Part 4
"You've got the lighter, right?" Tyler asked.
Kylie patted the back pocket of her jeans while scanning the passing scenery through binoculars. "Right here. Tested it, too." She looked at him. "You've got a spare?"
He nodded.
Kylie went back to looking for caves.
"So what brings you to Perfection anyway?" Tyler asked.
She kept looking through the binoculars. "I told you, I'm visiting Nancy."
"People don't just come to Perfection for a visit," Tyler insisted. "Besides, you and Nancy don't seem like much of a fit."
She lowered the binoculars and looked at him, head cocked to one side. "Why? Because we're not the same age?"
Tyler shrugged. His turn to scan the scenery. "Just seems to me you're an LA girl and she's... Well, Nancy."
Kylie resorted to the binoculars again. "I needed a break from LA. I met Nancy last year at a retreat and we, you know, clicked. She said she lived in a secluded, peaceful valley and I wanted to visit. That's all."
"So you decided to visit downtown graboid-ville to get away from the dangers of the city."
Kylie grinned at his sarcasm. "Nancy didn't mention the graboids last year at the retreat."
"How could you not already know about graboids? They've been all over the news for the past ten years."
Kylie laughed. "They were big news here ten years ago - while I was attending a school where they didn't think American tabloid press was sufficiently important to inform us about. They weren't a big deal when I got back, so..." She shrugged.
He took a turn and topped a rise then turned to her. "Just where did you go to school?"
"In Europe, mostly. Secluded little convent boarding schools."
"Oh... Convent schools, huh?" Tyler said with a leer.
"And I've heard all the comments there are about Catholic girls, so just spare me, okay?"
Tyler nodded, but the grin on his face made clear that he'd heard a lot of those rumors too. "Still sounds to me like you're hiding out," Tyler probed.
She thought a moment, peering through the binoculars. "Maybe I am," she said at last. "Had a very bad breakup a while back and he's been bothering me ever since. It just seems... quieter here."
Tyler frowned. "What'd he do, start stalking you?"
Kylie nodded. "That, and burned down my store." Her tone was offhand, but her eyes looked troubled.
Tyler pulled the Jeep to a halt. "He burned down your store?"
She nodded. "Yup, made the whole place crispy critters. And poor little me stuck in my apartment in the back." She shrugged. "Thought it was time to play splitsville until he bought a clue." She looked through the binoculars again. "What's over there?" She pointed to a shadowed area at the foot of the hill and Tyler put the jeep into gear.
"So you bought the Range Rover with the insurance money, packed up what was left from the fire, and headed here to hide?"
"Something like that," she replied.
"But--"
"Look!" Kylie cried. "It's a cave!" She pointed. "That's a cave, isn't it?"
Tyler straightened. "That's a cave," he confirmed. "Now you just get one of those bombs out of the box there and I'll tell you when to light it. Then just throw it in as I drive by."
He circled the jeep around for a pass in front of the cave while Kylie gingerly took hold of one of the bombs they'd made from the box at her feet. She got the lighter ready at the end of the fuse and waited.
"Okay, light it now!"
She flicked the lighter.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
It lit the second time and she held the flame to the fuse. The wind blew it out.
"Hold it down there, out of the wind," Tyler said.
The lighter failed to catch again.
"We're going to have to go by pretty fast. Get that thing lit now, Kylie."
She heard the urgency in his voice and looked up. There were two animals at the cave entrance. They looked like coyotes, but... not.
Kylie flicked the lighter again and held it to the fuse. She smiled when it caught and turned to sight on the cave.
The jeep hit a bump. The bomb fell.
Right into the box with the other bombs.
Kylie screamed and scrambled up onto the seat.
Tyler acted fast. He leaned over and grabbed the lit bomb, then tossed it into the cave as they drove by. The coyote ants streamed out of the opening and pursued.
"Another one's lit!" Kylie screamed. She grabbed first one and then another of the bombs and tossed them out of the truck, trying to find the one that was lit.
"Get 'em out of here!" Tyler shouted, grabbing bombs from the box and tossing them out the side of the jeep, while piloting a swerving course over the landscape.
Kylie found the lit one at last and tossed it behind them. "Drive!" she cried. She'd gotten a glance behind them.
He drove.
Not fast enough. The bomb Tyler had thrown into the cave went off and sealed the cave all right, but the other one was too close. It lifted the back wheels off the ground when it blew. The jeep slewed to a halt.
Rocks, dirt, and coyote body parts rained down on them.
"Eeew, eew, eeew!" Kylie cried, cowering in the seat as bloody viscera coated her. "God! I need a shower. Like, now!"
Tyler ignored her and grabbed the shotgun behind the seat. The bombs hadn't got all the coyotes.
He fired once, twice, again. The last one dodged, leaped on the back of the jeep. He put the muzzle of the shotgun against its head and fired.
Tyler leaned the shotgun against his side, took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. Then he looked down at Kylie.
"Let me explain about bombs..."
Burt was having a bit more luck.
After sealing no less than nine minor caves, he climbed to the ground atop what he believed to be the primary entrance and exit to the colony. His theory that they were using mostly the existing cave network proved true, and had worked in their favor. Crumbling rock, sinkholes and other natural openings provided him alternate access to most of the caves. This one, he believed, was conveniently located above what could possibly be the main chamber.
From the items Harlowe and Jodi had provided, plus some timer charges from his place, he'd assembled several gas bombs. They consisted of two chambers separating chemicals that, when combined, produced a highly flamable gas. He'd attached a crude detonator that would break the chambers and allow the chemicals to mix when he pressed the detonators' radio control. When all were in place throughout the colony and the exits sealed, he'd set off the detonators. The gas was heavy enough to stay near the ground, where the coyote/ants would be, but would spread quickly enough to permeate most of the system. One bomb, fired through the main entrance, should create a chain reaction throughout the entire cave system, wiping out all the coyotes in one swift move.
"Should" was not something Burt decided to rely on. With each gas bomb, he carefully included another timed charge that would ignite the gas. He could set these off with a separate control.
So far, his luck had held and he hadn't needed to actually enter any of the caves to deploy his little surprises. He'd been lucky enough to find sinkholes or broken rock above the colony chambers.
This time, the sinkhole found him.
Before he knew what was happening, he found himself falling through loose dirt and scrub. A short period of freefall was followed by a sudden ingnoble stop.
He shook his head to clear it, then stilled to listen. There was a restless churning around him. He scrambled for the small flashlight he always kept in his vest pocket for emergencies and flicked it on.
His eyes went wide as his worst fear was realized: he was surrounded by dozens of the hell-spawned unnatural creatures. They were eerily silent, watching him, considering. But he knew they saw him as their next meal.
Instantly, his hand lashed out, searching for his dropped rifle.
As the nearest of the creatures took a hesitant step toward him, his questing hand landed on the stock on of the HK. He pulled it toward him, instinctively firing as the coyote drew near. That may have been a mistake - the blood of their compatriot seemed to set them off. While some immediately attacked their fallen comrade, others converged on him as he leaped to his feet and centered on his escape route: a dim source of light barely seen through the nearest opening.
That the opening was beyond several of the creatures was, somehow, inevitible.
He fired into them, clearing a path, all the while hoping the light was from an exit, rather than one of the many sinkholes he'd discovered himself. He mowed down a dozen or more of them before he finally made it through the chaos to the opening.
Then one of them had him, pinning his right arm in a silent snarl. The HK fell in the struggle and he was left unarmed. Swiftly, he reached for the Bushmaster knife at his side and jammed it into the creature's side. It failed to penetrate far due to some kind of rubbery exoskeleton. Burt drew back the knife and drew it backhand across the creature's throat. It fell away in a spray of blood.
It's fellows were on it in a heartbeat, allowing Burt to scoop up the rifle and run, slaming the knife home in its sheath.
He fired again and again, quickly learning that he could shoot one and distract a half dozen, to save his ammo. Still, he feared his efforts were futile - there were so many! Then he rounded a curve and saw the exit he sought come into view he gained hope and a corresponding burst of speed.
Then his luck ran out again.
The HK clicked empty and he had no time to reload while the creatures were upon him. He slammed the nearest on the head with the butt of the rifle, then spun to deliver two more quick blows. Hoping for a quick dash to the entrance, he tripped over one and slid, his hand coming to rest upon one of the gas bombs he'd deployed earlier.
He paused there only long enough to draw his knife and use the handle to crack open the chambers. Then he was on his feet again, running for escape, followed by dozens of the creatures.
At the entrance, he paused, tossed aside the rifle, and drew his faithful Desert Eagle. Taking careful aim, he fired.
He didn't take the time to see if his shot to the detonator had caused the desired spark - he just dove for cover behind one of the dirt piles to the side of the entrance.
A fireball boosted him over the hurdle.
Two six-legged fireballs managed to stagger out and Burt twisted, knelt, and aimed the Eagle for him, but both collapsed before they reached him. He aimed, tense and ready, for any other escapees, but none came.
At last, as the fire raged, he collapsed to his back, spent and gasping.