by Ike Hamill
She swung her stick again as she prayed that the kids would be safe. Hopefully, they were halfway to the cemetery.
Chapter 45 : Dunn
[ Joined ]
VERNON TURNED AT THE sound of footsteps. He recognized the man, but didn’t put a name to the face. He hated that feeling.
“He’s marked,” April whispered.
Vernon saw Katrina Prescott behind the guy. She was jogging to catch up.
“Stay back,” Vernon warned the young man.
“Marked,” April whispered again.
The guy kept coming. Vernon’s brain clicked on the name—Gerard Dingus. Still, having a name didn’t make Vernon any less wary.
“You stay back,” Vernon said. He pointed his finger.
“Vernon,” Trina said.
“We’ve got our own troubles,” Vernon said. He put up his hands in an attempt to stop Gerard and Trina from approaching.
“Vernon,” Trina said. Her tone was all business. “There is some strange stuff going on here. We need to tell you about it. It might affect your plans.”
Vernon walked backwards and put out his arms to shepherd Ricky and April away from Trina and Gerard.
“I’m sure there is,” he said. “But we’re going to continue on our merry way and we sincerely hope to avoid whatever mess you’ve encountered. Thank you, much.” He gave another warning look to Gerard. The young man stopped and went back to his cousin.
The two of them conferred while Vernon kept his group moving down the street.
“Vernon,” Trina said. “We’re better off together.”
He kept moving.
“Vernon,” she called. She was nearly yelling to be heard over the growing distance. Vernon didn’t like how much attention she was potentially drawing to his trio. “You owe me, Vernon Dunn.”
He slowed just a little and turned his head.
“You want to walk with us?” he asked with a growl. “Nobody is stopping you.”
The idea that he owed her, after all these years, was preposterous. He had paid for his transgression with the loss of two friends and a certain amount of shame. He had worn those proudly for the opportunity to find his Mary. Sometimes important things were worth a high price. But as far as Katrina was concerned, his conscience was clear. He owed her nothing.
Vernon looked down at his son and then over to the crazy woman who used to be his son’s teacher. Somewhere down the road, his Mary and their other precious son were on their own. Vernon was going to reunite his family come hell or high water.
Behind himself, he heard Trina and Gerard trot up. They had the good sense to stay several paces back.
April leaned in towards Vernon as they walked. He hunched over to hear her.
“He’s marked,” April whispered.
“What does that mean?” Vernon asked. Despite the weird thing she kept saying, she seemed pretty lucid.
“They’re got plans for him,” she said.
“Who does?”
“The intelligent machines,” April said. “They’re verbs when they should just be nouns.”
“Okay,” Vernon said. He worked hard to keep his disappointment from showing on his face. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
[ Fear ]
Vernon saw the Hazard girl first. She was hunched over and concentrating on her furious pedaling. As she skidded to a halt and put her feet down, Vernon saw the Cormier girl behind.
“Mr. Dunn,” she said, panting, “you can’t go this way. He’s right behind us.”
Lily Hazard smeared the tears away from her eyes with her hands.
She whipped around and put her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. He saw what she was looking for—her parents were coming down the road at a much slower pace. They were riding one of those big, ridiculous bikes built for two.
“Who is? Your father?”
“What is that abomination?” April asked, pointing down the road. Vernon put out his hand to hush her up. Sarah Cormier was rolling up now and she looked even more upset than Lily. Something had really put a scare into the girls and he didn’t need April adding to the hysteria.
“Mr. Dunn,” Sarah said. “You have to stop that man.”
“I see it, but what…” Gerard said from behind him.
“Dad? I think I made a mistake,” Ricky said.
Vernon put out both of his hands. “Everybody hush,” he bellowed.
“One at a time,” Vernon said, turning to Lily. She seemed like she would have the best information. “What are we scared of, Lily?”
Lily took a breath, swallowed, and looked him right in the eye. “There’s a very scary man following us. I think he means us harm, and I think we need to get out of here before he gets here.”
Vernon had to make a decision quickly. He didn’t know what to make of Lily’s information, but he knew that her parents were closing fast on their ridiculous bike. Making a decision and sticking to it wasn’t going to get any easier once they were in the mix. Those two seemed to be allergic to decisiveness.
He turned to his son.
“Ricky, we’re going this way. We still need her?” he asked. He pointed down the left-hand road and then tilted his head at April.
Ricky nodded. He didn’t take his eyes off the road. Vernon figured that his son was watching the approach of Lily’s parents. Vernon was wrong.
“Okay,” Vernon said. “Ricky and April, we’re going this way. Girls, feel free to ride ahead if you’re frightened. I’ll tell your parents where to find you.” He looked back at Trina and Gerard. “You two keep quiet.”
Vernon guided his son and April. He took another glance at Lily’s father and wondered why everyone would be so afraid of the man. It didn’t make much sense. Bruce Hazard seemed nice enough. There was something Vernon had glossed over—something that everyone else seemed to know. His brain turned it over as they moved forward. They would have gone left anyway. It wasn’t a sacrifice to have made the turn. The road they were on was the fastest way to 270, which they would take all the way to the cemetery.
Lily and Sarah weren’t riding ahead. They had moved to the other side of Vernon’s group, using them like a shield, but they weren’t going ahead. Meanwhile, Lily’s parents were almost there. Vernon saw something beyond them—a shadow moving down the road.
“Dad?” Ricky asked, distracting him.
Vernon raised his eyebrows and looked down at Ricky as they walked. He waited for his son to finish formulating his question.
It wasn’t a question.
“Maybe we should run,” Ricky said.
“Why’s that?” Vernon asked. Half-an-hour earlier, Ricky hadn’t even looked capable of running. It was good news if Ricky was now feeling up to it.
“I think he’s getting stronger,” Ricky said. He looked down the road again. They were just about to move far enough down Hulin Road that they wouldn’t even be able to see Lily’s parents. There was going to be a house in the way. Vernon slowed as he realized something—Ricky wasn’t referring to Lily’s father. That dark shadow was a man. Everything made sense as his eyes locked in. There was inherent menace in the way the shape moved. Vernon understood why Lily was crying and Sarah seemed barely able to function. He understood the awe and fear in Gerard’s voice.
He understood why his son wanted to run.
“You go ahead, Ricky,” Vernon said. “Run ahead and meet your mother. I’m right behind you.” Vernon stopped in his tracks. He was going to cross the corner lot and find out what that thing was. He was going to put himself between it and his family. There was a simple truth represented in that dark form—it was the evil that they had been running from all day. Vernon didn’t have any doubt. If that evil was coming for his family, then he would stop it.
“Dad,” Ricky said, tugging on his shirt.
“What did I say?” Vernon asked.
“Dad, what are you doing?” Ricky asked.
“Go find your mother,” Vernon said. He kept talking to his son but he didn’t take his eyes off
that shadow. Vernon’s lips were numb, but he was still able to work them enough to form words. “Go find your mother and keep going south until you find more people. I want you to put as much distance between yourselves and this place as you can. I’ll find you.”
“Dad, listen,” Ricky said.
Vernon was listening, but barely. Most of his attention was on the way the thing moved. It was walking, he supposed, but even at a great distance Vernon could tell that the walk wasn’t natural. It looked more like a set of still images being projected on the summer day. The shape was here and then there. It was flowing from one position to the next in a parody of movement.
“I made a mistake,” Ricky said.
The Hazards were within shouting distance now, but they weren’t saying anything. Every now and again, Bruce would whip his head around to look at their pursuer. Every time he did, the bike would wobble until Wendy could find the balance again. Even at their slow pace, they should have been able to easily put distance between themselves and the shadow-figure on foot. But they didn’t. The Hazards pedaled, and the thing walked. It seemed to stay the same distance from them.
“This is all my fault.”
Vernon felt himself surrounded by people. In his periphery, he recognized that Trina, Gerard, Lily, Sarah, and even crazy April were still with him. Why weren’t they running? Why weren’t they trying to get as far away from that thing as they could? Some part of Vernon wanted to do just that. It was his younger self talking. It was the part of him that hadn’t met Mary and hadn’t produced two boys. That younger version of Vernon told him to run and not look back. He recognized that person in himself. That young man was selfish, intelligent, and probably right. Any sane person would be running.
“I thought I could contain it,” Ricky said. “I wanted to be great, and at first I thought it was a hoax. Then, I thought that it was me. And then I figured that even if it wasn’t me, I would be able to control it. I never thought that it would go all the way.”
“Go tell your mother,” Vernon said. The boy still wasn’t going.
“Lily!” Wendy Hazard yelled.
Vernon had never heard that woman sound so frightened. She was always the one in control. She was pedaling as hard as she could. She looked like she wanted to break her half of the bike away from her husband so she would be free of his weight.
“Lily, keep going. Why are you just standing there?”
In a moment, Wendy and her husband would be fixing to pass their daughter.
Vernon heard the crunching of gears as Lily and Sarah finally came to the their senses and began to ride again. He heard Gerard whispering to his cousin.
Trina spoke out loud. “No. If he’s staying, then I am too. You go ahead if you want, Gerard.”
“Don’t let him stay,” April said. “He’s marked.”
Vernon saw Wendy steer the bike around the corner. He saw the shadow figure flowing forward; not quite walking, but moving forward anyway.
“Go, Ricky,” Vernon said.
“It’s my fault,” his son said.
“I don’t care whose fault it is. Go find your mother. Help her get George out of here. Understand?”
Ricky didn’t answer, but he finally followed after the girls.
[ Meeting ]
Vernon stood alone by the time the thing approached. He was starting to make some sense of the way the thing moved. It wasn’t a solid. It was a constrained liquid. Instead of eyes, the thing had black holes in the shape that made up its head. Vernon locked his eyes on those holes and had the sense that something in that darkness was focused on him.
“Stop,” Vernon said.
When the thing stopped, it smiled. Vernon was shocked by the sight of the bright white teeth.
“I don’t take orders from mortals,” the thing said.
Vernon had one goal—delay the thing as long as possible. The younger version of Vernon, still buried deep inside, had a second goal—survive.
“I guess I’m not a mortal then,” Vernon said. He sensed that the thing was looking over his shoulder. “Hey there,” he said, snapping his fingers until the thing returned its attention to him. “Your business is right here.”
“Vernon Matthew Dunn,” the thing said. “I have no business with you.”
Vernon released the snap on the sheath of his knife. He pulled the blade and brought it between himself and the thing. They stood maybe five yards apart. Vernon would wait for the thing to close half the distance before he made his move. But what exactly would that move be? As far as he could tell, the man was just a swirling collection of blood. There was no skin, muscle, or bone that he could discern. All he saw were currents moving through the shades of red. Still, there was a chance that he could hold it off. Maybe whatever force held together that blood could be pierced by his blade. Maybe he could spill that volume of blood out onto the street.
“I’ve watched these millennia as tooth and claw progressed to fire, blades, guns, and so much more. Do you think I’m threatened by a weapon that men have wielded for two-hundred generations?” the thing asked.
With each word, Vernon’s confidence grew. In his experience, men who could fight were usually not interested in standing around and talking. If this thing really wasn’t afraid, it would already be coming for him.He held his ground and studied the thing as the seconds ticked away. With each moment, his son was putting more distance between himself and this monster.
The urge to turn away from the thing was nearly overwhelming. Vernon kept his eyes locked on it, as if he could hold it there with his eyes.
Movement beyond the creature tugged at Vernon’s eyes. He flicked his eyes over the thing’s shoulder, down the road, for just an instant.
The glance came with another realization. Vernon had thought that he was delaying the creature so that his son could get away. But the creature was also delaying Vernon. It was holding him there until its reinforcements could arrive. There was another man made of blood, and he was coming down the road to join the first.
“Vernon Matthew Dunn, what are you looking at?” the thing asked him.
“What are you?” Vernon asked, returning his eyes to the first creature.
The thing smiled again.
“You can go ahead a make up a story to comfort yourself. It’s what men have always done. Your opinion about my nature is just as valid as my own.”
The swirling currents of blood were beginning to speed up. They were locked in a stalemate. Vernon held the knife out with a hand clenched so tight that it was beginning to ache. The blood thing stood there smiling as its clone approached it from behind. Vernon took a step forward before he fully decided to do it. Whatever was going to happen, he preferred his odds against just one of the things. Maybe he could do some damage before he faced two at once.
The thing didn’t move.
Vernon took another step.
Its smile grew wider.
He hesitated for one more second. The opportunity was escaping. If he waited any longer, he would have to contend with both of the monsters.
Vernon lunged forward with his arm extended. He swept the knife through the thing’s midsection. If it had been a man, that man would have been picking up his guts from the road. It didn’t even flinch as the blade passed through its stomach. The knife made a strange sound as it cut. It sounded almost like tape being pulled from a roll.
Vernon pulled back.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the smile disappeared from the thing’s face as a waterfall of blood flowed from its midsection and splashed down on the pavement. As he watched, the thing looked like it was deflating. He was sure that it was shrinking when he could see over the monster to its approaching twin. The other one didn’t seem at all concerned. It had the same big white grin on its face.
Vernon adjusted his grip on the knife. He was ready for the second one.
Meanwhile, the first one was still bleeding out. The outline of the thing looked like a deflated balloon. It was only hal
f of its original height and blood was still flowing. Vernon took a step back from the spreading pool. There was something disconcerting about the blood. It didn’t seem to be soaking into the cracks, or spreading very far. It had too much of an edge to it, like it was still being contained by something.
Vernon slid back another step and understood the geometry. It was a five-sided thingy, like that building down in DC. He looked back up as the first monster drained out. The twin stepped into the center of the pentagon of blood. Vernon wanted to slice it open like its brother, but he didn’t want to step in the red mess.
Instead, he stood there, holding his knife at the ready and waiting.
“Come a little closer,” Vernon said. “Let’s see if you’re as weak as your brother.”
“Vernon Matthew Dunn,” it said. Vernon tilted his head in confusion. It was the same voice, but was it a little lower? Why should any of this make sense? “I still have no business with you.”
“Maybe I have business with you,” Vernon said. He wondered how far his son had made it. He could only hope that Ricky was far enough away that this thing wouldn’t catch him. If he could just dispatch this second monster, maybe he could join him.
“Perhaps there is a use for you,” the thing said. The voice was deeper—Vernon was sure of it. It had an echo to it as well, like the thing was talking into an empty oil drum.
Vernon glanced down at the pentagon of blood and came to a realization. The pool that the thing was standing in was shrinking. At a slower pace, the monster standing in front of him was growing. It was growing and it was smiling. The monster looked at its own hand and Vernon saw something flash in the red liquid. The blood was flowing around something. When the monster held its hand up in front of its face, Vernon saw the flash of something solid again. Under all that swirling blood, there were bones.
Chapter 46 : Hilliard
[ Hiding ]
JENNY FOUND THE BACK door of the camp open. She let herself inside and closed the door. The place was full of lumber and supplies. Her father demanded a clean worksite, but there was nothing that could be done about all the clutter. The building supplies had to go somewhere.