Snow(25)

“Oh, shit,” Fred groaned, sliding down against the wall while fumbling with the rifle in his lap. “Get down.”

But Todd was already down, just barely peering over the window’s ledge to watch the two figures charge at them from across the street.

But they were not heading for the convenience store. They stopped when they approached the headless corpse in the street. The woman dropped again to her knees and began to feed. The man in the bathrobe remained standing, swaying now in the frigid night air, the strong wind bullying his hair. He began to shudder, his head lolling back on his neck. Pasty white foam began frothing from the man’s lips.

“What the hell’s going on, Fred?” Todd whispered, just as Kate, wide-eyed, sat up beside him. He grabbed her and pulled her down out of sight, pressing her face very close to his.

“Oh my God,” he heard her mutter.

The man in the bathrobe began vibrating like a tuning fork. At his feet, the nude woman continued to devour the headless corpse, hardly aware of what was happening to her companion.

Kate squealed and Todd quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. Their commingling exhalations were fogging up the glass to the point where it was becoming harder to see out.

Then, instantly, the man in the bathrobe simply caved inward, as if he were a piece of paper someone had folded down the middle. A gout of blood arched up out of his mouth just as his body, like a used husk, sagged to the snow. What remained where he stood was a partially translucent visage that, for a split second, appeared almost human. Todd could make out the suggestion of a head and limbs branching from a central torso, and there was something hideous and depraved in that resemblance. Then its arms raised and Todd suddenly knew Shawna Dupree had been exactly right in her estimation: the thing’s arms were twin scythes, like curved blades that ended in needle-sharp points of glittering light. The bladed arms reared up in a bizarre mockery of the bronze horse at the center of the square. Then the creature vanished into a whirlwind of giant snowflakes. The whirlwind twisted and floated, practically breathed, then dispersed into the night until no semblance of it was left behind.

Kate was spilling silent tears over Todd’s hand, which he still held tightly to her mouth.

The nude female stood, moon-shimmering gore spilling down her body, and took off into the shadows. She just barely left footprints behind in the snow.

It took several drawn-out seconds for the world to come crashing back down around them. In that time, no one spoke, no one moved. When Todd finally pried his hand away from Kate’s mouth, the imprint of her teeth was impressed upon his palm.

“I’m going to throw up,” she croaked, and quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom. The noise caused Nan to jar awake. She groaned and swatted feebly at the air until Fred slid over and soothed her.

Todd couldn’t pull his eyes away from the square. It seemed no matter where he looked he could see the velvet twist of shapes moving through the shadows. How many of those things were out there? Every floating ember of snow caused his stomach to clench. Was it really snow or was it something else?

“Did you see?” It was Shawna, her voice like that of a ghost speaking through the darkness. Todd turned to find her sitting upright, the towels and aprons draped about her like a homeless person. Her hair was askew and her eyes were as wide as hubcaps. “What did I tell you? Did you see them?”

“How many are there?” Todd asked.

Shawna just shook her head.

“The rest of the town,” Fred said. He was squeezing Nan to his side while she peered worriedly out the windows at the darkness. She was lucky to have just missed the display. “Is everyone else dead?”

“I don’t know. Someone was ringing the church bells earlier today but I haven’t heard them since. And I haven’t seen anyone else on the street…except for those…things.”

“There could be more people,” Todd said. He was aware of how ridiculously hopeful he sounded. “They could be hiding out just like us.”

“I still think our best bet is to get a car and get the hell out of here,” said Fred.

Todd chewed on his lower lip. Peering through the window, he again surveyed the square. “It’s a long walk back to those houses.”

“I know.” Fred pointed to the wall at Todd’s back. “But it’s a quicker walk right next door.”

“What’s next door?” Todd asked.

“A gun shop.” It was Shawna who answered.





CHAPTER NINE



In the tiny, foul-smelling bathroom, Kate clicked on the flashlight and nearly screamed at the cadaverous appearance of her reflection in the mirror. Sunken, hollow eyes, drawn features, skin the color of soured milk. She set the flashlight down and turned on the hot water. It felt good to run her hands under it—she could feel its warmth cascade all the way down to her toes.

The sparkle of her engagement ring caught her eye. She stared at it for a very long time. Trapped in a lousy Pack-N-Go, she wondered what Gerald would do. Gerald. There would never be a wedding. She’d known for quite some time now. They’d gotten engaged on a whim, two free spirits who felt empowered when they acted strictly on impulse. But in the intervening years, their impulses had mellowed. Before either of them knew what had happened, she was strutting around like some fool with a giant glittering chandelier on her ring finger. How unfair was it they both had to come to their senses so quickly? And now they were stagnant, trapped in some quasi-committed relationship that had become derailed somewhere along the line.