Skinners Page 6

  He started the engine, slammed the gear into first, and peeled out. The Jeep moved like a slug, the tires screeching, but the vehicle only crawling along. A white web shot in through the open passenger window, sailing inches above Thom’s slumping head. The webbing smacked the windshield then retreated back out the window as Angie hosed it down with the gun.

  “The brake,” Angie yelled. She reached over and released the emergency brake. The Jeep, its tires squealing on the wet pavement, shot off like a rocket, slamming her back into place between her brother and the stinking Lisa.

  “Holyfuckingmotherfuckingshit!” Steve spat, speeding down the road. “Are there any on us? Look around and see if they’re on us.”

  “I think we’re good,” Angie said, glancing around. “Slow down before you kill us.”

  Steve slowed the vehicle to a safer speed, but still above the speed limit. Thom stirred in the passenger seat, lifting his head. The rain sweeping in through the window had revived the man. He sat up straight, looked over at Steve with foggy eyes. He glanced around as if lost, then stared at Steve again.

  “Nobody drives my baby, but me,” Thom said.

  Steve laughed, but quickly clamped his mouth shut when Thom didn’t return the laugh, or even crack a smile. “All right, man. You can drive once you’re feeling a little better.” He gestured to Thom’s arm. “You’ve lost a ton of blood. There’s a bottle of water in the bag at your feet. That should help until we get to the gym.”

  Grumbling something under his breath – something Steve could barely hear above the wind and rain, something about surviving two tours in a jungle and how no damn space worm was going to do him in – Thom reached into the glove box, his hand returning with a candy bar. “Low blood sugar,” he said, ripping into the chocolate bar. He found the water and chugged half the bottle to wash the candy down, leaned back and said, “We’re coming up on the store.”

  The lights of the Gas n Snax glared up ahead through the swiping windshield wipers. Steve slowed the car slightly as a figure stepped out from the gas pumps and strolled into the middle of the road. “There’s somebody up ahead. We should stop and warn them about the Skinners in the store.”

  “Skinners?” Thom asked.

  Steve smiled. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking we should give these things a name, you know?” Steve shrugged when he glanced over and saw the look of disgust on Thom’s face. “What? I mean they’re definitely not worms … at least not like any worms I’ve ever seen.”

  Thom shook his head, lifting his wounded arm. “You ever heard of tact, Steve? That thing ate my favorite tattoo. Never mind, let’s just see if this person needs help.”

  Straddling the road’s center line, the individual stood as still as a statue as the car approached, waiting for them. The wipers struggled to clear the rain fast enough, but as they drew near, Steve identified the figure as a woman. Something about her clothing seemed odd, not quite right. As they rolled closer, the headlights slicing through the downpour, Steve could make out the wrongness of her attire. Her bare feet stood out first, the pale skin glowing in the headlights. And then he noticed her pants, which appeared to be on backward. Her shirt came next: unbuttoned, hanging open, exposing pallid breasts.

  Thom jerked forward in his seat. “Steve, stop the car, now.”

  “Why?”

  “Stop the damn car!”

  Steve pressed the brakes, the Jeep sliding on the wet pavement, lurching to a halt. “What’s the …”

  He paused, the question unfinished as he realized what had upset his passenger.

  “That’s impossible,” Steve continued. “We saw her die.” He glanced at Thom, who looked back at him with bewilderment. Steve pointed through the rains-swept windshield. “Tell me that’s not the lady from earlier, the one with the Skinners, sorry … the worms … in her face?”

  Thom nodded, his mouth hanging open.

  Angie shot forward from the back seat, her expression reflected in the rearview mirror one of excitement and disbelief.

  “Mom?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Steve and Thom both latched onto Angie’s arms as she tried to scramble over the men.

  Thom forced her back into the rear of the car. “Whoa, sweetie, hold on. You can’t go out there.”

  “Don’t call me sweetie, that’s my mom,” Angie screeched, crawling across Steve and reaching for the door handle. It was Steve’s turn to force her back.

  “Is it her, is it mom?” Leland asked, craning his neck to see past his sister.

  Steve turned and held up his hands, pleading for Angie to stop. “Angie … Leland. There’s something we need to tell you. Now, I’m not sure what’s going on, but we saw your mom … uh, that woman out there … we saw her …” He trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence. He looked to Thom for help, and when he looked back, Angie was clambering out the torn rear window. Before Steve could exit the car to stop her, she passed the front of the Jeep, sprinting through the rain toward her mother.

  Steve and Thom launched from their respective seats, giving chase, shouting for her to stop and for Leland to stay put.

  She didn’t listen. Or maybe she couldn’t hear them over the driving rain. Either way, Angie continued her sprint to the woman both men had seen devoured by the alien creatures inside the store not even two hours ago. Angie stopped just a few feet shy of the woman, finally allowing the slower men to catch up.

  Steve stood on one side of the girl, Thom on the other, as the chilly rain beat down on them. The men stared at the familiar woman in disbelief as Angie shouted, “Mom?”

  The woman offered up a smile, a perfect impression of Lisa’s strange leering grin.

  Slowly, Angie shook her head. Steve caught the movement from the corner of his eye. “Angie, what’s wrong?” he shouted above the hissing splash of rain.

  “I … I don’t think…” Angie stammered, backing away from her mother. “Something’s wrong with her.”

  Thom and Steve stood there in the pouring rain, shoulders hunched against the cold water, studying the woman, searching for any signs of wounds. They found none; her flawless, wet skin glimmered in the glare of the headlights. An alarm sounded in Steve’s head, and he followed Angie’s example, backing away from the impossible figure in front of him. Seeing this, Thom did the same.

  The woman’s strained smile vanished and her mouth opened slowly as if to speak.

  And kept opening.

  Like a snake devouring a furry meal, the woman’s mouth widened, until the jaws dislocated with a hollow thump, heard even over the rain. The trio of mesmerized bystanders jumped and cringed at the sound. Angie cried out, grabbing a handful of Steve’s shirt.

  The next sound that issued from the woman’s impossibly large mouth was even worse. A note no human should be capable of producing: a deep droning hum, as if a foghorn resided in her bowels, bugling through viscera and fluids.

  The low hum filled their ears, building in volume, streaming from the woman’s oral cavity. Instinct took hold, and as one, they backed further away, back toward the safety of the still running Jeep.

  Along with the thrum, an orange glow emitted from the cavernous maw, like a miniature sunset had lodged in her throat. The floating embers of light followed next, billowing from her mouth.

  “That’s the stuff from the meteor shower,” Angie shouted.

  Still latched onto Steve’s shirt, Angie backpedaled, panicking as the familiar glowing particles issued forth. In her hurry, her legs tangled with Steve’s, and the couple smacked down to the street. Thom rushed over to help, Angie hollering for them to run. Yet, even as she yelled her warning, she could see they weren’t in any danger. Unlike earlier, these embers were slow, and the driving rain quickly extinguished their light before they could become a threat.

  “The rain,” Angie said, getting to her feet. “They can’t survive in the rain.”

  Rising with her, Steve grabbed Angie’s fist, removing it from his shirt. “Let’s get b
ack in the car, where it’s safe,” he said, regarding the marvel of the dying embers with repulsive astonishment.

  Angie nodded, and as one, the trio turned from the woman and jogged through the rain. And as one, they halted at the sight before them.

  The interior of the Jeep glowed a bright orange.

  Leland’s high-pitched scream pierced the night.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Leland,” Angie screamed, darting toward the illuminated Jeep. Steve and Thom gave chase, but the girl proved to be much faster again. As they approached, they could hear the hum, even over Leland’s shrieks.

  The hum issuing from the car harmonized with the woman’s on the road. Then it changed. It became a roar, the roar of something in immense physical pain. The Jeep shuddered, tilting like a supermarket kiddie-ride as the bellow intensified. Then, like a needle lifted from a record, the sound ceased. The car stopped shaking, and the light within vanished, allowing the night to creep back in, swallowing the black vehicle. Leland’s screams stopped as well.

  Angie reached the passenger side door and flung it open without hesitating. Lisa sat in the same place they’d left her. But the smile had disappeared from her face.

  Because she no longer had a face.

  Crouched on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat, Leland still doused the girl with the contents of the water gun, pumping the handle until nothing but air coughed from the nozzle. Lisa’s facial features had melted from the boy’s onslaught. As Angie watched, the slimy lump of flesh that used to be the girl’s unblemished face slid down her shirt and pooled in her lap.

  Steve reached the car next, followed by Thom. The panting men looked into the back seat at the frightened boy, and then at the remains of Lisa. Steve said the only thing that came to his mind. “What the shit?”

  Thom snapped the stunned group back into action. “Get in. We gotta go.”

  Angie pointed to the faceless creature in the back. “What about her?”

  “Pull her out.” Thom reached into the car and did just that.

  Lisa’s body poured from the Jeep, splashing into a puddle.

  “Wait,” Steve shouted, looking at Lisa’s pale form being pelted with rain. “We can’t just leave her here.”

  “It’s not her, Steve,” Thom shouted. “Everybody in, I’ll explain.”

  Thom ran around the front of the Jeep and climbed behind the wheel. Angie scooted in next to her brother, squeezing him with a fierce hug, and then inspecting him for injuries. Steve took shotgun once again. Their panting breaths steaming up the windshield, the group exchanged glances, but nobody spoke.

  Thom cleared rain from his face, wiped the windshield with his palm, and stared out at the woman blocking the road. The glowing matter still floated from her mouth, fluttering a few feet before their lights were doused. Her jaws re-hinged and closed, shutting out the radiant light, silencing the inhuman hum. She stood in the road, facing them, like a gunslinger at a showdown.

  “Thom?” Steve said, shattering the silence in the car. “What’s happening? Do you know what the hell is going on?”

  “Yeah … No … I’ve got an idea, but it’s batshit crazy.”

  Steve waited for more from the man, but he remained silent. “And?”

  Shaking his head, Thom said, “That’s not her mother. That’s not the woman we saw in the store earlier. You and I know that.”

  Steve pointed through the water running down the windshield. “Then who the fuck is that?”

  Thom paused for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and saying, “A copy.” He whipped his eyes toward Steve, expecting a witty retort, surprised when the boy remained silent. “So was your friend, Lisa.”

  Hugging her little brother, and stroking his hair, Angie asked, “What do you mean a copy?”

  Thom turned in his seat to face her. “We saw your mother … we saw her die, sweetie. I’m sorry.”

  Angie shook her head, closing her eyes. “No. It’s not possible. She’s right there.”

  “You yourself said something was wrong with her,” Thom said.

  “I just meant something seemed different.” Tears spilled as she opened her eyes. For several seconds, Angie studied the woman still standing in the beam of headlights. She cleared her throat and asked, “What makes you think she’s a … a copy?”

  “Holy shit,” Steve whispered. He pointed out the windshield again. “I think that answers your question, Angie.”

  Everyone followed his finger, and what it revealed took their breath away.

  Naked and glistening, a woman walked through the doors of the convenience store. She kicked the uncoiled Bungee cord lying on the pavement as she stumbled past the gas pumps, across the parking lot, to stand next to Angie’s mother. The pair stood side-by-side, perfect twins – mirror images; one clothed, one naked.

  “That’s not possible,” Angie exhaled.

  “Neither is that,” Thom said, nodding to another figure exiting the store.

  The man walked out into the rain, joining the twin women.

  “Holy Crap, this just keeps getting weirder,” Steve muttered.

  Aubrey stared back at them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Thom shoved the stick shift into first gear.

  Steve looked at the man; the steely stare of determination on Thom’s face as he stared through the windshield worried him. “Thom, what are you doing?”

  Thom turned to Steve with an incredulous glare. “What do you think? I’m going through them. I want to get you guys to the high school, and those things are blocking the only road to get there.”

  Steve gripped the dash. “Wait, hold on, are you sure about this? Are you sure they’re copies … I mean this is all just a bit nuts, man.”

  “What do you mean? Of course I’m sure. You saw what those things did to Aubrey. They ripped his damn face off. Hell, just look at those twins standing in our way.” Thom looked into the rearview mirror at his passengers. “Angie, your mom doesn’t have an identical twin sister does she?”

  “No,” she said, in a defeated tone.

  “No, I didn’t think so.” Thom took another deep breath. “You see … I think the stuff from the meteor shower infected her, and that other man from earlier too, the one that put his head in the ice tub, remember? His copy is probably wandering around her somewhere.” At hearing this Steve tried to close his window, but the zipper snagged and wouldn’t budge.

  “Those worms grew inside them,” Thom continued, “controlling them, I think. Making them seek out water. I’ve read about funguses and insects that can do that, turn other critters into zombie-like slaves.” He looked to Steve, who just stared back with his mouth agape. “Earlier, you said they needed water to hatch. What did those folks say when they walked into the store?” Steve remained silent, so Thom answered his own question. “They said ‘water’. Remember?”

  After Steve nodded, Thom continued, “So, the water hatches the egg, or larvae, or whatever they are, the worms burst forth, grow at a incredible rate, feeding on the flesh of their host. Then they knot themselves together, mate, and somehow grow a copy of their host inside all that foam stuff. What you called worm jizz. They must use the hosts’ DNA when they eat their flesh, and––”

  “Thom,” Steve interrupted, leaning his head toward the backseat, a pinched look on his face.

  “Oh … sorry, Angie,” Thom said, staring into the rearview again.

  Angie didn’t respond. She hugged her brother even tighter.

  Thom turned his attention to the store again. “That thing that grabbed your legs earlier must’ve been an early stage of a copy, not fully formed yet. I’m guessing they make ‘em to get close to more potential hosts, like a Trojan horse, and send out those spores, starting the cycle over again. The perfect parasite.”

  “You sound like you admire it,” Steve said.

  “I’m about to show you what I think of it. You may want to hold on and shut your eyes, folks, because I’m plowing through those
things.”

  Before anyone could protest, Thom gunned the engine and popped the clutch. The Jeep’s tires spun for a brief moment on the wet road, then caught, the black machine lurching forward.

  As the roaring vehicle shortened the gap, the three copies opened their mouths. The deep bass hum could be heard even over the redlining engine. The glowing orbs billowed forth. Steve reached out the open window, clutching the top of the car with a white-knuckled grip, the cold rain stinging his forearm as they gained speed.

  Pressing his feet to the floor, Steve closed his eyes, readying for impact. He felt the car lunge, the engine growling like a lion as Thom shifted into fifth gear. The next sensation caused Steve’s eyes to pop open – a hand gripping his right arm. He stared at the pale hand latched onto his arm, and then cried out, a warbling squeal of revulsion, as the slippery flesh squeezed him like a vice.

  Lisa’s copy wasn’t dead after all.

  Using Steve’s arm, she pulled herself into view – at least what was left of her. Like a forgotten candle, her head had completely melted down to her neck. Steve shoved away from the headless creature as it pulled itself up and wormed its way through the open window.

  “Holy Crap!” Thom yelled, “Get her off my Jeep!”

  The occupants of the vehicle jounced about as Thom swerved, trying to dislodge his new passenger.

  The Lisa/creature’s vice-like grip held firm. She lunged toward Steve’s face, the stump of her neck opening and closing like a mouth, making a sucking, kissing squelch. Steve managed to get his knees up, and in a panic, kicked out at Lisa; but instead of dislodging her, it sent him over the gearshift, and into Thom.

  “Look out,” Thom growled as Steve’s back knocked into the steering wheel. The Jeep veered off target, and acquired a new one: the gas pumps.

  Thom stood on the brake pedal, but their speed and the slick road rendered the brakes useless. The old man’s “pride and joy” plowed into a gas pump, ripping it from its mooring. The 4x4 came to rest on top of the mangled pump.