Part 1
Perfection, Nevada, 5/15/2003
Burt Gummer scanned the site with approval and decided to call it a night. Everything was in place for the noon survival school group tomorrow. He'd drop off supplies at first light and be at Chang's to pick up the latest batch of weak, pansy, government drones by ten. Time enough for coffee before they arrived. His lips curved into a half grin as he thought of the new surprises he'd built into the terrain just for them. He stowed his gear neatly in the back of his truck and automatically checked the graboid monitor mounted between the seats as he climbed inside. El Blanco, Perfection Valley's protected 30 foot underground monster, was heading in his direction from the valley entrance. While he watched, the graboid made a sharp, ninety degree loop and headed back the way he'd come.
Burt's eyes narrowed. El Blanco's hasty turn was just sufficiently out of character for the beast that he decided to investigate. Shouldn't be a tourist, not this late, but lately there'd been some kids from Bixby talking themselves into exploring the valley on some kind of sick initiation ritual. If that was the case, he'd add a number three to the new list he'd created just for them. He shifted the truck into gear and poured on the speed.
She was young, twentysomething, bopping in her seat to the beat of the rock and roll that blared from the Range Rover's speakers. The back of the SUV was loaded tight with boxes, bags, suitcases and miscellaneous bits and pieces stuffed into crannies. The front passenger seat was littered with empty Pepsi bottles, crumpled potato chip bags and various other trash that spilled onto the boxes on the floorboard. She pulled the Pepsi bottle she kept balanced between her legs and took last swig from the before adding it to the mess, then flipped her trendily-styled blond hair back out of her eyes. She spotted an approaching sign and read, "Entering Perfection Valley."
"At last," she muttered, well below the radio's blaring rock and roll. She checked the time readout on the console. "Ten o'clock," she said. "Not that damn late. Feels like two." She blinked her eyes and gave in to a yawn, missing the big yellow sign at the side of the road. Belatedly, the sign's contents registered on her tired mind, and she hit the brakes. Shifting into reverse, she looked behind the seat, couldn't see over the mounds of cargo, then peered into the large side mirrors while she backed up to the sign, leaving the SUV canted slightly sideways until the lights illuminated the sign clearly.
Sliding the gearshift into neutral, she studied the sign, while pulling her blond hair off her face again and stroking each eye with one manicured fingernail to avoid smearing her makeup. She took a moment to shift in the seat and wiggle her legs a bit. "What the hell is a graboid?" she muttered, unlatching the seatbelt so she could stretch. She giggled. "She said Perfection was a strange place, but this... Even the road signs are in on it." She chuckled, then put the SUV in gear.
Suddenly the truck lurched like something hit it. Something big. She spun around, peering vainly into the surrounding darkness. "What the--"
Whatever it was slammed into the truck again, sending it spinning. The woman screamed, clutching the steering wheel with both hands as the two right tires slid off the pavement and the SUV came to a rest, stalled.
The woman looked through the windows and mirrors frantically, trying to find the source of the attack. She couldn't make out anything in the darkness and didn't waste more time looking further. She cranked the ignition, then floored the gas. The SUV fishtailed briefly, throwing dirt into the air, but after the left side tires laid a patch of rubber on the pavement, the vehicle started to move.
Not soon enough. Something hit the Range Rover from the bottom this time, flipping it across the highway, out of control. It came to a rest, spinning on its top, windows shattered and contents spread across the truck's ceiling and the pavement. The woman crawled around in the wreckage and scattered contents of the cab, her hands digging for something, anything, she might be able to use as a weapon against whatever it was attacking her.
Her left hand closed over the hilt of her athame and she pulled it toward her. It was a long, black, double-sided blade. Beautifully-carved, but unfortunately quite dull. She had three swords, all nicely razor-sharp and longer than her arm. And all packed quite carefully in their cases, buried deep in the middle of the cargo in the back. Not for the first time, she wished she had a gun. A really big gun. She'd have to settle for the athame. If jabbed it with enough force, she was sure it could puncture... something.
She struggled to her hands and knees, trying in vain to avoid the shattered glass. She clutched the knife like her life depended on it, opened her eyes and ears and other senses as wide as she could, and waited.
She didn't wait long. Something wrapped around her left ankle and pulled.
She spun, screaming, grabbing for the bucket seats with her left hand, and bracing herself against the doorframe with her leg. She was a strong girl - daily gym workouts saw to that - but one leg and an arm didn't stand up long against the force of the thing that had her. She could just barely see it in the dim interior illumination and reflected light from the headlights, still pointing off into the desert, but it looked like some kind of creature, a snake, maybe. A big, ugly, very strong snake. With teeth.
It tugged at her leg once more, hard. The very designer boot with the three inch heel slipped on the door frame and she was sucked out into the night. Screaming, she twisted, almost sitting up, as the thing dragged her toward the dirt at the side of the road. Instinctively, she knew she did not want to go there. She brought the blade over her head, and, wrapping both hands firmly around the hilt, she brought it down into the creature as hard as she could. The blade thunked into the creature's side, just at the very edge of the pavement. The pulling stopped as the thing around her ankle released her and slid away. Something, further off in the darkness, screamed, and reared above her. In the dim red illumination from the tail lights, she could see it was huge. The snake retreated back into the thing's cavernous mouth while the woman watched in horror.
Pulling the knife from the ground, she twisted and scrambled to hands and knees. She tried to get away, but wasn't nearly fast enough. The creature retreated back into the ground and the tentacles - three of them this time - came after her across the pavement. She screamed again, knowing it was no use, and tried to scramble away.
One of the tentacles slammed into her back and another across her legs, knocking her flat. She twisted, jabbing at the thing with her knife, but it was too fast for her, darting in and back. While two of the tentacles kept her busy, the third had latched onto her leg again and started pulling her toward the side of the road. She brought the knife over her head again, preparing to strike, but some part of her knew she was doomed.