“Come on, grab it,” Zander said as he bent and took hold of the creature’s legs. Brad dropped the axe and grabbed the creature by the shoulders, then together they lifted and threw it overboard. The sea appeared to boil as the other creatures started a feeding frenzy. In the beam of the spotlights, the sea turned red. Zander leaned over the side and watched. If they fed upon each other with such ease, what chance did humankind have?
The creatures clawed at the boat, scrambling up the net. He shivered.
They were relentless bastards.
Unable to look at them any longer, he turned and hurried to Robinson’s side. As he approached, Muldoon shook his head.
“He’s dead.”
The guilt weighed heavy on Zander’s shoulders and he slumped under the pressure. “I’m going to drop the nets to stop anymore climbing on board.”
Jim ran his hand across his face, smearing Robinson’s blood, then he fired his pistol at an approaching creature.
Zander licked his lips. The skin felt cracked and he could taste the saltwater. He knew the crew was going to blame him for this, and he knew they were right. Stupid pride had possessed him to come out here. He would never forgive himself.
He hurried back to the wheelhouse and stared down at the carnage on deck. He pressed a button, sending the nets into freefall.
But there were already too many creatures on board. Seeing that his men were losing ground, he picked up the microphone. “Fall back and barricade yourselves in. We’re heading home.”
He set a course back to Mulberry, pushing the engines as fast as he could.
Chapter 34
Bruce held his hands up. “Duncan, what are you doing?”
Duncan folded his arms across his chest. “Lillian’s right. It’s an age old tradition to offer a sacrifice to the sea or the land in return for a good harvest.”
Bruce couldn’t believe his ears. This was pagan claptrap. “Duncan, there are monsters out there. You can’t be serious.”
“Deadly.”
“Gran,” Jen said, “you saw those things. This is crazy.”
“She’s crazy,” Jack said.
“Shut it kid,” Duncan said. “You outsiders think you know it all. Well you don’t. If it wasn’t for us, this village would have shrivelled up and died years ago.”
“My God,” Bruce said. “The people who lived in the house before us. You killed them, didn’t you?”
Duncan shrugged. Shazam growled.
“I’d shut that dog up before I do it for you,” Duncan snarled.
Bruce patted Shazam on the head. “Shush,” he said.
Duncan was a large man, but Bruce guessed he could tackle him. He chewed his lip, could feel his heart hammering away, palms sweating. How had they ended up in this mess? And to think he thought they were moving out of the city to escape trouble.
“Okay, that’s enough of the pleasantries,” Lillian said, tapping the wooden club on the top of the bar.
“This is bullshit.” Rocky stood up and faced Duncan. “You ain’t keeping me here.” He started walking towards the door. When he reached Duncan, he stretched out a hand and touched Duncan’s arm to move him aside.
For such a large man, Duncan reacted fast. He punched Rocky in the stomach, forcing him to double up in pain. Rocky retched, his hands clutched to his abdomen. “You piece of shit,” he wheezed.
“Rocky!” Sara said as she ran to him.
Duncan widened his stance, hands on hips. “Look kid, this isn’t personal. You’ve got to realise it’s for the good of the village.”
Erin stubbed her cigarette out. “So what are you going to do, kill us all?”
Duncan ran a finger across his top lip and looked at Lillian. Lillian gazed around the room. “It’s for the good of the village.”
“Gran,” Jen squealed.
Lillian sighed. “Jenny, stop whining. I sometimes wonder if you really are my granddaughter. You hear about people being given the wrong baby in the hospital.”
“Gran, how could you? If mum and dad find out about this—”
“And what makes you think they don’t already know?”
Jen shook her head. “No. They wouldn’t. You’re lying.”
Lillian shrugged.
“Well you won’t be able to take us all,” Bruce said. “There’s only two of you.”
Lillian laughed–it sounded like a cackle; made Bruce shiver. “And where are you going to go?” Lillian asked.
It was a simple question, but the way she said it made Bruce hesitate. Was there something he didn’t know? How many more villagers were in on this crazy idea? Were they waiting outside? It seemed ridiculous, but after what he had seen tonight, he would believe anything was possible.
Jen started crying. Jack put an arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he said.
“There’s a police officer outside. He’ll be back in a minute,” Bruce said.
Lillian spat on the ground. “You think we’re bothered about the law.”
Bruce knew he was going to have to do something. But what? He fingered the lucky charms in his wallet. Make me lucky, he thought before he ran at Duncan.
Not usually an impulsive man, Bruce took both himself and Duncan by surprise. He rammed his shoulder into the shopkeeper, driving him back into the door and making it clatter in its frame. Before his opponent could recover, Bruce drove his fist into Duncan’s chin, knocking the man’s head back.
The blow seemed to have little effect. Duncan stood up straight and stroked his jaw. A slight grin curved the edges of his lips. Bruce saw the shopkeeper bunch his fist, and just as he was about to retaliate, Shazam bounded across the room and sank her teeth into his ankle. Duncan squealed and hobbled around, trying to kick the dog away with his other foot. Knowing it was now or never, Bruce grabbed Duncan around the neck, trying to choke him. Despite his predicament, Duncan was strong and Bruce struggled to maintain his hold. He linked his hands to strengthen his grip, but Duncan’s neck felt like steel.
“Let me help,” Jack said.
Bruce nodded and allowed his son to grab Duncan’s arm.
Although it looked like David versus Goliath, with only a couple of deft Judo moves, Jack had Duncan on the floor with his arm pinned behind his back squealing like a pig.
Bruce stood up straight and sighed with relief. Then a wailing cry filled the air. He looked up just in time to see Lillian charging towards them, holding the wooden club aloft.
Although she was an old woman, he didn’t doubt being hit with the club would hurt–a lot–and he put his hands up to fend off the attack when something flew across the room and he heard glasses breaking and a rain of glass poured down. He shielded his eyes with the back of his hand, and saw Erin and Jen bombarding Lillian with glasses from behind the bar.
One of the glasses struck Lillian on the head, knocking her aside. “You don’t understand,” she screamed. “We have to offer a sacrifice.”
“You’re crazy.” Erin lobbed another glass, fragments exploding and striking Bruce in the face.
“That’s why the creatures have come. That’s why they’re here,” Lillian yelled. “You think this is the first time they’ve been? They’ve been here before, but we’ve kept them satisfied.”
“They’re here because they’re hungry,” Erin replied, “not because of you and your primitive beliefs.”
Lillian backed into the corner.
Bruce didn’t want to listen to anymore nonsense, so he stepped over Duncan and Jack, unlocked the door, and said, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Jen helped Rocky to his feet and they made their way outside followed by Sara and then Erin, who looked at Bruce as she passed and offered an encouraging smile.