The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) (47 page)

             
He felt Veronica touch his arm.  “I’m afraid it is,” she told him sadly and pointed, “Look.” 

             
Following her gesture he saw Rachel’s broken rotting form coming towards them.  She was still wearing his jacket and her arms were outstretched.  He could feel the baby stirring in response.  Gone was the rage and anger from earlier.  She now understood that her mother had died trying to save her. 

             
Alex watched as the infant stretched a tiny hand towards her mother.  Yes, it was time.  He kissed the baby on the head and got a soft coo in return.  “Thank you for touching our lives little one.  I’m sorry we didn’t get to see how many children you were going to have.  I rather looked forward to being a granddad,” he murmured.  Tears flowed down his face as the babe grabbed one of his fingers and gave it a squeeze.

             
“My turn,” Veronica said in a choked voice, as she took the baby from him.  “Thank you for letting me be your mommy.  I wish we had more time, but this will have to do.  I’ll always love you,” she whispered and kissed her daughter.

              Thinking, ‘I wish I could’ve gotten the chance to hold you once.’ Julie reached out and stroked the babe’s forehead.  Suddenly, she found herself at a christening where she was accepting the title of Godmother. 

             
Then the moment passed and Veronica was walking away with the child. 

             
“Wait! I didn’t get to hold her,” she shouted, and raced to join her friend who was now holding the baby out to her. 

             
As soon as she took the child, Julie blinked.  Instead of an animated corpse, she found herself holding a happy, healthy baby girl.  Staring in amazement, she smiled and cuddled the little one affectionately.  Eventually, she handed her back to Veronica who entered the water and began wading to where Rachel stood. 

             
No words were said, none were needed.  Veronica kissed the baby a final time and then handed her over to her mother.  Rachel took her daughter tenderly and embraced Ronnie tightly. 

             
Finally, they parted.  And Rachel, finally reunited with her daughter, walked deeper into the rushing water and out of sight. 

              While all this was taking place, the situation on the bridge had changed in favor of the living, but in a ghastly manner.  The dead, who had saved Alex, were now taking their revenge.  Like a swarm of red ants, they had climbed and clawed their way up the bridge and onto the creature itself.  Their fury was terrifying to behold as they tore at the black coils.  Occasionally, one of their number would be grabbed and then smashed to bits against the bridge, but the rest continued the assault.

             
Seeing this, Roy shook his head.  It had to end soon.  Turning to his team he shouted, “As soon as Sergeant Ross is clear, I want you to the throw those wires into the water!”  Then, he grabbed his shoulder radio and demanded to know the status of the generator.

             
“We’re just about ready, Chief,” came Ryan’s reply. “Has the cable reached you yet?”

             
Roy looked around uneasily, “Anyone seen Wilson or Rogers!”  When everyone shook their head, he sent two officers to look for the missing pair.

              After helping Veronica out of the stream and back to Alex, Julie glared at him and said, “You could have told me I was to be her Godmother, you asshole.  I almost didn’t get to hold her!”

             
“I was going to stick you with Favorite Babysitter, but Veronica insisted,” he winked, making her laugh.  But his face was pale and tired looking.

             
Turning to Veronica, she asked, “Are you okay?  I know it wasn’t easy for either of you to let her go.”

             
Her friend nodded and smiled. “No it wasn’t.  But I got to know the joy of having a life inside me, the pain of labor, and the miracle of birth.  Rachel let me experience everything she’d been through.” 

             
Then Ronnie turned to Alex, her face beaming. “And you gave me the chance to raise her.”  Gently she reached out and held him close and whispered, “Thank you.”

             
Quietly, Julie got up and left her friends to their moment.  Her ‘godchild’ had shown her all the things they had done together in that psychic reality Alex had created.  “Maybe being involved with a psychic isn’t such a bad idea after all,” she murmured to herself.

             
But before she could dwell on this more her attention was drawn back to the chanting coming from the other side of the stream.  She had been hearing it the whole time in the background, but something about it had changed.  And now she felt compelled to head towards the stream once more.

              Roy saw the two officers he’d sent to find Wilson and Rogers emerge from the woods accompanied by Ryan.  They were carrying a heavy cable between them and dragged it towards the water.  After they were done, he summoned them to his side and asked about the two missing officers. 

             
The three officers looked at one another and then Ryan said solemnly, “They’re dead.” 

             
Peterson’s eyes widened, “HOW?”

             
The younger man shook his head, “It was… They…”

             
One of the others jumped in, “It was as if someone had just left a couple of human skins wearing uniforms lying in the grass.  We didn’t even see what could have done it.  Maybe that thing’s tentacles stretched further than we thought.”

             
Roy turned to look at their adversary and the dead victims who were still fighting it.  Wherever IT came from the laws of man and nature were not the same as here. 

             
“The cable is in the water Chief,” shouted one of his men. “Just give the word.”

             
“Is everyone clear?”

             
“Yes sir,” the patrolman replied, as three more of their dead allies were taken down. 

             
Roy grabbed his shoulder radio and roared, “NOW!”

             
Arcs of electrical power flashed in the water as the current from the jumper cables flowed into it, and up the root-like tendrils.  The creature began to spasm and twist, mainly in its lower regions.  Then the current from the generator hit and then the upper half of the thing began to twitch and smoke, but still it continued to fight.

             
Shaking his head Roy yelled into the radio, “WE NEED MORE POWER!”

             
“It may blow, Chief.  This stuff hasn’t been used in a while,” was the crackled reply he received.

             
Roy paused and watched as their opponent flattened another patrol car.  Tightening his grip on the microphone he said, “Look, if we don’t put an end to this thing tonight, we might not be able to stop it at all.  Now give me that power!”

              Back in the generator house Harold Drake turned to his partner and nodded. 

             
Frank King reached for the lever that would push the ancient machinery to its max, when the door to the room burst open.  “Gentlemen, I’m afraid I cannot allow you cause my associate further distress.” 

             
The two officers stared in horror at the newcomer.  The man’s jaw hung at an obscene angle, with bits of torn flesh dangling from the exposed broken bone.  There were also several bullet holes in his white ruffled shirt and black frock coat. 

             
In spite of the 30 foot distance between them, Drake drew his weapon.  He had been only in uniform two years, but it was enough to tell him knew they were facing a serious threat.   

             
Standing in the doorway, the macabre stranger glanced at the weapon pointed at him.  With admiration he said, “Excellent.  I would have been disappointed if you had chosen not to… oppose me.”  As the last two words left his ruined mouth he snapped Drake’s neck between thumb and forefinger.  While in his other hand he held a bloodied heart.

             
Frank King, a twelve year veteran, stared down at the bloody hole in his uniform. He never saw the stranger move, nor had he felt the man reach into his chest.  It had all happened so fast. Yet his brain continued working long enough to let him grasp a particular lever with both hands.  He took comfort in knowing that the weight of his dying body would close the circuit and send the generator into overdrive. 

             
The aged equipment began to scream in protest at the amount of power it was being forced to put out.  It was up to the task, but not for too long. 

             
The stranger watched in fascination as the turbines began to smoke and sparks began to fly everywhere.  He did not attempt to flee, nor did he try to turn the equipment off.  The damage had already been done.

             
“How inconvenient,” he remarked as the room was enveloped by the explosion…

              At the bridge, the extra surge of power hit the water and its intended target. Blue and white arcs of electricity raced across the creature’s body.  The living dead clinging to it burst into flame, while the tips of the creature’s tendrils began to smolder and crumble.

             
“IT’S WORKING!” cried Olivia Jackson excitedly.

             
“Yeah, but will it be enough?” wondered Ryan.

              At the water’s edge Julie stared across the stream.  The figure in the white wolf skin was still at work, but his dancing and chanting had become wilder, almost feverish.  And it was stirring something deep inside her soul, something tribal and almost forgotten.

             
As the man’s voice grew stronger she found herself following the chant, wondering why she suddenly understood the words.  Now her legs began to move and mirror his and she found her voice joining his in song. 

             
Within moments they brought both the chant and the battle, to a final crescendo. 

              Those who survived the confrontation with the nightmarish creature that night recalled two things which brought the end of the conflict. 

             
A final surge came from the generator house which then exploded, sending smoke and debris for hundreds of feet in every direction.  At that same moment, a large purplish bolt of lightning pierce the night sky and struck the blade sticking out of the creature’s body.

             
It was later determined that the lightning had sent a blast of energy back to the generator, causing it to explode and killing those inside.  However, this did not explain how the cable running from the power station remained completely intact.  Nor did it explain why none of the car batteries and the jumper cables in the water, remained unharmed.

             
In any case the combined power of the electrical surge from the generator and the lightning strike created an unbelievable spectacle.

             
An intense bright light outlined the creature for several seconds, while a loud thunderous roar erupted from the sky.  Then the swirling whirlpool surrounding the blade sticking out of the creature’s body began to swell to incredible proportions.  The gigantic vortex began sucking in the thing’s own tendrils and trunk-sized limbs with a fury.  Tearing and ripping them apart as if they were made of paper, and then swallowing them into its growing maelstrom.  Eventually only the central body remained, and finally, it too succumbed and disappeared within the swirling mass, which then vanished. 

             
An eerie silence fell. The only sounds were that of the rain and the sword falling onto the bridge.

             
No one moved.

             
After a few seconds a loud bang rang out, followed by several more.  The glow of the searchlights revealed cracks appearing all over the bridge, with bits of it already falling into the waters below.  Within moments the entire middle section of the structure collapsed, leaving only a few feet of stonework and railing on either side of the stream.

              “It’s over,” Veronica breathed, breaking the silence.

             
“Not quite, Luv,” corrected Alex, “Look.”

             
Only a handful of those present ever spoke of what followed.

             
Shimmering figures, wearing clothing spanning three centuries, began to rise out of the water.  They made their way to the shore and walked past their rescuers.  Each figure smiled as they continued towards the remains of the bridge.  Where the broken stonework left off, their feet walked on air for several yards before fading from view.

             
“They crossing over,” murmured Roy. “That damn thing wouldn’t even let them do that.  At least now they’ll find peace.”