Gretchen downed her vodka. “So what happened? You said the child was quarantined for decades.”
“He was indeed. Then he escaped about six months ago. I know because an old colleague of mine died during his escape. I could tell by the way the Government were trying to cover it up, blocking any attempts at investigation, that the child – now a man – had escaped. I also knew what else that meant. That the End had arrived.”
“But it didn’t. We’re still alive, and so are you.”
“For now, yes. But the infection was only put on this earth to thin our numbers. For whatever reason, something wants our planet. For terraforming or mining, who knows? But they have thinned our number sufficiently, and now they are here to take their prize.”
Gretchen hated to admit it, but it kind of made sense. If aliens ever arrived, it would make no sense to attack us with ships and guns. They would, by their very nature, be more advanced than humans. They would have far better means to destroy the planet’s inhabitants – biological means. Humans didn’t fight cockroaches with guns, they used gas; contaminated the very air they breathed.
“So what do we do?” asked Colin.
Logan laughed and took a sip from his whisky. “We wait to die, my friend. We wait to die.”
Nobody dared to leave the building, or even go off alone to their rooms. The bellowing growls continued out in the woods and they all knew it would only be a matter of time before whatever was making them came closer.
Bryan, the carpenter, had assembled a team that was checking the existing barricades and trying to construct new ones. The chairs and tables from the lounge had been cannibalised for that purpose. By the time they were done, several hours later, dawn had arrived and the growling had stopped.
“Do you hear that?” asked Gretchen.
Colin shook his head. “No.”
“Exactly. The growling has stopped.”
“You think they’re gone away.”
Gretchen shook her head slowly. “Not at all, but perhaps we just discovered that they’re nocturnal. Maybe on their planet it’s always dark.”
“How does that help us?” asked Bryan, hammer in hand.
Colin nodded and smiled, catching Gretchen’s drift. “Because they would have evolved to suit their planet. They won’t be anything like us – the odds are far too astronomical. If their planet is dark, then their eyes will be underdeveloped. We might be able to use light to our advantage.”
Bryan sniffed. “I’ll make sure we have fires ready to burn at a moment’s notice.” He walked off.
“You think we can fight back?” asked Colin. “If we really are facing something from another world.”
Gretchen shook her head. “I think we’re screwed. Something evolved enough to travel the universe and engineer a planet-killing virus will have no problem taking out a few stragglers.”
“Oh dear.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m going to just lie down and take it, though. It’s in our nature as human beings to fight, so that’s just what we’re going to do.”
“You’re damn right we are,” said David, approaching with a pool cue in his hands. “Anything tries to zap me with a ray gun will get a cue full of chalk dust up their arses.”
Colin giggled. “I’d like to see that.”
David patted Colin on the back. “Let’s find you a pool cue of your own and we can play doubles on their butt cracks.”
Gretchen rubbed at her eyes. Since awakening last night, nobody had slept. It was beginning to take its toll and the back of her eyelids felt fuzzy and her mind kept spacing out for brief seconds. If they were about to be attacked by an alien clean-up crew, she felt in no fit state to fight them – but the situation was out of her control. As she looked around, she could see that everyone else was on the edge of their own sanity thresholds. Rather than strengthen them as human beings, the stress and hardships of the last few months had in fact weakened them to the point of emotional collapse. None of them could endure much more.
Perhaps the visitors know that. Maybe they’ve been hanging in the air waiting for just the right time to descend and finish us off.
She caught Groves, the resident chef, as he went to walk past. “Hey, Jamie. Can you go and get as much food as you can from the restaurant; I think we could all do with a big feast this afternoon.”
Groves huffed. “You mean a last meal? Anyway, I’m not stepping outside with those things out there.”
“It will be alright. We won’t see them until dark.”
“How can you be sure of that?”
“I can’t, but if they are going to get us at daylight then we’re screwed anyway as we’re all standing around in a huddle waiting to be picked off.”
Groves cleared his throat. “Okay, fine. I’ll get what I can, but one sound I don’t like and I’m straight back in here.”
Gretchen smiled. “Of course. No one’s asking you to endanger yourself.”
“Yeah right.” The man walked away, heading for the lobby and car park.
It was then that Gretchen realised that since Pritchett had died, no one had taken up watch on top of the ambulance. She knew that nobody would volunteer to go outside.
Guess it will have to be me then.
She checked in with a few more of the survivors and informed them that she was going to take watch. They all told her she was crazy, but they also seemed a little glad to have somebody out there keeping guard.
Not that I can do anything other than yell that we’re all about to die.
Gretchen headed outside into the cold and this time welcome the crisp weather. It snapped her senses back into focus and stopped her mind from feeling so fuzzy. If there was a chance she might die soon, she wanted to take in every breath and enjoy it.
To her surprise, Logan came out after her, shouting for her to wait up. She turned to face him and was confused as to his presence.
He swished a bottle of Bell’s whiskey about in his hand and then swigged directly from the bottle. “Need company?” he asked.
“From you? No thank you.”
“Well, tough. I’m coming. I want to see the thing responsible for our deaths before one bites my head off. I’d rather face it head on.”
“Seems like the only thing you like to face head on is a bottle of scotch.”
Logan looked at the bottle and nodded. He threw it to the ground where it rolled beneath a parked car. “Guess I could use a break. Heavy thoughts make a heavy drinker, you know?”
Gretchen shook her head and carried on walking, tired of arguing. “I’m not surprised you’re a drunk. You knew about this and told no one.”
“Who would have believed me? The government would have shot me dead as soon as I made the mistake of walking down a dark alleyway. Just because I had the knowledge, didn’t mean I could do anything with it.”
“When this whole thing started people would have listened to you.”
“By then it was already too late. The virus is unstoppable once it gets into the population. The only thing that saved any of us is that there seems to be some random percentage of immunity. I was as staggered as anyone to be included in that small percentage. I guess part of me hoped that the virus would be all there was too it, but deep down I knew there was more. Guess the drinking made it easier to kid myself.”
Gretchen climbed the ladder set up against the ambulance and took to the roof. Logan followed.
“What were you doing before you came upon us, Logan? Where had you been for the weeks before?”
Logan shrugged. “Just wandering, really. I had a sister but she caught the Peeling. I had nobody else; not even a home I was proud of. Walking the roads seemed like the best thing to do. Keep moving, keep surviving. We’re just like the nomadic tribes that made up the dawn of mankind now. All of our fineries are gone and all that’s left is the animal underneath. The things I saw, Gretchen, on the road.” He shook his head in disgust. “Maybe it’s better if we’re extinguished. Maybe that’s the reason why. Ou
r violent nature.”
Gretchen chewed at her lip, watched the treeline across the road and saw birds. “Maybe you’re right. The Peeling didn’t affect any other species. Maybe whoever dumped the virus on us just want to restore the balance.”
“Then that gives me a little hope; that at least the earth will go on, even without us.”
Gretchen nodded. “Me too. But you know, it will only take two to survive. If this alien clean-up crew misses just one man and one woman, then the human race has as much chance as it ever did.”
“From small acorns grow mighty oaks. That brings me hope to. Maybe somebody will make it – a new Adam and Eve.”
“Let’s just hope they do a better job of it than the last pair.”
“Amen to that.”
The sun receded behind the horizon and the moon rose to take its place. Logan still shared the top of the ambulance with Gretchen but the old man had been sleeping for the last two hours. During that time, Gretchen had kept her eyes focused on the treeline. There had been no movement, no sound.
About an hour ago, Bryan came out to let her know that they were going to cook dinner and have the feast she had suggested. She had declined her invitation; she didn’t feel like eating.
Now she sat silently, watching the sun disappear and knowing that she might never see it again.
The glowing green light appeared inside the forest again, illuminating the gloom of the canopy. Minutes later the bellowing growls resumed.
This time the growling seemed to be on the move. It was coming their way.
“Logan, wake up. Logan, wake the hell up.”
Logan spluttered, opened his eyes. “W-what is it?”
“Shake off your hangover. I think they’re coming.”
Logan stared at her blearily for a second, before cottoning on to what she meant – and who they were. He shot bolt upright. “Where are they?”
Gretchen pointed. “Don’t you hear them? They’re coming through the woods.”
Logan stared across the road at the trees. After a moment he took a big swallow and nodded. “Oh shit.”
“That’s putting it mildly. Come on, we have to get to the others.”
Logan stood up, but made no attempt to leave the roof of the ambulance.
“Will you come on,” Gretchen urged.
“I have to see them. I want to know what it is that’s been watching us for so long.”
“You’re insane.”
“Don’t you understand? For millennia man has wondered if we are alone. We are about to set eyes upon a mystery that has kept humanity awake for its entire history. We are about to witness beings far superior to ourselves. We are about to transcend.”
“You transcend all you want. I’m getting off this fucking ambulance.”
Gretchen threw herself down the ladder and beat a hasty retreat towards the hotel. The growling from the woods continued getting louder. The moon rose higher in the sky.
The other survivors were all assembled in the lobby when Gretchen flew through the entrance doors. They had obviously heard the ominous growling and had been waiting to see what night would bring.
Colin shook his head, his eyes bloodshot. “They’re coming, aren’t they?”
Gretchen said nothing, just nodded.
Bryan, the carpenter, took the floor. “Everyone grab their weapons. We’re safe inside this hotel, but let’s be ready to defend ourselves against any unwanted attention. We’ve survived this long, no need for anyone to give up now.”
Gretchen nodded at Bryan, a silent ‘thank you’ for keeping everybody focused.
He walked over to Gretchen. “Have you seen anything?”
“No, but I know they’re coming. I could hear them moving through the woods in this direction.”
“Any ideas? We need to take a stand.”
“How do you take a stand against something you don’t understand?”
Bryan shrugged. “By being ready for anything.” He went over to the empty reception desk and took a golf club from the top of it. “Found this in one of the empty rooms. Hope you know how to swing it.”
Gretchen took the graphite shaft. “I’ve been known to hit a few.”
“Good. Let’s hope they have soft heads.”
There was the sound of crunching metal outside, from the car park. Gretchen and Bryan headed across the lobby and peered through the doors.
The ambulance had been tipped onto its side and had slid almost a dozen feet closer to the hotel. Its rear doors were open and the gurney from inside had spilled halfway out. Logan was nowhere to be seen.
Then he appeared at the doors, his bloody hands pressed up against the glass. Half his face was missing as if torn off by barbed wire.
“They’re magnificent…” he moaned, before collapsing to the ground and dying.
Those still standing in the lobby screamed.
“Calm down,” Bryan shouted. “We’re all together and we’re fine. No one panic.”
“Don’t panic?” someone said. “Logan has half of his face missing. What can do something like that?”
There was an almighty roar that shook the lobby’s windows in their frames. There was movement in the shadows of the car park and the sounds of heavy footsteps – like a stomping elephant.
“It sounds like a herd of elephants out there,” said Bryan. “Shouldn’t they be little green men or something?”
Gretchen shrugged. “I think anything we imagined about aliens is very wrong. If they come from a planet with more gravity than us then they would be larger and heavier.
Groves raced down the main staircase, holding a flaming mop in his hands. He put the torch against a bin full of rubbish and set it alight. “We have fires set up all around. Hopefully the light will keep them away.”
Gretchen nodded. “Good idea. Make sure they’re all lit.”
There were more sounds of the parked vehicles outside being pushed around by something monumentally strong.
Everyone regrouped at the bottom of the stairs, standing beside the bin full of flaming debris. The shadows continued to shift and swirl outside, something moving but unseen stalking the survivors.
Bryan returned with his flaming mop. The stench of faded bleach burning made Gretchen turn away. Once she was used to the smell, she took the torch from Bryan.
“What do you want with it?” said Bryan. “We have fires burning at all of the downstairs entrances as well as one in the lounge. We need to keep an eye on them all; last thing we want is to burn ourselves down.”
Gretchen took the torch over to the entrance. The flames illuminated Logan’s corpse. “I’m going to see if I can get a look at what’s out there.”
“That’s crazy,” said Bryan. “Stay away from the doors.”
“I need to know what we’re up against.”
Gretchen didn’t know why she was so determined to step outside, but something inside of her was tired of hiding. She wanted to face death head on; to finally say that she had had enough.
Gretchen shoved open one of the double doors of the entrance and slowly slid out into the courtyard. The roaring had stopped and no more vehicles were being shoved around. Something was still nearby, though; she could sense it.
Something flashed by in front of her, silvery scales peeking out of the darkness for a brief second. Gretchen tracked the movement with her torch, but it had been too quick.
Something else moved up ahead. Again she caught a glimpse of silvery scales beneath the moonlight. An important decision presented itself: whether to step back towards the hotel, or whether to venture forwards into the car park.
Despite what her thundering heartbeat suggested, Gretchen took a step forwards.
Something swopped past the back of her. She flinched and took another step forward. A low growl made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
“Gretchen!” It was Bryan shouting. “Get back in here.”
What the hell am I doing out here? Bryan’s right, I need to get the hell
back inside.
Gretchen turned around, holding the torch out in front of her.
As the cone of light around the flame moved, the darkness parted and illuminated the creature standing between Gretchen and the hotel.
Gretchen screamed. The thing in front of her blinked a reptilian eye the size of a basketball on a head the size of a Toyota.
An unseen appendage cut through the air and struck the torch from Gretchen’s hands. She fell backwards on to her rump and dropped the golf club that she had forgotten she even had.
Surrounded by darkness, Gretchen could see nothing but the glint of moonlit scales as the huge beast towered over her. She felt its fetid breath beat down on her like an intermittent gale. She could sense the beat of its mighty heart within its cavernous chest.
The creature bellowed. Gretchen closed her eyes, frozen to the ground.
There was the sound of something being struck multiple times. Gretchen heard human voices followed by the inhuman growl of the beast.
Gretchen opened her eyes.
David and Bryan ran over to her and grabbed her under the arms. “Looks like you need a hand, you daft cow,” said David.
The two men dragged her towards the hotel while a handful of other survivors – including Groves and Colin – proceeded to beat at the creature with a variety of make-shift weapons. The blows seemed to have little effect, but they at least distracted the enemy while David and Bryan got Gretchen out of there.
People held the doors open while Gretchen leapt through them and skidded to her knees on the tiles. David yanked her back up, before tuning and going back to the doorway. Groves and Colin were still outside.
The two men yelled outside in the courtyard as they continued fighting the monster. The monster replied with a rumbling growl so loud that it made Gretchen’s head ache.
“We have to help them,” she cried.
But it was too late. The ear-piercing scream that suddenly ripped through the air was proof enough that Groves and Colin were beyond help. Two seconds later, their screams halted and silence reigned.
Everyone left alive inside the lobby stood around in silence, glancing at one another nervously. The burning bin in the centre of the room cast dancing shadows across each of their stark white faces.
The World's Last Breaths: Final Winter, Animal Kingdom, and The Peeling Page 69