The cold water prickled his skin as he splashed into the river, its frigid embrace a welcome respite. He kicked back to the surface from the blackened depths. Gasping, Jack prepared himself to be torn apart by approaching reptilian nightmares.
To his surprise, the remaining creatures stayed on the riverbank, apparently reluctant to enter the water. They snarled and hissed at him, their joints popping as they paced up and down. He welcomed the reprieve. Struggling to keep afloat, he removed his hiking pack and cradled it in his arms. Turning over, he let the current drag him away.
He stared up at the stars. His stars, the pinpricks of light.
Years of wondering what hellish creatures dwelled out in the infinite reaches of space, and Jack had never imagined he would find them on Earth.
I never knew their names…
I didn’t save the boy…
I’m sorry Dee… sorry… I tried… I’ll try… I’ll try…
CHAPTER TWO
Dee peered out through the ventilation grating. The late afternoon sunlight dappled the lawn as it shone through the beech trees bordering her back yard. She held her breath. Several of the creatures moved around her yard, sniffing at the air. She stepped backward a couple of feet, deeper into the shadows, fearful they would see her. The creatures took their time, sniffing, moving, pausing, sniffing. As they moved, popping sounds emanated from their bodies. She could see their veins through their translucent dark skin. Willing them to move on, she watched, terrified. Finally, they hopped on top of the fence and, shrieking, bounded off.
Letting out a breath, Dee nearly choked on the sewage stench as she inhaled again. She had hidden down here in the basement for three days now. It was a dumb bit of luck that had led her to discover that the creatures used their heightened sense of smell to find new victims. At first she had just barricaded the doors and windows with furniture, but by the second night the creatures had started to come past more frequently and, peering out the curtains, she had seen them hunting in packs.
On the third day, she had decided to hide down in the basement and, as she was transporting food down, she had tripped on a step, spilling spices everywhere. As she got more supplies out of the pantry, she’d heard some of the creatures howling. They’d sounded really close. Dee had pulled the pantry door closed. One of the creatures had come right up to the back door. Dee had heard it sneeze several times, and then it had scampered away. After that, she had purposely ruptured the sewage line to disguise her presence.
Dee took stock of her situation. She had about a week's worth of food, maybe ten days of water, and one weapon. Thank God Jack bought me that Katana in Japan that I’d been obsessing about. But will it be of any use against these nightmares? And no Jack.
She tried to remain calm, but her worry for her husband of three years was taking its toll. Not for the first time, she pondered whether to head on to the cabin without him or not. She remembered their first year together.
Nights spent in, cuddling on the couch, sharing their favourite movies and TV shows.
Talking late into the night about anything and everything.
Weekends spent in the wilderness exploring, sharing a love of nature. Learning, teaching each other.
Teaching what it meant to care for someone deeply. Learning tolerance of others and their situations.
Dee had thought it too late, too much of a Princess fantasy to find that “one”, but she had.
She had fought her demons, her insecurities, every day with Jack. Her anxiety got the better of her some days, causing her to stay inside, hiding from the world. Cocooning herself away.
One night, after a few drinks, Dee had opened up to Jack, poured her heart out. She had told him about all her demons. Jack had cried, pouring out his own heart and releasing his own deeply hidden demons.
That was that golden moment, that moment told in all the fairy tales.
She knew that was it. Jack was “the One.”
A popping sound caused Dee to look back out into the yard. One of the creatures was back, a straggler, maybe? It was staring straight into her neighbour's house, sniffing the air. The sound of its sucker mouth smacking making her shiver.
She prayed that her elderly neighbour Faye was hidden. In her ninety’s, she never ceased to amaze Dee with her virility by still playing tennis, and doing her garden.
The virus had taken over so fast, and with so much fury, that no one had had a chance. Before the phones had died, Dee had called Faye, telling her to hide with her in the basement to wait for Jack. Faye had refused, saying that her family were on their way. But after five days, nothing. No sign of anyone.
The creature was still there, sniffing the air, when it suddenly burst over the fence with incredible speed, shrieking. Dee heard the crash of glass breaking. Her heart sank.
Against her better judgement, she grabbed the only weapon she had — the Katana — and dashed outside. She leapt over the short boundary fence.
Dee could see the smashed window. A horrifying noise came from inside the house. Peering in, she looked at a horror film. The creature stood over Faye’s torn body, one of her arms grasped in its claws. Blood and gore dripping from its strange sucker mouth, it let out another shriek. More shrieks answered from close by, maybe a few houses down.
With blinding speed, the creature leapt at Dee.
Stumbling backwards, she brought the Katana up as she fell. The speed of the creature went against it as the tip of the sword slid in underneath its chin and up into its brain, killing it. Black, foul-smelling sludge coated Dee’s arm and neck.
Gasping, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest, she gagged and pushed the nightmare off her. Hearing the shrieks again, but much closer, she listened intently. Screams, human screams.
Jumping up, she ran hard for her house. As she cleared the fence, she saw a group of people running up the street.
Dee gasped. People? I haven’t seen anyone for a couple of days!
Waving to them, she yelled, “Hey! In here!”
The group turned toward the sound of her voice as one, much like a school of fish being chased by dolphins.
Dee ran to her basement door and swung it open. Getting a better look at the group, Dee made out four men and a couple of women.
“Hurry! C’mon!” Dee gestured urgently for them to get inside.
The shrieking sounded really close as she slammed the door behind them, bolting it.
“Quickly, in the back,” Dee instructed. She reached into a plastic container and splashed the foul-smelling liquid over the door and floor.
Going through to the back to join the others, she huddled down with them in the dim light. And prayed for the monsters to move on.
Dee could hear them scurrying around in the yard, their joints popping. They scratched at the door, sniffing. Dee hoped that her seaweed garden solution did the trick again, its pungent stench intended to confuse the creatures, tricking them into thinking there was nothing to devour here. For the second time that day, the creatures moved on, and she breathed a sigh of relief.