Chapter 6

Six

Evening was fast approaching by the time they made it back to the village shop, and the fading light unfortunately made everything look even creepier than the woods had been. The shop was in shadow, including the door which Joel had slammed shut as they'd left. They were not entirely sure if the back door was still open, but Dimitri suspected it was. On that basis, the group were vaguely confident that the munching monsters would have moved on…all but Theo.

Something felt off about this, about the whole thing, and whilst he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, he was worried about it. He'd read dozens and dozens of monster mission files over the last six weeks and one thing the munching monster ones all had in common was the pattern they followed.

A rip opened up.

A handful of munching monsters came through with their queen.

Then a handful more.

The MDF, who were now able to pinpoint rips in real time, were sent in to patch the thing up. If they got there in time, they were usually able to do so with a simple adhesive that had been developed by an American scientist who had previously worked for a toothpaste company. However, if the rip breached a certain size, then they were stuck with it, it couldn't be closed. At that point a twenty-four-seven guard was assigned to the rip forevermore. Instructions? To shoot anything that tried to come through.

Trouble was, patchable or not, by the time the MDF got there, dozens if not hundreds of munching monsters might have come through and they quickly settled their queen by the rip and gobbled up everything in sight. The MDF were tasked with exterminating them. In all the reports that Theo had read there hadn't been any mention of rogue munching monster groups hanging out with other monsters.

Not a single one.

It was just his damn luck that the first time was on his watch!

He scowled as they made their way towards the village shop, wishing for the millionth time that he was not here, but also feeling strongly like he was going to have to do his part no matter what happened.

Joel had already outlined his plan on the jog over and they all responded to the instructions they had been given. Theo was once again teamed up with Julia, which he was pleased about, and he stayed close to her as they approached the front of the shop. Dimitri and Gill headed for the back, and Liam and Simon took watch. Joel accompanied them this time and Theo suspected he was not quite convinced that they'd kept a proper watch before and perhaps had also made a run for it a bit sooner than they should of.

"Just make sure they've moved on," Joel said to them. "Then we'll do the same." He gestured to the dozen or so houses farther down the small street from the shop, the entirety of this isolated hamlet. "We'll pick one of those to spend the night in and first thing in the morning head towards the coast." He scowled. "Might be a bit behind some of the other groups, sounds like they're making good progress." He flexed his muscles a bit as he said that which Theo couldn't help but admire even given the peril.

"You're happy staying here, in this village?" Julia asked.

"You prefer camping in the woods?" he responded, and she quickly shook her head.

"No, no." Theo was quick to agree.

"Let's get this done then!"

They approached the shop slowly, and the door was indeed closed. Julia held the tool that Joel had used to brute-force it open last time. Theo stayed close to her as she pushed the tool in. Behind him the winter wind rustled the bare branches of the trees. Dried, crackling leaves skittered past on the road.

It occurred to Theo as Julia gently eased the door open that he hadn't heard any sounds of life on the approach, and probably not on the approach earlier in the day now he thought about it. Winter it might be, but there were still birds around, still insects—where were they? And did the owners take all their pets with them? Were there no stray cats? Or was the lack of life a sign of something else?

"Gently," he whispered as Julia pushed the door open.

The inside of the village shop was dark now, and it was difficult to see anything. Without even checking in with each other, both Theo and Julia turned the torches on their guns to a dim light. The shop was a mess. It was a combination of the shots that had been fired, the cabinets they had knocked into, some of which had spilled goods onto the floor, and the shimmering bodily fluids that were now splattered all over the place. Only…

"Where are the bodies?" Theo whispered.

They'd killed quite a few of the munchers. Theo thought he had gotten at least one, maybe even two. Julia had definitely shot a couple, and Joel a few more. It wasn't like they simply slipped back into their own dimension when killed. They stayed exactly where they were, and the disposal of munching monsters was an industry in and of itself now.

Their bodies should be filling the aisles.

Only, there were no bodies.

"This doesn't make any sense," Julia whispered.

"You need to tell Joel," Theo said. "Right now."

Julia nodded and eased past him back out of the door. Theo tightened his grip on his gun. He suddenly felt like he did just before he started a race. Right there at the starting line, hands and feet tingling, heart steady but ready to pick up the pace, muscles twitched and prepared to respond to the adrenaline now flooding him. He didn't move though, he stood right there in the doorway, heart thumping, and looked around the space. The floor of the aisle in front of him was splattered with purple blood and in the very middle of it was an open pack of raisins. The aisle to the right had a pile of what could well be muncher brains. Washing up liquid was mixed in with them and was now shimmering slightly.

Nothing moved.

No shadows crossed Theo's vision.

He knew he was alone.

A small stream of light came from the back of the store where the back door was wide open and swinging ever so slightly in the breeze. Another stream of light by the post office counter where the monsters had chewed through the wall to the outside. Dimitri and Gill would be out there, possibly wondering the exact same thing he was wondering.

Whohad moved the bodies?

And what had they done with them?

A slight tingle of panic filled Theo as he found himself considering if something had eaten the monsters that had tried to eat them. An uber monster if you will, but he couldn't think of a single monster big enough to eat dozens of munchers.

Maybe it's one you've never seen before…

He swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat, resolving not to think such dire thoughts, just as a scream rang out.

Theo didn't hesitate.

He ran straight through the store to the back door, which was the source of the scream—almost slipping on the combination of shimmering blood and raisins as he did so. He got there just in time to see Dimitri and Gill fighting off two munching monsters. The monsters were on top of them, they'd caught them unawares, before they'd had time to lift their guns. Theo looked up as he realised that, knowing that they must have come from the thatched roof, dropping down on his teammates. But there weren't any others there now, so he rushed over to help, shouting for backup from Julia and Joel as he did so.

Dimitri was trying to push one off his arm where it had latched on with its razor sharp teeth and was gnawing away at the bone, teeth chattering at speed as they ran up and down the flesh. Dimitri screamed again as the munching monster cracked that bone. Theo's heart rate was significantly above sixty beats per minute as he lifted the gun, shoved it against the munching monster's head and fired. Its brains splattered out in a shower of purple goo, covering Dimitri and the surrounding area.

Theo didn't stop to see if the other man was okay, though he dearly wanted to, he turned and ran straight over to Gill instead. She was wrestling with her monster, grappling around on the ground with it, doing her best to avoid its teeth, but her luck had run out, for just as Theo reached her, it latched onto the side of her head and bit down. Hard.

She shrieked.

Theo kicked it with as much force as he possibly could, which was a lot, as he had runner's legs after all. The munching monster let go, but it took one of Gill's ears with it.

Theo's stomach rolled as he fired the gun again. He didn't hit this one quite in the brain, instead the bullet entered through its face, and that felt like justice! Theo shot it again for good measure, and it fell back onto the ground, trapping a sobbing Gill. He kicked it again, freeing her, and then quickly pulled Gill's ear from its gaping mouth. Lacking any other option, Theo tucked the ear into the pocket on Gill's utility vest and then pulled her into his arms. She said something, Theo had no idea what, it was garbled, but he quickly reassured her.

"It's okay, we got them all, your head is fine, just an ear, get that patched up in no time."

Behind him Dimitri roared in pain. He'd lost quite a bit of the flesh on his arm and at least one bone was broken.

"Come on, mate," Theo said, rousing his Greek comrade. "You need to get up. A speedy retreat once more. Let's go."

Dimitri stumbled to his knees. Theo would have liked to help him up, but he had to keep his gun free to shoot. How many bullets did he have left? Twelve minus three. God, he hoped those had been the only monsters left.

They're not the only monsters here.

He cursed his brain and its intrusive thoughts. Now was not the time!

"Come on," he said again. "We need to find the others."

Another scream rang out. It was Julia. Theo recognised her voice. And for her to scream… He practically dragged Gill with him round to the front of the shop, Dimitri lurching alongside them. They left a trail of blood in their wake, and Theo did not think that was a good thing at all.

The scene at the front of the store was far, far worse than Theo could have imagined. There were splatters of purple and red blood on the pavement. Two munching monsters were on the ground, clearly dead, but another dozen were busy chasing Joel, Julia and the uni students down the street and into the village. They turned and fired shots as they ran, and one only just missed Dimitri. Theo pushed him back into the shop. Gill too. Once they were inside, he quickly shut the back door, slipping on the shimmering washing up liquid-brains combo as he did so.

"Stay!" he said as he did a quick check round the entire building, making sure they really were alone.

When he was confident that was the case, Theo pushed the post office counter in front of the hole in the wall and then a large bookcase in front of the back door. Both were ridiculously heavy, and he dripped with sweat as he moved them, but he had no choice. He had to ensure that there was only one entrance and exit to guard. Once the back entrances were blocked up, Theo removed the damn, scratchy army jumper, grabbed an energy drink from one of the shelves and swigged it down. He grabbed two more and took them to Gill and Dimitri.

"Here."

Gill looked up at him with wide eyes and shook her head.

"Drink," Theo insisted. "Both of you. You're in shock. It's important now that you stay hydrated. You need electrolytes as well. This stuff has plenty. Its watermelon flavoured."

Gill shook her head again, clearly thinking that his words were nonsense, and maybe they were, but Dimitri complied. Theo bent down next to him, opened his backpack and pulled out his spare t-shirt. He ripped it down the seam—army manufacturing was clearly not what it had once been—and passed it to Dimitri.

"Wrap that round your arm."

"Some antiseptic," Dimitri said as he drank more of the water.

"Yes, good point."

Theo ran back down to the cleaning supplies aisle and found a bottle of TCP. It was quite dusty.

"Here."

"You have a med kit in your backpack," Gill said as she roused herself to drink her watermelon-flavoured isotonic. She pressed a hand to her head, perhaps protecting the spot where her ear had once been. Theo remembered that it was now in her vest pocket and opened his mouth to say as much, maybe make a small joke of the whole thing, but quickly changed his mind. Now was not the time.

"Yes," Theo agreed instead even as he bemoaned the loss of his spare t-shirt. He'd forgotten about the med kit! "Let's get some antiseptic on both your wounds first and then I can use the sterile dressings."

Theo worked quickly and methodically. He was generally a very process-driven person, so this situation absolutely played to his strengths. Though, if he'd been told three years ago that he'd be stuck in a village shop on a Saturday afternoon fighting off alien monsters that wanted to eat him he might well have made some different life choices!

It took Theo less than a half hour to patch up their wounds and give them both painkillers, and they finished their drinks as he did so, and even ate a Mars bar each. Theo ate three. They didn't hear any other screams. In fact, it had all gone very quiet. He was anxious to know what had happened to the rest of the squad, but he knew he was needed here, and he could hardly go racing through the dark alone on a rescue mission that might be completely unnecessary! Joel had two guns after all. Besides it was fully dark now. Night had fallen. And it was cold again.

"There's a small toilet over there," Theo said as he packed the remainder of his med kit away and pulled his jumper back on. "I'll go wash my hands and then we can all use it."

"Be careful," Gill whispered.

"We're okay here for now," Dimitri said, giving Theo an approving nod. Theo had given him some very strong painkillers. His arm was broken after all. "One way in, one way out."

"Let's hope so," Theo said.

None of them bothered mentioning that the munching monsters could chew through the ceiling were they so inclined. They rarely ate things that were not food, but they had been known to chomp their way through entire buildings if it meant getting to food.

Theo swallowed at that thought and walked over to the toilet, gun in hand with the torch still on dim. The shop smelled worse than ever, and the smell coming from the toilet was slightly more intense. Theo's chest tightened as he considered what that might mean. Surely there weren't any monsters in the lavatory! Couldn't they even pee in peace?

He gritted his teeth, feeling like it was better to get this over with, and kicked the door open.

What Theo saw next was not a monster.

It was not a toilet either.

Instead, there in the middle of the tiny space was the clearing from the large, wooded area they had been in just a few hours ago. Or at least something similar. In the seconds that passed as Theo tried to work out exactly what he was seeing he didn't realise that he wasn't alone, but then how could he when the interdimensional rip filled most of the space, leaving only the area behind the door in shadow.

A shimmering hand reached out and grabbed him.

And before he could even shout out for help, Theo was pulled from his dimension and into the one beyond.