13,October–Night
Michael
Samuels parked his ambulance in the empty lot next to the 24-hour
drive-through. The neon sign on the post above flashed back and
forth between Liquor and Lottery. He closed his eyes and let the
world alternate black and red.
A
few days ago, the most interesting moments of his life wouldn't have
been out of place in any average working man's. A bad day at work
was when a pickup was pushing 500 pounds, were out of their mind on
drugs, or both on a lucky day.
Now,
he felt like he had taken a wrong turn. He found his mind running
over countless miles of road, trying to think if he'd made a
deviation he'd never made before. Maybe he altered his morning
routine. Perhaps one day he put on deodorant before he brushed his
teeth, and the alteration dropped him into another world where
everything was the same, but wrong.
His
child was missing. It had been several days, and the chance of
finding him was plummeting. His ex-wife only talked to him enough to
let him know he shared as much blame as she.
Then,
the attack last night. The thing he saw. He could only think of it
as a “thing.” It bore no resemblance to any living creature he'd
ever seen. If he hadn't been parked out there after a transport last
night, he knew he never would have believed the tales coming out of
the place, but he'd seen for himself.
Aaron
Russell had drawn on it first. He was a 4-year veteran of the
Sheriff's department, and had come in to take a report on a
disorderly who had checked himself in earlier. Michael knew Aaron
going back years. Their jobs crossed paths plenty of days. They
both hoped they'd never need the other's service, but were equally
glad to know they were only a call away.
During
the chaos, Aaron got his gun out, but he hesitated. He was probably
still trying to make sense of the animalistic shape in front of him
when its claws tore into him. Two sets of claws went into his torso,
a set of powerful jaws went around his throat, and the man was in
three pieces before he had a chance to gasp.
The
thing had turned to lope after someone else, and Michael had run over
to his dead friend instinctively. There was no need to take a pulse,
of course, and by then the thing was turning around. Michael took
Aaron's service revolver from the ground. The only thing he knew
about this creature was that hesitation meant death. He fired off a
single round one-handed, not even taking the time for a firing
stance. The beast took the bullet squarely in the left temple, did a
quick 180 degree pirouette, then plopped down on its chin.
Before
Michael could cock the gun for a second shot, the beast was suddenly
obscured by people fleeing the mental facility. By the time the
crowd was passed, he had only a moment to glimpse it pulling itself
over the cliff's edge.
Then,
of course, the real shock. Michael doubted there would be many times
when a rampaging beast would play second fiddle in the surprise
department. He had seen the boy for the barest of seconds, and it
was dark, but his size, the shape of his hair silhouetted in the
night, everythigng about him was so similar to William. What was any
young boy doing running around a psychiatric facility in the middle
of the night? He was out of place, if nothing else.
Michael
had been pulled away from the boy's trail bya co-worker and his sense
of duty. Many people were hurt, and the idea that it could be
William-- really be William,
seemed impossible. He took the time to attend to the wounded until
more help could arrive, then he left to follow the child's
path.
He never found the boy, even though there was only one main road in
and out of that area, and he thoroughly combed every side street.
Whoever it was didn't want to be found.
And
Michael still had the gun. He knew there were other parts of Aaron
they never found. Eventually they would stop looking for it. It
stayed in his glove box for now. He was confident that he might
still need it, because he knew enough about dead bodies to know that
they didn't drag themselves away.
No comments:
Post a Comment