Clickers III Read online

  “It’s like…I don’t know. A humming or some shit.” Tony was panting as he fought to keep up with Ruby, who didn’t seem to tire.

  Clark was about to tell Tony he didn’t know what he was talking about when he suddenly heard it. It was low, more felt than heard, like a bass note from a synthesizer. It sounded like a thousand voices humming a note in the key of D Minor.

  Hmmmmmmmmmmmm….

  The pain in Clark’s head swelled again. It was clear to

  Clark that Tony’s head was hurting, too. Sweat ran down the ex-hitman’s face and he had a strained, painful look to him. By contrast, the Black Lodge agents still seemed fine.

  “We’re getting close,” Ruby said.

  “Too close for me, honey,” Tony said. “Let’s get this shit over with and go the fuck home.”

  The roaring of the Dark Ones had become distant but now another sound replaced it: a flapping sound. A shadow flittered across the far cave wall and Clark felt something zoom overhead. He instinctively ducked and covered his head with the stock of his M16.

  Tony screamed. “Oh shit! What the fuck?”

  Clark looked up and saw something with pale, leathery wings entangled with Tony. Another creature flew overhead, and then another. High-pitched squeaks filled the cavern. Bats.

  “Get the fuck off me!” Tony screamed. He beat at the thing with his rifle stock, trying to shake it off him. It was big, its body the size of a capuchin monkey with a wing span of six feet across, it had obviously flown into Tony by pure accident and was trying to free itself. Its claws dug scratches into Tony’s head and shoulders. “You fucking piece of shit!” Tony brought his rifle into position and his right hand brushed the trigger.

  “Hold your fire,” Clark yelled. “Hold your fire, goddamn it, or you’ll get a ricochet!”

  “Fuck that, get it off me!” Tony tried to ram the barrel of the rifle beneath the creature’s chin and couldn’t. Its right wing was stuck between Tony’s arms. Its left wing was wrapped around his back, its legs clinging to his hips. The bat’s face was dangerously close to Tony’s neck as its blind eyes rolled around in its head and it kept squealing in that high-pitched voice.

  Clark was about to run up to Tony to try to assist him when there was another thud, then Amethyst yelled. “Aahhh!” One of the bat creatures had flown into him. His rifle clattered to the ground as he fought with it. Ruby ducked, her hands covered the back of her neck as more of the bats flew over them. They seemed confused as their wings brushed the cave walls. Diamond swung the barrel of his rifle back and forth from creature to creature, as if he were trying to get a clear shot. One by one, the bats found the narrow aperture in the cave and flew toward it, somehow either scrambling through it in a half-flight, half-crawling motion, or by some other means.

  Before Clark could leap toward either Amethyst or Tony, he heard a whisk of a steel blade. The creature that was entangled with Amethyst let out a high-pitched squeak and shuddered as blood splattered the cavern floor. Amethyst shoved the bat off him, holding a stiletto blade covered with blood. He looked like a baby-faced psycho killer.

  “Aaahhhh,” Tony yelled. “Get the fuck off me!”

  Clark and Amethyst ran to Tony. Amethyst plunged the blade into the creature’s back. It squealed in pain and dived forward, its teeth plunging into Tony’s shoulder. Clark’s heart leaped into his throat as Tony screamed. “You motherfucker! I’m going to kill you!”

  Amethyst stabbed the creature again but it had no effect. The bat creature’s head lolled briefly on its shoulders, giving Clark a brief look at Tony’s shoulder. He was relieved to see the creature’s teeth had not broken the skin. Instead, it had torn a chunk of the strap that held Tony’s rifle over his shoulder. Tony’s rifle slipped down his pinned left arm, dangling precariously. The creature was so entangled with Tony’s arms and legs that he couldn’t fight back.

  Clark ran up to Tony and placed the barrel of his M16 against the thing’s head. “Tony, take a step to your right and lean your head back! Ruby, get down!”

  Ruby dropped to the ground and Tony did as he was told, giving Clark ample enough room. There was no backstop for the shot, only the pitch blackness of the cave ahead of them. Clark pulled the trigger, sending a single shot into the creature’s head. It stopped squealing and immediately dropped, its leathery, bony frame still hanging on Tony.

  Tony was still flailing his arms. “Ugly ass son of a bitch.” There was the audible snapping of bone and then the thing was flung off Tony like a giant kite. He started kicking its limp form. “Piece of shit motherfucker!”

  Clark looked up as more of the hideous giant bats flew over them. There weren’t that many, perhaps a few dozen. Their wings made heavy, flapping sounds as they flew through the cave and darted down the narrow passageway, squirming their way through the aperture Clark, Tony, and the Black Lodge agents had just emerged from.

  The dead bats lay on the ground. Ruby stepped forward, shining her light on the creature that had almost killed Tony.

  Clark drew in a breath. “Jesus, look at that thing.”

  Diamond nodded. “It’s mutated, just like the spider we saw above. Other life forms that dwell in this cavern have probably mutated, too.”

  Tony shuddered. “Please tell me there’s no giant snakes down here.”

  Or spiders, Clark thought. One of those was enough.

  “We’ve seen no sign of them,” Ruby said, reading Clark’s mind. “No webs or anything.”

  Ignoring her, Clark clapped Tony on the shoulder. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Tony said. He dusted himself off. “Thanks, dude. I owe you one. Seriously.”

  “No, you don’t. Consider that payback from before.”

  Tony met his gaze and nodded in acknowledgement. Clark shot him a grin. If it weren’t for Tony, the Black Lodge agents would have eliminated Clark from the equation. They were bound together now as brothers in arms, despite the fact that they were on polar opposites of the law.

  From the tunnel ahead of them, a voice called out. “Hello? Hey, we need some help down here! Can you hear us?”

  Diamond, Amethyst and Ruby sprang into action, rifles held ready, their stances firm and alert.

  “Who’s there?” Diamond called. His voice carried a sense of authority. “Identify yourselves.”

  “I’m Dr. Wade Collins. With me are Drs. Susan Ehart and Jennifer Wasco.”

  “Jennifer?” Tony called out. His voice had a jovial tone to it. “Hey, Jennifer, it’s me, Tony!”

  From the darkened tunnel ahead of them, a second voice. Female. “Tony Genova?”

  “Yeah, you got it sweetie, it’s me.” Tony turned back to Clark and the Black Lodge agents. “She remembers me!”

  Clark was standing close to Ruby, so he heard her reply. “You’re a hard person to forget, Mr. Genova.”

  “Stay where you are,” Diamond said. “We’re coming your way.”

  Ruby and Diamond led the way this time, with Clark and Tony behind them and Amethyst bringing up the rear. The Dark Ones were still at all sides of them—behind them and in front of them—but their muffled sounds told Clark they were still far away. They probably couldn’t squeeze their way through the narrow caverns.

  They reached another narrow crevice and squeezed their way through. This one was relatively short, about fifty yards. As they reached the end, Clark heard another woman. “Here they come.”

  Ruby and Diamond exited the crevice first, followed by Tony and then Clark. As Clark stepped through, he was greeted by a sight he never thought he’d come across. A man and two women stood in the center of a large cavern, their eyes squinting from the sudden light. Clark noticed that neither of them carried flashlights. He wondered how long they’d been wandering around down here in the dark.

  The younger of the two women smiled at Tony and let out a relieved laugh. She rushed toward him and embraced him. Tony slung his M16 over his back and returned her embrace.

  “I never thought I’d see y
ou here,” the woman exclaimed. Despite her worn appearance, she was attractive. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I’m Luke fucking Skywalker,” Tony quipped. “I’m here to rescue you.”

  The woman punched him playfully. “Seriously, what are you doing here?”

  “We came to get you,” Tony said. He had the woman in a bear hug. He kissed her forehead, then turned to Clark. “Hey, Clark. This is Jennifer Wasco. Jennifer and I faced these fucking lizard things down with President Livingston back in Peachbottom!”

  Clark nodded at her. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Jennifer looked at the Black Lodge agents. “You guys aren’t dressed like Marines. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you came. I was just expecting the military. CIA, I guess?”

  “No ma’am,” Diamond said.

  “The Marine Corps?” Tony looked confused. “Why would you think that?”

  “We had communications equipment at our command center,” Jennifer explained. “When the Dark Ones and Clickers attacked, we sent out an SOS. We never found out if anybody heard us or not.”

  “If you aren’t from the military, where are you from?” This was asked by the man, who was short, with wiry hair. He had a stocky build. His shorts and tank top were dirty and torn up. Likewise,

  Jennifer’s knee-length shorts were stained with dirt and grass and the other woman had a bruise on her left temple.

  “They’re spooks,” Tony said, dismissively. “The baby-faced one is named Amethyst, the one with the great tits is Ruby, and the big grumpy looking fucker is called Marion… excuse me, Diamond.”

  Jennifer and the others frowned in confusion. She opened her mouth to respond, then shook her head and fell silent again. After a moment, she introduced her two companions.

  “Okay,” Ruby said. “Come. We’re almost there.”

  She barely acknowledged Jennifer and the other two scientists. Instead, she brushed past them and headed deeper into the vast cavern. Amethyst and Diamond nodded at the others to follow her. Clark and Tony held their ground. The scientists glanced at each other.

  “Hey,” Tony called out. “Wait a fucking minute. Where are you going?”

  Ruby stopped and turned around. “Congratulations! You’ve completed the first part of your mission. You rescued the girl. But we still haven’t finished. We must stop Dagon from rising.”

  The scientists reacted visibly to this last statement. Jennifer clutched Tony’s arm. “They know about Dagon?”

  “Yeah,” Tony said. He had his left arm around her. “You know about it too?”

  “It’s a long story,” Wade said. He stuck his hand out to Tony. “Thanks for coming to get us.”

  The roars of the Dark Ones seemed more eager now, as if they’d sensed the two parties of humans had met up with each other. It was still difficult to tell where they were.

  Susan answered the question foremost on Clark’s mind. “We’re being chased by two or three Dark Ones. But I think they got stuck pretty far back.”

  “Yeah, us too,” Clark said. He nodded toward Amethyst and Diamond, who were waiting impatiently. “Don’t you want to make sure these folks are okay first, before we go charging off again?”

  “They are uninjured,” Amethyst said. “That is enough for now.”

  “Give me a fucking break,” Tony said. “They’re tired. We’re tired. My fucking head feels like it’s gonna split open. Let’s stop for a minute.”

  “There’s no time, Tony.” Amethyst’s tone was conciliatory. “You know that. We have to finish this.”

  Clark’s eyes met Tony’s. The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Tony shrugged.

  “Okay,” Clark said, addressing Amethyst, “where to next?”

  “This way,” Ruby said. She turned and began heading down the cavern again.

  “We just came from there,” Susan said. “Those things were chasing us!”

  “Listen, maybe I should get Jennifer and her friends out of here,” Tony suggested.

  “Tony, you know why you’re here,” Ruby said. “We’ve tapped you for this mission because you are our only hope.”

  “I understand that,” Tony said. “And we’ve found Jennifer and her friends. Don’t you think we should get them out of here?”

  “Not before you fulfill your destiny.”

  “My destiny is to keep my ass from getting killed. And if I can pull Jennifer and her friends out of here, so much the better.”

  “Your destiny is to fulfill your purpose!” Ruby’s voice had taken on that gruff tone again. She fixed him with her steely gaze. “You’re our only hope, Tony. You are one of the—”

  “Save it, sweetheart.”

  “The more we delay,” Diamond insisted, “the stronger Dagon gets. Surely you feel it. Even now your head aches. The pain behind your eyeballs is only growing worse.”

  “What do we…?” Clark faltered. Even as Diamond spoke, the throbbing in his head grew worse, and he felt a tightening in his chest. It was obvious that Tony and the scientists were distressed, as well.

  Squinting, Susan rubbed her forehead. “It feels like someone is trying to crawl inside my head. Something invisible, elemental.”

  “What you feel is Dagon,” Ruby explained. Her features were strained, as if they were bearing the weight of great pressure. Clark noticed it in the faces of Diamond and Amethyst too. He started to speak, but when he tried, his breath came in ragged gasps. That persistent humming spiked into his consciousness, like fingernails being drawn against a chalkboard.

  Ruby looked at Clark. “And my guess is that all of you are made of very strong stuff. You can feel it, but you with stand it.”

  “To tell you the truth,” Tony said, “the only thing I feel like fucking up now is Dagon. Okay? You win. Let’s get this fucking shit over with.”

  Without another word, Ruby darted down the cavern, leading the way. Tony darted after her, followed by Clark and Jennifer, who clutched Tony’s arm. Wade and Susan fell into step behind them. Amethyst and Diamond once again brought up the rear.

  “I don’t know about this,” Jennifer whispered to Tony and Clark. “What the hell is going on?”

  “It’s a long story,” Tony replied. “I was just chilling in my condo and Clark here was outside trimming the shrubbery, and then all hell broke loose. All things considered, I’d rather be in Vegas.”

  Jennifer grinned at him. “You haven’t changed.”

  “Neither have you.”

  Gritting his teeth, Clark focused on Ruby.

  I hope you know what you’re doing, he thought as she took them down a left hand path that led deeper beneath the mountain. Because we’re responsible for these people’s lives. I don’t want their blood on my hands.

  “Don’t worry,” Ruby said. “I do. And if there is blood, Mr. Arroyo, it won’t be on your hands. It will be on someone else’s.”

  For the first time since shortly before Josel’s betrayal, when she was certain the Naranuan holy man would lead them to safe ground, Jennifer felt her hopes rise again. They were going to get out of this. How, she still didn’t have the slightest idea. But finding Tony here—knowing that he’d come for her—buoyed her spirits.

  Ruby led them down tunnel after tunnel, never hesitating in her stride. As they descended, Jennifer felt her elations rise further as the echoing roar of the pursuing Dark Ones were left farther behind. They were obviously traveling passageways that Jennifer, Wade, and Susan had not encountered before. She wondered how Ruby and her companions knew where to go. Was Naranu a secret government compound?

  Behind her, Susan babbled. “We’re heading straight back there. Why are we doing this? There’s more of those things down there.”

  “Quiet,” Diamond ordered. His tone of voice was commanding and Susan shut up.

  Jennifer whispered to Tony. “Are they taking us to R’lyeh?”

  “Yeah,” Tony answered. “I guess I don’t need to bring you up to speed, after all.”

&n
bsp; “We found out what’s happening through a local. The village holy man.”

  “Oh yeah? Where is he now?”

  “Dead, I think. He was going to sacrifice us to Dagon.”

  Jennifer saw Tony twitch, his jaw set in a grimace of anger. “You kill him?”

  “No, the Dark Ones did. If he’s really dead.”

  “How come you’re not sure?”

  “There was a lot going on. It was all very confusing. We escaped, but some of our friends got left behind.”

  “Sorry to hear that.”

  “So,” Jennifer whispered, “is there anyone else with you guys?

  Rick, maybe? Does Livingston know you’re here?”

  Tony shook his head. “No. It’s just me and Clark and these guys. There was one more with us but we lost him topside. As for Livingston, I’m not sure, but I’ve got the feeling that ol’ Augustus isn’t even aware of this situation.”

  “But I thought you said these guys were spooks.”

  “They are, but not the government kind.”

  “They operate outside the confines of world government,” Clark said. “Have you ever—”

  “Quiet,” Amethyst cautioned. “Sound carries down here and they’re all around us now. We must proceed with utmost caution.”

  With the light from Ruby’s flashlight illuminating the way, they were able to cover ground much quicker. This time they did not have to slide their way down narrow cave passageways. It seemed to Jennifer as if Ruby knew intuitively which corridor to go down, and she didn’t hesitate when they came to forks in the cavern system. They darted down so many passageways that Jennifer became lost. God help them should they be ambushed by Dark Ones; it sounded like they were getting closer, but the sounds of their roars were still somewhat muffled. Ruby paused and the group huddled together, crouching in the darkness.

  “We’re almost there,” Ruby whispered so softly that they had to strain to hear her. “Very shortly we will be reaching a very large cavern. There will be a number of bas-reliefs and statues surrounding a large stone altar. Hovering over the altar will be a large rectangle.”