part0023

Oh good, he missed , was the first thought that flashed through Ana’s mind as she smelt the burning follicles. Then came the shriek from behind her, the sound of a thousand voices coming from one mouth. She whipped her head round in time to see a strange semi-translucent silhouette pinwheeling on the edge of the deck, hands raised to its head, the flare buried in its mouth. It took a step backwards, flames sparking like a Catherine wheel, until the flare burst into life with an almighty explosion. The deck was showered with blood, bone and a thick, phlegmy mucus that must have been the remains of the thing’s head.

It stopped, staggered and toppled overboard, splashing into the sea.

‘What the fuck was that?’ whispered Ana. She turned to Ricky who held the smoking gun in limp, trembling hands. It slipped from his grasp, clattering to the deck.

‘Oh Jesus I killed him,’ he said .

Ana wiped warm liquid from her face. The smell was revolting.

A wet slapping sound turned their heads.

Something was climbing the ladder. A hand clutched the rail, sinuous fingers wrapping around the metal bar. Ana dragged Rachel towards Ricky, still frozen in place, a useless statue.

Behind them the creature clambered on board, the water running down its emaciated body. It dropped onto all fours and faced them, sizing them up, searching for the biggest threat.

‘We need a weapon,’ shouted Ana. ‘Ricky, wake the fuck up.’ He just stared at his empty hands like they were the first ones he had ever seen. ‘Ricky!’ she screamed. The thing crouched down, spreading its body wide. Ana’s eyes darted across the boat for something, anything she could use to defend herself.

‘Where’s the harpoon?’ asked Rachel in a frenzy, scrambling to her feet. ‘Find it!’

The creature, perhaps assuming that the male would be the most dangerous predator onboard, dashed forwards and threw itself onto Ricky, the pair of them tumbling onto the deck. Ricky howled in agony as his head hit the wooden flooring with a crunch. At least it seemed to rouse him from his torpor, his arms coming up swinging, landing soft blows on the creature’s arms and torso. Spittle leaked from its chin as the beast opened its mouth wide, baring the tiny sharpened pebbles of its teeth. Ricky held his arms in front of his face as the thing leaned forwards and fastened its jaws onto his forearm. It sounded like someone taking a bite of an apple as the teeth tore into his skin and muscle and came away a chunk of flesh. It spat the meat to one side and raised its head again, blood pouring from between the ragged jaws .

It gave Ana just enough time to act.

She tossed aside water bottles and life jackets until her hands found the harpoon gun. She grabbed it and ran towards the creature. She considered firing but was afraid she’d miss.

This was not the time to leave things to chance.

Instead, she slammed the spike of the harpoon upwards into the open mouth of the monster, the tip rupturing the soft palate. The creature fell backwards, writhing on the deck. Ana lunged forward and grabbed the gun, her fingers searching for the trigger. The creature cast its arms out, reaching for her, the harpoon keeping it at a safe distance. Ana levered the weapon until it pointed upwards, and then she squeezed, ejecting the sharpened metal at immense velocity. It blasted forth from the skull of the beast and disappeared into the night, leaving a gaping hole in the back of its head.

The creature twitched, shuddered and died.

Peace was momentarily restored. Ana sat down heavily, placing a hand over her heart, feeling the intense rhythmic beating subside like it was running out of battery.

The silence was at once beautiful and terrifying.

‘I told you it wasn’t human,’ said Rachel from behind her.

Ricky sat up, clutching at the bleeding wound on his arm and whimpering softly.

‘What was that?’ he said.

No one had a good answer.

‘I dunno, but I killed one on the beach,’ said a dazed-looking Rachel.

‘And we just killed two more,’ said Ana, not taking her eyes from the corpse, not even for a second. She realised she was whispering. They all were.

‘How many are there?’ asked Ricky.

‘I don’t know,’ replied Rachel.

‘I don’t wanna find out,’ said Ana. Her whole body felt numb. She clenched and unclenched her toes and fingers, closing her eyes to try to think straight. It was no use. She crawled towards the cadaver. It was lying on its back, mouth locked in an eternal scream, the harpoon gun jutting out between its teeth. She prodded the body with her foot.

‘What is it?’ asked Rachel. Ana merely shrugged. It certainly looked human. The proportions were mostly correct at least. The skin was stretched taut over the bones, so much so that she could see the veins and musculature beneath. But it had two arms and two legs. Below the arms, on the torso, were two more small nubs. She checked the other side and found the same, two stubby under-developed limbs, the missing-link in a bizarre and hitherto unknown evolutionary chain.

‘It’s so pale, like it’s never seen the sun.’ She squinted at the chest. Was something moving in there?

‘Rach, is your phone still working?’ Rachel removed it from her armband and checked. Two percent battery. She sidled over to Ana, keeping as far away from the body as possible, and handed her the phone.

‘Careful,’ said Rachel. ‘The one I killed had something living in it.’

‘That’s what I want to check.’

Ana swiped on the lock screen and brought up the torch function. She switched it on and turned the beam to the corpse. Up close she could see the ribcage, and below it the intestines. The bones were shrivelled and worn looking, the guts stringy and purple. There was definitely something moving inside. It scurried away to avoid the light.

‘Spiders. When I killed it, spiders came out. Lots of them.’

Ana involuntarily jumped back. She looked at her sister. ‘That’s not possible.’

‘None of this is possible. Just keep away from it, okay? Please?’

Ana nodded. ‘No fucking problem.’

The phone died and only then did she realise how dark it had become. The sun was long gone and now only the moonlight cast its pearly glow on the island.

Rachel tended to Ricky. She wrapped the neon vest tightly around his arm to try to stem the blood loss. Ana thought about telling Rachel that Ricky had tried to assault her and decided not to. This was neither the time nor the place. Plus, he currently wore the shell-shocked expression of a returning Vietnam vet.

‘We need to get out of here,’ she said.

‘And go where?’ asked her sister.

‘We’re safe here,’ said Ricky, grimacing as the makeshift bandage tightened over his arm.

‘No. They know we’re here. We’ve fired enough fucking flares for the whole island to see. We have to move. What if a hundred of those things come for us? What are we gonna do, hide downstairs and not answer the door?’ She tried to control the panic in her voice.

‘Maybe there aren’t any more of them?’

‘Oh yeah? You wanna take that chance? Fine, you stay here and me and Rachel will go.’

‘Ana!’ said Rachel, surprised at the vehemence of Ana’s voice. She hadn’t seen her sister this assertive in a long, long time .

‘No Rach, I’m serious. We’re sitting ducks out here on this floating death trap.’

‘Where do you suggest we go?’

Ana thought for a moment. Why was she suddenly in charge?

She pointed to the outline of the abandoned building on the hill.

‘What, we just trek through the jungle in the middle of the night, yeah? Great fucking plan,’ snapped Ricky. ‘Ow!’ he shouted as Rachel tightened the bandage with unnecessary force.

‘Sorry,’ she said coldly.

‘At least they won’t know we’re there. And it’ll give us a good vantage point of the island. We can wait there til morning and weigh our options.’

‘I agree,’ said Rachel. ‘The more time we waste here, the higher the chance that more of those things will come along.’

‘And what if that’s where they live?’ said Ricky.

Ana hadn’t thought of that. She wanted more time to think, but time was now an unaffordable luxury. ‘Then we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. I don’t think it will be. After all, the smoke was coming from the other end of the island.’

‘You think those things can create fire?’ asked Rachel.

Ana shrugged. ‘I dunno Rach, I’m not a scientist.’ She sighed, her shoulders going limp. The fight was leaving her again, the adrenaline wearing off. ‘But yeah, probably. They’re more human than anything else I think. It’s like they’ve been…infected , or mutated in some way. I can’t explain it. ’