by Jason Davis
She stepped beyond the door, finding herself in a room with cabinets and a table in the center. She made it. She was.... Where? Why had she fought so hard to get back here? Where was here?
“Ugghhh.”
She heard a low moan from the next room. There was a loud thump and a shriek of pain.
She looked in the direction of the sound. She couldn’t see much of the room yet, but she could make out a large, elongated table in the center topped with looked like some green fabric. She wasn’t surprised when her body stumbled in the direction of the sounds.
She stopped in front of a large man who sat against the wall, lethargically moving back and forth. She didn’t know if he were trying to stand. He just went back and forth, flailing, not moving with much purpose.
Finally, he looked up at her. His eyes may have been brown, or some other dark color, but they were glazed over. While they looked straight at her, they never seemed to focus. They were lost, pleading, looking to her for… What? Salvation?
The voices inside her came alive as she looked at the man. They all wanted something from him. They cried out, calling for her to take him. They wanted her to move to him to…to…
What did they want her to do with him?
Spread! she heard the voices inside her head scream.
That was the last thing that Lucy understood as the last part of herself faded to nothing.
****
Lucy bent over the body, her mind gone. There was now only desire and need. Desire for the creatures to get food, and the need for them to spread. They would never be satisfied, as their breed was made for only the two purposes.
As Lucy bent down to the man, she opened her mouth. He would never see the swarm of spiders as they ran over him. Their screams of pleasure were endless as Lucy bit into his neck.
He screamed out in pain, but it wasn’t any use. There was no one who would hear him, and he didn’t have the strength to fight her off. The swarm rushed from her, entering through the large hole in the man’s neck and into their new home.
What was one was now two, and what was two would soon be four. Four would become eight, and eight would yield into sixteen…if not more. The spreading had started, and new food needed to be obtained. Used food, host food, must be used to find new food, continuing the pattern
Before his mind could grasp what had happened, Vince was already lost as hundreds of spiders entered him. What had taken hours before now took only minutes.
Part 4
Manifestation
Chapter 1
Chaos erupted around the front of the store. At first, no one moved as they saw their boss being attacked by Billy, someone they had all worked with for a long time. Sure, many of them would never admit to ever liking Billy. In fact, the younger girls who worked there had always been a little creeped out by him. He would sometimes just hover behind them. He was that guy they always talked about behind his back, but he was also the one they called whenever they had a question about the furniture. He was the expert they had all come to know and trust.
And he was eating Tim. Sure, most of them wanted to hit the fat bastard, but who the hell bites into someone? That was just wrong. Billy continued to tear away at the flesh. And the blood… There was just so much of it. It was everywhere. Flowing along the floor. The white tiles had become red and slippery.
At first, everyone was too stunned to react. Moments later, the building came alive with motion, everything happening at once when the sound of the bitchy woman, the annoying customer they all were already frustrated with, fell to the floor.
Sam, the saleswoman behind the counter who had been sorting price tags, stood just to the right of Tim. She hadn’t even been looking up. Already having an aggravating morning, she just wanted to ignore everyone else for the next five hours until she was off the clock. All of them could go to hell as far as she was concerned.
Then Billy suddenly reached out and had bitten into Tim, the blood raining around her. The dark crimson became a bath of gore that enveloped her. Stunned, she couldn’t even respond. It covered her, the price tags, and it had even gotten into her hair.
At first, she just stood there, watching. Tim never even fought back, probably too surprised. By the time he would have reacted, it was too late anyway. He just stood there as Billy reached out, grabbing him. After that first bite, there was just too much blood.
It sprayed over her for a few seconds, but seeming like hours, Sam’s mind engaged again, and she started to back away. Even with the counter between the two of them, it wasn’t enough. She had to get away, get out of there. That shouldn’t be too hard. She was the closest to the front door.
She then heard screams, suddenly realizing they were her own. She heard people screaming at each other, yelling, calling out names. Some yelled for help, others for people to get behind them for protection.
She ignored them as she chose to escape. Her legs felt like rubber as they propelled her. She made her way to the gaping hole in the counter, then she turned and ran toward the door. Somewhere behind her, she heard someone calling her name, but she wasn’t about to look back.
She slammed into the door. With a loud crunching sound, the glass spider-webbed before her. Her large nose had been the first to hit. She heard a loud crack that came with a fountain of sparks exploding behind her eyes and pain flooding her dampened mind.
Behind her, she heard what sounded like loud firecrackers. Strange, she thought. It isn’t Fourth of July yet. Why are people lighting them in the store?
Stumbling, she turned. The world around her started growing dark. The floor looked so welcoming, she just wanted to lay down and let sleep take over. She didn't even care if she woke up. She just wanted to lay down and let it wash over her.
She looked up. She saw Aaron on the other side of the counter holding a gun. What was he doing with a gun? He shouldn't have one of those at work. That just wasn't allowed. Then she saw what looked like a white flame explode from the end of it and heard another one of those damn firecrackers.
Aaron started to back away. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought about how she really hadn’t wished him a good morning yet. She liked Aaron. Maybe he would finally ask her out on a date.
Billy stood up. He started stumbling toward Aaron, and Tina thought she could see what looked like bullet holes in the back of Billy’s shirt. That was funny. Why did he have them? If Tim saw that he was going to be pissed.
Then the floor seemed just too inviting and she lay down, letting her world slip away into blackness. She barely felt the feet as people started to run over her and out the door.
****
Winona had just come to the end of the aisle when she heard the first sounds that something was wrong. Calling it a scream wouldn't have been right, but it sounded like what the woman had been trying to do. The sound seemed to die in her throat, then it suddenly ended with a thud.
When Winona emerged from the aisle, she saw something worse than her imagination could ever think of, which was saying a lot because of some of the action she had seen when she was dispatched overseas.
A woman had just fallen, but that wasn’t so bad. It was the man who was, for all intense and purposes, eating another man and wouldn't let go.
Another scream rang out. Winona watched as the woman behind the counter tried to run away. At least she showed more sense than the other woman, who had had passed out.
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and watched as a young man came up behind the biter. He seemed to be so focused on his…food, he didn't notice.
She saw something flash in the back of the biter’s waistband. She craned her neck, trying to get a better look. She saw what the man was trying to do as the biter moved away from him. The man currently being eaten started sliding down the counter as his strength left him. The biter followed him down. As he bent, the butt of a gun showed from beneath his shirt. She guessed that other guy was going to try and grab it.
Good call. At least someone showed some sense. The woman behind the counter still hadn’t seemed to focus onto anything, except screaming, and the one on the floor… Well, she looked like she would be out until someone splashed some cold water on her. Both pissed off Winona, making women look bad under pressure.
She knew a lot about that. She had fought against it for a long time, being one of only two women in her National Guard unit. The men thought women had no place among them. It wasn’t easy, but over time, she had earned their respect. She had stood in the face of danger and didn't back down.
That couldn’t be said about that damn other woman who had been in their unit. When the time had come, and the bullets started flying, she had frozen. Freezing up meant that not only did you put your own life at risk, but it also meant you put your unit at risk. Three of Winona’s good friends were dead because of it.
These damn women here needed to pull their heads out of their asses and start reacting. Why wasn’t someone trying to call the cops? Why wasn’t she calling the cops?
Her phone buzzed in her back pocket and it brought her back to what she needed to do. She couldn’t just stand there. She had to watch, observe, report, and formulate a plan…but not necessarily in that order. First thing she needed to do was call the police.
She pulled the phone from her pocket, looking at the display. Shit. The emergency dispatch was calling. She had orders coming in. She knew she was required to take the call. How could she, though? She had an situation of her own happening directly in front of her. Hating to do it, knowing she’d have to answer for it later, she grimaced as she sent it to voicemail.
Then she dialed the emergency number. She had backed down the aisle a little so she didn’t have direct view of the situation anymore, but at least that meant nobody had view of her, either. That was a good thing. She didn’t want them to notice her yet.
“Emergency Services… How may I direct your call?”
The first gunshot rang out. Winona barely kept from jumping as her grip tightened on the phone.
“Oh, my god!” the woman on the other end of the line exclaimed. “What’s going on?!” Winona grimaced at how loud the voice seemed as it screamed.
“I am at the...”
Winona’s mind went blank. What store was she in? She couldn’t believe she had forgotten it. She was better than that. Better than most in dealing with tense situations. She looked around to try and jar her memory. The name of the place was on the tip of her tongue. She saw generic labels on items. The wheels inside her head moved slowly but wouldn’t click. She focused on the labels. Suddenly, her training came back to her. She breathed deeply, closed her eyes, and pushed down her fears.
"Hello?" the woman through the headset said. Winona heard concern in her voice. She opened her eyes and looked at the labels. It was all there. “Hello? I thought I heard a gunshot.”
“Yes, multiple gunshots, but the shooter is actually trying to stop the main attacker. There are multiple people down. The main aggressor seems to be unarmed, but he has attacked at least one individual. I…” She wasn’t too sure what else to say. None of this made any sense.
She eased herself back down the aisle. It was her duty to give them as much information as possible so when the police came, they knew what they were dealing with. When she looked around the end of the aisle, she gasped, the phone dropping out of her hand. Her hands came up to muffle the sound, but it had already escaped.
The aggressor was no longer on the large man and eating him. At some point, he had turned to the one firing the gun. Both were now on the ground, Billy tearing away at the flesh on Aaron’s throat.
Aaron was still moving, the gun hanging limply in his arm. His head bobbed back and forth, his legs weakly kicking out along the floor. However, Winona didn’t think it was due to any attempt to escape. She had seen that dead look in his eyes before. It pulled her mind back to when she was overseas.
Dust and sand blew. She heard screams. A building had just blown up and she started running toward it. One of her unit was on the ground…or parts of him were at least. He was missing an arm and most of the left side of his lower body. She looked over at him and saw those dull eyes, but he was still moving. His right arm reached out for her. She could swear that his lips were moving. He was mouthing Help me, but that was impossible. He was dead. However, his body just didn't realize it. His muscles continued to twitch as blood still tried to pump through.
Winona backed across the aisle and slammed into one of the cardboard displays. It rocked as plastic cases clattered to the floor. She tripped on the debris and fell back. She slammed hard against the metal shelf support, feeling a hot pain shoot up her arm. She slid down, more of the items being knocked loose and crashing to the floor.
There was so much noise, there was no way they didn't hear that up front. She looked down the aisle, wincing from the pain stabbing at her kidney. She saw Billy looking at her. His eyes were lifeless and gray, but she saw them focus on her.
She went into motion and spider-crawled back until she cleared the display. It took some effort, but she was finally able to turn. Pain shot through her side, waves of heat flashing up and down her spine. She took a breath, then eased it out, pushing away the sensation, not letting it slow her down. She reached out and grabbed one of the metal shelves, pulling herself up. She glanced over her shoulder. The biter was trying to stand. It was almost like he had forgotten how, his legs not working right.
She didn't have time to think about that. She had to get away or she wasn't going to survive. Instinct had started to kick in. She had to get up and get out of sight, then she could slow down. The front was blocked. There wasn’t going to be any way to get out through there, not unless he followed her and she could circle around.
She needed a plan. Her first priority was to get out, but she also needed to find any other survivors and get them out. Fire regulations meant there had to be fire exits nearby, but it was a retail store so an alarm would sound. Did she dare risk it?
She still didn't know the full situation. What if there were more crazies in the store? A shudder tried to creep its way down her back, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. She hoped like hell there weren’t. She didn't want to deal with a band of cannibals loose in the store. She hurried to the back of the aisle and turned to get out of sight.
Chapter 2
When Thomas Carter woke up, he had a headache that felt like it should belong to a hangover. He didn't want to move. His eyes were crusted shut, and the pain in his head shot daggers through him at the slightest motion. If he kept still, it was only a dull stiffness. The moment he turned it either way, white flashes erupted behind his eyes.
When he heard screeching throughout the room, he moaned. “Ugh, what the fuck…”
He rolled over, feeling a soreness throughout his body. He reached over to his nightstand and caught the screeching phone that danced dangerously close to the edge. Not opening his eyes to look at the display, he flipped it open.
“Yeah? he barked into the receiver.
“Hey, Tom, we got a call in from the Rowplex. Silent alarm.”
He heard a panicked voice, which was uncommon for the woman on the other end of the connection. He recognized the voice right away. It was Samuels, the morning deputy who had just replaced him. He wasn't sure what time it was, but it felt like he only got into bed a few minutes ago. He couldn’t have been asleep that long.
“Shit. What stores are even open this early?”
“It’s a little after eleven, so most of them are. The Office Store pulled the alarm, so they’ve been open for a little over an hour.”
“You on your way?”
“Yes, but I need some backup.”
“Have you called the state guys?”
“I have, but they say all their officers are tied up elsewhere. They seemed to dodge my questions as to why we couldn’t get any help.”
“What the
fuck?”
Carter pulled himself up. His head tried to stay on the pillow, but as he lifted it. some of the cobwebs in his mind faded away. This didn’t make any sense, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of the haziness of sleep. Had she really just said the state police were unwilling to dispatch backup?
Rubbing his eyes, he said, “You tried county, as well?”
“Yes, and got the same answer.”
That was odd. What the hell was going on this morning that would keep both the county and the state police tied up?
The cool hardwood of the floor creaked under him as he stood and made his way to the closet. He hit the speaker button on his phone so he could put it down and still talk while he put on his uniform.
Was it his imagination, or was it still slightly damp from his sweat this morning? It’s probably just the humidity in the air, he thought as he grabbed it from around the hanger. Some days it felt like he lived in that damned uniform. That all he ever wore was the dark blue. He was always working, or at least the town perceived him that way. The shirt was his second skin. Long days made him feel like this was a position he could never get away from. This was going to be one of them.
Not that he didn’t have a full staff. Unlike many of the neighboring towns where the city council allowed barely enough payroll for one officer per day, they lived in a town where there was at least one officer per shift. It worked out nicely. In the evenings, he scheduled a three-hour overlap so two officers were typically on duty during the rowdiest times.
In a town that had more bars than churches, it seemed a good idea to have enough personnel to handle the bar fights and the occasional drug and gambling bust. Not that Hammond was all that large of a town, but it seemed like it tried to compete with the larger towns nearby. He had heard the nickname “Little Chicago” more than once. While they were nowhere on par with the big city, it seemed like there was enough crime to justify the name and the additional police force. That meant he had four other officers he could call on.