Fatal Reaction, Battle of the Hunted

by M A Hollstein

  “On us?” Jorge asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

  “Yes. But not me… it didn’t want me. It wanted Marie. She’s too old to breed but good to eat.”

  “How is it you can hear them?” Aaron asked.

  “I got sick. Infected. Same as everyone else… but I didn’t die. The alcohol quiets the voices. Ugh!” Jeremiah clutched his side and groaned in pain. “Remember fire and water… water… remember…remember…”

  “We need to get you out of here,” Aaron said, trying not to think of the severe burns covering Jeremiah’s body. Once the shock wore off, he knew Jeremiah would be hating life.

  “I’m not going with you.” Jeremiah lifted his hand from his side exposing blood pouring from puncture marks. The alien had speared him with its metal-like claws.

  “We have friends that can help you,” Jorge said, kneeling down next to Aaron.

  “There’s no helping me. Time for me to go home. It’s time… Marie…” Jeremiah took his last breath.

  Chapter 7

  “They’re gone! How’s the door holding?” Sheriff Mike Wilson yelled over his shoulder after backing into the restaurant. He bolted the glass front door even though the aliens could easily bust through the glass.

  Hiro rushed from the kitchen to join Mike, semi-automatic weapon in hand. “I think the vehicles drew them away from the back door.”

  “Good.” Two tall, aliens covered in dark clothing from head to toe loomed dauntingly in front of the restaurant, staring at them through the glass. Mike could see a third one walking toward the restaurant from the commissary parking lot. “I think we’re drawing them all out. They don’t seem to know what to make of the glass.” One of the aliens placed a gloved hand on the restaurant window.

  “Won’t take them long to figure it out,” Hiro said, ready to fire.

  Mike eyed his yellow Corvette parked in front of the restaurant. The aliens were unknowingly blocking them from their escape. “You ready?”

  Hiro gave him a curt nod. “Ready.”

  Walking up to the glass, Mike stood there for a moment, letting the aliens get a good look at him.

  “What do you want with us?” he asked. He wanted to try to communicate with them first, if at all possible. However, he doubted it was. He had no idea what it was they wanted. It was apparent the first aliens that had appeared on the silver ship were afraid of the alien creatures. Maybe the first aliens came to Earth looking to hide from their enemy.

  Looking deep into the fierce yellow eyes of the alien creature that was pressing a leather-covered hand to the window, he could see why. “Can you understand me?”

  The alien lifted the right corner of its top lip and sneered, exposing jagged, pointed teeth. Metallic razor sharp claws, the length and appearance of medium-sized daggers, grew from the fingertips of its right hand. A loud rumbling growl resonated from within its chest.

  Mike held its stare, continuing to look into the alien’s reptilian-like eyes, unblinking. He refused to back down. He matched the alien’s threat of showing its claws, by holding up his gun and aiming.

  “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he asked again, making his voice both deep and loud.

  Bam! The alien balled up his left hand and slugged the window. Bam! Bam!

  Mike held his ground. He wanted the alien to know he wasn’t afraid.

  With a quick swipe of its right hand, the bladelike claws scraped down the glass, cutting into it. Mike backed up a couple of steps as the alien slugged the cut marks with his left fist that he’d made in the glass, to weaken it.

  “Now!” Mike ordered, making sure he was clear of the target. Hiro shot off a round of bullets. Glass shattered, crashing to the ground as the bullets sprayed the window. Mike raced to the kitchen and Hiro walked backwards letting off another round.

  Screeches of pain rang out, piercing their eardrums. The high-pitched screeches were more deafening than the sound of the machine gun. Dark blood splattered from their wounds as the bullets made contact with their flesh, but didn’t put them down. The three aliens were entering the restaurant regardless of the bullets and the shards of glass. They seemed rattled by the event, but not enough to stop them.

  Hiro backed into the kitchen through the swinging door. He didn’t bother to fire another round, not wanting to waste any more ammo until it was needed.

  “Didn’t faze them,” he said.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Mike called to him, remembering the bottles of alcohol he’d seen stored in the pantry. Molotov cocktails. “Watch my back!”

  Mike grabbed some dishtowels, ran over to a stove, and tried to switch on the gas burners.

  Click! Click! Click!

  “Damn it!” he said feeling discouraged. He tried again. Click! Click! Click!

  “Here!” Hiro tossed a red Zippo lighter that he’d been carrying around in his pocket.

  Mike caught the lighter just as one of the aliens crashed through the swinging door. He switched on the stovetop and could hear the clicking of the burners trying to ignite.

  Bang! Bang! He fired two shots at the creature. The first bullet hit its shoulder. The creature let out a shrill shriek and then growled.

  Mike took another shot. As luck would have it, he got the alien right between the eyes before it lunged at him and dropped to the ground, blocking the swinging kitchen door from opening. The other two aliens were banging the door against its body trying to get in. An arm reached in the gap scraping and clawing at the air.

  Unfortunately, the alcohol was stored in a small room just past, and to the right, of the alien that’d crashed onto the floor. Mike took a couple of steps toward it and stopped. Its body was twitching and a thick dark substance leaked from the bullet wound. The alien’s eyes zeroed in on him, and within seconds, it was back on its feet.

  “What the hell?” Mike couldn’t believe his eyes. A bullet to the head slowed the creature but hadn’t killed it. The thing was furious as hell, but seemed dazed, as it shook its head and stumbled about.

  With two quick swipes of his thumb, the red lighter flicked on. Mike lit the burners to one of the stoves, took a shot at the aliens that were pushing through the door, and ignited all the gas stovetops.

  Another idea sprung to mind since he wouldn’t be able to get past the aliens to retrieve the alcohol for his Molotov cocktails. He ran over to another stove and oven and turned the gas on full blast without lighting the burners. He opened the oven door allowing the natural gas to seep out into the kitchen.

  The aliens seemed to be backing away from the fire on the first stove. Mike wondered if they were frightened of it. He grabbed a stack of kitchen towels and tossed them on the lit burners. As they went up in flames, one of the aliens hissed.

  Careful not to take his eyes off the creatures, Mike slowly walked backwards, keeping his gun trained on them.

  Suddenly, one of the aliens snarled and leaped onto a stainless steel worktable near the counter. A stack of metal mixing bowls and cooking utensils clattered to the ground.

  Mike scurried to the back door as Hiro fired a round of bullets at the aliens. Flinging open the back door, he and Hiro stepped outside into the fresh air. Breathing in the natural gas was giving him a massive headache. Before securing the heavy metal door shut, Mike flicked on the lighter and tossed it in the direction of the open oven. The two men ran from the building as the kitchen exploded. Shrill shrieks from inside rang out into the night.

  Boom! Boom!

  Hiro and Mike raced around the side of the building and over to the parking lot. They hopped into the Corvette and sped out of the parking lot. Mike could see the restaurant go up in flames in his rearview mirror as he turned onto the main street that would lead him away from the base.

  ***

  It took Ellie a few tries to find a street that wasn’t blocked to get down to the pier. One of the streets that she tried had been obstructed by abandoned vehicles; another had corpses lying in the road.

  Ellie kept backing up onto Coast
Highway and then trying each street leading towards the beach until she eventually found one she could drive down. She worked her way down to the street that would take her along the beach and over to the pier.

  Both Bella and Yuka were crying softly in the backseat of the SUV. Max was sitting in the passenger seat, nose pressed against the window, panting.

  “Hey, Max,” Ellie said, stopping at a stop sign out of habit. “Why don’t you go sit with the girls?”

  Max had glanced at her having heard his name and then resumed his gawking out the window.

  Ellie thought that maybe the little dog would help the girls with their anxiety. She didn’t blame them for crying. Hell, she wanted to cry too. But being the adult, she did her best to keep from losing it. She knew the girls looked to her for their protection. Somehow, she had to hold it together.

  Sucking in a sharp breath, Ellie focused on the street ahead and tried not to think about her eyes that were filling with tears.

  “Girls,” she said, and then cleared her throat. “Why don’t you call Max back there? He needs some attention.”

  Bella sniffled and wiped tears away from her eyes with the back of her hand. “Max,” her voice cracked. “Come here, Max.”

  Max turned in the passenger seat, wagging his tail at the sound of his name.

  “Come here, Max.” Bella patted the seat. “Come on, boy.”

  The little dog hopped onto the floor and then up onto the backseat in between the two girls. Yuka reached over and scratched behind his ears.

  “Is my brother okay?” Bella asked, her voice weak.

  “We’re going to meet up with him right now, sweetheart,” Ellie said, praying that everyone was alright. She spotted the silver Toyota Tundra that Aaron and Jorge drove, parked on the left side of the street. Ellie pulled up next to it, and her heart dropped when she noticed the truck was empty.

  “Stay here with Max,” Ellie said, switching off the car and opening the door.

  “Where are you going?” Bella asked.

  “Don’t leave us!” Yuka cried.

  “I’m not going to leave you,” Ellie promised. “But I need you both to be brave and keep Max calm. He doesn’t understand what’s going on and needs you to watch him. Okay?” She hoped that giving the girls a task would help with their anxiety. Give them something else to focus on other than the aliens and their impending doom.

  Bella nodded, and Yuka continued to cry. Ellie watched as Bella put her arm around Yuka. It broke Ellie’s heart to see the little girls so frightened. She was terrified herself.

  “I’ll be right back,” Ellie promised. “Lock the doors behind me.” She left the keys in the ignition in case a quick getaway was in order.

  Ellie closed the door as Max jumped onto the driver’s side seat to try to follow her and pressed his wet nose to the window. “Be a good dog,” she said to him through the glass before walking over to the front end of the empty truck. She stood there for a moment and looked around for the two boys. She gazed at the empty restaurant across the street from the pier and then looked down the street to her left and then the right. There was no sign of them. She looked out towards the ocean and wondered if they were on the pier, but she couldn’t see very far through the fog.

  She stared at the pole lamps along the sides of the pier. Some were on, and some were burnt out. She looked for movement.

  Feeling a mixture of fear and anger due to the boys’ disappearance, Ellie walked towards the pier. The fresh sea air and the sounds of the waves were somewhat comforting, even though the muscles between her shoulder blades were so tense they felt like they’d snap.

  Just then, Ellie heard barking. She spun around on her heel and noticed Max running her way.

  “I’m sorry!” Bella cried, chasing after him. Yuka was trailing after her. “I opened the window for him and he jumped out!”

  “Max!” Ellie snapped. Max ran over to her, jumped playfully on her legs and raked his claws down her shins before he took off running.

  “Oh no! Max!” Bella screamed. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

  “I know you didn’t,” Ellie said, trying to stay calm. She could see the little girl trembling and didn’t want to make her feel worse. “Max thinks we’re playing a game with him. He likes to be chased. It’s not your fault.”

  Max danced around on the pier just out of arms reach. Ellie tried to swoop up the little dog, and he made a run for it.

  “Shit!” she cursed, ready to ring the little dog’s neck. He’d done this to her on many occasions at her condo. Due to HOA rules, all dogs needed to be on a leash at all times otherwise you could end up with a fine. Max would sometimes run out the front door as soon as she’d open it, generally when she had bags of groceries in her arms, and then he’d race down the stairs into the common area grounds. He’d have a huge smile plastered on his face as she’d chase him around. To him, it was the best game in the world. Sometimes the only way she’d get him back inside was to trick him with treats. However, at the moment, that wasn’t an option. She had no treats. And there were aliens lurking about, not just nosy neighbors wanting to turn her into the HOA.

  “Girls, go back to the car while I get Max. It’s safer there.”

  “No,” Bella said. “I’ll help!”

  Yuka clamped onto Ellie’s leg while bawling her eyes out. “I’m scared! Don’t leave us!”

  Ellie tried to move her leg, but the little girl had the death grip on her. She wasn’t used to being around children and hadn’t a clue what to do. There was no way she’d be able to pry the little girl’s arms from her leg. And she didn’t blame either of them for not wanting to be alone. She didn’t want to be alone either.

  “Okay,” she said, gently rubbing Yuka’s back. “You’ll come with me. But you’ll need to let go of my leg so I can walk.”

  Yuka nodded, still sobbing. She let go of Ellie’s leg and snatched hold of her hand.

  Ellie’s heart was heavy. How was she going to protect these children when she didn’t even know how to protect herself? Trying to keep her emotions in check, she focused on the task at hand, getting Max back into the SUV.

  “Max! Want a treat?” she called. “Yummy trea…”

  A loud bellowing cry accompanied by high-pitched shrieks rang out into the night. Max stopped moving and then ran to the right side of the pier. Ellie, terrified, followed his gaze and noticed a fire down below on the beach. She walked over to the railing to get a better look.

  The ocean breeze was thinning the fog and moonlight was showing through in spots. She squinted, staring at the beach down below. She thought she might have seen figures further down the beach, possibly Aaron and Jorge.

  Yuka squeezed Ellie’s hand and leaned into her. Bella ran to the railing and peered over the side.

  “Is that Jorge?” she asked also seeing the figures.

  “I’m not sure,” Ellie said, rethinking her decision of getting out of the SUV to look for the boys. The high-pitched shrieks did not belong to the boys, and they did not sound human.

  “Jorge!” Bella yelled, waving her arms. “Jorge! Jorge!”

  “No!” Ellie snapped. “Hush!”

  “But…” Bella cried, “my brother… that’s him!”

  “We don’t know that,” Ellie said, noticing the dark figures had moved and the fog had thickened again. She couldn’t see where they went. “Let’s go back to the car.”

  “But… but…”

  “If it’s your brother and Aaron,” Ellie said, holding onto both of the girls’ hands while walking briskly back down the pier towards the SUV, “they’ll meet us at the car. I’ll stay parked next to their truck.”

  “If it’s not them?” Yuka asked, sniffling.

  “We’ll be safe in the car,” Ellie lied. She didn’t believe the SUV would keep them safe from the new alien threat. However, it was still better than being out in the open.

  “What about Max?” Bella cried, looking over her shoulder.

  “He’ll f
ollow us back when he realizes we’re not playing a game,” Ellie said, hoping that was true. As much as she loved her little fur baby, she needed to get the girls to safety. She prayed that Max would come to his senses and follow.

  As soon as they reached the SUV, Ellie threw open the door and ushered the girls inside. To her relief, Max was running towards them not wanting to be left behind. He hopped into the car and Ellie scooted in after him. She locked the doors and hoped that Mike and Hiro would be there soon. Once they arrived, they could all go search for the boys together.

  Ten minutes later, Bella screamed while knocking on the window, “Jorge!”

  Ellie followed Bella’s gaze and spied Aaron’s bright red hair. Jorge was directly behind him, as they were sprinting up the cement stairs.

  A flash of light caught her attention in the rearview mirror. Ellie turned in her seat and let out a sigh of relief when she saw the yellow Corvette pulling up behind them.

  “Thank God,” she said beneath her breath as tears of relief filled her eyes.

  ***

  Kicking open the front door, Ronnie looked around. His house was a disaster, but not any worse than the way he’d left it. The back door was still wide open. He slammed the door shut, locked it, and returned to his living room. He looked around and decided to check on the shop and his men. Leaving the house, he walked over to the garage where they stored their weapons.

  Blood, clothing, and chunks of flesh were splattered all over the asphalt behind the garage. Ronnie hadn’t noticed it until the motion detector switched on the security light and he almost stepped in the grotesque mess.

  “Fuck!” he swore, covering his nose with the crook of his arm. Two of his men’s faces were mutilated beyond recognition. They were lying on the ground.

  “What the…?” Ronnie leaned in to get a better look at the corpses. Their chests and stomachs had been ripped to shreds. There was nothing left but a hollow pit where their internal organs used to be. They appeared to have been gutted.