A New Night Ch. 4 On the Run
boom!
The brawl was all they needed for cover as Tommy and Judith scrambled out the front door, fumbling down the porch to the truck parked several feet away. In all the rush, Tommy barely had time to realize he forgotten his shotgun and the funnel by the door when he pulled away from the house. In the moment, his only concern if the doors were unlocked and thankfully they were as the shambling forms began to gather beneath the moonlight.
They jumped inside the truck, Judith carrying the box of Molotov's and Tommy the kerosene can as they settled inside. Outside the truck the things began pounding on the glass as Tommy ripped the cover off the steering column and began hotwiring the truck. It took a few moments, but the engine turned over and they were moving in no time flat. He dropped the truck into reverse and gunned the motor, the truck leaping into action as it plowed down the things before u-turning toward the main road.
Ben's heart sunk as he screamed from the porch watching the truck skitter away across the dew heavy lawn away from the barn. Their frightened faces illuminated by the sickly green glow of the dashboard lights was the last he would see of them as they rolled over a dozen things to get away. A heavy thud and a growl brought him back around, realizing that the porch was now becoming crowded and it was time to fall back. Barbra pulled him inside and slammed the door shut, exchanging a look of horror.
"Son of a bitch," Harry roared.
"What happened?" Helen said looking concerned now.
"The fucking prick tiger and his slut girlfriend stole the truck," he shouted heading to the windows where Ben and Barbra gathered watching in horror as the truck sped out of sight.
"Tommy, where are we going?" Judith said noticing they were speeding away from the barn.
"Willard."
"But the gas pump is back there," she shrieked, "Tommy, we aren't going to make it!"
Tommy looked at her almost shamefully and said, "The pump's dry."
Judith's eyes went wide with horror.
"It's been dry for years. Granddad lost the key a long time ago when he began losing his mind. We looked everywhere, I had to bring gas in when I came up here. Besides once we get to Willard we'll send help back." he said maneuvering the truck through the growing crowd on the lawn.
Judith hung on as the truck hit the gravel road and began to pick up speed, just moments before the engine began to sputter and die.
"What's happening?" Helen said trying to get a view.
"They're out of gas." Barbra said noticing some activity in the truck as the rotten hands beat against the window of the house.
Tommy looked into Judith's eyes and kissed her lips for what seemed to be the last time.
"When I say, you tap the yellow to red ok?" he said reaching for the kerosene can on the floor.
"Tommy," she whispered in horror.
"Just do it ok?" he said clasping her hands, "Trust me."
She simply nodded as he leapt out of the truck and into the night.
"What is that?" Barbra said straining to see the bright red can in Tommy's hand.
Ben squinted and saw the white lettering: Kerosene.
"TOMAS! TOMMY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" he roared as the tiger flipped off the gas cap and began filling the truck.
Judith slid over in the seat and cracked the window, noticing that the crowd outside was beginning to tighten around them.
"Tommy, what do I do?" she shouted.
"Yellow to red! Tap them until the engine kicks over!" he shouted trying not to spill the liquid on the ground.
Judith hung in the semi darkness and spotted the wires hanging from under the dash, then grabbed them well aware of the smell of the kerosene from the Molotov's heavy in the foot wells. She grabbed the exposed wire and struck them together, igniting a bright blue arc followed by a bright flash and heat. Tommy barely had time to duck when the cab of the truck erupted into a fireball, the flames blowing out the windows as it engulfed his upper body. Tommy stumbled back onto the nearly dead grass and started rolling to put himself out, Judith was screaming in agony inside the cab. They watched dumbstruck as the fire spread into the back of the truck, unaware that Tommy had dropped the burning can into the bed when he was on fire. The cheap carpeting caught and began to burn rapidly, sticking to the steel gas canisters left in the truck by their owner. As the rug burned away, one label was barely visible before the heat warped it: Danger! Hydrogen Gas!
"Oh my God!" Barbra said stepping back in horror.
Everyone stood in horror as the fire spread rapidly following the first explosion, Tommy was screaming and rolling in the grass while the crowd closed in.
"EVERYONE DOWN!" Ben roared hitting the deck as a second, bigger explosion tore through the truck.
There was a bright flash as a fireball mushroomed fifty feet into the air and illuminated the dull faces followed by a deafening thunder crack as the shockwave knocked them back. The windows exploded in as the house was lit up by the blast, sending everyone inside scrambling for cover as the smell of burning metal and fur wafted in from outside. Ben was on the floor face down in the carpet with his ears ringing and Barbra was scrambling to her feet, trying to see if any of the windows were still barricaded. The boards hadn't moved much, but the nails were now twisted as the dying fireball caught the nearby telephone lines on fire. The lights began to flicker momentarily leaving only the fireplace as a source of light before they quit for good.
"Don't move," a voice commanded followed by the click of the hammer being drawn back.
Ben slowly rose and saw Copeland holding the revolver on him now, forcing his hands up.
"Don't do it," he said firmly.
"Yeah sure," Copeland said stepping back, "well you can forget it. Helen grab some food, we're going downstairs."
"But-"
"Dammit Helen, grab something and go! They'll be back and our daughter needs you." he said looking compassionately at her.
"Jesus Copeland," Barbra said looking uneasy, "don't do this."
"I can and will," he spat angrily, "you two can stay up here."
Helen dug through the drawers for the biggest knife she could find while grabbing what they needed, knowing that Cheryl will have to eat something soon. There wasn't much in the tornado shelter and Tomas said the door was made to withstand a beating, it was almost too perfect. All she had to do was take him out on the stairwell and lock the door behind her, then wait for help to come.
The telltale moans outside the broken windows signaled the end was coming as the things outside began to regain their bearings.
"Helen, hurry up. They're coming!" he bellowed.
"Copeland don't do this," Ben said firmly, "the truck is gone. We're going to need a place to stay."
Copeland had a crazed half smile on his face as is finger inched toward the trigger as he spoke, "Sure now you want downstairs, well you can forget it mister. It's just me and my wife and daughter. I think you both will make a fine distraction while we get away."
The sound of nails squalling as they pulled free of the framework came the from the room behind the vestibule greeted their ears followed by a heavy thud.
"Copeland, they're coming through the windows. We need to get downstairs now." Ben warned.
"HELEN! GET YER ASS OUT HERE NOW! THEY'RE COMING!" he shrieked as the sound of hands thumping away at the boards began to fill the air.
It wasn't long before arms were reaching through the slats Tommy was insistent on putting up and trying to desperately reach the people inside. Ben and Barbra backed away from the windows to keep out of reach as Copeland went for the door of the basement. There was a shout and some ruckus in the kitchen momentarily distracting Copeland, Ben stepping forward to take advantage of the situation. A deafening shot rang out and Ben went back as crimson blossom began to bloom on his shirt.
"BEN!" Barbra shouted running to him noticing the bullet was a through and through affair much later.
Copeland looked uneasy as he began backing up to the basement door as the windows behind him broke and more arms reached.
"Jesus Copeland." Barbra whispered in near fright, here blue eyes watering with fear.
"I'm not falling for that girlie," he said realizing that his wife wasn't coming back and that he had the basement to himself now, "bye Helen!"
"COPELAND!" Ben shouted his own face wild with fear.
"I've had enough of you!" he shouted back drawing the hammer back on the revolver.
It was then he was dimly aware of the hands grabbing him which he fought without looking away from his intended target, but when felt teeth next he screamed.
Cheryl had been in a comatose hell of her fever dreams as everywhere she looked there was the man in the oily jumpsuit snapping at her. She clutched the bear she loved so much to her young frame as she ran from house to house screaming for help. It was a picturesque neighborhood with old fashioned streetlights outside though all the homes were mysteriously dark. She backed up against the wall and caught her breathe a moment until she felt something on her legs. At her feet were small phallic looking creatures with her dad's face on the end trying to get up her leg and under her dress. She swatted them away and began to run again as they gathered into a larger creature.
"Come here baby," he moaned, "daddy needs to see you."
Cheryl lunged into an open door and slammed it shut as the creature lowered itself to the window to look inside.
"Don't be scared sweetie. It will only hurt for a moment," it cackled.
She went down the hall toward the back of the house, but even then it sounded like he was right next to her.
"Don't worry my dear, mommy won't know about this. Are you going wear that special outfit for me?"
She ran harder and reached for the backdoor when she saw the man in the jumpsuit through the window, smashing through it to get at her. She screamed and dove away, ducking into a room that strangely looked like her own in every way. She turned to see the bloodstained sheets on her bed and began to wither in fear, the agony of the moment screaming back to her.
"No," she choked out as the thing appeared in the window.
"That's my girl. Now just like I showed you," he cackled as the walls disintegrated and the thing began to swell in size.
She was pinned down on the floor and couldn't move anymore, the thing creeping closer with the sinister smile he always had when he took her out on special occasions.
"Daddy's got something special for you," he roared with laughter as the young mouse looked on in horror. "Here I come!"
Her pale blue eyes fluttered open but failed to stay open as if the lids weighed a thousand pounds. She tried to call out to her mom but felt incredibly weak and uncoordinated, only mustering a croak when she could. She rolled on the cot as her stomach turned and wrenched up whatever she had eaten a few hours ago, the sickly tang of the vomit wafted up off the floor. Somewhere above she could hear screaming and what she thought was firecrackers, then nothing for a bit. She was dimly aware that she had peed herself and that it hurt to move, unable to get off the cot to get to the bathroom at the other end.
She did her best to get going wanting to clean herself up lest her father showed up and deliver one of his "special" punishments that left her bottom hurting. She rolled off the cot and landed on her injured arm, forcing a choked sound from her dry throat as she began crawling through her own muck toward the open bathroom door. She pulled herself forward with her good arm, the other felt so distant and alien that it didn't respond like it should have. Rather it began twitching and flopping about of it's own accord, independent of her frantic brain which spun like a tornado in her head.
She was halfway there when she became incredibly sleepy and fought to keep it from taking her, when she began to see an open field with trees. It was sunny and beautiful with golden rays filling up everything as she skipped through the fresh air. There was no fear of the jumpsuit man for he was nowhere in sight and even her puppy Jerome was there, a feral husky with pale blue eyes that he father took to the pound. He was happy and healthy, it brought a smile to Cheryl's face.
Cheryl Copeland was only 12 years old when she died at ten minutes after midnight, on the dank floor of a tornado shelter in rural Bucks County Pennsylvania. Had an autopsy been done, it would have shown she had died of septic shock from the bite administered by the jumpsuit man, which had become necrotic during her time alive. More so that she had been the victim of her father's abuse in more ways that one. It was when the lights went out following the explosion which shook the house above that Cheryl began to stir, but what opened it's milky eyes was no longer Cheryl. The emergency generator kicked in and lit up the shelter as it stood shakily to it's feet, blinking mindlessly at the humming fluorescents above it.
The thing she had become would no longer age in the way she used to and never know of the love that could have been sometime later. Nor would it never know of the bruising left down there or the pain inside her body after one her "punishments". The thing she was now was something less than a person in the thinking sense as a more primal voice commanded it forward. "Cheryl" was hungry, but could not find anything appetizing here as she lumbered awkwardly out of the vault into the main basement. Drawn by the shouting and the loud noise upstairs, Cheryl fumbled up the steps when her nose got wind of something wonderful. Her stomach rumbled and she was ready to fill it with whatever smelled so good. She half closed her eyes as she drew in the smell, realizing that she didn't need to breathe to get it to come in. It was getting stronger!
A loud crash and some shouting was all it took for her to come around the basement door to see the source of the smell was the man holding the silver thing in his hand. She grabbed on him as he fought her away, but the delicious smell was driving her mad as she sank her teeth into his arm. He screamed, an awful horrendous scream of pain as she pulled back tearing the flesh. Her tongue exploded with almost orgasmic precision as the flavor lit up her brain like a Christmas tree, saying yes, yes this is it! She dove in again, the silver thing making a loud sound that frightened her already excited brain but didn't deter her from feeding. Waves of pleasure filled her mind as she tore into him, the man that she originally knew as father and now knew as lunch. His screams of agony fell on deaf ears as she tore into his throat, her teeth locking on the cartilage of his trachea before pulling back with the tender meat surrounding it, silencing him at once. She wanted more as she rolled her head in frighteningly childlike fashion as if there music playing and she was lost in it. She cocked her head to the side and through the dim vision she was granted could see what might be potentially more in front of her as she stumbled forward.
Moments earlier Helen Copeland had been alive struggling for a way to fix her situation as all hell was breaking loose in the next room. She found what she was looking for and gripped the glimmering steel in her hands as the boards began to come away in a room further up the hallway. She heard a loud thump from outside as Harry's belligerent voice roared away in the next that caught her attention. The boards on the back door were covered in gore and pieces of the broken arms as a shadow appeared and began fighting to open the door. Helen lunged forward as the door opened driving the knife into the things belly as it cried out in pain.
"UNNH! AAAHHH!" it roared choking out the last, "Oh God."
In the dim light she could see the burns on his back as he rolled over, Tomas writhing in pain as the knife protruded from his gut.
"Tomas!" she choked out in horror. "Oh my God."
"Mrs. Copeland," he moaned in pain trying to pull the knife out, "close the door."
Helen looked outside to see the smoldering bodies from earlier had vanished behind an army of shambling figures coming toward the house.
"No I'm not leaving you," she said looking a fright.
"Mrs. Copeland, run!" he begged as torn paw grabbed his foot.
The thing slithered around the door jamb and sank it's teeth into Tomas' muscular thigh, forcing out a gut-wrenching scream as it tore away a good portion. Tomas pulled the knife from his gut and put his hand against the fountain of hot blood streaming through his fingers as he prepared to drive the knife into it's skull. The things bony fingers slid up his side and found their way into the wound, making the tiger squirm in agony as Helen tried to get the knife away from him. The blade slipped and gashed her arm as another dropped down and began to bite on his bare stomach where most of the hair had burned away.
"RUN!" he cried in agony as the other found the wound and began tugging.
The tiger roared in pain as stomach spit open like the plastic wrap on a frozen meat pack and the hands reaching in pulling out coils of pale intestine stained with blood to their waiting mouths. Helen back away as the tiger laying dying, pleading with her to escape as she backed down the hall. She barely noticed the open bedroom door to her left before it was too late and felt the hands grab her immediately, pulling her to her doom as Tomas lay dying on the floor unable to do much more as they continued to pry him open and pull vitals from his body.
Helen fought the hands away in the semi-darkness as two more climbed through the broken window to join in. She slashed and hacked away a few fingers, nearly catching herself as the blade went through her dress.
"NO!" she groaned trying for the open door which slammed shut behind her.
She kicked them away and began slashing at the air, when they nearly tackled her to the ground. She managed to stick one of them with the knife, though she lost her grip on it after a moment of being pulled and tugged. She slapped at the darkness as more of them were coming in when she felt teeth. She let out shriek as her ring and pinky fingers came away from her hand, more teeth like daggers in her shapely calf dropped her to her knees. She felt around for anything to combat the others, but soon she felt hands tearing at her in the dark. Her dress tore away as she crawled to the door in agony when stars exploded across her vanish, knocking her back and forcing her to slump against the door as they closed in. Her face throbbed from where she had been struck and even more when she felt the teeth sank into her cheek.
"HARRY!" she shrieked as they began taking her apart.
To be continued...