Outer Banks (5 page)

“I thought you were taking a break, or maybe you were taking a side job?” he insinuated.

“I took a break. I didn't take the side job though thank you very much for giving out private information about me,” I scolded.

He laughed unashamedly. “The guy paid me a thousand dollars to tell him who my most humane, efficient hunter was. You wouldn't have taken it?” he challenged.

“Easy money.” I laughed. Ray was all about easy money. His job as a dispatcher kept him out of the action while getting a cut of our share for his “organizational skills”. He would sell out his own mother for easy money.

“Who do you have?” I asked again.

“I have one in Ohio.”

“What is it?”

“I don't know the details really. All I know is there is a Haunt draining livestock.”

“Livestock?”

“Yeah. It drained three beef cattle and a llama.”

“A
llama
?” I laughed. “Are you messing with me?”

“No. An honest to God llama,” he said.

“Huh. That's a lot of blood for one person. You're sure it's just one?”

“Don't have any visuals. There is an abandoned chemical plant nearby. We think it's living there. I actually sent Bobby Sims out on it a couple weeks ago. He reported finding a guy there, but he told me the man fell down into a pit and he couldn't get him out for the report. When people started calling again with complaints I called him to go back, but I haven't heard anything. He's probably on another bender. You know Bobby.”

“Yeah.” I did. The last time I'd seen him it was apparent the job was starting to take its toll. He went on a week-long bender just about every time he got paid. “Is Ronald available if there's more than one and I need back up?”

“I had to let him go. He was bringing in more dead ones than alive. I think he was letting his politics affect his job.”

When had that happened? I'd thought Ronald was one of the good ones. “I see.”

“Check it out during the day. If you find more than you can carry, call me back and I'll contact someone else in the area. Maybe I can track down Bobby by then.”

“All right.”

I mapped out my trip to Ohio, thinking about Emery as I drove. I made good time and was ready to get my plan under way.

Looking back on that evening, I realized I'd become lax. I could have gotten there earlier in the afternoon so I would have had plenty of daylight to check things over before the sun set. But for months I had been pulling in at the last minute, nabbing the Haunt without any problem.

Not this time.

Chapter Five

I arrived at the deserted chemical plant at six-thirty. It was located in an old industrial park on the outskirts of town. There was a farm across the field, most likely with one less llama.

Any Haunt out there would still be sleeping, but the early March sun was only inches away from the horizon.

The entire plant was surrounded by a twelve foot high fence with three strands of barbed wire angled outward to keep trespassers from climbing over. The large gate, however, was wide open.

I parked the van inside the gate and put on my gear. Ohio was still chilly, so I put on a hoodie. Then my tactical vest, my headlamp and my flashlights.

There was a massive metal building to the side of the gate with large bay doors hanging open on broken frames. Fresh tire tracks in the dusty gravel leading to that building made it seem like a good place to start.

I turned on my headlamp. It was still light, but the cavernous building was dark inside. I could feel the drop in temperature as I entered.

Even with the light, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. A lot of broken, rusty equipment was pushed to one side. The other was fairly clear. Not that much would have been on this side of the building, what with the gigantic hole in the concrete floor.

It looked like maybe it was a sinkhole. About twelve feet across and so deep I couldn't see the bottom. The cement had collapsed in large chunks, some of which still clung to the side of the hole from the rebar.

This must have been the pit Bobby had mentioned. When I turned to go back, my light caught a glimpse of something bright green. Lime green to be exact. I would have known that color anywhere because I was the one who had painted it.

I walked closer to the edge of junk pile to find Bobby's truck parked behind a conveyor system. Bobby loved this truck, green with black flames licking up the sides. I was shocked to see it covered in so much dust.

I pulled my sleeve down over my palm and used it to wipe the grime from the driver's window. Even at five-eleven, the suspension was so high I had to stand on my tiptoes to see in the side window.

Bobby was asleep on the seat with an empty whiskey bottle on the floor.

“Damn it, Bobby!” I muttered and pounded on the glass. Nothing. He didn't stir, but I could see him moving up and down with his breathing.

I tried the door handle but it was locked. I could see the slider in the back window was open slightly so I climbed up in the bed of the truck, planning to reach through the window to shake him awake.

The safe box in the back of Bobby's truck was hanging open, the hinges broken. There was a large man lying inside. I jumped back when the light from my headlamp landed on him. I wasn't expecting that.

“Great job, Bobby,” I said, irritated. “Leave him unsecured while you're passed out drunk. Oh, don't get up. I'll take care of it!” I huffed as I went back for my van, driving it up alongside the truck.

I moved the Haunt over to my van and secured him in the back, wondering what the hell had happened to the hinges on Bobby's ride. This guy sure hadn't done that kind of damage. With all that dust, maybe he rolled the truck? Regardless I needed a body to take back to OBX if I was going to get the good doctor out, and as the old saying went, you snooze you lose.

With the Haunt safely loaded, I jumped in the back of Bobby's truck and slid the back window to the side. I reached in and shook him.

“Bobby! Hey, asshole! Wake up! I'm taking this guy in and I'm not even going to split it with you! What if the light had hit that guy in the back, huh?” Nothing. Now I was a little concerned. I reached across and popped the lock on the driver's door and jumped over the side.

I opened the door and patted his face. It was
cold
.

“Holy Shit!” I rolled him over so I could get a better look. I thought I saw him breathing earlier, but if he was dead and I had been yelling at a corpse I'd feel really awful.

“Bobby!” I pressed my fingers against his throat. His pulse was slow but fairly strong. He was alive. Maybe he had drunk himself into a coma? I reached under his arms and tried to pull him out of the truck. The truck was jacked up so high his legs fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Once I got him laid out, I checked his breathing. He was breathing fine. I pulled open his eyelids and it clicked.

Bobby Sims had ice blue eyes, but now they were clouding over. They were gray, slowly turning black. I checked his arm, the veins had also gone dark.

I swallowed while my brain tried to rationalize what was going on. Bobby was a Haunt. But that was impossible. The Bugs were gone. I had no idea how he could have gotten that way.

I was about to be horribly enlightened.

The Haunt in my van began to scream. I'd lost track of time as I was trying to rouse Bobby. I heard cries of “Help!” and “Let me out of here!” That was common enough when they first woke up. What wasn't expected was when Bobby's eyes snapped open and he instantly sat up and pulled away from me.

“Bobby, it's me! Dillon McAllister. What the hell happened?” I asked.

“Dillon? Get the fuck out of here!” he shouted.

“Not until you tell me what's going on!” I yelled back.

“She got me. She's coming. You have to go
now
!”

“
What
? Who turned you?”

“That freaking Bug.”

That wasn't possible. Bobby pointed toward the hole on the other side of the building.

I didn't see anything, but I could hear…
something
.

A loud chattering and scraping. Something was coming. Something big.

I'd never seen a live Bug during the invasion. Only TV reports and a full scale model once. That sound was worse than I ever imagined.

Just as I was about to freak out, Bobby screamed and grabbed at his head. He knocked me down as he thrashed around on the ground.

“She's in my head! I can hear her! She's hungry!” he wailed.

“Bobby. Come with me now!” I got up, pulling at Bobby's arm as he tried to stand. It didn't matter that he wasn't the whole way to his feet, I was already dragging him toward the van.

Bobby screamed again and clutched his head. “You have to get away from me! I'll take you to her! I don't think I can…” He shrieked and fell to his knees. “Run, Dillon.
Run!
”

I wasn't about to leave him there. I grabbed him under the arms and pulled him up just as the enormous beast reached the top of the hole.

The Bugs I'd seen on TV stood about ten feet tall. This thing before me was more like fifteen to twenty. Its arms and legs weren't needle thin. They were thick and armored, more like a crab than a bug. This wasn't a drone. It was a
queen
.

“That…impossible…” I somehow managed to say.

She clicked and chirped as Bobby began to twitch. The queen stood there for a moment and then let out a loud wailing cry before she attacked.

I dropped Bobby and pulled out my UV light. I wasn't sure what I thought would happen. Maybe it would sting her enough so I could make a run for it. I shined it on the hideous monster as she closed in on us.

I had used my light on Haunts before. It could quickly make their skin bubble up and sizzle. On this Bug, however, it was ineffective. The beam wasn't strong enough. She reared her head in the air and chattered loudly.

Shit. I was going to die.

I was going to die before I got the chance to break out the one person who might have been able to help me after I dug myself out of the earth, cold and thirsting for blood. I thought for a fraction of a second about the irony of the situation.

I shined my light directly in her large red eyes. She shrieked and drew back, kicking gravel and dirt in my direction.

In the midst of my terror, I remembered something I had seen on TV. A panel of scientists was sharing everything they knew about the Bugs and the reasons why they left.

Once they'd abandoned their attack on our planet, they left behind some of their own.

The ten foot orphans, with their insatiable thirst for human blood, had been captured. Unfortunately, we didn't have very long to study them.

About three days after the ships left all the Bugs remaining on Earth died, as if connected to some auto destruct program. It was believed they were killed when the queens—safely aboard their ships—left our solar system and could no longer stay connected with their offspring.

In the short amount of time scientists had to observe them, however, they had discovered a few things.

The scientists were certain the creature's eyesight in the visible spectrum was deficient. Instead, they tracked their prey by infrared heat. It was how they were able to root us out. Honed in on our body temperature.

A thought popped into my head as the Bug started coming toward me again.

I pulled the flare gun from my vest and shot it away from the door. The flare caught her attention and she changed course. Call it heat camouflage, like turning on a flood light when someone is wearing night vision goggles. It would buy me some time.

I ran back to Bobby and tried to wake him up.

Black foam erupted from Bobby's mouth and his gray eyes glazed over, he fell still with my arms still grasping him. He was gone. I dropped him and ran to the van before the queen could come after me again.

As I started the van, she hurtled through the large door. I quickly backed up and turned on the UV flood lights mounted on the roof, filling the area with light. I pulled the hand gun from under the seat and emptied my clip in her general direction. I hit her at least twice from the sounds of it—it didn't hurt that she was the size of a frickin' barn.

The queen screeched and pulled back into the warehouse. I knew it wouldn't hold her back for long, she'd heal quickly once out of the light and come after me again.

I didn't waste any time. I gunned the engine and backed through the gate, leaving the lights on until I was far enough away.

My heart was pounding so fast I wasn't sure if I could speak as I raced down the road calling for help.

“9-1-1. What's your emergency?” the man asked.

“There's a Bug at the chemical plant on Winding Hollow Road. You need to send a containment team right away.”

“A Bug?”

“You remember! Giant aliens, drinking blood, we all thought we were going to die. That whole thing!” I said in exasperation.

I heard him scrambling on the other end of the line, figuring out who to call. “Oh, God! Okay. Let me see.”

The Haunt in the safe box was still screaming and kicking.

“Shut up!” I yelled.

“What's that?” the operator asked.

“I wasn't talking to you. How are we coming with that number?”

“I've got it. I'm calling now. Please stay on the line to help me explain.”

Within minutes I'd briefed the right people and the military was dispatched. Whether they'd go for containment or obliteration, I didn't know, and quite frankly, I didn't care.

I sped down the gravel road, not remembering it taking this long to get to the factory from the main road. I was almost beginning to think I had gone the wrong way when the paved road popped up before me. I turned right to go into town.

Town sounded good. More people. Then I felt guilty. Surely, I didn't want to lead the thing to town and more people.

I didn't need to worry about that, however. Two military helicopters with large purple spotlights flew low across the road in front of me, heading toward the factory. There were missiles hanging from the underside. Missiles were good.

Finally, my heart began to slow and I could think straight again. I pulled over and barely got out of the van before I threw up.

I got back in the van and pulled out once I was able to get my hand to stop shaking long enough to turn the key. I was almost in town when the Haunt—who had been yelling since we left—stopped abruptly.

“Hey!” I yelled to him. “Are you okay?” I asked again, knowing the answer was probably no. “Crap!” I slammed my hands against the steering wheel and followed the blue signs with the “H” to find the nearest hospital.

I took a deep breath and parked by the emergency entrance.

Two women in scrubs were outside smoking. I could feel them watching me as I unlocked the back door and climbed inside. I turned on the dome light above my head and unlocked the box.

It was the same as Bobby. Black foam around his mouth, his black eyes staring at me blankly. Dead. It might have happened when the choppers took out the queen.

I leaned out and called to the women by the door.

“Excuse me! Could you have someone come help me with a body?”

“Sure.” The taller of the two threw her cigarette in the ashtray and went inside as if people brought bodies to their hospital in big, black vans every night. Maybe they did.

Three orderlies came out and pulled the Haunt out of the box, putting him on a gurney and wheeling him inside.

“You're probably not going to want to do anything to the body. Homeland Security or some other agency will be getting involved at any moment.”

I sat on the bench outside the hospital and called Ray.

“Done?”

“No.” I rubbed my forehead. “I ran into a bit of a problem.”

“Like what?”

“Bobby's dead. He was turned into a Haunt. The Haunt you sent him to bring in is dead too. There was a Bug…” I shuddered, not wanting to finish the sentence.

“You're serious? You came in contact with a live Bug?” He must have thought I was messing with him.

“Very much alive.”

“Shit!”

“Yeah. A queen I think.”

“You'll need to get the paperwork in for that. I'm pretty sure that pays pretty good.” I could hear him rifling through papers.

“Thanks, Ray. I'm fine by the way,” I snorted.

“Sorry. When you get a chance, if you could ask someone for the paperwork that would be great.”