They pulled up to the supermarket, headlights flashing in its darkened interior. "Looks like the power"s out in this place," Gladys said, looking outside curiously. It was nearly three o"clock and it was already almost dark. The lights in the parking lot weren"t on at all.
Brenda pulled the car up to the parking stall closest to the store and killed the engine. She swung to the back. "Okay guys! Pit stop. Last time to pee before we hit the road again." They got ready to clamber out in the rain.
It had been quiet outside for the last few hours and they all stood at the door and put their ears to the wall to listen. The m.u.f.fled patter of raindrops. .h.i.t the roof above them and they could make out the sound faintly outside. There were no other sounds.
They"d spent their time in the freezer huddled together in the rear of the compartment. There was a brief sharing of stories and experiences as to what brought them here. Fred, Melissa and Lee"s stories were already known, as was Glen"s. Barbara had stopped by on her way home from Glen"s to Shelby"s Drug Store to pick up a bottle of Excedrin. She"d been having such horrible headaches lately and they were the only thing that gave them any kind of relief. Lucky for her, she"d been at Shelby"s Drug store when the Clickers came marching up the promenade.
Annette Berger had been walking back to her car after a trip to Blockbuster. She"d seen the Clickers come and ran into the video store. She"d watched in horror as the large crustaceans swarmed over the parking lot, heading into the woods. Finally she set foot outside with a few other people and was about to head to her car and go home when the other things had come. Had Lee Shelby not been herding Melissa, Barbara, and Fred out of the drug store and down to the Lucky"s, who knows what would have happened to her. She saw them, changed direction and darted in the doors after them. Charley and Anne Denning had been grocery shopping when all the commotion broke out; they joined other gawkers at the magazine rack and watched in horror as the large, crustaceans made their way into the shopping center.
After that was out of the way the conversation broke up again into various circles; Rick found himself in a conversation with Glen and Lee about Glen"s theory of the creatures. Fred talked with Charley and Anne about hopefully getting out and escaping through one of the back routes he knew of-they could take Route 73 to a dirt road in c.u.mberland County that would take them right to the Interstate. Melissa stayed with Janice and Bobby, who were joined by Barbara and Annette. Annette had just come around from her slight shock. Glen examined her briefly, smiled and patted her shoulder. "You"re doing fine," he said. "How do you feel?"
"I feel tired," Annette said. She looked it. The dark circles she had under her eyes had gotten bigger.
"Try to rest as much as possible," Glen said. "If you feel the need, pull up one of those blankets and lie down in the corner and try to get some sleep."
Annette nodded and said that maybe she would a little later.
Glen joined Rick and Lee back in their informal little group. Rick looked at Glen. "What do you think?"
"I think they"ve left," Glen said. "And I think we should at least take a look outside to check the status."
"Okay." Rick grabbed the metal bar that ran through the handle of the door frame in a makeshift lock and started to remove it.
Janice stepped forward. "Rick, no."
Rick removed the bar. "Somebody"s got to check it out." He turned to Janice and read the fear in her eyes. The others looked equally fearful, but a little relieved at the same time. He had jumped into the task without a vote taken that somebody should go out to check out the parking lot. He had done it without thinking, because he knew it had to be done, because he had to see. But most of all, he did it because he also knew there would have been a period of awkwardness after Glen"s proclamation that it sounded like the Dark Ones had left. People would have shuffled their feet and cast their gazes around, as if searching for a candidate, yet at the same time trying to be conspicuous and invisible. Because they wouldn"t want it to seem that they were trying to finger a candidate without asking. Plus, they wanted to be pa.s.sed up by their peers and he was still a relative stranger.
Rick placed the metal bar on the ground and grasped the door handle. Lee and Fred stepped forward, and now Melissa joined them. Glen nodded, his features showing no emotions. "Take it slow. Just go through the store slowly and if you hear, see, or smell anything out of the ordinary, run like h.e.l.l back here."
Rick nodded, then turned back to the others one last time. Janice looked like she was showing the strain of the last two days; her face was worn, fatigued. She looked like she was going to break down and cry any minute. Rick leaned forward and kissed her. "I"ll be fine. You take care of Bobby."
Janice wiped the tears from her eyes, mustering a smile. "I must be stupid crying like this every time you have to go out and make sure it"s safe."
Annette came forward. "No, you"re not stupid, dear. We all feel this way." She placed a comforting arm around Janice and looked at Rick. Her features were strong and honest. "G.o.d bless you for taking the risk for us," she said. Then she smiled, as if rea.s.suring herself that all would be well. "We"ll be right here," she said, as if telling him and everybody else that they would be waiting for him when he came back.
The fear began to build in Rick"s limbs as he turned to the door. Now he didn"t want to go out, but there was no other choice: they couldn"t stay locked in here forever.
Glen opened the door and Rick slipped through, feeling the heavy steel door close softly behind him with a silent click of the lock. He heard the metal bar going back through the door handle. It sounded like his fate was being sealed.
He was in the store.
And he was alone.
He stood at the door to the freezer for almost a full minute, letting his senses grow accustomed to the store"s surroundings; the cold atmosphere, the darkness, the smell of the sea and of something else, something slightly fishy. He almost took a step back but then he saw the smell for what it was. The meat aisle was littered in plastic wrap and white Styrofoam, strips of meat dotting the floor. He took a step out into the aisle; to his right were the meats, to his left was the seafood department. Both had been plundered. There was hardly anything left of either, and what was left hardly amounted to much. The scent of meat and fish hung in the air and now Rick knew where that smell was coming from.
It was chilly in the store"s interior due to the power outage and the cold wind blowing from the broken windows and doors. Lack of fluorescent lighting made it appear darker than outside. The air was cold and wet, but clean and crisp smelling. A faint smell of mixed fruits came to him, wet and cloying, and he saw its source a moment later-a spilled aisle of fruit juices. The entire store would be smelling like a mixture of foods along with the cold wetness of the rain.
Rick started moving slowly and quietly down the aisle toward the cash registers. He didn"t hear anything unusual. The only sound he heard was the steady fall of rain outside.
He paused once before reaching the cash register just to catch his bearings and try to get a sense of his surroundings. He stood beside a rack of canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, letting his ears pick up all the sounds around him; the falling rain, the wind blowing and whistling around the corners of the building, the steady drip of water from rain blowing through the windows of the store. That was it. He didn"t hear or sense anything else. He didn"t catch the gooseflesh p.r.i.c.kly feeling of another life form in the store with him, didn"t get the feeling that something was just a little more off-kilter. The place was deserted.
He crept out of the canned goods aisle, flanking the registers. Past them were the large plate gla.s.s windows and the dual double doors that opened out into the parking lot. The sky showed through several panes of broken gla.s.s; it was dark, bruised clouds blotting the horizon. The rain was falling hard on the empty parking lot.
He almost didn"t believe his eyes when he saw the Chevy Blazer pull up in front of the store.
The vehicle parked in the closest parking slot; the only s.p.a.ce between the Blazer and the store was the twenty feet of median strip. Rick moved forward slowly, cautiously, through the checkout stands and crept to the plate gla.s.s windows. The Blazer was red and from this distance he couldn"t tell who was in the vehicle but he thought he made out a woman in the driver"s seat. He was about to step outside to warn them of the possible danger when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye.
It came from the immediate right, around the corner of the store. A huge, hulking green figure crept from the alley between the Lucky"s and the Barnes and n.o.ble next door. It crouched there and watched them, right at the mouth of the alley and enough behind the Blazer to avoid detection. Rick froze. He was firmly convinced that the Dark Ones pretty much went on motion similar to snakes, and moving now might alert this one, if not others, to his location. So he stayed put, watching as the creature began creeping toward the Blazer followed by three smaller Dark Ones.
Rick squinted, trying to get a glimpse of the occupants of the Blazer. He thought it was two women and two other people in the back, but he couldn"t be sure. They looked to be of African-American descent. Either way, he had to warn them, he had to do something- Scream! If their senses are like reptiles or amphibians they probably have limited hearing. Scream at the people in the Blazer. You"ve got to try something!
The Dark One in the lead began creeping forward faster. It was now thirty yards from the Blazer and the women in the vehicle still didn"t see it. They were gathering purses and getting ready to clamber out.
With no real plan of action in mind, Rick stepped through the broken pane and outside into the cold, stormy parking lot and began waving his arms and screaming.
Brenda had just gotten her door open and was halfway out when she saw the man with the long, dark hair come out of the grocery store waving his arms and yelling like somebody had stuck a pitchfork up his a.s.s. "What the h.e.l.l is wrong with him?" She asked aloud.
"What"s that?" Gladys asked on the other side of the Blazer. She was climbing out, too, and suddenly everything seemed to slow down. Brenda slowly clambered out, her mind registering the man"s screams which were unintelligible, the wild waving of his arms. She looked at him dumbfoundedly, wondering what in the h.e.l.l this crazy white boy would be screaming at, when movement came out of the corner of her eye so fast that the pain of the Trident slashing through her abdomen came after she saw it pa.s.s through her body in a wet stream, her blood spurting out in a huge geyser followed by the red and purplish ma.s.s of her intestines. Then the pain came, the ringing in her ears, and she could barely hear Gladys screaming before she saw the large green thing open a maw of yellow jagged teeth and then she knew no more.
Rick continued screaming even after the small Dark One-which loped past the bigger one who"d led the attack-swung the Trident in a deadly arc that sliced through the woman"s midsection. Her face went ashen and she went limp as the creature swooped in and buried its maw over her face.
The large Dark One reached the other woman who"d exited the pa.s.senger side door and before she even realized what was happening, the creature leaned forward, mouth opened wide, and bit her head off in a hearty crunch. The other Dark Ones moved toward the rear of the vehicle, and Rick saw now who the occupants in the backseat were: two pre-teenage boys screaming their heads off.
Rick snapped out of his sudden fear. The commotion seemed to have awoken the Dark Ones out of whatever retreat they had taken within the last few hours. Rick could see them emerging from Main street, from around the north corner of the parking lot, from the alley where the first wave of Dark Ones had come from. They all converged on the Blazer and swooped in, wolves to the kill. Each victim now had two or three Dark Ones chowing down on them; some of the creatures resorted to a mad sort of tug-of-war. Rick could make out the first woman being the object of such a tug-of-war between two Dark Ones, one tugging at her legs, the other at her upper body before the strain finally gave way and she came apart in a sudden spray of blood and guts. There was a wet plop as she spilled onto the wet pavement. Rick turned and began running back the way he came, past the registers, down the canned goods aisle, and he could hear the sound of pursuit as footsteps pounded after him, footsteps that came with a heavy stride, their sound wet and strong, accompanied by a click as claws. .h.i.t linoleum, and then Rick was at the frozen foods counter, then he was skidding around the corner, hitting the wall, rebounding back up, crashing into the steel metal door of the meat freezer, pounding on the door with his fist as the running footsteps grew louder, louder, the thumps as the creature made the turn, the sudden bang as it hit the wall and Rick felt his breath whoosh in and out of him, his hair standing on end, his body light with adrenaline, he felt and heard the lock give way as somebody disengaged it from inside, felt the door give way from under him as he propelled himself in the meat freezer as the door opened, dived inside as he sensed the creature rebound off the wall behind him and charge after him with such a force that the steel door was pounded back so hard that it knocked Fred, who had opened the door, on his back.
Rick dived through the hanging slabs of beef, feeling the creature behind him pause briefly in its pursuit to a.s.sess its new surroundings. He felt the instant rise of alarm among the people in the meat locker, and he dived toward the rear of the freezer where he and Janice had made a stockpile of the weapons and ammunition. He pounced on it, yelling all the while at the top of his lungs: "Watch out! There"s more of them outside!"
Glen moved toward the open freezer door and slammed it shut. Charley slid the metal pole through the door handle, locking it. Rick rummaged through the weapons, looking for the rocket launcher he and Janice had looted from the Sheriff"s station. Why the h.e.l.l that thing was among the cache of weapons at the Sheriff"s station, Rick didn"t know, but he was glad it was there. Melissa, Annette, and Anne screamed and quivered in the corner. Rick wished he had time to rea.s.sure the women that they would be all right, but he didn"t have time for that, or for their hysterics. If he could only find that G.o.dd.a.m.n launcher- The Dark One moved from side to side, checking out its surroundings. It stood easily seven and a half feet tall-big by normal conventions, but small compared to some of the other specimens Rick had seen. The Dark One was greenish blue and appeared more reptilian than amphibious; it bore scales and a frilly ridge of skin that protruded along its backbone, starting from the top of its head and extending down to the base of its hips like an iguana. Its forearms were both large, human-like and reptilian in form and structure; it seemed to move and grasp things like a man, but Rick saw that its forearms could also be used to go down and crawl on all fours if need be. The toes of its front and rear claws were webbed. Maybe they were still evolving, Rick thought. Maybe they were still evolving and- The thing swept its eyes across the room, its mouth a grin full of razor sharp teeth. Very crocodilian. Then it tipped its head back and roared. Fred, who was slowly regaining his composure, jumped back at the sudden, ferocious sound of it. Charley moved back into the corner between the steel door and the wall. Annette screamed at her husband. "Charley! Oh Charleeyy!"
The Dark One regarded them briefly and stepped forward.
Now Janice was beside him, Bobby behind her, cowering in fear. Rick felt a need to sweep them both in his arms and protect them, but with no handy weapon around, his efforts would prove futile. If only the rocket launcher was where he"d left it...
The Dark One roared again, fixing its sights on Melissa, Annette, Anne and Bobby, who was cowering with his mother next to Anne. The monster charged and Lee Shelby stepped in front of it, seeming to debate whether to join the fracas, then launched himself at the creature.
The Dark One picked Lee off its chest. It grasped him in its sharp talons and lifted him in the air, holding him at eye level. Lee screamed, his legs kicking frantically. The Dark One seemed to smile through all those teeth, and then it leaned forward and with a quick motion it bit Lee"s head off in a clean bite.
It lifted its head from Lee"s body. Blood fountained up from the neck stump like Old Faithful.
The women screamed. The Dark One chewed as if it was dining on King Crab at a fine seafood restaurant. Outside, beyond the steel door, Rick could hear more of the Dark Ones converging upon the frozen meat locker, pounding on the walls, trying to find a way in. The Dark One dropped Lee"s headless body and advanced toward them. Its mouth was a b.l.o.o.d.y maw. Rick grabbed a rifle from the stock of weapons; surely an ineffectual weapon. He raised it and pulled the trigger.
The heavy resounding shot reverberated through the air, the force of it knocking him back against the wall. Half of the Dark One"s head exploded in a spray of scales and mush. It tipped back on its hind legs, flailing its arms wildly; Rick could see its mouth through the blown away portion, could see the craniofacial system as the creature bellowed in rage and pain. He looked down at the rifle in amazement. Surely he hadn"t blown the creature away with this!
Janice stepped forward, the smoking rocket launcher in her hands. She looked like a woman ready to go into war; her mouth was drawn in a hard line, her eyes were cold flints. She lowered the weapon, reached down for another rocket, inserted it, then raised the weapon over her shoulder, the stock against her cheek, and pulled the trigger. This time a chunk was taken out of the creature"s chest in a spray of bone and gristle. The shot knocked the creature on its back. The creature flopped to the ground and Glen and Charley darted out of its way so as not to be hit by its wild thrashings. It thrashed around for ten seconds then stopped, stiffening in death.
For a moment there was silence inside the meat locker.
With the exception of the wild pounding from outside the locker. Where the Dark Ones were now converging in their attempt to get inside.
Janice collapsed against Rick, the rocket launcher falling to the ground. Rick held her and motioned to Glen, who skirted the headless body of Lee as he made his way over. Rick motioned toward the rocket launcher. "Take that and make sure n.o.body hurts themselves with it."
Glen picked up the smoking weapon and handed it to Fred, who took it and moved toward the door to a.s.sume sentry duty. Glen knelt down beside Janice, Rick and Bobby, concern showing on his face. "Are you all right, Janice?" he asked. "Do you feel okay?"
Janice nodded, her features tired, strained. She looked like she was going to sob but she was so tired that her body couldn"t muster up the energy. "I"m...I"m..." and then she did sob, falling into Glen"s arms with a loud bray. "I"m so tired, Glen. I"m so tired!"
"I know," Glen said, holding her as she sobbed against his chest. He looked at Rick over her sobbing form and mouthed the words how"s the boy? Rick made a circle with his thumb and forefinger. Glen nodded, soothing Janice as she cried, the strain of all she had gone through finally taking their toll.
Rick led Bobby over to Annette and Barbara. "Can you take care of him for a minute, please?" he asked.
"Most certainly," Barbara said, transforming into a Mother Hen. She held her arms out to Bobby who went into them effortlessly. "You come here darling and have a rest with us. Your Mommy will be with you in just a minute."
Bobby"s features were blank. He looked up at Rick with solemn brown eyes. Rick smiled and winked. "That"s my boy," Rick said. "I"ll be right back."
It was hard to say a thing like that when the sounds of the Dark Ones slamming themselves into the metal door could be heard above all else. Their roaring and gnashing came through sounding like effects from some B grade horror movie. Fred stood back, the rocket launcher loaded again, resting on his shoulder, ready to fire the instant the door burst open. Rick grabbed a semiautomatic rifle from the pile of weapons and loaded it. Others began to stock up, too; Melissa armed herself with the remaining semi-automatic rifle, while Annette picked up the another rifle and began to load it. Charley and Anne had reunited from their brief separation and were now standing in the corner, holding each other. Rick bent down and selected a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum from the two remaining handguns, and a box of sh.e.l.ls. He got the cylinder open with no difficulty, and with fumbling fingers began to load it. He watched Melissa and Annette out of the corner of his eye as he loaded his weapons; both women seemed surprisingly adept at firearms and Rick felt embarra.s.sed to even be in their presence. He was fumbling with his Smith & Wesson like a preschooler while they loaded and stocked their weapons with the accuracy of a professional.
Melissa gave Rick a bemused smile. "My father was a cop," she said. "He showed me everything he knew about guns."
Rick nodded. "That explains it. The way you handle that thing makes you look like you could kill me."
Melissa chuckled.
The onslaught against the freezer door continued with more frenzy. Melissa darted up next to Fred, braced for whatever might come through the door. Rick checked Janice"s progress; her sobbing had stopped and Glen was still with her, checking her pulse. She was lying down on a pile of jackets. Rick walked up to them, making special effort to point the muzzle of the Smith & Wesson to the floor and not hold it by the trigger. G.o.d forbid he should trip and the gun go off.
"How is she?" He knelt down beside Janice, who was lying down with her eyes closed. At the sound of his voice her eyes opened, and she looked at him with a smile.
"She"s mostly exhausted," Glen said. He maneuvered his overcoat over Janice"s figure, tucking her in. "She and Bobby need to be in a hospital."
"Rick." Janice motioned him closer.
Rick leaned over her. "I"m here, babe."
Janice grasped Rick"s hands in both hers. "Please watch Bobby for me, Rick. Take care of him."
"You know I will." He brushed a lock of hair from her brow. Despite the coldness of the freezer there were beads of sweat on her forehead.
"I mean it Rick." Janice"s features were serious. "If it comes down between him and me, take care of him!"
The words hung in the air with their obvious implication. They reeked of dread. Rick tried to lighten the mood. He smoothed back her hair with a gentle brush of his fingers. "Everything"s going to be all right, Janice."
"Don"t dance around the issue, Rick." Her voice was stern, commanding, yet gentle. She meant business. "If it comes between me and Bobby, protect Bobby. I know how you feel about me, Rick..." Her hands grasped his, her fingers interlinking with his. "...I feel the same way about you, too. But please, just watch after Bobby."
Rick felt a lump rise in his throat. He bent over her and kissed her forehead, quelling the lump back. "You have my word," he said, his voice husky. "Now you lay down and get some rest."
Janice locked her gaze with his for a moment as if confirming his promise. Rick found it hard to break away, but he did. He rose and stepped away from her and Glen, fighting the lump in his throat and wiping at his eyes. He almost burst into tears right in front of her and he couldn"t do that, couldn"t lose control now when there were so few of them left. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure, and walked over to where Annette and Barbara were watching Bobby.
They were huddled at the far end of the freezer behind the last row of hanging slabs of beef. They were seated on the floor on their jackets. Bobby was sitting between them, his face droopy with sleep. Rick knelt down beside them. "How"s he doing?"
"Sleepy," Annette said. She put her arm around the tired boy. "He almost conked out when you went to check up on Janice, but he came back to again."
Bobby regarded Rick through sleep-heavy eyes. His features were slack with fatigue. Rick watched as Bobby"s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, closing like shades being slowly drawn. A moment later his chest was rising and falling in sleep.
The sounds of the Dark Ones outside still reached even this far into the freezer. Rick looked at the two women. Annette was armed, a semi-automatic pistol lying at her feet. Barbara was unarmed, but with Annette near her and Bobby, the three of them should be fine.
Rick rose to his feet and went back to the front of the freezer.
For a while it looked like the steel pole they"d erected in front of the door would split. The repeated poundings against the door began to throw little dents in the door, then bend it inward. The pole itself began to bend and Rick thought the screws holding the doorhandle that the pole was run through would be pulled from their bearings, causing the pole to snap back with one hearty smack. But neither happened. The door took one h.e.l.l of a pounding, and the paneling and wall that held up the doorway took a beating, becoming splintered and cracked. But it held. It held fast.
Through it all, Fred, Rick, and Melissa stood at strategic angles; Fred directly opposite the door some twenty feet back, rifle aimed and ready; Melissa thirty feet to his right, flush against the wall, and Rick thirty feet to Fred"s left, forty-five degrees from the wall. They stood and waited as the creatures roared and gnashed and pounded at the freezer to get in. They knew they were in here now; they could no doubt smell them in here, if not their fallen comrade in scales. Thank G.o.d they hadn"t been in hot pursuit behind the one that managed to slip through or they"d all be dead now.
Glen left Janice"s side briefly to examine the dead Dark One and was astonished. They could hear him muttering from behind them excitingly. "My G.o.d, it"s incredible. It"s the most primitive looking reptile I"ve ever seen-if you could call it that. It"s also...vaguely amphibian. Jesus, just look at it!"
"So what the h.e.l.l is it? A reptile or an amphibian?" Fred asked from his position. He allowed the rifle to drop from his shoulder.
"It"s a little of both," Glen said. "It has both gills and scales," He moved around the fallen Dark One, pushing and probing at the dead creature with all the excitement of Darwin discovering the missing link. "The only thing I can"t understand is their locale; a cold blooded animal would die in such frigid temperatures as the North Atlantic Ocean. How do they thermoregulate themselves?"
"What do you mean?" Rick asked.
"There are reptiles such as the large sea turtles and the venomous sea snakes that live entirely in the ocean," Glen explained. "However, the oceans they thrive in are in the tropical coasts of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific, which are relatively warm waters. Most reptiles generally begin to freeze at 37 degrees Fahrenheit. Those that live in cold winter climates thermoregulate themselves by simply burrowing underground for the winter where it"s warmer. But how do you do that in the ocean?"
"Maybe they go to a secret cave, or something," Fred suggested.
Rick thought that could be a likely answer himself. Glen didn"t appear to hear the possible explanation, and continued in his rapt examination.
The minutes pa.s.sed by. The onslaught outside seemed to subside a bit, and for a moment it died down completely. Fred stepped forward cautiously, c.o.c.king his head toward the door. "Did they go?"
A sudden barrage of blows rained upon the door and Fred jumped back. Rick nearly p.i.s.sed his pants. The volley of blows resumed, accompanied by the roarings of blood-thirsty beasts. Rick raised his gun up, ready to blow away whatever stormed through that door. The barrage of blows continued, then subsided again.
They"re doing this to fake us out, Rick thought. They"ll quiet down, then when it gets too quiet one of us will venture forth and then-images of Fred opening the door after several days of silence and lack of food sprang to mind. Fred opening the door slowly, poking his head out, turning back with a look of joy and happiness on his face. They"re gone, he would shout back. They"re gone, let"s go! He steps forward and the others crowd behind him; Glen, Annette, Charley and Anne, Barbara, Melissa, Janice and Bobby. Rick. They follow Fred out and lying in wait around the corner near the frozen food counter and the canned goods aisle is a Dark One. With a bloodthirsty grin on its face.
Rick shook the image out of his mind.
Now it was silent outside. Dead silent.
Rick stood still, body tense, listening. I mustn"t think what I just thought. I mustn"t think that or we"ll never get out of here.
Behind him and around him the others stood as silent as he, listening.
Outside the Lucky"s Supermarket, the terror continued.