Scorched Flesh

by Ian Woodhead

  Would it have made any difference if we had been able to fight the fugue? I don’t believe so. Even if anybody had listened to us, it was way too late to do anything about them now, way too late.

  ***

  I pulled Mark away from the gaming centre. “Come on, do you honestly think that my mum is going to be in there?” We had been in here for only a few minutes, and already I wanted to get the hell out. Seriously, I hated places like this. Give me an old fashioned market any day. Shopping malls always appeared to be so plastic, so false, and way too garish.

  “Why the hell not?” he said. “She might have popped in there to find a present for your dad. Parents do that on occasion, you know.”

  “Whatever, come on. I know where she’ll be. Mum’s come in here to buy a shitload of clothes.” I winked at Mark. “Parents do that on occasion, you know.” The chances of mum buying anything geek related for dad would be the day when the moon falls out of the sky. He pursued his hobby alone, although there have been, on occasion, times when he persuaded me to purchase the odd item for him when he couldn’t.

  “Shit the bed, Travis. You’re honestly saying that we have to check out every single clothing shop in here? That’s worse than death.”

  A point of white light widened into a crack, through that light, I knew my true voice was screaming at me, demanding that I peer inside. Believe me, I couldn’t think of anything better I would like to do. It didn’t matter that my recent history, the events leading up to this would short circuit my mind. That screaming intensified, drowning out everything else, even my obsession to find my forgotten past.

  “Oh my God! Travis, please. We have to get out of here!”

  The shrieks pulled me back into reality, pulling away the veil, dragging it across my raw nerves. My legs lost strength, and all that stopped me from collapsing onto the beige tiles were Mark’s hands, holding me up. His frightened eyes drilled into mine, and I couldn’t move my head, I didn’t want to. The screams continued around us, coming from everybody else in the mall.

  Mark removed his hands. I attempted to grab the front of his top to keep me from falling. As I reached up, he turned me around, and I saw first hand the true horror of our situation. I couldn’t stop myself from falling to my knees. Mark followed me down. “Look at them, Travis!” he cried, his voice almost lost in their dying screams. “I now remember everything, and more besides, much more besides.”

  Where crowds of shoppers once thronged, statues of melting human candles now stood. Clothing, skin, and wet flesh formed piles around each figure.

  The screaming had turned into an orchestra of low moans, even as more meat softened and ran down the sides of the bodies, the noise lowered until all I could hear was Mark’s harsh breathing and the occasional sound of something large hitting the floor. It reminded me of a rock thrown into a puddle of mud.

  “Their agony only lasted for a few brief moments, Travis,” he whispered.

  He clamped his hands on my shoulders as I tried to stand up. Fleeing from this nightmare was all I could think of to get away; to cleanse my eyes from this terrible sight.

  “There’s nowhere to go, nowhere to hide from them. This had happened everywhere. Our species is now dead, even you and me.”

  I looked down to the floor, watching a stream of red fluid form, a few feet from where I knelt. Rivulets coming from every body converged into one pool that expanded as more fluid flowed into it.

  “Travis, it’s time we left. You’re still to join the others. We’d best hurry. If they discover that you rejected the first one, you’ll end up dissolving as well.” He spun me around. “I can’t let that happen.”

  He leaned closer to my face until our noses were almost touching. I still tried to struggle and shrug him off, but no matter what I did, Mark held me in a vice-like grip, possessing a strength totally foreign to his size. His old tears had cleaned a narrow path down both his cheeks. Now that I was close enough to see, it was obvious that Mark was very ill. His skin under the grime was no longer smooth. It was textured, lumpy, just like the surface of that vile mushroom.

  “Please, come with me? I don’t want to be alone,” sniffed Mark. “I mean, if I let go of you, promise you won’t leave me?”

  Apart from Mark’s heaving breathing, no more sounds reached me. Looking into his big eyes, watching his skin continue to roughen, I honestly believed that I had gone insane.

  “Mark?” I croaked. “I…”

  He smiled at me, and it was such a terrible sight. “Hush, you don’t worry about anything. Nothing will harm you. I’ll look after you. You’re my friend.” Mark held his arms out.

  I think that he wanted to embrace me. I did the first thing that came to mind. It was the only response that my fucked mind would allow me to do. I pulled my arm back, and punched him as hard as I could. My clenched fist smacked Mark in the middle of his nose. He fell backwards, crashing into a melted pillar of red meat.

  His words of this happening everywhere rang through my head. I slowly spun around, trying to avoid looking at all that semi-solid material defying gravity and physics, flowing away from those still standing bodies.

  My mum needed me, she had to be in here somewhere.

  “Wait, you can’t leave me!”

  Oh, yes I could. That wasn’t Mark anymore, just as all these things standing around weren’t human.

  I could feel my strength slipping away, fading away, and leaving me as weak as a newborn baby. I closed my eyes, and focused on the sound of the constant sobbing coming from Mark. In a way, it helped to calm me down, to slow down my heart thundering against the inside of my ribs.

  It was coming for me as well. Whatever had destroyed all these poor people hadn’t passed me over. That knowledge helped me. I suppose it was inevitable. I mean, did I honestly believe that I would be able to survive this, that I was somehow immune? I opened my eyes, staggered over to the entrance of a jewellery shop, and rested my chest against the corner of the front. This was as good a place as any other to await my death.

  I now remembered everything, from my indiscretions with Mark’s sister, to what happened to Mark and I when went to fetch my dad’s model kit. “I left the bloody thing on the counter. I don’t believe it. After everything I went through. I never bothered to pick it up.”

  There were over a dozen silver clocks displayed behind the window, each one showing a different time. Even if none of them were correct, they were at least working. The hands moved ever on, eating away the seconds. Yet, as those seconds turned in minutes, I seriously began to have doubts that they were counting down to my demise.

  “I’ll even forgive you for lashing out, Travis. It’s understandable. You’re bound to be confused. After all, it’s not every day that billions of people all end up looking like a half sucked boiled sweet.”

  He stood on the opposite side with his hands resting on his hips, grinning at me. If it wasn’t for the fact that more of his skin had grown even lumpier, I would have sworn that the old Mark had come back.

  I walked over to him, distantly surprised that I could even stand, let alone move my legs. It shocked me even more to find that even my mind was adjusting to this nightmarish situation. Perhaps it wasn’t my time to die after all. Then again, what did I know? By all accounts, after everything that’s happened today, I ought to be howling like a half mad banshee by now.

  “I’m so glad you’ve come to your senses, Travis. We have so much work to do. Starting with making sure that we find a way to prop all those doors open so our new friends can get…”

  I punched him again, and just like the last time, Mark never saw my fist until it was too late. He flew backwards, crashing into the plate glass window. “Leave me alone.”

  The late afternoon sun warmed the top of my head. I shielded my eyes and looked into the bright blue sky, not even aware that I’d even left the shopping mall. For the first time since this nightmare landed on me, my grief broke through the numbness that had raged through my mind and body
like a virulent disease. I faced forward, turning in a circle and howled out in despair, gazing in utter horror at the sight of thousands more corpses, every one of them standing where they died, their original shapes corrupted and distorted by whatever alien process had killed them.

  I was totally alone in a world forever changed. My mind threatened to collapse when I saw a starling swoop down and land on one of the corpses. Before it could fly away, a pale white vine detached from the base of the corpse and whipped up, the flattened head striking the unsuspecting bird.

  It was just too much to take in. I closed my eyes and fell backwards, striking my head hard against the pavement.

  ***

  So that’s it in a nutshell. The end of our great human civilisation finally came to a violent end on that late Saturday afternoon. I’ll admit that it does feel good to have told you the truth about what really happened.

  The huge sentinels running down crowds of terrified humans never happened. There were no tribes of Bonestrippers feeding upon the rotting dead either. Don’t get me wrong here, they did show up, just not at first. I don’t think that the Blastships had even reached us before they had secured the planet.

  I know it’s hard reading, but this is really what happened. Everything that you’ve been previously told about the invasion is a big pile of crap. The aliens took away our world without us even knowing it.

  If I was in your position right now, I guess I’d be swearing my box off, demanding to know why we lied to you for all these years. What other choice did we have? Spinning tales of human endurance and bravery whilst going up against overwhelming odds, is far better to stomach than the simple truth. We wanted to breed a generation of soldiers. Just how prepared would you have been to fight if we explained that it took the bastards seconds to convert this planet’s dominant species into billions of towers of scarlet compost.

  Where do we go from here? We go forward, of course. The narrative must continue. There is so much more I need to tell you, son, and although they’ve left me alone so far, I’m not sure how long my luck will hold out.

  This wasn’t really the end of us as a species. We must have looked like insects to them, but like insects, it doesn’t matter how many of the little bastards you destroy, there’s always a few that manage to get away. Either by accident or design, I was one of those that survived. Looking back, I wonder if I really was one of the lucky ones.

  ***

  The smell of cooking brought me back into the land of the living. At first, I believed I was lying in my bed, about to be stirred by mum yelling at me that breakfast was ready. I prepared myself for the blast by trying to grab the top of my quilt and pull it over my head.

  My grasping fingers only succeeded to clawing five scratches up my exposed stomach. I snapped open my eyes, and whimpered in misery as the painful memory of what I’d endured slammed into me.

  “There now, laddie boy. Let’s slide those bad thoughts back in your pockets.”

  The face of a familiar man blocked my view of the grey sky. “I know you,” I whispered. “Traveller Stu, where am I?”

  The man ruffled his curly black hair. “Oh flip, do the normals still call me that?” He sighed. “Well, it could be worse, I suppose. Still, looking on the bright side—as most of the normals have turned into blancmange—I’ll only have to hear it from you.”

  The man dropped a bright blue quilt cover over my naked body, and stepped back. I sat up and found that I was lying on a piece of carpet. Hulks of rusted car bodies were stacked all around us. It took me a moment to get my bearings, and when it did, I caught my breath and wrapped the quilt cover tight around my body. “Did you…did you carry me here?” I ran my tongue over my dry lips, trying to imagine this homeless guy carrying my limp body over two miles across to the other side of Lorchester, slipping in between so many thousands of transformed corpses. I groaned again.

  “Welcome to my humble abode, Mr Fitzpatrick.” He turned away, his back blocking me from what he was doing. “You should feel privileged, I’ve never brought anyone back until now.”

  He stood up, walked back over to me, and placed a small cream saucer on my lap. I stared with utter confusion at the sandwich lying on the plate. Did this odd man actually expect me to eat? He’d even sliced the bread into four diamonds.

  “Don’t worry, it’s all clean. That plate’s never been used,” he grinned. “I liberated it from the Shop and Save this morning along with a number of other items, including that rather fetching quilt cover that you’re wearing as a toga. Now, come on. Eat something. It’s been a while since ole Stu has cooked at all.”

  He reached behind him, and grabbed a dark blue flask. “Yep, this is another liberated goodie from the cave of wonders. Still, it’s not like they’ll be having much custom today. Don’t fret, young Fitzpatrick, there’s only tea in here.

  It might be a bit sweet for your tastes, but you’re welcome to have some so you can wash down your sandwich.”

  The tips of my fingers gravitated towards the edge of the plate.

  “I know I’m talking way too much, young Fitzpatrick, but keeping the jaw on the move has been the only way of keeping my head above ground.”

  I didn’t mind all that much; in fact, I found his voice very soothing, and it helped to keep me distracted, to keep my mind off this situation.

  I listened to him tell me about his descent into the bottle over a decade ago, and his drunken exploits, his weekly arguing with passing cars, lampposts, and the occasional fox. I found myself reaching for that sandwich.

  Without thinking, I took out a huge bite, moaning in delight as the taste of fresh bacon and buttered bread exploded in my mouth. I can’t remember a meal that tasted so fine. My new companion had stopped to watch me; he’d even stopped talking. I didn’t care. My God, I was so hungry.

  “Want some tea?”

  I nodded, and waited impatiently as he poured some of the hot liquid into the cap. I licked the bacon grease and butter off my lips, and gratefully took the cap from his offered hands.

  “Enjoyed that didn’t you?” he said, grinning. “Not that I’m surprised. After all, you’ve been under for almost a day. It’s Sunday morning.”

  The empty cap fell from my hands. “No. No way!” I cried, jumping up. “I need to find my mum and my dad. Oh fuck, why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “Why?”

  “What the fuck do you mean, you arse?” My guts rolled, and I felt my hastily eaten meal wanting to come back up my throat. I spun around, desperate to get away from here. The exit was only a few metres from here. I could even see the main road. I got my guts under control and took one step towards the two large wire mesh gates, confident that the man wouldn’t stop me, even if he did try any. The clown would soon find out not to mess with me.

  “Do you know what I missed most of all this morning, young Fitzpatrick?”

  He didn’t wait for a reply, not that I was about to issue one. I continued to walk away from him.

  “It’s the bells. I missed the ringing church bells. Hard to credit that, isn’t it. You see, the church is only a little distance from here, and believe me, those bastard things could wake the dead.”

  The gates were my escape from his continuous noise. Why did I even think that the freak was a comfort? Christ, did he never ever shut the fuck up? I ground to a halt, and clenched my fists. He wasn’t going to leave me alone, the bastard would follow me like an unwanted shadow. I slowly turned, intending to smash my fist right into his face. Traveller Stu had also stopped, and he had even stopped talking, at least for a few moments.

  “Stay away from me,” I growled. “I want…”

  “You want answers, my friend” he interrupted. He’d lowered his voice to a whisper. “You’re scared, confused, and I’m sure you feel as though that every one of your emotions have been churned up in a cement mixer.” He took one step closer. “I won’t stop you leaving, Travis.” The man flashed me a single sad smile, then turned and walked back to his fire.


  My raging fury had gone as quickly as it arrived, but even so, I knew that I couldn’t stay here. I needed to find the others. What other choice did I have? “I’m sorry,” I ventured, unsure whether he’d hear me. I turned and hurried over to the gates, my mind running through the events leading up to just before I cracked my head. No matter what I did, I was still gripped by the essence of unreality. Yet, even in my fragile state, I couldn’t believe what had happened. I couldn’t believe, because if I did, I knew that I’d fall into that abyss.

  I pushed my fingers through the wire mesh, and gripped the cold metal, feeling that abyss about to claim me. Tears welled up, and my throat tightened. It was all true, everything.

  A jumble of vehicles covered the entire road, a riot of twisted metal and broken glass, stretching as far as I could see. My mind tortured me with the sudden screaming that I heard in the shopping mall.

  Oh my God, it happened everywhere!” I sobbed. What chance did I have of finding either of my parents?

  Even from where I stood, I could see that those vehicles were still occupied, and whatever force had worked on the poor bastards on the mall, had done the same in there as well. Just a few metres from where I stood, there was a small green hatchback facing the other way to the traffic, its front completely flattened against the side of a double decker bus. Thankfully, I couldn’t see the interiors clearly, but what I did make out confirmed that the change had taken these people too. I turned away, and ran my eyes up the vast corridor of colour, looking for one other car: my dad’s car.

  He usually went out on a Saturday afternoon, calling in at one of the pubs on the outskirts of town for a pint and something to eat before making his way over to one of his old army buddies who lived in the next town.