rage-filled faces, could see their terrible injuries and their awful corpse like grins. The smell of them now reached my nostrils, rotting flesh, vomit and raw sewage.
I continued to work my left hand and felt the rope slip over the mound of my thumb. “He’s getting loose,” Zeke hissed .
“No he ain’t,” Frank said, and I fe lt him grab my hair through the fence.
At that moment, the fat woman let out a screech and charged and the creatures joined her in a headlong rush that resembled a hungry , carnivorous wall.
I gave one last desperate yank on the rope and felt if sear my skin , but the bond on my right hand held . Behind me I could hear Shirl screaming as the creatures closed the distance. The two Columbia students were now in the lead, their faces contorted with utter rage.
I could see the knife on the floor but I knew I didn’t have time to reach it. Instead, I twisted round and felt a handful of my hair part company with my scalp as I pulled free of Frank’s grip.
I grabbed my bound right wrist with my freed left and pulled with every o u nce of strength left in my body. The fence was old and badly rusted and I felt it give immediately. The braces holding the chain link to the support poles split like clothes pegs , as the fence was peeled back.
Shirl was still screaming and I heard the professor shout “Steady on , ” as the creatures poured through the gap.
I was thrown against the wall, with the fence f orming a barrier between me and them . B ut I still had to free my right hand. For the moment the creatures seemed not to notice me as they worked on Frank and his crew, Shirl and Zeke were already down but Frank was putting up a fight while the professor held a few of them at bay with a wine bottle.
I worked frantically at the knots and had almost freed myself when I saw the fat woman approaching. She walked quickly, taking small steps, her red handbag still looped over her arm. She snarled at me, showing her broken teeth and I gave one final yank to free my hand.
I heard a crack as one of the fence pos ts snapped. It swung towards us , bringing with it a dense tangle of razor wire. It caught the fat woman squarely in the back of the head and her face momentarily registered a look of surprise before the lights went out.
I freed myself from the fence and scrambled onto the dumpster, then I grabbed the third or forth r ung of the ladder and pulled my self up. I scrambled upward faster than Long John Silver’s cabin boy heading for the crows nest.
Halfway up I looked back to see that Frank had been overwhelmed. The professor too had fallen and he looked skyward, as the creatures fed. His face showed no fear. It was as though a prophecy had been fulfilled.
Chapter Four: Joe Thursday
By the time I reached home it was early evening. The street resembled a battlefield, with mutilated corpses, burned out cars, bullet holes and smashed windows. One of the apartment blocks was on fire , and a hydrant had been ruptured, the water now reduced to a trickle.
It was quiet, too quiet and I approached my apartment building cautiously. The glass in the front door had been smashed which was not a good sign, but inside everything seemed normal. I almost expected to hear classical music coming from the Kranski’s apartment as I climbed the stairs.
There was no music coming from the Kra nski’s , but their door was ajar. Also not a good sign, t he woman was notoriously paranoid at the best of times.
Kranski could wait though. I had more important things to worry about. Ruby. I entered my apartment with the sound of my own heartbeat playing timpani in my ears. I had no idea what I would find.
Ruby might be dead, taken, or she might be waiting to sink her teeth into me. If she had been teething at one day she may well have grown to be a toddler by now in some virally accelerated growth spurt. Crazy as that sounds, it seemed like a genuine possibility to me right then.
I headed down the
I continued to work my left hand and felt the rope slip over the mound of my thumb. “He’s getting loose,” Zeke hissed .
“No he ain’t,” Frank said, and I fe lt him grab my hair through the fence.
At that moment, the fat woman let out a screech and charged and the creatures joined her in a headlong rush that resembled a hungry , carnivorous wall.
I gave one last desperate yank on the rope and felt if sear my skin , but the bond on my right hand held . Behind me I could hear Shirl screaming as the creatures closed the distance. The two Columbia students were now in the lead, their faces contorted with utter rage.
I could see the knife on the floor but I knew I didn’t have time to reach it. Instead, I twisted round and felt a handful of my hair part company with my scalp as I pulled free of Frank’s grip.
I grabbed my bound right wrist with my freed left and pulled with every o u nce of strength left in my body. The fence was old and badly rusted and I felt it give immediately. The braces holding the chain link to the support poles split like clothes pegs , as the fence was peeled back.
Shirl was still screaming and I heard the professor shout “Steady on , ” as the creatures poured through the gap.
I was thrown against the wall, with the fence f orming a barrier between me and them . B ut I still had to free my right hand. For the moment the creatures seemed not to notice me as they worked on Frank and his crew, Shirl and Zeke were already down but Frank was putting up a fight while the professor held a few of them at bay with a wine bottle.
I worked frantically at the knots and had almost freed myself when I saw the fat woman approaching. She walked quickly, taking small steps, her red handbag still looped over her arm. She snarled at me, showing her broken teeth and I gave one final yank to free my hand.
I heard a crack as one of the fence pos ts snapped. It swung towards us , bringing with it a dense tangle of razor wire. It caught the fat woman squarely in the back of the head and her face momentarily registered a look of surprise before the lights went out.
I freed myself from the fence and scrambled onto the dumpster, then I grabbed the third or forth r ung of the ladder and pulled my self up. I scrambled upward faster than Long John Silver’s cabin boy heading for the crows nest.
Halfway up I looked back to see that Frank had been overwhelmed. The professor too had fallen and he looked skyward, as the creatures fed. His face showed no fear. It was as though a prophecy had been fulfilled.
Chapter Four: Joe Thursday
By the time I reached home it was early evening. The street resembled a battlefield, with mutilated corpses, burned out cars, bullet holes and smashed windows. One of the apartment blocks was on fire , and a hydrant had been ruptured, the water now reduced to a trickle.
It was quiet, too quiet and I approached my apartment building cautiously. The glass in the front door had been smashed which was not a good sign, but inside everything seemed normal. I almost expected to hear classical music coming from the Kranski’s apartment as I climbed the stairs.
There was no music coming from the Kra nski’s , but their door was ajar. Also not a good sign, t he woman was notoriously paranoid at the best of times.
Kranski could wait though. I had more important things to worry about. Ruby. I entered my apartment with the sound of my own heartbeat playing timpani in my ears. I had no idea what I would find.
Ruby might be dead, taken, or she might be waiting to sink her teeth into me. If she had been teething at one day she may well have grown to be a toddler by now in some virally accelerated growth spurt. Crazy as that sounds, it seemed like a genuine possibility to me right then.
I headed down the
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