Skinners Page 3

  “Shit,” Steve hissed. “It looks like they’ve pretty much blocked every aisle.”

  “I think they’re getting bigger too,” Aubrey said.

  “No way,” Steve said, blowing warm breath into his cupped hands. He leaned closer to the frosted glass. The clerk was right; the worms were growing. “What the hell? We need to find something to fight our way through them … a weapon of some sort.”

  Staring at the worms, shaking his head, Thom said, “I don’t know. I don’t like what that one did to the hat rack. It crushed it flat like it was nothing. Let’s just keep an eye out for an opening.”

  Turning to face Steve, Aubrey spoke up. “Speaking of weapons … why did you have a gun on you? And why the hell did you just throw it? We could really use it right now.”

  Unable to make eye contact with the clerk, Steve pulled his phone from his pocket and tried Lisa’s number. When she didn’t answer, he stowed the phone away before muttering, “It wasn’t loaded.”

  Aubrey stared at Steve for several seconds, the air between them growing heavy, Steve refusing to meet the clerk’s gaze. “You son of a bitch … you were going to rob me, weren’t you?”

  “What?” Steve said, laughing his best fake laugh. “No…I just carry it for protection.”

  Aubrey put his hands on his hips. “You carry an unloaded gun for protection? I can’t wait to see what the cops will think of that when they get here.”

  “Whatever, Audrey.”

  “That’s Aubrey. With a b.”

  “Okay, whatever. And in case you didn’t notice, the cops just drove by and left our asses here. Apparently you don’t pull too much weight in this Podunk town.”

  “They’ll be back,” Aubrey said, glancing back through the glass. He gasped, clapping his hand over his gaping mouth.

  Steve registered Aubrey’s surprise, and looked out to see what had upset the man.

  Several of the worms were sliding over the corpses of the man and woman. As their slimy bodies slithered across the dead flesh, Steve could clearly see shiny red muscle and cartilage left in their wake.

  Steve gagged at the sight. “Holyfuckinshit,” he exhaled. “They’re eating their skin.”

  Chapter Four

  Lisa slumped behind the wheel of the Volvo, swallowing deep breaths to calm her nerves.

  When the cop’s lights had filled her rearview mirror she’d slowed down and pulled to the side of the road, a sick, tight feeling in the pit of her guts.

  Don’t run, Lisa, she’d thought. Don’t run. You don’t know that stupid little shit. You had nothing to do with the robbery.

  When the cruiser sped past, followed by the ambulance, she let out a tremendous sigh and rested her head on the steering wheel. She stayed like that for a while, waiting for the shaking of her hands to subside. Her phone’s sudden ringtone made her jump, sending a fresh tremor down her arms to her fingertips. She glanced at the caller. “Fuck you, Stevie. You’re on your own.”

  Friends since their junior year in high school, Lisa and Steve had been through a lot in the past three years. When you pair a homosexual high school dropout running away from his militant father, and the pillhead daughter of an affluent family – now turned full-blown junkie – things can get pretty interesting. At first it had been an adventure, living life on the road like a tamer version of Bonnie and Clyde. But things have gotten out of hand in the last few months. The snowballing path of destruction they were on had to come to a halt at some point.

  The robberies and the heroin were enough for her to call it quits, but what bothered her the most was the guilt. Unlike Steve, she knew she could go back home at anytime. Her parents would take her back without question. They’d even wired her money a couple of times when she’d asked for it. She’d never told Steve about the money and now that things have turned to shit the guilt ate her up. Without question, Steve had done whatever she’d asked. He had become her own personal Renfield, procuring the funds and doing the bulk of the dirty work to keep her veins filled with smack.

  “I guess that makes me Count Smackula.” She barked laughter at her reflection in the rearview mirror. It quickly morphed into choking sobs. She punched the wheel.

  Lisa sat in the car for several more excruciating minutes, filled with indecision, until she finally tossed the phone on the passenger seat and pulled back out onto the road. The sight of the phone resting where Steve usually sat amplified her guilt.

  What the hell happened back there anyway?

  After she saw the second customer shuffle in, and the front window shatter, it had been impossible to clearly see the events unfolding inside the store. She could discern people running about in a panic, shapes crashing to the floor. When the sirens approached she didn’t hesitate. Confused and scared, she’d floored the pedal and got out of there.

  Not my proudest moment, but what was I supposed to do?

  “You dumbshit, Stevie.” She glanced at the phone on the passenger seat again. “It was a simple job.”

  She lifted a hand off the wheel. It shook violently. Lisa needed a fix, and she needed it soon. A fine sheen of sweat broke out on her scalp. She banged the hand on the steering wheel several times, silently cursing the botched job. She decided right then and there to head home, to ask for forgiveness, and help.

  She looked up and saw the ambulance, its back end blocking her lane.

  Lisa jumped on the brake pedal with both feet, whipping the wheel to the left. The Volvo slid, the tires screeching on the pavement. She yanked the wheel in the opposite direction, turning into the skid, her own scream harmonizing with the squeal of the tires. The big car straightened, missing the ambulance by inches, then overcorrected, fishtailing in the opposite direction, the balding tires sliding on the asphalt with ease. The car glided for a good seventy-five feet before stopping. With a jarring thud, the Volvo halted the wrong way in the right lane, facing the ambulance, sidling up next to a police cruiser pulled onto the grass of the shoulder.

  Lisa patted her chest to make sure her heart remained inside her body, took several deep, shaky breaths, and exited the car. The cool night air hit her sweat-slicked skin, raising gooseflesh, causing her to shake even more. On weak legs, she approached the ambulance. The front end rested on the shoulder, the driver and passenger doors flung wide open.

  “Hello?” she yelled, her voice breaking as she continued to struggle for a normal breath. She faced the cop’s car, arms folded across her chest. “Officer?”

  No reply. Blocked from Lisa’s view by the patrol car, the cop’s cooling body lie in the tall grass by the road, stripped of flesh.

  Fuck this. I’m getting the hell out of here. I’m going home.

  She started back toward her car, but stopped when an idea struck her. She turned and stared at the ambulance with a grin. She wasn’t sure, but she thought the EMT’s would probably carry some serious painkillers on board. They would have to, wouldn’t they? There had to be something in there to hold her over until she could make it home. All right, she thought, bargaining with the voice in her head. If I find anything, I’ll go back for Steve, and then we’ll both end this insane road trip.

  “Is anybody hurt?” she called out, approaching the ambulance again, this time hoping for no response. She leaned into the open driver’s side. “Hello?”

  These are the cars that passed me. Where the hell are the drivers?

  Lisa turned back to the empty patrol car, scanned the deserted road, and leapt into the driver’s seat of the ambulance. She sat on something, yelping when the object crunched underneath her, sounding like a neck being twisted by an overzealous chiropractor. Lisa fished the crushed item from beneath her butt, staring in relief at the flattened plastic water bottle in her hand. With a nervous giggle, she tossed it to the floor.

  She’d been in the back of an ambulance before, but that one had been open to the front seats. This one was closed off, with just a sliding window separating the cab from the back. That window was open. She peered through
the dark rectangle. Absolute darkness concealed the rear of the vehicle. Fumbling around the dash, Lisa hunted for a switch that would turn on the lights, but to no avail.

  “Shit,” she spat, slapping the dash in anger. She jumped back to the ground, slammed the door and made her way to the back of the ambulance. The four small bullet holes from the cop’s gun pocking the side of the van went unnoticed. If she’d seen the holes, or the officer’s flayed corpse, things would’ve turned out differently for Lisa. Instead, without hesitating, her focus on finding drugs, she threw open the rear double doors.

  She fanned the air in front of her nose. “Ugh. Smells like someone shit themselves.” Needing something to calm her shakes, Lisa ignored the stench and jumped into the ambulance, vanishing into the shadows within. She felt around, kicking unseen objects on the floor, cursing herself for leaving the phone in the car. The flashlight app would’ve come in handy right about now.

  Her right hand fell on something cool and clammy. She squeezed gently, sliding her fingers along the strange rubbery object. She snatched her hand away as she felt the shape of a foot.

  “Hello?” she said to the darkness, wiping her hand on her jeans. “Are you hurt?”

  The words were past her lips before she realized the stupidity of the question.

  Lisa shook her head. “Duh, you idiot. They’re dead. And you’re getting out of here, drugs or no drugs.

  Before Lisa could leave, a low hum filled the air around her. Seconds later, the darkness fled, chased away by a bright orange glow, illuminating the thing she’d touched, just inches away.

  Lisa didn’t even have time to scream.

  Chapter Five

  Angie waved her hands, signaling the police car and ambulance. The cars flew past, blowing grit into their faces.

  She watched as the vehicles continued past the convenience store, their flashing lights vanishing down the highway. She could still hear the sirens long after the lights were out of sight.

  She saw the disappointment in her brother’s eyes. “It’s okay, Leelee. Someone probably needs help more than us.”

  “I’m hungry, Angie.”

  “Okay … we’ll be at the store in just a few more minutes. We’ll get you something to snack on.”

  “I want Mom.”

  Angie patted him on the shoulder. “Me too. Let’s just get to the store okay? Someone there will help us.”

  Chapter Six

  “What are they doing now?” Aubrey asked. “Are they … fighting?”

  Having cleaned the corpses of all exposed skin, the worms had then slithered under the victims’ clothes, obviously eating the unseen flesh there as well.

  Now the worms – which had grown in size, some nearly as thick as fence posts – were weaving their long bodies together into tight, Gordian knots, twisting into impossible positions. The floor underneath the tangled worms boiled with thick foam, like soap bubbles, tinted a shade of yellow like a banana snow cone.

  “No,” Thom said, his voice defeated. “I don’t think they’re fighting.”

  Silence filled the cold space until Steve caught on to the subtext of Thom’s statement. “Aaahh, no way. You mean those things are fucking?”

  Thom nodded, his eyes never wavering from the grotesque scene. “I think that’s exactly what they’re doing.”

  Steve and Aubrey huddled behind Thom, watching the strange rutting in silence. The yellowish bubbles multiplied, covering the floor like a nightclub foam party. Eventually, the bubbles concealed both corpses, blocking off the smaller aisles.

  Steve hugged himself, rubbing his bare arms. “Okay, guys … that’s it … we need to get out of here before that shit totally blocks our way.”

  Aubrey turned to Steve and shot him a dumbfounded stare. “Those things ate their skin. You really want to go out there?”

  “It’s better than just waiting in here until they get big enough to break the glass,” Steve said, his teeth chattering.

  Aubrey shook his head. “No way.”

  “He’s right,” Thom said. “We need to go. Now’s a good time to make a break for the door.”

  Steve stood silent as his spirits soared, flushed with pride that Thom had agreed with him.

  “Are you serious?” Aubrey asked.

  “Yep,” Thom said, turning to face the men. “There’s still a path to the door if we stick to the main aisle.” He paused as Steve and Aubrey glanced past him to verify his claim. “And,” he continued, “I think they’re occupied enough with other things for us to sneak by.” Thom turned again to study the worms. “Now, I can’t see any eyes on those things … hell, I can’t tell the head from the ass on these suckers … but I don’t think they can see us. I am certain they can hear us, though. At least some of ‘em can, so we need to be quiet.”

  “What makes you think that?” Steve asked.

  “At first, I noticed some of them would move toward the blackjack machines every time they played that stupid tune. They ignored the sound after awhile. I’m guessing they realized it wasn’t a threat.”

  “You’re guessing?” Aubrey said.

  “Okay,” Steve said, reaching past Thom, grabbing the twin of his earlier beverage selection. “So we just be quiet and walk right past them.” He popped the 24oz. can open and guzzled the energy drink, grimacing. “Wheeww! That’s good.”

  Aubrey pointed to the monstrous drink. “Hey, you are paying for that one.”

  Steve belched. “Whatever, Audrey with a b. Let’s get out of this fuckin’ fridge.” He nodded toward Thom. “After you.”

  With a roll of eyes and a sigh, Thom pushed past the younger men. When he reached the door to the cooler he turned and faced them. “Okay, move slowly and quietly.” He pointed to Steve. “No talking.” Steve gave him a hurt look, shrugging his shoulders. Thom ignored the look and pointed to their feet. “And don’t let your sneakers squeak on the floor.”

  Both men nodded in silent agreement. Steve took a loud slurping sip of his drink, cringing as Thom’s eyes bored into him, and then made a zipping motion across his lips. With another long sigh, Thom gently tugged on the handle and opened the cooler door. He stepped out into the bright lights of the store, covered his mouth and nose with one hand, and motioned for them to follow with the other.

  Steve followed Aubrey through the door, and instantly understood what had made Thom cover his nose; the store smelled like roadkill that had been cooking in the summer sun for days, mingled with the fetid scent of a fish market. He gagged, nearly ejecting the drink onto Aubrey’s back. He took another swig, the strong flavor covering the initial shock of the stench.

  They left the relative safety of the cooler behind and crept along the tile floor, carefully lifting their feet. A slithering knot of worms went about their business just ten feet away, oblivious to the men walking past. The juicy squelch of the worms’ entwining flesh made Steve’s skin crawl. He smiled despite the hideous sound. The old guy was right. They can’t see us. Ten steps further and their progress slowed as they slogged through a thin layer of the slippery foam left behind from the creatures’ rutting session.

  Aubrey tapped Thom on his shoulder and pointed to the closer back door of the store. Thom shook his head, pointing out the floor of the aisle leading to that exit. A mound of foam and several thick, sluggish worms blocked the way. As Aubrey watched, the mound began to undulate and bulge. He then realized what the shape under the foam must be: the remains of the man that had dunked his head in the ice tub. Aubrey’s stomach churned as his mind formed an image of what was hiding in the foam – a skinless corpse covered with slippery, copulating creatures. He swallowed, his mouth bone dry, following Thom toward the front entrance, Steve close on his heels.

  The trio approached a second hump of foam, partially blocking their path to the front door. A flayed arm protruded from the froth. The hand rested palm up, fingers curled like a dead spider – the leftovers of the unfortunate woman. To Steve, the pink, bloodless arm seemed unreal: a cheap haunted
house prop, or a mannequin in physiology class.

  Thom slowed as he reached the mound of thick yellow foam and its sinewy appendage, stopped, and turned. He pressed his index finger to his pursed lips, pleading for silence, and then pointed out the clear path between the checkout counter and the lump of seething worm ejaculate. The route appeared wide enough for the men to shuffle through in single file. Steve and Aubrey nodded and prepared themselves to brave the path. Satisfied, Thom turned and crept forward again. That’s when the blackjack machine decided to speak up. The machine beeped and squawked its song like a pissed-off R2 unit

  Stopping in his tracks, Thom held up his hand for them to halt. He eyed the foamy sputum at his feet. Steve and Aubrey watched too; the thick bubbles vibrated and swayed as the worms underneath reacted to the bleeping sounds.

  After what seemed an eternity, the machine quieted, and the foam followed suit. Thom motioned for them to continue as he shuffled closer to freedom. He reached the front door, and turned to encourage the young men toward him, waving them on. They were moving along just fine, not making a peep.

  Until the store’s front door opened and the annoying chime sounded.

  Chapter Seven

  Thom spun at the sound of the door chime. He stared into the surprised eyes of a young girl standing in the open doorway, holding the hand of a little boy, his face buried in her shirt. She looked past Thom’s shoulder, her eyes widening even more into two perfect circles. And that’s when the screams started, not from the girl or little boy, but from behind him. Two separate male voices. Thom turned from the girl and nearly screamed himself at what he saw.

  Steve was sprawled prone on the floor. Two pale stalks protruded from the mound of bubbly worm secretion. The hands at the end of the stalks – or what resembled hands but looked more like pallid, fleshy starfish – clutched Steve’s flailing ankles.