He leaned out of the cab and braced his rifle to his shoulder, drawing a bead on the big man. At this range it was unlikely he would hit but it would be close enough to cause a scare. If that was Joe firing the pistol a distraction might be the difference between life and death.
He opened fire with a short burst and saw the whole crowd duck as one as the shots tore into a stack of crates to the right of the big man. Unfortunately as he had neglected to inform the Roscregan lads of his intent to simply draw the crowd’s attention suddenly the whole street was filled with the roar of automatic fire.
The lads had taken it as a cue to begin an assault and from either side of the cab orange bursts of flame punctuated the air. The people at the top of the road scattered and the Jeep shook as rounds impacted on its frame.
‘Stop firing, Stop firing!’ Kevin bawled. The shots rapidly dwindled.
‘Fucks sake.’ Kevin shouted from the cab window. He opened the door and jumped down to them. The lads all waited for instruction.
‘Don’t fire unless I say, or you really feel you have too. Alright?’
They all nodded. Kevin looked back to the top of the road and could see that the men there were taking defensive positions. He could tell that some of them at least had guns, rifles and shotguns which sat well with him, this meant that his men had not just fired on an unarmed crowd.
He was worried however that none of them appeared to be concerned with whatever had made them run to the road. Had they killed Joe? Was that why?
He harboured a wishful thought that as they had just lost people up on the road, the big man would have told them what kind of force they were up against, and they had just experienced a pretty powerful volley, surely they would just give up now. They would just hand over Joe and let them leave. With this in mind Kevin stepped around the cab a little.
‘Bring the lad out to us, let him go and we’ll leave.’ He shouted. There was no reply. Kevin looked at Tim who had shuffled around behind him. ‘You think they heard that?’ He said.
‘They heard. ‘Tim replied.
Kevin moved further around the side of the truck and kept his rifle held low. ‘This won’t end well for anyone if it goes any further, give us the lad, and we’ll be on our way.’
This time a reply came by the way of a volley of shots. The shotgun blasts were loud and the rounds unleashed fell well short, however the rifle shots whizzed through the air and a couple hit the cab forcing Kevin to duck back to safety.
‘Told you they heard.’ Tim said.
‘Aye, thanks.’ Kevin replied.
‘What do we do now?’ Tim asked
‘I’ll be honest, I hadn’t really thought this far ahead.’ He looked at the buildings around him, at the rotten signs and dark alleys filled with unused sea fishing equipment. Even with its layer of snow the town gave off an impression of being in decay. ‘This place is fucked, I’ve never seen anywhere like it.’
‘Like old wild west towns.’ Tim stated.
‘What?’
‘It’s like those gold-rush towns that are abandoned in the Westerns.’ Tim replied
Kevin nodded. It was a good comparison. ‘What are they hiding here?’ He said quietly.
‘Kev, they are moving mate.’ Curly Bateman, a tall and serious looking villager spoke. Like Kevin he was ex-military and he indicated with a nod of his head that Kevin should take a look.
Kevin returned to the edge of the cab and observed the group. They appeared to be backing up, retreating further down the road. He couldn’t see the big chap but someone was barking orders to them and he assumed it was probably the same man.
Kevin thought hard. A standoff wasn’t going to work as they could be flanked, plus they were all going to get very cold soon. They could assault, the rifles had a huge range advantage and this would push the Falls men back, but to what end? They wouldn’t talk with him so the odds were not good for negotiation. Perhaps if he could take down the big man...
A startling cry of pain rang out from one of the men on the other side of the truck and as Kevin whirled around to see who it was a shot was fired close to him. Suddenly there were figures converging on all of them, charging in and jumping at the men. Kevin pulled his rifle up to his hip and pulled the trigger as two of the attackers launched themselves at him.
The M16’s rounds tore across the middle of this assailants and blood sprayed into the air. It was then that saw that they were not men.
The things that were pouring from the alleys to the right of the truck were short and muscular, their heads were big, disproportionate to their bodies and elongated. Large eyes stared out from either side of their heads and their mouths were large and opened wide revealing vicious rows of needle like teeth.
The Roscregan men screamed as the things overwhelmed them, forcing some of them against the truck and to the ground. Kevin quickly regained his wits and brought the stock of the M16 down onto the skull of one of the things that had borne Tim to the floor. It shuddered and was pushed to the side by Tim who had a look of sheet terror on his face.
Curly was still on his feet and had pulled a pistol from his pocket, he fired wildly into the creatures that were coming on to them, he didn’t dare to shoot those already around him in case he caught his friends.
Switching the M16 to semi-automatic Kevin began to the spray the creatures with bursts. The effect on them was devastating, limbs were wrenched from bodies and jets of blood danced in the air.
From his knees Tim drew out a pistol but instead of firing began to beat at the creatures that were already engaged with the lads with its stock. A couple more of the lads recovered from the initial assault as their attackers were beaten into unconsciousness and stood, ready to join in creating a wall of bullets that dropped row after row of the monsters.
Kevin could see that there were more of the things coming out from the alleys, and also realised that this part of the town must be directly alongside the coast. It was the harbour and these things were coming from the sea. They had to be.
‘Lads get into the store there.’ He shouted ‘Move, move.’
Kevin’s rifle suddenly stopped firing, the clip had emptied fast. His old training kicked in and he quickly replaced it and switched to single shot mode. A quick count indicated that there were at least ten men standing including himself. There was no chance that they would be able to drag the wounded away, at least he hoped they were only wounded. They would be overwhelmed. Right now he needed cover and enough firepower to keep the swarm of creatures at bay. He shouted again ‘Move, move, Curly get to the fucking store’.
The Roscregan men moved as one, each man having to reload on the way but covered by the others as they did so. The creatures continued to move against them but they did appear to hold back a little, obviously cowed by the amount of retaliation available to their prey.
Curly booted the door to the supermarket open and ran inside, his eyes took a moment to adjust to the harsh white light. Once inside he crouched behind the nearest set of shelving and took aim at the door. As the men spilled inside he shouted for them to get behind his position and as the first of the creatures burst in through the door he opened fire with fast but precise shots.
Three of the creatures fell dead instantly as Curly’s deadly aim opened up their chests. Another sprang in, leaping over the falling bodies but Curly raised his sights a little and put a round into the things leg, it dropped to the floor squealing and lashing in agony, a long pink tongue lashed out from its mouth. A bullet from Tim’s pistol blew its eye out and it lay still. No more creatures followed.
No one said a word for a moment but all had their weapons pointed at the doorway. Each was spattered with blood and their eyes were wide with shock and fear.
‘Fuck me.’ Kevin said.
‘What the fuck Kev?’ Tim said. Kevin saw that he had a large gash across his cheek but he didn’t think that Tim had noticed it.
‘I don’t fuckin know mate.’ He shook his head as he stared at the pi
le of bloodied monsters. ‘But we are out of our fucking league here of that much I’m sure.’
Each of the men replied with a solemn ‘Aye.’
‘They are gonna regroup and come piling through that door Kev.’ Curly said. ‘We won’t be able to stop them all’.
‘Aye, that’s that truth.’ Kevin replied and took in his surroundings.
‘Tim, see if there’s a back door mate, or any way oot for that matter.’
‘Aye Kev.’ Tim said and turned to examine the rest of the store.
‘Check ya rounds lads, do it one man at a time in case they come through.’ Kevin could hear squeals and harsh, guttural calls from outside the shuttered windows. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of what had happened and what lay by the door. He tried to shake the thought that there might be lads out there that had survived and were now being set upon by the creatures.
From the back of the store Tim screamed. It started shrill and loud but then became a low, gargled mumble. Kevin braced his rifle and quickly but calmly moved down the aisles looking for his friend. Two others followed, one taking the second aisle. Curly held the others back to watch the door with him.
As he approached the end of the aisle he saw a slowly expanding pool of deep red liquid on the floor. He stepped around and saw Tim on his back. The side of his neck bore a gap so deep that Kevin could see his exposed windpipe spliced open. Stood over him was a man in a khaki warehouse jacket, Kevin thought it was the sort that Arkwright had worn in ‘Open all Hours.’ He blinked at the thought.
The man was short and stocky, balding, the few hairs he had were set atop an oversized bulging head. His eyes were large and protruding and his lips almost none existent. In his hand he carried a machete that dripped with Tim’s blood.
He looked at Kevin with cold indifference as the Roscregan man fixed his sights on him. Kevin fired a shot through the middle of its skull. The Arkwright thing dropped to the floor.
Kevin looked down at Tim. Behind him he heard a whispered ‘Mother of God...Timmy.’ His friend’s eyelids flickered and then closed. His gurgling breaths stopped. Kevin looked around the area, not least of all so that he wouldn’t have to look at his dead friend.
There was a counter here, perhaps where the Arkwright man had been when they came in. He must have ducked down behind the counter and as Tim had come around and then swung at him with the machete. He stepped away from Tim and checked an open doorway behind the counter. There was a door on the right of wall of what was a large stock room.
He walked in and examined the room while the others stood guard. The stock seemed to consist almost entirely of tinned goods and baby food. There was a lot of the baby food and a good deal of powdered milk. He checked a few other boxes that sat in a corner. Here were medical supplies, bandages, plasters and antiseptic. There was also a crate of Whiskey.
He lifted out one of the bottles, it was Glenfiddich, fifty years old if it was a day. He removed the lid and took a long deep drink of it. It was as smooth as silk against his throat and lit a fire in his gut. There was a stack of large drums in a corner. Kevin walked over to them, still taking swigs from the bottle.
On the side of each drum was a label. A fire symbol in black with the words ‘DANGER’ printed across the top.
Kevin nodded. This would do.
Chapter Twenty Seven
When he heard the first screams Peake almost clapped his hands. He emerged from behind the crate that had been his retreat for the last fifteen minutes and rushed around to Macgregor who had just pulled his men further back.
‘The cavalry is here.’ He said gleefully. ‘As soon as this is over I want you to make sure that their fucking village ceases to exist.’
Macgregor said nothing but watched and listened as the assault on the Roscregan men began. There were more shouts and screams but the sound of gunfire was sustained and this concerned him. If they had rallied from the initial attack the firepower they had could actually cause problems.
Peake shuffled his feat, clearly excited but also, like Macgregor, nervous at the amount of gunfire. The Father would not take lightly great losses of his children to the humans and it would be his skin that was on the line.
Macgregor lifted his rifle and used the scope to observe the activity ahead. The shots had become more sporadic and he could see movement towards the supermarket on the left.
‘They’ve run.’ He said. ‘They’ve gone into the Lawton place.’ He waved to the men who were armed to come forward. ‘Come with me.’ He told them.
‘Wait.’ Peake shouted anxiously what about me? You can’t take all of the men with guns, what if one of them gets away?
Macgregor looked down at Peake with such malice that for once the Doctor stopped whining. The big man fished into his pocket and pulled out a pistol which he placed into Peake’s hand. ‘If someone comes, shoot him.’ He said evenly. He then started off down the street with his group in tow.
‘Giant prick.’ Peake muttered. He was now left with some of the older men, some already in an advanced stage of returning. He made a mental note to start looking for a replacement for Macgregor as well as the late Billy Duggan. ‘Two psychopath’s with one stone.’ He said quietly.
When Macgregor reached the truck he walked slowly past it. The Deep Ones could identify those returning instinctively but those who were still fully human only bore the mark of Dagon as a sigil on their skin. It would give off an aura but in the heat of battle it might go unnoticed.
He was shocked to see the number of Deep One dead, their blood was everywhere and had blackened the snow all across the road and onto the pavements.
His caution was rewarded as the Deep Ones that milled about the bodies of the fallen Roscregan men ignored him. He could see that there were at least twenty of them gathered about the entrance to the supermarket but they were no longer prepared to risk any more of their number to the withering power of the Roscregan assault rifles. Instead they pulled and banged at the shutters and a few climbed up to the roof.
Macgregor wasn’t sure what to do next. Waiting them out was an option but it wasn’t one that he thought the Father would like. The creatures didn’t like to be ashore for more than an hour or so. Most likely the Roscregan men would try to burst out and escape the village in their truck.
With this in mind he instructed one of his lackeys to move the truck away, back down towards the lodge but this came to nothing when the man returned to explain that the keys were not in it. Macgregor could hot wire it but that would mean his attention was away from the villagers.
He was just about to tell the lackey to slash the tyres, to ensure that it wasn’t used for an escape when the front door of the supermarket was flung open from the inside.
The Deep Ones stepped back and Macgregor expected a burst of gunfire but none came. A few of the Deep Ones took cautious steps forward as did Macgregor and then, silently, a fiery object flew from within the supermarket and through the air in a graceful arc. When it landed a wall of flame erupted around the creatures it had fallen next to.
Their screams filled the air. Suddenly three more of the firebombs were launched and they impacted in similar fashion, exploding on contact and coating the Deep Ones with liquid fire.
As confusion and panic embraced the swarm, men appeared at the doorway and fired shots into the fleeing creatures. They then turned towards the truck. As Macgregor had anticipated it was a break out and the Leyland was their goal.
‘Fire!’ He shouted and the Falls men began blasting away at the villagers. This closer range gave their previously ineffective shotguns far more power even in the hands of men unskilled in their use. Rounds peppered the Roscregan men. As a salvo whizzed past Kevin’s head he turned his M16 towards the source and switched the weapon back to fully automatic. He allowed the gun to traverse the area and two shots struck home, one taking a Falls man in the face the other tearing the shoulder of one completely from his body.
Although his attack had been productiv
e it also emptied the clip and he had no replacement. He let the rifle drop from his hands and pulled out his pistol. There was an ‘ough’ noise from the side of him and he turned to see Mick Heaps on the floor, a rifle shot had struck him in the chest.
‘Shit.’ Kev snarled and began to move forward, his pistol ready to fire at anyone or anything that appeared in front of him. Brian Tunny was holding four more of the improvised firebombs in his arms. His brother Brian plucked one out, lit the end of the cloth that had been stuffed into its neck and hurled back into the Supermarket. Curly also grabbed one and lit it. He threw the bottle through the window of the house immediately in front of them. Brian took another and repeated the action on the house next to it.
With the hail of bullets from the Roscregan men reduced Macgregor and his group were now able to focus their own fire and a rifle shot found its mark and another villager fell to the ground. More shotgun rounds ripped at Kevin and this time grazed his head. The little lead beads gouged at his skin and it felt like his face was on fire as his cheek was peppered.
Undaunted he continued to move to the cab of the truck firing as he went. The firebombs were devastatingly effective on the old, dry wood of the houses and flames were seen licking at the windows. Macgregor had backpedalled and found cover from the side of an alley that led to the harbour but could see the fires. He realised that the Roscregan men intended burning the town to the ground.
He chewed his lip, Deep Ones scurried past him, while the guns were threat for them the sight of fire sent them into frenzy and they scrambled for the sea, leaping over each other in panic.
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