Spock, Bones and Jim pressed close together, the feeling of dread increasing with every step they took into the dark town. The streetlights illuminated their path with small pools of light, the ground cracked and frozen. Their boots were heavily prepared for traction, spikes around the edges that they had added to keep movement fast, even on ice. They hadn't forgotten those things. They were positive that it was only a matter of time before they came.
Spock checked the map quietly, and pointed them down a narrow street. They walked carefully, picking their way through the pavement and ice. They got to the end and blinked. "Dead end…" Jim said softly, looking up at the concrete wall that blocked their path. Bones swore.
"Are you sure you're reading that map right, you pointy-eared bastard?"
Spock straightened, looking over to him and narrowing his eyes, finally brandishing the map at him and indicating where the apartment was and the fact that the street they were currently standing on would have been the best way. "There is no indication of a block, Doctor. I assure you…" His voice tapered off when static began coming from their communicators, and their eyes widened.
"Run."
The winds grew, snow coming down hard and the streets turning to ice. They turned, running out of the dead end, the sounds of torment and agony growing as the storefronts froze over and the snow blew into their faces, their only means of sight the clear goggles that protected their eyes and the beam of light shining from the flashlight held steady in Spock's hand. They burst into the main street just as the beings began beating on the ice to break through; this time there were shorter, long-haired scraggly things among the tall dead and twiglike ones. But beyond the screaming and calls of torment there was something else, something Spock's ears could barely make out. The static turned to the screaming high pitch they had heard before and a voice called out, "Run, run, you can't fight them; Daddy you have to run!"
Joanna McCoy's voice rang from the communicators, the doctor moving to stop, only to be grabbed by Jim and pulled along. "Run, just run!"
The ice shattered, the beings jumping out and screaming at them, and so began a chase. A desperate attempt to escape, the things chasing after them, their cries and shouts echoing behind them as they ran, always heading to the wider streets, their lack of knowledge of which roads would be blocked making them avoid other narrow side streets. They didn't want to be trapped with them. Spock was faltering slightly, the cold seeping into his bones, and soft whispers drawing his attention from his path.
They came to a fence, Spock coming into position to boost the other two up, he locked his hands into a stirrup and Jim brought a foot up; just barely standing on it before Spock launched him over the top. Bones followed him over, and Spock forced his fingers through the holes and began pulling himself up the fence.
Jim and Bones let out a shout just as Spock felt cold, bone thin hands grabbing him. He was pulled off the fence, and into the midst of them. He rolled backwards and kept rolling, stopping in a crouch when he was out of the scratching and scrabbling fingers and threw himself into motion, running along the edge of the fence. McCoy and Kirk ran along the other side, shouting at him to hurry, they were right behind him.
He made the mistake of looking behind him once, and the sight of the tall spindly decrepit things shoving the short, rotted and malnourished beings out of the way, tearing heads from shoulders and their jaws hanging made his heart skip. He ran faster, the beam of light from his flashlight swinging wildly. He kept the flashlight on; he knew that the captain and the doctor would lose sight of him if he didn't and he had a feeling that the creatures chasing him were attracted to light. He couldn't let them go after the Doctor or the Captain.
Spock didn't see the pothole until it was too late.
He tripped, the flashlight skittering forward along the ground, out of his hands, and the shouts from the doctor and the captain ringing in his ears. He felt the first one grab his ankle and pull, and he made one last desperate launch forward and grasped the flashlight. They dragged him back and he came swinging, his first connection sending the head off of one of them.
The flashlight was pulled from his hands and the one closest reached for his face, its fingers in a meld position. He jerked his head back and another found its way into position.
His mind was dragged into darkness and pain and fear, sounds of desolation and agony, feelings of terror and despair sinking into his very bone marrow. It felt like it would never end, the outpourings something like the death throes of a world, his pain increasing into a shearing split through his skull. He felt his mind buckle under the weight of the assault…
Then suddenly, it was gone. Awareness came slowly, and when it did he almost wished it hadn't. Pain split through his skull, throbbing in his temples, his throat was thick and felt like sandpaper, and he had several minor tears into the first layer of his clothing. Jim and Bones were leaning over him, screaming his name, their faces frantic and worried when he just stared at them. When they saw that he was registering them, they let go of him.
"Spock…oh God, Spock…"
"We cannot stay here…" Spock was amazed at how hoarse his voice was, his breath coming in gasps. "They will not stop…we must keep moving…we must get to the Town Hall."
"Alright, hobgoblin, alright, let's get you on your feet first…" McCoy said softly, reaching out and hooking Spock's arm over his shoulders. He hefted him up, realizing as he did so why Spock had acted as the one to lift them, he was heavy; Vulcan muscle and bone density far greater than a human's. He grunted and Jim helped; between the two of them Spock got to his feet.
Spock took a breath and straightened fully; he took a silent step forward and gained his balance.
"Are you okay?"
"I will be fine. Now we must move; where is the flashlight?"
"Right here," Jim stated with a smile, handing it over. Spock turned it on and brought the map out of a pocket, spreading it on the ground.
"Where are we…" Jim asked softly, looking around to find their location on the parchment.
"Find a street sign, any identifiable landmark…" Spock said, crouching over the map as he did so, attempting to run through the frantic chase in his mind. He couldn't do it.
Bones looked around, spotting a building as he did so. He narrowed his eyes, looking it over, examining the multiple cracked and filthy windows, the tattered remains of a flag pole and the wide double doors hanging at an angle. "We're next to a school building… Something like…Birch?"
Spock nodded, looking the map over quietly and finally indicating where they were. "Here…Milton St. We want to be here…" he said quietly, indicating a street a block over and the apartment building that they needed to make it to.
"Alright…let's get moving." Jim said softly.
They walked quietly, the feeling of dread creeping over them. But Jim and McCoy were too happy that Spock was still walking to worry, and that was likely why they didn't notice the fact that Spock's eyes were constantly shifting to various windows, his ears full of soft whispers.
"McCoy…is your daughter on this planet?" Spock asked after a long moment of silence.
"No. She's on Earth, with my ex-wife… I don't know why I keep hearing her. Why can I hear her? Where the hell are we?"
"Hell actually comes to mind," Jim said quietly. Spock didn't say a word, and that worried the both of them more than anything else. "Why did they target us?"
"There is no way to answer that with the current information we possess," Spock said softly.
They walked in silence, their hearts in their throats; the feeling of dread and unease never left, the dark and cloying atmosphere sticking in their chests. Constant whispering filtered into Spock's mind and ears and compounded everything.
Jim watched the constant falling snow, his eyes flicking from side to side, watching the buildings and the constant darkness, the lack of people, and grew slowly and steadily uneasy. Kirk cleared his throat and slowly tugged his coat in closer to himself, memories and images of a different snowy planet floating through his mind. He noticed Spock's attention on him and gave a small yet winning smile. "It's freaky out here, even when those things aren't chasing us."
"There is a certain measure of disquiet in the air."
"Are you admitting to having a feeling, Spock?" Leonard asked with a smirk.
Spock looked at him, his eyebrow raised and quietly stated, "It would be illogical to deny otherwise, Doctor. This place is…disquieting, with or without those beings."
"I'll give you that, hobgoblin, I'll give you that," he said softly. His eyes trailed over to Jim, noting the way the blue eyes shifted behind the clear goggles; his fingers clutched at his coat and he was hunching slightly. "Jim? What's wrong Jim?"
Kirk froze, looking over to McCoy and giving a brief smile. "It's like you said, Bones. This place is…disquieting."
Leonard looked him over, sharp hazel eyes examining him critically. "Disquieting or not, at the moment we're safe."
"At the moment," Jim repeated quietly. He shifted his gaze everywhere, landing on storefront after storefront, and then looked lower. He blinked, staring into the alleyway between two buildings.
A small hunched-over figure was huddled there.
Freezing mid step, Jim gestured for Spock to point the flashlight in the alleyway. The half-Vulcan covered the light with his hand, the glove making it black, before he pointed it at the alley and let go.
Static immediately pierced their ears. Jim gagged, backing up in horror, Bones eyes widened as he examined the thing before him and Spock tensed, slowly backing away.
The figure stretched out, wide black bleeding eyes in a pale skeleton thin face staring at them, its body thin and as white as the snow around it, its belly bloated from malnutrition. Its mouth opened and it let out a wail, mixed with what sounded like words to Jim's ears, a constant litany of, "Why? Why didn't you save us, you were supposed to save us, we trusted you! You killed us, you killed us! It was YOU!" It continued as it shuffled closer, its every step a bloody footprint in the white snow, red liquid trickling constantly from frostbitten fingers and toes.
Jim fell to his knees, even as the other two backed up, Bones' face awash with horror and Spock's eyes narrowed. What had been one small form turned to several, their constant wailing mantra echoing in the night as Jim wrapped his arms around himself. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry; I tried… I tried…"
Spock reached forward, grabbing the traumatized man by his shoulder and pulling him backwards. His eyes never left the approaching figures as their shouts turned more descriptive, their accusations harsher, their words becoming grating and dark.
"Jim…Jim, you cannot let them control you. They are only shadows, but they can hurt you; come!" He pulled his captain away, and they ran and ran and ran, their only goal to get to the apartment building. They reached the gate and tried it, shaking the chain link fence.
It was locked, and it was too high to climb. They looked behind them, their eyes meeting the constant stream of creatures, their wails echoing in their ears, and pressed their backs to the gate. "What do we do?" Jim asked softly. The static turned to a scream,
"The key, Daddy; grab the key!" They heard it, their eyes immediately looking around, Spock shining the light on the ground, and then they saw it - a man dressed like Jim propped on the fence, his hand clutched around a shiny metal object. Bones was closest and pried it from the bone cold fingers, tossing it to Spock who slammed it into the keyhole and turned it, shoving the gate open. They hurried through, locking the gate behind them.
They backed away slowly, eyes focused on the advancing figures. Watching the way they reached out, their fingers grasping at the gate and the constant crying and wailing echoing, even as they melted to the ground, the hollow black eyes constantly trained on them. Then they were gone, nothing even suggesting they had been there. Jim's heavy breathing turned to a cackling half hysterical laugh, and Bones grabbed his shoulders, "Jim…they're gone. Whatever they are they're gone, you're fine, everyone's fine."
"No, everyone is NOT fine, Bones…"
"What did you hear Jim?" Spock asked softly. Bones blinked, looking over to Spock and then over to Jim.
"I heard… " He coughed, "They all blamed me."
"Blamed you for what, Jim?"
Jim shook his head, refusing to talk, and Spock touched his shoulder gently before drawing back. But it had done what he wanted it to, Jim was focused on him.
"It was not your fault, Jim."
"What makes you so sure?"
Spock stared at him quietly. "I heard them as well. You are not to blame."
Jim stared into the brown eyes, his face still tearstained, and slowly a small smile curled up the corner of his mouth. "Nothing gets by your ears, does it?"
"Rarely, if ever," Spock stated with a simple nod of his head.
Jim smiled at him and looked to the building, taking a breath and staring up at the dark windows and the dark looming presence of the shadows. "Well…let's go."
"I'm not going to like this am I?"
"It is likely that none of us will."
"Guys…why do you think that thing was dressed like me?" Silence answered him, and he shifted slightly his eyes locked on the door.
With a slow deep breath Jim opened it, the smell of dust and grime filtering out to them and filling their nostrils. "This is going to suck. I can tell."