyed and dazed. “I have to find her.”
“Your mother's dead,” he replied, dragging her toward the nearest jetty as Merrie followed. “I'm sorry, but you have to face facts.”
“How are we going to get any of these started?” Merrie asked.
“I know a thing or two about boats,” Javier explained, as he forced Emma into the nearest fishing boat and then jumped on-board after her. “If you can hot-wire a car, you can hot-wire one of these things.” He looked around for a moment, before turning to Merrie. “Hurry! Get the mooring cables free! Jump unwrap them and then jump on!”
Merrie nodded and rushed over to start work, while Javier made his way to the small wooden cubicle at the rear of the boat. Crouching down, he examined the ignition system for a moment and then he started removing one of the panels so that he could get to the cabling.
“It's going to be okay!” he shouted at Ruth, as she stood and stared at the increasing catastrophe and slaughter in the plaza. “We're getting out of here!”
He waited for an answer, but she was clearly lost in thought so instead he focused on untangling the wires beneath the ignition system.
“Just a few more seconds,” he muttered, even though he wasn't quite sure how to get started. “Damn it, why aren't these the proper colors?”
He fumbled, whispering curses under his breath, until finally – by some miracle – the engine suddenly started spluttering to life.
“We're ready to go!” he yelled, hurrying back onto the deck and looking up to make sure that Merrie was almost done with the rope. “Get -”
And then he froze as he saw the look on Merrie's face.
She was standing right next to the pile of ropes, which she'd almost finished untangling, but she seemed utterly terrified. Flames were rising high into the sky behind her, and people were screaming, and slowly several long black tendrils were flicking their way over her shoulder and onto the side of her face. A moment later, the bulbous head of one of the creatures came into view on the side of her neck.
“Don't move,” Javier said, stepping past Emma and then climbing back up onto the jetty. “I know how to kill them. They're flammable.”
“That doesn't really sound too useful right now,” Merrie said, her voice trembling with fear.
“It's going to be okay,” he continued, edging closer as the tendrils continued to explore Merrie's face and neck. The head section was now resting on her shoulder. “I'm going to get it off you in just a second, so just stay calm.”
Spotting some long, thin pieces of wood resting against a set of barrels nearby, he headed over and grabbed one to us as a weapon. His mind was racing, and he was trying to figure out exactly how he was going to get the thing off her body without causing her to get hurt.
“What does it want?” Merrie asked, with tears in her eyes. “It hasn't killed me yet, right? That's got to be a good sign.”
“Stay calm,” Javier said, glancing briefly at Emma and seeing her horrified expression, then turning to Merrie again. “Stay still. I've got this.”
Suddenly one of the tendrils slipped over to the corner of Merrie's mouth, causing her to cry out slightly.
In the plaza, people were still screaming, and a moment later a small explosion rocked the entire island.
“Get it off,” Merrie whispered. “Please.”
Without saying another word, Javier reached out with the piece of wood. As soon as he managed to touch one of the tendrils, however, the creature shuddered and began to emit a faint squealing sound.
Javier pulled back, and Merrie's eyes opened even wider with fear.
Another tendril slipped to the corner of her mouth.
“I'm going to get rid of it,” Javier whispered. “There's no need to -”
Before he could finish, one of the tendrils suddenly forced its way into Merrie's mouth. She gasped as the tendril rushed down the back of her throat, and then another tendril followed until the creature's knotted head was dangling from her lips.
“Get it off her!” Emma shouted from the boat. “Javier, do something!”
“I am!” he hissed, staring at the creature's head as he spotted a long slit that was periodically opening and closing, like a giant black eye.
Merrie let out a muffled cry, but already more tendrils were sliding into her mouth and one side of her neck was starting to bulge.
“This might hurt,” Javier explained, as he moved the piece of wood closer and prepared to hook it under the creature's head. “Only for a second, though. And then everything'll be -”
Suddenly the creature's head rushed up and into Merrie's mouth, disappearing quickly and drawing the remaining tendrils inside as well. Javier froze and watched as Merrie clutched her throat, gasping desperately for air as she took a step forward and then dropped to her knees.
“It's killing her!” Emma shouted.
“I...”
For a moment, Javier had no idea what to do.
Merrie gasped again, her eyes starting to turn bloodied as a large shape moved down through her throat, causing her neck to bulge at both sides now. And then, finally, she managed to get a gulp of air.
“Merrie,” Javier said cautiously, still not knowing how to help her, “you have to just stay still and not panic.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. There was blood on the side of her lip, however, from where one of the tendrils had dragged its barbed edge through her flesh.
“We're going to fix this,” Javier continued, looking down at her belly as he heard a loud gurgling sound. “I don't know how, but we're going to get that thing out of you.”
“Find Judy,” she gasped.
“What?”
“Find...” For a moment, she struggled to get any more words out. “Find Judy,” she continued, as tears trickled from her blood-red eyes. “Tell her I love her. Tell her I tried... to...”
“No,” Javier said, shaking his head, “you're going to tell her that. You're going to be fine and -”
Suddenly Merrie screamed as a tendril ripped out through her belly, and a second later another burst out through her chest. She clutched her throat, and in that moment a third tendril poked its way out just below her jawline.
“No!” Javier shouted. “Stop!”
“Tell her I never stopped looking,” Merrie gasped, tilting her head back. “Find her. Find... Judy...”
Before Javier could reply, Merrie's mouth opened and another tendril burst out, ripping her cheek open in the process. Then another tendril burst out from the side of her rib-cage, sending blood splattering across the jetty's wooden boards, then another tendril slipped out from the lower part of her belly and another from her -
Suddenly a shot rang out, blasting Merrie's head open and sending her dead body slumping to the ground with a heavy thud.
Startled, Javier turned and saw a teary-eyed Emma standing right next to him, holding up a gun that she'd found on the boat. She stared at Merrie's corpse as the tendrils continued to twist and wriggle, and then she fired several more times, blasting her in the belly until finally the tendrils stopped moving.
In the plaza, more people were screaming.
“I had to,” Emma said, her hand trembling as she passed the gun to Javier. “She was in agony. It was slicing her open from the inside.”
“I...”
He stared for a moment longer at Merrie's body, and then he turned to Emma.
“Come on,” she said, “we have to get out of here.”
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “If we find your sister, we'll tell her. I promise.”
He paused for a moment, filled with a growing sense of anger, and then he heard another scream nearby. Looking across the plaza, he saw a woman crumpling to the ground as two of the creatures sliced their tendrils into her body. For a few seconds Javier could only watch, horrified by what he was seeing, but finally he realized he could hear his name being called over and over.
“Javier!” Emma yelled. “We have to go!”
Stumbling to his feet, he took one final look down at Merrie and then he hurried to the boat. The engine was still running, so he quickly grabbed the wheel and began to steer away from the jetty. The sea was a little rough so close to shore, but he drove for a few minutes before finally deeming it safe enough to stop and look back over his shoulder.
The boat dipped and then rose on the choppy waters as another explosion rocked the shore nearby.
“It's not stopping,” he said, watching the carnage with a horrified expression. “If anything, I think it's actually getting worse.”
All he could see from the boat, from a couple of hundred meters away from the shore, was death and destruction. People were still screaming and running all along the plaza area, all along the road that ran past the harbor. Occasional bursts of gunfire could be heard in the distance, while thick black smoke continued to rise from several spots further back from the town.
“It's not just here.”
Turning, he saw that she was checking her phone.
“It's everywhere,” she continued. “Those creatures are suddenly showing up in America, all over Europe, in Russia and Australia. Japan. China. It's almost as if they all rose up at once, but how's that possible?”
“Are they sending more soldiers to stop them?” he asked.
She tapped at her phone again, before furrowing her brow.
“It's stopped working.”
“Let me see.” Hurrying across to the other side of the boat, he grabbed the phone and tried to reload the page. When that didn't work, he checked the settings, and then he tried his own phone.