Silas: A Supernatural Thriller (41 page)

Why can’t anything ever be easy?
I thought.

62

We drifted through a swirling white world. All around us the carnivorous worms still emerged, passing by our tiny boat like phantoms in the mist. The sickening smell of them, like crab meat covered with feces, forced me to cover my nose. I heard Silas and the girls whimper as that same nauseating scent reached them.

The boat swayed each time Will and Kaiser dropped their oars in the water. With the weight of us all, not to mention the water that collected below our raised feet, now a good inch deep, our progress seemed much too slow. I listened for clues, trying to decipher how much our pursuers had gained on us, but heard only splashes that seemed to come from all around. At one point someone screamed – an injured, desperate wail – and I assumed one of Big Guy’s underlings had gotten a little too close to the water. It sounded far away, as if it occurred in another place and time.
Good
, I thought.
They’re not as close as I thought.

Eventually the fog lifted and I spotted the opposite shore. A long hike awaited us there, up the grassy side of the mountain and over its crest. I looked at my crew of four very young girls, two teenage boys, and one wounded dog, and then peered behind me. We’d gained a decent amount of distance between ourselves and the fog, and there was nary a mutated human or skiff to be seen. Maybe their long, slender boats had been too small and they’d all been consumed by the Larvae, who were nowhere to be seen. If only we could be so lucky.

Silas sniveled and started trying to rub his damaged face against the dinghy’s rusty side rails. I again reached around Molly to comfort him. He pressed the leaking, empty eye socket into my palm instead. He didn’t move any more than that, there was only the breath coming from his open, panting mouth. I again thought of the ridge ahead of us. From the amount of blood he was losing, I feared he wouldn’t have the strength to make the climb.

Blood.
Oh, no
, I thought.

I hastily tilted at the waist and peered at the spot where Silas sat, wedged in the corner. The dinghy was slathered with red. It dripped down the side in rivulets, coming perilously close to the water gathering at the bottom. I swallowed hard and sat bolt upright in my seat, surprising Amanda enough that she jumped.

“Um, Kaiser,” I muttered.

“Yes, Mr. Ken,” he replied from behind me.

“You said if any flesh touched the water it would attract the larvae, right?”

“Uh-huh,” he said.

“Even if it’s blood?”

“Paul said they could smell just a drop of it from a mile away.”

“Oh, shit.”

“What is it?” asked Will.

I grunted and sat up. “How much longer until we reach the shore?”

“Um,” said Kaiser, “Maybe ten minutes.”

I looked at the side of the boat. The blood stream was inches from taking the plunge. “We don’t have that long,” I said.

I once more turned around and saw a dark shape appear in the fog. It was small and wide, so not a worm. A second later the nose of a skiff poked through, followed by Big Guy’s scowling face. It seemed I had two choices – death by worm, or death by mutant. The former seemed like the better gamble. I’d rather take my chances against things that acted on blind instinct than Big Guy and his cronies. In fact, I thought I might be able to use the
Larvaes
’ instinct to our advantage.

“Screw it,” I muttered.

I dropped my booted feet into the water that gathered in the boat and stood up. Kaiser screeched as the boat rocked. He and Will turned around, looking at me as if I’d gone insane. A loud groaning came from the other side of the lake, the sound of a thousand garden hoses rubbing together.

“What are you doing!” they screamed in unison.

“Put your feet down,” I ordered. “You’ll get more leverage that way. And row as fast as you can.
Both
of you. And Laura and Tina, you two get up here.”

Kaiser and Will did as they were told, thrusting their arms at breakneck speed, trying to keep even with each other while the two girls climbed over them. I knelt in the cold water and gathered all four girls around me, huddling with them like a rugby scrum.

“Okay, girls,” I said, “we have a job to do. We’re going to lean over the side and use our hands as paddles. We need to get to the other side as fast as possible. You understand?”

“Yes, Mr. Ken,” said Molly in her cherub voice. The rest simply nodded.

“Good. Now go over to the side, hang on, and get to work.”

They did so, and I told Silas to stay put while I made my way to the bow. I leaned over the front and plunged both my hands in, paddling like I was doing the butterfly stroke. I knew it wouldn’t do much good to have me and the girls help – Will and Kaiser would do the vast majority of the work – but I needed to have as much flesh as possible in the water if my plan had any chance of succeeding.

A roar came from the rear. I heard snapping boards and human screams. I propped myself up and peered between the madly rowing teenagers. From within the fog emerged the blood larvae – hundreds, if not thousands of them. Their massive bodies slammed into the advancing skiffs, knocking a couple over and smashing a couple more. Those that fell into the water were immediately descended upon, with rows of circular teeth grating into them from above and below. I saw Big Guy teeter and almost tip over, but he somehow kept his skiff upright.

“More!” I yelled at the girls. “More!”

They paddled faster, and soon the larvae came at us again. They formed a wall in front of Big Guy and the rest of his charges who’d remained upright, which was a relief, but now I had a different concern. The larvae were fast – much faster than I expected. We were still a good distance away from dry land. We wouldn’t make it.

I felt spikes dig into my back and a dark shape flew over me. I ducked my head, expecting one of those pterodactyl things I’d seen at the Dreadnaught’s compound to pick me up and carry me away. But when a splash sounded a moment later, I looked into the water and saw Silas, doggy paddling. He stared at me with his one good eye and managed to bark, even as water spattered into his open mouth.

“What’re you doing!” I screamed, reaching out my hand. “Get back in here!”

Silas barked again.

I went to stand up, my body shaking with terror, and my hand fell upon the rope that floated in the water below. It was tied to a loop at the front of the dinghy. I picked it up and stared at it dumbly. Silas barked again and I showed it to him.

“This what you want?” I asked.

He yipped, this time choking as water rushed down his throat.

I reared back and heaved the rope into the water. It splashed down in front of him and he grabbed it between his teeth. He then swiveled around and swam forward. Amazingly, the rope pulled taut and we seemed to pick up speed. It didn’t seem possible. Sure he was a strong dog, but strong enough to pull us through the water? I guess the answer was yes.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw the Blood Larvae still there, gaining fast. Then I faced forward, watching the approaching shoreline. Fifty feet to go. Thirty. Twenty. The girls were panting as their tiny hands worked as hard as they could, Kaiser and Will breathed like they were in the middle of a marathon, and Silas pulled us along, his sharp breaths creating clouds of mist before him. The seconds seemed to stretch on forever, but then Silas rose out of the water. He ran across the grassy inlet without slowing down, the rope still clenched between his teeth. We were only five feet away.

It was time.

“Everybody out!” I shrieked. I grabbed Molly by her waist and hurled her from the dinghy, followed by Laura and Amanda. Tina jumped off by herself. They landed in water up to their thighs and sloshed through the remaining distance. Kaiser and Will followed, leaping over the side like long-jumpers, scooping up the girls as they dashed onto dry land. I went last. My injured foot struck a rock when I landed and I bit back a scream. Suddenly, everything hurt – my chest, my mouth, my neck, my face, my hip, my foot. It took every effort I could muster to lift myself out of the water and limp up the side of the mountain.

The larvae crashed into the dinghy. I heard the screech of twisting metal as they pummeled the old boat, but I didn’t dare turn around to see. Seeing how long their tube-like bodies were, I didn’t want to take the chance of them plucking me from supposed safety. But then Silas was by my side, sprinting with a strange doggy smile on his ruined face. He leaned into me as if to tell me something. I slowed to a jog, then stopped, leaned over, put my hands on my knees, and gasped for air.

“Are we safe?” one of the girls asked. I couldn’t tell who.

“No,” I heard Will answer.

I lifted my head and looked to the lake below. Amazingly, I’d run a good fifty yards up the mount without realizing it. I watched as the larvae formed a living coat over the water, madly thrashing as they searched for food that wasn’t there. But then I saw the remaining four skiffs, maneuvering their way around the failed feeding frenzy. They’d land on shore in a matter of minutes.

Someone tapped my shoulder. “Where are we going, Mr. Ken?” asked Kaiser.

“You know of a tree around here? A tree that isn’t really a tree?”

He shook his head.

I rolled my eyes. “It’s right around where you found me. You remember where that was?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now lead the way. We don’t have a lot of time. We’ll worry about the tree once we get there.”

Without giving my heart a chance to slow down, we were off and running again, high-stepping it through the tall grasses as we ascended the slope.

From down below, I heard Big Guy bellow.

63

There were no more thoughts of imaginary monsters leaping out at me as I pounded my feet up the mountain – mainly because there were real-life ones one our tail. My heart raced and my mind went blank. All I could think about was reaching the summit, which grew more substantial in my bouncing vision.

Kaiser and Will kept close watch on the girls, even going so far as to pick up little Molly when she fell a few steps behind. I couldn’t believe how fast their tiny legs moved, how easily they climbed the rise while my own legs ached and threatened to give out on me.

When we finally reached the top I turned and looked back down the mountain. The blood larvae had retreated back into the lake’s depths by then. The four skiffs were tossed haphazardly on the ground. Their riders now climbed after us, still a good distance behind yet closing in. Even from that distance I could make out Big Guy in all his naked and tattooed glory. The Mercedes hood ornament hanging from his lip reflected the light of the massive red sun high overhead. He scaled the incline with ease, zigzagging and never losing speed. His brethren had a hard time keeping up with him. Seeing that, I knew we’d have a hard time staying
ahead
of him.

“Let’s go,” I said. Everyone had been stooped over, catching their breath. They all gazed up at me with tired eyes before picking up the pace again.

All but Silas, that is. Despite his wounds, blood loss, and the amount of effort he’d already exerted, he was a whirlwind of motion. He looped ahead and behind, barked at our pursuers, and made sure everyone moved forward in a tight bunch. We were his pack, his family, and there was no way he’d leave any of us behind. When we crested the slope and entered the forest, he steered Kaiser, who remained in the lead, away from the darker, more formidable areas. The trees rose up around us, wide as skyscrapers and just as tall. The canopy blocked out the sun, making us run ahead in near-darkness.

The earth sloped and we started slip-sliding our way down. The leaves under our feet were slick with moisture. Somehow I stayed on my feet, despite the extra weight of my pack and my sweat-soaked clothes. My mouth was dry. I felt close to passing out. If we didn’t reach our destination soon, I would.