Lair

by James Herbert

  He tried to rise, but a rat landed on his chest and for a brief moment he found himself staring through the plastic screen into the monster's slanted eyes. It was almost as if the rat were studying him, looking deep into his mind, a cold hate stabbing its way through. The creature's jaws opened and Pender stared in fascinated horror at the cruel, yellow teeth, the deformed and over-large incisors honed razor-sharp from constant gnawing. Spittle smeared the plastic visor as the mutant hissed at its prey. The pointed head snapped forward and Pender jerked his head back in a reflex action. The teeth skidded across the plastic, leaving deep grooves and a trail of saliva. The ratcatcher forgot about the struggling bodies beneath him and began to pummel the creature on top with his fists. The rat staggered sideways but recovered, the blows driving it to a new fury. Its powerful jaws locked around one of Pender's wrists and he screamed at the intense pain, the thickness of the gauntlet gloves saving him from serious injury.

  He managed to pull the arm free, but the rat's head was poised above him, ready to strike again, this time at his throat.

  Even the steel-lined clothing could not save him if those teeth locked onto his windpipe. Pender tried to turn his body, but the two rats beneath him held him back. The rat's head plunged.

  And then exploded in a cloud of blood and tissue. The gun-shot ringing in his ears and his visor splattered red, Pender pushed the slumped body away from him. He quickly cleared his vision with a gloved hand, wiping away the running blood and clots of bubbling substance. Captain Mather towered over him, a revolver still smoking in his hand.

  ‘Over. Quick!’ came the command, and Pender felt his body turned with a rough kick. He waited for what seemed an eternity, knowing the captain was taking careful aim, ensuring the bullets would not pass through the vermin into his body, and shuddered when the sharp reports came and the paw grips on his back were released.

  Mather helped him to his feet and once more Pender was allowed a clear view of the frantic struggle taking place. The rats seemed to be everywhere, swamping the soldiers with their numbers, pulling and tearing at the terrified men. Automatic gunfire stopped the soldiers from being completely smothered, and the armoured suits prevented them from being torn to pieces. Nevertheless, for the soldiers it was a losing battle. The pain inflicted by the clamping jaws was evident from the screams that rang out, and it could not be endured for much longer. The rats were dying in large numbers, their bodies leaping into the air in shock as bullets struck, a strange shriek, like a hurt child's, bursting from them as they died.

  Pender looked around for Whittaker and Apercello, but it was impossible to recognize anyone in the bizarre uniforms.

  They didn't carry guns, but then there were so many now who had dropped their weapons and were using their hands to ward off the vermin.

  Captain Mather dropped to his knees beside him, a rat perched precariously on his shoulders, another biting into the material at his stomach. Pender grabbed the rodent that had its teeth sinking into the top of the officer's helmet and pulled it free in one swift, sharp movement, tossing it as far away as possible; Mather carefully shot the one at his stomach, ignoring the pain, refusing to succumb to panic. The rat that Pender had thrown came scurrying back, leaping at its attacker without breaking stride. Pender kicked out and was lucky enough to make contact. The rat's long body jack-knifed in the air and fell into the undergrowth. The ratcatcher dashed forward and brought his heavy boot crashing down on its head, crushing the skull.

  He turned back to the army officer who was trying to shake his arms free of two more mutants that were weighing him down, making it impossible for him to use the revolver. Three others were scrambling up his body and his knees were beginning to sag with the load.

  Pender ran to him and began tugging at the bristling bodies, ignoring another creature that had attached itself to his leg. He pulled and the thing he had been dreading happened: as the rat came away, its teeth firmly clamped into the suit, the material tore. It was a small rent, but it proved the suits could be penetrated. Under the onslaught all the suits would soon be in tatters. He grabbed the rodent's snout, avoiding the snapping teeth, and twisted with all his strength. The neck broke and he dropped the twitching body. Then he grabbed the gun from the officer's hand, hoping there were still enough bullets in the chamber. He had never handled a gun before, but pulling a trigger seemed an uncomplicated operation. Regardless of the two rats that were now nipping at his legs, he carefully took aim and shot the relentless vermin clinging to the soldier. He groaned aloud when he turned the weapon on his own aggressors and found that now it was empty. Instead he used it as a club, beating down on their exposed heads until they dropped away senseless.

  He almost went under the wheels of the heavy army truck as it ploughed its way through the bracken and juddered to a halt beside him. It was Captain Mather who pulled him aside in time. From the window above came automatic fire, the driver and his mate firing into the melee.

  ‘Into the truck, Pender!’ he heard Captain Mather command.

  ‘We've got to help the others,’ he gasped, but a hard shove sent him reeling towards the back of the truck.

  ‘Well see to them! Grab a rifle if you can and get onto the tailboard. You can use it from there!’

  Pender scrambled along the side of the vehicle, kicking out at vermin as they threw themselves at him. With each blow they would stagger back, then advance on him again. Someone fell at his feet, his body almost invisible beneath the covering of bristling vermin. His cries were terrible to hear and Pender saw the red gushing liquid that sprayed over the backs of the frenzied rats. The man's suit had given and now the vermin were driven on by the smell of blood. He knew the man was beyond help, his mind cold to the fact, and he staggered around the struggling heap, the rats now bypassing him for more easy prey.

  Pender saw the weapon lying only yards away from the truck, its black-metal surface soiled with mud. He lumbered towards it, clumsy in his suit, for the moment ignored by the vermin.

  He went down on one knee to retrieve the fallen weapon. Just in time he saw a rat launch itself into the air at him and he rose to meet it, grabbing the automatic by the barrel and swinging it like a club. The butt met the leaping animal in mid-air with a sickening crunch and the rat fell limply to the ground.

  Without further thought, Pender reversed the weapon and began pumping a spray of bullets into the nearest vermin, avoiding the figures of his companions but well aware of his lack of marksmanship. He began to back away towards the rear of the truck, staggering under the impact of the rats that managed to escape the hail of bullets, but determinedly keeping his feet. His back bumped something solid and he was surprised when he felt himself rising, two hands gripped under his shoulders. Two soldiers pulled him into the truck, while three others fired down into the glade. One of the two who had lifted him quickly and efficiently dealt with a rat that had refused to let go of its quarry, using the edge of a bayonet to slice the mutant's throat.

  He kicked the body down among its thronging companions.

  Pender pulled himself to his feet, realising these men had been lucky enough to make it to the truck, and were now using it as a fort from which to strike back. The two that had rescued him were guarding the entrance, hitting out with bayonets at the vermin trying to scramble up into the cavernous interior, while the other three killed as many as possible with gunfire.

  Captain Mather suddenly appeared below, extending a hand to be pulled up. Miraculously, he was free of clinging rats as Pender reached down and grabbed his wrist. The ratcatcher heaved and Mather came up into the interior.

  ‘Help's on the way!’ the officer shouted over the din. The men in the truck radioed HQ as soon as they saw us in trouble.’

  ‘We've got to help the others,’ Pender shouted back. Those suits won't hold out much longer. The rats are too strong!’

  ‘Right! We'll get them! I've told the driver to reverse slowly.

  He'll stop and start at my signal.’ Captain
Mather suddenly thumped his hand against the side of the truck and it began to trundle slowly backwards, bumping over sudden rises, jolting down into small dips. The army officer banged twice again as they neared two struggling figures slightly to the right. The truck stopped.

  ‘You and you!’ He patted two soldiers on the back. ‘Get them up here, help one at a time! The rest of you use concentrated covering fire! Go!’

  Without hesitation, the two assigned soldiers leapt from the tailboard, bayonets grasped in their fists. They launched themselves at the first man, mercilessly using their weapons against the vermin, the soldiers in the truck keeping them reasonably protected with well-aimed fire-power. The relieved man was hauled back to the vehicle where others dragged him into shelter. The two soldiers dashed back to the other man and the process was repeated, again successfully. Captain Mather struck the side of the truck again as the two soldiers clambered up, their bayonets thick with blood.

  ‘You two next!’ Mather ordered, slapping the backs of two different soldiers as another figure was reached, this one rolling over and over on the ground. They disappeared over the side, but this time yet another soldier had to be sent out as a rescuer and was almost overcome by black bodies. They made it back to the truck and virtually threw their companion into it, quickly climbing up behind him.

  Mather ran deeper into the interior and, lifting his visor, shouted at the soldiers in the cab. ‘Bring your wheel down hard left! There's a group of men about ten yards in that direction.’

  The vehicle lurched forward, the wheels churning up mud, bouncing over the prostrate forms of dead or wounded vermin.

  Mather banged the side again as they approached a figure lying ominously still in the undergrowth. Pender turned his head away in shock.

  The man's helmet had either been knocked accidentally or pulled from his head. Five rats squatted around the exposed face and gorged themselves. Others systematically tore at his suit, gnawing at the material, wearing it thin.

  In a rage the soldiers began firing into them, regardless of the human body, knowing the man was dead.

  ‘Leave them!’ Captain Mather ordered dispassionately. We can't help the poor sod now, and at least his body is keeping them occupied!’ He kicked at the side of the truck and it drove on.

  Pender was horrified at the officer's cold logic, but he knew Mather was right. The living had to be their main concern. He leaned against the side of the truck, grasping an iron support to keep balanced. It wasn't the scratching sound that attracted his attention, for the noise of the rifle fire was deafening: it was the furious indents that were appearing all over the thick canvas covering.

  ‘Mather!’ he yelled. They're trying to get through the roof.’

  Mather glanced up. ‘Shit,’ he said. Then ‘Forget them. If we shoot through the canvas we'll only make holes that the others can use to their advantage. We'll keep an eye on them and shoot only when it's necessary.’ With that, he turned his attention back to the action below.

  Pender raised the automatic rifle to his shoulder, spotted a rat wriggling its way into the vehicle at one corner, kicked out with venom, sending it toppling back, then began firing at ran-dom. It felt good to kill.

  The next man to be hauled in was Vic Whittaker. He lay on his back on the floor of the truck, his chest heaving with exhaustion. His suit had held, but Pender could see several places where the material had begun to give. The tutor had been rescued just in time.

  Pender knelt beside him for a moment. ‘Are you okay?’ he yelled.

  Whittaker reached for his visor, intending to push it up, and Pender grabbed a wrist.

  ‘I can't breathe,’ Whittaker moaned. ‘I must have air.’

  ‘Just for a moment, then!’ Pender shouted, lifting the plastic face-mask with his gloved fingers. The tutor gratefully sucked in air.

  ‘Where was Apercello?’ Pender asked. ‘Did you see him?’

  Whittaker shook his head from side to side. ‘No . . . no . . .

  he went down . . . then I lost sight of . . . him. I think . . . his helmet . . . came off as he . . . fell.’

  Pender rose, his face white and drawn. He now knew whose face it was the vermin had been eating. He began firing into the scuttling bodies again.

  They managed to rescue one more man before the first rat broke through the canvas roof. There were at least a dozen men inside, seven including Pender, crowded into the opening, firing down at the rats. The others, those that had been rescued, lay on the floor groaning, clutching their bruised and, for some, torn flesh. It was these the rat dropped down onto.

  Pender and Mather wheeled round at the sudden outburst of cries and saw the injured man kicking out at the Black rat which ran among them, confused and frightened.

  The roof!’ Mather shouted as another black shape dropped through the gaping hole. ‘Quickly! Shoot them!’ He shot the second rat as it fell, its body jerking in mid-air.

  Pender and another soldier began spraying the canvas ceiling with bullets, tearing it to shreds, but instantly killing the rats that were clawing their way through. The bodies plum-meted into the truck and the men drew themselves away, not sure if the creatures were dead.

  The interior was suddenly bright as daylight broke through the tattered roof and Pender saw one of the injured men struggling in the far corner with what presumably had been the first mutant to gain access. The man's visor was up and Pender saw it was Whittaker.

  The ratcatcher scooped up a bloodied bayonet which lay at the feet of a soldier now using his automatic rifle, and stumbled over the recumbent figures and dead vermin towards Whittaker, knowing it would be too dangerous to use the rifle in the confined space.

  There was a nasty gash in the tutor's cheek where the giant rat had slashed him either with teeth or claws. He was desperately trying to hold the rat's gnashing teeth away from his face, his hands around the creature's neck. The rat's eyes bulged as Whittaker squeezed and its hind legs raked the tutor's body in a demented motion.

  Pender fell to his knees before the struggling tutor, locked an arm beneath the rat's lower jaw and began pulling it away from Whittaker's exposed face. He raised the bayonet and carefully, deliberately, slid the tip to a point beneath the rat's ribcage. Then he struck deep, twisting the blade and drawing it down.

  Dark blood poured from the creature's abdomen, flooding over the tutor, soaking him. The rat twitched spasmodically, trying to turn its head and strike at the man who had inflicted the mortal injury. But it was no use; Pender held it tight until the twitching had stopped and life had gone.

  ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ was all Whittaker could say.

  Pender looked up as a shadow was cast over him. Captain Mather banged three times on the back of the driver's cabin and the vehicle suddenly lurched to a halt. It then began to move forward, gathering speed as it went.

  Mather turned towards Pender. That was the signal to get us out of here,’ he explained. There's nothing we can do for the others without all of us being killed. It's regrettable, but that's how it is.’

  Pender felt the shock again. Leaving men to die in that way.

  ‘As far as I could ascertain,’ the officer said apologetically,

  'there were only two men still alive, and they looked pretty much done in. There was blood on them. These useless bloody suits . . .’ he left the sentence unfinished. ‘I'm sure the others were dead.’

  He rose and made his way to the rear of the truck where the soldiers, relieved to retreat, were firing back at the creatures in the forest glade. Pender joined them and saw the vermin were making no attempt to pursue but, for the briefest of seconds, he found himself staring directly into the eyes of a mutant which stood apart from the others, a curious white streak running the length of its head. He was thrown to one side as the vehicle jolted into a dip and when he looked again, the rat was gone. He closed his eyes and breathed a silent prayer.

  Soon the soldiers stopped firing, for their targets were out of sight. None felt like ch
eering as the truck jolted its way back to the road, not even when other army vehicles came racing towards them. They were too exhausted. And they felt too defeated.

  Fifteen

  He found Stephen Howard in the lecture hall, a large map of Epping Forest before him, with Mike Lehmann and Antony Thornton seated on either side. There were others present at the long table, but Pender strode briskly towards the research director without looking at their faces. The Centre itself was alive with activity which increased considerably on the arrival of the recently besieged men. The injured had been able to walk, albeit painfully, to the classroom set up as a makeshift medical room, although one or two had to be half-supported. All their companions wanted to do was to calm their jangled nerves with a quiet smoke.

  Howard looked up as Pender approached the table.

  ‘Luke. The radio message said you were under attack . . .’

  ‘We were.’ Pender began to remove the heavy gloves, his plastic-visored helmet already discarded and lying somewhere in the reception area. There were rats on the outside, in the trees.’

  ‘But we thought they were all in the sewers,’ said Lehmann.

  ‘They've either got an exit we haven't discovered yet, or . . .

  they were outside all the time.’

  ‘Our patrols would have spotted them.’

  Pender turned to regard Major Cormack who was seated at the table, his back to the ratcatcher ‘I don't think so. They've remained hidden for a long time now. Besides, who would think of looking up into the trees?’ He turned his attention back to the research director. We've got to use the gas immediately, while we've got the majority trapped.’