The tiny clock on his desk ticked the seconds that passed. Nick couldn’t help himself but lean back into his chair, his mind numbed with boredom. His shift would end at 6:30 pm, thirty more minutes and I’m out of here, he thought to himself.
He never wanted to go to the town of Cue to be the local counsellor, but $600 a day was money he couldn’t turn down. Though it wasn’t the only reason why he was there. Ever since the Cascade that happened the year prior. A lot of people had changed, either physically or mentally. Some grew scales, a claw, horns, and some even grew angel-like wings. To think that one event caused the world to stop what it was doing as they tried to figure out what happened. Was an understatement. Wars ended, but people panicked. They all demanded answers during a time of pandemonium. Everyone knew the Cascade happened in California, but beyond that, no one could explain what caused the world and people to change so drastically. Nick theorised it could be an experiment gone wrong, but he couldn’t be sure.
Nick was part of a program to provide counselling and mental health support to affected communities across Australia. Formally it was dubbed the Outreach Initiative, but to Nick, it should be called the Desperation Act. He wasn’t qualified to diagnose people with any illness or disability, he only got his diploma a month before being ordered to take the job. Unless he wanted to risk going to jail.
Thankfully, he only needed to stay for a year and then he could return to his home in Bunbury. The world was in chaos, but he got a posting in one of the smallest towns in Australia that wasn't impacted by the Cascade. In a way he felt his posting was a waste of time and resources. But he knew that in a few minutes, he could leave his office and at least talk to someone.
He looked back at the clock, and only three minutes had passed. ‘I’m going to fucking die out here!’ He groaned after he rubbed his eyes. He was meant to have a client today, but most of the people in town all upped and left around the same time. However, even if he had no one for the day, he was still legally obligated to stay in the office just in case someone needed help.
But who can prove I left early? Surely no one will dob on me if I leave. Yeah, that sounds better than this. He kept debating to himself if leaving work early was the right thing to do. In the end, he chose to sign off early and head to the local pub. The only place in town where he could spend some of his money.
The town was always weird to Nick, how they replaced the grass in the middle of the street with fake grass just so the gardener didn’t need to take care of it. Now the shire would need to hire the same gardener because weeds started growing out of the sides. Another oddity that he noticed was how the “convenience store” was anything but convenient. He would often go into the store and look at how the kitchen section only had a sandwich maker from the 80s and a single spatula, just because he found it amusing.
As Nick entered the pub, his friend Jamie welcomed him with a wave. ‘You left work early.’ He said in a thick Indonesian accent.
‘There isn’t anything to do besides sitting down and doing bugger all.’ Nick pulled out his wallet and handed Jamie a $10 bill. ‘I’ll have a pint of the usual.’
Jamie grinned, ‘Emu?’
‘Do I look like a wife-beater? No, 150 Lashes.’ Jamie waited for Nick to finish his sentence with a cocky smile. ‘Please,’ Nick finished.
He gestured at Nick’s attire. ‘You do look like one with that suit.’ Jamie poured Nick his pint and handed him his $1.50 in change.
Out of everyone in the small town, Jamie was the only person Nick could call his friend. Every fly-in-fly-out worker, and even the majority of locals could be best described as annoying to Nick. But he and Jamie had one thing in common, they both came to the town because of money and they both hated being there.
So they chatted with one another, talking about home and the first thing they would do once they got back. Nick ordered a Cue Burger, the iconic meal that was “locally made”. Nick found that hard to believe, knowing how the chef who was also the owner couldn’t cook to save their own life. Though awful to the pallet, it at least added some flair to his mundane day.
Luckily for Nick, it seemed to be the day when no one else turned up to the pub for dinner. ‘Place is a bloody ghost town.’ Nick commented.
‘Yeah, everyone just up and left to do their own thing. I got an offer to go to Port Hedland, better pay too. About $10 more per hour.’
‘Are you going to take the job?’
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Jamie scorned, ‘fuck no! Hedland is a shithole, I’m not going to degrade myself any further.’
‘At least it is better than what I was offered. I got a job offer to work in Katanning for less money, bloody thing isn’t worth it. Well, not now at least.’
‘I don’t know, Katanning would be better than here at least. Plus, there might actually be women there.’ Nick laughed, in recognition of his sense of humour and the sad realisation that the town is only populated by men. He clanked his glass against Jamie’s.
The owner of the pub left and called it a day, giving Jamie the keys to the place. He allowed Nick to stay and drink as much as he wanted, only if he paid for them.
Nick ordered another drink, but before his glass could be refilled a loud scream was heard outside. ‘The hell was that?’ Nick said.
‘Should we check it out?’
Nick waited for a few seconds, he shook his head like nothing happened. ‘Nah, perhaps someone just…’
Gunfire rang outside followed by a thunderous howl. Nick jumped over the counter, spilling his drink while he hid alongside Jamie. Again, the unmistakable bark of a shotgun round echoed through the town. Whatever was going on outside, Nick knew it was something horrible as alarms and sirens blared throughout the night.
A large object crashed through the window, Jamie and Nick peered over the counter to see the mangled corpse of a police officer. Though Nick couldn’t tell who it was as the clothing was drenched in blood, their identity was unrecognisable as the flesh on their face was torn apart.
Jesus Christ, Nick thought to himself.
As soon as more screams were heard, they both retreated behind the counter. ‘What the fuck was that!?’ Jamie whispered.
‘I don’t know!’
Before Jamie could reply, the pub door creaked open. The stench of death and rot filled the air as four feet made the wooden floor creak with every heavy step. Nick covered his mouth so he wouldn’t gag or cough. The creature from the other side of the counter huffed its breath as drool dripped onto the floor.
A paw hit the top of the counter, its long and bloodied claws protracted as it scratched against the wooden surface, ripping off chunks of wood like a cat scratching a cat-post. Once it finished, it hopped off to drag the body of the police officer out of the pub and into the darkness.
Jamie and Nick never checked if it was safe to move. They sat there in silence, their bodies frozen in place like stone statues. It felt long for Nick, sitting there as every second felt like a minute, and how every minute felt like an eternity. They thought they’d waited for a few hours, but it was only twenty minutes since the monster left.
‘Is anyone here!’ Someone shouted, Nick refused to speak out, fearing it was a trick of his mind.
Jamie sheepishly poked their head out, their mouth quivering with every word they spoke. ‘Yeah, we’re fine.’
‘Is there anyone else with you?’ The voice said.
‘Yeah, Nick is here with me.’
The voice that Jamie was talking to was the owner of the service station across the street. He looked over the counter with a bolt-action rifle on hand to see a petrified Nick. ‘Thank god someone else is alive. Come on mate, I and a few others are holding out at the police station. That place is safe.’
It didn’t take much convincing to get Jamie and Nick to safety, though none of them expected to see the carnage outside. Cars were ripped apart like paper, the pumps at the gas station were demolished, and the phone tower had toppled over. However, that was little compared to the corpses that littered the street. Nick could count eight bodies, or so he thought. He couldn’t tell from how badly mangled each corpse was. Nor did he want to think of the possibility that some of the masses of flesh, bone, and gore were two or more people.
While the two hid behind the safety of the town’s pub, the monster ravaged the town of Cue, but what confused Nick was it looked like the creature knew what it was doing. Like it knew what needed to be destroyed to prevent them all from calling for help or escaping. Jamie, Nick, and the service station owner entered the police station with four other survivors. They locked the door behind them and barricaded it to the best of their abilities.
No one talked to each other, nor could anyone sleep. Not one could even muster the strength to cry after what happened. So, they kept silent, till the sun rose from the horizon.