The Monster Apocalypse Read online

  Tessa didn’t grab the bars or try to reach her hand through for him to take it. He just crumpled up into a ball, in the back center of the cell, and watched as Brin’s mother stood tall and triumphantly in the hallway, a snide smile on her once pretty face.

  “Mrs. Skar?” Paul finally said.

  “Hello Paul,” she said. “It’s so nice to see you again. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.”

  Paul didn’t say a word; he just waited for what he knew now was inevitable.

  Tessa smiled. “Are you ready to die?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Brin walked the fastest, the nonofficial leader of the group. She stayed close to the road, enough so that she’d be able to wave down the next car that headed their way, but not too close so that a semi truck could blast her into a bloody pulp. She held on tight to her chest, hoping she wouldn’t freeze to death, as she continued on, past the lake, up the winding hill, and toward their final destination.

  The group had been walking for more than an hour. Only one car had passed in that time, and it had been a four-seat Volkswagon Jetta headed toward Reno—not exactly the kind of ride they needed at the moment. While Dylan and Brent had disappeared mysteriously up into the dark sky, there were still six of them left on the ground, and they needed a vehicle they could all fit into.

  Even though Brin was making most of her journey on foot in silence, the others behind her stayed close together and never failed to make conversation. First they all talked about the aliens, and what they meant, and what they were going to do to Dylan and Brent. Anaya thought the two boys would be probed from end to end, while Valerie considered that they were headed to a galaxy where they could study alien life and some day bring their newly acquired information back to Earth. Ash thought the two boys would snuggle all day and watch sci-fi movies in the aliens’ super secret screening room at the bottom of their spaceship.

  They went on to talk about Bodie Ghost Town, and Droz, and how cold it was outside, and how they hoped they could get out of doing homework for school the next day (which Mr. Barker disagreed with wholeheartedly), but finally, they all quieted down, and started walking in complete silence.

  Brin turned around to see Ash at the back of the group, holding his thumb out like a desperate hitchhiker, even though there was no vehicle or even a pair of headlights in sight. She walked up to him and slapped his hand down to his side.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Trying to catch a ride! Duh! We’re not really going to walk all the way to Bodie, are we?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Well, then, let me work my magic!” He put both his hands up in the air this time, his thumbs sticking up toward the sky. “Hey Brin. Who am I?”

  “Huh?”

  “Look at me. Who am I?”

  “Ash, put your hands down. There aren’t any cars coming.”

  “Brin! You’re no fun. I’m Siskel and Ebert!”

  Brin shook her head and turned around, running up to the others. “You’re such a dork.”

  “I know I am,” Ash said. “That’s why you love me, right?”

  Brin glanced back at Ash and gave him a slight smile. Then she brushed up against Valerie and Anaya and brought her focus back to the road ahead.

  “What the hell are we doing?” Anaya asked.

  “What do you mean?” Brin scratched the top of her head, which was itching inexplicably.

  “I mean, this isn’t looking good for us. We have no weapons, except for your brother’s shotgun. We have no vehicle. We’re stuck in the middle of nowhere. How are we supposed to save the day if we’re this big of a joke?”

  “I agree,” Brin said. “We should have more weapons. But we didn’t have time—”

  “You spent ten minutes in your house with your brother, maybe more. We could’ve used that time productively and stopped off at a local gun shop or something!”

  “Does Grisly even have a gun shop?”

  Anaya pursed her lips and looked up at the sky, like she wanted one last glimpse of that flying saucer. “I don’t think so. But maybe Carson City did!”

  “Anaya, listen to me,” Brin said, staying so close to her Brin could taste Anaya’s garlic-like breath. “We have something a lot better than weapons. We have Mr. Barker, the werewolf. We have Valerie, the troll. And then there’s the rest of us. If we stick together, we’ll be able to beat Droz. We’ll be able to find my mom—”

  “But what if there’s a hundred of those vamps, Brin? What if it’s like last time?”

  “I don’t think it will be. A lot of them died that day. Plus, the ones that do remain, they have no idea that we’re coming.”

  “Of course they do. What are you—nuts? Droz took your mom! Do you think he thinks you’re just going to blow off a well-organized rescue mission and stay in Grisly and report back to school tomorrow?”

  “Of course not. But he doesn’t know I’m with all of you. He doesn’t know I’ve brought allies who can change into things…”

  “I’d just feel more comfortable if we had a better arsenal. You know—handguns, machine guns, rocket launchers, chainsaws, tanks, axes—”

  “This isn’t an 80’s Arnold Schwarzennegger movie, Anaya.”

  “It might as well be,” she said. “We want to go out with a bang, right?”

  “Oh my God, everybody!” Ash shouted from a few yards back. “Look! Look over at the mountain there!”

  Brin and the others all stopped and looked past Ash to see the headlights of a vehicle appear in the distance. Brin wasn’t about to get her hopes up—the car might not have been big enough, or it might not have had a person inside who was in the mood to pick up six strangers.

  The vehicle passed by the California state line and headed toward them, winding up the slightly ascending two-lane road that ran parallel to Topaz Lake. It wasn’t going very fast—a good sign—but Brin still wasn’t positive that it was going to stop.

  “Let’s all stand in the road,” Ash said. “That way, this person will have to stop.”

  “Really?” Anaya said. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “I’ve got my shotgun!” Justin said, holding it up against his chest like he was an action hero, like he really did want this to be a Schwarzennegger movie. “I can always blow a hole through the side of the car. That’ll give this guy a reason to stop.”

  Brin put her hand up. “Justin, don’t be an idiot.”

  “What? What’d I say?”

  “Look, guys, we don’t want to get hurt, we should stay on the side of the—”

  Anaya and Ash blew right past Brin and stepped into the center of the pavement. Ash waved Brin on, and Anaya said, “Come on, guys. If we create a barrier, the car will have to stop.”

  “The girl has a point,” Mr. Barker said. The man had been walking a little far ahead of the rest, like he needed time to think (or time to stay away from all the whiny teens surrounding him). “I don’t care if this person hasn’t picked up a hitchhiker in his life. He’s going to tonight!”

  “Have you ever seen The Hitcher, Mr. Barker?” asked Ash. “With Rutger Hauer?”

  “Of course,” he said. “How could I miss it? But don’t see the remake. It’s terrible.”

  “Don’t worry. I skip every horror remake. Always stick with the original, that’s my motto. I don’t even like sequels. Or trilogies, even—”

  “Ash!” Brin screamed.

  “What?”

  “Shut up! Now’s not the time to talk movies. For God’s sake.” Brin watched as Mr. Barker walked up to her and stopped to the side of her. She shook her head at her teacher. “You too. You’re just encouraging him.”

  “Brin, I don’t care if it’s the end of the world,” Mr. Barker said with a smile. “There’s always time to talk movies.”

  Brin shook her head and waved Valerie and Justin over to her. The vehicle was just ten seconds away. The driver inside had to have seen them by now.
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  “Everyone, get in a line, and hold hands,” Brin said.

  There wasn’t any complaining—even Ash and Justin held hands without any questions asked. Justin stood at the far right, and Brin, at the far left. In between were Mr. Barker, Valerie, Anaya, and Ash. The six of them standing together took up the entire width of the road, from the rails looking over the cliff to the tall mountainside.

  “Nobody move,” Brin said.

  “Uhh… but… what…” Their new troll buddy Valerie appeared to be the most panicked in the bunch. “What if the car doesn’t stop?”

  “It will.”

  “But look! It’s big! It looks like…”

  “A suburban,” Brin said. “That’s a good thing! That means there’s enough room for all of us!”

  “It also means it can flatten us to the ground like pancakes!”

  Brin stayed calm. She wasn’t worried at all—at least she didn’t think she was.

  “Hold steady, everyone,” she said. She bit down on her bottom lip as the suburban revealed itself in full past the last turn up ahead. The vehicle came straight for them. It was five seconds away.

  “It’s not stopping,” Valerie said.

  “It will!” Brin shouted.

  The suburban came closer and closer. Four seconds. Three seconds.

  “I’m telling you, it’s not going to stop!” Valerie shouted. She let go of Anaya’s and Mr. Barker’s hands. “It’s going to mow us down!”

  Brin glanced at the worried girl, then turned back to the suburban. It was two seconds away—and still not slowing at all.

  Still—everybody stayed firm. Brin kept a tight grip on Mr. Barker’s hand. She closed her eyes.

  And prayed.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Oh my God, we have to run!” Valerie shouted.

  “Wait!” Mr. Barker shouted even louder, and Brin opened her eyes to see the suburban finally slow down, and, just yards away from the group, stop so abruptly and completely that Brin thought the driver would be catapulted through the windshield. She exhaled, deeply, and fell to her knees.

  “Brin! Oh my God!” Ash said and ran over to her. He grabbed her by her arms and pulled her back up to her feet.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said. “That was just…”

  “A close call?” Ash said, trying to finish her sentence.

  “You’ve got that right.”

  The driver’s side door of the dark green suburban opened, revealing a pair of faded jogging shoes. The figure turned to her right and walked up to the group, past Justin, Anaya, and Valerie, and over to Mr. Barker. Brin held her breath again, startled at the person who revealed herself before them. She wasn’t a stranger; the woman walked right up to Mr. Barker and gave him a hug.

  “Oh my goodness,” she said. “Are you a sight for sore eyes!”

  “Rosalie,” Mr. Barker said, hugging her back. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

  She playfully slugged him in the stomach. “Same here. Especially since Bob fired you.”

  The woman waved to all the high school kids and nodded, like she knew she was their only hope to get to safety. Brin didn’t know how to address the woman. Was she supposed to talk to her like the authority figure that she was, or could she pretend she was just one of Mr. Barker’s adult friends?

  “Mrs. Hallow,” Brin said. “Mrs. Hallow, hello.”

  “Brin, right?” the old woman said, as she walked toward her and Ash. If Brin were in a classroom setting she would have been terrified—the Grisly High vice principal was short, homely, dressed a little oddly, and with a manic expression on her face that seemed to guarantee a year’s worth of detention for all the students in sight.

  “Yes. It’s… uhh… surprising to see you.”

  “And, well, lookie here. Ash. Anaya. Weren’t you all just in the principal’s office a few days ago letting us know you had nothing to do with the disappearances of Chace Anderson and Sawyer Neville?”

  Anaya looked at Ash and Brin with a scared expression. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

  Brin cleared her throat and tried to evoke a smile. “May I ask, ma’am, what you’re doing out here all by yourself in the middle of the night?”

  She didn’t glare at Brin or demand an answer to her question; instead, she patted Brin on the back. “I’m headed to Bodie to investigate. Principal Stine left yesterday to go check things out all by himself—against my wishes, may I add. I’ve tried his cell a hundred times and it keeps going to voice-mail.” Mrs. Hallow glanced at Mr. Barker, whose adult presence seemed to make her feel better. “I think he’s in trouble. I wanted to come out here and see for myself. My question for all of you… is what are you doing out here?”

  Mr. Barker stepped toward her. “We have a lot to tell you, Rosalie. A story worth a novel all its own.”

  “Or a trilogy,” Ash added.

  The teacher ignored him. “All you need to know is that we’re headed to Bodie, too. Not just to investigate. But to instigate a rescue mission.”

  “A rescue mission? You mean, for Bob? For Principal Stine?”

  “Yes. For him, too, I guess—”

  “But how did all of you even know he was there?”

  “We didn’t. We were on our way to rescue Brin’s mother, Tessa. She was kidnapped.”

  “What?” She didn’t seem to comprehend the situation, but looked scared and sympathetic all the same. “Are you serious?” Mrs. Hallow turned to Brin and said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s all right,” Brin said. “We’re just happy you’re here. If we had to keep walking to Bodie, it would’ve taken us days.”

  “And by the time you would’ve gotten there, you would’ve froze to death.” She shook her head and waved everyone toward the suburban. “Speaking of freezing to death… come on, everyone. Get in the car!”

  “Is there room for everyone?” asked Mr. Barker.

  “Yes, of course. I almost took my husband’s two-seater and am mortified I even considered it. I had this weird feeling that I’d need a bigger vehicle. Turns out I was right.”

  “That you were,” said the teacher. He opened the passenger side door and sat down on the leather seat, before anyone had the chance to yell, “Shotgun!”

  Mrs. Hallow stayed outside and watched as the teenagers passed her by. She recognized Brin, Ash, Anaya, Valerie. She nodded her head as each person passed. She reserved her biggest smile for Justin.

  “Justin? Is that you?”

  “Hi Mrs. Hallow,” he said, giving the old lady a half-hug. “Nice to see you.”

  “My word, it’s been years,” she said.

  Justin shrugged. “Just three.”

  “You’ve gotten so handsome, and your hair,” Mrs. Hallow said. She put her hands into her pockets and allowed her smile to fade. “Did you come to save your mom, too?”

  “A vampire wants to make her his wife. So yeah. I decided to tag along.”

  “A vampire? Wait, what?”

  Justin cleared his throat and walked by the vice principal. He entered the suburban and struggled climbing over Anaya, to the back seat, where Brin sat by herself. He tried real hard not to kick anyone, but he felt his right foot slam against Valerie’s cheek. She didn’t scream at him, though; the troll just stayed focused toward the front.

  Mrs Hallow jumped up onto the driver’s seat and slammed her door. She turned to Mr. Barker, briefly, then looked back at all the teenagers, and the only slightly older college student. “Everybody ready?”

  Brin sighed and rested her head against her brother’s shoulder. “I’m tired of getting asked that question. I just want to get to Bodie. I want to find Mom.”

  “You and me both, sis.”

  The vehicle started up and immediately headed toward the top of the hill. Not a single car had passed in the last few minutes. It was as if the clan from Grisly High were the only people left on Earth.

  “Jus, I’m really happy you’re
here.” Brin couldn’t remember the last time she had cuddled up next to her brother. She appreciated his warmth, his safety. “I’ve really missed you, you know?”

  “I know. I’ve missed you, too.”

  “Ever since Dad died…” Just thinking about Kristopher—once her loving father, then a body in the ground, and then a rotting zombie munching ravenously on her arm—made her teary-eyed, and she suppressed the emotion. “I know you’ve been away at school, but I’ve felt so distant from you, like you’ve wanted nothing more to do with me.”

  “What? You know that’s not true.”

  “I know. But, it’s just—”

  “Shh. Brin.” He put his hand on top of hers and stared forward, past the five heads in front of him, at the dirtied windshield that looked out over the black, empty night. “I’ve struggled with Dad’s death just as much as you have. I’ve been confused, even angry at times. But I’ve never stopped loving you. Right now… you’re the only family I have.”

  Tears had never come so fast for Brin Skar. All she did was blink and tears dropped to the bottom of her cheeks. She wiped them away and cuddled up even closer to her brother. They were still more than an hour away from the turn-off to Bodie, let alone the ghost town itself. She had time to rest. She had time to close her eyes.

  “Brin?”

  “Yeah?” she whispered.

  “What’s going on with your hair?”

  Her eyes opened all the way again. She had been so focused on the mission for those last few hours, she’d completely forgotten about her inexplicable change in hair color. It was like when her mom’s cheeks and lips swelled up on Christmas Eve two years ago, when she was so busy entertaining and feeding the group of twenty at her house that she never bothered to admit herself to the nearest hospital—oddest of all, the swelling was never explained, and it never returned again.

  Brin liked to think of this newfound issue with her hair the same way. If she just ignored it, if she just continued on and didn’t think about it, by the time her life went back to normal—who knew when that was going to be?—her hair would be back to raven black with no questions asked. In a few short hours, Brin had seen vampires, zombies, trolls, werewolves, aliens. A few streaks of red in her hair were the least of her worries.