Mira froze when she heard those words. The tone, pitch and pronunciation were identical. She heard movement out in the corridor. Likely attracted by the death-shriek of its fellow. She saw the door start to turn, rattling as though being moved by hands unused to the task. She saw where the bolt on the door hadn’t slid home properly.
Frantic, she heaved and wriggled her way out from under the dead monster and under the bed, leaving her spear embedded in its chest. She held her breath as the door slowly swung open and a pair of feet shuffled into the room.
“Hello? Hello? Please. Need help. Hurt.”
It must have spotted the body as it gave a squawk of alarm and raced over to it. Mira had her hand over her mouth to muffle any noise. She dared not look as she heard the creature inspect the body, then prowl around the room. It stopped directly in front of the bed. What she had originally mistaken for shoes she could now see were a chitinous three toed foot. She tensed as she saw it twitch and had to stifle a cry of alarm as it lunged towards the bathroom door.
The imposter smashed through the door and began to rampage around the small bathroom. From her hiding place Mira could hear the crash of ceramics and the hiss of water from broken pipes. Eventually the noise died down and it shuffled back into the room. Once again it stood in front of the bed. For a long moment it just stood there. Rocking slowly from side to side. The tension was unbearable, Mira still had her hand clamped over her mouth, sweat and tears streaming down her face.
Something clattered out in the corridor, the creature whirled around and skittered out into the darkness. There was a crash and a scream. The screaming rose to a pitch and cut off abruptly. Mira stifled a sob and wept.
Sometime later, she didn’t know how long, Mira heard a voice whispering her name.
“Mira?”
Something moved out in the corridor.
“Mira? Are you alive?”
A pair of boots appeared in the doorway.
“Mira!” the voice whispered. “You in here, alien girl?”
The boots strode into the room and dashed over to the dead body in the corner
“[unintelligible]! Mira!”
She heard a grunt as the body was pulled away. The boots reappeared before walking over to the ruined bathroom. The voice spoke again.
“Mira,” it whispered softly, “Mira are you in here?”
The boots appeared again at the foot of the bed, followed by a pair of knees and a hand. A human hand. Luis’ face peeked under the bed a moment later. As Mira drew a breath to speak or cry out, Luis' hand shot out and covered her mouth.
“Shhh,” she said, a finger over her lips, “you hurt?” Mira shook her head and Luis slowly withdrew her hand. “Good. Slow and quiet as you can crawl out from here. I’ll go lock the door. Gonna check you over then we’ll get out of here. Can you do that for me?” Luis spoke slowly and kept her voice soft, she stood up and locked the door as Mira slowly crawled out from the bed and sat on the mattress. She could see the dead bulk of the monster out of the corner of her eye but couldn’t turn to look at it.
Luis walked back over and crouched down in front of Mira, taking hold of her hands as she did so. “It's ok. The door is locked and nothing is coming in. Now tell me what happened.”
Mira told her about what she had seen and what had happened. At some point during the retelling Luis had retrieved her spear and thrown a sheet over the body. She pressed the spear into Mira’s hand.
“First time you’ve seen anything like this isn’t it?” she asked. Mira nodded. “All things considered you’re doing pretty well. This little fucker,” she kicked the corpse, “is what we call a deadskin. You can probably guess why. There’s probably a few dozen of these things wandering around the town.” Luis peered out of the peephole in the door before continuing. “Good news, bad news time. Good news is these things are really, really stupid. They won’t attack unless it’s got you alone or it thinks its disguise is uncovered. So long as you don’t scream or run away it’ll be completely convinced its disguise still works. It might even think you’re one of them until you get up close.”
“And the bad news?” Mira asked in a voice just above a whisper.
“The bad news is that these things are the scouts. In a day or two the whole hive might show up looking for dinner”
Luis looked out into the corridor again. “We can’t stay here. Those things are dumb but they’ll start breaking doors eventually. We’re going to walk out of here and get to one of the towers. Can shelter there while the militia sweep the town. Follow me.”
She made to unlock the door but Mira grabbed her arm.
“We can’t go out!”
Luis shrugged her off easily and turned back to the trembling young woman. “I came all this way to get you out of here and someplace safe. I didn’t have to. Now, I’m going to open this door and leave. You can either come with me or you can climb back under the bed.” With that said she unlocked the door and slowly opened it. When nothing immediately jumped out and tried to eat her face she stepped out into the corridor and waved Mira over to her.
Mira cautiously stepped out into the corridor, head swinging this way and that as she tried to look in all directions at once. It looked much as it had several hours earlier, save for the large red stain and associated drag marks trailing off into one of the rooms on the left. She felt another hand grip hers and she almost shrieked in alarm before realising it belonged to Luis. The older woman winked at her then held a finger to her lips.
“They’ll come if they hear people noise, so less talk the better” Luise whispered to her, “If you see one before I do just squeeze my hand. Don’t panic. It’ll think you haven’t seen it yet. Whatever you see just try and stay calm.”
The pair took a few cautious steps forward, Luise stopping at each door to quickly peek inside. They were about halfway to the stair when a sudden sound behind her caused her to whirl around, letting go of Luis’s hand in the process. Looming out of the dark was another of the creatures, peering out at her through a middle aged woman’s stolen face.
“Hello” it croaked, taking a step forward. Mira felt her legs give out from underneath her, spear dropping from her hand to clunk on the floor.
“Hello” it said again, fingers curling into claws. Talons piercing through the stolen flesh. It reached out towards her.
Luis dived forwards and punched the beast in the neck, her claw stabbing deep into a gap between chitin plates. She withdrew and stabbed again, aiming for the deadskin’s armpit. She jumped back, one arm snaking out and hauling Mira to her feet. The other clamped over her mouth, muffling the inevitable scream.
The creature, the Deadskin began twitch violently. It toppled to the floor as its legs gave out. It secondary limbs burst from its costume and began to thrash around in the air. After a few more seconds it stopped and lay still. Mira stared wide-eyed at Luis who stepped forwards and prodded the body with her boot.
“Poison sack at the base of the claw,” she said without looking back at Mira, “not had to use it in a while, works faster than I remember.” She studied the stolen face with a frown. “I know this one. Knew, I mean. She had a bakery in town, made really good bread rolls. Tried to set me up with her brother.” She stood back up, her face hard.
Luis picked up the discarded spear and handed it back to Mira. “You have to keep your face blank” she said in a whisper as they headed back towards the stairs. “Talk back to it. Copy its voice if you can. It’ll think you’re the same as it for a while. Don’t run, don’t make any faces. Blank face yeah?
She led Mira by the hand to the top of the stairs and cautiously peeked out around the corner into the room below. Mira tried to look too but was gently pushed back as Luis stepped away from the corner, her face pale.
“This is going to be hard” she whispered to Mira and gave her hand a squeeze. “There’s at least six of the things down there" She grimaced before continuing, "Making new costumes. They must have come in after I did, there’s no other way out from up here. Gonna have to walk through. If we don’t react they won’t attack. You can do this, just do what I told you.”
Without waiting for Mira to reply she let go of her hand and stepped around the corner. Mira almost ran after her but forced herself to walk slowly, copying the awkward shuffle Luis was affecting. Hunched, head down and arms held tight to her belly. With the butt tucked under her arm the head of her spear dragged behind her, knocking on each step as she made her way down the stairs. She felt herself wince at every clunk and bang. She could hear movement in the room below her but couldn’t see any of the inhabitants, her hair blocked her view of everything but the next step.
It only took a few seconds to get to the bottom of the stairs, Mira paused as she tried to remember which way she needed to go to reach the door. She could hear noises all around her, a heavy shuffling tread, the sound of cloth and other things being torn. Chewing. She figured she’d made it about three quarters across the room when a voice spoke directly into her ear.
“Hello?” it said. Mira froze. The exact same voice as before. “Hello?” it said again. Mira shuffled round to face the speaker, all she could see from this position was a pair of blood spattered feet. She felt hot breath blow against her hair as it spoke a third time. “Hello? Please. Need help. Hurt” it said in the same flat voice.
“Please. Need help” said Mira, doing her best to copy the phrasing and intonation. “Hello? Please. Need help. Hurt” she said again, suppressing the urge to cower or run. The creature was silent for a long, heart stopping moment. Then it simply turned and shuffled off without another word.
Mira’s heart was threatening to hammer its way out of her chest by this point. She knew she couldn’t keep the act up for much longer. Risking a glance around the room she realised she was almost at the exit. She couldn’t see Luis so assumed the older woman must have already made it out. Two of the creatures sat at one of the tables nearest the door, a body slumped across the table between them. She would have to pass by them to reach the door. Mira ducked her head back down and began to shuffle towards the door. She counted the steps as she walked. At twenty she risked another quick peek around the room. She was perhaps two metres from the closed door.
The urge to dash to the door, wrench it open and run was almost irresistible. It took all of her will power to resist it, forcing herself to take small steps in the strange shuffling gait she’d been copying. She reached the door, turned the handle and pushed. The door rattled but nothing else happened. Mira felt a small frisson of panic slither down her spine. She tried again. Another rattle.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Hello?” came a voice from behind her, followed by the distinctive shuffle of one of the creatures. Mira didn’t turn around but instead pushed the door a third time with the same result. Her mind raced as she tried to work out what was happening. Was the door locked? Were these creatures smarter than they seemed? Had Luis trapped her here for some unknown reason?
She studied the door again, doing her best to ignore the footsteps closing from behind. Suddenly it hit her, it was so obvious! Grasping the handle for the fourth time she turned it and pulled…
The door swung open letting in a gust of fresh, cool night air into the bar turned charnel house. Mira had barely taken a step forward towards safety when an arm snaked out, seized her by the wrist and dragged her bodily out the room! She felt herself slam against the outside wall of the bar, knocking all the breath from her lungs. The blade of her spear, all but forgotten in the slow creep through the infested building, flicked out as she moved but was knocked aside by a hand bearing a shield.
The hand pinning her let go and Mira slumped to the floor, hacking and coughing as she tried to fill her lungs. Through a veil of tears, she saw Luis leaning down and proffering a hand towards her. Mira took it and let herself be pulled to her feet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the bone blade slid into its sheath on her right hand.
“Sorry about that” said Luise as she pulled Mira into a brief, tight hug. “thought you were one of them. I’ve been waiting for ages. Had me worried litt-, Mira.”
Mira shook her head. “One started talking to me, I managed to bluff it. I couldn’t work the door!” she finished as she finally realised this part of the ordeal was finally over. Relief flooded her and some of the tension leached out of her body. She spotted a trio of men standing a little way away from her and Luise. All of them were dressed similarly to the guard she and Anan had met at the town gate. All three carried a short barrelled rifle of unfamiliar design on a sling around their necks; each man also wore a small round shield strapped to their left arm. A bandolier of pouches and strange objects had been strapped diagonally across each man’s chest. One of them, whose shield’s dull metal surface bore a long scratch from Mira’s spear, walked over to where Mira and Luise stood. The other two kept their weapons pointed at the door.
“That everyone Luise?” he asked in a tired voice.
Luise nodded. “Yeah, no-one else left in there now. I counted six downstairs and at least two more in the boarding rooms. I got one and Mira here did for another. How bad is it?”
The guard grimaced, “It’s pretty bad, this is our third sweep and clear tonight. The captain is getting everyone secured in the north tower until we get the all clear. Last I heard we’ve seen no sign of the main swarm but they must be close. We can’t spare any guards for scout duty until we finish here though.” He cast a look at Mira. “She ok? Looking a bit shook up. The doc’s up at the tower, get him to have a look at her. I think he’d appreciate your help too.”
The guardsman walked back over to his men and talked quietly with them for a moment. He called out to Luise “You go on, we’ll clear here and sweep for survivors. Get anyone you find to the North tower. Luck to you Luise”
“You too lads. See you at the tower” replied Luis as she herded Mira round a corner and into a side street, the muffled sounds of combat following them as they went.
Luise stalked ahead as the pair made their way down the narrow street, Mira followed behind, anxious and weary in equal measure. Luise turned another corner then quickly darted back causing Mira to collide and bounce off the other woman.
“What is it?” she hissed to Luise. Luise ignored her and cautiously peeked out around the corner before turning to Mira.
“There's a bunch of them in the street. Bout six or seven. Gotta get past then it’s straight onto the tower.” She risked another glance around the corner. “There’s no alleys and all the shops will be locked. Let’s go back and find another way around.”
“Hello?” the voice came from behind them. Both women turned as one to look at the shambling figure that had approached within touching distance. Luise darted forwards, claw at the ready but Mira beat her to it. Surprising even herself, Mira lashed out with the spear. It was a slow, clumsy strike that nonetheless sliced through the false flesh of the creature’s mask, slashing one of its real eyes in the process.
The deadskin lurched backwards as fluid misted the air from its ruined face. Luise’s claw took it in the throat with a crunch. It toppled to the floor like a broken marionette, taking Luise with it as she tried to withdraw her claw. The deadskin screeched as it thrashed around Mira ran to help her when she heard the scuffing, shuffling steps in the dirt and heard the voices.
“Hello?”
“Hello?”
“Please. Need help.”
“Hello?”
Seven hunched figures trudged around the corner in a loose mob while an eighth brought up the rear towering a full head and shoulders above the rest.
“Soldier!” croaked Luise as she clambered back to her feet, “run!” She grabbed Mira’s arm and pulled her back in the direction they had come.
The deadskins broke into a shambling run as the soldier clacked its mandibles at them. To Mira it looked like a giant predatory beetle that had decided to try being bipedal for a change. Much larger than the other deadskins, this beast wore no mask of stolen flesh. Street lights reflected off its glossy chitinous plates and glittered along its serrated claws. It flexed these as if in preparation as it began to shoulder its compatriot’s aside. It shrieked as it came, the sound sawing through the air.
Mira’s legs tangled in the haft of her spear and she tumbled to the floor, taking Luise with her. The pair landed in a heap and Mira felt the wind knocked out of her for the second time that day. She gasped for breath as she struggled to stand, feeling Luise pulling at her arm. Luise was shouting something but she couldn’t hear it over the sound of her own heartbeat. She was so tired.
The soldier loomed over the pair, claws twitching in anticipation. Then vanished under a half ton of enraged lizard hybrid as Kopil pounced on it from a rooftop perch. The two crashed to the ground, separated, circled and dived into brutal combat. Claws met chitin and mandibles ground against scale as the two battled it out.
Strong arms hauled Mira to her feet and pressed the spear back into her hands. Mira looked up to see Anan’s broad face grinning down at her.
“Good to see Luise has been looking after you” he said as he stepped in front of her, drawing his sword and pistol.
A clatter behind her caused her to whirl around, three militiamen had formed up in a row stretching across the street.
“You two. Behind us. Now!” shouted one of them as they slowly advanced forwards, weapons trained on the melee in front of them. Mira staggered into place as they opened fire, heavy bullets smashing into the deadskins in short three round bursts, causing them to dance backwards across the street. Two of the beasts came apart completely under the fusillade, spattering the others with noxious fluids.
More of the creatures appeared, smashing through windows and breaking down doors. The scent of blood and the noise of battle seemed to stir them on. They abandoned the disguise and attacked at a run. The first took one of Kopils tail spikes to the face and went down hard. Before Kopil could finish it off however the larger soldier beast bashed him into and through the window of the building behind him. It followed, arms spread wide.
The creatures advanced through the hail of bullets, occasionally one would fall, shot to ribbons but the rest continued to scuttle forwards. Anan parried a claw with his sword and shot its owner in the face at point blank range. Headless, it tottered backwards. He shoved it into the next closest combatant, shooting it in the head as he vaulted over the two thrashing bodies. Mira struggled to keep track of what happened next as the remaining eight deadskins continued to charge at the small knot of militia.
One man went down as a claw slashed into his chest, his comrade lashing out with his own talons as he continued to fire into the mob with his off hand. Another dropped his long gun, drawing a short sword as he parried with his shield. Luise dragged Mira back as a deadskin bounded towards them, clattering its mandibles as it advanced. Luise dodged its first clumsy attack and rammed her claw through one of its wide staring eyes, still it came on, limbs spasming as the poison did its work.
Before it could reach her Anan tackled it to the ground, driving his blade into the base of its neck. As he rose another piled into him from behind, biting and clawing like a mad thing. Anan fought it off but not before it managed to slice open the meat of his cheek and slash across his belly, leaving him sprawled on his back and bloody.
Mira went to help him only to be hauled back by Luise. “He’s hurt!” she shouted as Luise pulled her away. Luise’s reply was drowned out as a bestial roar echoed around the street. Mira spun towards the source of the noise, trying to imagine what fresh hell could be on its way. Instead she was treated to the sight of Anan, steam rising from the rapidly shrinking wounds, tearing the head off one of the remaining deadskins.
Anan threw the head at the nearest deadskin and followed it with a punch that pistoned his fist deep inside its chest. Barely pausing he wrenched it off the ground and used it to club down the next two deadskins as they attacked. Before they could rise he struck again and again, his makeshift club coming apart in his hands as he beat them into paste. The whole time he roared and bellowed like a wounded bull.
Only three deadskins remained at this point. The remaining militia caught one in a crossfire and shot it to pieces. Anan butchered the last two, tearing them apart and stamping on the wreckage. He stood there amidst the broken bodies and the sudden quiet, chest heaving and steam still rising from his skin.
Luis took hold of Mira’s arm and began to slowly lead her away, slowly walking backwards not taking her eyes off her friend standing in the middle of the street. One of the militia men ejected a spent magazine from his weapon, it clattered to the floor with a metallic rattle. Anan’s head snapped round. With a roar he charged the militiaman, a vicious backhanded blow launching him across the street. The other militiaman fared little better. Anan head-butted him square in the face, flattening his nose and knocking him to the ground. He rounded on Mira and Luise who had both frozen in place. He bellowed and began to charge.
He had covered perhaps half the distance when, for a second time, a change came over him. Some of the light came back to his eyes, replacing the murderous, feral blankness that had previously stared out at the world. His movements became less predatory, less coordinated. He collapsed to the floor a metre away from Mira. Collapsed and began to shake.
Luise started forwards and tried to roll Anan onto his back but without much success. “Help me!” she shouted to Mira who was still frozen and rigid, staring at Anan’s prone form. “Help me!” Luise shouted again, snapping Mira out of her fugue. She stepped forwards and between them the two women heaved Anan over and onto his back. His whole body shook as if being electrocuted and a pained grimace adorned his face. One hand grasped at his chest, trying to take hold of his heart.
Luise began to root through the many pouches and pockets in Anan’s clothing. “Look for an inhaler,” she said to Mira, “the size of your thumb and silver”. It took a few seconds of almost frantic searching but Mira found it. She passed it to Luise who in turn pressed it to Anan’s lips and depressed the plunger. Anan’s whole body tensed for an awful moment before relaxing and falling limp.
Luise slumped down and leant against Anan’s prone form. “He’ll be ok now. Just gotta get him to the doctor”. Mira was still trying to process what had just happened and merely stared, her hand still gripping the collection of trinkets she’d pulled from Anan’s pouches. One of the militiamen bent to help one his companions up. After checking on the third man, lying prone on the street clutching his ruined nose, they walked over to Luise and Mira.
“He still alive?” the first one asked, one hand pressed against his ribs where Anan had punched him. Luise just nodded. “Been a while since he last did that. Needs to work on his timing mind you. I think he bruised a few ribs. Reckon he pulled the punch though so it could be worse” he turned and shouted hoarsely to the third militiaman. “Carlton! Stop whining about your damned nose and get on sentry!” he jerked a thumb at the other man “you too Carlson. Take the far end”. Carlson nodded and jogged away, pulling the last of the broken claws from his chest plate.
The as yet unnamed militia man looked as though he was about to continue speaking, only to whirl and point his weapon as, with a clatter of broken brick and masonry, Kopil reappeared. The big lizard had several long cuts and slashes along the length of his body, dark ichor leaked from his wounds and he walked with a slight limp. He chewed on one of the soldier beasts severed arms as he walked out of the ruined building. The arm dropped with a thump as he spotted Anan. With a shrill bark he leapt forward, shouldering Luise out of the way. He sniffed Anan and prodded him with his snout before laying down next to him.
Luise stooped and lifted one of Anan’s arms, the still unnamed militiaman lifted the other. They lifted him up and began to carry/drag him towards the tower. Luise called out over her shoulder,
“Grab his stuff will you?”
Mira collected Anan’s discarded gear, carefully picking up the discarded pistol and making sure to keep her fingers well away from the trigger. She handed it to Luise before going back for the rest. Kopil scuttled over, carrying Anan’s sword in his mouth like a dog would a stick. He trotted on after Luise, circling the walking wounded.
Mira began to pocket the various trinkets and curios she had found whilst looking for the inhaler. One looked very familiar. It was small, about 15cm long and 5 cm thick. Three small round buttons lined its length and a thin line circled it about a third of the way along. The transit key.