Killer Koala Bears From Another Dimension Part 6

Tim scanned their surroundings. The expression on his face told her everything she needed to know. He didn't have a f.u.c.king clue. What have you done, Tim? Where did you get those stones?

"It's happening." Tim pointed to the sky directly above them.

Above them the sky was changing.

An orange layer of solid energy grew in the sky. It was in patches like strange clouds. Only, these strange clouds were growing, connecting with one another. Becoming one big cloud. A large part of the bizarre orange energy had already blocked the moonlight, forcing the orange hue to cover everything with its weird tint.

"Tim..." Joana swallowed hard, panic locked on her face.

Tim shook his head, his expression matching hers. "It's the field. It's happening. It's coming down around us. If we don't get out from under this thing before it fully drops down, then we are royally f.u.c.ked." The palm of his hand pressed against his forehead as he looked up into the growing orange sky.

Joana leaned forward, sure she was about to vomit, stickily from an overabundance of fear. She didn't. Instead something green fell in front of her face dancing right before her eyes. It took a second, but she realized what it was. The odd hue or orange light consuming everything had made the purple streaks in her hair look green. Her skin seemed golden and suddenly she felt like it had changed from night to day. She never was good at shooting skeet like her dad. The weird orange tinted gla.s.ses never really did help either. In her opinion, it just made things too bright, which was harder to focus. Maybe she could change her highlights to green. It looked kind of- "Didn't you just hear what I said?" Tim waved at her. "f.u.c.kin' s.p.a.cing out on me again... We need to leave!"

"Shhh..." Joana insisted, looking down at the playground. She wasn't sure what was better; Tim yanking her from her cluttered thoughts back into reality, or being okay with the fact that her mind wandered when she was scared. At least then she wouldn't see the end coming. "You want one of those things to hear us up here?"

"I don't give a s.h.i.t, Joana. We gotta go. Right now! There's no telling how long it's gonna take for the field to drop down, locking us in here with the Arktos'. Don't you get it? If we don't get outta here, we are screwed to high heaven and back."

Joana looked around at the chaos, the filter of orange laid over everything, and she stood up. She smacked her lips and wiped the tears from her swollen eyes. When she wiped her hands on her shirt, she forced the rush of emotions into the pit of her gut. She wanted answers right now. They were in some deep s.h.i.t and Tim knew it was going to happen too. She just couldn't believe how stupid he could be. How he could let something like this happen. How he would let it happen.

"I'm not going anywhere till you tell me one thing." Joana placed a hand on the handle of her machete.

"What..." Tim glared at her as if he needed to give no explanation to any of this.

"Where did you get the stones?" Joana's eyes didn't waver. "Back when we were at old man Terry's house you said you knew that it would work this time. That these stones were different. Where... did... you... get... the ... stones?"

Tim started at her for a minute, and then said, "We don't have time for this!"

"Keep your voice down... and again..." Joana shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm not leaving this roof until you tell me."

Tim puckered his lips, and then sucked them in, scowling at Joana. He shook his head from side to side slowly with half-closed eyes. "Fine... alright! I got the d.a.m.n stones from Miss Yortsdayle! You happy now?"

Joana balked. "Don't tell me you've been hanging out with that old woman. She's bad news."

"Just because everybody in this stupid town thinks she's a witch doesn't make her a bad person."

"Oh my G.o.d, Tim. Please tell me you didn't."

"What?"

"Tim, she is a witch. Just look around us. Look at all of this... what the h.e.l.l were you thinking?"

"What else was I supposed to do. Huh?" Tim shook his head. "h.e.l.l, where the c.r.a.p do you think I got the Geomancy idea from to begin with?"

"I don't know... One of your stupid online games?"

"Wow... really?" Tim rolled his eyes, slapping his hands together hard.

The loud slap echoed out across the roof.

Something shifted on the street below them. What followed was unmistakable. The growling hiss of one or more Arktos creatures filled the air at the base of the building. What followed was even more frightening. The rails to the ladder beside Joana shifted; the clanking of feet reverberated up it and to the roof.

The koala bears were climbing the ladder.

Joana and Tim were trapped with nowhere else to go.

8.

Frank Edelman disregarded everything around him as he slammed on the brakes. The apartment complex's parking lot bustled with activity.

People ran rampant both in and out of their apartments. Some had a chance to escape. Others weren't so lucky as the bear-like creatures gave chase. A body crashed through a window near where he parked, giving him a startle.

Frank took a deep breath and nodded to himself as he clutched the door handle. He prayed he wasn't too late to save Kathie. A quick pull on the handle put him in the middle of the chaos. He sprinted past the creatures feasting on an elderly woman in the gra.s.s off to his left. His gaze lingered long enough to realize who it was. A sweet old woman named Mrs. Virgin. No, she hadn't been a virgin all her life, despite the jokes she told regarding the last name. She was the mother of two twin boys, Michael and Gary. They were all grown up now. Frank had only met one of them, Gary. Between the twins, Ms. Virgin was pretty well taken care of. The boys kept her refrigerator full. Made visits to get her scripts filled. Even took her to the hair salon once a month to keep that tight perm round and dyed just right, light blue of all colors. And when one of the first floor apartments had become available, Gary was there to fight for her to get moved from the second floor. It had worked out for her because she loved to be outside morning, day, and night. Frank and Kathie had been there to help her move, which was how they had met one of the twins. Kathie helped by mostly just rummaging through all of her old framed photos of the elderly woman's past life while Gary b.i.t.c.hed and b.i.t.c.hed about his brother not being there to help. His brother was a jerk, or so Gary had said more than a dozen times. Any time Kathie had come across a good picture she had grabbed Frank and made him look. Some photos were of Ms. Virgin back when she was a teenager. Good looking old lady if you asked him. The payment for helping with the move had been fresh coffee and stories of old. That old lady had some adventures, and Frank and Kathie didn't mind spending the time with her. She was old and lonely.

But now she wasn't moving. That rounded perfect blue hair was now mashed onto the gra.s.s while those things fed on her body. She was dead. The creatures' satisfying slurps and grunts confirmed what Frank already knew.

He kept running despite the urge to pull those monsters away from her body.

He ignored all the turmoil. Finding Kathie was his only goal. He disregarded the man standing inside one of the apartments below his at the window looking out with a wide fear filled stare. The eye-shaped beams of light scattered in every direction. The creatures climbed in and out of them like doorways. They carried people dead and alive through the doors.

He didn't question the orange hue that tinted everything around him either. It lit up the night as if it were almost day. It was making his skin seem almost golden and when he took one last look toward Ms. Virgin, her blue hair appeared greenish in color. He even ignored the woman running from her apartment just in front of him screaming b.l.o.o.d.y murder. Blood covered her from head to toe. He didn't stop. He just darted up the steps to his front door.

He reached the door and jammed the key in the lock.

Swinging the door open wide and slamming it shut behind him, he didn't even realize that there had been no signs of forced entry. He just dashed past the 60" flat screen TV and down the hall, past the framed photos of their last trip to Panama City, Beach Florida for spring break. In the photo, he was wearing a large rounded straw hat and Kathie was wearing an orange two piece bikini. She looked good.

"Kathie... Baby!" His steps were loud as thunder as he charged toward the bedroom door.

She wasn't there. The bedroom was empty. The bed had been made perfectly with more than ten pillows piled on for decoration. He hated those f.u.c.king pillows. He slammed the door shut and turned toward the kitchen.

"Kathie... Sweetheart. You okay?" He called out, rounding the corner and locking eyes with it.

He gasped.

It was dead... well, it looked dead at least. There was blood everywhere. On the kitchen floor laid a bear-thing. Its head had been smashed in. A cast iron pot lying beside it was covered in gore. Among the b.l.o.o.d.y chunks was what resembled Hamburger Helper scattered across the floor. He had a hard time wrapping his mind around such a creature after getting a closer look. How could it even be real? It was eerily human.

Frank leaned down to touch it just to make sure it was dead. Its gray fur was coa.r.s.e and matted in some areas. Blood soaked the hair in some spots, clotted and cold. Its fingernails were thick and black. An image of them slicing at his own face gave him the chills as he felt a cool draft brush across his scalp.

He looked up.

The sliding gla.s.s door to the patio was broken. Gla.s.s was lying everywhere on the tile floor next to the dinner table. As his eyes scanned the scene, his mind replayed a series of events that he imagined took place.

Kathie had been cooking dinner for them to have when he got home from the Recreation Center. One of those things somehow climbed the patio and broke in. But where were Captain, his dog, and Kathie?

His eyes scanned the b.l.o.o.d.y beast on the kitchen floor once more and then he careened across the tile toward the broken sliding gla.s.s door. There he was, Captain... dead... just lying there under the dinner table. A pool of blood surrounded his unmoving body. His left front leg was missing. Blood trickled across the floor leading to the severed limb.

Franks heart sunk.

"Ca...pt...ain..." He swallowed, his hand over his mouth. "That's my boy," he nodded, forcing back the tears. "You helped protect her, didn't you?"

He turned away, unable to look any longer.

That still didn't answer where Kathie might have gone. The urge to cry came back to the forefront. He'd had Captain since he was a puppy. He shook it off and went to the patio door. Looking out into the strangely orange lit night, the same gruesome scene continued. How he had even managed to make it up the steps and into the house without being seen was beyond him all- The front door shook with a deafening boom. Hissing and grunting echoed out in m.u.f.fled waves on the other side.

So much for wishful thinking. They actually had seen him go upstairs.

Come on, Kathie... where would you have gone?

He glanced back out the patio and saw the tracks. Blood coated the floor on the patio in shoe prints her size. She had made it out. Instantly, his eyes darted to the mushroom key-rack attached to the wall next to the refrigerator. Her keys were gone. A stain of blood left behind where she had s.n.a.t.c.hed them up.

Hope surged through Frank like that fist drag on a cigarette after a few days of going without one. The feeling was there and gone like a flash, the pounding and scratching at the front door bringing him back to his set of crucial circ.u.mstances.

He looked toward the living room and the racket that was those things trying to get in, and then back at the patio. He stepped out on it and looked down to the first floor. It was a long way down.

"f.u.c.k. I hate heights."

Someone ran by below and Frank thought he recognized them, but they were gone as fast as they had appeared. If he was going to go for it, now was the time. He checked to make sure his car keys had made it back into his coveralls pocket and climbed up onto the railing.

The sound of a window giving way reached his ears from the living room.

"Motherf.u.c.ker..." He breathed, climbed down on the other side of the rail. "Just don't look down... just don't look down."

He started to step down from his position, but he had nowhere to go unless he intended just to jump clear to the ground.

There's no way you just jumped, baby. Come on... how did you get down?

He scanned the patio on either side in hopes that it would pop out and bite him like a snake. It did. b.l.o.o.d.y hand prints covered the white gutter drain that ran down the side of the apartment. Frank grinned. Just when he eased over, finding his footing to climb down, a creature stepped into his kitchen and locked eyes with him out on the patio.

"Ereht Tuo!" The creature shouted, pointing at Frank.

"s.h.i.t."

Frank jumped down clinging to the drain pipe like his life depended on it. Hoping he would slide down like a fire pole, he just let himself free fall, his feet straddling either side of the drainpipe. He slid down faster than expected and landed hard in the bushes below. The wind was jarred from his lungs as he hit the ground. He fell off balance, stumbling over the bushes.

With a jolting umph he fell back on his a.s.s. He looked up and locked eyes once again with the creature that had invaded his home from the front door. Only there was more than one up there. It lifted a spear and before Frank gave it the time of day he was up and running away from the now mangled bush that had softened his fall. He heard the loud thump of the spear sticking in the ground at his side. He didn't look back. With the air still not back into his lungs, his chest burned as he raced back toward the GMC. He started feeling lightheaded and dizzy.

He wasn't going to make it.

He needed to stop.

Catch his breath.

But he couldn't. He needed to find Kathie. Get to her before any of those monsters did. If he knew her well, which he did, there was only one place she would have gone.

She would hit Highway 105 and head straight to her parents' house.

The GMC came into view in the parking lot. The orange hue cast over everything made the white vehicle almost too bright to look at.

Frank felt his feet stagger and his ankles buckle. The air still hadn't returned to his lungs. The lights blurred and grew dim. He fell to his knees and pulled the keys from his pocket, reaching out toward the Jimmy as if it would magically place him inside.

"Hey man! Wh...iccccchhhh caarrrrr is yourssssss?" Someone shouted.

The words entered Frank's ears as meaningless vibrations.

The dark figure leaned down over him.

"Whhitee..."

Frank pa.s.sed out, the air finally returning to his lunges a little too late.

The last sound Frank heard as his body fell limp in the gra.s.s was the clinking of his keys beating him to dirt.

9.

When the first murderous other-dimensional creature reached the top of the ladder, something inside of Joana snapped. Fear had caged her in its icy embrace until now. A surge of power swelled from inside giving her mind full control. It no longer escaped to memories of popcorn and sweet treats or any trivial thoughts. She yanked the machete from the sheath, now empowered by the most basic of instincts: Survival.

She lifted the large knife over her head and charged forward unleashing a defiant scream.

It was clear that Tim wasn't going to do a d.a.m.n thing. So, it was up to her. When those monsters first started climbing the ladder to the roof, Tim had cowered, dropping his weapon at his feet before looking them in the eyes. If he wasn't going to save her, then she had to save herself. She wasn't ready to die. She thought of her parents as she darted across the rooftop howling like a wild animal. Of school and the friends she had made over the years. Of Tim and how things had been when they had first started dating. She longed for that closeness to return. She didn't want it to end like this. Not with things so screwed up between her and Tim.

When she reached the Arktos, fear shot in its eyes. It pulled at her compa.s.sionate side. She wanted to reach out, say sorry, and shake hands with it. The bear was just too cute in an odd sort of way. But something took over. Seeing all of the bloodshed thus far in one night had her head flooded in confusion. She realized she had struck the creature square between the eyes when blood splashed across her chest and the blade was coming back down for the second time. The sharp blade slapped wet-penetrating the Arktos in the face with one fierce slice. Blood mixed with matted bear hair sprayed Joana in the chest again.

A sudden, strange humming sound flooded her ears.

When Joana yanked the blade from the dead bear and the creature fell limp from the ladder back to the ground, she realized what the noise was.

Joana stumbled back and fell clumsily to her a.s.s. The blood covered machete still in her hand clanked against the loose gravel on the rooftop at her side.

The humming was her voice.

Her throat was hoa.r.s.e, the loud scream still bellowing out against the fact that she was covered in blood.

She had just killed a living creature. It didn't matter if it was going to kill her first. She wasn't a killer. The torrent of thoughts had her mind in knots. She wanted to cry. Tried to cry, but couldn't. The screams rushing from her lungs wouldn't give her tears the room they needed surface.

Another creature appeared at the top of the ladder. It hissed and grunted with fierce intent. Joana's chest felt tight like she couldn't breathe. She had been able to attack once, but she wasn't sure she had any more courage for survival left.

The monster climbed up to the top and jumped onto the roof. Joana froze in fear when the creature locked eyes with her. Drool dripped from its fangs. Its fur covered chest moved in and out with each forceful breath. It pulled a bone knife from its hip and slashed the air while licking its sharp teeth.