Yesterday's Gone: Season One Part 45

"Don't say it unless you mean it."

"Okay, I promise, if you turn into a zombie-alien, I'll shoot you in the head."

"Thank you," Luis said.

In the living room, Jane called out, "I hear the ferry!"

EDWARD KEENAN.

Ed descended the stairs, pistol in each hand, trying to clear Jade from his mind.

He couldn't afford to think about her being mad at him or take time to ease whatever fears she was harboring. He had to act quickly and without emotional baggage weighing him down.

It was bad enough he'd taken on the girl, Teagan. Now he had to worry about his daughter - his flesh and blood, which meant all his decisions were compromised. He couldn't think logically. Jade, and Teagan, would inform his decisions. In short, he could no longer trust his instincts if he gave emotion free reign. He must be a machine, divorced from feelings that could impede necessary action.

He pushed through the double doors on the ground floor and headed to the SUV. Across the parking lot, in front of one of the other three apartment buildings that formed a square around the giant parking lot, stood four creatures. They were long and black, with s.h.i.+ny skin. He couldn't tell if they were aliens or the results of a government lab experiment gone awry. But even at a distance, he was certain of one thing - they were predators. He would have just seconds to act once they saw him.

He was 15 yards from the SUV when two of the creatures broke from the pack and began loping toward him, running on both hands and feet. Fast.

He sprinted towards the SUV, heart hammering in his chest. He reached the driver's door, yanked it open, and keyed the ignition. As he threw the truck in reverse, the winds.h.i.+eld filled with a creature and its dark, soulless eyes, clawed hands, and jagged teeth.

"What the f.u.c.k are you?" Ed yelled as the creature jumped onto his hood, bas.h.i.+ng its hands into the winds.h.i.+eld and causing it to crack. The second hit spread a web across the window, which quickly collapsed and rained chunks into the cabin.

Left hand on the wheel, Ed raised his pistol, fired twice - once at the thing's chest, another at its face. Both shots met their target, and the creature fell and Ed ran it over. Just then, the SUV was rocked as something landed on the roof. Above him, the creature screamed something unlike any animal Ed had ever heard. The sound reached into the recesses of Ed's brain and turned his insides to frost as the creature sc.r.a.ped its talons on the roof, trying to either hang on... or claw its way into the truck.

Ed spun the wheel and floored the gas pedal, racing back and towards the other two creatures. The truck hit at least one. Ed stepped on the brakes, causing the SUV to screech to a stop. The creature on the roof flew backwards and tumbled to the ground. Ed jumped from the SUV, turned back and fired a shot at the head of the creature he'd hit but not killed. It's head popped into a mist of black goo. He turned and fired at the monster who had been riding his roof.

Both shots went flying by as the creature bounded toward him, closing in fast. He steadied his aim with the second pistol as death raced toward him. Twenty yards, fifteen, ten, and getting closer.

Every instinct said run, get back in the car, drive. But his battle-tested training overrode his natural instincts. As the creature sprung into the air toward Ed, arms outstretched, he found the inner calm he needed to hit his target directly in the face, causing it to explode in a mad gush of black gore.

Ed fell to the ground, ducking out of the way, as the creature sailed over him and onto the asphalt behind.

As Ed stood, he spun around, searching for the last of the missing beasties. It wasn't behind the truck, nor inside, as he approached with guns drawn. His heart was pounding and his breathing was fast as he turned in full circle, scanning the parking lot.

Nothing. It was gone.

Except he knew it wasn't truly gone.

No, it was hiding.

He glanced down at the dead creatures on the ground, trying to figure out what they were. But nothing in his personal history gave a clue as to what he was looking at. It might have once been human, or started out as human, or was maybe a hybrid mix of human and something else. Something alien. While the creatures shared many similarities with one another, subtle differences were noticeable. One had clawed hands, while another had no fingers, just stumps. And though the clawed one was tall and lanky, the other was shorter, st.u.r.dier. Their skin was black as night, coated with something wet. Beneath the skin, Ed could see what seemed to be fading light, like a freaky translucent deep sea creature he'd once seen on TV.

Ed hopped into the SUV, then drove to the front doors of Jade's apartment complex. He parked horizontally, so the driver's side door and cargo door were as close to the front of the building as possible, then scanned his surroundings once more before leaving the relative safety of the SUV and entering the apartment building.

When he returned to Apartment 410, Jade ran to greet him, embracing him hard. Tears covered her face. "I thought you were dead!"

Ed realized the three of them had been watching from the window, and had seen the whole battle unfold.

"I'm okay," Ed said into Jade's ear.

Having his daughter in his arms felt so good. After years of frosty silence, hugging her was somewhat awkward, like he wasn't hugging his little girl, but rather a woman he barely knew any longer, a woman with a new perfumed scent. Yet, somewhere deep inside the hug, was that bond that could never be broken between parent and child. And it was there he found himself getting lost in the memories of his prior life as a father. Before his life as an agent had spiraled out of control.

He wanted to hold her forever, but couldn't allow himself to get tangled in emotion. A part of him would have collapsed into tears, begged for forgiveness from his baby girl, if they had the time and luxury of a safe world where they could repair past damages. But this was not that time. And with the introduction of monsters into this new world disorder, he was afraid their wounds could go forever unhealed.

Now was the time for strength, not healing.

He kissed his daughter on the head, then broke the embrace.

"We've got to get out of here. Find a safe place."

"What were those things?" Teagan's eyes were wide with fear.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. As crazy as it sounds, my guess would be aliens of some sort."

"Do you think that's what's behind all the people vanis.h.i.+ng? Aliens came and took everyone?" Ken asked.

"Could be," Ed said. "This is the first we've run into them all the way from Ohio, so I'm hoping they're just here. Either way, we need to get out of here right now and find somewhere safer. Pack whatever you need. I've got the truck ready to go downstairs."

"Where are we gonna go?" Teagan asked, hands on her pregnant belly. "Is anywhere safe? We've got government agents in helicopters, hillbillies with guns, and now aliens! Where are we supposed to go?"

"I've got a place in Florida all set up," Ed said. "It's solar powered, has a well for fresh water, and a saferoom to protect us in case the s.h.i.+t hits the fan. Well, if any more s.h.i.+t hits the proverbial fan."

"You were prepared for this?" Ken asked, with a huge grin.

"Not this; just prepared," Ed said. Both Jade and Teagan were looking at him suspiciously.

"What kinda job did you have?"

Ed wasn't sure if the kid knew and was just f.u.c.king with him or if Jade really had kept quiet.

"You didn't tell him?" Ed asked, turning to Jade.

"Your name didn't come up much," she said, a look in her eyes he didn't want to see.

"The less you know, the better, Ken," he said. "Let's just say it was my job to be prepared for any eventuality. And I was good at my job."

Ken smiled nervously before breaking eye contact. Ed didn't think the kid was sleeping with his daughter. He seemed effeminate and looked like he'd fold like a lawn chair at the first sign of opposition. Not the kind of guy he'd want dating his Jade. But then again, girls tended to go out with exactly the kind of guys most likely to disappoint their absent fathers. And being an absent father, there wasn't a whole d.a.m.ned lot you could do about it.

As Ed watched Ken scramble to fill a grocery bag with items, he felt like someone was watching him. He turned to see Jade and Teagan both staring. Unlike Ken, Jade kept eye contact.

"I'll be right back," Ken said, "I need to get something from next door."

The way Ken said the word something and exchanged glances with Jade, Ed figured it was some kind of drug. Hopefully it was only weed and not meth, cocaine, or any of the really dangerous s.h.i.+t. Otherwise, he'd have to play Strict Dad, a role he never felt comfortable in, especially given how little he was present in Jade's life. However, that didn't mean he would stand idly by if he thought she was endangering herself. Being a parent meant sometimes you had to be the Bad Guy - a role Ed was all too familiar with.

"So, this place of yours in Florida," Jade began, "How long have you had it? How do you know it's still there?"

Ed, confused by the line of questioning. "It's still there. Trust me."

Suddenly, a scream came from the next apartment. Ken, followed by an unholy shriek and clicking, then the crash of furniture and someone hitting the wall.

Well, there's the missing alien.

Ed grabbed his guns, raced into the hall and into the next apartment. Ken was on the ground balled up and screaming as the creature stood over him, swiping down. Fortunately, it was one of the aliens with stumps instead of clawed hands.

Ed raised his pistols, surprise on his side, and went for the shot. Something hammered Ed in the back, knocking the wind out of his lungs and sending him sprawling forward into a circular dining room table. He landed on top, and went tumbling over it, taking the table with him, as his head slammed into a chair and the gun in his right hand bounced away.

To his right, the first creature, atop Ken, turned, eyes dialing in on a motionless Ed, who was lying on his back, the back of his head splitting in pain.

The alien who had hit him from behind - and Ed was almost positive it was an alien now - stood fully and opened its mouth wide, releasing a shrill screech and clicking sound which bore deep into Ed's skull. The one which had attacked him from behind, which did have claws, joined in the clicking. As both creatures approached, Ed fought to maintain consciousness, vision blurring at the edges as pain threatened to shut him down.

Must fight it... Pain is an illusion. It's how you respond to it that matters... Push it down, drive it down deep.

He fought the pain, raising his left arm at the clawed creature, trying to aim for its head. But his vision was too blurred. He felt like he was looking through sheer wet cloth. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, as the creature screamed louder and lifted its arms.

Gunshots thundered through the apartment as the first creature, to his right, fell to the ground. In his blurred vision, Ed made out Ken, standing, holding the gun Ed had dropped. Ken turned to fire at the second creature as Ed unloaded his clip.

"Die, you f.u.c.ker!" Ken screamed as he fired shot after shot until the creature dropped. The gun went empty, but Ken's arm kept shaking as his finger kept squeezing the trigger.

"You got 'em," Ed said, standing. "Thank you."

He reached out and took the gun from Ken, who was in shock and crying.

"It's okay," Ed said. "They're gone."

That's when Ed saw Ken's shoulder, bloodied beneath his s.h.i.+rt. "Are you hurt badly?"

"It bit me," Ken said, his voice shaking, "It f.u.c.king bit me! It was gonna eat me."

"You're safe now," Ed said, "Come on, let's get back to the girls and get the h.e.l.l out of here."

Ed retrieved fresh clips from his back pockets and loaded them into the guns. He would need more ammo soon, especially if they were going to run into more aliens.

When they returned to 410, Jade and Teagan were terrified, "Oh my G.o.d, what happened?" Jade said, running to Ken.

"He got bit," Ed said, "We need to get out of here. Now."

"Are you okay?" Jade asked them both.

"Yeah," Ed said, "Ken really saved my a.s.s back there." May as well throw in a good word for the kid, Ed thought. Maybe Ken wasn't as weak as he seemed. Ed wasn't sure if the kid were gay, but if he wasn't, he just proved himself worthy of Jade's attention. "We need to leave right now, though. G.o.d only knows how many more of those things are lurking outside."

Ed went to the window to see if any more aliens were in the parking lot.

That's when he saw them. Not monsters, but two black vans in the parking lot that hadn't been there before.

The window in front of him shattered and something stung him in the chest. He glanced down to see he'd been hit with some sort of dart. Jade, Teagan, and even Ken screamed as a second dart crashed through the window. Ed turned to see them looking at him, horror in their eyes.

Then he fell.

JOHN LARSON.

After he got good and drunk and spilled his secrets to Desmond, a guy he didn't even particularly like, John slunk off to his hotel room. What alcohol didn't help, he hoped sleep would.

He was snoring in seconds, and stayed that way until he shot straight up in bed, wide-awake and ravenously hungry. The room was dark, save for a soft white glow coming through his frosted window.

John swung his feet to the carpet and rubbed his eyes.

What time is it?

Hard to tell since the world was quiet and a working clock wasn't in the room.

The air felt liquid, like a dream. Or maybe he was still heavily intoxicated.

He was drawn to the window. The parking lot and trees looked beautiful in the moon's luminescence, reminding him of an ill.u.s.tration from a childhood book his mother used to read him. He couldn't remember the name of the book, but he remembered the picture, a house underneath a smiling moon. And the sky was a beautiful shade of dark violet he'd never seen in nature ... until now. He remembered staring at the picture as a child and thinking how cozy the house looked, how safe, cool, and inviting. Countless times, he wished he could have jumped into the pages of the book.

And that's just how the world outside the hotel now looked. Safe, cool, and inviting.

The bleakers were lined up, standing in a wide arc. The one at the front was motioning for him to come outside. The creature's movement was so slow John felt as if he were watching time lapse photography.

What's the harm, it's not like the creatures can hurt me in a dream.

He opened his window and jumped, landing three feet from the head bleaker. It took a step back, as did the bleakers behind it, parting as though John were a king walking a red carpet. Their eyes, so big and black seemed not scary as they had before, but rather curious.

"John!" called Jenny's voice in the distance.

Jenny?!