Darkness
It was dark when he rode back on his motorcycle. The street was deserted and it was dark. How could it be darkening? How on earth could he have lost so much time? It had been dawn when he and Gus had met up in the hills to … to do something. He couldn´t completely remember. He only knew that it had been important. Very important. He still knew that he had tried to get Lassie to come but that there had been something in the way. Some official police procedure crap, as always. But he had known that it couldn´t wait that long, because … that was the part he wasn´t so sure about anymore.
But he knew it hadn´t been the ordinary stuff. It had been far more important than that. Vaguely he could remember Lassie making fun of him for something he had tried to tell him. Something important. Something that was still blur in his mind. Why he couldn´t remember he didn´t know. He only knew that he had called Gus when he hadn´t been able to get Lassie to do something. And he knew that his head was aching. It was aching pretty bad.
The cold air that blew around his head didn´t make it better, though it was cooling the aching a little. But it only resulted in stronger yet dull throbbing instead of a piercing pain that had made its way from his temple down to his brain. But the wind was cooling so he could stand the pain and still drive. He had to keep going. He didn´t know why he only knew he had to.
He suddenly realized that he didn´t wear his helmet. Why didn´t he? Had he forgotten to take it on? But he had forgotten a lot hadn´t he? For example where this pain in his head came from. And why he was bleeding. Goddammit he was bleeding. No he had been bleeding. The blood had already dried on his cheek. He could feel that when he moved his face. It had dried in his beard, what was far too thick by now. That could only mean that it had been there for a while. Probably when he had been knocked out.
He paused in his thoughts for a moment, looking for the memory related to this conclusion. Knocked out? How? What had happened? And why was he alone on this ride back to town? Gus had been with him to begin with. He had waited for him up there until he had come with his company car. But now Shawn was alone. Riding his bike down the empty streets in the last dim light of the day. Where was Gus? Why couldn´t he remember what had happened? And why did he have the strange feeling that something bad had happened? Something really bad.
He turned right when the road bend. A gas station came in sight. A small one, barely a station at all. Just two pumps actually, but there was light in the house and Shawn figured that he´d better call for help instead of keep riding the bike in his state. He needed help. He needed help damn bad. Not because of his head. Not even because of Gus – and something deep down just told him that there was probably no help for Gus anymore even if his mind still denied him to remember what had happened to his childhood friend. No he needed help because of something much more dangerous. Something so bad that his mind was just not able to put it in a term that he could understand. Something his mind maybe even refused to understand. Was that the reason why he couldn´t remember? Because he was afraid of what his memory would tell him?
He drove into the station and stopped his bike under the roof. The bright and cold light over him was blinding and hurting his eyes. More it was hurting his brain. But he had to bear that. There was no time for pain. Something was coming and he had to hurry. He had to call Lassie and Jules. He had to call for help.
He dismounted his bike and turned to the shop. For a moment he thought he´d heard something. Not in the station but outside, in the woods. He paused and looked ahead. The lights above him and the rising darkness outside made it almost impossible for him to see what was beyond that light under which he stood. Everything out there looked as dark as a tarpit. He could hear some crickets but that was all. Whatever he had thought he´d heard was gone now. Everything was quiet. Though he had the rising feeling that it was not gone at all. It was far from being gone.
His heart started to pound heavily and he had suddenly the greatest fear in his life. He had no idea why but he knew he was in danger. That something was out there. Something bad. He turned to the shop and stumbled to the door. He was limping. Another fact that he hadn´t noticed as long as he had sat on his bike. He looked down his leg and saw it soaked with blood. Yet he didn´t feel much pain there. Only a dull throbbing. When he looked up again he saw his reflection in the glass and he looked awful. He had been right, there was dried blood all over his cheek. His beard had grown a big deal. More than he would have expected in just a few hours. But his head was still spinning so he dismissed the thought. He had no time to think about his damn beard or his hurting leg. He had to hurry.
He reached the door of the shop and limped in. No one was there. The light in here was even worse than outside and somehow it felt strange to stand in here. As if the air in this place had another quality. There was suddenly some pressure on his ears. The humming sound of the lights made his head feel dizzy.
„Hello?" he called out and his own voice sounded like an alien voice in his ears. „Is someone here? I need a telephone. Pretty urgent."
No one answered. He made his way over to the cash register, while still looking around if someone was coming in from a backroom or something. No one did. He also didn´t expect someone to show up any longer. Something told him that there was no one here. No one that could still come at least.
He had almost reached the register when he heard something again. A strange sound, that he couldn´t identify. It sounded a little like an animal but he had no idea what animal would make a sound like that. Then there was the sound of something that was cracking. Like old bread sounded when it was already hard and someone would brake the crust. The sound came from behind the register, Shawn could tell. He stopped for a second, afraid of going closer. Afraid of what he would see back there. He didn´t want to see it. But then his curiosity was stronger and he moved again. Maybe one part of his mind tried to stop him but there was also another part that just needed to see it. No matter how cruel it might be.
He reached the register and there he heard the sound again. He swallowed dryly. Slowly he bowed over the counter to see what was behind it. Whatever it was, it was lying on the floor. The sound again. He bowed a little further. And then he saw it. It was the cashier. He lay on the floor. The man was obviously dead but it wasn´t the dead body that made Shawn´s blood turn cold in this moment. He was used to see dead people but no body he had seen on crime scenes over the years had been like this. There hadn´t been cracks all over the skin of the body and there hadn´t been bugs the size of exotic spiders coming out of those cracks either.
Shawn jumped up and away from that counter. Now he could see some of the bugs crawling on the floor, coming out from the place behind the register where they had been hiding. Or was it, where they had just hedged? Shawn had no idea where this thought came from but he didn´t care. He turned on his heel and just ran out, as fast as his half disabled leg would carry him.
He had just reached his bike when he saw a movement in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw what he had heard before. It was still there all right. And it was even worse than what he had seen in that shop. It was standing at the bushes, where the woods started to take over the landscape. It was still too dark for Shawn to see it right but he had already seen too much for his taste. He mounted his bike and stamped on the starter. When the engine didn´t come at once a whining sound creeped up his throat. The thing whatever it was, had heard the howling of his engine and was now coming for him. And it came fast.
Shawn stamped down on the starter again, now howling himself like a squeaking door that was opened very very slowly. Finally the engine came to life. Not a second to early. Shawn grabbed his handlebars and pushed. He shot out of the gas station right in the moment when the thing that lunged for him had entered the light. He could see it only for a second but that was enough. The whining in his throat became a full scream and then he was on the street again, the light of the station left behind and with it the monster that was there. Or so he believed.
His scream got stuck in his throat for a moment, came up again, died again only to come up again. He was essentially breathing screams. What the fuck had he seen just now? It had looked like a mixture of a spider and a cockroach. His eidetic memory came to him in the worst possible moment and showed him the details again. He had seen claws that tucked into the ground and teeth like from a … from something that didn´t even exist. But he didn´t need this lack of comparison to know that a creature like that shouldn´t exist at all. It just couldn´t be.
He heard clicking sounds behind him, even over the noise of his motor. And then there was a shriek. Not a human shriek. It was the beast that was making this sound. It was after him. And it was fast. He drove faster but somehow this thing stayed with him. Its many legs carried it far too fast to get rid of it. Too many legs. Too many actually to belong to just one creature it shot through Shawn´s head. And then there was a whooshing sound and Shawn lost the grip of his bike. He lost the whole bike under his butt and the next thing he knew was that he was flying.
He could hear his bike explode somewhere behind him. This thing must have ripped the tank open with its claws. Then he hit the ground and rolled. He rolled down a hillside, what felt like forever. And then he just stopped rolling. For a moment he just lay there, his head whirling like a spintop and a stomach that wanted to see the outside world. Then there was the shrieking again and this time it was right in front of him.
Shawn jumped up and faced the queen of what he assumed to be the ugliest termite on earths surface. It was staring at him with its multiple eyes, spit dropping from its teeth. Then it lunged forward at him. Shawn raised his arms in a manner of protection but of course this gesture was completely pointless against a thing that big and that hungry. Another second and it would just bury its teeth into his flesh. Then he heard a shot ringing out.
He jumped. His whole body was shivering with fear and terror. But he also knew that he was safe, that the thing in front of him was dead. He lowered his arm and saw the beast brake down to the ground, an awful rattling sound coming from its mouth. He turned around to see who had saved his life and was simultaneously shocked and happy when he saw Lassiter standing there with his gun still aiming at the thing. The detective´s eyes were piercing and fully awake, the way Shawn knew him when he was after a criminal. Only that this time it was a thousand times worse and the look in Lassiter´s eyes was a thousand times more haunted. He also had grown a beard similar to the one Shawn had seen in his own reflection. So Lassiter hadn´t been able to shave either.
„Shawn!" a familiar voice called him, the most beautiful voice Shawn thought he´d ever heard. And then she was beside him, grabbing his shoulders and turning him around so he had to face her. Her eyes were as haunted as Lassiter´s but she was looking concerned. She was concerned because of him.
„Shawn, my god. Are you all right?" she asked, gasping for air.
Shawn wanted to tell her that he was fine but he knew it would be a lie. Then his mind switched back into gear and he tried to struggle to his feet.
„Run." he gasped and when she didn´t seem to understand what he had said he yelled it at her. „RUN!" he yelled. „There are more of them. They are coming!"
Jules and Lassiter looked at him confused for a second, but only for a second. Then the understanding hit them.
„SWARM!" Lassiter yelled and then he started to shoot at the things that had now reached the turnpike.
Jules let go of Shawn and started to shoot too. It was the first time that he noticed that she was carrying a machine gun. If he had had the time to feel anything else but panic, he would have found it extremely sexy to see her that way, so Rambo-like. But he had no time. He was already confused enough. Not even the fact that Jules was shooting with an MP could really get through to him. Lassiter had an MP on his back too, but he first emptied the magazine of his glock before he threw it away and took the automatic and went on shooting with this.
Shawn was still too struck to do anything but watch what was happening in front of his eyes in stunned disbelieve. There were dozens of these creatures now, coming down this hillside he had rolled down just a few minutes ago. It was like the proverbially invasion. Other people had joined Lassie and Jules now, shooting at the things along with them. Shawn assumed that they had to be police officers just because they were with Lassie and Jules. He didn´t recognize any of them though. Until he spotted Buzz McNab that was. After he had seen him, he also found some others that he knew, including chief Vick. They all looked different and yet still the same. Shawn didn´t know what was the difference. Other than the fact that these people he had worked with for so many years, were suddenly shooting at some alien insects from planet X in the middle of the night somewhere in the wildlife of the hills around Santa Barbara.
The creatures were coming closer now. The former cops had managed to kill some of them but not enough to stop the others. They seemed to have a thick armour that protected them from the bullets. At least to a certain degree. But they had to have some weak points otherwise Lassie hadn´t been able to kill the one that had attacked Shawn with just one bullet. He probably had had the time to aim better, had had a clearer shot. Now these things were crawling around in a high speed and made it almost impossible to aim at anything on purpose. The cops were just shooting and hoping for some lucky hits. Some of them did hit.
One of the dead creatures had fallen down right in front of McNab. One of the others, not caring about its dead kind, just crawled over it. Buzz raised his gun at it but too late. The claws had already gotten grip of him. Lassiter, who had seen it coming ran at it, yelling like a madman and shot at the thing. It threw McNab aside and turned on Lassiter instead. Lassiter stopped out of the claws reach and kept shooting. Instead of trying to grab him, that thing suddenly started to spit. Lassiter tried to avoid the spit but some of it hit his leg. He fell to the ground with an awful scream of pain. Shawn winced at the sight. He wanted to do something but he didn´t know what.
Jules yelled Lassiter´s name and ran over to him. The beast was already over him and Shawn could already see it eat her and him alive just withing a few seconds. He opened his mouth for a scream and started to run. But before he had a chance to yell her name, she was beneath the creature poking her MP into its belly and pulled the trigger. The thing shrieked in agonie and then fell aside. Shawn was still running. All of this had happened within just a few seconds. But there was still something more that had happened the same time. The first creature was dead but now there was a second one, crawling over the dead one to get a meal. Jules hadn´t seen it yet.
Shawn reached Lassiter and grabbed his gun without thinking. The beast had just opened its mouth to eat him and probably Lassie and Jules right along with him, when he pulled the trigger. The MP started to rattle in his hands violently. Another sound like this joined in and then the creature fell down, dead as the first one under his and Jules´ combined fire.
Somehow he managed it to let go of the trigger and stop shooting. Everything inside of him was shaking and not just because of the aftereffect of that automatic weapon.
„They´re retrieving!" someone yelled and soon after that the shooting stopped. It was quiet again.
Shawn looked around and saw several fallen creatures lying around, but also some fallen men. One of them was Buzz. He saw the chief bending over him and then lowering her head in grief.
A hand grabbed the gun Shawn was holding and he jumped. Then he saw it was Lassiter who had grabbed his MP. The detective´s familiar blue eyes stared up at Shawn from his position on the ground.
„Give that to me before you shoot anyone." he said through gritted teeth.
„Carlton!" Jules cried and came running to them. „Carlton, your leg."
„I´m fine." he claimed but the sweat on his forehead and the distorted face belied his words.
„No, you´re not." Jules promptly objected and examined her partners leg. „It needs to be bandaged." she said.
„All right everybody." chief Vick cried in her usual stern leaders voice. „We have to get out of here before they come back. Move. Back to the base." With a sad voice she added: „We get our dead in the morning." And even quieter she added: „If they are still here then."
„Come on, Carlton." Juliet said. „I´ll help you up."
„I can walk." he claimed but at the end she had to lift him up anyway, his arm over her shoulder, his wounded leg barely able to move. Shawn took the detective´s other arm over his shoulder and together they dragged Lassiter along. Shawn´s gaze wandered over to Buzz McNab´s dead body and remained there until they had passed him. Lassiter had tried to save him and had almost died himself. Other officers had died too and Shawn had the bad feeling that they were not the first ones. The fact that the S.B.P.D. was up here in the hills instead of in the city, was more than enough to tell him that whatever had happened, it had already happened in the city. If the city still existed.
They reached the chief and she looked at him with a mixture of surprise and relief. But mostly he saw sadness in her eyes. They were no longer the eyes of the chief of police. Now they were the eyes of a warrior that had seen the worst a human being could ever see in an entire life. Shawn threw one last look around and he got an idea what it was. The only thing he still couldn´t understand was, how all of this could have happened so fast. He had been meeting with Gus up at the hills only this morning. What the hell had happened since then?