White Walker (17 page)

“He’s still alive,” Judy said as she turned back to
the pile. A steel girder moved within the pile, snow slid to the
floor from the top of the pile, and as they watched a head emerged.
It wasn’t Cody. Nor was it Norman. It had Norman’s features, but
they were chiseled in cold blue ice just like the creature Kevin
had become. Judy backed away as the head widened to a pair of
shoulders. More snow fell upon the struggling figure and Teddy
pulled her into the hallway.

At the front door Teddy suddenly stopped, causing
Judy and Jasmine to run into him from behind as the memory of the
spiraling funnel that had confronted him when he came in surfaced
in his mind. Beyond the glass door the snow swirled in erratic
patterns as it fell from the slate-gray sky above. In the lot, the
few vehicles that had managed to make it in that day were buried
beneath featureless mounds of snow.

Would they have time to shovel out his truck?

“What’s wrong?” Judy said.

He didn’t want to go out there.

From the depths of the building behind them came the
sound of more of the roof collapsing. Followed by a change in air
pressure that gently pushed them against the door.

“We have to get out, now,” Jasmine said as she
stepped around them and pushed against the door.

“Don’t,” Teddy said, reaching out to stop her.

“What’s wrong?” Judy said. He felt her hand on the
small of his back, pushing against him with growing impatience.
Reminding him of the responsibility he now shouldered.

“I can’t go out there,” Teddy said.

“We have to,” Jasmine said as she shook off his hand
and pushed through the door. Wind swept the door back against the
building with a crash that shattered the glass. The sound jolted
Teddy from his thoughts and propelled him reluctantly forward.

“We can use my truck,” Teddy said. The wind battered
at them as they crossed the lot and Teddy realized the snow was all
heading in the same direction, just as it had earlier right before
that towering funnel appeared.

It’s coming,
Teddy thought.

“Which one is your truck?” Jasmine said from the
front of the short line.

Teddy pointed at the mound of snow closest to the
building. The tops of the tires were still visible, but not much
else could be seen. Leaning into the wind, they approached the
truck as Teddy spotted movement from the corner of his eye. On his
right the snow was gathering itself up into a funnel and he briefly
imagined what it would be like to let something like that take him.
He glanced to his right, noting how the funnel had already formed
and was stretching itself to its full height.

They were twenty feet away when the funnel slammed
itself down upon the roof of the truck. Glass shattered, the force
of the blow flattened the roof of the cab, and two of the tires
exploded as what looked like a mountain of snow was dropped on top
of the vehicle.

“What the hell was that?” Jasmine said as she fell
back against Teddy.

“It doesn’t want us to leave,” Teddy said as the
sound of approaching footsteps came to him from the right. He
glanced in that direction to see the thing Norman had become
shambling towards them. The snow was gathering itself up for
another display of its power. Teddy grabbed the two women and
propelled them ahead of him across the parking lot.

“Where are we going?” Jasmine said

“I don’t know, but we gotta get out of here.”

From the storm behind them they heard the sound of
the building they had recently inhabited as it was torn asunder by
that which inhabited the storm. Parts of the building rained down
around them, slamming into the snow-covered pavement.

“There’s David’s truck,” Jasmine said as she led
them towards another innocuous pile of snow. “I have his keys.”

They were within ten feet when a thick arm of snow
slapped down upon the truck, destroying it.

“We’re not going to get out of here alive,” Judy
said.

“Keep going, it takes it a little while to build up
its strength.”

“Takes what?” Jasmine said.

“I don’t know,” Teddy answered truthfully.

Be it divine intervention or just plain dumb luck,
they all heard the sound of a motor idling somewhere ahead of them
in the storm. They moved towards the sound, coming to the back of a
Ford Super Duty that sat idling in the middle of the entrance.

“That’s Marie’s truck,” Teddy said.

Together they followed the side of the bed to the
cab. The driver’s side door was closed and Teddy knocked on the
glass. When no one answered, he pulled open the door.

Marie sat behind the wheel of the truck, frozen
solid, a grimace of pain permanently etched upon her face. Her
husband sat beside her, his head turned to look into the back seat,
locked in that position by the bone-numbing cold that filled the
cab.

“We’re gonna die,” Judy said.

“Not if I can help it,” Teddy said as he climbed
onto the running board. He hadn’t known Marie for very long, so his
heart held no remorse as he pulled at her arm and watched
impassively as her body tumbled from the cab. “Open the other
door,” he said as he climbed in behind the wheel.

In the rear view side mirror, which was heated to
prevent ice from building up on its surface, he noticed the falling
snow as it turned in one direction, gathering itself up for another
display of its power. Snowflakes that had once been swirling
aimlessly about turned to follow a single path leading to a point
somewhere behind them. There was no time to mourn, no time to
worry. No time for anything but running.
How far would they get
on a quarter of a tank of gas?
he wondered as he glanced at the
fuel gauge.

More like how many gallons to the mile
. He
recalled Marie’s response to one of the other managers’ question
about the behemoth’s range when she originally purchased the
truck.

Judy struggled with Albert’s frozen body as Teddy
watched the towering funnel of snow gathering directly behind them.
They were quickly running out of time. He reached across the center
console and pushed Albert out the door. Judy clambered in as
Jasmine climbed into the back seat. The base of the funnel of snow
behind them was twice as wide as the truck and he knew it was about
to happen.

Jasmine watched through the back window as the
funnel of snow drew itself up to its full height. She sensed a
sentient purpose to the apparent aimlessness of the swirling snow.
High above her, the top of the funnel double over along its length,
the black eye seeming to survey the scene below it, and in that
bleak emptiness she felt its purpose. She was witness to something
she could not comprehend. She could, but to accept that explanation
would mean she’d have to throw out everything she ever believed in
up until this moment. Yes, there was a god, yet at the same time
there were gods, minor deities who ruled various aspects of the
natural world around them. Weakened over the years by man’s
indifference to their power. Hesitantly, she reached out to it on
an emotional level.

Suddenly the funnel pulled back, its top vanishing
into the swirling snowstorm, and she knew what was coming. She had
seen its power when it crushed Teddy’s truck, only at the time she
had not known what she was witnessing. Now she understood and a
timbre of fear echoed in her voice as she yelled at Teddy, “Get
this thing moving.”

“I’m trying,” Teddy said as he yanked down the shift
lever and tromped his foot on the gas. Jasmine watched, fascinated
and afraid at the same time, as the funnel of snow descended
towards them. The rear of the truck fishtailed as the funnel
slammed into the empty road where the truck had once stood. It
unfolded like a collapsing tower as they raced ahead of it. Jasmine
couldn’t look away, terrified yet fascinated. The truck was jolted
to one side, its tires momentarily losing traction, spinning on ice
and snow, as the last of the funnel slapped the rear of the bed,
snatching away the tailgate, shattering the taillights, the pieces
not dropping to the ground but spinning away into the void of the
funnel, vanishing into the emptiness that resided in the eye. Then
the individual snowflakes that filled the walls of the funnel were
released to follow their errant paths to the ground.

All of this Jasmine watched, aware that this time
they had avoided death. But would they be as lucky the next
time?

The windshield wipers struggled to keep up with the
falling snow. Chunks of ice adhering to them left wide streaks on
the glass as they whipped back and forth. Teddy yanked the wheel to
the left as a snow-covered object loomed up in front of them.
Jasmine and Judy screamed as they were thrown to the side in their
seats. The sound of tearing metal came from the right front corner
as they grazed the back of a snow plow that had become stuck.

Teddy was aware of a face at the window in the cab
of the truck as they passed by on its left, then the truck faded
into the storm as they continued on their way. He had an idea, as
far-fetched as it seemed, that they could get out of the storm by
driving to its edge, and maybe beyond the influence of that which
inhabited the storm. None of them were really safe under those
churning clouds.

More objects loomed up in front of them, the snow
covered lumps of abandoned vehicles. The snow changed direction
again, gathering itself up by pulling together individual
snowflakes to create a whole. He glanced into the rearview mirror,
taking his eyes from the road for only a moment, but that was all
it ever took, a moment of inattention.

They came to a shuddering stop, crashing into the
rear of an abandoned vehicle, knocking the snow from its roof, and
exposing the window that in turn revealed the shadow of someone who
had taken refuge from the storm inside. Judy screamed as Teddy
slammed the shifter into reverse and stomped on the gas pedal. All
four wheels spun on the slick snow as they inched backwards; the
tires spun crazily but the truck was moving so painstakingly slow.
The vehicle in front of them followed, their bumpers locked by the
impact of the crash, the transmission straining as it carried the
weight of both vehicles.

Jasmine watched through the rear window as that
towering funnel of snow quickly grew behind them. Vanishing into
the dense clouds above, gathering itself up for a killing blow. It
undulated like a twister ripping across the open plains, then
lashed forward like a whip transferring all of it power to the
tip.

At the last moment, the conjoined bumpers
surrendered to the incessant pull and they shot backwards at an
angle, darting out from under the funnel of snow as it slammed into
the ground. The funnel crushed the car they had been entangled with
in a plume of snow that slowly settled to the ground around the
flattened vehicle. Teddy glanced at Judy, hoping she was not aware
someone had been in that vehicle, relieved to find her attention
fixed on the storm behind them as it gathered itself up for another
blow.

He dropped the shift lever into drive and pulled
away, skirting around the wreckage, his gaze settling on the blood
that was slowly staining the snow a bright red. He felt sick to his
stomach. He had just witnessed the death of an innocent stranger
and for some reason that carried more weight with him than what he
had seen at the call center, all of which had taken on the feel of
a half-forgotten dream. Guilt assailed him. His inattention had
caused the death of another and he struggled to push away the
feelings as they raced headlong into the swirling sheets of falling
snow. Later there would be time to contemplate his actions, but for
now he had to remain focused on one thing, getting them out.

“Do you think we’re safe?” Judy asked as she looked
around with haunted eyes.

“Not yet,” Teddy sad, refusing to take his eyes off
the road. Headlights loomed ahead of them, coming from the other
direction, followed by a plow that raced through the storm, its
blade lowered, the snow lying on the road before it tossed to the
side.

“Shouldn’t we try to stop them?” Jasmine said.

“Why? It doesn’t want them. It wants us.” He glanced
away from the road. “It wants Judy.”

They had been climbing a slight incline and from the
sheets of swirling snow ahead of them the hump of the hill
materialized; beyond it the day looked brighter, as if the storm
had dissipated along the ridgeline. As Teddy had hoped, the massive
bulk of the Big Savage ridge had kept the storm confined to the
lower elevations surrounding Frostburg. Beyond the ridge lay
safety. It was just a matter of getting there in one piece.

“We’re almost there,” Teddy said.

The snowflakes falling around them shifted direction
again, falling into that familiar pattern, and Teddy squashed the
gas pedal beneath his foot, grinding it into the floorboard in an
attempt to squeeze out every last bit of power from the engine
screaming under the hood. But no matter how much power he put to
the transmission, they were restricted by the need to remain in
four-wheel drive low in order to keep their traction on the slick
road. Sweat beaded on his forehead as the hump of the ridge slowly
got closer. The wind shrieked around him, crying out in defiance,
and rage, he was sure, at their eminent escape.

“It’s coming,” Jasmine screamed as that towering
funnel of snow, the biggest she’d seen yet, dropped towards them
with a savage intensity.

They were moving too slowly. Teddy realized as he
watched through the mirror on his left. The funnel slapped into the
ground behind them, sending up plumes of snow from the force of its
impact, the air around them filled with the thundering sound of
their impending doom. He ground his foot harder on the gas pedal,
coaxing every last bit of speed from the truck, aware that it was
not nearly enough for them to escape unscathed.