Nightworld (Adversary Cycle/Repairman Jack) (61 page)

She didn’t want
ever
to let go of her Benelli. At least not until this was over, one way or another.

The Horror Channel’s Drive-In Theatre—Special All-Day Edition

And Soon the Darkness
(1970) Levitt/Rickman

When Time Ran Out
(1980) Warner Brothers

Nothing but the Night
(1972) Cinema Systems

Doomed to Die
(1940) Monogram

Night Must Fall
(1937) MGM

The Dark
(1979) Film Ventures

Dark Star
(1972) Bryanston

Dead of Night
(1946) Universal

Fade to Black
(1980) Compass International

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
(1973) TV

Night World
(1932) Universal

Abe’s Place

She stood with Abe and Vicky on the stone outcropping and stared at the hole in the valley below. Her arms ached from the repeated recoil of the practice, but she was comfortable with the Benelli now, and could reload almost as fast as Abe.

In the fading light she could make out scores of mounds radiating from the hole. But the ones that had started off in the other direction had curved around and were now pointed toward them.

“They must have sent out a signal,” Abe muttered. “They all know we’re here.”

Gia shivered. That meant even more of them gnawing at the bunker tonight. She prayed whatever Jack was involved in would work.

And soon.

Monroe, Long Island

By 2:30 they were back at Haskins’s place. The fire was still burning in the forge in the back, though not as brightly as before. The clang of metal upon metal filled the air.

“You’re early,” Haskins said at the door, still not inviting them in.

“We know,” Bill said, “but the dark’s coming and we want to get moving as soon as we can.”

“Can’t say as I blame you. Just as well you did show up. They’re almost done. Wait in the car and I’ll bring it out to you.”

Jack hesitated asking, then figured, what the hell. “You wouldn’t happen to have a shortwave, would you?”

“What fer? Don’t know nobody anywheres.”

“I do,” Jack said.

He led the way back to the car. Bill got inside and began fiddling with the radio, trying to find a broadcast of any sort. Jack paced in front, his gut twisting steadily tighter as the gray sky faded toward black.

“Listen,” Bill said, sticking his head out the window. “The clanging’s stopped.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jack said. “Too late. We’re not going to make it back. Even if we had a goddamn
plane
we couldn’t make it back in one piece.”

The storm door slammed then, and out came old George Haskins lugging two blanket-wrapped objects in his arms like sick children.

“There you go,” he said, dumping them into Jack’s waiting hands.

One bundle was square and bulky, the other long and slim. And they were
heavy.
Bill took the smaller one and together they placed them on the backseat, then Jack was diving for the steering wheel.

“It’s been great talking to you, George, but we’ve gotta run.”

“Good luck, boys,” Haskins said, heading back to his front door. “I don’t know what this all means, but I sure hope it works out.”

The rear wheels kicked gravel as Jack accelerated down the road. He glanced at the rearview mirror and saw Haskins standing on the stoop, watching them go. He couldn’t be sure in the dim light but he thought he saw a group of knee-high figures clustered around him. Then Haskins waved—they
all
waved.

Blinking his eyes to clear them, Jack concentrated on the road.

Somewhere beyond the mists that masked the sky, the sun was setting for the last time.

“We’re not going to make it,” he said. “No way we can get back alive.”

“We’ve got to give it our best shot. We don’t have any other options that I can see.”

“Oh, we’ll give it a shot, Billy boy. One
hell
of a shot.”

But we’re not going to make it.

He wished again that he hadn’t sent Gia and Vicky off with Abe. He needed to see them again, hold them in his arms—one last time before the end.

WFPW-FM

JO: This is it, folks. It’s 3:01 in the afternoon. Supposedly the last sunset, man. If Sapir’s curve is right, the last time we’ll ever see daylight.

FREDDY: Yeah. Nobody’s offered us any hope, so we can’t pass any on to you. We wish we could, but—

JO: And don’t ask us why we’re here because we don’t know ourselves. Maybe ’cause it’s the only thing we know how to do.

FREDDY: Whatever, we’ll keep on doing it as long as the generators hold out, so keep us on as long as you’ve got batteries to spare. If we hear anything we’ll let you know. And if you hear anything, call us on the CB and we’ll pass it on.

JO: Any way you look at it, it’s gonna be a long night.

PART THREE

NIGHT

Aaaahh! NIGHT. Endless night. Everlasting darkness.

Rasalom turns within his fluid-filled chrysalis and revels in the fresh waves of panic seeping through from the nightworld above. Darkness reigns. His dominion is established beyond all doubt. A
fait accompli.

Except for one flaw, one minuscule spot of hope—Glaeken’s building. But that is a calculated flaw. That too will fade once its residents realize that all their puny efforts to reassemble the weapon are for naught. It is too late—too late for anything. The juices from those crushed hopes will be SWEET.

All Rasalom need do now is await the completion of the Change at the undawn tomorrow, then break free from this shell to lay claim to this world.

His
world.

And he is nearly there. He feels the final strands of the metamorphosis drawing tight around and through him. And when it is done, he will rise to the surface and allow Glaeken to gaze on the new Rasalom, to shrink in awe and fear from his magnificence before the life is slowly crushed from his body.

Soon now.

Very soon.

END PLAY

Manhattan

“Where can they
be
?”

Carol knew she was being a pest, that no one in the room—neither Sylvia, nor Jeffy, nor Ba, nor Nick, not even Glaeken himself—could answer the question she’d repeated at least two dozen times in the past hour, but she couldn’t help herself.

“I know I’m not supposed to be afraid, I know that’s what Rasalom wants, but I can’t help it. I’m scared to death something’s happened to Bill. And Jack.”