NorthWest (John Hazard - Book II) (24 page)

“Run! No, wait!” He ran back to where Karla was clinging to the tree. He tried to remember everything he had ever seen on TV about bears. Wasn’t there something about bears on those papers Macy had given them? Should they run?

By now the bear was nearly upon them. “Get behind me Karla!” Eddie said, taking a stance, holding the hatchet up preparing for what might be a charging wall of a bear. The damn thing looked bigger than anything he had seen on television, this one probably weighed eight hundred pounds.

The bear slowed and Eddie thought it just might turn and leave them alone after all. No! All of a sudden it reared up on its hind legs and tilted its head in a loud roaring growl. Long trails of drool flew from its jowls as it established its dominant position preparing to charge.

Eddie held his position gripping his hatchet with both hands like a baseball bat, ready to swing with every ounce of strength he could manage. Karla was whimpering behind him, or maybe she was praying.

Eddie slowly backed away, keeping his eyes riveted on the bear. He was afraid that he would be attacked and dragged from behind if he tried to run away. Visions of bear attacks he had seen on television and in movies flashed through his mind while he tried to figure out what to do.

As he backed up, he bumped into Karla who seemed frozen in place. He nudged her to move back. “Back up Karla,” he whispered over his shoulder, “this fucker is not going away.” The bear roared again, but Karla was not moving. Eddie had to push hard against her to get her to move.

Suddenly, the bear howled and jerked as though it had been struck from behind. Its arms flailed wildly while its head twisted around trying to reach its back. Karla shrunk back against the tree in a futile attempt to make herself invisible. She pressed her face against the rough bark and squeezed her eyes shut.

“John?” Eddie called, but it was not John who had come to the rescue. “What the hell?” Eddie’s mouth gaped open as a clawed arm burst though the midsection of the bear. The giant bear dropped down on all fours and rolled violently to one side. Eddie realized they were in deep trouble. Two aliens were clinging to the bear’s back, one chewing a mouthful of bear guts and the other biting off huge chunks of meat and swallowing them whole.

In all the excitement and confusion, they had somehow missed the possibility that the bear had been charging toward them because there were monsters chasing the bear. Now several more of the aliens piled on as the bear roared in pain and rage. It twisted its head back and grabbed one of them in its powerful jaws throwing it to one side. From behind the tree, Eddie got a view of raw bone and internal organs as hot blood gushed from the wounds.

The bear made a futile attempt to stand. It thrashed about for a moment before falling back, smashing the four bastards on its back as it fell. There was a cracking, squishing sound as they were crushed by its weight. Like a pack of wolves, more blood-spattered monsters were closing in from the side. Larger than the first who had attacked, they obviously had been feeding well that morning, and had now grown to nearly five feet tall.

Eddie was spellbound. By the time his brain registered Karla’s scream, he had already wasted any chance he’d had to escape. “Stay back, you ugly motherfuckers!” He swung the hatchet back and forth at the three advancing aliens while four or five more were busily tearing into the bear.

From the encounter with the deer earlier that morning, Karla understood that when these monsters were busy devouring their catch, they were fully occupied and didn’t chase after anything else until they were finished. The tiny gears in her brain were churning as she sized up the situation. If they turned and ran away now, neither of them would stand a chance. She had a choice then.

She could leave Eddie there and try to save herself, or she could stay and fight with him. Yes, Eddie had been good to her, but she knew that was because he was totally obsessed with her. Though his courageous attempt to protect her now was rather admirable, if they somehow got out of this, she would owe him a debt that she might never be able to repay. He would expect something in return – something that she really did not want to give to him, a real relationship or even marriage. Her mind was reeling with the possible price this rescue would demand from her.

“Fuck that!” She yelled out as she checked out Eddie’s wide stance as he braced himself for an attack.

“What?” asked Eddie as he continued swinging the hatchet, afraid to turn his head to look at her. Steeling herself, she used the self-defense moves she had learned to manage unruly men at the club. Bringing her foot up in a swift arc with all of the force she could muster, she made a direct hit between Eddie’s legs, kicking him squarely in the balls.

“Aarrrgh! What the fuck!” Eddie didn’t go down immediately, so she kicked him again. This time he dropped the hatchet and went to his knees grabbing his groin and doubling over in agony. He turned to look at Karla searching her face for a reason for her betrayal.

Wasting no time, she snatched the hatchet off the ground. “Sorry baby,” she said, and ran in the opposite direction as fast as her shapely legs could carry her. Behind her she could hear the shrieks of the creatures as they dove down on Eddie. He screamed his last words, “You fuckin' whore!” as thousands of razor sharp teeth ripped him to bloody shreds.

Karla was running for her life at top speed by then. The wheezing of her lungs as she gasped for breath was loud enough to block the sounds of Eddie screaming. Eddie… she had just lost her ticket to a new future… but would there even be a future for her

Eddie’s screams had been silenced when she’d heard a loud cracking sound like a baseball bat slamming a ball to a home run. Karla shuddered when she thought that it might have been the sound of his skull being crushed. Could it have really been that loud or was she beginning to imagine things? Cold shivers of fear and dread crept up her spine propelling her on. It would not be long before the alien creatures would be after her, and fearing the same fate as Eddie, she ran like the wind.

Forty Seven

Karla had run for survival before. There had been many close calls to escape the trouble she had gotten herself into, and she had always managed to get away. But never had she faced anything that came close to the blood thirsty enemy behind her now. The trauma of the mayhem, or maybe just the physical exhaustion caused her mind to slip back in time as she ran blindly through the trees. It was as though she was searching for something… something she could apply to save herself once again when it was her turn to face the aliens… alone…

The bright rays of the mid-afternoon sun shone through the window of the plush hotel room as Karla dialed the number for room service. She felt pleased with herself after a long week of hustling stooges at the club. She had actually made enough cash in the last two days to catch a flight to Vegas for the weekend.

Sometimes these little trips were just a bit of rest and relaxation, and other times she would end up with some rich businessman, fresh from the tradeshow floor looking for a bit of fun before he returned home to his wife and kids. This had been one of those trips.

At this very moment, she was plotting to increase her stash of hard-earned cash. The fool in the bathroom was whistling as he washed himself in the sink. He had left the door partially open and she could see him, through the gap, with his pants around his ankles, scrubbing his balls with a washrag. As far as he knew, he was preparing for an afternoon of wild sex with this hot babe. She knew better.

Right about then there was a knock at the door and Karla walked across the floor dressed only in her black lacy lingerie, which made her look especially alluring. She opened the door and allowed the young man to push the cart into the room. He couldn’t help but stare at her, slack-jawed, as she gave him a tip and ushered him out the door.

She worked quickly then as Phil, or Paul, or whatever that asshole’s name was, finished cleaning up. From her bag, she pulled a small plastic zip-sealed baggie of white powder and poured it into one of the wine glasses on the cart. Lifting the bottle of wine from the chiller, she poured some into the glass, stirring the powder with her finger until it dissolved. She wiped her finger on the underside of the cloth that covered the cart, and poured a second glass of wine.

Just then, Phil, now she remembered his name, emerged from the bathroom. Except for the monogrammed hotel bathrobe, he was naked and obviously ready to go. It was time for her to take control of the situation.

“Let’s have a couple of drinks, shall we? Before we get down and dirty.” She handed him the drugged wine before holding her glass up for a toast. “Here’s to everything you’ve ever fantasized, baby, right here, right now.”

“I can drink to that,” answered Phil, raising his eyebrows in an attempt to look sexy. He chugged down the entire glass of wine and made a face as he tasted the bitterness of the drug. “Wow, that is the worst wine I think I have had in a long time. Reminds me of some shit my dad used to make. It has a terrible aftertaste.”

“I guess it’s that cheap Vegas stuff. I think they take an empty bottle from some expensive well-aged wine and fill it up with cheap shit,” she said in her most sultry voice. “Let’s have one more.”

She filled his glass again, but didn’t top hers off because she had only drunk half of it on the toast. She raised the glass again. “To us!” She smiled as he clinked her glass against his.

“To us.” He smiled back at her and chugged the second glass. “I guess it’s like anything else. Once you get used to the taste, it’s not too bad. That one tasted better.”

When she finished her glass, she told him “I need to go freshen up. Why don’t you sit out on the balcony and soak up a few rays while you wait. I’ll only be a few minutes.” She winked at him.

“Sure, sweet thing.” He smiled and stroked her cheek before walking toward the sliding glass door.

As she walked to the bathroom, she stopped and pulled her lipstick from her bag, then went on in and locked the door behind her. She had placed her clothes carefully in the bag earlier and got dressed slowly to pass the time. After the requisite twenty minutes had passed, she checked herself in the mirror, wiped some stray lipstick from the corner of her mouth, and unlocked the door.

To her surprise, she found two men standing there in the room. One of them was standing in the doorway to the balcony and was talking to someone outside. The other was holding her large handbag and rifling through it.

“What the fuck! What are you doing?” she yelled when she realized what was happening.

“Here she is, guys! We can go now!” The guy closed the bag and put it under his arm. He stepped toward her, announcing, “I’m Officer Wilkins, and this is Officer Jackson, Vegas P.D.” The other cop nodded and smiled. He stepped forward in her direction as the first cop continued, “And you, Missy, are under arrest. Please put your hands on top of your head.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Karla noticed the door to the room standing slightly open with no one guarding it. She didn’t think about it, she just reacted. Snatching her purse from under the cops arm, she ran out the door and bolted for the stairwell with the two cops in hot pursuit.

She ran then as if her life depended on it... She turned the corner and saw the red EXIT sign above the stairwell door. She was almost there …

Ooomf! Karla stumbled and slammed to the ground. The fall snapped her back to reality like a slap from one of her abusive ex-boyfriends, and she quickly stood up and got going again. She was clutching the hatchet in her hand so tightly that her knuckles were turning white and her fingers were numb. The weight of it was slowing her down making it harder to keep her balance. There was no way in hell she was going to get rid of it to be able to run faster.

The small branches whipping into her face kept her ducking to avoid them when she could. Something was moving to her left, just past the trees ahead of her. Instinctively, she began to slow her pace. What was that? Her body did not react to what her mind was beginning to take in as she stumbled on past the tree that had been blocking her view.

Too late, she saw the three aliens just as they saw her, about a half second before the collision. They were moving toward her at least as fast as she was moving toward them when she slammed into the two in the lead. The impact sent them tumbling into a mound of moss and grass. She lost her grip on the hatchet and it flew a few yards beyond her reach.

The third creature had time to adjust and avoid the impact. It stood looking at all of them with a strange expression as though it were laughing at them.

Karla got to her knees, frantically looking for the hatchet that had been knocked from her hand. There it was, lying in the dirt about fifteen feet away. She made a mad scramble to retrieve it pushing the dead leaves and dirt before her while she crawled. As she was about to close her fingers on the handle, she turned to see if the monster had noticed what she was up to.

Time slowed as the alien sprang over the two others she had toppled. With its razor tooth rimmed jaws open wide, it seemed to be coming at her in slow motion. She instinctively held up her arm attempting to shield herself.

They say that when you are about to die, your whole life flashes before you, that you see all of the things you could have done better, and the opportunities you missed when they were presented. You remember the mistakes that caused you and others to suffer as the circuits fizzle and fade. Karla recalled this stupid concept. She instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. As the thing landed, she said the last words she would ever utter, “Oh Shit!” and realized what a load of crap it all was – everything about her entire life.