Earth Man (28 page)

The car slid a foot as he slammed on the brakes just inches from the curb. He hopped
out, right onto the stone pathway that led into the San Diego Zoo. As he started jogging he heard a scream echoing through the air. There was a security guard yelling into his radio near the front gate, a young blonde haired man with a mop top shock of hair similar to how Danny’s had looked before he’d gone on TV. The young man was thick though, barrel-chested and on his way to becoming a real police officer. As Phil approached him, he looked up and down with suspicion.

“
Listen you have to evacuate the Zoo! Right now!” Phil said.

“
We are handling the matter now sir. Thank you for your concern.” The security guard turned away, trying to hear what was being said on the radio pinned to his chest. He kept eye contact with Phil even as he took a step away.

“
One second sir.” The security guard said as Phil waved his arms in frustration.

“
Did you hear about the explosion across town?” Phil pushed.

“
What’s the problem?” The security guard suddenly gave Phil his full attention.

“
The CDC thing, right? You heard about it?”

“
Yes, why?” The guard asked sternly.

As the security guard spoke he gla
nced to the right. Phil followed his gaze and saw two more security men approaching, one of them old enough to be Phil’s father.

“
If you know what is going on you need to tell us right now, sir.” The young man said, taking Phil gently by the elbow.

Phil
pulled away and the other two men stood behind the younger one. The third guard was black and appeared angry and sweating.

“
What’s your name sir?” The black man asked.

“
Phil. Morrison. I am trying to warn you. .”

A
t the word
warn
the three security guards glanced at each other. They kept moving around Phil to keep him in the center of them and it was starting to get him angry.

“
Phil? You have any I.D. on you, Phil?” the old man asked.

The young guard shifting nervously, hands on his belt. Phil checked
his back pocket but his wallet wasn’t there, he’d forgotten it at Monica’s house. So much for the cash he’d left in it, she’d probably already spent it, he thought wryly.

“
Why do you come with us, Phil?” The black security guard asked, reaching out to take a hold of him. Phil shoved him back; they were all standing too close to him and it was beginning to piss him off.

“
We just want to get a statement from you somewhere comfortable, okay?” The older guard said calmly.

“
I’m Canadian. My I.D. is back at the hotel. There’s a monster loose in the Zoo, you need to listen to me.” Phil said angrily.

Phil
finally lost his temper and he pushed the young guard back as he tried to cut Phil off. The man did not shove him back, but instead the other two men made a move to grab him, so Phil put up his hands in surrender.

“
Alright, alright, don’t touch me.”

The
guards’ radios buzzed with chatter constantly. There was panic across the Zoo, animals had gotten out. That was why Phil had seen people running. The Zoo was so big that they couldn’t get a handle on all the incidents popping up. Paramedics and police were on their way. A report came in over the radio of an injured male and Phil used the opportunity to run as fast as he could. With the three angry security guards right behind him, Phil prayed he still had his football legs as he ran full speed into the San Diego Zoo.

The tiger had escaped his pen but there was no escaping the Second.
Every animal in the vicinity of the Growth went into a mad panic. The ones locked in cages without any hope of escape cowered in the cells as far out of sight as they could. The animals in the outdoor exhibits, when they caught the smell of the monster, did everything they could to escape. Many of the deer and birds had injured themselves in their attempts, but many had also gotten out. Both humans and animals ran in fear, both from each other and from the unknown that had suddenly invaded their lives.

             
Danny landed in the Lost Forest just as the monster finished devouring the tiger. It had gained at least a couple hundred pounds of meat and muscle on its black body and as it walked toward Danny orange stripes began to appear on it. The blood that covered it was absorbed into its skin and it began to run at Danny, shrieking like a banshee. Its human face shifted into a feline shape, its body hunching as it ran at him, large sharp claws on the ends of its fingers. It had consumed so much raw meat that it was running hot; it exhaled steam out its nose like a bull. Crouching low to the ground Danny prepared himself, he’d already borrowed the abilities of the rhinoceros nearby. The two bodies collided, both of them sent reeling back. As it recovered the creature did not run at him; inside it circled him, staring him down.

             
They waited and watched each other, looking for the slightest sign of weakness. Crouching low into a football position, Danny waited until the alien jumped at him and then he launched himself at it, the two of them colliding in mid-air. The force carried them through the air and into an ice cream cart. Angrily the alien smashed the cart, kicking it aside as Danny rolled away and stayed low to the ground, squatting and adjusting his helmet like he was back on the field.

Finally the Second att
acked him directly, trying to get its claws into him. Danny was able to dodge and weave it like a professional fighter. It swung too wide over his head and lost balance and he tackled it again, this time ending up on top of it. He raised his elbow, ready to bring it crashing down on the monster’s face when suddenly it threw him off as if he weighed nothing. Flipping awkwardly, arms and legs out like a child, Danny landed hard on the ground. Getting to his feet with the borrowed speed and agility of a cat, he waited until the Second got to its feet and he charged it again. This time he covered his body with an energy carapace, a thick armoured hide similar to a rhinoceros. A large red horn jutted from his head and he drove it directly into the alien’s chest. Finally he managed to stun it, knocking it back into a palm tree. The tree split with the impact and fell over, obscuring the alien from sight. Danny threw the tree aside, not even noticing the weight, but the creature had fled into the grass and trees. He headed toward a nearby bird aviary made of glass, searching in every direction for the Growth. He caught a glimpse of the monster just as it wrapped its hands around his neck. It had come out of nowhere, faster than Danny could defend himself. It carried him toward the aviary and slammed him against the side of the bird house. It held jim in its massive black hands and slammed him down, knocking the air from his lungs. The red armour faded as he struggled to catch his breath. All of the abilities of all of the animals were right at his fingertips but he could not think of a way to get the massive monster off of him. It was impossible for him to focus on one animal; all his mind could think of was AIR! AIR! If he didn’t breathe he knew he’d black out, it was already sneaking up on him, so he used all his enhanced strength and kicked the creature right in the balls.

             
The Growth released him and stepped back, looking down at its groin. The pain hit it a second after and the creature suddenly doubled over. Both of its hands covered its genitalia and it sat on its knees, groaning pitifully in pain. Danny wasted no time and leapt into the air, flying straight at the creature and driving his boot into its solar plexus. It rocked backwards, its hands flying back and Danny kicked it again in the groin. This time the alien fell forward, face down, howling as if it were dying.

“
Guess you didn’t bother to learn human anatomy, huh?” Danny wheezed. “Still got all those humans bit though eh, evil bastard.”

The creature go
t to its feet slowly. As Danny moved in to continue his attack, the creature suddenly showed its skeletal wings to Danny. One moment they were not there and then they burst out, pushing Danny back. They were twisted, ugly appendages with no feathers, only leathery skin like a bat. Its face had turned all black and it armoured itself up, forming sharp protective plates over its sensitive areas. It wasn’t hurt at all, but it was enraged. It stamped its feet and the legs suddenly split into two, giving it four pairs of spider legs. With its new limbs it was well over ten feet high and Danny stepped back out of range of its claws and legs. The armour that covered its upper body was as thick as a crab. As it moved toward him it dropped a chunk of meat from its lower abdomen. The black organ fell to the ground with a wet thud and Danny almost puked when he realized what it had done. The slick bloody mess was the creature’s genitalia, discarded as a weakness without a second thought. Even worse, the alien was aware of what it had done; a grin crossed its armoured feline face when it saw Danny recoil in shock.

Danny was badly shaken and he began to run. He wanted time to think, to regroup,
and to come up with a permanent way to rid himself of the monster. It relentlessly pursued him, not letting him have a single second to catch his breath. The ugly wings that flapped on its back made him afraid to fly; he’d rather stay on the ground where at least he knew the rules. The wings might not be able to lift the creature into the air, but they were there and they were intimidating and Danny decided to run with both feet on the ground.

One of
the spider-like legs caught him in the back and he dropped to his knees. He summoned his power and prepared to defend himself. This time the creature kicked him right in the chest, sending Danny back into a wooden fence. He flipped over it, landing on his back in a small pond, surrounded by pink flamingos. At any other time it would have been hilarious, but Danny was not in a laughing mood. The muddy water had soaked him through his leather and into his boots which squashed as he stepped out of the pond. He flipped open the visor of his mask just in time to see the Second leap the fence. Drenched and weak, Danny looked around and saw nothing but flapping pink feathers. The Second hit him again, this time hitting his helmet with its claws. The sound of the sharp nails dragging across it screeched in his ears.

             
The flamingos scattered as the alien flew above him on its feeble wings. Danny had no choice but to face it in its own element. The creature crashed into the ground where he had just been but he was already in the air. Going as high as he could, Danny reached out to the animals for guidance. He needed something that would give him an advantage. All he found were butterflies, fleeing the peaceful grass next to the laid back flamingo exhibit. Strangely enough, the delicate insects were incredibly useful. With his power he duplicated the butterflies natural abilities, Danny was suddenly able to feel and sense air displacement. As the Second flew at him, he could feel the changes in the air pressure and he knew where to move to avoid it. Every time it swooped down Danny could feel a push, almost as strong as a physical shove, telling him to move. He dodged for as long as he could until finding the right moment. Gathering all the energy he could into himself, Danny suddenly let the burst flow from his hand into the monsters face, blinding it. It was not hurt, but it was unable to see for just long enough that Danny could disappear.

             
The sleeping rhinoceros had no clue Phil was hiding inside its shelter. The other one, hopefully not an overly protective mate, was still outside. Phil tried to catch his breath as quietly as he could, even though he’d outran the security his cardio was nowhere near as good as it should have been and he was breathing in heavy, ragged, gasps. The rhino snorted and shook its head and Phil froze. It watched him with one eye for a moment and then with a sigh the animal laid its huge head back down and returned to sleep. Whatever it had thought of Phil, it did not think he was a threat.

“
Sorry Boss.” Phil said quietly to the rhino. It did not respond and he stayed frozen in place until his breathing was more normal. Then he saluted the massive mammal and headed back out into the park. The sun was high and bright overhead and Phil had to cover his eyes to see. There was no sign of anyone but the Zoo was huge. He looked in every direction but found only the other rhino lying in the sun. It seemed to stare at him, batting its lashes with curiosity. Finally it lumbered to its feet and he decided it was time to go. He waved to the rhino then ran to the edge of its pen, carefully climbing over the rocks and the pit that formed the walls of its prison.

“
I’m getting too old for this.” Phil said out loud as he dusted himself off. He looked down at his belly and then patted it.

“
Not too old. Just too damn fat.”

Whether or not Phil felt the red flash of light or saw it, he wasn
’t sure. But he knew it was Danny and he’d run in the opposite direction. He forced himself to jog as fast as his exhaustion would allow, moving as quickly as he could for a man of his age and size. He jogged down Center Street and his heart dropped when he saw the blonde security guard on the Fern Canyon Trail. Now the young man had two large black police officers with him, men with guns. Phil had thought the other incident was a miscommunication; he could excuse the security guards as incompetent or possibly racist. Now that the police were involved, he knew he might be in serious trouble. They really believed he might have something to do with what was happening in the Zoo. In some small way, he was involved. By the way he saw them place their hands on their weapons; he knew they were deadly serious too. Phil sucked in his gut and ran once more.