Sinister Shadows

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ‘What shall we make everyone today?’ Emma asked her son.

  ‘Can we make Pizza?’ replied Riley, he was almost nine and if he had his way they would have pizza every night for the rest of their life. Emma laughed, gave his hand a squeeze and headed through the doorway into the cookhouse.

  ***

  Matthews typed the coordinates into the third and final truck and waited. It took a moment for the trucks computer system to successfully accept the information he had just entered. ‘Great,’ he sighed, allowing himself a half smile. The trucks mapping system was limited to how far the drones on this base had been sent, for it could only allow him to plot courses within its field of knowledge. Thankfully, the drones had gone near enough to the base for Matthews to pick a landmark he knew. It was the big ugly ass rock north of the base. They had spotted the alien hounds gathering there from time to time. Matthews would just have to leave a sign for them out there so they would know where to go. The chances that the civilians could drive one of these bulky cross-country trucks with the tracks instead of wheels was highly unlikely, which was why he had programmed every single auto-pilot to take the trucks to the intended destination. It was a failsafe plan. All he had to do was get the survivors into the trucks, and they would get to the meeting point.

  Matthews backed out of the tight confines of the truck's cab.

  A bright white light consumed his vision.

  Something sucked him backwards.

  Unconsciously, he reached out into the light, but his arms did not exist.

  It felt like gravity was swallowing him.

  Shiva was stood in front of him, holding his shoulders.

  ‘What the fuck happened?’ Matthews gasped, trying to catch his breath.

  ‘They killed you,’ replied Shiva, wearing a mask of concern on her face.

  ‘Who killed me?’

  ‘The infected ones killed you.’

  ***

  Doug stood in shocked silence, his eyes transfixed on the bloody wrench that had just caved in the back of Craig’s skull. Craig was lying motionless on the garage floor, a pool of blood spreading beneath his limp body. Doug was sure he could see part of his brain leaking out of the horrific wound. When Lopez had told him that Craig was up to something he thought they were going to have a word with him, scare him back into being one of the team. Not for a single second did Doug think they were going to murder Craig. Lopez hadn’t even hesitated. He had put Craig down with a single blow to the head.

  Lopez turned to Doug.

  Doug could feel a rock in his stomach.

  Was he going to get killed too?

  ‘Help me hide the body,’ said Lopez, tossing the bloody wrench to one side.

  ***

  Matthews' head was pounding from the inside out. He stood with one hand pressed up against the imaginary wound. It felt like someone had whacked him good and proper, but there was no physical injury to his body. ‘The pain in your head will pass in a few minutes,’ explained Shiva, sidestepping to the next illuminated mirror. ‘Lopez had a brief interaction with Craig’s girlfriend. The one you told to get ready to leave.’

  ‘Did they kill her?’ asked Matthews.

  ‘No. Not yet.’

  ‘Good,’ replied Matthews. It was strange to feel something for a woman he hardly knew. He didn’t even know her god damn name, but he had fucked her. He had shared an intimate moment with an incredible woman who had such a lovely aura about her. ‘What options do I have now? Can I go back?’

  ‘Yes, but the only two people not infected is a three-month-old baby and a nine-year-old.’

  ‘How am I supposed to stop two grown men in the body of children?’

  Shiva replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

  ‘You are a smart man. You will think of something.’

  Matthews took a deep breath, still cradling his head. ‘I will take over the boy.’

  ***

  Her mind was made up. Kimberly knew it was a risk, but what option did she have? An invisible being was making her son do strange things, but another invisible being had told her that a strange medication in an alien syringe would stop the invisible beings from being able to talk to people. The whole thing was fucked up. It was like a story constructed by a madman, but what else could she do? Kimberly couldn’t sleep. The fear of losing her son again was too much.

  She approached the bedroom door with Gabriel’s syringe in her hand.

  She opened the metal door and stepped inside her son’s room.

  Time stood still.

  Christopher was gone.

  ‘Not again,’ muttered Kimberly, stepping into the room and checking behind the door. She ducked down and looked beneath the bed. She threw open the cupboard doors and found nothing within. Her feet thumped on the floor as she charged through their home, going room by room. ‘CHRISTOPHER! CHRISTOPER! CHRISTOPER! WHERE ARE YOU?’ Her voice cut through the silence of the night. Eventually, Kimberly found herself back at the airlock. Her son’s spacesuit was gone. ‘Why does this keep happening to my family?’

  ***

  High winds and waves of fine sand fought against Trent, as he trudged across the compound. The base was situated high on a cliff face, only minutes from the sea front, which meant the winds were much stronger here. He had to activate the gravity clamp on the space suits boots. It made it feel like he was wearing iron shoes as he walked. The gravity clamp wasn’t a pleasant experience as it exhausted every muscle in his leg, but the boots would keep him planted like a tree with deep-seated roots so that the strong winds wouldn’t blow him away. Trent looked up at the thirty-foot satellite dish at the very top of the cliff. That was his destination, but it would take nearly an hour with the gravity boots on to get there.

  ‘Trent, approaching from behind,’ Lopez’s voice crackled in his earpiece.

  Trent looked back at Lopez, annoyance swept over him.

  ‘Where are Doug and Craig?’

  ‘They are both sick,’ he replied.

  ‘Fucking marvellous,’ grumbled Trent. The job would take three times as long with just the two of them working on the communications dish.

  ***

  It took a moment for Matthews to absorb his new surroundings. Unconsciously, he held up the small child’s hands and looked down at the body he now controlled. He was a kid and a very young kid at that. Everything looked a lot bigger from down here. Matthews was in a long kitchen where every side and cabinet was silver. A beautiful redheaded woman was chopping up something by the kitchen counter. Matthews was stood by an open fridge.

  ‘The tomatoes, honey?’ prompted the woman, clearly the kid's mum.

  ‘Oh, right,’ said Matthews, in a squeaky voice.

  He grabbed the tomatoes out of the fridge and headed back to the woman. His eyes caught sight of a sign advertising a play zone for kids and an arrow pointing to the left of the open door. Matthews delivered the tomatoes and then stood still for a long moment. What did he do now? How could he convince this lady that they were all in danger? Was that even the best cause of action? If he could get to a weapons cabinet, his peace officer command code would allow him access. He would be able to deal with the murderers on his own, was that the best cause of action?

  ‘You okay, honey?’ asked the mum.

  ‘Y-yes,’ replied Matthews, ‘Can I go to the play zone?’

  ‘I thought you wanted to help me cook today?’ she replied, raising an eyebrow.

  Matthew’s replied by shrugging his shoulders.

  ‘Fine,’ the woman sighed, ‘but only the play zone, don’t go wondering off, promise?’

  ‘Promise,’ he lied.

  ***

  ‘You are one heavy fucking bastard,’ grunted Doug, as he manhandled Craig’s lifeless corpse into the metal container. This was the easy part. Lifting and dragging the dead weight across the garage had taken a lifetime and left him hot and sweaty. Craig’s body fell into the metal box with a loud clang. Doug glanced around, nervously. It was just to dou
ble check no one was watching him. He then lifted the metal lid back into place. ‘That will do for now.’

  ‘And now what will you do?’ whispered a voice in the back of his mind.

  Doug spun around, half-expecting to find someone stood behind him.

  ‘Who said that?’

  ‘I know what you want. I know who you want.’ A mental image of Trent’s wife appeared big and bright within his mind’s eye. An overwhelming desire to have her swam through his body. ‘You could have her, you know? Trent is gone. Lopez will kill him soon enough. She is alone. You could fuck her tight little pussy as hard as you want. No one will stop you.’

  Doug licked his lips, for some reason that thought was very intoxicating.

  ‘I could, couldn’t I?’ he replied to the invisible voice.

  ‘Yes, you could.’

  Without a moment’s hesitation, Doug rushed off towards the mess hall.

  ***

  Kimberly ran by the row of rectangular huts and headed straight for the main command building. The winds had yet to damage the little footprints imprinted in the dirt. Christopher had come this way. A couple of people were using a blowtorch to repair some damage to the side of one of the buildings, but most of the internal lights of the compound were off. It was an energy saving idea, but there weren't that many people left on the base anymore. The place didn’t need to be lit up like a Christmas tree. Kimberly reached the airlock of the main building. The computer terminal explained that depressurisation was already in progress and she would have to wait. She peered through the little window in the centre of the door. Christopher was stood there in his spacesuit smiling at her. What was he doing?

  ***

  Trent crawled on all fours, as he fought against the increasing incline and the howling winds. A pickaxe dug chunks out of the hard rocky surface of the planet, as he anchored himself. A hand was reached out towards Lopez. He was struggling with the harsh conditions, too, but pretended as if he didn’t see the extended hand of help. Trent gave it a moment and then looked beyond Lopez at the base below. All he could see was a wall of sand blocking his view. The base was completely concealed. It was why the communication dish was so vitally important. A passing search craft wouldn’t even spot the base in these horrid conditions. The winds coming off from the ocean hadn’t stopped for a moment. If there was ever going to be a chance for the rescue they needed to get the communication dish fully operational.

  ***

  Matthews grunted as he struggled to pick up the crowbar from the floor. It seemed like some a natural thing to do, but this tiny body didn’t have the strength needed to use it as a weapon. In the end, he resorted to stuffing a screwdriver into the belt of his spacesuit. Matthews had intended to go out locked and loaded with an array of firepower, but someone had managed to break into the weapons cabinet. All the guns had gone. Those cabinets were supposed to be unbreakable, but the control unit had been hacked, which meant the bad guys most likely had the weapons he was after. Matthews looked out the window as he rushed along one of the corridors, trying to find an airlock. A storm was raging outside, but a row of glow sticks had been placed in the dirt, disappearing off into the shadows. That must be where the others had gone, too.

  ***

  ‘Doug!’ Emma blurted out his name, as she turned in the kitchen, coming face to face with him. She left out a nervous laugh, he smiled. ‘You scared the life out of me. I didn’t even hear you come in.’

  ‘Sorry about that,’ he replied, without feeling the slightest bit sorry.

  Emma grabbed a handful of ingredients from the cupboard and returned to the big silver pot that was boiling on the stove. Doug’s couldn’t stop his eyes even if he wanted too. Emma was gorgeous. He had often thought about what it would feel like to fuck her.

  ‘You can fuck her,’ whispered the voice in his ear.

  Doug looked around, but still, it was just the two of them in the large empty kitchen.

  ‘How come you are not with the others?’

  ‘I have to grab some equipment, but I thought I would grab something to eat.’

  ‘Well, help yourself. You men need your strength,’ she said, wearing that sweet smile.

  ‘Can’t you see how desperate she wants it?’

  Doug nodded his head, as his eyes focused purely on Emma’s bum. It looked good.

  ‘Can I help you with anything?’ he asked her, inching himself forward.

  Emma thought about it for a second. ‘I think I have everything under control here.’

  ‘She is gagging for your cock. Give it to her.’

  The fires of temptation roared within his soul, as seedy little eyes mapped out every curve on the young woman’s body. Emma didn’t suspect a thing, as she lifted the spoon to her lips and tasted the food that she was cooking. Doug’s heart rate increased by the second, as hardness set in within his pants. The thought of fucking Emma was overwhelming. Could he really do it? Trent was about to die anyway. There would be no one capable of stopping him from having her.

  ***

  Kimberly followed the muddy steps through the corridors of the main building. She stopped outside of an open door and looked up at a sign nailed to the wall. It read, “Generator Room.” She pressed her hand to the door, pushing it open and peered down into the gloom. Dim yellow lights offered hardly any illumination. Kimberly swallowed down the lump in her throat and made her way down the stairs. Kimberly could already feel the powerful throb of vibrations from the generators that powered the base and electric fence. She could hear the constant hum of the machines at work. Somewhere down here was her son, but she dreaded to know what he had planned. Her fingers tapped the pouch on her belt. The syringe that Gabriel had given her was still in there. Once she found her son, then she would waste no time in applying the drug. His strange behaviour had to stop. She just wanted him to come home and be safe.

  ***

  Time felt slower with the howling winds attempting to batter them this way and that. Trent typed in commands to the satellite's system, whilst checking his watch on regular occasions. They had been up here for over forty minutes now, but they had achieved something finally. The communication satellite had managed to gain contact with the emergency beacon sitting in orbit above the planet. It was standard procedure for any ship to launch a dozen beacons during emergency situations. It would still require a great deal of work to get the beacons to connect with the nearest colony, but it was a start. It didn’t help that the storm made the connection so weak, uploading simple commands took nearly twenty minutes.

  Trent was totally oblivious to Lopez.

  Lopez was stood behind Trent, holding the handgun he had taken from the weapons locker.

  He raised the gun to the back of Trent’s head.

  This would remove one problem.

  ‘FUCK!’ Lopez screamed out, as an agonising pain exploded in his thigh. Trent spun around, as Lopez looked down at the screwdriver sticking out of his leg. Trent’s kid was stood beside him, trying to yank the screwdriver back out. ‘YOU LITTLE FUCKING, FUCK!’ It took a long moment for Trent to process what was happening. Why was his son here? How did he get all the way up here on his own? Why was Lopez holding a gun? Trent stepped forward, but Lopez pointed the gun at the boy’s head. ‘Don’t fucking move or I swear to God I will blow his fucking brains out.’ Trent froze in mid-stride.

  ***

  Doug had never felt such power in all his life. Emma had scratched his face to pieces. He could feel the warm touch of his own blood, dropping down his face, but he didn’t care. This had been so much fun. She had fought so hard to stop him, but he was too strong, too determined. Wide eyes were practically popping out of Emma’s head, as two strong hands gripped her throat as tight as Doug could possibly grip her. Emma gagged for air that never came. Doug could feel her internal muscles gripping the shaft of his manhood. She felt so tight. A deep guttural sound came out of his mouth, as his penis erupted with the overwhelming sensation of satisfaction and ultimate blis
s. Fear and disgust swirled in Emma’s eyes, as she felt him climaxing into her body. Thankfully, death swept in a moment later, stealing her away from this world.

  ***

  Silent steps approached the boy, as he merrily typed away on the computer console attached to the main generator. ‘I am nearly finished, Mummy,’ he said, without looking back, which momentarily threw Kimberly. She quickly composed herself, grabbed him firmly by the top of the right arm and jabbed the syringe through his space suit and into his skin. Christopher yelled out as if he had been stung by a bee. And then the generator stopped. All the generators stopped. The constant hum faded into nothing. The lights went out, replaced by the dull red glow of the emergency lighting. ‘We should go now, Mummy,’ replied the boy, rubbing his arm.

  ***

  Tracy and Charlie watched the blue glow of the electric fence wink out of existence, leaving nothing but a colourful after image across their eyes. Every single light in the base ahead of them shut off, as the array of buildings disappeared into the gloom of the planet. Only the headlights of their truck offered any illumination.

  ‘It is just as Shiva said it would be,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Tracy, setting her watch. ‘We have ten minutes then we are out of here.’

  ‘That doesn’t leave us much time.’

  ‘No, but we don’t want to be here when the other one arrives.’

  ‘Right,’ he nodded a reply, as the truck sped towards the nearest airlock.

  ***

  Melanie fumbled with her spacesuit, as Jimmy waited to hand her the helmet. There was something very frightening about the red warning lights. It was as if the colour of the light inspired a sense of danger deep within the core of Melanie’s soul. Her heart was racing at ninety miles an hour, her mouth was dry. She was acting on pure instinct, but she didn’t have a clue what to do. Omar had left her in charge when he had disappeared out on the mission he still hadn’t returned from. Peace Officer Matthews was the next obvious person to place in charge, but none of the Peace Officer’s had been seen in days. People kept randomly disappearing or turning up dead, and now this had happened. Melanie never wanted to be in charge. She never asked for this. She didn’t even know what to do.