The Grey Ones
Candra Baguley
Copyright © 2016 Candra Baguley
Cover Image created by Kirk Baguley and Candra Baguley
Edited by: Vittoria – vittorieaedits.com
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 9781311423436
DEDICATION
For Ziggy, Koa, and Belle. May the stars you wish upon light the way to your goals in this dark world. I love you.
Preface
It started out the same as any other night. Parents were tucking their young children into bed, students were studying for finals, and couples were out on dates. We had no way to prepare ourselves for this. No way to see them coming.
Hundreds dropped from the night sky into every major city around the globe. It looked like the stars were falling from above; until they hit the ground, rolled, and began to run on all fours.
The monstrous beings tore through the streets, homes, businesses; leaving nothing but blood and body limbs behind in their destructive path. Soon after, they spread out to the surrounding cities, killing anyone and everyone they could find. The lucky ones were able to make it out in time. Some of the survivors hid in bunkers while others found safety in their own homes.
Six months have passed since the invasion, and we're still struggling to survive. Daytime has become our only solitude from these free roaming creatures. Our only time to gear up for the next attack.
But night after night, we listen for their high-pitched screams signaling we've been found. Night after night, we wait to be slaughtered by the Grey Ones.
Chapter 1
Lying on the edge of the bed, I gaze out the broken window. The wind has been pushing the trees around for the past hour, sending them into a dancing motion under the evening sky. My eyes shift from the property line to the broken glass in the windowpane. It’s time to get up. It’ll be dark soon. With his soft breaths behind me, I bring myself to a sitting position. My elbows dig into my knees as I lean forward and brush my hands through my long hair. Letting out a heavy sigh, I push away from the bed. The old floorboards creak under my weight with the first step I take. My body freezes as the blankets rustle around behind me. Worried I’ll wake him, I lift my heels off the ground until I’m standing half-toe in my black combat boots. When his snores offer assurance that he’s still sleeping, I creep to the doorway. Peeking over my shoulder, I watch the blankets rise and fall with each breath he takes. Ever since the invasion, I have held on even more securely to Ty. Never taking my eyes off of him for more than a minute - except for when it’s time to board up. I pause in the hallway as mind fills with worries about him in our world now. He’s only six, and from what we have seen few children have survived this war.
Anxiety takes over as I push myself forward, into the small kitchen. My eyes shift to the window above the empty sink. While my lungs inhale and exhale deep breaths, a trick I learned to calm my nerves, I take in the beautiful view. Beyond the treetops, I can see the sky has turned an orange-pink shade, making the few visible clouds resemble cotton candy. The natural light will be gone soon. That’s the nice thing about summer, longer daylight hours. This means less chance of them finding us.
My heart still beating rapidly, I find myself searching the thick forest trees. “Hurry up, Travis,” I mutter under my breath. He’s almost always back by now to board up the cabin windows with me. We haven’t had any of them make an appearance out here yet, but we know that it’s only a matter of time until they do.
Every morning, Travis leaves to hunt when the sun rises. He’ll come back with something as big as a deer, or as small as a rabbit. Either way, he is always back before the sun sets. But not today. Today he is late.
I grab a wooden slat from the counter-top and begin nailing it over the small window. This has become routine. During these Summer days, the cabin becomes stuffy with every opening boarded up. It didn’t take long for Travis to come up with a solution; everyday we take the slats off at sunrise to let in fresh air. Like clockwork, we nail them back on before dusk. The boards should be able to delay enemies from getting inside our hideout. Which will give us a chance to escape, or fight back.
With the tools in hand, I move through the house and board up window after window. Often finding myself hopelessly searching for Travis until it’s completely covered.
Reaching the last frame, I set the hammer down on the windowpane. Without the cool wind blowing through the openings, the cabin has become increasingly warm. I use a forearm and wipe the sweat beads that had begun to accumulate on my forehead. My eyes shift to the dirty glass, searching for his face on the other side. “Where are you Travis?”
Unexpectedly, the hardwood floors creak behind me. Survival instinct takes over in an instant. My right hand rips the dagger from my thigh holster in one swift motion. I hold the weapon back, next to my face, and spin around on my heel. Ready to release the handle from my fingertips I find Ty standing before me. His blue eyes are wide; terrified. As he stares at me in horror, I flip the blade downward, then slide it back into the holster.
His trembling body falls onto mine. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he whimpers, “Mommy, where’s daddy? I had a bad dream.”
He can’t see me worried about Travis. If he sees me worried he’ll panic even more.
“He’ll be back soon,” I respond quietly, “Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”
He wraps his small fingers around my hand, his sweaty palm rubbing against mine. Sliding my thumb back and forth over his hand, I give him a comforting smile. Hand in hand, we walk towards the bedroom at the end of the hall, his body trembling most of the way. He never used to be this scared. Not until he realized that some monsters are real.
As I tuck him into the queen size bed a cool breeze raises the hairs on my neck. I twist back and find the broken window. Distracted by my worry for Travis, I completely forgot that it hadn’t been done yet.
“Oh… crap.” I mutter.
Ty clutches the top of the blanket, his eyes wide again. His body shoots up into a sitting position and he cries out, “What? What is it mommy? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is okay,” I whisper. I press my hand against his fast beating heart and lay him back down. Softening my voice to a more calming tone, I continue, “I forgot to board up this window is all. I’ll be back in a second.”
When I step away from the bed, Ty begins humming to himself. I recognize it as a lullaby I used to sing to him every night since he was a baby. I pause in the doorway and listen to the soft melody. After a few seconds, his small form rolls over to the side, away from the window. I can tell by his even breathing that he’s almost asleep again. Ever since the invasion he has had a difficult time sleeping in the dark. At first, he didn’t want to sleep at night; he was too scared. And once he did, he needed both Travis and I in the bed with him. Only recently has he been able to start falling asleep by himself again.
I walk down the dark hallway, back to where I left the wooden slats and nails on the living room floor. There’s still one window that hasn’t been boarded up out here. When I grab the hammer off the wooden windowpane I look out the dirty glass one last time. I search for Travis, but all I can see are the silhouettes of swaying pine trees in the dark night.
Deciding to board up the bedroom window first, I grab tools that I’ll need. There aren’t many slats of wood left, so I’ll need to make each one count. Travis is much better than me at spacing out the boards over the windows. He always plans ahead.
Each step I take back towards the only bedroom, the hardwood creaks beneath my feet. Even from the middle of the hall I can hear Ty’s breathing, but it sounds different. His breathing sounds congested, like he’s getting a cold. It almost sounds like – I freeze in the doorway. Towering over h
im like a monster is an ominous figure.
Even hunched over the creature stands at least seven feet tall on its hind legs. Thick, black veins bulge out all over its muscular body. My breathing stops quickly when I notice the pointy ears that lay flat against the side of its head are twitching. Listening.
Distracted by its interest in Ty the thing hasn’t noticed me standing in the doorway yet. While I’m trying to think of a plan, it leans over his sleeping body. Its heavy breath becomes congested again as it comes face to face with him. The deep nostril slits below its big, slanted black eyes take a long whiff of his brown hair.
I need to act, now.
The cold blade of the dagger pressing against my thigh reminds me that I have a weapon. Without thinking, I let everything fall from my hands to reach for it. As the tools and wood hit the floor, causing a loud crashing sound, the figure turns its large head towards me. Its big, almond shaped black eyes look like a bottomless pit staring into mine.
The membrane frill covering the creature’s mouth opens, like a bat spreading its wings to unveil its body. It lets out a high-pitched scream revealing that its rows of shark-like teeth spread from ear to ear are stained blood red.
Ty jolts awake at the terrifying sound. When he sees the monster standing beside him, he screams, “Help me mommy!”
“Get off the bed!” I yell, grasping the handle of the dagger in my fingers.
The alien swipes its long claws for him as he rolls off the other side of the bed. Before it can reach him I throw the dagger at its face, piercing the side. I can see the blade has penetrated one of the membrane frills. A piercing shriek echoes through the cabin before it yanks out the weapon. The dagger drops from its long claw; splattering black blood against the floor boards. As it locks eyes with me, I realize the hole from my blade is disappearing by the second.
The beast rushes at me on all fours, like a wild animal. My body becomes tense as I subconsciously brace for impact. Its heavy body slams into my torso, violently forcing out the last bit of oxygen in my lungs. As tears flood my eyes, I struggle to catch my breath. Its muscular arms pin my chest against the ground as I gasp for air. The moment I gather enough, I scream out, “Run, Ty!”
Before it can pin my arms down I shove my palms against its face. My thumbs try digging into its eyes, but it’s no use. The film protecting them is too strong for bare hands. My arms begin to shake as I fight to push away the serrated teeth snapping at my head. I know that the Grey One only has one thing on its mind. To destroy me.
My flailing legs hit something beneath my feet. The hammer. With the dagger pinned between my enemy and me, I know this is my only other option. I slam my heel against the hardwood floor over and over again, sending sharp pains shooting up my ankle. Above me, the creature is inching closer and closer to my face. When it reaches my head, its hot breath warms my cheek. I keep kicking at the hammer that’s beginning to slide further away from me. Even when I know it’s completely out of reach, I keep trying.
While my body is beginning to weaken and tire out, the alien seems to only be getting stronger. With the last bit of my strength, I pull my knees into my chest and kick its torso. I’m able to push it off of me, freeing myself from its bone crunching bite. But this freedom only lasts long enough for me to sit up. Then the beast jumps back on top of me. This time digging its sharp, long nails into my wrists. When they pierce into my skin, like a blade, I scream out in pain.
With its heavy body holding me down, I can barely wiggle. I realize that this is the end when the alien opens its mouth, giving me a closer look at its deadly bite. There’s nothing more I can do now. My eyes squeeze shut as I accept my fate.
I expect it to dig its teeth into my head, but instead I feel the being’s cool skin brush against my face. It makes congested sounds again as it uses its nostril slits to breathe me in. Why doesn’t it just kill me already?
A glob of warm spit lands on the corner of my mouth. It tastes like a mouthful of pennies when it makes its way inside. Squeezing my lips shut, I throw my head at the monster’s face. But before I can connect its head draws back and lets out a bloodcurdling shriek. I flinch, expecting the thing to rip me apart, but it doesn’t. Instead, its nails pull out of my wrists; causing me both pain and comfort at the same time.
When its heavy body lifts off of me, I can finally breathe again. I open my eyes to see the tall creature is standing over me with its back arched. As it twists and turns, I find the red handle of my dagger stabbed in the center of the beast's shoulder blades.
Blurry eyed, I search the hall for Travis, but he’s not there. Ty is. Frozen in fear, he stands behind it.
A surge of adrenaline takes over me. I leap to my feet and rip the dagger out of its back. Black blood seeps out of the wound, dripping down its grey skin. With all of my strength I stab the blade into the back of its large head. As its heavy body drops to the floor, the beast screams out in agony.
I need to get to the weapons bag.
My eyes dart to the bed behind Ty. The black end of the weapons bag pokes out from underneath the old quilt blanket. It’s only ten feet away. I only have to make it past the monster.
Inhaling a deep breath, I leap over the massive body that takes up half the hallway. As I run past Ty my hand wraps around his wrist. He cries out as I yank his arm, pulling him into the room with me. With our enemy still twisting from side to side, I slam the door shut.
I move quickly to hide him in the corner. “Stay here.” I whisper.
He nods back at me, tears streaming down his face. I can sense him watching me as I race over to the bed. Digging under the foot of the bed, I hear a clinking sound in the hallway. I try to move faster, but by the time I pull out the heavy bag and unzip it, it’s too late.
The creature breaks through the door on all fours, its black eyes staring right at me. I rise to my feet quickly as I lock eyes with it. With my arms spread open, I move in front of Ty, blocking him from the beast.
Like a lion hunting its prey, it creeps towards us until we’re backed up against the wall completely. The drips of dried black blood from its head wound looks like hard black wax dripped down a candle.
“Daddy!” Ty cries out, scared. His trembling hand grabs a hold of mine. Terrified, he squeezes tighter with every step the creature takes towards us.
When I hear the wind howling I remember the open window behind us. As I watch the vicious being step closer, I shout, “Go out the window, Ty!”
He spins around to face the open window, his back bumping into mine. While he tries to climb out, I watch the alien. Still staring at me it stops next to the wooden bed frame. Its eyes remain frozen on me without blinking, almost as if trying to decide if it should attack again.
With the monster on all fours I notice the black blood on its back has not only dried, but the wounds from my dagger have begun to scab over; they look like simple scrapes. And the membrane frill looks like nothing ever happened.
My eyes dart back to the bag on the floor. Placed on top of the other weapons, I find the handgun Travis gave to me. I know bullets can only stun these things momentarily, but maybe I can buy Ty enough time to escape.
“Daddy, please help us!” He screams.
He expects Travis to always be here to protect us, but he’s not. This one is up to me.
I dive towards the bed. Landing on top of the hard bag, my chest aches. As I groan in pain, the creature appears out of the corner of my eye. It circles around the end of the wooden bedframe, facing me. Drool drips from its open mouth, spilling onto the floor.
My body rolls to the side, off the bag. I grab the light handgun from on top. My heart beats wildly as my trembling hands flip off the safety. It lunges at me with its sharp teeth exposed, ready to kill. With my finger wrapped over the trigger, I pull back.
Click.
Nothing.
I pull it again as the alien lands on top of me. I don’t feel the powerful shot of the bullet exiting the chamber, but the loud bang is unmistak
able. The Grey One lets out a high-pitched wail as something pierces the side of its ribs. It rises on its hind legs, towering over me as black blood seeps out of a hole in the soft lines around its armored skinned torso.
Another gunshot rings out.
But it’s not my gun.