Fade to Grey (Book 2): Darkness Ascending (18 page)

“Can I carry the light this time?” Eric teased.

“Nope, you be gettin’ dat ol skattergun’ ‘till you’s
gets it right,” Michelle offered up a bad imitation of the old Cajun, and after
a moment both of them burst out laughing.

When they settled down a few minutes later, the area
was still quiet.

“
OK, um . . . everybody. We’ve seen zero additional
movement so far, but we know there’s at least one more of those things out
there. We think it’s a feral. Michelle and I are going to circle the lot a few
times in the truck to see if we can find it. Sam, I’d like either you or
Thompson to follow our progress from the rooftop as best as you can. The other
one needs to keep watching toward the lake and road for any stragglers. If we
can’t find it after a few laps, we’re going to have to regroup and hunt it
down. Any questions
?”

There weren’t, so after another glance in each
direction, Eric shifted the Dodge into drive and slowly circled back towards
Walter’s office.

They had barely gone five feet when Walter’s voice
broke through, “
Um . . . hey, hold up a minute
.” Eric tapped the brake
and waited as the sound of shuffling papers came across. “
Ah, Amy, can you
ensure your radio stays on channel one for a moment
?”

“
Yeah, of course
.”

“
Eric and Sam, can you . . . ah . . . 10-61 to
channel . . . um, how about channel seven
?”

Michelle punched in the code and switched her radio to
channel seven. A few seconds later Thompson’s voice confirmed he was onboard as
well.

“
OK
,” Walter said, “
just something I should
have mentioned before. My bad, sorry. Anyhow, watch your fields of fire.
Especially towards that small building closest to the diesel pumps. We don’t
want anything to go boom that’s not supposed to, OK
?”

“
Understood
,” Michelle and Thompson both
replied.

“
Switching back to channel one now
.”

“
10-4
”

Michelle keyed her radio, “
Amy, we’re getting ready
to start circling. Keep your eyes on the door. There shouldn’t be anybody at
ground level outside, so if you see something, it’s not one of us
.”

“
Got it, anything that moves outside is not
friendly. If I see something, I’ll call on the radio. Do you want us to stay
flat on the floor
?”

“
Yes, at least until we circle few times—maybe
longer—we’ll let you know
.”

“
10-4
”

Eric kept his foot on the brake a moment longer as he
pictured the layout of the marina. While he sat in contemplation, Max’s big
head poked through the sliding window.

“Are you ready?” Michelle asked.

“Almost—just thinking . . . trying to narrow down our
options.”

He picked up his radio. “
Walter, check me if I’m
wrong here, but the two small buildings are solid and locked—no way in from the
outside without a key, even for a smaller person, right
?”

“
Yeah Eric, that’s correct. If the doors are both
shut and locked, those buildings are clear
.”

“
OK, and we know the store is locked down and
secure
.”

“
Yep
.”

“
OK, that leaves us with your office and the boat
storage warehouse, and from what I remember, both of those buildings have entry
points that can’t be secured airtight, correct
?”

“
That’s right. The front side of my office is a
normal door—should be secure. The backside though, has the sliding garage door
that goes into the old motor shop, and another sliding door that opens into the
room where the big wooden picnic table is. Both of those sliding doors can
probably be pulled open wide enough to give a small or skinny person a way in. And
once they’re in, they’d have full access to the building. As for the boat
warehouse, it’s just a pole building. The big sliding bay doors just run on
tracks up top—you could pull the bottom open five feet or more easily—and
there’s also several gaps where the tin doesn’t go all the way down to the
foundation. I’ve had cats, coyotes, and even a big ol’ beaver come in that way
.”

“
OK, that’s what I thought, thanks
.”

Max gave a small, excited whine, and then turned and
licked Eric’s face. Swiveling his head to the right, he nosed Michelle briefly before
pulling back through the window.

Eric’s eyes narrowed in false disgust at the sight of
Max and Michelle bonding, although Michelle’s barely hidden smirk showed that
she knew the truth, perhaps more than Eric did.

It didn’t take her long, “So, that little whine, does
it mean your hairy mutt has to go pee-pee?”

“No, it means he can sense the excitement of the hunt,
and he’s trying to get the pack moving,” Eric replied with one arched eyebrow
and the millisecond-late comprehension of what he’d just set himself up for.

“So, you’re saying that Max considers me part of his
pack now?” She was staring straight out of the windshield as she replied, but he
could see the amused restraint that was forcing her flat line smile almost to
the point of breaking.

“Apparently.”

“Hmmm . . . interesting.”

With a shake of his head, Eric let off of the brake
and drove slowly around the marina. Three laps produced nothing, and he coasted
to a stop out where the gravel met the highway.

“
Walter . . . Sam—everybody else too—we didn’t find
it, so here’s what I’m thinking; I’m going to drive down the road just to our
initial contact point, and then I’m going to circle back and head up the
driveway. Assuming we don’t see anything there, we’ll drive back down to the
marina and make plans for our search. Everybody got that
?”

Three
‘Yes’s’
came back.

They drove slowly out the road, weaving around several
bodies that either Sam or Thompson had put down. Nothing else was visible, and they
turned around just past the corpse in the ski jacket. The drive back to the
marina and subsequent trip up to Walter’s house also produced nothing.

At the top, Walter called them on the radio and asked
them to hold up a minute. The heat blowing from the vent at the floorboard was
just beginning to reach maximum temperature when Walter came out of the house and
walked up to Michelle’s window. Max watched him, but stayed silent.

“You OK?”

They both nodded.

“Do you think it’s wise to search for this thing at
night?”

“Honestly, no. But I also don’t think it’s wise to let
it just run around, either. And we still don’t know if anything else is lurking
out there in the weeds. Either way our choices suck.”

“I hear that,” Walter said, “give me a minute to throw
on a different pair of boots and I’ll come with you.”

“No,” Eric answered—Bernice’s words still fresh in his
mind, “I’d rather have you up here right now where you can help coordinate
things on the radio.”

Walter paused and stared at him. “Don’t try and
protect me, Eric. I ain’t lookin’ for no favors or special treatment. This is
my place, and it’s my responsibility to keep it as safe as I can. No matter
what Bernie says.”

“I’m not. As a matter of fact, I’m counting on you to
keep this place safe. What I’m trying to avoid is having too many people
crowded together in our little hunting party. Besides, there’s no telling where
this thing is.” Eric motioned with his head back towards the wooded switchback,
“It could be fifty feet from the first curve and heading this way right now,
and if so, I’d rather have you up here . . . seriously.”

Walter was silent for another moment, and then he
slowly nodded. “Alright, I’ll be up here with the radio until you give the ‘all
clear’ signal. Besides, I’m still working on my speech for the meeting at the
store. Anyhow, take these.” Two boxes of 12 gauge buckshot were handed through
the open window, immediately followed by a chrome plated pump shotgun. Attached
to the magazine extension tube were two split rings. Walter tapped them with a
calloused finger as he handed the weapon through, “These little clamps should
fit your flashlight just about perfectly.”

Eric took the Quark out of his pocket and snapped it
into the retaining clamps. The hard plastic fingers held the light securely,
but still left enough room to access the flashlight’s on/off switch.

“Thank you.”

Walter patted the truck door, “Be careful, both of
you.” Without another word, he turned and walked back into the house.

Eric drove back toward the marina slowly, swiveling
the truck as much as he could within the limited width of the driveway to get
the maximum coverage out of the truck’s lights. Again, they found nothing.

Halfway there, Amy’s voice came over the radio,
carrying with it several heated shouts. “
Hey Eric and Walter, it’s Amy . . .
we seem to have a small, developing situation down here at the store
. . .”
Several garbled, angry voices began to interrupt her transmission, and she
keyed off for a moment.

“She’s pretty amazing when it comes to dealing with
people,” Michelle said.

“Yeah, and we’ve left her alone in the lions’ den with
a lot of scared people.”

“A lot of the angry ones, also.”

“Angry?”

“Well, I think they’re angry because they’re
afraid—most of them anyhow. But there’s a couple that are pissed because, so
far, Walter hasn’t provided them with room service and a personal bodyguard.”

Eric shook his head but said nothing. He was almost to
the gate when Amy’s voice came back. “
Eric, or Walter . . . is there any
chance I can get one of you to stop at the store for a moment before you start
looking for that thing
?”

“
Walter
,” Eric replied, “
I got this . . .
Sam, I’m going to make another loop or two around the store, and then I’m going
to put the ladder back up. If you’re up for it, I’d appreciate your help when
Michelle and I search for the feral
.”

“
The last time I bailed off of a roof isn’t too
fond in my memories, but I’ll give it another chance. What do you want Thompson
and Scott to do
?”

“
Same thing as before—one of them needs to stay
focused towards the area where they all came from, and the other one needs to
follow us from above. Just remember about shot placement, especially since
we’ll have our boots on the ground. Everybody’s flashlight still juiced up
?”

“
We’re good to go with that up here
.”

“
Hey Sam, leave the AR up there for Scott, and
bring down the shotgun with you
.”

“
Got it . . . in position and waiting for the
ladder
.”

Triple loops around the store, office, and
outbuildings kept their score at zero. They made a final pass from the gas
pumps back to the store, and then Eric pulled up next to the downed ladder.
They opened their doors simultaneously and got out, scanning the immediate area
once again with their flashlights. Once again they saw nothing, so Eric grabbed
the ladder and leaned it back against the store, holding the bottom as Sam came
down.

“
Thompson or Scott, will one of you pull the ladder
up on the roof with you
?”

Indeterminate hands grabbed the ladder, and a moment
later it had vanished up and over the roof line.

Eric hopped back in the truck and drove it twenty feet
forward, parking it at the corner of the store and shutting it off. He left the
keys in the ignition though—pulled out just enough that the reminder
ding
wouldn’t sound. The off-road lights were shut down, but the headlights were
left on.