Vermin - An Original Short Story by K H Simmons

Part 3 of 3

Several long hours later Mel appears at the top of the ladder to relieve me of my post. I mumble my thanks and wrap the blanket around her before I leave. My fingers struggle to grip the ladder as I make my way down.
Inside the farm shop is quiet, only the muffled sounds of breathing and snoring disturbed the peace. It’s still cold in here, but at least it’s sheltered from the wind. My cheeks burn as I huddle down into my quilt, wedged next to Carla and Alexei. The others from the first watch creep in as quietly as they can, ready to get a few hours of sleep.
I’m just drifting off to sleep when the first alarm is raised. The first one is a quiet one, so it doesn’t risk alerting the invaders to our position. The radio beside my pillow buzzes to life. At once my heart is pounding. I sit bolt upright in the bed and listen. Five clicks means humans, four is an invader scout, three is a small invader party and two is a large one. I listen as the clicks come through. One. Two. Three. I wait with bated breath. No other clicks come through.

Carla is already awake. Being a light sleeper comes naturally to anyone who ventures away from camp. She shakes Alexei and the movement spreads through the farm shop like a ripple through a still pond. The words small invasion spread through the room.

‘On approach from the bridge,’ Mel whispers through the radio to me.

‘Shen get out of there,’ I reply.

Shen is in the hide by the bridge. He could risk staying there hidden, but I didn’t want him to get left behind. If the invaders are on approach already, that means they know we’re here.

Throughout the room everyone is speaking in urgent whispers as they collect their bags.

‘Picking up speed,’ Mel’s voice warns.

‘Everyone move, evac point B, this is not a drill!’ I hiss.

The message is passed around the room in case anyone didn’t hear me. Within the space of five minutes we are out of the farm shop and through the greenhouse, running low and as quietly as we can. Mel climbs down the ladder and joins us. It means losing our eyes on the invaders, hopefully it also means she will make it too. Evac point B is several miles away. We will follow the hedgerows and ditches until we reach woodland. There is still a couple of hours left until dawn. We have to keep moving until then.

Mel jogs to catch up to me.

‘No sign of Shen,’ she says.

I nod.

As much as it was tempting to, I refrain from contacting him via the radio. If he’d had to remain hidden, I didn’t want to give away his position by calling him. All I can do now is hope that they don’t find him. I check back on the line, two of the children and their guardians are lagging behind. Mel sees what I’m thinking and drops back to hurry them along. Once we are in the fields it is difficult to keep up the same pace. Frost coats the overgrown grass and brambles snag at our clothes. The slight incline and uneven ground makes it hard work to move quickly. We soon forget about the cold. It would have been easier to run across the open ground, that would leave us even more exposed, so it isn’t an option.
I glanced back over my shoulder, there is still no sign of the invaders. The initial adrenaline rush is beginning to fade, and people are slowing down the line.

‘Keep moving,’ I hiss. Perhaps it was a mistake letting people think this was just the usual expansion of territory. They didn’t think that we were still in danger. The invaders didn’t bother with the chase. At least they hadn’t before.

Squeals erupt in the night air from behind us. The noise sent a chill down my spine. It’s followed by screaming. Shen. They’d found him and they were celebrating. My heart wrenches for him. I don’t wish that kind of death upon anyone. Yet I can’t help thinking that I hope he keeps them occupied for long enough for us to get away. It is an awful thought.
The squealing of the invaders and Shen’s screams echo across the fields. The group picks up the pace again. Children begin to cry quietly while their guardians or parents hush them, trying not to think about what is happening to Shen. As suddenly as they started, Shen’s screams stop. The squealing continues for a while longer and then there is silence.
We didn’t dare stop moving. There will be time to mourn later, if we keep running.

A break in the clouds spills silver moonlight across the fields. I risk looking back. Five tall shadows are stalking out of the greenhouse. The way they stride across the ground even on two legs is distinctly inhuman. They chatter to each other without care. One of them is carrying a body across its shoulders, it tosses it about like a rag doll and making its fellow invaders squeal with delight.

I tear my eyes away.

‘Don’t look back, just run,’ I warn everyone else.

I let my anger flow through me as I take the detonator out of my pocket. The invaders aren’t in any kind of rush, they saunter about the carpark showing off to each other about their kill. It disgusts me. It is like a human showing off about killing a cockroach. I glance back again. As they approach the hedgerow, I press the trigger.

The helpful thing about garden centres is that they are full of fertiliser. Over the years we had collected people with many different talents. It just so happened that Mel’s expertise lay in chemistry. As I press the remote detonator, explosions rip through the carpark and surrounding hedgerows. The fire roars into the night air with a cloud of dust and smoke. The ground trembles as the explosions create a ring of fire around our old camp.

It is human instinct to look back even as I encourage everyone to keep running. The more hopeful of us pray that the explosives have done the trick. The realists amongst us know we have to keep running. A quick look back alerts me to the shadows stepping through the flames like it is a pile of dirt on the ground. They squeal to each other, mocking me for my efforts.

We reach the top of the incline and increase the speed as we run down the edge of the next field towards the woods. At the end of this field is a dyke which we will have to jump across to get to the evac point. We’d done our best to keep it clear of brambles to speed up the process. It is still steep though and we will need to help each other to cross.
Those who are more athletic leap across first. Alexei and Nick balance on the far side ready to give a hand to those who need it. I wait on the near side helping people when I can as well as keeping an eye behind us. A cloud zips in front of the moon, obscuring the light and plunging us into darkness temporarily. When it reappears again the invaders are at the top of the slope and coming down fast.

‘Move!’ I shout.

Terry, Mel and Nick jump across followed by Carla. Fay, one of the children tries to jump across herself, slips and lands in the dyke. She is covered in scratches and thick mud when she emerges. Terry pulls her out and gives her his coat to stop her violent shivers. I leap across and scramble to the top. The dyke won’t slow the invaders anywhere near as much as it has slowed us. We need to run faster.

We scrabble up to more even land. It is only then that Terry shouts.

‘Tyler!’

I turn back and see Tyler stood on the other side, the side where there are five invaders hunting us down.

‘Tyler run!’ I shout along with Terry. Tyler ignores us. He is stood in defiance against the approaching shadows. He isn’t even half their height. His fists are balled with rage.

My mind races coming up with all the options. There are very few of them. I think of my wife and how she had died. Did she die regretting what she did? If I die what will happen to my people? Am I that egotistical to think that they couldn’t manage without me? More to the point, will anyone forgive me if I run?

I’m the closest to the edge of the dyke. I have the best chance of saving him and those odds are diminishing every second I hesitate. Cursing myself and my dead wife, I leap back across the dyke and sprint for Tyler.
Tyler realises I’m coming for him and he does the most insane thing I have ever seen anyone do. He runs towards the invaders.

Every part of my being aches to turn tail and flee. The blood rushing in my ears drowns out the shouts of the others. I vaguely recognise the sound of gunfire as Terry and probably Mel attempt to distract the invaders with their rifles. The invaders have locked onto their target though. Tyler runs straight into them with me close behind.
The first invader makes a grab for him and Tyler dodges them, he slides by the second one until the third one gets hold of him. I skid to a halt, mere paces away from the group of invaders. I knew what was coming next. My muscles tense as my brain tries to decide on the impossible.

I’m so close I can smell the acrid stench they give off. Tyler dangles in the third one’s arms like a toy.
I’m frozen to the spot. I know there is no helping him now, yet I stand there like a statue, waiting for the inevitable.
Something happened in that moment that I can’t explain. The first invader draws his energy blade, shoves the second invader and slices off an arm. It shrieked and emits a psionic burst that splits the first’s chest carapace open. Mustard yellow goop leaks out from the gaping wound. It twitches and falls still. The fourth and fifth invaders begin shrieking and draw their energy blades too. The third one seems torn as to what to do. The second makes the decision for it by running at it with the energy blade drawn.

The third one tosses Tyler to the side like he is a dishrag. He crumples on the ground crying only a few feet away. That snaps me out of my trance. I heave him up, ignoring his cries of pain and sobbed apologies as we hobble as fast as we can to the dyke. Terry is waiting there with his hand held out ready to help us across. I shove Tyler over, and Terry takes his weight. They scramble up the other side.

I glance back to see the remaining four invaders tearing each other apart. It’s terrifying to behold. It makes me feel so small and helpless. They are like giants or gods, and we are just their playthings, there to amuse them upon a whim. I jump back across the dyke and climb to the top. We don’t look back; we just run and keep on running until the grey light of dawn breaches the sky. Only then do we slump to the ground, shaking and crying, grief and relief overwhelming us. It is only a brief respite before we will need to run again.

We will never be able to fight back. We will never be safe from them, not until they wipe each other out, or they get bored of our planet and leave. Perhaps one day we will know what it is like not to be vermin.

About Me

I'm Katy, but go by K H Simmons officially. I write a lot of sci-fi, dark fantasy and dystopian fiction. If you're here for sparkly vampires, you're in the wrong place ;)

I frequently post short stories on my Facebook page, as well as work on full length novels. If you want more short stories like the above - check out my anthology Death, Demons & Dystopia available on Amazon/Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YN5DY98

When I'm not writing, I can usually be found cuddling dogs, reading, at the gym or playing video games.