NorthWest (John Hazard - Book II) (29 page)

It was that conniving bitch who would have to carry the blame all the way to hell for this, not him. Unfortunately, he would probably be the one who would have to explain this to the families of the others if they didn’t make it home. He had been through this kind of thing before, and it weighed heavily on his shoulders as they walked on.

The stand of trees was only a narrow strip that stood between the river and a large clearing. They could see the open area through the shadows when they were about halfway through. They walked faster, hoping they might actually be on the edge of a populated area, and that hope gave them the renewed energy to keep going.

John stopped walking and listened. Emily stopped next to him and turned, trying to read his face. “What is it, John?” She stepped closer.

“Listen, do you hear that?” He turned his head like a directional antenna, “I don’t… wait, I do hear…”

“Helicopter!” she squealed.

“Run, Em, run!” He grabbed her hand and took off for the clearing with her dragging behind him trying to keep up.

As they broke through the trees, the helicopter was just entering the airspace above them. The whoomp-whoomp of the chopper blades was really loud now, and they were both running to the center of the open field waving their arms screaming, “We’re here! We’re here!”

Frank had glanced away from the ground to the fuel gauge as they passed over the clearing. It was only seconds before he looked back, but long enough to pass over the desperate couple on the ground.

“Wait a minute! What was that? Go back!” He thought he had seen something out the corner of his eye. His instincts told him that John was around here somewhere, he could just feel it in his bones.

“Did you say go back?” asked the pilot through the headphones that were now hanging around Frank’s neck. Setting them back on his head, Frank leaned forward to repeat what he had said. “Go back! I saw something in that clearing,” he yelled into the mike.

“I didn’t see anything. Man, are you sure?” The pilot sounded skeptical.

“Fuck, yeah! I’m telling you I saw them! Go back!” Frank yelled. “Come on! Get this thing turned around!” Reluctantly, the pilot pulled controls to swing the chopper into a banking curve and headed back to the clearing.

John wasn’t sure if they had been seen. He was looking for some way to signal the chopper, even if it meant setting the field on fire. He thought about how unpredictable the wind here could be. He might start a fire and burn them both to death if it shifted, so he quickly gave up on the idea.

Emily was devastated. The helicopter had flown right over them. She was starting to have visions of them collapsed in the woods, unable to go any further, emaciated by starvation, being fed on by wolves! They were going to die out here after all!

“It’s coming back!” John yelled. “It’s coming back. Let’s get to the center of the clearing so they can see us this time.” He grabbed Emily’s hand and they hauled ass toward their best chance at being spotted, directly in the center of the open field.

A roaring shriek, the sound they never wanted to hear again, came from the trees behind them, snuffing out the spark of hope that had fired in Emily. She could feel her heart breaking.

The chopper continued in their direction while they turned to see three aliens bounding out of the wooded area. “Look for something to fight with!” John shouted as he scrambled to find anything he could use. He was hoping for rocks, or branches, or anything to use as a weapon.

He had checked his belt for his knife, but it had somehow been lost, perhaps in the river when they had flipped the canoe. Now they were totally unarmed, out in the open, and unprotected. He felt a cold wave of dread creep up his spine. This seemed almost unreal, like some fucked up sci-fi movie and they were about to experience a really bad ending.

The monsters were raging across the clearing at top speed, but then slowed and spread out to surround them for the attack. The loud noise preceded the chopper as it again entered the airspace above the clearing. The aliens stopped their advance for a moment and shrieked at the aircraft coming in above them.

Frank saw John in the center of the clearing. “There!” he called to the pilot who had already seen them. Three creatures appeared to be moving in for the kill. They had John and the woman with him surrounded.

These aliens had grown nearly to their full size and were almost as large as the creature that had taken their plane from the sky, the one that had fastened John and his classmates to the trees. They stood up on their hind legs as the helicopter approached, howling at the intruding aircraft. While they were distracted, John was getting a closer look at them. He was checking for any weakness he might exploit.

“John, take this.” Emily thrust a large pointed rock into John’s hand as he kept his eyes directed at the monsters.

“What the fuck are those things?” Frank yelled into his mike as he reached for his rifle. “Get me in closer. I gotta take a shot and I can’t wait until we land!”

From the ground, Emily tried keeping her eyes on the aliens while looking out for John. She was waiting to see what would happen when the chopper landed, if they would make their move. Her mind was racing and her breathing quickened sending her into a coughing fit. “Be careful, John! We’re so close...”

John was holding the rock in his hand like a dagger. He stood with his knees slightly bent to gain more stability. “When they touch down, fuckin’ run for the chopper and don’t look back! I’ll be right behind you, I promise.”

“No, John.” She set her hand firmly on his shoulder. “I can’t leave you… I don’t want to go without you. Not now.”

He saw tears in her eyes, and told her, “Just do it, Em. I got this.”

That’s when the shot rang out. The high caliber slug from Frank’s rifle slammed into the head of the alien closest to them causing it to explode in a cloud of orange mist. It flipped backwards and hit the ground. The other two monsters let out a blood curdling scream. They looked toward their fallen brother, shrieked in unison, and leapt for John, their razor filled jaws open and ready for the kill.

A second shot rang out, and another of the creatures slammed to the ground. A hot hunk of lead had blown a fist-sized hole clean through it. While it thrashed around screaming in a pool of its own blood, the other monster rammed head-on into John.

John had lunged forward to meet it with the rock in his hand. He brought his arm up and deflected the protruding bony blade of the alien. The impact somehow stunned the creature. It had not expected to be counter-attacked and the two of them tumbled in the grass, tangled in a struggle of life and death.

From the helicopter, Frank was freaking out, yelling for John to move out of the way. The wrestling match on the ground made it impossible to get a clear shot. He could draw a bead on the thing, but one quick move as he was pulling the trigger and John could go down instead.

Emily hadn’t run. She meant it when she’d said she couldn’t leave him. Beyond being grateful that he had saved her ass several times, she had grown extremely attached to this man. In fact while they had lain on the riverbank together she realized she’d fallen in love with him and now was not the time to run away.

She felt helpless as she watched John squirming to avoid the alien’s slashing teeth. Its claws and the bony bladed arm thrust at him as they struggled, rolling over and over. Frustrated and frightened, she turned to the chopper and yelled at Frank, “Shoot the motherfucker! What are you waiting for? Shoot it!” She saw him shake his head and realized his desperation. He couldn’t risk the shot.

From behind her came a loud ‘Kraack!’ as John landed a lucky blow to the joint on the monster’s bladed appendage, breaking it off clean. It lay there on the ground, and as Emily saw it, she thought how much it looked like an ancient stone dagger. The kind you might see displayed in a museum. She looked at John, and then back at the creature, and she knew exactly what to do.

She dove for the blade without considering any possible consequences, and grabbing it, she rolled and ended up on her feet. From somewhere deep inside, her pent up rage exploded as she screamed, “Now you die, you son of a bitch!” and she launched herself into the air.

With all the fury inside her, she landed squarely on its back. She wrapped her legs around its midsection while grabbing one of the scaly layers with her free hand. She held on while raising the blade above her head. With all the strength she could muster, she brought the thing’s own fucking blade down, plunging it deep into its fleshy neck.

Pulling it free, she turned her face as an orange fountain of bloody gore sprayed in her direction and into the air behind her. The creature jerked back and let out an agonized shriek as she slammed the blade down again. It scrabbled, trying to reach around and throw her off, but she wasn’t about to be tossed.

The stench of alien blood was overwhelming, and burned her eyes as she struggled to hold on and keep from vomiting. She pulled the blade up and jammed it in again.

“That’s right, motherfucker! You die now!” she screamed continuing to stab it again and again. Her body was covered in slimy orange and greenish goo as the monster howled in agony.

Still, it tried to grab John who was fending off clawed hands, gnashing teeth, and an occasional slap from its tail. He was exhausted beyond comprehension. Every second seemed like eternity, and he was fighting for his life.

All it would take was one mistake and he would be gutted right there on the ground. He could hear Emily’s war cries and knew she was attacking it. The thing kept howling in pain and orange blood was gushing out of it and falling all around him.

The beast lurched one last time and gave up its struggle as she drove the blade into the back of its head. It fell to the ground away from John, tossing its enraged rider into the grass beside it. He was incredulous as he saw her roll away, covered in slop.

“I thought I told you to run, wild thing,” John called to her as he was getting up from the ground. Winded and bleeding from a wound on his head, he limped over to her and extended his hand to help her up. “Please tell me you’re not hurt.” He grasped her arm and helped her to her feet.

“Oh, I’m just fine.” She spit out some slime that had dripped onto her lips. “Was I supposed to run off and leave you here to get ripped apart by that ugly bastard? No fucking way, John! I hope it’s okay if I say that I care way too much about you for that!”

“I’d kiss you if you didn’t have that orange shit all over your face, but how about a rain check?” He put his arm around her as they heard Frank yelling at them. “Hey, you two, I’ll get you a fucking room. Now get your asses over here! Let’s go home.”

“Yeah, let’s get the hell out of this place,” John said.

“You don’t have to ask me twice! Let’s go!” and they limped toward the chopper.

Frank had jumped out and was standing there wearing a huge shit-eating grin. He gave them a hand as they stepped up into the chopper. Yelling over the noise, he asked, “So what the fuck were those things?”

“Remember that shit I told you about, the thing that happened back in Idaho?” John looked at him directly.

“Yeah man, that was some weird shit too.” He slid the door on the helicopter closed for take off as he climbed in behind them.

“Remember I told you we couldn’t tell anybody about it because they’d think I was crazy?” He twirled his hand next to his bloody head making the crazy sign.

The chopper engine revved as it lifted off the ground.

“That’s why I don’t tell anybody about it either.” Frank replied handing a headset to Emily.

“Well, Frank, you can add this one to the list of ‘no fuckin
’
way can we say what really happened’. Unless, of course, I need a witness when I have to explain why me and Em here are the only ones who made it out alive.” He looked at her and added, “Oh, by the way, Frank, this is Emily. Em, this is Frank.” He was putting on his headset as he spoke.

“It’s nice to meet you, Frank. Thanks for the backup!” She held out her hand to shake his.

“My pleasure,” he said as he reached out to shake it until he saw the orange slime. He grimaced and grabbed a rag from a storage bin and handed it to her instead.

“Nobody is going to believe this.” Emily shook her head as she tried to wipe some of the sticky goo from her face and arms with the rag.

“I know, babe, story of my life. Now that we have more in common, I think we should spend a lot of time together talking about it.” He smiled at her.

“You betcha, my alien-wrestling super-marine detective! A lot of time!” She wiped her lips with the rag and planted a big one right on his mouth.

The chopper lifted up out of the clearing and swung wide on a flight path toward Seattle. Behind them lay the three dead aliens where they had fallen. The sound of the engine faded away and the sun was low in the sky. The birds and the rustling wind were the only sounds to be heard, and all was peaceful.

Suddenly, from a nearby stand of trees, came a horrific howling shriek…