Tar: An apocalyptic horror novella (11 page)

W
alking along the road
, the sound of his own boots and the long empty road seemed to cause an effect that, Steven thought, sounded as if someone was following him. It was all in his head though……surely. He dared not turn around
just in case
there was something there and felt ridiculous that a grown man could feel such a way. Broxy continued to pull on the lead, practically dragging Steven forward, which pleased him in a way as the walk would finish slightly quicker that way.

Coming up to a bend in the road, he turned to head up towards a farm. The farmhouse stood like an oppressing figure watching him, daring him to continue his journey. He could see that no lights were on which unnerved him as he thought at this time of night there should be someone about. Approaching the house he could see barns littered behind it, no animals appeared to be stirring. The silence was suffocating.

Must be out in the field

Swinging the torch left to right and back again, he surveyed the fields as far as the light would reach. He could see a few sheep lying on the grass, not even a flicker of movement as the light glanced over them. Broxy slowed his pace as they passed the field. Eventually he stopped, eyes glued to the sheep.

“Come on Brox, leave them to sleep” Steven muttered, tugging the lead to hurry Broxy along. The dog finally relented, but it took a bit of persuading. He carried on along the road waving the torch slowly back and forward while Broxy had slowed right down and was now alongside him.

Halfway there
Steven thought.
Why was I so worried?

Rounding the corner past the field, the road straightened out for, what seemed like, eternity. He continued along the road with Broxy picking up a bit of pace moving slightly ahead of him.

In the distance something caught Steven’s attention, a light on the horizon shined in the darkness. A split second later he heard the faint rumblings of an engine and his brain made the connection. As the light and noise got closer he found a suitable patch of grass to stand on. He pulled Broxy onto the side with him. The car slowed as it passed and the driver stuck his hand in the air as a thank you. Steven returned the gesture then stepped back onto the road. As the car disappeared into the distance behind him, he suddenly became aware of how quiet it was. The breeze had died down so there were no rustling leaves and no birds made a noise. Just silence all around. Broxy seemed to notice a shift in the atmosphere as well, stopping right next to Steven with his ears down low.

Pointing the torch forward, Steven had to practically drag Broxy out of his daze and back along the route. Usually it was the other way around, but something had changed tonight. Steven gulped and a chill ran up his spine. He needed to get Broxy back on track and head home before his fear crushed him. Up ahead, a forest seemed to provide an eerie looking archway into which the road continued. The darkness looked impenetrable.

E
dging closer
to the intimidating archway, a slight noise to Steven’s right startled him. It sounded as if it came from behind the hedge. He swung the torch in that direction immediately but couldn’t see anything. Standing staring at the hedge he found he couldn’t actually move, frozen with fear at the sudden break in silence. Steven held his breath and waited for another noise but nothing came. It took all his might to turn and move his feet one in front of the other when another noise sounded. Closer this time. Broxy stood still with his ears up straight, staring at the hedge.

“Broxy, come here,” Steven said in a hushed voice.

In his mind he didn’t want to alert the mystery to their presence, although in reality he knew that it was too late for that. He tugged Broxy’s lead. Broxy remained defiant and pulled back then stopped once the strain was even.

WOOF!

The bark nearly caused Steven’s heart to stop; the sudden noise was like a gunshot in the silence that surrounded them. Such a fright that Steven got, he pulled on the lead hard managing to pull Broxy away from the hedge. Whatever was there must have got an equally big scare and ran, judging from the many noises that ran along the hedgerow. Broxy pulled at the lead again, eager to give chase, but Steven held firm and eventually managed to calm him down.

Carrying on along the road, Steven cursed himself for getting such a start. Especially since it was most likely a rabbit that had caused them both to stop and stare. Broxy seemed to be back to himself, dodging back and forward across the road at the different smells that entered his nostrils. The forest was edging closer and looked quite foreboding but knowing that home wasn’t too far away Steven had plucked up some extra courage to get through this next “obstacle”. Broxy on the other hand, hadn’t. Stopped in the middle of the road, ears pinned back and teeth showing, he refused to move. Even a sharp tug on the lead didn’t persuade him. Steven took a few steps towards Broxy and got down on one knee to stroke his head. Broxy ignored him, his eyes never wavering from the dark void where the road disappeared into the trees.

“Broxy! Brox!” Steven said loudly, trying to break his companion’s gaze, but nothing seemed to work. Broxy had been a rescue dog and his recall had never been that great since they got him, but Steven thought there was nothing else for it. He unclipped the lead from Broxy’s collar.

The second the lead was off Broxy let out a small whimper and then turned and ran back the way they had just came. Steven was still down on one knee, shocked at the sudden exertion of energy that Broxy displayed and barely able to register what happened. It took Steven a few seconds to stand up, but when he did he started shouting for Broxy to come back. Shining the torch in the direction the dog had ran, he noticed there was no sign of him. No noise, nothing. The sudden feeling of isolation dawned on him and his imagination began to run in overdrive. That was when panic set in.

Swinging the torch left and right sharply, not focusing on any one thing in particular, he suddenly turned to the road that disappeared into the woods. Remembering Broxy’s intense stare, he shined the light towards the darkness to see if he could identify what had triggered the strange reaction from the dog. The light didn’t seem to help; it lit up the entrance slightly, but quickly disappeared and failed to penetrate the rest of the darkness.

Silence all around, it was as if time had frozen. Nothing moved and Steven felt as if he was stranded on Earth all alone. Breaking free of his trance, he was about to turn back to search for Broxy when a noise caught his attention. He struggled to place the sound, but it wasn’t something his mind could identify. It was like a low rumbling sound, almost a growl but not quite. It had certainly broken the silence and turned Steven’s blood to ice. His heart started to race and felt as if it was about to leap out of his chest, but he managed to keep his shaky hand in the general direction of the entrance.

What was that? Did something just move?

At the same point his mind asked the question, the branches began to slowly move and Steven could hear- what sounded like feet moving through mud. Another growl emerged from the woods but this one was louder than the last. His body nearly shut down, but a mixture of fear and curiosity ran through his body, the latter outweighing the former. Steven managed to move his left foot backwards, just a half step, ready to turn and run if something came out of the darkness but the growl died down. Curiosity was slowly gaining ground in the internal battle between itself and fear, but hadn’t won yet. His foot managed to come back level with the other one now. Screwing his eyes up to see through the light into the darkness for any sort of movement at all, he failed to see anything. He decided it was time to turn and follow Broxy’s idea, except instead of running he would back away slowly. Backing away, one shaky foot after the other, his eyes were glued to the entrance looking for any sign of movement. Steven felt as if he could have heard a pin drop he was listening that carefully. Turning around to face the way he had come, he tried to quicken his steps whilst keeping the noise down.

SNAP!

The noise shattered the silence causing Steven to stop mid step.

This is it. This is the end.

His mind conjured up horrific images from all the horror films he had seen over the years. Some abomination, government experiment, alien, monster had been living in the forest near to his new home. The split second his mind came back to reality he heard the pounding of footsteps on the road. He wasn’t sure whether to look or not. The footsteps were too close but Steven decided to turn his head anyway.

Before his head could make it right round he felt the full force of something jump on his back and knock him to the ground. Falling forward, the torch fell from his hand and bounced on the road, the light blinking a couple of times before dying out. Screaming in pain, he could feel stabs of pain all over his back.

Thoughts of Amber, the new house, Broxy and the future that could have been filled his mind. He’d lost himself in his thoughts but the sharp pain that registered on his neck brought him crashing back to reality. The pain was immense; it felt like sharp knives carving him up. A warm fluid ran down his top and pooled on the ground underneath him. He could feel it, a river of blood, his life draining away.

Then suddenly it stopped.

T
he weight
on his back had gone, the knives were gone but the pain persisted. Silence surrounded the countryside, and then a slight breeze rustled the hedges on either side. Puzzled by the cease of the attack his fight or flight instinct kicked in. He slowly extended his arms and tried to push himself up off the tarmac. Pain shot through his body like a fire running through his veins. The effort it took to lift those few inches off the ground was immense. He had to lower himself back down and rest. He tried again after a few deep breaths. Only this time when he tried he heard something behind him.

Or is it my imagination?

He froze for what seemed like eternity but never heard anything else. He resumed his push up.

Suddenly, a deep growl came from behind him. He couldn’t tell how far away it was, but he knew it didn’t matter. He wasn’t surviving this. As Steven accepted his fate, a long sigh left his body before agony shot through his right leg. Suddenly he was being dragged backwards towards the dark entrance.

Broxy had been right to run; I should have done the same

That was Steven’s last thought before unconsciousness took him.

A
mber had started
to pace the floor by the time she checked her watch and realised Steven and Broxy weren’t back yet. She knew Steven’s secret even though he tried to hide it, but his body language couldn’t lie. She never mentioned anything to him, instead waiting for him to reveal it in his own time, if at all. She didn’t want him to feel embarrassed if she brought the subject up and knew that male pride would probably kick in and he would deny it anyway.

“He wouldn’t be out this long with the dog,” she muttered to no-one.

Just as Amber finished the sentence she thought she heard a noise at the back door. Almost like a scratching noise. She turned to face the kitchen, making her way slowly across the living room. The scratching noise gained intensity and volume as she got to the kitchen. Amber stared at the back door, not sure what to do. Her brain couldn’t quite work out what the noise was. It was as if lots of rats were trying to scratch their way through the door.

As her hand was reaching to the handle, her heart was thumping so hard she thought it would burst out of her chest. Her hand rested on the handle for a few seconds before slowly applying pressure downward. The creak of the brass door handle cut through her. Before the handle was fully down, the door burst open giving Amber such a shock that she stumbled backwards and fell over.

Before her body could compose itself, a black blur flashed by her. She thought she recognised it.

“Broxy….?”

The dog had sprinted through the kitchen, paws struggling to gain grip on the smooth lino and skidded into the living room. Immediately Broxy was up, gave himself a shake and ran for the sofa, making his way behind it. After a few seconds of shock Amber stood up, legs still shaking and headed slowly to the living room gently cooing Broxy’s name in a bid to coax him out.

“What happened Brox?” Amber asked, as if expecting the dog to magically start talking to her.

Broxy didn’t so much look at her but looked through her, as if in a trance. His body was still trembling. A chill ran up Amber’s spine.

“Where’s Steven?” she asked, a tremble of panic coursing through the sentence.

Amber was on her hands and knees right next to the terrified dog, trying to comfort him but he still shook. Her mind was in a daze – the need to find out where Steven was, but also to comfort Broxy at the same time.

With her mobile in hand, Amber dialled Steven’s number. Somewhere nearby she could hear the annoying pop ringtone he seemed to love so much. With a blaze of panic flowing through her body, she instantly darted out the back door, assuming Steven to be there wondering why she was in such a state. That mental image disappeared as soon as she stepped outside and realised he wasn’t actually there. The ringtone continued to ring as she slowly realised that it was actually inside the house. Turning back into the kitchen she spotted his phone lighting up in the corner of the worktop.

Fuck!

She stood up quickly and rushed through to the hall to get her trainers and jacket. Slipping her trainers on and zipping up her jacket, she made her way through to the kitchen drawer looking for the spare lead in a vain attempt to convince Broxy to go with her. As she approached the shaking dog it was obvious that that wasn’t going to happen.

“It’s OK Brox, you stay here.”

Broxy let out a whine as Amber headed towards the front door.

Stepping out into the darkness, it suddenly dawned on her that she had forgotten a torch. Turning round to open the door, the security light came to life and cut through the darkness, lighting up the driveway.

Better get one anyway

Opening the door, she headed through to the kitchen and the drawer that contained the random items that always came in handy. At the back she found the torch. Clicking the button twice the beam flashed on then off. She decided to look in on Broxy so stuck her head into the living room – he still hadn’t moved from behind the sofa but seemed to be shaking slightly less. His sad eyes that pierced into her didn’t bring her any relief though.

The security light was already off by the time Amber went back outside but it came straight back on as soon as she was detected like a guardian bathing her in a protective glow. She headed down to the end of the drive clicking the torch on before the security light decided to switch itself off again.

The dark had never bothered Amber before, but the silence in the air as she stood wondering which way to go unnerved her. She expected to hear birds tweeting or even crickets in the fields nearby.

But there was nothing.

Pull yourself together Amber.

Having had a look at the surrounding area prior to putting an offer on the house, Amber knew there was a house nearby, what looked like a farmhouse. She faced that direction and decided to head that way.