Chapter 4
"McGee!"
Tim's wide, terrified eyes didn't blink as the older man dropped to one knee next to the supine form of his partner. Tony reached out a hand to grab Tim's shoulder when he heard that same shrieking growl, followed by a hard shove that sent him sprawling.
"What in the hell?"
He quickly jumped to his feet and shined the flashlight around, finding nothing to account for the attack. A second sweep of his light caught the edge of a dark form moving with lightning speed off towards the cemetery, but when he tried to catch it in the full beam it vanished. Tony blinked, trying to clear his vision, but whatever it had been was gone. Almost immediately he remembered Tim's predicament and returned to the still form on the ground.
"Tim?" He succeeded in grabbing Tim's shoulder and shook it, but the man didn't respond.
"Come on, Probie, don't make me kiss you!" Tim still wasn't breathing so he checked his pulse, which was barely detectable, and felt his own panic surge.
"Damn it, don't do this to me…"
He checked Tim's airway, found it unobstructed and after one final check he started rescue breaths, praying that he wasn't too late.
"McGee!"
Tony barely noticed when Gibbs appeared out of the darkness, breathing hard.
"What happened?"
"Don't know," he gasped between breaths. "Found him… like this."
"Let me help."
"I got this… my… responsibility…"
Suddenly Tim gasped and started coughing, squeezing his eyes shut and curling up on himself as he weakly rolled onto his side. Tony slipped and arm under Tim's shoulders and pulled him into is lap as Tim struggled to even his breathing.
"I got you, Tim. You're OK…"
Finally Tim was able to open his eyes.
"What…happened?"
"What do you remember?" Gibbs asked when Tony didn't immediately respond.
"I… I thought I…saw something… out in the field. I was…going to check… I slipped…" He reached up and felt the back of his head, and Tony noticed a lump starting to form under a spot that was bleeding sluggishly. "Couldn't catch myself… blacked out…" A bit of color surfaced in his cheeks. "Sorry…clumsy."
"You weren't breathing," Tony declared, breaking his silence. Tim's eyes widened.
"Guess I…knocked the wind…out of me." He struggled to sit up. "I'm OK now."
Tony reluctantly released him and both men helped Tim to his feet. He started to sway and Tony steadied him, gripping him tighter than was probably necessary.
Gibbs walkie-talkie crackled and the heard Rundstrom's voice.
"What's going on? Everything OK?"
"An accident. He'll be fine."
"Good to hear. All's quiet down in my neck of the woods."
"Let me know if that changes. Expand your patrol up to my side, I'll be back in a few."
"Will do."
Gibbs stuck the radio in his belt and studied McGee. "You OK?"
"Just a headache, Boss." He started to take a step and wavered. "Give me a minute…"
Gibbs gently gripped Tim's chin and shined the edge of his flashlight beam in Tim's eyes and Tony saw a flash of worry on Gibbs' face. "Tony, take him back to camp—"
"I'm fine, Boss."
Gibbs gave him a very clear don't argue with me look. "Take him back to camp and take care of that wound."
"But Boss, the patrol…"
"You can go back out when you're ready, McGee, but stay together."
"Yes, Boss."
Tony guided Tim back to the house and set up one of the hard cases for him to sit on before he rummaged through their gear for the first aid kit. Tim remained silent while Tony cleaned the small gash on the back of his head and quietly accepted a bottle of water and two aspirin when he was finished. Tony was putting the kit away when he heard the low murmur behind him.
"I don't like this place…"
Tony turned in surprise. "What?"
"Nothing."
Tim avoided his gaze so Tony walked over and crouched down to eye level. "What really happened out there, Tim?"
Tim shook his head, still not looking at him. "You'll think I'm crazy. Hell, I think I'm crazy."
Tony let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, well, I'm having that same problem myself."
Tim looked up at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"When I…found you, you looked exactly like Bartek when we found him. I thought… You weren't breathing, and… When I tried to wake you, something forced me back."
"Something?"
"Knocked me on my ass, to be more specific. I couldn't see it then, but I think I caught a glimpse of it as it was running off."
"What was it?"
"Damned if I know. All I saw was a shadow." What little color Tim had vanished. "What?"
"I've been seeing shadows. All night. And there's… never been anything there to make them."
"Where?"
"Usually outside the borders of the town. Most around the prison… and the cemetery." He looked up at Tony, a helpless expression on his face. "See? Crazy."
"Something tells me that in this place, crazy is relative."
Tim snorted softly. "Yeah…"
They were both silent for a few moments. Finally, Tony tried to steer the conversation back to something resembling normal.
"How's your head?"
Tim smiled weakly. "I'll live."
"I really hope so."
A puzzled expression crossed Tim's face. "When you found me, you thought I was dead, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Don't ever do that to me again."
"I'll try not to." He sighed and slowly got to his feet. "We better get back out there."
"Tim…"
"I'm fine."
"So you keep saying, but you're as pale as a—"
"Don't say it. Let's just…hope the rest of the night passes quickly."
"Can't argue with that. "
Tim followed Tony back outside and soon they heard Gibbs approach.
"You OK?"
"I'm good."
"Don't forget to check in."
"We won't, Boss."
Gibbs moved off into the darkness and Tony turned to Tim.
"Where to first?"
"The south side. It's a little less… active there."
"All right. Let's go."
They started walking along the edge of the town, scanning the fields and empty streets. The moon was now high overhead, casting an eerie bluish glow that gave the place an alien appearance. Tony kept a sharp eye out for anything out of place but he saw nothing like he had seen earlier that night.
They had reached the edge of their patrol area when Tony saw Tim stiffen, he gaze focused on the old churchyard. Tony followed Tim's gaze and saw a figure approaching. The figure waved and Tony relaxed a little as Rundstrom walked up to them.
"You two OK? Gibbs said there was an accident."
"I'm fine. Timmy got a boo-boo but he's OK now."
Tim shot Tony a dirty look and Tony grinned in return, eliciting a small chuckle from the younger man.
"I'm fine. Just slipped in the mud."
"Gotta be more careful out there, McGee."
"I'll keep that in mind..."
"See anything interesting? It's been pretty quiet down here." Tony could have sworn the man winked at them.
"Nope."
"Ah, well, let's hope that holds. Guess I better get back to it." Rundstrom headed off towards the east and Tony shook his head.
"Do you get the idea he knows more than he's telling?"
"Maybe. We should be used to that, though."
"Ain't that the truth? Come on, we still have a few hours until dawn."
They started up Main Street, still on the lookout for human intruders, but the center of town was strangely silent. When they reached the end of the street, Tony insisted that Tim take a break and they leaned against an old oak tree that shaded what had apparently once been a bank. Tony decided to check in with Gibbs.
"Hey, Boss. All quiet on the western front." He grinned at Tim. "I always wanted to say that."
"How's McGee?"
Tim took the radio from Tony and answered. "I'm fine, Boss."
"If that changes, let me know."
"I will."
Tim handed the radio back to Tony and started walking towards the west side of town. Tony signed off with Gibbs and followed, noticing that Tim's pace was growing slower as he approached the cemetery. Suddenly he stopped, almost causing Tony to run into him.
"What's wrong?"
Tim raised a hand and pointed towards the prison. In the pale moonlight Tony could just make out the figure of a man, walking slowly back and forth on one of the guard towers.
"Do you see him?" Tim whispered, the fear quite apparent in is voice.
"I see him."
"There's no way someone could be in there… unless he can fly."
"Or walk through walls."
As the watched, the figure vanished from sight, as if it had never been there at all.
"Maybe we're both crazy," Tim muttered, and Tony could see he was shivering.
"Maybe. I know one thing for sure: we are never mentioning this to Gibbs."
"Agreed."
They started walking again, and Tony wasn't sure if it was his imagination, influenced by Tim's earlier admission, but he started to notice the shadows, too. The first was in the doorway of one of the partially collapsed houses a couple of blocks south of the cemetery. It gave the impression of a female form, of someone waiting for an expected visitor. He blinked and it was gone, but he got the distinct impression from Tim's stiffened posture that he had seen it, too.
The next he caught out of the corner of his eye and turned to see several small forms dashing across the yard to his right, reminding him of a group of children engrossed in a game of tag. Again, they vanished in the blink of an eye, and Tony decided he'd be better off not following the shadows when they flitted across his vision.
The most memorable, and—admittedly—the most terrifying was the dark form that he noticed following them as they made their way past the house where Bartek's body still lay. It crept along, low to the ground, and seemed to dart out of sight any time Tony tried to look at it directly. The sense of menace that emanated from it grew more intense as the night bore on, leading the agent to pray that dawn would arrive before whatever it was decided to close in.
XXX
The sun began its daily climb in the sky, illuminating the deserted streets of a forgotten town. The normal silence and stillness was broken by the arrival of a non-descript truck, driving slowly over the rickety bridge and up one of the deteriorating streets before it stopped in front of a small, decaying house on the north end of the town.
The doors of the truck opened and two men stepped out, each taking a careful look around before turning to each other.
"This is the place?" The thin man with a military-style haircut looked skeptical.
"Last house on the left. Next to the prison cemetery. That's what Konrad told me." The older man with a thin scar running down one cheek replied. "His instructions were very clear."
"So where is he?"
"He said he'd be here."
"Maybe he's still asleep."
"Maybe you should go check."
The thin man huffed. "Fine." He walked up to the house and opened the door, swearing when he saw what lay within the building. "We've got a problem."
The older man came up and looked over his shoulder, soon echoing his partner's choice of curse words.
"Now what?"
"We get what we came for. Let's search his stuff." They rifled through the dead man's belongings until the younger man gave a small exclamation of triumph.
"Found it," he called as he held up the USB drive.
"You sure?"
"Yep. Same brand and color I gave him."
"I'd rather be sure."
"Fine." He quickly left and soon returned with a small laptop. He plugged in the device and soon the information from the drive flashed across the screen. He looked up at his partner and grinned. "It's all here."
"Good. Let's get the hell out of here." The older man turned and caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to catch sight of a man emerging from the shadows, his cold blue eyes fixed on the two men, his intense gaze almost as scary as the gun he had aimed at the older man's head.
"NCIS. You're under arrest."
"Navy?" the younger man asked in surprise as three more men emerged from different parts of the house. "What in the hell is the Navy doing in Iowa?"
XXX
Several police cars and a medical examiner's van arrived just as Gibbs and Tony were guiding the two men out of the house, bringing with them more people than the town had seen in years. Ducky oversaw the removal of the body, which he planned to accompany back to NCIS and then gave McGee a once-over under the silent scrutiny of both Gibbs and Tony. Once he had pronounced the younger agent fit for duty, they started to fully process the scene, finishing a few hours later.
Both Tony and Tim breathed a quiet sigh of relief, watching the town fade from view as Rundstrom guided his truck back towards civilization. Tony had never been so glad to see the sunrise in his life and he could tell Tim felt the same way. They didn't mention their experiences from that night to either Gibbs or Rundstrom, but Tony got the impression that somehow Gibbs knew anyway, although he never said a word about the 'other residents' of the abandoned town. In the daylight, it all seemed like a bad dream but deep down Tony knew he'd experienced something he hoped to never see or feel again.
When they finally arrived at NCIS, Bishop had also returned from her trip, heavily laden with thick manuals and binders that she was carefully studying as she sat perched on her desk with a bag of chips in hand when they walked into the bullpen.
"Hey guys, I heard you had to go out of town for a case. Someplace in Iowa, right? How was it?"
"It certainly left an impression," Tim dryly replied and Tony chuckled.
"Aw come on, tell me. What happened?"
"Bishop… I seriously doubt you'd believe us if we told you."
XXX
Several hundred miles away, the silence returned to the streets of Bardo as the last of the curious left the town behind. The sun sank in the sky and the shadows cast by the decaying buildings elongated, soon running together and blanketing the surrounding landscape. As darkness fell, the shadows began to move.
The cries of the coyotes rang out over the prairie, overlapping and then fading. A bit of wind kicked up, sending the grass dancing and trees swaying, the creaking of branches sounding like the faint cries of the damned.
The moon rose over the land, and several hours passed before the church bells, inoperable for years, rang out, signaling the start of the midnight hour, and as the tolling of the bells faded, the night was shattered by an inhuman scream.
The End
A/N: The town of Bardo is of course not real. The towns of Hampton, Ely, and Readlyn (the home of 857 friendly people and one old grump) are real, but used fictitiously. No offense to the residents is intended.
Thanks for reading!