“Don’t fight me!” The alien roared inside of Natalie’s thoughts.
Natalie fought harder. She could hear sounds of a disruption in the room, but couldn’t turn her head to see. ‘Monica’ doubled her efforts. Natalie doubled hers. Her head hurt like it was being squeezed by a vice. It felt like her mind was being forced into a tunnel. She felt a fear she had never known was possible. She was losing.
“Get rid of him!”
Natalie couldn’t understand what the words meant. She was slipping, slipping further away from consciousness and into blackness.
And then she heard a bark.
30
Will tried to force his way to the Doc. The men blocking his path were just as determined and rabid as the last three. Will couldn’t focus. He threw punches wildly, ignoring the sharp pain in his ribs. One of the guys dropped suddenly to the floor. The other two looked down at him and Will delivered two punches, sending another to the floor. The third fell like the first and Will saw the slimy slug tail retract back into the tunnel. Will jumped over the paralysed bodies of the men and stormed towards ‘Monica’ and the Doc.
“William Sanderson! If you take another step, she dies!” ‘Monica’ shrieked.
Will stopped short. “What’re doing to her?” He yelled.
‘Monica’ maintained her arched posture over Natalie but her eyes flicked to Will.
“I have her mind and I will have her body,” She said, her mouth stretched into an hysterical grin. Sweat poured down her face and dripped onto Natalie.
Wolfgang brushed past Will as he crept forward. He sniffed and raised his hackles. He let out a low, deep growl.
“Shut the canine up!”
Will grit his teeth together. He no longer cared whose body carried that alien. He wanted to go over there and throw it across the room. He didn’t understand what was happening, he didn’t know what this alien was capable of doing. He clenched his fists and stayed still, despite every instinct inside of him, telling him to attack.
“I swear-” Will said, his voice low and furious. “Let her go.”
‘Monica’ turned her gaze back to Natalie. Her hands, claw like, held the sides of Natalie’s head. Her posture was bent and distorted like an elderly woman.
Wolfgang started to bark, terrified, furious barks. ‘Monica’s’ whole body tightened and began to shake.
Will stepped forward, he looked around him for something he could use. But what if he did something and the alien killed the Doc? What if the mind swap was interrupted and they both died?
With every bark, ‘Monica’ flinched and leaned in closer to Natalie. Will thought he saw Natalie’s hand twitch. Was the mutt helping? Was the Doc fighting?
“Fight her off Doc!” Will yelled.
‘Monica’ didn’t seem to hear him, she was concentrating like her life depended on it. Wolfgang jumped onto the table, onto Natalie and barked hysterically at ‘Monica’s’ face.
The Doc gasped and ‘Monica’ leapt backwards.
Will threw his hands into the air. “Yes!”
He made a move towards the Doc, but went to ‘Monica’ instead. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and shoved her onto a black stool. She looked dizzy and disorientated. Will froze and retracted his hands from ‘Monica’s’ shoulders. What if the mind swap had been successful?
Will looked over at the Doc, or at least, her body. She was sitting up and the dog was licking her face. But the bloody dog wouldn’t know would he.
“Doc?” Will said.
The Doc looked at him and smiled weakly.
Whatever was inside of ‘Monica’ was still dazed. Will frowned and glanced between the women. He needed to make up his mind and fast, but he couldn’t work out how to tell who was who.
31
Natalie’s head pounded and her hands shook. She felt dazed, like time was moving at a different rate. Wolfgang was there and Will, she knew that much.
Will said her name. She looked at him and smiled. Wolfgang’s warm tongue lapped against her cheek. Her senses started to return to her, her heart began to pound. She was still looking at Will, but her smile faded. He was looking at her like he didn’t know her. Natalie quickly looked down at her hands, they were her own. She sighed with relief.
“It’s okay. I’m still me.”
Will didn’t seem convinced. He’d put ‘Monica’ on a stool. He kept looking between them, anger and puzzlement etched into his features.
“Will, it’s me.”
“Will I’m in here,” ‘Monica’ said.
Will stepped away from ‘Monica’. His cheeks flushed red.
“Prove it,” He said gruffly.
He looked injured, blood was pouring from a cut on his forehead and his arm was pressed to his side. He was sweating and breathing heavily. He looked ready to pass out.
Natalie wracked her brain for something that would convince him. A movement at the lip of the tunnel caught her eye. There was a slug alien, poking its enlarged forehead and round, black eyes around the corner. Natalie noticed the men lying on the floor, their eyes open but their bodies perfectly still. The slug had to be one of the townspeople, maybe even Tom.
“Tom?” Natalie exclaimed. The slug crept forward a little more, she could see its eyes flick to ‘Monica’. Was it him?
“Oi,” Will said. “Prove it’s still you.”
‘Monica’ curled her hands around the stool and pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled.
“Will please. Please believe me. I’m in here.”
Will eyed her. “Doc, wherever you are. Figure it out. Prove it to me.”
Natalie moved Wolfgang back from licking her face and slowly got to her feet. “The movie that Tom watched on his tablet. Do you remember what it was?”
Will nodded.
“It was Cars 23,” Natalie said. “Only I or Tom would know that.”
Will frowned.
“Will, the aliens could have found that out. Will I’m here. Please Will!” ‘Monica’ said.
Natalie’s stomach twisted. What if Will believed ‘Monica’ instead of her?
Will visibly relaxed. He grinned sheepishly at Natalie. “There’s no way you’d ever say please, Doc,” He said.
Natalie returned the smile. Relief flooded through her like a wave.
Will’s face became stoney and serious as he turned back to ‘Monica’, who was gripping the stool for support, her eyes bulging.
Natalie found her feet again and slowly walked over to ‘Monica’. She couldn’t think about the experience she had just had right now. The people of Quuorn were still not in their bodies. This still wasn’t over. She looked at ‘Monica’ and could see nothing of the human, only the alien. The dark and desperate alien. Natalie felt a pang of deep empathy.
“You’re gonna give everyone their bodies back and you’re gonna get the hell off of Earth,” Will said.
Natalie grit her teeth together. “They have nowhere to go,” She said.
Will looked at her, his eyes flashed with anger. “You sure you’re the Doc?”
Natalie rolled her eyes. It hurt. “Of course I am Will. But that doesn’t change the fact that these mind swappers, their planet has been destroyed. Will, you didn’t see it, you were out, but the mine, it’s human. It’s Australian.”
“What?”
“I saw the logo on some equipment, it’s actually-”
Will groaned with frustrated. “So what? I’ve got a job to do and it’s getting the kid and his parents and now apparently the whole bloody town home. And then, I won’t be paid in fricken’ pineapples.”
“That’s really why you’re here? Beaten and bleeding? That’s really why you saved my life? For money?”
Natalie was surprised by the rush of emotion she felt in her chest. What had happened with ‘Monica’, had affected her more than she’d thought. She felt her knees shake and she almost lost her footing. But it wasn’t time for that.
Will looked at her and she could’ve sworn that his expr
ession softened for at least a microsecond.
“Doc, I wouldn’t let you die,” He cleared his throat. “But, we can’t let them have the town.”
‘Monica’ laughed. “As if you have a choice. I have a towns worth of humans for you to fight. You’ll never send them back to this rotting planet, not while I am alive.”
Will clenched his fists. “What makes you think you’ll be alive?”
Natalie placed a hand on Will’s arm and spoke to ‘Monica’.
“Look, you’re fighting a losing battle. Humans don’t just give up towns. If you knew anything about us, you’d know that territory and resources have always been and remain our number one concern. Often to our own detriment. You won’t hold Quuorn, and that’s a fact.”
‘Monica’ swayed back and forth on the stool. “Where do we go? We have no home!”
“And Earth humans did that to you,” Natalie said with a nod.
‘Monica’s’ gaze met Natalie’s. Natalie felt a flash back to the swap, of being forcibly pulled out of her body. She shivered but maintained the eye contact.
“Let us help,” Natalie said.
‘Monica’ opened her mouth to respond when DaVinci started to beep from the bench. Natalie frowned and went over to it, she picked it up.
“What’s that?” Will asked.
“DaVinci,” Natalie said, her focus on the device.
She scrolled through some settings. She couldn’t remember what she had programmed this frequency of beeping to mean.
Her face drained of colour. “Will, the portal. It’s collapsing.”
32
Will ran over to the Doc and looked down at the small purple device in her hand. It was beeping rapidly. He hadn’t seen anything quite like it before but even so, he knew it was magic.
What’s the Doc doing messing with portal magic?
“Is that yours?” He asked.
Natalie nodded, not removing her eyes from the screen. “We don’t have long.”
She finally met Will’s gaze. There was real panic in her eyes. “We have to get back to Earth, now. Or we won’t be getting back at all.”
Natalie hurried over to ‘Monica’ and helped take her weight. Will looked at the three paralysed men on the floor. There were another four further in the tunnels, not to mention the immobile town of people stuck inside of slug bodies.
“Useless bloody aliens -” Will began.
“Will!” Natalie interrupted. ‘Monica’s’ arm was draped over her shoulder. “We have to get to the towns people and get them to move. Right now.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“It has to happen. You got -” She gestured to the slug in the tunnel. “That one to follow you. They must be able to understand you. We have to go, right now.”
Natalie helped ‘Monica’ towards the doorway. The purple devices beeping increased. It was like a constant piercing scream. Natalie began to swear as she stepped over the paralysed men.
“I’m out of serum,” She said desperately.
Will bent down and lifted the dead weight of one of the guys. He used all his strength to haul him upwards and figured he could half drag him towards the portal. He bent down to grab another with his right arm, his chest felt like it was going to collapse with the pain in his rib. Will grunted with effort, his vision grew blotchy. Sweat began to pour down his face but he managed to get to his feet. He tried to walk towards the tunnel but he could only take slow steps under the weight and pain.
“Will, put them down, you’re hurt. We can get the townspeople to carry them. The slugs can drag humans along their trails remember?”
“They won’t do it,” Will said, through gritted teeth.
Natalie looked at him pleadingly. “They’ll have to! Put those two down before you pass out.”
With a grunt of pain Will put the two men back down onto the rocky floor. He took a few gasping breaths and placed his hand on a nearby bench for support.
He gripped the bench tightly and frowned.
“Natalie,” He said suddenly. “What equipment did you see?”
The Doc’s mouth opened with excitement. “You’re a genius, William.”
33
Black mud coated the sleek, silver exterior of the excavator. The cabin was small, barely big enough for a driver. Will figured it was autonomous and that the mine had been dug remotely. He also knew that humans always put an override system into anything autonomous.
Trust issues.
Will climbed up the steps to the cabin and opened the door. He climbed inside and looked at the controls. It had been a while since he’d been behind the wheel of heavy machinery. Not since his grandparents had been alive and he’d helped out on their farm.
The Doc was going to meet him at the entrance of the tunnel with the townspeople. Everyone - paralysed human bodies included - were going to climb into the bucket and be carried out of this hell hole.
Will started the excavator up. It purred more smoothly than anything his grandparents had owned on their farm. He overrode the settings and put the controls manual operation. Will reversed, swung the machine around and put his foot down, bursting towards the tunnel opening. At the entrance, he lowered the bucket, put the machine in park and jumped out of the cabin. He ran into the tunnel and grabbed ahold of one of the guys he’d knocked out earlier. With one arm, he dragged him through the tunnel and laid him near the bucket. Will ran back into the tunnel.
“You right, Doc?” He yelled down a tunnel.
“Getting there,” She yelled back.
‘Monica’ was helping her get the slugs moving. Will had no idea how that was going to work, or whether they could trust the alien. Most likely they couldn’t. He bent down to grab another of the unconscious guys and a tail, black pincer attached, slowly wrapped around the guy’s arm. It was the slug that had helped him earlier.
Is it the kid?
“Tom?”
The slug began to drag the limp body towards the exit. Will shrugged and grabbed another guy.
With the help of the slug, Will loaded the heavy, unconscious men into the excavator’s bucket. Will wiped the sweat from his brow and turned back towards the tunnel. The Doc, ‘Monica’ and all the townspeople were standing at its lip.
Natalie looked down at the purple device. Her face was ashen. “Let’s go,” She yelled.
“Get in,” Will said.
‘Monica’ let out a bunch of sounds that a human voice box shouldn’t be able to make. The slugs moved slowly towards the bucket. ‘Monica’ let out another serious of sounds and they sped up.
Will jumped into the cabin and revved the engine. The Doc climbed up the steps and squeezed in beside him.Wolfgang jumped onto her lap. It was a tight fit. The Doc paused and looked up from the device. She reached into her pocket and pulled out Will’s glasses.
“If you’re driving,” She said.
Will had thought they were lost. He gratefully took them and put them on. The slugs piled into the bucket, it was large though not large enough to hold an entire town. Luckily, the slugs were smaller than a town of humans would be. ‘Monica’ climbed in after them and waved a hand.
Will jerked the excavator forward. There was a chorus of metallic screeches. Natalie pointed towards the manufactured ramp out of the mine and Will headed towards it.
When they’d climbed out of the mine, Natalie looked down at the purple device.
“It’s in that direction,” She said while pointing, “Monica’s alien will guide us pass the rocks.”
Will sniffed and nodded. He gripped the controls. At least the aliens wanted to get back to Earth as much as they did. But once they got there. He couldn’t see this thing going down quietly.
34
The excavator tore around a large boulder. Natalie had to grab the side of the cabin to stop from falling out. The blue portal came into view. DaVinci was shrieking so loudly she hadn’t expected the portal to be stable. She let out the breath she’d been holding. Will revved the engin
e and powered forward.
“Wait,” Natalie said, “The cops. We have to bring them through with us.”
“Leave ‘em,” Will growled.
“Will, stop.”
Will braked and everyone jerked forward. There were several cries of protest from the bucket. Natalie opened the door to the cabin and climbed down the small ladder. She ran to the dead tree they had left the cops under. They weren’t there. She hoped they’d made it back through the portal and hadn’t been dragged away and devoured. Natalie swallowed and rushed back to the excavator. There was nothing she could do.
Will accelerated as rapidly as the huge machine could manage. He lined them up with the portal and pressed down on the accelerator.
The portal vanished. Instead, there was a wall of boulders in its place. They were heading for it at full speed.
“Shit!” Will yelled.
Natalie’s stomach dropped. The portal blinked back into existence. Will hadn’t slowed down or had time to swerve. The excavator flew towards the portal. There was no way to know if it would hold, or if it would even take them back to Earth. Natalie squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed onto Wolfgang’s collar. She felt the the prickling of her skin. Her heart leap in her chest. A chorus of metallic cries filled the air. The engine died and there was silence.
Natalie opened her eyes. Dawn light trickled down through the gum trees. A magpie called. They’d made it. They were back in Quuorn. She looked behind them, the portal was gone. She looked at Will, he grinned.
Then, chaos erupted. Armed with guns and knives and sticks, the aliens inside of the people of Quuorn ran towards the excavator. Will opened the cabin door and jumped to the ground. He clenched his fists and stalked forward. Natalie hurried out after him. She went to ‘Monica’, who was gripping the side of the bucket, her eyes bulging. The slugs were squirming, their eyes flicking around, taking in the familiar surroundings.
The Missing Town Page 11