Sligger Island

by Michael Yowell

  She placed her hand on his hair and gently rubbed the back of his head. “You did your best. And that’s all anyone can do. Most people wouldn’t be able to stay alive in a jungle where predators are chasing them. You did well, Sheriff Parker.”

  “Some sheriff,” he smirked. “Watching friends die. A sheriff’s supposed to protect people.”

  “It’s about the ones you kept alive. Only a true protector would be able to bring my little girl back to me.” Sherrie’s voice broke as her own words caused her to start weeping.

  This prompted Eaver to cry as well, which led to a group hug.

  Maybe Sherrie’s right, thought Mason. Perhaps he was not giving himself enough credit. There was no reason to succumb to guilt over the deaths of Danny, Mitch, and Jesse. After all, he did do quite a bit to help the group when they were stranded on the island. Maybe he was suitable to be the sheriff of this town after all.

  When the emotional outpouring had subsided again, Sherrie looked somberly into her daughter’s eyes. “Promise me you’ll never go out on the ocean again.”

  “Oh Momma…”

  “Dammit, baby, promise me.”

  “Okay, Momma,” Eaver said, happy to oblige her worried mother, “I promise.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Sherrie had been up for hours. After giving her bed to the exhausted couple last night, she had slept on the couch. She snoozed for six hours, but was up by eight o’clock. Knowing her guests would not be awake for a while, she made coffee for herself and watched some TV.

  Mason and Eaver did not wake until eleven. When they finally shuffled out of Sherrie’s bedroom, they found her waiting for them in the family room. Sherrie could not help but smile watching her zombies shuffle into view.

  “Mornin’, you two,” she said. “How did you sleep?”

  Mason stretched his arms above his head, blinking wide. “Had weird dreams. I woke up a few times, but then went right back to sleep. But overall, I think I slept pretty deep. I feel like I just got out of hibernation.”

  Eaver yawned. “Me too. Got any coffee made?”

  Sherrie walked toward the kitchen to intercept. “Yes, but have a glass of water first. You both might still be dehydrated.”

  “After all that fluid they pumped into us last night?” chuckled Mason. “I felt like a water balloon when we left.” He accepted the glass anyway, knowing his body could use more water. After emptying their glasses, he and Eaver took mugs from the cupboard and moved to the coffee maker.

  “There you go,” said Sherrie, watching them pour. “Go sit down, drink some coffee, and just relax a spell. Then I’ll make you some breakfast.”

  The couple sipped their hot coffee, and the cotton of sleep gradually faded from their heads. Sherrie cooked up some hash browns, breakfast sausage, and eggs. Then she plated the fare with toast and fruit. Her guests eagerly ate the hearty meal.

  After cleaning his plate, Mason smiled to Sherrie. “Thank you, that was delicious.”

  “Yes, thank you, Momma,” Eaver echoed.

  “You’re welcome, my loves. I’m glad you both have your appetites. Your clothes are clean, on top of the dryer, if you feel like getting dressed.”

  Mason raised his brow. “I do.” He found his clothing and brought the pile into the bathroom to dress. Then he came out, kissed the top of Eaver’s head, and began putting his shoes on.

  “Where are you going?” asked Eaver.

  “Home, to get ready. You should stay here with Momma.”

  “What’s the hurry?” Sherrie said.

  “I need to get to the station.”

  “Today?” Sherrie marveled. “You need to rest, young man.”

  He shook his head. “Wish I could, Sherrie. But we’ve got a serious monster problem to deal with. They found their way here once, I can’t give them a chance to do it again.”

  Sherrie was apprehensive, fearing Mason was foolishly planning on going back to the island. “What are you going to do?”

  “I dunno. Reckon I’ll call the state police and ask for their help.”

  Eaver snarled. “The same ones that laughed us off and didn’t come down to help us last year?”

  Mason nodded. “Same ones. But they know the creatures are real now; they’ll be more than happy to assist us.”

  “Then what?” said Sherrie.

  “Then maybe we’ll come up with a plan on how to handle the problem. I have to tell the mayor about it as well. He might have some good ideas.”

  Eaver agreed. “He might.”

  “Want a ride?” Sherrie offered.

  “Naw,” said Mason, shooing the air. It was only a few blocks’ walk to his house from there. “I’ll be there in a flash, and then I’ll take the squad car into work.”

  “Okay,” Eaver acknowledged. “Love you, baby.”

  “I love you too.”

  Mason left the house and started the walk home. It was a pleasant day, with clear skies and warm air. The sun stung Mason’s sunburned skin a bit, but it was barely noticeable to him. In five minutes, Mason had walked the short blocks to his own house.

  He went inside, gave the lonely cat fresh water, food, and petting, and headed for the master bathroom. Turning on the shower, he stripped and dropped his clothes on the tile floor. Then he stepped into the tub and gently washed up for the day.

  Once he was in uniform, he pulled the keys from the hook and jumped into his police cruiser. He started the car and drove directly to the station.

  Deputy Henner was standing by the desk when Mason entered. “What are you doing in today?” said the deputy, stirring a cup of freshly made coffee. “I thought you’d be in the hospital or something.”

  Mason grinned. “I broke out.”

  “Is there a reward for your return?”

  Laughing, Mason stepped closer. “You wish, Doug.” He poured some coffee into his tumbler and took a seat on his desk next to the deputy. “What’d I miss?”

  “Shit, what did I miss? Demarcus told me what happened, and I still can’t believe it. How are you, by the way?”

  “I’m okay, thanks,” Mason replied. “Feel a ton better after getting fixed up at the hospital last night, sleeping for once, and eating some real food.”

  Deputy Henner could no longer delay the nagging question. “Is it true that you ran into a bunch of those sligger monsters out there?”

  Mason nodded solemnly. “Afraid so. A whole big nest of ‘em, found in an underground cavern. And that’s only the half of it.”

  “What’s the other half?”

  “We found an old Nazi submarine in there, with all sorts of weird medical experiment stuff inside.”

  “No shit! A real U-boat?”

  “Yep.”

  “Holy crap. We need to send a team of scientists over there to check it out.”

  Mason held up his index finger. “First things first. We need to destroy the sliggers. We’ll need lots of firepower; we have to make sure we wipe them out completely. I can’t have any of them come to the mainland. I can’t let what happened here last year happen again.”

  The deputy wholeheartedly agreed, remembering seeing the shocking story when it first aired on the national news. “No lie, boss.” Then he had a perplexed look on his face. “How’re we gonna do it?”

  “Don’t worry, Doug, we’re gonna call in the cavalry for this one.”

  The deputy breathed easier. “Oh good. For a minute there, I thought you were gonna make the four of us go out there on a monster hunt.”

  Mason pictured his oldest deputy in combat gear fighting alongside the rest of them on Wrecker Island. “All four of us?” he giggled. “You think old, chubby Lewis would be much help to us there?”

  “He could be like bait.”

  Mason laughed so suddenly that he snorted. “Dude! That’s messed up.”

  After the chuckling subsided, Deputy Henner grew serious once more. “So who’s gonna help us on this? You thinking the Coast Guard? National Guard?”

  “Ho
nestly, I don’t know. I’m gonna start with the state troopers and go from there.”

  The deputy nodded approvingly. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Mason flipped through his Rolodex and found the number for the state police. Then he dialed the number, taking a deep breath while it rang. He still did not quite know what he was going to say.

  “State Patrol,” a man on the other end picked up, “this is Captain Moody.”

  “Um, hello, Captain. This is Sheriff Mason Parker, in Sweetboro. I need to talk to you about maybe assisting us with something.”

  There was silence on the line. Mason could sense the trooper’s hesitation. After a brief pause, the captain responded. “Sweetboro… Sheriff Parker, you say? Took over from ol’ Sheriff Steele?”

  “Yes sir, I did.”

  “Nice to hear from you, Sheriff. What can I do for you?”

  Mason shifted uneasily in his chair. “Well, I’m not really sure how to put this, but we have a sligger problem again.”

  The trooper’s reaction was immediate and intense. “What? Are you kidding me?”

  “No sir, not kidding. I wish I was.”

  “Oh Jesus,” the captain mumbled. He knew full well that the creatures were real, and the tragedy they had caused the town a year ago. And he still carried the guilt of not coming to the town’s aid last year because he thought the call for help was a hoax.

  He would not make that mistake again.

  “Give me the details, Sheriff,” said Captain Moody. “What are we looking at?”

  Mason cleared his throat. “Well, we went to Wrecker Island, about thirty miles off our shore. We discovered an underground cave, like a grotto, where we found an old, disabled Nazi U-boat lying in the water.”

  “Did you say Nazi U-boat?”

  “Yes sir, I did. Please don’t hang up, I swear I’m not making this up.”

  “You’re okay, Sheriff,” the trooper assured, “I believe you. I actually know a little about the Nazis and World War II. I’m kind of a history nerd. Go on.”

  This was going much better than Mason thought it would. “Okay. So anyway, we found what was left of a laboratory inside. And a few skeletons. The inside of the U-boat had been burned out.”

  Captain Moody was fascinated. “That’s pretty cool,” he admitted. “I’d love to see that.”

  “Well, I was kinda hoping to hear you say that,” said Mason. “Because we also found a sligger nest in that cave. Bigger than the one we found here last year.”

  “Oh shit.”

  “Yeah, and I need help figuring out how I can make sure we kill them all so they can’t come to the mainland again and hurt anybody else.”

  “Firepower,” the trooper grunted. “That’s what it boils down to. And I’ve got plenty of it I can bring to you.”

  A wave of relief flowed through Mason, so strong that his eyes almost teared up. “Really? You’ll help us?”

  “Of course, Sheriff. I owe that town of yours. I’ll round up a squad of troopers and bring them down to Sweetboro tomorrow.”

  “Thank you, Captain Moody,” said Mason. “I appreciate that so much.”

  “And,” the trooper added, “when it’s all over, I want to check out that U-boat. Did you know that lots of German U-boats were terrorizing the East Coast during World War II?”

  “I did not.”

  “Yeah, after we entered the war, the Germans sent U-boats to sink supply ships we were sending to Europe. There was even an alleged artillery attack on a North Carolina factory near the coastline. So yeah, the Nazis were definitely creeping around the waters off our coast.”

  “Sounds like you’re the right guy to talk to,” Mason said. “I’d love to be able to show you the U-boat we found.”

  “That would be a nice bonus.”

  “So I can count on you to come down here to help us?”

  “You have my word, Sheriff,” stated Captain Moody. “I’ll be down there tomorrow, with a bunch of our finest, and we’ll kick ass.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Mason pulled the sheriff’s vehicle into the small parking lot for the town hall building. He got out of the car and walked toward the white painted steps. He looked up at the tarnished brass weathervane atop the high roof, noting it was still stuck in the northwest position. It had been that way for years, yet nobody felt the need to fix it.

  Mason stepped inside the building and approached the receptionist. “Hello, Jenn, I need to see the mayor. Is he in?”

  The short-haired woman behind the desk smiled at him. “He is, Sheriff,” she replied, “let me see if he’s available.” She called his office extension, and Mayor Vargas answered.

  “Yes, Jenn?” he said.

  “Mayor, I have Sheriff Parker here to see you.”

  “Here? Of course, I’ll be right out.”

  Sully Vargas appeared moments later. The burly mayor made his way toward Mason. He grinned, causing crow’s feet to appear at the outer corners of his eyes.

  “How are you, young man?” he asked, extending his hand. “After I heard what had happened to you and the others, I figured you’d be taking it easy for a few days.”

  Mason shook the mayor’s hand. “I would’ve liked to, Mayor Vargas, but we have a situation that needs to be addressed immediately.”

  Vargas was tentative. “What is that, son?”

  “Let’s sit down, and I’ll bring you up to speed.”

  “Of course,” the mayor obliged. “Come on back to my office.”

  The two men retreated to the mayor’s office. Mayor Vargas sat in his black leather chair while Mason stood in front of the desk. The mayor motioned for Mason to take a seat, and the sheriff obediently did so.

  “So what’s going on?” asked Vargas.

  Mason explained the situation. He started from the very beginning, making sure to include details about the watery cavern, the German U-boat, and what had happened to the rest of the group. It was difficult for him to announce the deaths of his companions, particularly Danny’s.

  The mayor’s face gradually drained color while he listened to the entire account. He stared worriedly across the desk at the man he had made sheriff. Mason Parker suddenly looked much younger to him.

  “Christ Almighty,” he declared when Mason had finished. “The idea of more of those monsters coming back here is terrifying. What do you think we should do, sheriff?”

  “Well,” said Mason, clearing his throat, “I’ve called the state police and informed them of our situation. They’ll be down here tomorrow to help us out.”

  “Thank God.” Relieved to hear a solution was already in the works, the mayor now thought his hasty endorsement of young Mason for sheriff last year was a wise choice after all.

  “But I wanted to get your input as well. I was hoping you might have some ideas of your own about how to handle this.”

  Vargas shook his head slowly. “No, calling the state troopers would be the first thing on my list. Then, if they say we still need more manpower, we could reach out to the Coast Guard.”

  Mason nodded. “Okay.”

  “I’m with you, young man. Those things have to be wiped out before they can find their way back to the mainland.”

  “Yes they do.” Mason remembered the horrifying events that took place in Sweetboro last year. And how many lives were taken by the invading creatures. He knew many of those victims well, and it still hurt his heart thinking about their deaths.

  The mayor’s eyebrows jumped as another thought struck him. “You may want to go over to the hospital and let that marine biologist know what you found. Sounds like some of that information might help her with her analysis.”

  “That’s a good idea,” agreed Mason. “Denise needs to know what we found in that sub. She’s always hounding me for more input.”

  “As for the troopers, let me know when they get here tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  “Better yet, bring them in here so we can all hash out a plan together.”

/>   Mason felt optimistic that their problem was going to be eradicated. “Yes sir, that sounds perfect. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Oh, and Mason?” said the mayor, halting Mason as he was standing up to leave.

  “Sir?”

  “Get home early today and rest up, will you? You’re probably not a hundred percent yet since you got back.”

  The young sheriff nodded with a grin. “Copy that.”

  Mason left the mayor’s office, bid the receptionist a good day, and walked out of the building. He hopped into his police cruiser and drove to the hospital.

  Sweetboro Medical Center was near the coast, just on the south side of town. Mason arrived, seeing Dr. Warden’s Buick in the tiny lot. He parked next to it and headed for the hospital’s entrance.

  The chief physician spotted Mason entering while he was chatting with the security officer. “Hello, Sheriff,” he said, his voice surprised. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, Doc,” said Mason. “I’m much better now. Thanks again for fixing us up. I’m just here to see Denise.”

  “Ah, good. For a moment I was afraid you were coming back because you didn’t feel well. Denise is here. She should be in the lab.”

  Mason tilted his head in that direction. “I know the way.” Then he walked the tiled hallway that led to the laboratory.

  He saw Denise Baddington sitting at a table, her eye glued to the lens of a microscope. The marine biologist had her lengthy, black hair pulled back in a thick ponytail. Her olive skin looked almost bronze against the starched, white lab coat she was wearing. Noticing somebody enter, Denise looked up. Her eyes seemed to sparkle when they saw Mason in the doorway.

  “Oh my God,” she sighed. “I heard about what happened to you. Are you alright?”

  “Yes, we’re okay. Except we lost three friends.”

  “I know,” Denise said woefully. “I’m so sorry.” She strode over to him and gave him a gentle hug. “I’m glad you and Eaver are okay.”

  “Thank you.”

  She stepped back to address him a little more formally. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Sheriff?”