Should Have Killed The Kid (23 page)

Dave's mind flooded with images of the damage he'd seen the creatures inflict. Over and over, a loop of minced and shredded bodies. Gristly sprays of meat-filled blood...

He tore his eyes away and faced forward again as the car swerved worse then ever.

'MOTHERFUCKER!' Sally roared as she tried to keep it under control. Dave didn't like how panicked her voice sounded. It didn't exactly fill him with confidence.

A sharp double bend loomed ahead and even before Dave heard the tyre explode like a gun-shot, he knew they weren't going to make it. It was a heavy certainty lurking deep down in his guts. The bang of the tyre going just confirmed it.

The car slewed alarmingly to the right despite Sally's best efforts to bring it back under control.

Should I grab the wheel?
Dave wondered but in the second of hesitation it took to contemplate the move, it was too late.

Sally lost it completely and the car rocketed into the median between the split lanes. The grassy slope acted as a ramp. Even with the blown tyre they hit it at well above a hundred.

An instant later they were airborne.

I'm going to die.
The thought formed crystal clear as the car turned in midair. With a loud thump the kid crashed into the roof.

Dave squeezed his eyes shut again and waited for impact. A small part inside even breathed a sigh of relief that he'd no longer have to face up to the guilt of the part he'd played in the destruction of everything. Or make the horrendous decision that loomed ahead of him.

The rest of him screamed for all he was worth.

Screamed and screamed.

Even once it dawned on him that they'd been airborne for far too long. That they should've hit the ground by now. Even then he kept screaming, his eyes squeezed shut.

'WHAT THE FUCK!' the soldier's hysterical voice broke through and Dave couldn't stop the reflex that forced his eyes open again.

'WHAT THE FUCK!' Sally bellowed again. When he opened his eyes Dave had to second the sentiment.

They were upside down, hanging in their seats, only held in place by their seat belts. Lodged in mid air.

Oddly enough, that wasn't the strangest part.

As Dave groaned and blinked out the windshield, he had a brief second to fully take in the sight before everything disappeared in a blinding white flash of light.

What the fuck?
he thought as he squeezed his eyes shut against the glare.

* * *

... The file Jess handed his uncle was thin compared to the others they'd already leafed through. Its cover crinkled with age – though those creases did indicate it had been well thumbed at some point.

Not for many, many years though, judging by the bed of dust and muck it had sat in.

Even though he'd done his best to avoid too much contact, Jess still came away smeared with grime. Thankfully, John hadn't just dismissed this file out of hand. As Jess returned to his perch and set about dusting himself off, the client sat and nodded slowly while he leafed through the pages.

He'd already made it a minute without a "no" exiting his lips. George and Dean could barely contain their excitement at that. They fidgeted in place and shared long looks. Jess could tell they were just biting back the urge to interject.

'Interesting, interesting,' John finally mumbled. He leant back in his chair and assumed his best thinker position.

'You like?' George could barely keep the glee out of his voice. 'Cause I can tell you, with this property you're looking at a pretty sweet deal. I mean it's a little rough around the edges but don't let that fool you, underneath it is solid. Renovator's delight probably a good way to describe it – though I wouldn't even go that bad. Bit of TLC and it'll be pretty flash. Potential is what this has is spades. Potential.'

'It's not bad...' John kept his tone neutral. 'I, of course, have a few questions.'

'Of course, of course,' Dean cut in, earning himself a sharp look that took just a little too long to transform into a smile for Jess's tastes.

'This place is as far out as you can go?'

'That would be an understatement. We're talking way past the fringes here. I mean, I've only seen one or two properties further out than this in my whole career. It's certainly the farthest you'll find on the market at the moment. Part of the reason it's been so hard to shift. Fuck, last firm that had it nearly gave it away as a sweetener when we put in a bid on...' Dean trailed off, looking a little embarrassed as George made a quick cut throat gesture at him. Jess saw the little light globe go off in his uncle's head that telling the client how cheaply they'd acquired the property perhaps wasn't the way to bump up rental prices.

'And you mentioned some trouble with the current tenants...'

George took over while Jess's uncle sniffed and studied the rings on his fingers.

'Yeah. Nothing too bad, simple breach of agreement but they're kicking up a bit of fuss. Not leaving voluntarily. Nothing to bad. Kind of speaks to the distance away this place is. A few half-hearted efforts have been made over the years but not really a concerted effort. For a man of your... condition, I don't imagine it'll be much of an issue.'

'So there's no issues with redevelopment? You guys know how I enjoy a free rein.' John's smile spread sickeningly wide.

'John, you know us better than that. Body corporate is a dirty word. You keep it off the radar – and of course pay appropriately – and what we don't know won't hurt us yeah?'

John nodded away, leaning forward to leaf through the pages of the file once more.

'So...' he said after, as far as Jess could tell, randomly turning pages for a few moments. 'What sort of price are we talking here, gentlemen?'

Both George and his uncle shared identical shark toothed grins...

* * *

THE CLAWS IN THE SHADOWS

20.

An old lady?
Dave thought in disbelief, unable to confirm what he'd seen. But that was what replayed in his mind while he hung upside down in mid air.

White hair locked into a tight bun, wrinkly skin beneath coke bottle glasses that engulfed most of her frowning face. Wearing a voluminous, floral-print dress, topped by a red knitted cardigan, her squat, pudgy frame had made an incongruous image standing in the opposite lane of the split highway, leaning heavily on a cane with one hand held out in front of her, like she'd been...

Like she'd been holding the car up with just the gesture...

Dave knew the idea sounded ridiculous but when he managed to blink away the mess of swirling colours his vision had become, he saw he hadn’t been mistaken.

It can’t be,
he shut his eyes and reopened them; shook his head to rid himself of the last of the black dots.
Surely not–

Dave squealed as the car abruptly crunched to the ground, jostling him and forcing a shrill shriek from the kid in the back – whether of pain or fright, Dave didn't know. Next to him, the soldier hissed a ragged stream of expletives that he had no trouble interpreting.

'Motherfucking, cunt of a fuck, shit, piss...'

What the fuck–

Tapping started up, right beside his head, cutting into his reeling thoughts.

He looked across to see the old lady’s scrunched face peering at him through the side window while she tapped on the window with the top of her cane. Even with her in such close proximity he couldn't believe she was actually there. He continued to stare wide eyed.

‘What the fuck are you waiting for?’ the old lady roared. Spittle splattered the pane as her voice easily carried through the cracked window. ‘Those fucking things ain’t going to be gone for long.’

Her words only confused him more. The coarse language not what he expected to come from a pensioner.

For a second he faced the possibility that he was just going around the bend.

‘GET FUCKING MOVING!’ the old lady roared with so much power that her false teeth half slipped from her mouth. She managed to catch them at the last second though and shoved them back in as she straightened and hobbled away.

After a hefty shove, Dave managed to get his door to scrape across the tarmac enough for him to slither free, still winded after he'd released the seatbelt and been unceremoniously dumped onto the upside down roof.

Coursing adrenaline rendered his legs jelly. Dave swayed in place when he stood, fighting for balance. He spun in a slow, awkward circle to scan the trees on both sides of the highway while inside the car Sally screamed, ‘Motherfucker!’ over and over. As far as he could tell they were free of the shadows but he found it difficult to trust his dancing vision.

The boy emerged from the car, howling at the top of his lungs. Dave almost keeled over in fright as his screams eclipsed even Sally’s abuse. He soon saw why. The kid held his hand up in front and the jagged shard of glass that speared his palm was a little difficult to miss. Dave didn't linger to see if it went all the way through. Judging by the welling red in the kid's cupped hand it had bitten pretty deep but at least he could see the rest of the boy was intact. The soldier on the other hand was another matter. The way she screamed and roared did not sound good. He hobbled around to her side of the car and winced at the blood splatters on the window.

He fully expected her to emerge in a tangled mess of intestines and minced flesh once he levered the door open but instead she wormed free, kicking and flailing, still roaring in pain.

'Motherfucker, motherfucker, motherfucker.' Repeating it like a mantra though she didn't look too bad to Dave...

At least until he reached down to help her and his arm touched the sodden mess wrapped around her shoulder that had previously been his bed sheet. He recoiled and his breath hitched in his throat. He looked down to see that it was bright red; soaked through with blood.

'MOTHERFUCKER!'

Dave helped her up and they hobbled back across to the boy who still screamed at his injured palm. He wondered whether his eyes looked like Sally's did: shell-shocked as she darted glances all around, leaning heavily on Dave, the weight almost too much for his jelly legs to bear.

'Who the fuck are you!?' Sally finally managed to break her mantra and hissed at the old lady through gritted teeth.

'Doesn't matter who the fuck I am. Just fucking come with me, would you. Time and fucking place, for fuck's sake,' the old lady barked and started hobbling away down the median toward a small red car parked on the opposite side of the freeway. The strident reply left the soldier's mouth hanging open. Dave knew how she felt. He knew it was probably a stereotype but he really wasn't used to elderly people who swore as much as this newcomer seemed to.

He looked around again but the shadows still seemed absent. Dave somehow suspected that wouldn't last.

'C'mon,' he urged and tried to steer the soldier in the old lady's footsteps but even in her weakened condition, Sally easily balked the manoeuvre.

'Who the fuck is she?' Sally hissed though her eyes never stopped scanning the tree line.

'Um, um.' Dave wondered what'd be the best way to tell her he had no idea.

'Who the fuck–'

'The light!' Sudden inspiration saved Dave. 'You saw it, yeah. When we were in the car. Just like what Monty did in the stairs remember?' Sally kept staring around, eyes bugged from her sockets. 'It's the one Monty said was coming.' Sally still gave no indication she had heard. 'His colleague...' Dave finished weakly and set off again. Whether it was his argument that convinced her or not, thankfully Sally allowed herself to be dragged along.

'C'mon,' he called to the boy who still howled away. 'C'mon, C'MON!' he bellowed

For a second he thought the kid just wasn't going to listen but eventually the boy got moving. Though only managing a wonky shuffle with his hand still held up in front of his face, the kid easily overtook Dave and the soldier as they painfully followed the old lady.

If circumstances had been different, Dave might've even found it bitterly amusing that the pensioner was setting the pace as they hobbled toward the car. It glimmered like a beacon ahead, near blinding beneath the reflected glow of the sunlight. Old but in excellent condition, like it'd just been freshly waxed.

The hobbling old lady reached it first and headed for the driver's door. She was already strapped in place by the time the weeping kid yanked the back door open and dived inside. Dave literally hit the side of the car a few seconds later. He'd been trying to scan the tree line while simultaneously moving forward and when Sally abruptly stumbled and sagged next to him, it yanked them both off balance.

It hurt far more than it should have but he gritted his teeth and managed to keep them upright. He wheezed while Sally screamed, providing counterpoint. Considering how badly he hurt, he shuddered to think of the agony that coursed through her body.

'HURRY THE FUCK UP!' the old lady yelled while she pointed through her open window. Dave followed her jutting finger and immediately wished he hadn't.

The tide of black massed on all sides. David whimpered and simply felt like crumpling to the ground.

'COME ON, COME ONE, COME ON!' the old lady spat and Dave's temporary paralysis passed in a thunderous tattoo of beating blood.

Through the window he could see someone filled the passenger seat so instead he headed for the open rear door. Through it he saw the kid puking in the foot-well but he didn't have time to wonder about that. He merely funneled the soldier into the back seat then took one last glance around, saw the shadows hurtling through the trees on all sides and jumped in.

The smell inside the vehicle instantly pinned him back into his seat. It piled more fear into his already overloaded brain until it nearly short circuited.

Coppery and thick, the smell was all too familiar.

Blood.

His eyes flitted to the front and he nearly followed the kid's example. Lolled against the passenger door, an elderly man hissed and gurgled while his life blood streamed from a jagged rent across his throat. A bit of the liquid seeped down into his tan shirt and cardigan combo but the majority of it hurtled across the small space of the cab instead.

Splattering all over the old lady in the driver's seat.

'What the–' Dave's words died out in a squeak as the plinks sounded from all around them, nearly deafening in the enclosed space of the car. It was as though a thousand birds had simultaneously crashed into the glass windows.

Then they were abruptly swamped in complete and utter darkness.

For a moment Dave wondered if he might be dead but the idea quickly passed. His own heavy breathing filled the air and made it a little hard to cling to the idea for very long. He blinked a few times, wondered if maybe his eyes had malfunctioned; some after-effect of the flash. But that had no effect.

He focused on the sounds instead.

The soldier muttering away in pain and the kid gently sobbing told him they were both fine.

He tried his best not to think about the gurgling noise in the background but despite his best efforts, he couldn’t seem to block it out. It grew louder and louder and Dave felt his guts twist with nausea.

‘Okay, well that was fucking close.’ The old lady’s voice boomed loudly from the darkness. The whirring sputter of the car’s engine followed hot on its heels. Accompanied by scrabbling and a click before a metallic grinding filled the air for a brief second and Dave felt the car start to slowly inch its way forward.

‘Everyone alright?

Dave was taken aback by how cheerful the old lady's voice sounded floating through the dark.

No one replied but that didn't seem to bother her.

'Good, good,' she muttered and Dave felt a hand slip into his. The noise of the engine roared and as the car picked up speed, a little circle of black disappeared, allowing a ray of sunlight to penetrate into the cab, finally breaking the oppressive darkness.

Dave started to sigh in relief but unfortunately the first thing the light revealed killed that sentiment. The rapidly mummifying man in the front seat convulsed as his blood continued to hurtle across into the old lady. Dave gagged and looked away, down to where Sally gripped his hand with increasing ferocity.

'Are you–'

'Arrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!'

Sally's groan answered his question before he could even finish asking it.

Dave winced as her grip tightened, threatening to crush his hand until her head lolled his way and she realised what she was doing. She hurled his hand away just before his bones really started to grind and he did his best to stop from wringing it in relief.

Bit by bit the darkness disappeared. As it left, a glowing shield, much like the one Monty had erected to lead them from the skyscraper was revealed through the window. Though that explained what use the man's blood was being put to, it didn't make the scene in the front seat any less horrifying.

'Sally... Sally...' Dave hissed, trying to get the soldier's attention without alerting the old lady who hunched forward over the wheel, squinting through the windshield while the last dregs of the old man's blood drained. He finally resorted to tapping her shoulder, ameliorating the killer look she shot him by pointing across at the husk of a man in the front seat.

Sally's eyes went wide and she abruptly stopped writhing. Her gaze flicked between the husk and the old lady.

'Oh, that's Artie.' The old lady's words snapped Dave out of it and he realised he'd been staring at the corpse. He shifted his gaze to the rear view mirror and quailed at the old lady gazing intently at him in the reflection.

The eyes were all too recognisable. They burned with the same fire that Monty's had.

Gatekeeper eyes...

A beat passed and then Dave managed to rip free of the glare.

'My husband,' the lady said and he could feel her eyes continue to burn into him.

'Your husband,' he mumbled, staring out the window at the scenery whipping by, seeking a reprieve from the horrors that surrounded him inside the car. He was starting to think that going with the old lady might've been a mistake. Even considering that the other option had pretty much been guaranteed death.

'Yeah, finally came in handy for something.'

'I'm sorry?'

'Nah, don't be. It was really all about his money. Cunt of a bloke.'

Silence reigned as everyone tried to process that statement.

'You killed him?' Sally's voice crackled with pain when she broke the silence, stating the obvious.

'Yeah, you noticed huh? 'Fraid I needed the blood and I guess you realise that since Monty fucked everything up there isn't really a whole lot of other candidates floating around. Fuck, it's all I can do at the moment to keep my
own
door sealed. Let alone swan about on fucking outings like this.'

Dave swallowed, at a loss as to what to say.

The soldier seemed afflicted with the same problem.