The Containment Team (10 page)

“The town is still here,” Pete said. “We’ll get past this, you fools. We shouldn’t call attention to ourselves.”

I was getting tired of his insults but I bit my tongue because Madelyn was glaring at me, apparently thinking that I was antagonizing Pete. Perhaps they were both still a little shaken up from the close call we had with the mob. I would have thought that given the horde of shifted people, they would have been amenable to taking a few more risks. It was time to talk about something else while I gave them both time to gather their wits.

“It’s safe to assume that the lab has been overrun as well,” I said. “At the very least, we need to be prepared to fight off more of these. Unless you know something different,” I refrained from accusing Pete of withholding on us again, “the only success we’ve had at putting down these monsters has been to apply flames in a very liberal fashion. I’m fresh out of stuff to burn. We could also pick up some containers of gas if we stopped.”

Pete rubbed his forehead. “I’m not sure that’s the wisest plan. Every minute we waste is another that makes it that much more difficult for us to get ahead of this thing. We should go directly to the lab so I can make a few calls.”

“We don’t know enough about what’s going on at the lab to not have some sort of backup plan,” I said. “My vote would be to get gas and then go. Mad?”

“Morty’s right, Pete. There’s only so much damage that we’re going to be able to do with a shotgun and a pistol. Given what we’ve seen on the streets tonight it makes the most sense to load up on gas.”

Pete growled. “Let’s be quick about it. But don’t try to light the blutom on fire. We don’t have time for that.”

THE AIR SMELLED of gasoline as I got out of the car. The night was silent, or at least it seemed to be at first. The longer I stood listening, the more convinced I became that I could hear screams somewhere out in the darkness. I wondered if it wasn’t just my mind playing tricks on me. 

“We’ll be okay until the lab.” Pete handed me the plastic box with the blutom. “Here, see for yourself.”

The blutom quivered as the box changed hands. The top of it vibrated, reminding me of a dog sniffing the air. It was still solid black. I studied it, letting several seconds pass, wondering if it would start to glow as I did.

“What level is it?”

Pete bit his lip and looked as though he didn’t want to respond. “Eight, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. There will be a lot of time between nine and ten. It’s at level seven when it’s purple.” When he saw my surprised look that it was already so advanced, he elaborated further. “Most of the levels describe different states while it is in a host. The moment it leaves, it’s usually a level seven.”

I fixed him with a dubious frown and took a deep breath. He had made it sound earlier as if the blutom was at a low level and that we had plenty of time before it became the great glowing ball of goo that we’d fought back in the women’s bathroom of my dorm.

“Ok,” I said. “We’ll wait until the lab. In the meantime, if it starts to glow—”

“I’ll pour the gas and light it myself.” Pete took the box back and shut it up in the back of the car. 

“You two going to just stand and gossip all night or are we going to get moving?” The wind tussled her hair, blowing it back from her shoulders. Her skin glowed under the lights of the gas station from the sheen of sweat and she favored me with her half smile that showed a few teeth. As I took her in I couldn’t help but feel hope that maybe we’d be able to repair our broken relationship. She must have picked up on the fact that her tactics were working on me again because she flipped her head, causing her hair to flick out.

After raising an eyebrow and looking between the two of us, Pete headed for the door. After a look in my direction, Madelyn followed him.

I shook my head and sighed. She was a difficult woman in the best of times, and we were going through the worst. What was I thinking, hoping that we might get back together?

Maybe I really was beginning to lose it.

After they’d both gone in, I followed after them, partially zipping up my jacket as I went so that I could keep my pistol concealed.

I felt naked and exposed without my shotgun, but I could hardly take it with me into the gas station without causing alarm. I straightened my collar and hoped we wouldn’t have to deal with any of the creatures while we stopped for gas. My pistol was better than nothing and had some stopping power, but I would feel better once we were back in the car.

The gas station was empty save for the clerk behind the counter. He was a freckled kid with red hair that didn’t look old enough to be out alone at this time of night, let alone manning a gas station. I walked along the aisles, hoping to find a row of camping supplies, but wasn’t surprised when the only things I found were snacks, pop, and beer. I wasn’t going to be able to buy any more cans of kerosene here.

I went into a section that had containers for gasoline. It was better than I could have hoped for because they had more for sale than we’d be able to carry in the car. I bent over and started pulling them out when I heard the slide of a shotgun send a shell into the chamber. I turned towards the noise to find that the freckled kid had a gun pointed my direction.

“Were you hoping I’d be distracted by the pretty lady? Shows what you know.” Madelyn was in front of the counter and the kid waved her back. “I’m not letting you take anything, you hear?”

I held out my hands and slowly moved them up. I didn’t like the way he held his finger on the trigger. It looked as though it was already partially depressed. If he were to slip, I would have a wound in my chest the size of a bowling ball.

“We can pay for what we need,” I said. “Just put the gun down.”

The kid sneered, his freckled mouth showing crooked teeth. “If you can pay, why’d you come in here with a gun?” He motioned at the bulge in my jacket. “The three of you look as nervous as a stripper in church. I’ve been doing this long enough to know when something’s up. There’s something about you three that’s wrong, just plain wrong.”

I motioned to a television behind him on the counter. “You get the news on that thing?”

“Take out your gun and toss it over here,” he said, motioning to the aisle in front of him.

“There're things going on tonight that you don’t understand,” I said. “If you don’t believe me, turn on the news.”

He shook his head. “Just so one of you can whack me on the back of the head when I turn away? Forget it.”

“We’ll just leave,” I said. “Okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. You’re going to wait here for the police to arrive.”

“Go ahead, give them a call. I’d be surprised if you can get one to respond.” I thought about mentioning the fact that he’d pulled a gun on us, and not the other way around, but I decided against doing so. If everything was as we suspected the police had far more important things to deal with tonight.

“Shows you. They’re already on their way here.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Pete took a step forward from where he stood near the entrance of the store and the kid whipped his gun around. I was impressed at how steady he held the shotgun, despite the pressure of the situation. That was no small feat. The kid either didn’t get riled up much or he had a lot of experience with guns in stressful situations.

“Stay where you are,” he said. “Put your hands where I can see them.” He nodded his head toward Madelyn. “That goes for you too. I’m not one of those chivalrous types that believe women can’t do no harm. Try anything and I won’t hesitate to send a slug right through you, got it?”

Madelyn gave him one of her I looks that had more than a hint of seduction wrapped into it. I’d seen it many times before but it took the kid by surprise and he lowered his shotgun an inch before yanking it back up. I was beginning to get worried that he was going to shoot one of us by accident. He hadn’t taken his finger off the trigger once and it looked as though he was now increasing pressure on it again as he fought his embarrassment for having stared at her smile.

“Look, kid,” I said, “I’m just a gun nut. I have a concealed weapon permit. I can show you my card. Let us go. No harm, no foul.”

“Let’s see it then.”

I lowered my hand to reach for my wallet.

“What are you doing?” The clerk screamed, all pretense of calm now gone as he swung the gun back at me. It took every last ounce of self-control I had to keep my head up. His finger was too cozy with the trigger. I had to be within a hairsbreadth of having my head blown off. “Get your hands up!”

“How do you expect me to get my permit?” I asked, straining to keep my voice calm.

“You moved without asking permission.”

I snorted. “Didn’t you ask to see it?” Madelyn threw me a glare but I ignored it. “Look you snively freckle-nosed little nerd. I’ll slowly pull out my pistol and set it on the ground. After that, I’ll kick it away. Then I will get out my wallet and show you the permit. Okay?”

The clerk shook his head. “What kind of fool do you take me for? You pull that pistol out, next thing I know I’ll be on my back bleeding to death.”

“I’m running out of patience,” I said. “Come take my wallet yourself then.” 

The clerk shook his head as Pete stepped forward, his mouth open. Whatever he was going to say, his words were lost in shattering glass. I thought I saw flashing lights outside and I was filled with hope that it might be a cop. I never thought I’d be so glad to see one.

I spun around in time to see several monsters enter the store through the broken glass of the front door. There wasn’t a cop car in sight, it must have just been my imagination.

“Move, Slammer!” I called.

The clerk fired, completely missing the monsters and almost taking Pete out in the process. Luckily, Pete had been diving for the floor just as I’d shouted and had barely missed the blast from the shotgun. The slug shattered the window and disappeared into the night. Based on the angle I hoped that it had missed my car, but I wouldn’t know until we got back out to it.

“Aim for a leg!” I called out to the clerk. “Even a direct headshot isn’t going to stop them from coming.” Pete was on his feet and plowed into the monster that I had in my sights. I whipped my gun up as I took my finger off the trigger. That had been close, half a second later and Pete would have been lying on the floor, with a large chunk of his back covering the wall behind him.

Another resounding boom filled the confines of the small convenience store and the head of one of the monsters disappeared. From my peripheral vision, I saw the clerk smile just before the monster hopped up onto the counter and circled its hands around his neck, not bothered in the slightest by its missing head. The monster must have already had a hold of the counter because it hadn’t toppled over when its head had been blown off.

The idiot clerk was going to get himself killed.

Or worse, turned into a monster himself.

As I covered the distance between me and the kid, Madelyn picked up the shotgun the clerk had dropped. She racked in another shell, put it up to her shoulder, and fired at a monster that had been approaching her. The monster’s foot was blown off and it stumbled, latching onto a shelf of hostess treats to steady itself. After a pause, it toppled to the floor pulling the treats after it.

I holstered my pistol before grabbing a monster who was strangling the clerk. Tearing its hand free from the boy’s neck, I yanked it from the counter and threw it into a rack of chips.

“Get down.” I took out my pistol, aimed for the monster’s thigh, and pulled the trigger. When I looked back at the kid, I saw that blutom was already forming in balls and heading toward the boy. I nodded at it. “Don’t let any of that stuff touch you. It will turn you into one of them.” Not exactly the truth, but I didn’t have time to walk him through all the nuances. “Are the police really on their way?”

The look on his face was enough to know that it had been a lie. I fired another shot into the same place as I’d fired the first. I didn’t severe the monster’s leg, but I doubted that it would be able to use it to walk for a bit. “What are you waiting for? Call it in.”

Madelyn’s monster was hobbling towards her but she hadn’t taken a shot because I was in her line of fire. In all the excitement I hadn’t recognized that she’d been trying to get my attention.

I moved and she fired, blowing a hole in the chest of the monster that came out the back. The blutom and flesh covered a rack of candy bars.

Pete had just thrown his monster out the shattered glass door when I got an idea. I grabbed the one I’d been shooting by the leg and hauled him towards the door, pausing only to fire a few rounds into its chest to send it back to the floor. Flesh, bone, and blutom blew out the back as I did.

GLASS FROM THE broken door tore on my coat and scratched the top of my head as I stepped through. I hesitated before holstering my pistol so that I could have both hands to pull the monster through the door. It hissed at me but didn’t try to sit up, as if I’d done it enough damage to keep it from being able to do so. I was surprised to see that the teeth on this one were pointed, but didn’t dwell on the fact. Hadn’t Pete compared them to vampires? Were the teeth of the monster changing or had it been somebody who had had cosmetic work done to produce that effect? I’d heard of such things, but I’d never seen it firsthand.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered that Pete had specifically said that it didn’t have anything to do with their teeth. So it must have been either cosmetic or genetic.

It sprung forward and I kicked it back, the chest of the creature making a sickening crunching sound when my foot made contact. I didn’t know if I had just broken a bunch of ribs or if I was just furthering the damage that I’d already caused when I’d shot it full of holes earlier.

I didn’t want to know. 

Grabbing the foot it still had control over, I yanked it through the broken door—it’s head bouncing on the jagged glass as I did—and pulled it towards the closest gas pump. Pete’s fight wasn’t going as well. The monster, though a foot shorter than he, tackled him to the ground. In Pete’s defense, the monster had been a thick man.

“Slammer, drag it over to me.” Not waiting to see if he heard me, I continued on my way. I stopped ten feet from the pump and put another couple rounds into the monster’s other hip and one into each of the shoulders. Hoping that it would hold it long enough, I turned my attention to the gas pump and grabbed the handle of the nozzle. I spun, intending to spray a stream onto the creature but realized that I’d forgotten to slide a credit card through the payment slot first.

Cursing, I fired another shot into the monster when it moved forward. Even though I’d done a substantial amount of damage to most of its joints, it looked like it had one arm that was still functional. My bullet took it in the chest but that didn’t stop it from coming at me.

I ran forward and kicked it back, blutom and flesh flying everywhere as I did. Some of the blutom stuck to my foot. Ripping out my wallet, I grabbed a credit card and slid it into the pump. I picked up the nozzle and pressed the trigger. Nothing happened.

Looking back at the pump, I realized that I’d forgotten to select a grade, I punched one, muttering a string of expletives so bad that my mother might have fainted if she’d been around to hear them. It was bad enough that even my dad might have thought to give me a warning look.

The monster was coming my way again, but I still hadn’t seen a message to began fueling. It now told me that I’d won a free car wash and gave me the option to upgrade. I punched no, swearing up a storm again. The readout asked if I wanted a receipt.

I punched no, again.

When it finally said to begin fueling, the monster grabbed my ankle. I kicked down hard with my other foot, but it retained its hold. I took a step out and dragged it away from the pump, trying to shake it loose as I did. It hissed, but as it was now on its stomach, its wasn’t in much of a position to do—

It lunged forward, snapping at my leg. I clocked it in the head with the nozzle and tore my pistol out of its holster. Not bothering to aim because it was so close, I fired a shot into its head and then another into its arm.

Now that I was finally free of its grasp, I picked up the nozzle and sprayed the sucker down with gas, careful to soak it as thoroughly as possible. Once I lit it on fire, there would be no adding fuel to the flame, at least not by spraying gasoline from the nozzle. I’d learned that one the hard way the first time I’d barbecued on my own and tried to spray lighter fluid on an already burning set of coals. The flames had come back on me and burned off all the hair on my arms. I’d been lucky that it had only licked the tops of my eyebrows.

The creature screamed when the gasoline hit it, similar to how the blutom had reacted when I’d doused it in kerosene. The monster that Pete was wrestling with looked up and I could also see that it had drawn the attention of the other that was back in the store. Both of them echoed the cry and somewhere in the distance another creature answered it as well. Seconds passed as still others joined from much further away.

“Slammer,” I said, “get yours over here, we’re only going to have one shot at this.”

Pete was already on his way. I could have sworn that he muttered the word ‘pyromaniac’ as he tossed his monster under the spout of gasoline.

Seriously? Now, of all the times?

Cutting off the stream, I dropped the nozzle. Pete’s creature as moving too much to risk dowsing it any further, we’d have to hope that—

Pete’s creature charged and I fired into its chest, sending it down on top of the other. I fumbled in my pocket for the lighter. My hands were numb and the first several times I couldn’t get it to work. The skin of my thumb stung from the wheel.

I took a breath. Flicked my thumb to the top and brought it down. Sparks. Flame.

Everything seemed to slow as the creature charged me while I bent over to a stream of gas that was coming from the puddle I’d made around the monsters. Careful to keep my distance, I stretched my arm out and touched the flame down to the puddle.

Flames spread with a roar, engulfing the charging creature and the one on the ground. Dropping the lighter, I pulled out my pistol and sent three rounds into charging creature’s chest. I stepped back as it dropped, a horrendous scream escaping its mouth. It was the most human sound that a blutom monster had made all night.

All of the sudden the night felt very cold.

Pete had claimed that the blutom monsters took over and killed the human inside but what if he was wrong about that too? What if the person inside was still alive until something more drastic happened.

Like a person shooting them in the chest or blowing off their head. 

If that turned out to be the case, I had killed Veronica, Jen, and all the others that we’d fought off tonight. The thought caused my mind to swirl with emotion. Gritting my teeth, I forced it away, every last drop of emotion and unanswered question. I had done what needed to be done. There was nothing to regret. Maybe I would try to sort through everything once it was all over—assuming I got out alive—but now wasn’t the time to be overcome with something for which I had no answers.

I thought of the answering scream we’d heard earlier and shivered. I looked around into the night, expecting other monsters to come surging out of the darkness at any moment. Other than the screams from the dying monsters, the evening was still and quiet. There wasn’t even a breeze to rustle the leaves of the nearby trees.

Sound would travel for quite a way on such a night.

I jumped when something hit the flames but my panic evaporated when I realized that it had come from Pete. He was throwing on firewood. I ran to the pile beside the door of the station just as Madelyn and the clerk came through.

The monster inside was moving towards them, but not at a quick pace. It was on the ground, crawling forward. One of its legs had almost been entirely severed and it was missing a hand.

“See you lit something else on fire,” Madelyn said with a teasing grin. “This really is becoming a thing for you isn’t it.”

I repressed a dark chuckle, just glad to see that she was still alive. There didn’t appear to be a scratch on her. Her hair was a bit tousled and some of her makeup had smudged—she’d taken the time to check it during our car ride earlier—but she had never looked better to me.

Perhaps it was just the emotion of it all. My heart pounded as adrenaline coursed through my veins.

The clerk’s face was pale, but that was to be expected. Every single one of us had probably looked much the same the first time we’d interacted with these creatures. I looked him over closely and was glad to see that he too hadn’t suffered a wound. Considering how much physical contact each of us had had with the monsters, that was nothing other than dumb luck. All it would have taken was a deep scratch from one of their fingernails and we would have been in danger of shifting.

“You’re going to have to shoot me,” the clerk said. “I’ve been infected.”

“Where did it touch you?” I asked, remembering that I hadn’t stopped to explain to him the finer points of how the blutom took over new victims.

He pointed to his arm. I pulled him under the light and examined it.

“Where did it go?”

“I scraped it off on the counter.”

“Unless it touched a cut or some other open wound, you’re fine.”

His face turned red. “You said that if it touched me I’d become one of them!”

“Yeah, about that, it’s a little more complicated. It has to touch an open wound.”

“I thought I was going to—” He looked relieved and pissed at the same time.

I chuckled. “You still got a ways to go, kid.”

“Can we get going?” Pete had continued to throw additional wood on the fire and it was now quite big. “Not that I’m not curious about what might happen with a burning flame in the middle of a bunch of gas pumps, I’d just rather not be right on top of it if something happens.”

“Point taken,” I said.

The monster from inside the door howled and it was joined by several others that were entirely too close. I’d been thinking of destroying the last monster as well, but the answering cries put an end to that thought. It was time to go. We had a fire burning in a middle of a bunch of gas pumps with more monsters coming towards us.

It was way past time to go.

All of us headed to the car except for the clerk. He’d gone pale again and was looking around in fear. The remaining monster arrived at the broken door and was trying to crawl out. It was stuck on the broken glass and I thought it might not make it over. It lifted its head and looked at us, the cat-like eyes glowing in the night. Putting what was left of its hands on the ground outside, it braced itself and pulled its chest over onto the jagged edges of the broken glass. It rested on the glass, oblivious to any discomfort that a normal human might have experienced in such a circumstance. Then it crawled the rest of the way over and headed towards us at a slow crawl.

“Hey, kid,” I said. “Your shift is over. It’s time for you to get going as well.”

He said something I didn’t hear. I about shrugged it off and got into my car but when I saw he was trembling, I ran back to him.

“What was that?”

“I was dropped off.” The poor guy was now shaking with fear. “I don’t have a way back until morning.” Pete and Madelyn were both yelling at me to hurry up.

There was another scream in the darkness, it was closer than before. I wish I knew if it had come from one of the monsters we’d heard earlier or if it was a different one, answering the call of the others. Regardless, there were too many heading our way. Goosebumps formed on my arms when I thought of what Pete had said about the rats developing human intelligence. Was it possible that the screams were communicating more than just position?

The monster shimmying its way forward on the ground answered with a low growl. Was it my imagination or did the force of the reply sound stronger than the last sound it had made?

I grabbed the kid by the arm. “You’re coming with us.”

He pulled his arm free, shaking his head. “Not likely. You showed up with guns and then the store was attacked. It looks to me like these things are coming after you. If you leave, I should be safe. Right?” His voice trembled and much as I hated to still be standing in the middle of all this, I tried to see things from his perspective.

I wasn’t able to.

“You thick in the head or just plain stupid? These things don’t have the brains to discriminate between any of us, let alone just chase after one of us. All they see is a meal. Stay here, you’ll become one of them. Come with us, and you can help us find a way to stop all of them.”

I continued back to the car. “Choice is yours, kid.”

He was in the backseat before I’d sat down.

“Call me Ron,” he said, “I’m Ron Whicker.”

“Nice to meet you, Ron.” Madelyn gave him one of her usual smiles. If she wasn’t careful, he was going to get the wrong idea.

I put the key into the ignition, revved the car. The engine started and then sputtered away to nothing. I spotted movement in the dark beyond the lights of the gas station, but it was cast in shadow and I was unable to determine what it was. I envisioned the mob of blutom monsters that we’d passed earlier coming out of the dark and swarming us.

Cursing, I hit the steering wheel and turned the key again. It refused to start.

“I told you to get that looked at,” Pete said. “Should have done it.”

“You’re so helpful in times of crisis,” I said, starting to count to sixty under my breath. I’d found that waiting in between ignition attempts tended to help the car start. “We may have to make a run for it.”

Madelyn was scouring the area surrounding the car. Pete was leaning forward, his head between the seats as he intently studied the shadows ahead of us. “I think it’s just a cat.”

I looked in the direction he was staring, my fingers itching to turn the ignition but knowing that every second I waited increased the chances of the car starting. I didn’t know for sure if that was true, but when this happened I always eventually got the car to start if I was patient. It was just a matter of time.