Call Me Martin

Ari wiped perspiration from his brow as he shoved the four Molotov cocktails in the gym bag, pulled out a hammer and long screw driver and set them in a pouch on the side. He looked up from Martin to Rebecca.

“Time to go.”

Rebecca reached into a corner and pulled out her long bow and three sharpened pool sticks.

Ari looked at Sherman.

“Recon?”

“10-4,” Sherman answered, hurrying to the front door and carefully opening it. A pine scented breeze blew in.

“Wind direction?” Ari called out.

“North, northeast.”

“Awesome,” Ari said, zipping up the gym bag. “Right towards the barn.” He looked at Martin and Rebecca. “What about the tires?”

“Three piles, four high, three feet apart,” Martin replied. “Soaked with turpentine, just as you specified.”

“Good,” Ari said, stepping into the front lobby and looking at a virtual mountain of insulation. He glanced at Martin, Rebecca, Sherman and little Amber. “Time to get dressed.”

“That shit itches,” Sherman said, kicking the base of the mound.

“Would you rather be eaten?” Ari asked as he set the gym bag down and pulled out a role of insulation from the mound. He wrapped it around himself and motioned to Martin. “Tape me up, please.”

15 minutes later, all five people stood near the front door, covered head to toe in thick, pink insulation.

Sherman laughed.

“Man, we look like that tire commercial.”

Ari nodded and pulled Tremor’s cigarette lighter out of his pocket.

“Speaking of tires.

“You think it’s going to work?” Rebecca asked.

“The tires burning or their intended affect?”

“Both.”

“We’ll find out. Let’s go.”

Ari pushed open the front door, a cool night breeze hitting him in the face. It was pitched black outside and he took a moment to let his eyes adjust.

“We gonna light another torch?” Sherman asked.

“Not this time,” Ari said, hurrying onto the porch and trotting towards three dark pillars that were like black statues in the middle of the street. He glanced over his shoulder as he flicked the lighter on and lit the tires. He stepped back just in time. The tires lit up, bathing the entire street in a burnt orange glow.

Ari hurried back to the group as they moved slowly north.

“Damn, that smells bad,” Sherman remarked, coughing.

“Burning rubber,” Ari said, sniffling, his eyes watering. “The best thing I’ve ever smelled.”

Rebecca looked up at a bat-like shape in the sky. It moved across several stars.

“It knows.”

“Is it working?” Ari asked.

Rebecca nodded.

“Oh, yeah. They hate rubber more than I hate mushrooms.”

“And the insulation?” Ari asked, hoisting the gym bag up to rap the strap around his shoulder.

Rebecca shrugged.

“Other than prolonged exposure to asbestos which will kill us 30 years from now, it’s worth a shot.”

As they passed the gas station, Ari’s eyes wandered to the grass where he had found the shoes. Though it was too dark to see more than the fuzzy shape of the gas pumps, he knew that the shoes were there, quiet reminders that there was no stand to take here, no arena, no chance to fight. It was humbling, he thought, to be the stray gazelles on an African plain, to hear the lion charging from behind and having no hope, no way to even resist.

“Gazelles can’t make rocket launchers,” Ari muttered as he visualized the pile of fence posts. Would it work? He would rather die trying then be a fleeing gazelle.

The narrow strip of broken asphalt loomed ahead. The dark forest, with its groping tree branches was to the left. The tall grass and the nearby lake were only a gray mass.

“What about the flashlight?” Sherman asked, catching up to Ari.

“Don’t turn it on, not now.”

With only a roof of stars to guide him, Ari took the lead, straining his eyes to see further down the road. Everything was gray, with large areas of black. Ari glanced at Sherman who walked close to him. The boy had a small flashlight tucked in his pocket. It was tempting. The further they walked, the fumes from the burning tires were less prevalent. This was not good, thought Ari as he looked up into the night sky. If the burning rubber repelled the creatures, what would happen once they were clear?

“There’s the barn,” Sherman whispered. “Two football fields ahead.”

“Great night vision,” Ari remarked.

“Yeah, helps to have African ancestry. You know, the jungles and all that.”

Ari chuckled and looked back at little Amber who practically clung to Martin. Rebecca kept her face turned to the sky. She knew more than she was telling, thought Ari.

Just then, there was a terrible thrashing off to the right, beyond the tall grass. Sherman abruptly pulled the flashlight up and turned it on, training the beam on the lake that was now visible less than 10 yards away.

“Sherman,” Ari whispered. “Kill the light!”

“Didn’t you hear that?”

The flashlight beam danced over the water like the peaks and waves of a heart monitor. Suddenly, a black worm-like shape rose out of the water. Several red, teardrop-shaped eyes glowed in the light.

“What the Hell?” Sherman asked.

“Turn it off!” Rebecca commanded.

“Can they get on land?” Sherman asked.

“Do you want to find out?” Rebecca snapped.

Sherman’s answer came with the click of the flashlight. It was back to darkness with the just the hint of starlight glittering off the water.

“Now, do you believe me?” Rebecca asked, drawing close to Ari.

Ari nodded.

“Sorry I doubted you but when you’re escorted off a bus by a sheriff and five deputies, who are collaborating with monsters that want to eat you, you begin to lose your faith in man.”

“I get it,” Rebecca said, her breath tainted with wine.

“Are you sober?” Ari asked.

“Not totally,” Rebecca answered. “I had a glass of Merlot to steady my nerves.”

“Just one glass?”

“Yeah, just enough to keep from turning and running back to the basement of the hardware store. Right now, I’m a turtle without a shell.”

“We all are,” Ari whispered, looking up at the barn that was completely dark and devoid of any activity. “We just came from ‘Old Town’. How far is ‘New Town’?”

“A mile beyond the barn,” Rebecca said. “Based on what a deputy told me.”

“Then it could be farther?” Ari asked.

“Yeah,” Rebecca said, looking up at the sky again.

Little Amber walked close to Martin and reached up to take his hand. He squeezed it ever so slightly.

The odor of burning rubber was now very faint. Ari glanced back at the others, his heart pumping. “We’re in danger now,” he heard himself say aloud.

“Yes,” Rebecca remarked. “Very much. I suggest we keep that flashlight off until we get to the barn. After that…” Rebecca looked over at the top of the tree line. “They’re close.”

“All of them?”

“All of them. One is really close. It’s….It’s coming right at us.”

“Should we run?”

“No. FREEZE!” Rebecca shouted.

Ari’s hands moved quickly, unzipping the gym bag and yanking out a Molotov cocktail. He grabbed the cigarette lighter and lit the cloth.

“Fire in the hull!” Sherman shouted, dropping to the ground.

A loud flapping of wings came directly towards Ari. The tiny flame of the burning cloth teased his nostrils. He drew his arm back just as a black shape dove towards him from the tree line. He flung the bottle upward. It sailed through the air and bounced off what appeared to be a hoofed leg but did not explode until it landed a dozen feet behind the group and spat out a blue-white pillar of flame and jettisoned burning slivers of glass in all directions.

The attacking creature paused in mid-flight, its attention drawn to the flames.

Ari lit another Molotov cocktail and hurled it skyward, missing the creature entirely. It arched up and landed in the trees, exploding like a star and igniting several branches.

“Fuck!”

The creature circled the group, pausing just above little Amber.

“This ain’t working,” Sherman said.

Rebecca pulled back on her bow and let loose an arrow. It whistled through the air and bounced off the creature’s chest, momentarily sidetracking it from what appeared to be its intention to take little Amber.

“No, you don’t,” Ari hissed, lighting the third Molotov cocktail. “Get on the ground and cover your heads!” Ari shouted as he hurled the Molotov cocktail straight up, striking the creature just below its head. The explosion was like a great fireworks display but too close. Flaming shards of glass rained down on the group and ignited the tall grass all around them. The creature wailed and drew back, one of its long, tentacle-like arms on fire.

“One more,” Sherman said.

Ari pulled out the last of the Molotov cocktails. He lit it and hurled it right towards the creature’s torso.

“Bulls eye!” Sherman shouted.

The explosion was loud. A burst of heat hit Ari in the face as the creature shrieked like a million stripped gears and sailed skyward and finally plummeted into the lake with a loud crash.

Ari panted for air and pulled his rescue inhaler out of his pocket.

“Now we know that they don’t like fire,” Martin remarked.

“Most life forms don’t,” Ari said, inhaling a burst from his inhaler.

“Damn,” Sherman said as smoke curled up from the outside of his insulation.

Ari quickly patted him down.

“Lucky I sprinkled it with water,” Rebecca said. “I thought it would cling better.”

“Thank God you did,” Ari said. “Or Sherman here might have been barbecued.”

“Not funny,” Sherman remarked, looking up at the stars and down towards the horizon. “Is that thing dead?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Ari answered. “We might have just pissed it off. He looked towards the rear of the barn. “Follow me.”