Hissers II: Death March (26 page)

They drove past buildings with warnings spray-painted on them, on past the colleges and into the valley. The I-5 North was clogged with army vehicles that had been abandoned and splotched with bloo
d. Doug wove around them as best he could, clipping the bumper of one, having to forcibly move another with the truck. Off in a field a fighter jet had crashed, its tail sticking up like a giant gravestone. They followed the signs to La Jolla, and wove down a long winding road flanked by eucalyptus trees and golf courses. The ash dissipated here and the skies were almost blue.

“There’s a spider,” Am said, pointin
g up a foothill to their left. In the distance the monster was rolling along leisurely, searching for food, but thankfully was unaware of their presence.

“Pray it doesn’t come down here,” Doug said, keeping his e
yes on it as he drove. “That’s a big one. Like two in one almost.”

“
I suppose they can get as big as they want. It’s just like Legos. Just keep adding to it and it gets infinitely big. Hey, it’s gone.” Am watched it disappear over the ridge.

Another two miles down the road they saw another one walking through the treeline of a wooded area. It knocked over anything in its path, sending a lone deer running for the open road, right in front of their truck. Doug hit the brakes and they both flew forward. Am righted herself and watched the spider creature come their direction. “Drive!” she yelled.

They swerved around cars and felled trees as the monster hit the road behind them, giving chase. Suddenly Am could see the ocean on her side, and a collection of gray concrete buildings across from it. It appeared to be some kind of college campus. The buildings had medical names.

“This looks like a lot of labs,” Doug said, steering around an SUV that lay on its side. “Keep an eye out for
Aminodyne!”

“That thing is gaining
. Shit!”

The
spider hit the back of the truck and made it slew into the oncoming traffic lane, which was empty. Doug fought the wheel but the truck hit a lamppost and spun in a three-sixty. Am’s head hit the window hard enough to make her dizzy. She screamed as the beast climbed on the car and hissed at them through two dozen mouths.

But then it was gone, scuttling off into the woods again.

“What happened? Why did it take off?” Doug wiped blood from his nose.

“I don’t
know! Who cares! Just get us out of here!”

Doug turned the key but the truck wouldn’t start. “You’re kidding me,” he said.

“Shit. Quick, into those buildings, before it comes back.” Am threw open her door and leapt out, smelling the Pacific Ocean just a short distance away. She could hear the monster just within the trees, crashing through them with ferocious intent. What was it after? It had had them dead to rights. Why did it leave?

“Am, c’mon!” Doug yelled,
heading up the road’s bank to a once-manicured green lawn now full of divots and trampled flowers. Am came up behind him, and together they ran across a small walkway toward one of the concrete structures. A metal door was locked. Next to it, a wire mesh window ran the height of the room on the other side. Doug kicked it, splintered the glass, but the galvanized steel wire held. “Shit. Try the next door. Down there.”

Am raced to the next
gunmetal gray door and turned the knob. It opened and she flung herself inside, Doug racing in behind her and slamming the door. Through the window on its side, they peeked out and saw the spider creature emerge from the woods, chasing something.

No, Amanita realized, n
ot something. Some
one
. Two someones. But one of them was… Her voice caught in her throat. Doug said, “Who the hell is that?”

And now she could see clearly who it was and her stomach did a somersault.

Connor.

“Oh my god! Open the door!”

“They’re not gonna make it.” Doug had his hand on the knob, debating whether or not to risk letting the monster inside.

“Open the fucking door
, Doug! Now!”

“They’re not gonna
make it.”

“Do something! That’s Connor!”

“What? Sonofa… Meet me in the back!” Doug opened the door and raced outside.

Amanita screamed, wondering just what the hell he was doing. He cut right out of the door and waved at the monster
like they were best friends. Drawn to new bait for the second time, it changed direction and headed for him, leaving Connor and the mystery woman to get clear. Am leaned out of the door and yelled, “Over here! Over here!”

Connor heard her, changed his path and made a bee line for her voice. She waved them on, yelling for them to hurry. In seconds they were in the door, huffing and puffing
, using the wall to keep them upright. The woman managed a barely audible thank you through her raspy voice.

Connor had his head between his knees, catching his breath. Finally he looked up and froze.
Her hair was short, and she was covered in grime, but he knew her face. She could see his brain flipping out.

Amanita did what
came instinctively. She grabbed him and kissed him as hard as she could, tears streaming down her cheeks.

SUNDAY 8:47 AM

Doug couldn’t outrun this demon, not with his age and girth; too many fast food stops on the road coupled with too many crowds forcing beer and whiskey down his throat. Watching the Discovery Channel on his days off got him thinking of a better method of running than just going in a straight line. Maybe the beasts were like alligators and couldn’t follow a zigzag pattern, or maybe they were like bears and couldn’t run downhill. But he doubted it. And besides, those myths had been dispelled by other TV shows he’d watched so he’d just be making the run more difficult.

He could hear
the spider monster crunching its many human legs in the cement path behind him. He rounded the corner of the building, almost slipping in the process and narrowly avoiding going sideways down a muddy hill. The path led under a second story enclosed bridge connecting two sections of the building. He saw a door under the walkway, prayed it would open with Amanita standing inside, but it didn’t.

He m
ade for the next corner, glancing in through windows that showed empty offices abandoned weeks ago. Behind him there came a thundering crash as the spider slammed into the bridge, but the continuous sound of its running told Doug it had not been slowed down.

He took the ne
xt corner, found himself in the back of the building, the hissing just behind him.

There! A door opened a hundred feet down. Amanita stuck
her head out, yelled for him to hurry. But he could feel the creature right on top of him, could taste its decaying stench in his throat. And then he was being pushed forward, his hands reaching out to stop his fall, but his momentum took him down hard on his face and he slid, then rolled, then rolled some more. He saw stars behind his eyes.

Turning
over, he screamed as the beast loomed over him, the dozens of bloody human heads glaring at him with wide, crazed eyes eager to satiate the hunger of their conjoined bellies. He barely had time to think of his parents before it dipped its body down to feed.

Then
jerked up quickly.

“Over here, you piece of shit.” The voice came from behind the spider. Doug saw a female with taut legs
and a toned body actually kicking at the monster, punching the heads with her bare knuckles. If he wasn’t so close to fainting from fear and exertion he’d consider tossing out a pick up line.

The spider found
itself confused, angry, torn between the easy meal on the ground and the one annoying it behind. It made up its mind, inching backwards to attack the woman, leaving Doug a second to get up and run for the door. He couldn’t leave her out there alone though. He had to help.

“Doug! She’s fine. Just run!” Amanita was out of the door now, reaching for him.

“But…”

“She’s fine. Get inside.”

As he turned to run through the door, he saw the woman sprint back around the corner of the building and disappear, the spider giving chase.

“Where’s she going?” Doug said, th
rowing himself inside a hallway with battered bulletin boards dangling from the walls. “She’s gonna get eaten.”

“This way,” Am said, leading him down toward an intersection, taking a right.
They skirted around a rolling cart stacked with abandoned papers. At the far end of this hallway Doug saw that other kid, Connor, with his head out the door under the bridge, looking for the woman. By the time he and Am made it to the end, the woman was flinging herself inside and Connor was slamming the door. Yanking it to make sure the lock fastened.

Doug
heard the angry cry of the monster and then the building shook from the impact of its attack. Again and again it slammed against the exterior, shaking dust free from the ceiling panels.

“Is it going to hold?
” Am asked. “Can it get in here?”

Doug pushed forward, touched the heavy metal door. “
It’s a fire door, built to withstand a lot of pressure. It’ll hold for now, but not for long. That thing was made up of what, at least ten people? Maybe twelve? Given enough time it’ll weaken the hinges. Let’s get to higher ground.” He turned to the woman. “Thanks for that, darling. I’d be dead without you.”

“
Yeah you would. And the name’s Olive, not Darling. We good on that?”

“Yes, Ma’am. No disrespect meant. I’m Doug.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Connor ran
halfway down the hall, found a stairwell just past the paper cart. “Guys, up here, fast. Hurry so we can lock this door.”

“After you,” Doug said, ushering the girls in front of him. He might fee
l half dead, but there was no point in chivalry dying too. It was the little things that kept him going sometimes.

Upstairs they found more offices, all empty, and a lounge in the middle of the
conjoining hallways that housed some couches and an entertainment center. Must have been some kind of waiting area. The building continued to shake from the attacking creature outside. Am sat down as Doug locked the doors and pushed a giant potted plant in front of them. “Sorry, my legs hurt. I need a break,” she said.

Connor sat down next to her. “Make that two of us.”

SUNDAY 8:50
AM

Connor rubbed his bruises. He still couldn’t believe it. Amanita was here! He had pretty much accepted the fact he would never see her again. His last image of her had been her sad face as he jumped out of the army truck back in Victorville. She’d been with her parents, content, protected, but where were they now? And why was her hair so short? Something had gotten her, torn up her skin. He could see massive legions through her shirt and her jeans were stained in blood. The large blister over her ear looked like a burn. Good God what had she suffered through?

She
leaned her head on his shoulder. He took her hand in his, felt her calloused and bruised fingers. Just weeks ago he would have been so embarrassed to touch her, too nervous to approach her for fear her sailor mouth would mock him, but he still remembered the night they’d slept in cots side-by-side in the military barracks, holding hands as they’d drifted off to sleep.

She looked at their
hands, then at his face, and she hugged him tighter. He thought she might kiss him again, like she had downstairs, the taste of her mouth still lingering on his lips, but no, she was just burying her head for comfort, on the verge of tears. He wanted to punch somebody for doing this to her. He wanted very much to kiss her again. Strange how not long ago she’d been annoyed that her friend was going to see him, and how he’d kinda had a thing for Nicole, even though he didn’t really know either of them. Now, he saw a strength and intelligence in Am that couldn’t be denied.

“Jesus Christ, Connor, how are you here?”

“Me? How are
you
here? This is like some bad plotting from a
Star Wars
prequel. This doesn’t happen in real life. Last I saw you was in Victorville.” He paused for a heartbeat, afraid to ask about her parents, but too jaded by everything to worry about tact. “What about… Did something happen to your mom and dad?”

She moved her head from his shoulder and
buried against his neck. Her breath was warm, shuddering behind his ear. “They’re gone. I saw it. Oh God I can’t close my eyes and not see it every day.”

“It’s okay
, Am. I get it. You know I’ve been there too. Ignore it for now. The only way I get by.”

She lifted her head, looked into his eyes. He saw a girl comprised of so many emotions a fourteen year old should not be experiencing. Fear an
d pain and loss and defeat.

“I like your hair,” he said, feeling the building shake from the creature outside.

She cracked a smile, ran her hand through her jagged, short bangs. “Some asshole in a cabin in the woods—” She choked up, uncomfortable, moved her mouth but didn’t speak.