by Jasper Tripp
“So you didn’t fight the urge to come to Stagstone. Nice place to start a family, you prick?”
“Something like that.” King Cody motions to the two wives held at knifepoint by the twins. “Let’s leave them out of this. Hmmm? We can still fight, if you like, but let’s not drag them down into this.”
“You need them.” Dibs glances toward the wives. “Don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Really, really bad?”
“Is this going somewhere?”
“Mara,” Dibs calls out. “You got ’em?”
“Hell yes,” Mara yells back from behind him, her rifle’s night scope planted to her eye.
“What?” King Cody’s eyes pop wide.
Dibs snaps his fingers toward the twins. The twins drop to the ground, falling off the two wives. Mara puts a single shot into the head of each of them, dropping them straight down to the ground. The twins race back to the side of Walter and Mara. Walter puts a hand on Mara’s shoulder with pride beaming. That’s my girl.
King Cody shakes. His mouth pulls apart wide with veins popping plump along his neck. Every part of him vibrates uncontrollably. Dibs watches on. His theory might be correct. His bet might be true. King Cody needed the wives to survive. To grow. They are everything.
The blue glow of the wives’ blades flickers then fades to black.
King Cody’s body falls. He lands to his knees with his face wrapped in his hands.
Dibs looks around.
The Grey Ones all do the same. They fall to the ground as if collectively wrapped in the throes of a seizure of sorts. All down on their knees, shaking uncontrollably. The wives’ bodies break apart, shattering like glass. Their pieces turn to red and orange dust floating up and out into the night.
King Cody drops down on his back.
Dibs steps over to him.
King Cody’s body convulses, rising up from the ground then landing down hard with a thud. Like he’s being picked up and dropped. The ground shakes. The earth rumbles. He lands down hard again. So hard, this time Dibs is actually lifted up off the ground for a second. Dibs readies his gun, uncertain that it might be a completely useless gesture.
King Cody’s mouth opens wider. A red light fires out from his throat up into the night. Dibs shields his eyes, but through the bright red light he can see something tiny. A thing no bigger than a fly is working its way up through the light. It pauses, only for a moment, eye level with Dibs, then floats up through the red light.
Out into the night.
Into the deep, dark sky among the stars.
Looking around, Dibs sees that the once Grey Ones are no longer grey. Their skins are returning to a normal tone. Their bodies have stopped shaking as well. Some sit up from the ground, looking around bewildered. As if shaken from a deep, hard sleep.
Dibs looks down to King Cody. Now, he is only Louis Cody.
His eyes open then shut. He smacks his lips.
“Louis,” Dibs says, pointing his gun at Cody’s face. “Need you to get the hell up.”
Louis Cody’s eyes open, zero in on the barrel of the gun, then look to Dibs. His brain twists and turns, fighting to understand what the hell is happening, all while trying to digest his hate for Dibs. They stare at one another. Holding their searing gaze. Mara, Walter and the twins have moved next to Dibs.
“You okay, friend?” Walter asks.
Dibs regrips his gun. He can taste killing this man.
“How did I get here?” Cody finally says.
“Long story.” Dibs’s eyes burn.
“Okay.” Cody swallows hard. “You going to killing me? That the thing?”
Dibs takes aim between Cody’s eyes. All the memories of New York flood in. All this man did while infected by the King. It all rips through Dibs’s mind’s eye in a blur. Killing this man would do the world a lot of good. Would do Dibs a lot of good too.
“Dibs,” Mara says.
“Don’t do it,” Walter begs.
Dibs presses the gun to Cody’s head. His finger getting tighter on the trigger—
“Chief Dibs.”
Dibs stops.
That voice.
Kate’s voice.
Dibs smiles big. Punches Cody in the face with all he has. Cody is lifted up from the ground, sent skidding into the grass. Dibs turns, finding Kate walking toward him with Stella. Kate looks very different than when Dibs last saw her.
She’s dressed head to toe in red leather with a black mask pulled down tight over her face. A zipper in the mask is open for one eye to see and another for a mouth hole so she can speak. Stella has her on a leash with her hands cuffed. Full-on bondage gear. Walter looks down at his feet.
“Our special room wasn’t harmed. Just so you know,” Stella says into Walter’s ear. “It was the best way to secure—"
“Got it,” Walter says, putting a hand up trying to quiet her in front of company.
Dibs smiles bit.
“Hi.” Kate’s gorgeous smile shines through the zipper hole.
Dibs looks to her silver-cuffed hands then to the knocked-out Cody.
“Any chance you can slap those cuffs on the King over there?”
Walter nods, removing the cuffs from Kate.
“Hey, man.” Dibs leans over to Walter. “Any chance we can borrow that suit for a week… or six?”
Chapter Forty-Three
SIX WEEKS LATER
Dibs sits at a table by the window in the town's favorite, and only, diner.
Big Maria’s. To be clear, Big Maria's is a greasy spoon with so much damn homespun charm it's almost sickening. The name might suggest an ethnic slant, but the food is straight up white-bread basics. Eggs, bacon, burgers, a damn fine club sandwich, pie and coffee so good it'll grow you a third nipple. At least that’s what Maria tells people.
Dibs still only has the two, but he won’t argue with her.
He sips his coffee, watching the door. Waiting but not impatient. There’s a calm to him. The kind of calm that comes from stomping the shit out of an alien invasion and locking up your mortal enemy from the city that never sleeps. His normal buzz of anxious, under the surface hostility seems to have oddly taken a holiday. Or, perhaps, even taken a back seat to Dibs’s new world.
Stagstone is still in the process of rebuilding but it’s getting there. Big Maria’s was one of the few spots untouched by the happenings of King Cody and his wives. The people of the town are coming to grips with what happened. The damage to their homes. The losses of loved ones.
Even though none of them outside the Stagstone Seven understand what really happened.
Those townsfolk who turned back from Grey Ones to normal, or at least some semblance thereof, are trying to just find some sense of themselves prior to the event. Their memories are sketchy at best. Some remember more than others, while some have no idea what happened during those lost hours of time. None of them remember enough to tell a full story. The ones who have any recall can only talk about lights and things going black and running and chasing, but are not sure why or how any of it happened.
The ones the Stagstone Seven set free in the woods are a different touch. As are the people of the neighboring towns that were affected by this damn mess.
Most folks don’t want to talk about it. Keep it all stuffed down. Denial helps heal a lot of wounds. Some, however, do want to talk all about it unfortunately. Those people are currently being discounted as crazy by the authorities. Brushing them off by saying they are all suffering from delusions induced by the trauma caused by the event. Dibs feels for them, he does, but he sees the greater good of keeping this whole thing off the radar for as long as possible. Doesn’t see the upside to blowing it up into a big-ass global question mark.
So, yeah, Dibs and the rest of the Stagstone Seven decided to keep quiet with what they knew. Made the call that it was better to control the information. It was for the town’s, and the planet’s, own good. Thinking it kind not to tell people that they were eating their
own. Sidestep the truth that they were trying to kill their friends and neighbors, or worst, that some of them succeeded. It would unravel what was left of the town they loved. Tear away at the fabric that made this a wonderful place to live.
Not to mention, what good would it do?
What was the upside to the truth?
Sometimes it’s the fiction that saves us.
So, they decided to lock their lips and pretend that aliens didn’t almost take over the world. The insurance companies marked it down as some form of natural disaster mixed with some wildlife disturbance that mauled some unfortunate souls. Right or wrong, Dibs was cool with that. The government, state and federal, sent some people and threw some money here and there. It all has helped as normal starts to come back online.
Dibs sips his triple-nipple coffee while seated at a table for seven with six empty chairs.
The door dings.
His eyes light up as Stella walks in with the twins hanging on her legs. Walter steps in next with his arm around Mara holding her tight, and she isn’t pulling away in disgust. A family of unknown warriors. Well, Dibs knows. He waves them over, hugging them one by one as they reach the table. Walter almost crushes him with his bearlike embrace.
Another ding at the door.
Dibs smiles huge.
Kate walks in with a carefree elegance. Their house together has a long way to go before it’s ready, but they can’t wait to start their new life together. Not marriage, let’s not lose our minds, but a living arrangement that might simulate marriage, without the labels. That’s what they went with and they are happy as hell so far. Kate’s eyes lock with Dibs. She gives Dibs a soft kiss before taking her seat next to him. Dibs pours her some coffee.
The door dings again.
Dibs’s eyes slip toward the entrance. He feels his soul sink to the floor.
“Dibs.” Carol hacks up a lung. “This is complete bullshit.”
Dibs bites his tongue.
“I remember things,” she continues, reaching the table. “Bad things.”
All eyes turn to Dibs. Do something, please.
“You’ve been through a lot, Carol,” Dibs says, offering her an empty cup. “Coffee?”
“Don’t placate me like the rest of these dipshits. Something happened. Something happened and I know damn well you know what.”
“Something did happen, Carol. We’re all dealing with it. The entire town. Together.”
“Not that crock of shit story you sold. Not the one we’re comfortable telling ourselves.”
“Now, Carol.” Dibs starts to get up. Thinks about shooting her. Who would mind?
Kate puts a calming hand on his shoulder.
“Carol, please. Let’s not get all in a panic—"
“I remember a man.” She hacks.
“Carol—”
“I remember a man who looked like a Creepy Jesus.”
The Stagstone Seven freeze, fighting not to show it on their faces. Dibs grinds his teeth, fighting the pounding in his chest. He can still shoot her.
Everyone in the diner stops. Searching at the back corners of their minds. Some show a slight form of recognition. Something might be ringing true in Carol’s words.
Dibs and Kate look at the patrons of the diner. It’s all over their faces. The questioning. The analysis that might have been pushed aside before. This can spiral out of control in a hurry. Walter and Stella hold hands, waiting for the next move. Mara thinks about taking Carol out herself. Swipe the knee maybe, then a coffee cup to the temple. The twins ready their forks for assault.
“Wait.” Dibs holds his hand up. “Let’s be clear here. I want to understand you.”
He pauses, gathers himself.
Dibs starts slow, letting it build, then begins to howl with loud, booming laughter. He leans into it. Going huge. Letting his face run red, forcing his laughs to be bigger and bigger as he goes. He makes fast eyes with Kate. Kate begins to laugh as well. Walter and Stella join in, along with Mara. The twins look around, still wanting to stab someone with forks.
Some others from the diner start to join in with the laughter.
“Sorry, Carol. What?” Dibs starts up. Short, choppy words between laughs. “You think… what? A Creepy Jesus came to town. Then what? Where did he come from?”
“From space, dammit,” Carol says defiantly. She turns, watching the diner enjoying a good chuckle at her expense. “It’s true, bitches. He had…” Her face drops as she says it out loud. “wives that started eating us.”
The room booms with cackles.
“Oh. Wow.” Dibs bangs the table. “His wives started eating people. Oh my God, that’s so awesome.”
“Yeah,” Kate joins in. “Then they what? Turned us into cannibal aliens?”
Carol nods, not liking this at all.
“Holy shit.” Dibs coughs, choking on his barking laughter. “That it, Carol? Aliens? Everybody is wrong. The whole town. The feds. Everybody is, what, lying but you? The only honest person left in all of Stagstone.”
“Really?” Mara gasps with tears rolling down her face. “That’s so fucked up.”
“Wow. Creepy who?” Stella gets out between the giggles. “Creepy… Moses?”
“Jesus, not Moses, you whacko,” Carol says. “It’s true. That’s what I remember."
Everyone in the diner laughs even harder. Louder.
Carol begins to shrink. She gives Dibs the finger as she slinks out the door, hacking away.
The laughter rolls then fades off into a normal Big Maria dinner conversation murmur.
Dibs bounces his eyebrows to the table. That was a close one. A collective sigh of relief all around. Kate pulls a bottle of whiskey from her purse.
The good stuff.
Smiling eyes all around, fighting the giggles, they pass the bottle around under the table, each pouring a nip into their coffee. Stella stops the twins from taking a nip.
Dibs raises his cup to the rest of the table. Everyone follows suit.
“To the Stagstone Seven.”
About the Author
Jasper Tripp is a pen name for another author that also writes thrillers and crime fiction. He’s loved science fiction ever since he was a kid so he couldn’t help himself. Jasper and the other guy thank you so much for reading. Feel free to drop Jasper a line at [email protected].
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BAD THINGS copyright ©2018 by Jasper Tripp and Mike McCrary
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission from Mike McCrary.
Published by Bad Words Inc.