“I—I worship you,” he cried out. “Lord, please!”
“Kevin,” I shouted as best I could, weak from the pain in my leg. “Sarah! Let’s go.”
Sarah didn’t move.
My leg was starting to swell, and when I coughed blood leaked from the corner of my mouth. Then my ears began to ring and my face felt flushed. I knew enough to recognize that I was going into shock.
“Hurry,” I gasped.
Kevin stood at the edge of the concrete and stared down at Earl.
Earl’s fingers slipped on the concrete and he struggled to hold on. “What are you looking at, boy? Give me a hand.”
“You shot down our helicopter,” Kevin said. “You killed our friends.”
Earl’s arms trembled and his face turned white. More earthworms dug their way out of his flesh. “Y-yeah, but I’m—”
Kevin stomped on his fingers. Hard. Hard enough to make me wince, despite my own pain, and despite everything that Earl had done. Screeching, Earl lost his grip and fell. His scream lasted only as long as his descent—about two seconds.
Then, the worm-tongues inside Behemoth’s throat began to feed. At the same time, the throat muscles contracted and Earl was drawn farther inside.
Kevin picked up Sarah and plodded up the swaying staircase.
Beneath him, Behemoth swallowed Earl with a noxious, gaseous belch. Then the mouth opened again and the tentacles began to slither upward, feeling their way across the bottom stair.
“Please, hurry,” I coughed, and more blood trickled from my mouth. Each cough brought a sharp, stabbing pain in my side.
Suddenly, I sensed movement behind me and saw Kevin’s eyes grow wide. I turned around and there was Carl, wearing a pair of oven mitts and lugging the still hot kerosene heater.
“I thought you ran off,” I told him, smiling weakly.
“Not hardly.” His bloody expression was one of wounded pride. “Why would you think something like that, Teddy? After all we’ve been through? I didn’t run off. I just went and cooked something up.”
I coughed blood and nodded at the kerosene heater. “Isn’t that a bit hot?”
He nodded, struggling to hold the heater upright. “Yeah, and it’s burning a hole through these here oven mitts. This thing got one of those automatic safety shut off switches?”
“No,” I groaned, as Sarah and Kevin stumbled out of the tilting stairwell.
“Good,” Carl said. “Then get out of my way.”
Kevin gently sat Sarah down. “Can you stand?” he asked her.
“Yeah.” She nodded, and then caught sight of my leg and the blood leaking from my lips. “Teddy, what happened?”
“I’ll be okay.” I smiled, trying to reassure her. “Been through worse back during the war.”
Kevin stood up. “We’ve got to get you guys out of here. Mr. Seaton, what are you doing with that kerosene heater?”
Carl nodded towards the basement stairs. “Reckon we’ll see if that big ugly bastard likes hot food.”
Wincing, I dug into my pants pocket and tossed Kevin the keys to my truck. I was thankful that I’d put them there before the table and hutch had pinned me against the wall. Otherwise, they’d be lost now, scattered by the rolling floor.
Kevin caught them with one hand. “What now?”
“I want you to go start my truck. I don’t know if Earl messed with it or not, but we need to find out. Take Sarah with you.”
“But what about you guys?” Kevin asked.
“Don’t you worry about us,” Carl said. “We’ll be right behind you.”
“We’ve got to help you out of here, Teddy,” Sarah argued. “And Carl—you’ve probably got a concussion. Your head is really bleeding.”
“I’m fine. Just a scratch.” He sat the heater down.
“It’s not a scratch,” she said. “And neither one of you is fine!”
“You just go with Kevin,” I shouted back. “See if my truck starts. If it does, then get out of here. Go to the end of my lane, hang a right, and just keep on going till you run out of road. When that happens, you’ll be at Bald Knob, where the big forest ranger tower is. You can’t miss it.”
“Wait a minute,” Kevin spoke up, startled. “That doesn’t make sense at all. We sure as hell aren’t leaving you guys behind!”
“You’re not,” I said. “Once we’ve taken care of ol’ Behemoth, we’ll follow along behind you in Carl’s truck. We’ll all meet up at Bald Knob.”
Kevin frowned. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Listen. Carl and me—we’re old. Even if we make it through this, we don’t have much time left in this world.” I glanced down at my leg, and then back up to them. “Somebody needs to kill this thing, or try to at least. There’s no sense in sacrificing all of us, if things don’t go well. Now I’m tired of arguing. There’s no time.”
Sarah touched my shoulder. “But—”
“Go,” I said, and then broke into another coughing fit.
“Don’t worry,” Carl said, and picked up the heater again. “We’ll be along soon as we kill it.”
“Is that going to work?” Kevin asked, skeptically.
Carl nodded. “I reckon so. At the very least, it’ll give him a nasty case of indigestion.”
“What if there are more of those creatures outside?” Sarah asked. “How will we get past them?”
“We’ll just have to take that chance,” Kevin said, jangling the keys.
“Now go,” I told them. “Please?”
Kevin tugged on her arm. Below us, Behemoth roared. I could hear the tentacle things sliding on the stairs, inching higher. The house began to shake again.
Sarah turned back to Carl and I. “You promise you’ll meet us at Bald Knob?”
I nodded. “We promise.”
“If we’re able,” Carl added.
They stumbled out the kitchen door, pausing to wade through the pile of worms on the carport. Sarah gave us one last backward glance and then they were gone.
I looked up at Carl. “You really think that heater will hurt it?”
“It’s worth a try. Bullets sure ain’t doing much.”
“Well, then nail that thing and drag me the hell out of here.”
He nodded grimly and stepped up to the edge of the stairway. “Take a deep breath, you big ugly bastard, cause the next one is gonna burn!”
Behemoth hissed in response.
“Don’t miss,” I coughed.
“You ever known me to miss?”
“Plenty of times.”
He snickered, and then we both laughed. It hurt me to do so, but there was no helping it.
“You’re a good man, Teddy Garnett.”
“You too, Carl Seaton. You too.”
“Bombs away!” Carl turned back to the stairs, raised the kerosene heater up to chest level, and then flung it down the stairs, just as another tremor shook the house. He lost his balance and grabbed for the door frame, but the oven mitts on his hands slipped off the wood. Carl teetered on the edge, and then, with a quick, startled yelp, he was gone.
It happened that quickly.
One moment he was there. The next he was gone, tumbling down after the kerosene heater.
He didn’t even scream.
“Carl? Carl!”
I scrambled to the edge of the stairs, ignoring the pain in my body. There was no sign of the heater. Or Carl. And Behemoth’s mouth was closed, swallowing. Its entire body quivered.
Carl was gone. My best friend in the whole world—my only friend left in the world—was gone. He hadn’t died at home in his bed, surrounded by loved ones and friends, or peacefully in his sleep, or even in a faraway veteran’s hospital. He’d died inside this creature’s stomach.