Дэвид Уоллес - Island of Fog and Death

“Guys,” she said as her mind started to make sense of the horrific mess before her. “Er, I’m possibly wrong about this, but…” Her voice trailed off as she saw splashes of blood off to her left.

“What is it?” asked Steve.

“Most of this damage was caused by something coming out from the inside.” Peri moved to the fresh blood that caught her attention. “And I don’t think this blood over here came out of the goat.”

Gus moved up and looked at the goat. He frowned. “Peri is correct,” he said. “If you look, you can see that the goat was eaten from the inside. Something burst out of it quite violently. See?”

Amanda’s shaking voice said, “I’d rather not see, if you don’t mind.” She retched again.

Troy had moved to the left side of the road, and was looking at the blood stains there. “This isn’t from the goat. Look, that’s someone’s footprint. There’s a trail going off the road, this way.”

Amanda stood, her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face. “I want to get away from here. Please, let’s go back to the mainland. We need to tell the authorities about this.”

Peri put an arm round her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Amanda, love, we are the authorities. Me and Steve and Troy. Sorry, but I don’t think splitting up is wise, and we can’t go until we check out this blood trail. Somebody could be hurt out there. Just stick close for a few minutes longer.” She was all too aware that her own voice was unsteady.

Steve looked over and nodded in agreement. “The missing policemen?” he said softly. Peri only shrugged.

Gus tapped Peri on the shoulder and gestured her away. He wrapped both arms round Amanda, and whispered to Peri, “Let me.” He leaned close to Amanda, and murmured, “You just stay close with me and Tash. We’ll make sure you’re all right, while Peri and her men scout ahead. But you need to walk with me, because we all need to stay together. Tash will let us know if anything bad is out there.”

Peri noticed that while he was comforting Amanda, his head still swivelled this way and that, alert for danger. “Come along,” she said softly, and they set off.

Troy was tracking, while Steve was covering with his pistol. Peri tried to copy Steve, looking around for any movement in the fog. After a few minutes, she jumped as something touched her arm, but then she realised it was Steve. He simply pointed ahead. Troy had stopped and was peering into the fog off to one side.

“Is that another goat?” she asked. “Fuck, it is, isn’t it?”

There was certainly an animal of some kind out there, facing towards them. It simply stood there, unmoving.

“Come on,” whispered Troy, and he resumed tracking the blood trail.

Peri kept glancing to the side, and noticed that the goat was still watching them. It took a few steps, keeping them in view.

“Is it just me,” she whispered, “or is that fucking goat keeping us under surveillance?”

Peri almost walked into Troy again. He had stopped. She followed his gaze, and saw a dark shape on the ground ahead. Steve and Troy systematically scrutinised the gloom around them, their pistols tracking their eyes. The others, just behind, had also stopped, and dead silence fell. Peri thought she caught something on the edge of her hearing. Was it a wet sliding sound from straight ahead? A rustle from her left? It was too faint to be sure, but she felt a growing sense of dread.

Troy moved forward to the shape on the ground, which Peri now recognised as a human figure in dark clothing. He stretched out a hand.

“No!” she hissed. “Troy, don’t get too close!”

He withdrew his hand and turned to look at her.

“I need to check for a pulse,” he said softly.

Peri’s feeling of foreboding was getting stronger. She was almost sure she heard something – a wet gurgle. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Hear what?” said Troy, and he stretched out towards the neck of the figure on the ground. Peri felt a weird sensation stab through her stomach, and her eyes caught a flash of something black leaping at Troy, smashing into his face as he tumbled backward. Then she saw Troy, stretching his hand forward slowly, and the bottom of her stomach seemed to drop away. Hysteria? A vision? Whatever it was, she was compelled to act. She jumped forward, catching Troy’s arm and pushing it away from the body on the ground. Her momentum bowled him over.

“What the—”

“Peri—”

“No—”

Something black erupted from the body’s throat and launched itself at Troy. Or rather, it launched itself at where Troy would have been, if not for Peri’s desperate jump. The black shape hit the ground, squirmed round, and sprang again, towards Troy. His eyes went wide, he uttered and incoherent cry and tried to roll back out of the way. There was a sudden, shockingly loud, crack-crack and the black thing screeched and squirmed on the ground, short of Troy. Steve’s boot came down on it with a wet squelch, and he ground it underfoot.

There was a moment of silence, everyone still, then everyone seemed to be talking at once.

“What’s that-”

“Oh Jesus-”

“Where did that-”

Woof!

They all fell silent and stared at the dog, whose bark had just restored order.

Peri, her voice shaking, said, “I think that policeman is well and truly dead, Troy.” She struggled to get to her feet.

Troy, too, was trying to stand, but his legs shook and he croaked, “Well, that was a bit surprising. I need clean shorts now!” He made it to his feet. “Peri, thanks for knocking me out of the way. Steve, mate, that was nice shooting, and just in time.”

Steve was staring at Peri and frowning. “Wasn’t me that fired at it,” he said. He pointed a finger at Peri. “We need to talk, madam,” he growled.

Everyone looked at Peri. “What?” she said. “What are you all looking at me for?”

“You said you’d never used a gun,” said Steve, his tone slightly accusing.

“I haven’t!” she protested.

“Well you nailed that thing – whatever it is – with two shots in the head while you were falling over.”

She was genuinely surprised. “Did I?” She looked down at the pistol in her hand. “I didn’t, did I? I mean, I don’t think I fired it. Did I?”

Gus intervened. “That’s not important right now. The things approaching through the grass are important right now, and I suggest we get of here, quickly.”

They all stared at Gus. Then Peri heard it, too. The odd rustling she thought she had heard earlier was coming from two different directions. Steve cocked his head to one side. “Anyone else hear that?”

Gus and Peri, simultaneously, said “Yes.”

“Right, this way,” said Steve, and led off, avoiding the faint sounds in the grass, and angling towards the road. “Let’s get off the island. Peri? We need some more manpower.”

Without stopping, she fished out her smartphone, and typed a number from memory. After a single ring, a bored-sounding voice answered, “Yeah? What is it?”

Peri replied, “Code word Buckthorn, status red, I repeat, Buckthorn red.”

“ID?”

“Golf, Charlie, Zero, Four, Niner, Eight, Eight, Eight.”

“Hold the line.”

After a minute or so, a familiar voice came on.

“Peri? You’re declaring a Buckthorn Red event? Please confirm.” It was Tommy.

“Tommy, consider that confirmed. We need-”

“Hey, Peri, wait. The database says you have a Sectera handset. Do you have that with you?”

She metaphorically kicked herself. “Yes.” She rummaged through the many pockets of her black cargo pants until she found the secure handset, and switched it on. “I forgot I had it. I’ve just switched it on.”