Fungal Tide

by Ian Woodhead

  That malevolent sensation that surged through him when Ryan first saw that sandwich shop had returned with vengeance. He blinked, trying to shake off the strange feeling, not understanding how some pathetic little man, bumbling about in a yellow chemical suit two sizes too large could make him want to run and hide under a rock.

  Ryan bit down on his bottom lip, allowing the sudden pain to push away the inexplicable feeling. Right now, he needed to stay focussed. Some of the urge to run disappeared when Thomson sat down and Ryan caught a glimpse his clothes through Thomson’s visor. The idiot was wearing combat fatigues.

  He took his eyes off Jefferson’s annoying assistant when he spied a sudden influx of bright light. At the back of the library, a door opened wide. Ryan watched two similarly dressed men drag a struggling old man towards Thomson. He saw other people in there. Ryan’s heartbeat sped up when he thought he saw one of the boys.

  Unlike the lackey, these two goons gave off an all pervading air of menace. One of them back handed the old man and dropped him onto the grey carpet.

  Thomson looked down at the man and pointed at one of the goons, who pulled him back on his feet. The lackey then picked up a syringe. Ryan’s temper boiled over when he pushed the needle into the man’s neck. Everything in there pointed to that bastard experimenting on people. They sure as hell weren’t trying to cure them! He turned away from the window, intending to have words.

  His progress halted as he felt both of his arms pulled up behind his back. His unknown assailant marched him through the library doors and slammed him into a wall. The side of Ryan’s head cracked against a picture frame, smashing the glass. He dropped to his knees, followed by pieces of glass. The contents of the frame landed in his lap. Ryan blinked hard and shook his head, trying to stop the sudden bout of nausea pushing his already exhausted body towards the yearning for shutdown.

  He picked the newspaper off his knees, resisting the urge to break out in hysterical laughter at the sight of the headline from one hundred years ago, proclaiming that Radfield was ready to lead the world into the next century and beyond.

  “You could have just knocked, Ryan,” said Thomson, smirking.

  His dropped the newspaper, tuning out the idiot, while watching in horror as the old man beside the desk convulsed. Already a large area of the man’s torso had acquired a substantial growth of white fibre, while the irregular lumps of flesh on both of his arms rose up, stretching the skin tight before it ripped, displaying ugly pieces of hard green shell. The man finally stopped moving when the side of his head collapsed in on itself, resembling a broken Easter egg full of black melted chocolate.

  Thomson grinned at Ryan. “Well, wasn’t that interesting? Not quite the result I was looking for but still very interesting.” The man carried on talking without waiting for Ryan to answer him back. “You see, Jefferson doesn’t know that I’m here. Can you believe that when I passed over what could be the most important documents concerning this mission, he just gave them a cursory glance and patted me on the head.” Thomson jumped off his stool. “He patted me on the head, as if I was some obedient puppy!”

  It took intense concentration to keep the annoying man in focus. The blow must have given him concussion, he kept fading in and out. Ryan put his hand flat against the wall, his fingers finding the edge of a doorframe, and he slowly got to his feet.

  “That fool actually believes that the ancient races really did construct some kind of super weapon, a chemical agent designed to alter life. I know different.”

  Ryan looked over at the man, his eyes widening.

  Thomson released a quick burst of laughter. “I knew it,” he exclaimed. I thought you’d have reached the same decision. Not that it changes the mission. Just because it wasn’t designed as a weapon, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be one, and unlike Jefferson, because I now understand its origins, I’ll reach the goal weeks before he does.” He nodded at one of the goons. “Okay, go fetch me another test subject. Let’s see what happens with serum four.”

  As the huge goon abruptly spun around and marched across the room, heading towards the locked door, Thomson turned his attention to the remaining soldier. “Gerald, it’ll be a good plan for you to restrain our guest. I’m not too enthralled with handling unpredictable variables.”

  Ryan knew that as soon as that bastard grabbed him, it would be the end of everything. What could he do though? The wall’s impact had knocked what little fight he had left right out. Thomson now had an audience, that clown was bound to show off. He held up his hand. “Wait a minute!”

  The goon paused and looked back at his boss, just as his companion pulled out Thomson’s next victim.

  “Ryan!”

  Oh hell, no, not Glenda! That must mean the three children were still in that room. Thomson had four syringes laid out in front of him. Ryan kicked the nearest goon between the legs. He leaped over the man, now rolling on the floor, and raced over to the woman struggling in the man’s grip.

  Ryan yelled out in shock when the sound of a gunshot blasted out. He turned and saw the growling Thomson, aiming the gun at him, his face crimson with rage.

  “Don’t you move!” he screamed. Don’t you dare fucking move!”

  “Bollocks, you were going to kill me anyway!”

  The man, swung the gun to the left, and pointed it at Glenda. “Fine, I’ll kill her first.”

  Glenda laughed. “You don’t get it, do you.” She looked at the dissolving mess by Thomson’s feet. “Your threats are meaningless. Was that Darlene? You don’t even have to nod. I know it was, you murdering bastard.”

  The AD pulled back the trigger. “I told you to shut up!”

  She nudged the man beside her. “How good a shot is he with that? I mean, you do know that he could quite easily hit you by accident.”

  Her next movement took everybody by surprise. Her arm shot up and her fingers coiled around the edge of the faceplate. She laughed again before ripping it off.

  The man cried out, releasing Glenda and falling to his knees.

  The other goon had gotten back on his feet and was limping towards the pair of them. Ryan followed Glenda’s incentive and dived on him. His weight toppled the goon and they crashed onto the carpet. Ryan slipped through the man’s flailing arms, trying to gain a finger hold, trying to gain a finger-hold on the edge of the man’s facemask. The opponent’s weight and height advantage made it an uneven fight, couple with Ryan’s tiredness, the goon quickly swatted away Ryan’s probing fingers and had his own thick digits around Ryan’s throat.

  His vision started to grey out, Ryan turned his head and saw the other unmasked man rolling about on the floor, changing, while Thomson advanced on Glenda, his gun pointed directly at the woman’s face. Death was about to embrace him and his part of his mind welcomed the transition. The face on the other side of the library changed to Sierra. The terror wouldn’t stop once he’d passed onto the other side, once Thomson killed the woman, and the kids would follow. With one last desperate move, he lashed out with his left leg. The grip around his throat fell off. Ryan kicked out with his other leg before rolling to the side, coughing and choking.

  He shook away the nausea and dizziness and scrambled to his feet. His attacker was now on the floor, curled up in a ball. He’d kicked him in the groin again. He doubted that the bastard would get up so quickly this time, even so, had had to make sure. Ryan ran over to him and wrapped his fingers around the man’s mask.

  “If you fucking touch that mask, Ryan, I swear to God that I’ll put a bullet through her head.”

  He kept his fingers where they were and jerked his head up, seeing that Thomson now had his gun jammed against the woman’s temple. He caught sight of the first unmasked goon, now hiding under a table, much of the visible pink flesh was now green, his yellow suit bulged in a number of places, while the legs had deflated like spent balloons.

  “Do it, Ryan.” She yelled. “He’s bluffing.”

  Before he could calculate his chances of
snatching that gun out of his hands, the figure below him reached out and grabbed his leg, jerking Ryan off his feet. The mask stayed in his hands as Ryan fell to the floor.

  Another gunshot blasted through the library. Ryan saw the woman hit the floor. “You fucker!” he yelled, you nasty little bastard.” He booted the man’s juddering torso off his legs and raced over to Thomson, knocking the gun to the side. Ryan grabbed the man’s shoulders and spun him around before thrusting the growling man towards the table.

  Two appendages slivered out and wrapped around Thomson’s ankles.

  Ryan groaned softly when he saw what that bullet had done to his colleague. “Oh God, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He pulled off his jacket, dropped to his knees and gently placed it over the remains of her face.

  Listening to the man screaming as the thing under the table ripped the protective suit off his lower body and pushed an appendage up through Thomson’s rectum offered no recompense to his vile deed. Ryan felt dead inside.

  The creature had silenced his screams by forcing a thicker tentacle down his throat. Ryan grabbed an umbrella out of a stand by the entrance and used it to drag the creature’s discarded suit over to him. He rifled through the pockets until he found the keys to the locked door.

  The other changed creature had found the remains of the first man. Ryan turned away in disgust, ran over to the locked door and fumbled open the lock.

  Inside, he found the three remaining kids. None of them seem to be in much distress, the two younger ones were reading a picture book together as the older boy sat on the window ledge with his face pressed against the glass. He turned around and smiled.

  “Hello there, Ryan,” he said. “Glenda did mention that you’d be coming to rescue us.” He jumped off the ledge, walked past the two children and tapped them once on the back of their heads. “Come on you two, it’s time to leave.” The older boy crouched, placing his hands on the floor. “Is that Glenda over there?” he said, looking between Ryan’s legs.

  Ryan looked from one child to the next, astonished at their calm demeanor. They all must be suffering from shock, it was the only explanation. “I’m so sorry,” he muttered. “There was nothing I could do.”

  The boy wrapped his tiny arms around Ryan’s waist. “Don’t feel guilty, Ryan, you’re not to blame. The events would have been a lot worse if you hadn’t arrived. Her death was instant, she wouldn’t have felt any pain.” He pushed past him then clicked his fingers. The other two obediently followed the boy out of the room, hand in hand. “We’d better leave here, Ryan, before the smell of Glenda attracts the others.” The boy took Ryan’s hand.” Don’t despair, my friend, it’s almost over.”

  Ryan allowed the boy to lead him towards the door, while he blinked in total confusion.

  Of Dust and Chemicals

  Sierra’s teeth snapped tight on her bottom lip when two hands slammed down on her shoulders and jerked her backwards. It took the woman a moment to work out where the others had brought her. She glanced at the station platform and the fact that she’d almost fallen off the edge.

  “I’m sorry about that,” she muttered at Jeanette. I guess I should pay a little more attention.”

  It had been a fair few years since she’d visited Radfield railway station but the place hadn’t changed that much, apart from the addition of a café on the platform. Not that they could see much of it, like everywhere else, the ever present growth of fibre penetrated every nook and cranny, growing over glass, brick and concrete with equal enthusiasm.

  It worried her greatly that she hadn’t even been aware that the pair of them had somehow managed to lead her all the way across the town without her even noticing until now. She stretched her muscles, arching her back, and watched a flock of birds dart across the blue sky. It was nice to see another form of life that wasn’t infected with any of that ancient living matter. Not that any of those birds were about to stop, such action would invariably result in their transformation.

  Sierra watched the black dots vanish, wishing that she could develop a pair of wings and follow them out of this fucking pesthole. Why the hell not? After all, what did this town offer her apart from death? Her Danny was gone, so was her mother. As for Ryan, she now truly believed that he too must have met a similar fate to her poor mother.

  True to their word, her two new ‘friends’ had accompanied her back to where she hoped Danny and Mother would be. Even as she pushed open the fibre covered gate, her heart sinking at the sight of all the white stuff filling every inch of brick, Sierra still tried to picture the pair of them sitting in front of the TV, settling down to watch some stupid DVD, just like they always did at this time.

  Her face filled with tears when she forced open the front door and cried at the sight of the huge white fibrous mound halfway up the stairway. Sierra had seen enough of them to know there was some poor human underneath all that stuff.

  It had been Jeanette who’d pushed past her and examined the body beneath the living carpet. As soon as the woman pulled away a section, Sierra saw the bright yellow dress, which her mother had been wearing this morning when she brought Danny over for her to look after.

  She’d searched the rest of the house and found no sign of her little boy. She now remembered Pedro dragging her out of the house when two armoured green hunters broke through the fence in the back garden and were slivering closer to the back of the house.

  Jeanette pulled Sierra over to the station building and ripped off enough of the fibre to push open the door that led to the waiting room.

  “I won’t be a moment,” said Pedro, kissing the woman lightly on the forehead. “I just need to check something out.”

  “Come on, hun, I think we should get something to eat. She bent down and picked up half a brick. “You just sit yourself down here, Sierra. I won’t be a second.” The woman walked over to a vending machine, stood in the corner of the building, next to a train timetable, she raised her arm and threw the missile straight at the glass front. She watched in utter astonishment as this middle-aged woman casually cleaned out the remaining bits of glass fragments with her knife before reaching in and grabbing a couple of Mars Bars.

  “You’re not diabetic, are you?” she asked without turning around.

  Sierra couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t the first time she’d broken into a vending machine. She then recalled how easy it had been for Ryan to start that car and wondered just what other ‘skills’ these archaeologists knew.

  “Here you go,” she said, placing two chocolate bars in Sierra’s lap. I know they’re not the most nutritious of foods but they will give you an energy boost and considering what we’ve all been through, energy is one thing that we all need.”

  Oh Jesus, was this woman for fucking real? She made all of this sound like a bad snowstorm or a two hour power failure. Next the silly old girl will be yapping on about the blitz spirit, just like her mum used to. Sierra dropped her head into her hands, the chocolate bars slipped off her lap and landed on the floor.

  What she needed right now was a time machine to take her back to this morning. Was that too much to ask for? Ryan could drive, that much she had found out about him. Her magical time machine could drop her back in the café, she’d dragged that beautiful man out of his seat, just as her earlier self went to fetch his drink. They’d make sweet love in his car before snatching mum and Danny and getting out of Radfield before the nightmare even started.

  She jerked her head up and stared at the woman, as something in her head clicked loudly. “Jeanette, why are we here at the station?” What happened to the pair of them heading for the edge of town to look for the owner of that helicopter? The woman paled. Sierra watched her false cheerfulness slough off like a diseased skin and Jeanette collapsed onto the seat beside her. The woman had aged a decade in a second.

  “There was a development, honey, while you were out of it.” She looked at the half-eaten chocolate bar in her hand. “This tastes bloody horrible. I don’t even lik
e chocolate.” Jeanette threw the wrapper towards the litter bin. “We found out just who these people are, hun, and it’s not good news, I’m afraid.”

  Sierra barked out a hoarse laugh. “How can it be any worse?”

  Jeanette cast her eyes to the floor. “We were heading to the end of town. Do you know that large square in the middle of your town?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, it’s where they hold the market every Monday and Wednesday.” The image of her Danny flinging his tiny body to the side, during one of his temper tantrums flooded her mind. He would have been close to three years old, and his mood swings were reaching boiling point. Sierra hadn’t been paying close enough attention and the pushchair went over on its side, the contents of shopping bags hung from handles flew off in every direction.

  At the time, after checking to make sure her Danny was okay, she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her, unable to cope with so many pairs of eyes staring at her.

  “Are you still with me, Sierra?”

  “Sorry, yeah, I was thinking about something that happened a few years ago.”

  “Well, Pedro saw one of the helicopters land in the middle of that square and was about to rush over. I too felt the desire to run towards that huge black machine, just sitting there amongst all that invasive white fibre. Yet, I did the total opposite; I leaned you against the wall and viciously pulled the boy back around the corner.”

  I know we haven’t spoken about our time before you woke us, Sierra.” The woman sighed, her eyes glazed over. “I went to a very special place, you know. I think we all did. I recognised it, heck, I’d even walked down those streets. Well, in their ruins. Those strange looking people were so happy, so content, even the people that looked very much like dinosaurs.” Jeanette softly moaned. “And then the humans arrived and they did what our species did whenever they felt threatened, or scared.” The woman stared at her. “We think we’re so different to those ancient people, more civilised, able to discuss our problems amicably without resorting to violence.”