Before he could turn fully, the other creature careened into him, smashing him against the bridge railing. Pain streaked up his spine as his breath fled from his lungs.
The creature’s sucker mouth snapped at him, its claws trying to grasp him. Jack swung his arms, fists clenched as he thumped a few blows against the beast. Kicking out, he fought with everything he had.
Jack managed to get the chain up under the monster’s chin to hold off its snapping jaws, but the terrible stench of rotten fruit emanating from its mouth made him gag. One of its claws gouged deep into his thigh muscle. Jack let out a scream. He delved down deep inside himself and found an inner strength he never knew he had. He wrapped the chain around the creature’s neck. Reaching behind him, he coiled it around the railing, then secured the hook over it. The creature dug its claws deeper into his thigh, its sucker mouth smacking at him as it strained to get at his face. With a last grunt of frustration, he tumbled over the railing, clasping the snapping creature in his arms. The chain went taut and, with his added weight, the creature’s head ripped off, covering him in black gunk. Jack plunged towards the river, releasing the creature’s body on the way down.
The cold water prickled his skin as he splashed into the water, 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 were still on the riverbank, apparently reluctant to enter the water. They snarled and hissed at him, 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’m sorry, Dee… sorry… I tried…
— 4 —
Dee stared down at her smartphone, hoping for a signal. She paced the room, desperate to reach Jack again. But no matter where she held the phone, the bars remained empty. Sighing, she sat back down on the bed and pulled back the curtain. They lived in a two-storeyed house, with the garage and basement below. She was plagued by indecision, whether to hide down there or barricade herself upstairs. She got up again and walked around the room, her eyes flicking over their photos. Many were of them on various hikes around New Zealand. Others were of their travels around the world. She paused at the one of her, framed by a cascading waterfall. That was her favourite photo. It had been taken the day she met Jack.
“Dee, stop pacing. You’re making me nervous.”
She stopped and smiled faintly at Rachel, an old friend from school. They had recently reconnected. “Any word from Dion?”
“Nothing. I tried ringing the base too. No answer.”
“I don’t like it, Rach. You should come with us to the cabin. There’s plenty of room.”
“Thanks, Dee, but I can’t. Dion said to wait at my parents’. He’ll come to me.”
“What was the last you heard?”
“All he said was that he was off to rescue some American official trapped on Tongariro.”
“American?”
“Yup.”
Dee mulled it over. Since media reports had told everyone to stay inside and lock their doors and that the army would come through their area, they had heard nothing. Not a peep.
Dee and Rachel sat in silence for another ten minutes. Dee listened to sounds outside, or lack of sound. An eerie silence had descended over the city. She and Jack lived on a busy street. It was all they could afford at the time, but she loved this house. Jack always commented that it had good bones. He had spent hours rewiring it to his standard, often coming home from his job as an electrician to strap on his work belt and crawl into the hot ceiling cavity. Dee would hear him muttering to himself about the bad workmanship done by others. She glanced up at the ceiling and wished he was up there now, muttering, not fifty kilometres away in the bush.
“I think I’ll go, Dee,” Rachel said, standing up and smoothing the creases in her jeans.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“At least let me drive you.”
“Okay. That would be nice.” Rachel flicked her eyes outside. “Do you think those things are here?”
“All we saw was that blurry video someone took in Auckland. Let’s make it quick. Get home and lock your doors.”
Rachel smiled and grabbed her handbag. She grasped Dee’s hand. “What about that policeman they found?”
“Who knows,” Dee said. “I agree, though. It looked bad.”
Rachel nodded and followed Dee outside.
The sun was sinking lower over the hills to the east as Dee edged her car out onto the normally busy road and turned left. As she drove down the road, she couldn’t get over the lack of traffic. The lack of everything. It was if everyone had vanished. In a weird way, it reminded her of being in London in 1997. She was there on a working holiday when Princess Diana was killed in that car crash. The day of the funeral was eerie. London, one of the busiest cities in the world, became a ghost town. Dee and a friend had biked through the streets, a creepy feeling snapping at them. Dee glanced left and made the next turn. It felt exactly like that now. Hamilton, where she and Jack lived, was a tiny city, but on any other April day there was hustle and bustle as people went about their routines.
She sighed. “This is weird,” she said, shaking her head. “Do your parents have any guns?”
“A few. Why?” Rachel said.
“I’ve got a strange feeling that we’re going to need them.”
“Huh,” Rachel murmured.
Dee let the conversation go and drove on through the empty streets. Everywhere she looked, she saw cars parked on the road. Bikes abandoned. She even saw a golf cart parked outside someone’s front door. Rachel’s parents lived a few kilometres away, but thankfully not across the river. As she turned into Rachel’s street, she slammed on the brakes. Standing in the street, his body rigid, was an old man in a dressing gown.
Dee looked at Rachel and shifted the car into neutral. “I’ll go around.”
“Wait,” Rachel said, putting a hand on the dashboard.
The old man, now ten metres away, slowly turned around and stared at them. Blood was seeping out of his eyes and Dee could see dark patches all over his exposed skin.
“Eddie?” Rachel said. She made to leave the car but Dee grabbed her hand. “It’s okay, Dee. He’s my folks’ neighbour.”
Dee put her hand on the door handle. Something didn’t feel right. Maybe Rachel was correct. Maybe the rumours about creatures attacking people were real. Maybe that shaky video was something real. Maybe. But she couldn’t be sure.
Surely, with everyone having a camera at their disposal, they would have footage by now?
Dee chuckled to herself, remembering something Jack had said about UFOs.
You would think, with our technology, someone, somewhere would have decent footage.
She watched Rachel through the windscreen, that creeping feeling inching up her spine. Eddie turned at the sound of Rachel approaching and let out a weird shrieking sound. His eyes locked on her and he lunged, bringing her down.
Dee gasped and bolted out of the car. Rachel was struggling to hold off the old man. He had her pinned down with his knees and was trying to bite her throat.