The Monster
Page 8
will help you--_won't_ you,Fenwick?"
There was an urgent emphasis in Trent's last words, and his eyes caughtthose of the surgeon's, and held them in a meaningful look. He couldn'tsay what he wanted to, but the message in his eyes was imparted toFenwick, and the doctor suddenly nodded.
"Yes--yes, of course ... But you'll have to remain quiet, Gaddon, and bepatient a moment...."
The creature stopped its advance upon Fenwick then. And a growl rumbledin Gaddon's animal throat.
Then Fred watched as the doctor stepped swiftly to a table withinstruments and hurriedly began to prepare a hypodermic.
"I'll give you a special extract injection to start...." Fenwickexplained as he worked.
And Trent knew that the doctor was preparing an injection that wouldsubdue the monster. That would enable them to call the police....
And the eyes of Gaddon watched the fingers of the surgeon prepare thehypodermic. And for a single moment the human part of Gaddon's monstermind relaxed its tenacious hold.
* * * * *
There was a rumble of raging thought deep within his twisted brain. Itswept up, gripped the human element, and enveloped it. A hoarse mewingsound left the twisted lips as the mind became a single, bestial thing.
And now it thought with a viciousness. It knew now that it was finallyin control. That the full change had been completed. And it knewsuddenly what it wanted.
Its animal eyes stared at the three humans. And it felt a hatred for themen who did not understand it. And it felt a desire for the woman whofeared it. A desire that crept out of the primeval jungles. That sweptthrough it to find one of its kind. And there was the vague instinctthat was Gaddon, who told it how to fulfill that desire. Gaddon, whoknew where the secret lay.
And then there was the driving urge that swept up from the animal ages.The urge to kill, to destroy what was hated. And the eyes of the monsterfastened on the figure of Fenwick as the doctor turned from the table,the hypodermic in his hand.
"All right, Gaddon ..."
The voice of Fenwick trailed off. And Fred Trent stared at the face ofthe monster. What he saw there brought a chill to his being. And heheard the girl gasp from the far corner of the room, as her eyes too sawthe change that had spread over the face of the creature.
For there was no longer any vestige of human recognition in that face.There was no longer any trace of the man who had been Gaddon. There wasonly the monster now. The twisted, leering lips of an animal mind.
A harsh growl left those lips then and the creature moved forward towardthe surgeon.
Trent knew what was happening, and he knew what he must do. There wasdeath on that bestial face. Death that was reaching out ...
He heard the dim baying of the Great Dane from the rear of the house ashe leaped forward.
Then his fist lashed out and caught the animal face in a lashing blow.His knuckles felt numb as he screamed:
"The hypodermic--doctor--quick!"
Then the creature turned on him and a long arm shot out. Trent felt aclaw rake across his face and felt the burning bite of that claw sinkinto his flesh. Then, as he tried to dodge away from the beast and bringhis fist up again, the monster leaped at him and Trent felt a powerfulblow crash against his chin.
He spun back, falling to the floor, his head hitting the edge of anexamining table. His senses reeled and he felt the blood running downhis cheek, a warm, sticky stream that dripped to the floor.
He fought to keep his consciousness as he saw the beast turn away fromhim, satisfied that he was out of the way. Then he saw it leap at thestunned figure of Fenwick.
He heard the girl scream in terror and he saw Fenwick's arm come up withthe hypodermic. He saw the doctor try to bring the needle down in a jab,but the monster's arm swept the needle aside and then a claw-like handgripped Fenwick's throat.
There was a gasp of terror from Fenwick's lips as those fingers closedaround his neck. Then the hypodermic fell from his nerveless hand and hefought to break away.
A deep rumbling growl spat from the lips of the monster as it closedwith the struggling figure of Fenwick. Then the claws that were itshands raked the surgeon's throat in a feline rage.
Trent watched with numbed eyes, fighting back the wave of blackness thatthreatened to overcome him, and he saw the figure of Fenwick suddenly golimp in the grip of the monster.
He saw a spurt of blood burst from the man's torn throat, and then thecreature dropped the limp body.
It fell to the floor, and a wave of red washed across the floor from themangled throat. The monster stood over the lifeless body, a triumphantsound issuing from its twisted lips.
Then it turned toward the girl.
Trent tried to move. He tried to push back the weakness that numbed hisbody. But he couldn't. His head swam with the pain of the blow he hadreceived, and he could only watch through half-closed eyes as themonster reached out for the girl.
Joan Drake screamed once as the long arms reached out for her. Then hervoice ended abruptly as she fell to the floor in a faint.
The monster stood over her for a moment, then it reached down and pickedup her body in its blood splattered-arms.
It turned for a moment, holding the girl, and shot a hate-filled glanceat Trent's limp figure.
Then it moved swiftly across the room and out into the hall.
And the baying of the Great Dane sounded angrily in Fred Trent's ears ...
* * * * *
With a superhuman effort Fred Trent forced the numbness from his bodyand moved slowly to his feet. A horror gripped him that brought a newstrength to his body, flooded it.
He stepped over the body of Fenwick, forcing his eyes away from thegrisly sight of it as he dashed to the hallway.
"Joan--_Joan_!"
The girl's name came hoarsely from his lips as he ran into the hall andstared at the open door of the house. He ran to the door and out intothe night.
His eyes stared wildly into the darkness, searching the street. But hesaw nothing but his parked car at the curb. The monster had vanished.And with him, the unconscious girl.
A hopeless despair welled up inside Trent at that moment. For he knew hecould never hope to find the creature now. And by the time help came itwould be too late. They would find Joan's mangled body ...
The baying of the Great Dane rang in his ears then. The huge dog's howlsof rage thundered in his ears and he heard the hound crash its greatbody against the closed door at the end of the hall, striving to getthrough.
And then a cry of hope left Trent's lips. He turned and ran back intothe house. He grabbed the long leash from its wall hook beside the reardoor and then he swung the door partway open.
"Brutus! Quiet, Brutus!"
The head of the Great Dane struggled through the partly opened door, asnarl of rage welling from the huge dog's mouth as Trent shouted at it.
Then he slipped the leash into its metal ring around the neck of the dogand pulled the door open.
The animal rushed into the hall, nearly tearing the leash from FredTrent's hands as it lunged forward.
The dog paused beside the open door of the consultation room where thebody of Fenwick lay dead and still on the floor. The animal lifted itsmuzzle and sniffed the air. A howl of anguished rage left it then andTrent knew that the dog sensed its master had been murdered. And then itcaught the scent of the monster, the thing that had caused its wild rageto be unleashed, and it leaped forward, down the hall and out the frontdoor into the night.
Trent held the leash tightly in his hands, running behind the strainingdog, jumping over a low hedge after the animal as it headed down theshadowed street to the edge of the city.
And then the last house was behind them and Trent was racing behind thedog out into the desert land beyond.
* * * * *
His breath was an aching fire in his throat. His legs were numbed beyondfeeling. They were parts of his body that simply refused t
o stop moving,though every nerve and muscle in them screamed in protest.
It seemed like he had been running for hours, half tripping, stumblingacross the darkened ground behind the seemingly tireless body of theGreat Dane.
They ran in near silence now. Only the sounds of their labored breathingmingled with the night wind. The howls of rage no longer issued from thethroat of the huge dog. There was only its panting breath, and thestrain of its mighty body as it sought to tear loose from the manholding it.
But Trent held grimly to the leash, running as fast as his numbed bodywould go.
And he knew he could not go much further. That soon he would drop to theground in exhaustion. That his last reserve of energy was nearly spent.
And then his eyes peered through the darkness ahead and he saw a glow oflights in the distance. And suddenly he knew those lights. And he becameaware of where they were racing toward.
It was the Rocket Proving Grounds!
And the fence of the government project loomed close ahead.
And as they neared the