The Colony

by Kathleen Groger

  I stopped and lit it with my flashlight. Adam handed his light to Megan. “Okay. Take two.” He reached up to push on the manhole cover.

  A groan echoed off the walls, but the cover moved. Adam pushed it half open then stuck his head through the opening.

  “Gimme my flashlight.” He sounded like he was talking in a bubble. He held his hand low and Megan handed him the light.

  “What’s up there?” My back ached to stand up straight.

  “Stairs. Sort of.” Adam ducked back down. “Val, you go first. I’ll give you a boost, then I’ll help Megan and Bethany. After that, you guys can pull me up.”

  It was a solid plan. I glanced at Megan and she nodded. Bethany gave a thumbs-up signal. I holstered the Glock and gave my light to Megan. I put my hands on the rim and eased my cramped muscles into a full stand. Once my head was past the lid, the air was clearer but still rank. I pushed down on my hands and lifted myself up. Then I stopped. Shit. My backpack was caught.

  I shimmed and slid back down. Adam caught me around the waist and eased my feet back to solid cement. Warmth shot from my toes to my hair roots. I needed to stop reacting so much to his touch.

  “What’s wrong?” A look of fear crossed Megan’s pale face.

  “My backpack.” I took it off and bit my lip, trying to cut off the panic surging through my veins. I didn’t want to give it up, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to trust these people. They were supposed to be my friends now. The words of Rule Number One seared my skin. My heart jackhammered in my chest and my pulse thumped in my neck. I tried not to hyperventilate as I held the bag out to Megan. She took it without a sound. I gave one last glance at the backpack, then hoisted myself up by my arms.

  When my waist hit the circle, I struggled to get my legs to join the rest of my body. Without warning, Adam pushed up my legs. He gave me another shove and I was completely through the hole and crouching on a small platform. I shoved my arm back into the hole and a flashlight was slapped into my open palm.

  I shined the light and checked out my surroundings. I was on a three-by-three cement platform with a set of metal rungs ascending another concrete pipe.

  “Come on, Megan.” I bent down and held out my hand. Megan shoved my backpack into the hole. I grabbed it as if it was a life preserver, and slipped it on.

  Megan’s blonde head popped up and out of the hole, then dropped down like a sick version of a whack-a-mole game. She burst back up and I held onto her shoulder, heaving her up as Adam shoved her legs.

  There wasn’t enough room on the ledge. I grabbed a hold of the rungs, balancing one foot on the rung and the other on the edge of the deck.

  Bethany joined Megan on the platform, and then flattened herself against the wall to make room for Adam.

  He pulled himself most of the way up. Megan and I grabbed him by his jean belt loops and helped him the rest of the way. I caught myself staring at the waistband of his boxers.

  I focused, shifted my weight, and began climbing up the tight tube. On the third rung, my foot slipped. My stomach plunged as my fingers clenched around the rung. I tried to regain my footing. Something hit my legs and butt. I glanced down. Adam straddled the opening and supported me by holding my bottom. Another flush of heat zipped through my insides.

  “Thanks,” was all I could manage to say.

  “No problem. Hey, Megan, can I get a little help here?”

  Megan slipped her arm around Adam’s waist. I couldn’t—okay, didn’t want to—watch. I climbed the crude stair rungs. The flashlight clanged against the metal handholds, jarring my nerves with every bang.

  Megan’s weight joined mine on the poor excuse for a ladder. About ten feet higher, I found another manhole cover. I pushed it to the right. I eased my head through and covered the flashlight’s beam with my hand to muffle its glare. I turned as far as my body allowed, then pulled myself out of the concrete cave.

  I climbed onto a cobblestone street next to a brick building. The buzzing seemed louder. There was no one around and nothing moved. The buzz was the only sign the place wasn’t entirely empty. The noise sizzled through my nerve endings and tingled in the roots of my teeth. I worked my jaw back and forth, and put my hand on the Glock as my creep factor shot through the roof.

  I bent down and waved my hand in an upward motion. Within a minute, the other three had joined me on the street.

  “Where are we?” Bethany said, her voice barely audible.

  “In the compound. Do you hear anything besides the buzzing?” Adam surveyed the area, his gun following the path of his gaze.

  “What’s that?” I wanted to yell the question, but managed to keep my voice monotone and quiet.

  A black tar-like substance covered the side of the building, snaked its way up to the third floor, and went into the glassless window.

  “I don’t know.” Adam stepped closer to the material.

  “It looks like what we saw partly covering the roofs.” I reached out my hand to touch the stuff, but when it moved, I stopped. It undulated like a giant snake inhaling. “Did you see that?” I dropped my hand, backed up, and swallowed the scream clawing its way up my throat.

  “Can we get out of here now?” Megan tried to still her hand holding the Sig.

  This wasn’t right. We shouldn’t have come here. What the hell had I been thinking?

  “We made it this far. Let’s see if we can find out where the buzzing is coming from.” Adam turned his back to the shifting material.

  A sense of wrongness wrapped around my brain. I didn’t think any of us should turn our backs to the substance. It was moving. Moving.

  “I don’t care what it is. I can’t hear it. I want to go.” Megan stomped a foot.

  Her stomp ground down on my last nerve. I didn’t want to know what was making the noise. But I needed to. Bethany just seemed scared out of her mind and shook as if she’d never be warm again. I exhaled and rolled my lower lip under my teeth. Adam waited.

  “Ten minutes, then we get out.” The words slipped past my lips before I could stop them.

  Adam nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

  We walked to the front of the structure. The biggest building that we had spied from the hill lay opposite our current position. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on where the noise was coming from.

  I pointed my Glock. “I think it’s coming from the main building.”

  “I really think we should leave.”

  I turned to Megan. She looked on the verge of tears and was shaking as much as Bethany.

  “A few minutes then we’re gone. I promise.” I gave them a half-hearted smile. It was the best I could do under the circumstances.

  “Come on, then.” Adam grabbed Megan’s wrist in a handcuff-style grip. Bethany trailed behind them.

  They led the way to what I guessed was the administration building of the seminary. I followed, but peered back every thirty seconds or so to make sure no one snuck up behind us. And to make sure the black ooze stayed on the building.

  The insistent buzzing grew with each step, and I wanted to plug my ears and run the other way. I caught Adam’s gaze. He wore a look of pain, as if the buzzing was actually hurting him somehow.

  We surrounded the massive front doors. Megan and Adam took the right side; I pushed Bethany behind me and covered the left. Adam held up his index finger. He raised a second finger. I nodded that I understood his plan.

  When his third finger extended, we both yanked the doors open then moved into a shooting stance.

  The roar was deafening. I covered my ears, seconds away from blood bursting out my eardrums. Pain shot through my head and I dropped to one knee. Adam had covered his ears as well, but Megan was unaffected and she walked forward. Bethany turned her head from Adam to me, as if she didn’t understand our problem. I struggled to stand.

  Megan stepped into the lobby of what had been an ornate building. Destruction surrounded us. The grand staircase was broken and full of gaps. The columns on either side of the r
oom had broken in two, and colored paper littered the floor in a mosaic.

  Then I saw it. A mass of ooze crept along the walls of the building. It was thick, black, and pulsating. The buzzing followed the wavy pattern of the slime.

  The stuff was making the noise.

  My lungs caught fire and terror tore my senses to shreds. What was it?

  Megan moved toward the ooze, as if she was compelled to touch it. She extended her hand. No. Bad idea. Before I could warn her not to, she laid her palm on the stuff.

  The noise stopped.

  “It feels like rubber.” Megan said it in a normal voice, then let go and turned to us.

  My mouth dropped open. The black ooze moved and started to take a solid, human-like shape. A baseball-sized sphere of panic slammed around my insides. I aimed my gun and was about to fire when a face appeared in the shroud of blackness. Then hands pushed at the material, stretching it like plastic wrap.

  “Megan, move.” Adam whispered as he brought his gun into firing position.

  Megan turned. “Wha—” Whatever else she was going to say was lost in her scream.

  My throat closed, strangling my own scream. All around us, bodies pushed through the black substance.

  13

  “We need to go.” Adam’s eyes were wide. “Now.”

  Sanity evaporated from every cell on my body, taking my ability to move with it. I stood there, transfixed by the black ooze.

  Faces pushed into it. Stretching it. Trying desperately to escape it. A small rip on the left grew, and a hand appeared. Then an arm.

  Adam shined his light at the expanding hole. “Their skin is yellow.”

  The words hit me like a lightning bolt, reenergizing my muscles. “They’re Raspers! Go. Go. Go!” No need to be quiet now.

  Adam grabbed Megan by the arm and ran. Together, we sprinted back to the entrance. I slammed my weight into opening the massive oak door. It didn’t budge.

  “Damn it. Guys, help me.” All four of us smacked into the wooden barrier. Nothing. “Again.”

  We all stepped back and this time took a running start, hitting the door at the exact same time. With a thud, the door surrendered and opened. After we cleared it, we stopped on the broken cement sidewalk. Megan doubled over gasping for breath.

  “Are you okay, Meg?” Bethany ran a hand down Megan’s back.

  At least ten Raspers piled out the door behind us.

  “There’s no time for this. We have to get out of here.” Adam practically dragged Megan as we took off back toward the pipe.

  I rounded the corner of the first building. The deathly Rasper breathing grew louder and louder. “They’re gaining on us.”

  I spun around and fired off two shots. I didn’t know if I hit anything; I turned back and continued to run.

  Adam and Megan skidded to a stop by the pipe. Bethany crashed into them.

  “Megan, Bethany, go.” Adam yelled, then fired his own shot. “Val, you next.”

  I wanted to dive head first into the pipe, but resisted. “No, you go. I’ll be right behind you.” I was the best shot. I had to be the one to cover our escape.

  Adam shook his head and fired until his gun clicked empty. “I’m out.” He dropped into the pipe.

  I squeezed off my last two rounds at the Raspers coming around the building. One went down. I jumped in after Adam, grabbed the rungs, and wrestled the manhole cover back into place.

  I wished I had something to block the cover with, but I didn’t, and I didn’t have time to think. I scrambled down the rungs and almost kicked the top of Adam’s head.

  The three of them had cleared the landing and scooted into the original tunnel. When I reached the landing, daylight streamed down from above, stinging my eyes. Crap. The Raspers had moved the cover. They knew where we were. I jumped into the drainpipe and shoved the second cover back in place.

  I hunched over and moved as fast as the pipe allowed. The rank odor in the pipe smelled worse. My heart rate pounded quadruple time. This was insane. If I hadn’t seen Raspers pop out of the tar-like stuff, I wouldn’t have believed it possible. But I had. And they did.

  Light ringed the pipe. The exit was up ahead. I was about to say something to Adam when a splash echoed. The Raspers had entered the second pipe.

  I scrambled out of the confining cement cylinder, blinded by the brightness of the sun. “We have to get to the ATVs,” I shouted. “They just entered the pipe!”

  “Son of a…” Adam yelled, but didn’t finish.

  We dashed through the pond and clawed our way up the hill. Weeds tore at my jacket. My pulse thundered in my ears, deafening me. Adam pulled Megan with him and I kept hold of Bethany.

  Another splash. I glanced back. Three Raspers jumped into the pond. “They’re out. Climb faster,” I screamed.

  “I’m trying. It’s so difficult.” Megan sounded on the verge of tears again.

  The Raspers climbed—faster than we did.

  We made it to the top and raced for the four-wheelers. Adam shoved Megan on one. She clung to him as if super glue covered her arms.

  “Bethany, come with me.” I glanced down at the seminary campus. My mouth went dry, so dry my tonsils felt the size of shotgun shells. Hundreds of Raspers spilled out of buildings and moved toward our position. They were scarier, faster, and creepier than any horde of the undead in all of the zombie apocalypse movies combined.

  “Hurry.” Bethany’s voice rang higher than a child’s.

  I fired the engine of the ATV. A Rasper’s head poked into view. Bethany tightened her grip. I pulled out my spare gun and fired. The brown mop of hair disappeared in a shower of crimson. I gunned the motor, then took off after Adam and Megan.

  I pushed the machine hard and hit fifty. The vehicle bucked, but I kept going, occasionally glancing over my shoulder. Soon, the Raspers faded into small specs instead of looming figures out to kill us. Beat by beat, my heart rate dropped, settled.

  Bethany clung to my back with a vise grip, seemingly unconcerned with my backpack in her face.

  Thoughts flew through my head like a digital photo frame on fast forward. This wasn’t how I had planned to spend the days after my sixteenth birthday. Mom was supposed to take me shopping with my best friend, Sofie. Dad was going to take me for my driver’s test. I wasn’t supposed to be racing for my life on a four-wheeler with people I hardly knew. I wasn’t supposed to be toting pepper spray, knives, guns. I was supposed to be studying for a biology exam or something. Sofie and my family weren’t supposed to have gone missing and most likely dead. Tears threatened to slip from my eyes, but the cold wind dried them in the corners before they had a chance to drop.

  A motion to my left dragged me from my thoughts. Adam ran his hand across his neck then pointed down at the gauges on his ATV.

  Dread crept across my temples. I glanced down. The gas needle hovered on E.

  Perfect. Just perfect.

  We stopped the vehicles. Megan climbed off and retrieved the gas can from the back of her four-wheeler. Bethany yanked the one free from ours and handed it to me. It was light. Too light to get us to safety.

  That is if safety even existed anymore. And I had my doubts it did.

  “I think we lost them for a little while.” Adam took the can from Megan and filled the other four-wheeler.

  I tipped the remainder of the gas into mine and slid the can back into its compartment. “Now what?” I leaned against the machine.

  Adam shrugged. “Guess we find more gas and keep heading to Site R.”

  “What if that’s not a safe place either? Megan’s dad said people thought the seminary was.” I tugged on the ends of my hair. “Going there was a mistake.”

  Megan cleared her throat, but didn’t utter the I told you so we deserved to hear.

  “Yeah. No joke. We almost died because of a stupid note on a map.” Adam pulled the map with the 300 Seed Plot notation out of his pocket. He ripped it into little pieces and tossed them in the air.

  We all
watched the confettied map scatter in the breeze.

  “If no one has any other ideas, I say we stay with the original plan. Find gas. Go to this Site R and see what’s there.” Bethany crossed her arms across her chest.

  “Then let’s get moving before the Raspers catch up.” I jumped back on the four-wheeler and Bethany followed.

  Adam and Megan climbed on the other machine. “Let’s see how far this gas gets us.” Megan hollered over her shoulder. She slipped her arms around Adam’s waist.

  “Ready?” Adam turned to me and I gave him a thumbs-up sign. Bethany bear-hugged my midsection. I revved the throttle, then we were off.

  We passed miles of nothingness. Just wooded areas. Finally, we reached a paved road. It was cracked and filled with holes from the earthquakes, but at least it wasn’t dirt. I pushed the engine harder.

  We had to keep going; had to distance ourselves from the Raspers. I hoped they’d given up and hadn’t followed us, but I knew that was wishful thinking. The wind knifed my face and a chill slithered down my spine. I shot a glance back. No Raspers. Just a ribbon of torn up asphalt.

  The vise that had constricted my throat since the seminary eased up enough for me to suck down deep breaths of the icy air.

  Adam slowed down his four-wheeler. I checked my gas gauge—not much left. I caught a splash of color in my peripheral vision. A billboard filled the field off to my right. A picture of kids laughing proclaimed Wild Waters was two miles ahead.

  “Adam!” I yelled and gestured for his attention. When he looked over, I pointed at the board.

  He checked his gauge. “Okay.”

  I prayed we had enough gas to make it to Wild Waters. Whatever it was.

  The woods cleared and a large chain link fence stretched out on the left side of the road, protecting huge, empty parking lots. A wooden structure spanned the fence. Wild Waters fanned across the wood in garish orange letters. We maneuvered the ATVs down the rut-filled drive.

  The two-story sized signs that had once hung above the main gate now lay smashed across the turnstile chutes blocking the entrance.