by Castle, Jack
Chapter 26
Attack in the Hallway
“If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to turn in for a couple hours of rack time,” Becca whispered softly.
Everyone else had filed off to bed. All the tour bus people, the tour director Jaden, Peyton the cheerleader, and even the middle-aged nerd Calvin had all checked into their assigned rooms. After they did, Wally and Big Leonard double-checked all the interior and exterior doors to make sure they were secure.
The three of them had decided amongst themselves to post up in the hallway, two at a time, until morning. There had been enough death in the past forty-eight hours, has it really been only two days, and none of them wanted any more. Becca had drawn the short straw so she would be the first to go down for a couple of hours of rest.
She still had her pistol that they had recovered in the garage. Becca still had no clue as to how the mechanic had gotten in and out of her room through a locked and barricaded door, but at this point, she was too tired to care. She had thought about offering the gun to Wally or Big Leonard, but she wasn’t confident either of them could handle the big weapon safely. And the fourteen rounds left to her weren’t law enforcement grade; meaning they didn’t flatten on drywall on impact, they’d slice right through the walls, most likely hitting one of the tourists in their rooms. At least that’s what she kept telling herself. The reality was she wouldn’t get so much as a wink of sleep without knowing her gun was safely stowed under her pillow, where even that wraith Peyton (who she still suspected, despite where they found it) couldn’t get to it without waking her up.
Big Leonard and Wally each grabbed a chair and snacks from the breakfast room down the hall. They were practically sitting outside her door, Room 101, which was comforting.
She bade them goodnight and offered them a trace of a smile before putting her hand on her door. She was groping her way toward sweet precious sleep, and hadn’t even turned the knob, when the lights suddenly winked out.
Total darkness.
Normally, during a snowstorm like this, her first thought would be a simple power outage, but these were far from normal circumstances.
In the dark Wally started to say, “Emergency lighting should kick on any sec…” and then it did, bathing the hallway in an eerie red haze. At this point, it wasn’t really necessary to draw her gun or anything; after all, it was just a power outage. But to be sure, she said, “Where do you suppose the breaker box is?”
Wally removed a mini-mag light from his belt, “I think I saw a utility closet at the other end of the hall.” He didn’t get far because they all froze when they spotted this weird guy standing at the end of the hallway. At least Becca thought it was a man. It was difficult to tell because of the dim lighting. It certainly wasn’t Peyton or anyone from the tour bus.
“Hello?” she asked, stepping toward the newcomer but then felt Wally holding her back by the crook of her arm.
“Becca, don’t.”
She was about to ask him why when the guy took one step out of the darkness and into the red haze. What was immediately apparent was the guy wasn’t a man after all. It was a woman. And Becca could tell right away there was something wrong with her because of the way her limbs hung all askew. It was like she was a broken marionette hanging from only one string. And was that a horn protruding from the side of her head?
And somehow… she seemed to know this person.
“Denise?” Becca asked aloud, sounding far from being confident. She instinctively tried to take another step forward but Wally held her back.
“That’s not Denise,” he whispered.
“What are you talking about?” Big Leonard intoned. “I’m looking right at her…” He never finished. The woman who used to be Denise took another step toward them. Now they could see her barren eye-sockets and the oversized trauma sheers sticking out of her skull.
Becca heard herself ask, “Wally, what did you do to her?” As she tried to comprehend what she was seeing Denise sniffed at the air, as though trying to catch their scent.
Denise opened her mouth to speak. When she did, blood overflowed from her mouth and Becca could see teeth literally falling from her mouth. Then came a rumbling noise. It wasn’t a human growling, or even a sound she had ever heard an animal make before. No. This was more akin to an old dirty truck engine on its last leg, but one that could rev up at any second.
Big Leonard parted her and Wally like the Red Sea and stood between them. Eyebrows furrowed, he took one step forward.
This time, and not sure why, it was Becca who warned him, “Don’t, B.L..”
Big Leonard turned toward her, and then Wally. “What’s wrong with you two? That’s Denise. I mean she’s really messed up, and she’s growling at us, but can’t you see we have to help her?”
That’s when Becca remembered, Big Leonard hadn’t seen what happened with Spence the fireman on the highway.
Before either of them could answer, Denise started creeping at them in a dazed walk, half-skipping at times, and seemingly half-floating on the air when she did.
“Are you seeing this?” somebody asked. And then Becca realized it had been her.
Denise started picking up the pace. A lope at first, but then she increased speed into a full on sprint, the rumbling in her gut increasing in intensity as she grew closer.
Now Big Leonard was probably used to intimidating people with his size, but the rumbling Denise kept on coming. For further emphasis, B.L. said, in a somewhat shaky baritone voice, “Now, Denise, you just hold on there for a second.”
“Shoot her,” Wally whispered to Becca. His lips were so close Becca could feel his breath on her ear.
“I can’t shoot Denise,” Becca spat back, but not taking any chances, she drew her pistol, secretly thankful for the knock down power. She could hear Mike’s voice in her head, ‘It’s not enough to kill a threat coming at you, any small caliber bullet will do that with enough time. No, you’ve got to stop the threat dead in its tracks long before it can stick a knife in your stomach.’
“Stop right there!” she shouted in a loud commanding voice.
Denise closed half the distance between them. Now they could see the sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, and tattered, bloodstained clothes.
“Denise,” Becca yelled. “Please, stop right there, or I will be forced to shoot.”
The thing that looked like Denise (it wasn’t Denise) was nearly on top of them now. Becca raised her pistol, Mike’s instructions echoed in her head, ‘Fast as you can, slow as you have to.’ She aimed center mass on Denise’s chest and prepared to conduct a Fail to Stop Drill; two in the chest and one to the head.
Becca tensed her finger on the trigger.
Denise was only a ten feet away when she came to an abrupt stop. A few seconds passed and then one of the interior motel doors creaked open. The middle-aged nerd stuck his nose into the hallway and asked irritably, “What are you guys doing out here?”
“Calvin, get back inside your room,” Becca commanded.
Calvin was about to object but then saw Becca’s gun, and the horrific form of Denise. He quickly slammed the door shut.
Big Leonard took a step forward. “Alright, I’ve had enough of this freak show.”
Seeing the big lineman moving in her direction, Denise snapped her head to the side, like a lightweight boxer who had just been jabbed in the face. At the exact same moment Big Leonard flew violently into the wall like a wrecking ball, caving in the drywall beside him.
Becca tore her eyes from Denise for only a second to check on him. Wally immediately went to Leonard’s aid and began helping him out of the wall. When Becca turned her attention back toward Denise… she was gone. Becca checked behind them, the ceiling, everywhere, but Denise was nowhere to be found. She scanned the doors. All locked. Despite not seeing Denise, Becca still held her weapon at guard, careful not to cover Wally or Big Leonard with the barrel.
“What happened?” Wally asked Leonard, trying to help the big
man to his feet.
Becca expected Big Leonard to say that he was pushed but he surprised her when he answered, “It was like something pulled me into the wall.”
Becca saw the fear in the big man’s eyes. When he saw her looking back at him he explained, “I never felt anything like it. I mean, I fell off a ladder once when I was cleaning the gutters.” He was really babbling now, “You know that sign on every ladder that says don’t stand on the top of the ladder, well I didn’t listen. And the next thing you know I’m taking a header off the top rung and the whole time I’m thinking, this is it; this is how I go out. When I got pulled into the wall, it was sorta like dat.”
Then even the emergency red lights went out leaving them in total darkness.
“That’s not supposed to happen,” Wally said. A few seconds later he snapped on his flashlight.
Still keeping one hand on her pistol Becca instinctively reached for her own mini-mag she kept on her leather belt. Of course it wasn’t there. She wasn’t in uniform. Duh. She remembered she had put a small flashlight in her cargo pants pocket and began fishing for it in her pocket.
Big Leonard was now on his feet and had his own flashlight on. With only their small trio of flashlights to illuminate the hallway Becca felt like three scuba divers in a shark cage being circled by a Great White.
(Far worse I’m afraid)
Then came that puttering motor sound, only this time, it was behind them. When Becca swung around and put her flashlight toward the sound, a smiling Denise appeared like a wraith in the darkness.
Wally roared, “Shoot her, Becca!”
Becca would’ve too but Big Leonard was in the line of fire. The big lineman cried out as Denise sprang up onto his chest like a wild animal, knocking them both to the ground.
Big Leonard cried out in pain, “Get her off me! Get her off me!” Becca heard tearing, shredding sounds, and when their flashlights weaved back and forth across their struggling forms Denise was literally shredding Big Leonard to pieces.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!
It was a risk, but Becca felt certain if she didn’t do something quick Denise would have torn Big Leonard apart. She knelt down on her haunches so she was even with Denise perched on Big Leonard’s chest. And, leveling her pistol so the rounds wouldn’t angle down into B.L.’s legs, and making certain Wally was safely behind her, she fired four shots in rapid succession. The muzzle fire lit up the hallway revealing Denise’s bizarre and abnormal form, and her recoiling from each shot. Becca saw hot white spots before her eyes, blinding her. And they all heard a loud THUMP in the darkness. A slight impish laughter of glee squealed and moved swiftly down the hall. Once its echo faded the main lights flickered back on.
Becca heard the demonic laughter fleeing down the hall and yet, there Denise was, sprawled out on the floor, limbs all akimbo, trauma sheers sticking out of her ear, body riddled with four fresh bullet holes. The smell was probably the worst part--bloody vomit and excrement all rolled into one.
As Wally knelt down to examine Big Leonard’s shredded chest, motel room doors began cracking open one-by-one. Tentatively at first, the tour bus folks began filling up the hallway.
Farthest down the hall the big loud mouthed man in the suit demanded to know, “What the hell is going on out here?”
“Oh my goodness, that woman shot someone,” another intoned.
Becca, her eyes finally clearing, caught the middle-aged nerd’s vacant stare. He had seen Denise in her true form, up close and personal. At the very least, he was a believer.
A frail elderly woman peeking her head out of 106 asked Wally, “Is everything alright? I thought I heard gunfire.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am, it’s all over now,” Wally answered, and then addressing everyone he said a bit louder, “But I would appreciate it if you would all return to your rooms and lock your doors.”
“Like hell we will,” Big Mouth bellowed back.
Despite Big Mouth’s outburst, 106 (not-so-sweet Elaine) nodded timidly, and did as she was told. As for the rest of them, that was going to take a whole hell of a lot more convincing.
Chapter 27
Town Meeting
Big Leonard and Wally wrapped what was left of poor Denise in a blue tarp and moved her into the small room that served as a gym at the end of the hall. There was some discussion about cutting off her head. Becca wasn’t entirely sure B.L. was joking. And after seeing the way Denise had moved in the hallway, it probably wasn’t a bad idea. In the end they had settled for wrapping her up like a mummy in the blue tarp and then tying that up with some nylon rope they found in a supply closet.
As the boys finished up, Becca double-checked her ammo clip. Yep, she shot four times, alright, and counting the suicide’s round, that left her with a grand total of three rounds. Yippee. Her heart ached for the two spare clips still in her upside down Land Rover.
Big Leonard held up his shredded vest, its thickness having saved his life. “Why didn’t you tell us about Denise in the first place?”
“Would you have believed me if I did?” Wally asked. His tone turning sarcastic he said, “Hey guys, I know you’re going to find this a bit hard to swallow, but Denise came back to life in the ambulance, picked me up by my throat with one hand and ran off after I jammed a pair of trauma shears into her brain.”
Big Leonard said, “It’s not any crazier than the crap we’ve seen already!”
“Just give me a hand with this.” Wally lifted his end of Denise’s mummified corpse.
Big Leonard grunted as he bent his legs, grabbed the other end, and lifted. With Wally walking backward, Denise’s tarped corpse swayed back and forth as they walked down the hallway.
Wally bit his lip as he continued to back up. After they were halfway down the hall Becca heard him say, “Sorry. You’re right. I should’ve told you.”
Big Leonard frowned. “No more secrets,” he barked. “I’ve seen this movie a hundred times, and secrets always, always get people killed. We have to tell the others.”
Still following the boys, Becca asked impatiently, “What if they don’t believe us?”
Big Leonard grunted as he re-gripped his hold on the swaying tarp. “That’s on them, but unlike all those idiots in those horror movies, at least we told everybody the truth.”
NOW EVERYBODY ELSE
At the bequest of Peyton, everyone had gathered in the motel lobby.
(Oh, a town meeting. Now this should be interesting.)
By the time Becca and the boys had finished storing Denise’s body in a tiny room that doubled as a crappy gym approximately two dozen people were present and milling about. Most of the older folks had taken up residence on the couches and comfy chairs, a few others remained over by the glass doors, looking out into the storm. When Becca peered out into the storm with them she could see hundreds of shingles strewn across the parking lot like dropped Roman shields; further indication that this storm was no normal storm.
Jaden the tour director, Peyton the cheerleader, and the middle-aged nerd, Calvin, had all brought additional chairs from out of the backroom offices and were sitting in a neat little row in front of the clerk’s desk. The three of them sitting there like that reminded Becca of the three monkeys: See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil. Elaine (the elderly woman who had doubled as a waitress at the diner across the street) was seated in a cushy, high-backed chair in the corner of the room. She held a smoking cigarette in one hand that was severely in need of an ashtray. And whereas everyone else looked as though they were living in a dreamlike state, the old woman sitting there, smoking her cigarette, seemed if anything, almost amused. Her eyes scanned the room until they locked with Becca’s. The old woman’s glare was so strangely ominous it seemed as though Elaine could gobble her up in one bite. Becca was the first to look away.
Big Leonard, in that big baritone voice of his, bellowed, “Alright everybody. This concerns all of you. So ya might want to listen up.” And with that said, he put a hand on Wally�
��s shoulder and gave the young fireman a firm shove forward.
Wally half-stumbled into the center of the room and everyone formed a rough circle around him. He gave Leonard a stare that said, ‘Thanks a lot, man’, and then began with, “Hi everybody, I’m Wally.” Becca half-expected everyone in the room to say, ‘Hi Wally’, like in those A.A. meetings, but nobody did. They remained silent, so much so that Becca could hear the wind bucking against the glass-plated doors outside. Then Wally told them everything, all of it, only leaving out the part about bus obelisk--cuz that’s just crazy talk. He told them about the ravens and the coyotes, how Spence and later Denise had gone all nutso, about the dead mechanic in the garage, and finished up with how Denise had come back from the dead in the ambulance and later attacked them in the hallway. When he was finally finished there was the occasional nervous laughter, then a distinct uneasiness rising.
“This is a joke, right?” an enormously large fat man asked at the back of the room bellowed. He looked somewhere between middle-age and one-step-away from a heart attack. He had a round face, bulbous nose, and fringe of graying hair around a balding head. “I mean what you’re describing just ain’t possible,” Mr. Blowhard said this in a way that suggested he refused to believe any of it.
Jaden the tour director raised his painted-on eyebrows at them. “So what are you saying? You three, and little-miss-cheerleader over here,” he said, gesturing toward Peyton, who was propped up on a nearby folding chair and eating a donut of all things, “all got attacked by a bunch of wild animals and a couple of crazy people?”
Wally exchanged looks with her, B.L., and Peyton for confirmation and then nodded back at Jaden. “Yeah… that’s right.”
Jaden made a derogatory noise. “Is that all? Please, when I spent two summers down in Miami we used to call that a Friday night.”
This got a round of nervous laughter from several of the tour bus folks.