“That sounds like a good…” started Mike.
Morris cut him off with a deep, angry yell—“HEY!”
Mike ducked instinctively. He glanced at Morris and saw that he was reaching back beneath his light coat and under his arm as he lowered his body into a slight crouch. Mike turned to his right, trying to get himself on the other side of the truck as quickly as possible. He only made it a half-step.
Out of the darkness, a slicing noise whipped through the air. Mike only heard it for an instant.
When the sound cut through the air, Morris’s eyes were locked on a dark shape in the vacant lot, near a waist-high wire fence. He thought he was looking at a bush, but then yelled when the edges of the shape suddenly moved in a very non-bush way. The movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention. He looked over just in time to see the top of Mike’s head disappear.
Morris took two giant strides back towards the truck and the downed man before he tucked into a tumbler’s roll to finish the distance to the pumps. He crouched low with his pistol drawn, pointed in the direction of the shadows. Morris tucked himself tighter behind the pumps before looking down to Mike. His first impression had been right—Mike’s head was sliced in half. Tracing the blood trail off to the left he discovered the resting place of the top half of Mike’s head. Just past that, a red and white diamond, about a twelve inches square, read “Flammable Liquid 3.”
Morris recognized the metal projectile—it had once marked the back of a tanker truck. Ducking even lower to see under the SUV, Morris caught a glimpse of the store windows. With his face pressed against the glass from the inside, Davey was tugging at his mom’s shirt with one hand while pointing with the other. Morris glanced up at the open driver’s door and wondered if Mike had pocketed the keys.
Squeezing between a metal column and the pump, Morris poked his head out enough to look towards the dark shape—it was gone. Instead, a rock flew at him, challenging his lightning-fast reflexes. He pulled his head back and avoided having his skull crushed, but caught a deep scrape from his temple around to the top of his ear. Blood welled up in the scrape instantly.
Keeping his body protected behind the pump, Morris snaked his hand across Mike’s body, checking pockets for keys. He didn’t find any, but couldn’t reach under the man to see if he had tucked them in a back pocket.
Another rock glanced off the metal pole at Morris’s back. Chips of stone exploded from the impact, peppering his exposed neck. He risked another quick peek around the left side of the pump and then leaned right, leading with his gun. When he spotted a dark shape over near the dumpster, he took quick aim and shot. The shape changed direction, fleeing farther into the dark. Morris was a good shot, and had a pretty good sense when he’d hit his target. This time he was almost certain.
Morris sprang back to the left and lunged for the open door of the truck. They keys were hanging from the ignition—pulled out just enough to silence the warning chime. He shoved them home and had the truck started and in reverse before the first rock hit the back window of the SUV. He kept the engine gunned as he reversed in the direction of the creature. The pump handle popped from the side of the vehicle and snapped back. When he had cleared the pumps, Morris dragged the gearshift down into drive, letting off the throttle just long enough for the transmission to engage, and then sent the truck lurching forward towards the low building.
He achieved just enough speed to lock the tires into a sideways skid, bringing the passenger door inline with the front door of the convenience store and resting the quarter panel of the SUV against one of the strong concrete-filled posts designed to protect the facade from runaway vehicles.
His side of the truck, the driver’s side, was at an oblique angle to his last-known position of the monster, but Morris still felt exposed as he watched Davey pushing his mother and sister towards the front door of the store.
A metallic thump from the side of the truck drew Morris’s attention back to his mirror. The door behind him had been pierced by another rectangle of metal. This projectile had begun the day as a license place.
The Hunter family piled in through the rear door of the truck, with Davey bringing up the rear. Another rock glanced off the truck, dinging the rear window. It was followed by a more direct hit to the driver’s window, which sent a spidering crack across it, next to Morris’s elbow. Morris used his mirror and saw the dark mass taking shape as it lunged towards the vehicle, coming in for the kill.
The rear door had just closed behind Davey when Morris threw his elbow at the window at his side.
“Go! Go!” ordered Melanie, but Morris bashed again. This time his arm blew out the window, sending glass down to the parking lot. The clerk from the convenience store had reached the front doors, phone in his hand at his side, when Morris fired his next shots. The clerk ducked back and away. He had called the police when the first shot rang out, but only found the sense to hide behind the counter with this latest volley.
After busting out his window, Morris spun and leaned out of his window. He brought his gun level with the approaching beast.
Morris got off six shots before the hulk crashed to its knees. Its enormous fingers gripped the rear bumper of the SUV. Morris finally obeyed Melanie’s order, pulling his body back inside the truck and accelerating away from the front of the store. The monster held on to the bumper for several seconds before the friction of the pavement quelled its deadly grip.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” demanded Melanie, raising her voice over the rushing wind coming through Morris’s broken window.
“Mom,” asked Davey, “what are you talking about? He just saved us.”
Under Morris’s control, the SUV jumped and danced around corners, leaving the convenience store far in the distance before too long. They headed south on the local road instead of the highway.
“Let us out!” Melanie yelled. She sounded much more in control this time, but still close to hysteria.
“The giant’s only injured,” Morris turned to make himself heard. “You’re still in danger.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Melanie said, sighing. “What next?”
“Mom, that thing killed Mike,” Davey explained, trying to make her understand the situation.
“How do we know he didn’t kill him,” she waved at Morris. “This whole thing is just insane.”
“You saw it,” said Davey. “Remember?”
“It’s no use,” said Susan, unexpectedly taking Davey’s side. “When she gets like this she can’t be reasoned with.”
“What are you talking about?” Melanie turned on her daughter. She looked between her daughter’s patience and her son’s imploring stare and flopped back against the seat. “Everyone’s gone crazy,” she said. “Might as well join the crowd.”
In the front seat, Morris executed a series of tight turns down close side-streets to get them back on track. He waited until he found a straight stretch of road to really pour on the speed and pull out his cell phone.
“Hey,” he said after holding the phone to his ear for a few seconds. “We’re coming in hot. Twenty-five minutes and he’ll be right on our tail.” Morris listened for a bit before hanging up. “They’re ready for us,” he announced to the back seat. He wiped his own blood from the phone onto his shirt before putting it away. The car dinged and the check engine light came on.
“Great,” said Melanie. Her arms were crossed.
“Probably just because the gas cap,” said Morris. “Davey?” Morris addressed the boy.