Authors: P R Mason
Zen exited and circled to the back where he opened the van’s double doors. He pulled up a panel in the floorboard to reveal a cache.
“I brought weapons.”
The Dorcha, according to Quinn, had made their way to the Yamacraw neighborhood, an area of low-income town homes not too far from the port.
Thunder rumbled in the distance as Zen parked his van near the area square. At 1:00 a.m., with its trees and center sculpture, the square reflected perfect tranquility.
We piled out of the van and Zen pushed a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol into my hands.
“Do you know how to use this?” he asked.
“I’ve been to the firing range a few times with my father.”
“Just flip this and point it at what you want to hit and fire.” He showed me the safety.
“I think I should go with Kizzy,” Petra exclaimed.
Bless her. Even though clearly petrified, she was still concerned about me.
“No,” I said. “We already said you’re going to help Zen. You, Senji and Chase.”
“Kizzy shall have me.” Rom took another semi-automatic from the van’s cache. “My experience with firearms is extensive.”
“You both know the plan?” Zen asked.
We nodded.
“Be careful.” Petra rushed up to me and wrapped me in a hug. “I can’t lose my best friend.”
“I don’t want you to lose your best friend either. Believe me,” I drawled, pulling away.
Billy spoke into his cell phone then motioned to Rom and me.
“This way,” Billy said.
We followed him.
“Hurry. They’re on the move again.”
At his words we broke into a run. I’d never fired a gun except in perfect calm. Would I be able to hit anything after a full tilt dash?
As we rounded a corner, I saw Quinn about twenty feet ahead, pacing. When Billy reached him, the two of them pointed to us and then waved us forward as they jogged to a nearby car and got in.
Rom pulled me to a halt as he stared into the distance. Turning my gaze in the same direction, I spotted the monsters approaching a group of four young men loitering near a street corner under a light post. The men evidently weren’t getting a good look at the monsters because one of them started talking smack to them.
The ogre shuffled closer, but the ghoul lunged and caught the smallest guy by the neck, pulled him closer and chomped into his shoulder. The man screamed and its shrillness pierced the air. The other three men stumbled backward before sprinting off.
The monsters were still out of my range. I needed to get a lot closer in order to have a hope of hitting either of them with a shot. Not hitting the victim was a priority.
The ogre reached the ghoul and his captive. The hairy lunk seized the man's other arm and prepared to chomp down.
Rom stopped beside me and fired his gun twice, striking the upper back and shoulder of the ogre. The thing twisted to one side as a third round hit him in the arm. The ogre released the victim, and then shifted around. His bulging eyes took us in and his fleshy lips curled back. Under the streetlight's illumination I saw him snarl, revealing enormous rotting teeth.
As Rom and I continued forward, the ghoul spun around still clutching his victim and stared at us, his yellow eyes furious. Blood dripped from his lips and claws. He scanned me and grinned.
Without stopping I fired and hit the tree beside the ghoul, sending bark flying.
With any luck a splinter would impale him
, I thought.
Beside me, Rom's gun blazed with one, two, three, four, shots, The bullets struck the ghoul center body mass and he dropped his hold on the young man as he went down. The victim slumped to the ground apparently unconscious. Not so the ghoul. He rose almost immediately, seeming uninjured apart from the black blood oozing from his wounds.
The ghoul spoke to the ogre. What he said we couldn’t hear. After their brief conversation, the ghoul started toward us with the ogre following. The ghoul moved quickly and that ogre was much faster than I’d expected. I skidded to a halt.
“They’re coming too fast,” I said as Rom reached me. “Let’s get out of here.”
Rom nodded and we pivoted. Veering to the right, we took off in the direction of the square through a break between two sections of the town homes. As we ran, I could almost feel the monsters' stinking breath on my neck. Peeking over my shoulder I saw them gaining on us. Unexpectedly, the ghoul was sticking with the slower ogre. Perhaps the gunshots had slowed him down. Perhaps the two were friends and the ghoul didn't want to leave the ogre. Perhaps I shouldn't look a gift ghoul in the bloody mouth.
Like the ghoul with the ogre, Rom kept abreast of me.
“Go,” I yelled to Rom panting with breathlessness. “Go faster. You don’t need to wait for me.”
He ignored me.
I tripped over what felt like a tree root growing close to the surface of the ground. Down I went, landing hard on my knees and palms. Rom grabbed the back of my t-shirt and pulled, bringing me to my feet. With him dragging me along, we continued to move.
“The gun,” I cried. “I dropped it when I fell.”
“Abandon it,” Rom said. “They gain ground.”
When I glanced back I saw the truth of his comment. The monsters had closed the most of the distance, but with my fall even the ogre should have caught up by now. Were the monsters deliberately toying with us?
I tried to speed up, but my legs wouldn’t seem to obey me. Finally, we got within sight of the square. Zen’s van was still parked and running at the curb of the adjacent street. But I didn’t see him or any of my friends.
Just when I didn’t think I could run any further, I reached the center statue and stopped to lean against the tiled half wall encircling it. Not enough breath would drag into my chest to allow words. Rom stopped beside me and pointed his gun at the advancing monsters.
A crack of thunder boomed over our heads.
When he realized we had stopped, the ghoul slowed to a saunter, a slight smile on his still bloody lips. Lightning illuminated the ogre as he lurched to a stop and turned his bulgy eyes to the ghoul. His glassy-eyed stare returned to us. He ambled forward again. Closer they came, until the ghoul’s steps brought him underneath the enormous live oak tree on the north side of the square. My ability to breathe had returned but I held it waiting for the ogre to pass under the tree too.
Rom raised his arm and fired, striking the ground in front of the ghoul. The yellow-eyed monster stopped in his tracks. The ogre lurched forward and bumped into the back of the ghoul.
A movement behind the tree caught my eye and I saw Zen struggling to hold a rope running up the tree trunk. The rope connected to four metal off-shooting rods that held a Kevlar metal mesh netting in place like a canopy. At the bottom edges of four corners of the net hung fifty-pound weights.
Zen released the rope and the net fell, blanketing the monsters, knocking them to their stomachs and trapping them. Although the ogre and ghoul immediately began to struggle, the mesh held them both down.
Zen smiled and made a thumbs-up sign.
“You will be dead when we get to you,” the enraged ghoul shouted as the ogre incoherently keened and screeched.
Petra, Chase and Senji clambered out of the van each holding long metal rods with barbed tips: electrified cattle prods. They crossed to Zen and Senji handed him a prod. Zen unclipped one of the weights, then a second.
“Up,” he ordered zapping the ogre with the prod.
The ogre shrieked and cringed away from the electric tip and the smell of rotting burnt meat wafted up my nostrils. The monsters staggered to their feet and then began to trudge forward, the ogre limping.
Rom and I looked on as the monsters were herded to the van and into the cargo area where Zen had set up a cage. Once the monsters were inside, Zen snapped a heavy padlock in place on the cage door securing them.
“Is that cage going to hold?” I asked.
“Let’s hope so,” Zen said. “This is the first time I’ve used it.”
“Fantastic.” I turned to Petra. “You guys did a great job. Now take Chase and Senji home.”
Petra began shaking her head before I even finished the sentence.
“We’re not missing the rest of the excitement.”
“These things are dangerous and it’s going to get dodgy trying to get them to the tunnel.”
“Then you’ll need us.”
I ground my teeth in frustration. “Please Petra, I don’t want—"
“No more arguments. We’re coming.” Petra stomped to her car where Senji and Chase waited.
“You have friends of worth,” Rom said as we got into the passenger side of the van.
“Or friends who aren’t too bright.” I scooted to the edge of the seat and Rom crammed in next to me before closing us in.
Zen was on the phone calling an ambulance for the victim. He snapped his phone shut and put the van in gear.
The ogre screamed and shook the metal sides of the cage.
“Shut up back there.” Zen picked up a prod from between the seats and handed it to me. “If they struggle any more, zap em.”
A clap of thunder rumbled so loud it shook the van.
Zen powered the engine. Without further warning, rain poured down in a blinding shower. Zen flicked on his windshield wipers turning them to fast mode.
The ride to the old hospital was the longest of my life. I imagined all sorts of possible scenarios from the police stopping us for a traffic violation to the monsters breaking free and tearing us apart. But the monsters, after that initial scream, remained curiously quiet, except for the murmurings of the ghoul in an incomprehensible language.
Reaching our destination, Zen rammed the gate, knocking it open and pulled into the graveled parking area before driving onto the lawn. He brought the van to a stop along side the door I'd found yesterday leading directly to the basement. Petra, Senji and Chase came running from around the block and met us by the door. Petra held a newspaper over her head. Chase and Senji allowed themselves to be soaked just as I did.
Breathing in a deep breath, I tried to calm my racing heart.
“This is it,” I said.
Rom entered the basement first before Zen unlocked the cage and opened its door. I held a prod, but didn’t feel safe. Rom still had his gun, however. There was some comfort in that.
After wrangling the monsters out of the van, we proceeded quickly down the steps. Once inside we made our way to the grate. Flashlights held by Rom, Zen and Chase illuminated the passageway before us.
I followed Petra who was also armed with a prod.
“Wow! This is a lot easier than I thought it would be,” she said.
“Yeah, easy.” Maybe too easy.
Even climbing down the ladder and into the tunnel caused no complications. The biggest problem was the water—due to the heavy rain—seeping into the tunnel and soaking the ground under our feet.
We reached the doorway to the morgue before I had much time to think. Billy and Quinn waited for us just outside where the brick wall used to be. They both fidgeted as if on crack but I suspected it was the sight of the monsters that freaked them out.