Instinct (51 page)

Why shouldn’t the world end? Why shouldn’t the world be rid of the last remaining survivors of the disappointing human experiment?

She felt rage bubble up inside her and then she remembered the face of Robby. He had saved her once, and had never asked for anything in return. In fact, when he had needed help, she left him. He never once complained, and didn’t retract his friendship for her.

The vines pulled her closer and closer to the light. They showed no regard for her safety or well being. She had delivered Luke to the vines, but they didn’t offer her special treatment. She was stuck in their thorns just like everyone else.

Regret came late. As her feet disappeared under the carpet of vines and she felt herself descending under the light, Judy finally felt regret. She had played a part in the end of humanity, even though the people who had hurt her were already gone. She tried to take a deep breath, but the vines constricted around her chest.

CHAPTER 43: TUNNEL

T
HE
ANIMAL
CHARGED
FORWARD
, until it stood at the crossing of the tunnels. The group shrank back as it screamed and bared its teeth.

Robby took a step closer and the animal gave a snort before stepping closer to him. The reflection of the lava made its eyes glow. Robby saw the front leg rise up and then stamp down at the dirt floor of the tunnel. It tossed its mane with another stamp.

With the next toss of its head, the beast clacked its teeth together and flared its nostrils.
 

Robby felt Ty’s giant arm press him to the side, as Ty brushed by him.

The horse reared up at the giant man and Ty wasted no time. He slid forward with amazing speed and grace. He dodged between the striking feet and drove his shoulder into the horse’s chest. It seemed like he was lifting the horse up, but that was impossible. The horse must have been rearing higher to get away from Ty’s bear hug. Whatever the reason, the horse’s head lifted higher and it crashed into the flow of orange lava on the ceiling.

The glowing fluid splashed out from the confines of its flow and rained down. Ty was protected—blocked from the splashing lava by the body of the horse, but glowing globs of the stuff burned into the horse’s head and mane.

Ty slipped to the side and let the animal crash to the ground. He danced out of the way as the horse’s thrashing feet pawed sideways. It looked like it couldn’t decide if it should run or roll in the dirt, and it was doing a combination of both. Suddenly it sprung up, and Robby saw that the lava had burned away big patches of flesh from the horse’s head. Everyone pressed themselves to the side of the tunnel as the horse sprinted between them, running to where the tunnel ended at the vertical shaft. The horse didn’t seem to notice. It ran straight for the gap and never slowed or turned.

The horse ran straight and flew through the air until it hit the column of vertical lava. The lava cut through the horse like a bandsaw. Cauterized halves of the horse thrashed and flopped as they disappeared down into the darkness.

They continued on, climbing as the tunnel pitched upward and spiraled around.
 

Robby explained as they walked. “I saw this in the vision I had from the mural. The thing creates its gamete carriers from local animals. We’re lucky that the only thing it had at its disposal was horses and people. It could have been bears or lions.”

“Or dinosaurs,” Romie said.

“What do these gametes do?” Tim asked.

“They’re the things that will fertilize the egg. They’ve been here forever. That’s what makes a place special—the seeds of the thing have been underground the whole time. They’re here, and under Stonehenge, and the Pyramids at Giza. Anywhere the thing has landed before. It choses the site based on the presence of those seeds.”

“Even my house?” Brad asked. “There was nothing special about my house.”

“Must have been,” Robby said. “If the gamete carriers are being created, then it won’t be long before the portal opens for the egg. I was hoping we had more time.”

“To do what?” Lisa asked.

“We have to destroy the rest of the gamete carriers and stop whatever is creating them before it takes them all.”

“Takes all of what?” Brad asked. “The horses?”

“No,” Robby said. “The gamete carriers will just as likely be people. That’s one of the things it needs the people and animals for. Everyone from back at the farm could be taken over, just like that horse.”

There was only a little light in their part of the tunnel and it was difficult to even see where they stepped. Robby was in the lead and he tread carefully, knowing that he could encounter another vertical shaft and slip before he even realized it was there.
 

He was almost relieved to see little tendrils of lava overhead once again. It gave him enough light to see better and he could climb more confidently.
 

He stopped when he saw the dark shape ahead of them. Whatever it was, it was in their way and they would need to get beyond it if they wanted to ascend farther.

Robby took another step.

“What is it?” Lisa asked.

“
Who
is it?” Brad corrected her.

“Pete?” Robby asked.

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Cedric growled again as the dark shape lurched forward.

With another step, there was no doubt. The man approaching was Pete. At least it was Pete’s body. The movement showed none of Pete’s personality. As the face came into the light of the lava, Robby saw nothing of his friend in the features.

Robby realized that the orange glow he had seen in the eyes of the horse wasn’t all reflections of lava. Pete’s eyes had the same glow, and the orange burned like tiny embers inside his skull. Pete’s lips pulled back to show his teeth.
 

“Pete? Are you okay?” Lisa asked. “Where have you been?”

The shape took another lurching step forward.
 

Robby watched Pete’s legs. When he stepped, the leg would jerk up from the dirt, like a string was attached to his knee. But the second step was more coordinated than the first, and he suspected that the next would be even better.

“That’s not Pete,” Brad said. “It’s Pete’s body, but it’s not Pete.”

“Is this one of the gametes?” Tim asked. “You said we had to destroy the gametes, right?”

“No!” Lisa shouted. “That’s Pete. Get the thing out of him.”

Pete took another step. Robby watched the leg. It didn’t jerk as much this time. The motion was almost natural.

“Stop right there, Pete,” Romie said.

The Pete-thing turned to look at her. His next step was in her general direction.

“We’ll just move around him,” Lisa said. “He moves pretty slow. I’m sure after we kill the embryo or whatever, we can figure out how to…”

The Pete-thing’s eyes glowing eyes shifted from Romie to Lisa as she talked. Before she could finish her thought, the Pete-thing charged. None of its earlier movements would have suggested the easy speed with which it now moved. The Pete-thing shot between Robby and Ty before they could even react. Even Cedric barely had time to turn as the Pete-thing ran by.

Brad, who stood right next to Lisa, had the best opportunity to intervene. As Lisa’s hands came up defensively, Brad moved into the space directly in front of her. He was the one who took the bulk of Pete’s impact. The Pete-thing hit Brad in the chest and Romie tried to interject herself in between them. Brad screamed, and the tunnel was a confusion of limbs and bodies.

Robby got to the fight at the same time as Ty, and they pulled at shoulders and arms, trying to separate Pete from Brad. Robby caught an elbow in the forehead. Blood sprayed out from the pile as people hit the ground. Brad screamed.

With everyone pulling at the Pete-thing’s clothes and limbs, Romie and Lisa were the ones to drag him away. They pulled at his feet. His arms thrashed as they pulled him away from Brad. When the Pete-thing lifted its head, Robby saw blood smeared across its face.

Lisa shouted. “Pete! If you’re in there, you have to help us fight it.”

The women held onto his feet, despite the kicking. The Pete-thing clawed at the dirt, trying to get back to where the others stood. It didn’t seem to notice the women behind it, holding it back by the legs.

Brad had a hand clamped to his other forearm. Robby saw the bite as Brad pulled his hand away to inspect it. Blood welled in deep punctures. A patch of skin had been torn away, and the muscle glowed in the orange light.

Brad pressed his hand back over the wound.

“We have to get that disinfected,” Ty said. Brad shot him an irritated look.

“No!” Lisa screamed.
 

Robby turned to see Tim launch a brutal kick right at Pete’s head. The Pete-thing got its hands up enough to soften the blow a little, but its head was rocked back by the hit. The Pete-thing gagged, and its head hung to the side, like a hinge in its neck was bent.
 

Lisa dropped the foot she was holding and ran to stop Tim before he could kick again.
 

Robby thought the Pete-thing had been incapacitated by the first kick, but he had to revise his assessment. The Pete-thing shot out a hand and caught Lisa’s ankle as she ran to its defense.

Her cry was shocked as the Pete-thing pulled her off her feet with one quick jerk.
 

Lisa landed on the ground and Tim kicked again. With this kick, his toe landed squarely in the back of the Pete-thing’s head. Tim jerked his foot back and hopped away. Lisa pulled her ankle from the Pete-thing’s grip.
 

“Is Pete dead?” Romie asked. She dropped a lifeless foot.

“It’s not Pete,” Brad said.

Robby helped Lisa back to her feet. Ty moved to Tim, who couldn’t seem to put much weight on his kicking foot.

Lisa was the last to move on. She stood there, looking down at Pete’s body. She didn’t dare get too close, even though he looked dead. She joined the rest of the group before they got too far away.

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Ty took care of the next two people they encountered. He moved with deadly speed, as soon as their lurching forms came into focus in the dim light. They saw a woman emerging from the darkness with that same uncoordinated, lurching stride. Before she got full control of legs, Ty moved forward and swung a massive fist at the side of her neck. She went down in a heap and Ty knelt to check her pulse while the others caught up.

“She’s gone,” Ty said. His voice sounded sad, but Robby didn’t hear any guilt or remorse there.

The next one went in almost the same way. Tim’s limp had nearly disappeared and he was walking alongside Ty when they saw the bearded man in their path. Tim and Ty both jumped at him, to catch him while he was still jerking around. But Ty’s speed couldn’t be matched. He fell on the bearded man in an instant and the body was slumped to the dirt by the time Tim was within striking distance.

Once again, Ty knelt to check the pulse.

If he hadn’t, the next few moments might have gone differently. Ty was kneeling next to the body, verifying that he was dead. Tim was looking down, while the others were still catching up. Only Cedric saw the next body coming out of the dark. Robby looked up when the dog barked.

This one was younger—maybe just a teenager—and seemed to have complete control of its limbs. When it began to lunge for Ty, Cedric leapt at it.

The teenager-thing shot out a hand and caught Cedric right under the chin. It held Cedric in mid-air as the dog’s legs flopped and clawed at the air.

Ty looked up and was on his feet in an instant. He took a giant step and swung his fist, but the teenager-thing moved Cedric’s body into the path of the blow and Ty had to check his swing. The teenager-thing caught Ty’s wrist in its other hand. With Ty in his grip, the teenager-thing dropped Cedric and joined both its hands on Ty’s arm.

Tim went for the thing’s throat and caught him as the teenager-thing bared its teeth.

Ty tried to swing his other fist, but Tim was in the way and his punch had no power. He turned his head towards the lava on the ceiling as the teenager-thing twisted its hands and snapped Ty’s arm bones. The spiral fractures of Ty’s radius and ulna bones cracked through the tunnel. Robby heard the breaks over the sound of Ty’s scream, and then Ty went silent.

Tim had the teenager-thing by the neck. He clamped the thing’s neck in the crook of his elbow, and squeezed as he pressed his body to the thing’s back.
 

Robby saw the teenager-thing’s eyes widen and then almost pop from their sockets as Tim exerted more and more pressure. The thing let go of Ty’s ruined arm and it reached back to claw at Tim. Its nails left bloody red gouges in Tim’s flesh, but Tim held tight. He didn’t let go as the strength ran out of the thing. He didn’t let go as he lowered the thing to the ground. When he finally did let go, Tim stood and kicked the thing in the head. It didn’t move.