Not of this world
Martin Kane
Whatever it was they were - it wasn't human



Author's note:

Should anyone out there wish to get in contact with me, I happily 
invite you to do so, via the messageboard for readers and writers.
I welcome any comments.

Copyright is mine.  If you do wish to use this tale elsewhere I ask 
you to please seek permission first.

Needless to say this story is purely a fiction and all characters 
contained herewith are merely the products of an overwrought 
imagination, not to mention an unfortunate quantity of truly bad 
B-movies.

Those of you who have read a number of my stories will doubtless
Have noticed that I like to try different things now and again.
The thing to remember about experiments is that they don't always
work.  I also appreciate that not eveyone in as enamoured by cheesy

Sci Fi as me.  You have been warned.



 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



Gary met Reese at the gym, appropriately enough.

'Reese?' he repeated.  'That's an interesting name.  What's it short 
for?'

'Reese,' she repeated bluntly.

He blushed a little, though it barely showed beneath the flush of his 
exertions.  'Sorry, I didn't mean anything, it's just a little 
unusual.'

She smiled crookedly, indifferent to any possible offence.  'I 
guess.'

Despite Gary's lifelong attraction towards athletic and muscular 
women, that wasn't what drew him to first strike up conversation with 
Reese, something he'd never done in all the time since he'd begun his 
semi-regular fitness-orientated workouts.  What originally attracted 
his notice was the book she was reading.

'That's Stephen King isn't it?' he blurted, almost an unwitting 
exclamation.

She responded by raising a wry eyebrow.  She lifted the hardback 
cover, as though reading it.  'Yes.'

'Isn't that the new "Dark Tower" novel?'

'Yes.'  She smiled gently and offered his clumsy conversation some 
assistance.  'He's finally decided to complete the whole series.  
There are two more due out, which he's working on now.  They've 
already been written in rough draft.'

So they'd begun chatting amiably about books.  Gary remarked about 
"Bag of Bones", the first Stephen King novel he'd read in years.  'I 
was so into him as a teen but then I moved onto other stuff, probably 
when I went to Uni and stopped reading for pleasure for a couple of 
years.  Then I was at the library last week and wandered across it.  
I picked it up on a whim and it's like, why haven't I read one of his 
books for so long?  It is so great.'

Reese smiled at his enthusiasm, noting how exuberant and animated he 
became whenever he was talking.  There was something sweet about it, 
something genuine.

She was dressed in baggies.  A loose light tracksuit top hung from 
her torso, swamping her body.  Her jogging bottoms were also 
voluminous though elasticised enough to keep them out of the pedals 
of the stationary bike.  Her hair, dusty blonde, was tied tight to 
the top of her head, spilling out the top of her ponytail in a messy 
fountain of locks.  She was pretty in a restrained kind of way.

Gary was attracted to her but what appealed to him was her nature.  A 
quiet intelligence, a certain mental and emotional stillness that he 
himself lacked.  He knew he had a habit of rambling on, especially 
when he was nervous, but as he relaxed he got it under better 
control.

He guessed she was probably a little overweight, which would be why 
she wore the form-concealing clothes.  He hated the fashion-fascism 
of body-perfect gym goers.  So what if everyone didn’t have the ideal 
physique, that was why they were here, surely, to improve their 
bodies for the sake of health and well-being as much as vanity.

'You want to go grab a coffee or something?' he suggested.

Reese smiled that same, easygoing smile.  'Sure, why not.'

She finished her workout with a sprint.  Gary couldn't help but 
notice the double take she did, at first about to strip off the 
baggies for her final exertion but then thinking better of it.  She 
started the treadmill and broke into an easy jog.

Again, his theory of her weight problem seemed to be confirmed, after 
all, why else would she be reluctant to reveal the shape of her body 
to him.

He later remarked upon the irony of it to her and she laughed, 
admitting it was a last minute thought.  Normally she couldn't care 
less what attention her body attracted, positive or negative.  But it 
suddenly occurred to her that he may have been scared off by her 
physique.

As it was, Gary finished his workout first, stretching and cooling 
down.  His was half watching her legs pound the treadmill and was 
taken aback by her power as she broke into a sprint.  Her legs were a 
heavy blur as she tore through a gruelling routine of fast paced 
endurance.


He checked his watch and saw the minutes tick by with no sign of her 
slowing.

It was the first indication he had that she was not the everyday 
woman he first took her to be.

They met up afterwards and went to a close by coffee shop.  They sat 
across from one another in the booth and continued the easy chatting 
and flirting of a first meeting.

'What was with that sprint?' Gary finally had to ask.  'That was like 
Olympic or something.  You're not an Olympic athlete are you?'

She laughed.  'No.'

'Good 'cause if you were I'd feel stupid for not asking for your 
autograph.'

'I guess I am fairly fit,' she admitted at his prompting.  But she 
remained aloof.

'Do you often meet for coffee with guys that chat you up in the gym?'

'No, actually this is the first time.  Why, do you often chat up 
women in the gym?'

'No, not at all.  I just saw you reading - reading an actual book - 
and thought you might be more interesting than the average Lycra 
bimbo or meathead.' 

'I guess it's just the only opportunity I get to read.'

'What do you do for a living?'

She pondered a moment over this.  'I work for Health and Safety.'  
But again she remained aloof, steering the conversation back onto 
him.

Everything was going well between them.  Gary already had his heart 
pounding in his chest.  Her subtle smile was worming its way into his 
head.  He was falling, that gorgeous, giddy sense of infatuation.  It 
made him feel like a school kid again.  It made him feel wonderful.

Everything was going well until her smile froze on her face and she 
went from being carelessly reserved to being suddenly cold.  She made 
some false effort, glancing at her mobile phone and cursing to 
herself.

'I'm sorry, I don't mean to appear standoffish, but something's just 
come up.'

'What's wrong?'

She stood, her coffee half unfinished.  'I'm sorry, I have to go now, 
but I will call you.  We'll do this properly sometime.'  But her 
demeanour was impersonal and frigid. 

Gary went to stand too and she all but pushed him back into his 
chair.

'It's fine,' she assured him coldly.  'Please, I just have to be 
somewhere.'

And like that, she left him alone, swinging the strap of her gym-bag 
onto her shoulder as she barged through the doors.

He was in two minds what to do, split down the centre.  He wasn't the 
kind of man that jumped into things without thinking, wasn't the kind 
of man who acted rashly or on a careless whim.

Fuck that.  He dropped a five on the table, more than enough to cover 
the cheque and grabbed his own bag, following her out.

She was already half a street away and he only just caught sight of 
her as she turned a corner.

He ran to catch up, weaving through the few people that were on the 
street.

The turning she'd made was into a side alley.  It was an access road 
for the shops on this terrace, it didn't lead anywhere.  Something 
strange about the whole situation made him slow and follow down the 
alleyway silently.

Another corner and he saw Reese, standing tall with her back to him.  
He saw the two men facing her.  Both were large, like the meathead 
bodybuilders who always made him feel intimidated at the gym.

'Hey,' he yelled, walking over to Reese.

She turned at his voice and her despite her habitual cool, he saw her 
silently curse.  She was not happy to see him here.

'What's going on?' he demanded.

But no one answered.  Instead, something grabbed him from behind.

The world went dim and he was half aware of being swung around.  Then 
there was a crunching sound of impact and a hot splatter soaked him.

Unholy screeching deafened him, piercing eardrums and making his 
throat burn.

His sight was blurry but he saw motion.  He saw Reese - saw her move 
fast.  There was a gruesome smack as something hard hit something 
more delicate.  It was followed by another unholy scream.

He staggered to his feet - his equilibrium all shot to hell.  He 
tried to focus his vision but the world was too bright - too harsh.  
He peered into the blur and another hulking shape noticed him, came 
at him.

He nearly screamed as the thing fell on him - for he finally saw what 
it was.  Or rather he saw what it was not.  It was not human.  
Despite its close resemblance, its bipedal shape and human decorum, 
that face was a messy blur of features.

It was as though they were unset somehow, wriggling horribly.  It 
reminded him of maggots.  It was nauseating and terrifying at the 
same time.

Two holes that should have been eyes unquestioningly assessed him.  A 
gaping hole became a mouth - releasing a foul stench of breath and 
revealing razor hooks for teeth.

The bubbling putrid flesh puckered and the mouth stretched far, far 
too wide, threatening to consume his entire head - hooked teeth 
stretching out, as though reaching for him.

He fell backwards but before the beast could close, a muscular arm 
had wrapped about its throat from behind.

Another resemblance to humanity here - bones - as Reese flexed and 
twisted, breaking the foul being's neck with a loud crunch.

Shock not only at the crazy situation but at the fact that the huge, 
bulging limb that had crushed his assailant had in fact belonged to 
her.

'Shit.  Babe, you've got fucking muscles!'

'We have to get out of here,' she told him, irrespective of his shock 
and horror.  'There's probably more around.'

Gary didn't replay - there truly was nothing he could say.  No 
experience in his life had prepared him for what he had just 
witnessed.

'What the fuck?' he finally managed.

'It's hard the first time you see one,' she told him.  'I'm afraid 
I've got some bad news for you.  It won't be the last one you see.'

'What?'

'We've got to go.  You've just entered the Twilight Zone and there's 
no going back.  Once you've seen what they really are, you can't 
unsee them again.  Something in the brain I suppose.'

He managed to tear his eyes from the unholy corpse.  He looked at 
her, his expression vague and blank.


Reese swore to herself.  It was going to be a long day.

                          * * *

'Who's the dooby?' the punk asked.

'Just a guy.  Witnessed me getting jumped.  He saw.'

'Saw.  You mean actually saw?'  This from a woman, pale hair, 
intelligent eyes.  Reese nodded.

'Why bring him here?' the punk asked.

'Please,' a man cut in.  'What was she supposed to do with him?'

The punk shrugged.  'Keep them busy while she get out clean.'

The man was obviously used to the punk's flip humour, though equally 
unimpressed by it.  He was middle-aged, heavy set, fatherly somehow.  
His sympathy and gentleness instantly drew Gary.  He needed a little 
of both right about now.

'What's with the cryptic?' Reese demanded, disregarding discussion 
about Gary.

'Colonel got iced,' the woman told her.  There was a heaviness in her 
tone, a repression of real emotion.  It made her sound cold and 
authoritative, though Gary guessed it was just her personal way of 
dealing with the incident.

'How?' Reese asked.

'Ambush.  After the DC.  I called the whole machine in, looks like 
they trying to thin us out.  Spot strikes.'

'What about the others?  They're all coming?  Everyone else is OK 
right?'

'Pikey and the twins are on their way.'

'What about McBain?'

Both the punk and the older man dropped their heads at this question.

'You called him?'

'He's not been in touch,' she admitted.

'So what the fuck are we doing sitting here.  Let's go find him.'

'No.  We wait for the others.  We keep trying.  If they have got him, 
then he's already gone.'

'Everyone got jumped?'

'Shaggy did, I did.'

'I got lucky,' the punk told her.  'Pikey and the twins hadn't seen 
shit when we called them again ten minutes ago.  Looks like they got 
away with it too.'

Reese nodded.  'Fuck!'

'What's going on here?' Gary asked, finally finding his voice again.

'Have you spoken to Kal?' Reese asked, ignoring him.

'You know I can't call him, I just have to wait for him to call me.'

'That's not what I asked.'

The pale woman sighed.  She didn't provoke the larger woman's anger, 
she needed to keep this situation as calm as she could.  'Sorry.  No 
I haven't spoken to him.  He's normally in touch once a week or so.  
I spoke to him Tuesday so unless he has reason, he's not likely to 
call.'

'But if there's movement, if something's happening, surely he'll 
call.'

'We don't know what's happening,' the middle aged man - Shaggy - 
said.  'All we can do is close ourselves in and assess.'

'Assess shit.  We've been hit, I say we hit back.'

'We close up first,' the punk insisted.  'In case you haven't 
noticed, people are dead.  We get everyone together, then decide how 
to act.'

'What the hell is all this?' Gary demanded.  'What were those 
creatures?'

'And if that thing stays, it learns to shut its mouth.'

'Fuck you kid,' Gary snapped, surprising himself with his anger.  
'I'm having a really bad fucking day.  And I'd appreciate some 
fucking answers.'

The flair of anger sent his pulse hard into his throat.  He wasn't 
used to acting on his emotions like that.

'Tell it to chill or it gets hurt.'  He spoke to the room but his 
eyes were locked viciously on Gary.  There was a cold carelessness in 
his gaze, as though Gary was nothing to him.

Gary stood, knowing that the challenge had been made and knowing that 
he had to stand up to the punk, both figuratively and literally.

He was shoved down again hard, a powerful hand on his shoulder 
jamming him back into his seat.  Reese proved she was just as strong 
as those powerful arms suggested.  She was dressed in a T-shirt now 
and her biceps were swollen, stretching the elasticised sleeves taut.

'Sit down,' she told him, bored.  'I'm sorry to have brought this 
upon you but you're gonna have to start dealing.'

'Back off the man,' Shaggy said.  He turned to Gary and there was a 
calm in his eyes.  'We don't know much about them, so there's not 
really much we can tell you.  We do know that there's only a few of 
them, but their numbers are growing.  They know about us and that 
makes us dangerous to them.'

The pale haired woman took over.  'Occasionally a human being sees 
one of them, sees them how they really are.  It can be someone you've 
met before, someone you've known for years, and suddenly, something 
clicks inside your head and you realise what they really look like.

'In most cases, we suspect that when someone sees them, they react so 
strongly, so maddened and panicked, as you can well imagine, that 
they give themselves away.  They'll get taken out straight away.  We 
were all lucky enough to survive that first encounter and find other 
people who knew the truth.

'We don't know how powerful they are, how much of our government 
they've infiltrated, or even what their ultimate goal is.  All we do 
know is that they perceive us as a threat, and try to destroy us.'

She gestured around the room.  'This is Shaggy.  Reese you've met.  
The punk there is Sid.  My name is Wendy.  You're one of us now, 
whether you like it or not.'

Gary shook his head.  'This is crazy.  This is fucking nuts.  What 
the hell are they?'

'We honestly don't know.  We've never had the chance to capture a 
live one.  And they tend to wither up rather rapidly once they've 
been killed.  Those creatures Reese dispatched today will be nothing 
more than dust by now.'

'I mean what are they?  I hate to use the "A" word.'

'Aliens?  We simply do not know.'

'They're bad motherfuckers.  And what with us being really bad 
motherfuckers, it's our duty to kill them all.'

'Quite.'

The entry-phone buzzed.  Shaggy was nearest so he reached it first.  
Pulling off the receiver activated the small square screen, the 
camera was pointed down on whoever stood on the door step.

Gary saw over the shoulders of both Reese and Shaggy, a skinny man 
with sleek, dark hair.  A handsome face which was troubled by obvious 
fear and panic.

'Come on up,' Shaggy said, hitting the entry button.

'Na man,' the intercom crackled, 'get outta there, all of you.  
They've zeroed the place, they're on it right now.'

'They're behind you?' Wendy demanded, suddenly at the entry-phone 
with them.

'No.  We got jumped.  But I swear, they knew which way we were 
heading.  They must know about the room.  We've gotta move.  Now.'

Wendy took only a few seconds to decide.

'OK, go to the garage.  We're moving.  Now.'

'What?' the punk demanded.  'What the fuck is going on?'

'Soon as I know, you'll know.  Until I know, we take no chances.'

She had grabbed her coat and a small briefcase and was already 
opening the door.

Everyone else took a moment to deal and then moved, grabbing 
necessary coats or bags and then abandoning the building.

The balcony led back down to the stairwell, to the front entrance 
where they had arrived from.  But Wendy directed them the other way.

'To the back way, underground car-park.'

They all jumped into Wendy's car, the two women in front, three men 
in back.  It was cramped enough already, with the new guy too it 
would be painful.  But no one was concerned for such issues at the 
moment, they were all too busy panicking to various degrees.

The thin man appeared, piling into the back, making it even more 
uncomfortable.  Wendy hit the gas and the car roared off.

With the man's elbow in his face, Sid hissed.  'Pikey, You better be 
right about this.'

'I'm right.  The twins are dead.'

'What?'

'I'm sorry.  The twins are dead.  We were almost here when a bunch of 
them jumped us.  We had to run, I barely made it.'

The pain in his voice as he said this suggested the survivors' guilt 
that would hit him.  Right now however, he was too shaken.

But the problems weren't over yet.  

As the car sped down the access road, between buildings and out onto 
the street, a van pulled across their escape.

The door slid open and two men got out.  But they weren't men.  Gary 
could see that liquid motion over the flesh of their faces, the dark 
bubbling horror of something so alien it was little wonder that his 
brain had shut it out previously.

Reese was already out the car, as Wendy hit the breaks.

'Stay here,' she said, already approaching the two creatures.

'They may be more of them,' Shaggy said, opening his door.

'Stay.' Wendy ordered.  Reluctantly he did so, but he didn't close 
the door again, staying ready to leapt out and rush to Reese's 
assistance should it become necessary.

The first leapt at her, witchlike.  Its hands extended before it, 
fingers like claws.

Gary could have sworn it actually flew the final few inches as its 
form stretched out like Superman.  It all added to its unholy and 
alien appearance.

Reese was less than impressed however, kicking out hard and straight.  
She cut short its assault and smashed a heavy fist down into its 
head.  The creature let out a hideous and unnatural scream.

The next blow was placed as the first, but did more damage this time, 
shattering the thing's skull.  Blood and black gook sprayed out and 
it shuddered, collapsing.

She gave it a heavy stomp, just to be sure.

The other creature was backing off, as if realising it was in deep 
shit.  Reese caught up to it, slamming the lethal fist into its 
stomach, doubling it over.  Her elbow came down hard, smashing into 
the back of its neck.  Alien or not, there was no way that thing was 
alive after that.

Reese walked up to the van, checking it out.

It had actually driven over the pavement, not offering a single foot 
of clearance.  It now barred their only exit.  Not for long however.  
Reese put one arm around the front and crouched, leaning into 
position.

Even from a distance and through her clothes, Gary could see her 
muscles swell as she flexed.  She shoved the van back, out of their 
way.  It got easier once it was moving and she kept pushing, wheeling 
the heavy vehicle out of the car's line of sight.

Wendy pumped the gas and the car lurched forward.  She pulled up 
hard, letting Reese get back in.  However, she did not.  The 
occupants of the car turned to see what had suddenly caught her 
attention.

Three more identical vans screeching to a halt, their side doors 
already sliding open.

Gary couldn't properly see who was inside from where he sat, but he 
could make an educated guess.

'Get in,' Wendy screamed, revving the car furiously.

Instead, Reese slammed the passenger door.

'Go.'

'Get in the fucking car!'

Reese took a couple of steps towards the approaching vans.  She had 
pulled out a machete from somewhere and she brandished it now, like a 
sword.

Wendy hesitated, not knowing what to do.  Shaggy made the decision 
for her, leaping out of the car.  'You heard the woman,' he told her.  
'Go.'

He had slammed the back door after him but Gary had caught it and 
pushed it back open.  Without realising it, he'd just made another of 
those crazy, rash decisions.

He followed, leaping out after Shaggy and slamming the door behind 
him.

Wendy swore and hit the gas, taking the car off hard and fast.  She 
spun away and the car disappeared.

Two of the vans started up again, doors sliding shut, taking off 
after the car.

Reese took the closest one, throwing her machete and taking out the 
wheel, causing it to spin and smash into the roadside railing.

Then the first of the swarming beasts was upon her, just as she'd so 
effectively disarmed herself.

Not that she needed weapons - her body was a weapon.

The creature was the size of a large man, but Reese simply lifted it 
off its feet and twisted its alien head, snapping the neck, then 
dropping it, lifeless, back to the ground.

They fell upon her and she fought back with fists and feet, 
splintering and smashing with every blow.

Then Shaggy and Gary were besides her.

Shaggy proved as handy as Reese, pulling out a bowie knife and 
slashing out at the closest creature, taking out its throat.

Gary realised he was actually in deep shit here as one of the things 
grabbed him.

First, the claws at his shoulders, actually piercing into him, like 
they intended to rip out to bloody hunks of meat above where his 
under-developed pecs were.

Then that same dimming sensation, as though something about their 
very presence dulled the brain.  He felt faint - horribly weak.  He 
looked into that ugly face.  Black and maggot-writhing.  Utterly 
unholy.

With a sudden burst of vicious will he formed claws of his own and 
sank his fingers into that viscous flesh.

It was like soft mud or wet clay.  Hot and slimy and disgusting.  It  
made his fingers tingle and cramp but he dug in regardless.

And now, the beast was no longer clawing at him, it was pushing, 
trying to get him off it.

Gary lifted one foot, bracing himself against the creature's stomach.  
Then - with two heavy handfuls of its flesh - he pulled himself back, 
taking his gruesome prizes with him.

He fell back, feeling the thing's face tear as he crashed down.

The creature was howling in pain and fury, white bone visible beneath 
the mess of blood and torn, dripped flaps.

Gary tossed the mess aside and bowling into the howling beast, aiming 
his fists for the vulnerable spots of ripped flesh.

It was weakened by his attack, blinded perhaps, and fell beneath his 
fists.  Gary stamped down upon the exposed head, sinking his heel 
mercilessly into the sickening pulp.  It crunched beneath his fury 
and Gary fell back, satisfied that it was dead.

Looking about, he saw that Shaggy and Reese had made suitable 
mincemeat of far more of the beasts than the one he'd seen off, but 
there seemed to be even more of them coming - running at them like 
rats.

Gary ran to the abandoned van, still where Reese had pushed it aside.  
He jumped into the driver seat and rejoiced at the key still in the 
ignition.  He started it and pumped the gas.

Aimed at a group of the creatures, Gary slammed forward, thrown back 
into his seat.  The van splattered through a group of them.  Limbs 
and wet flesh was cast to all sides.  Gary hit the wipers to clean 
away the black purée.

Pulling to a halt, he kicked open the passenger door, decking another 
beast and making Reese's killing blow easier.  She punched downwards, 
splitting the thing's head open in a gory, soggy mess.

Reese pulled herself in, shattering another alien skull with a 
backwards kick as she did so.  Shaggy quickly followed, carving a 
bloody swath as he came.

Gary hit the accelerator and spun the van around hard, slamming 
another of the creatures as they turned.  Then they took off.

Two of the monsters had pulled themselves aboard while they spun, 
jerking open the sliding side door and jumping in.

Reese vaulted the seat and joined them in the back, riding the 
rocking motion like a surfer.

She made short work of them both, grabbing both at the same time, one 
in each hand.  She slammed them together, smashing their bodies 
against each other.  Then again, and again and again.  She didn't 
relent until they went both broken beyond any doubt.

'Where to?' Gary asked.

'Keep on down here, get onto the motorway.'

'Is this a normal day in the life for you guys?'

'No,' Shaggy told him.  'There's something serious going down.  
They're normally so careful about exposing themselves.  Obviously we 
have to be careful about attacks but this is totally unheard of.'

'We have to get in touch with Kal,' Reese said, climbing back into 
the front seat, next to Shaggy.

'How.  Our only contact with the man is via Wendy, and she only hears 
from him when he calls her.'

'I'm thinking that if there is something going on - and there 
certainly is - then it's happening everywhere and not just here.  In 
that case, Kal is gonna be in touch.  I only hope he can shed some 
light onto what's happening.'

Shaggy nodded.  'Then we meet up with Wendy and the others.  I only 
hope they got away.  Talking of which, any tails?'

'We're clean.  I think we did them a fair slice of damage back 
there.'

'Yeah.'  He turned to Gary.  'Fast thinking man.  You did OK.  First 
contact with these fuckers is rarely something a dooby survives.'

Reese reached across to pat his shoulder.  'Yeah.  Nice one.'

He hated to admit it but such praise, and from such a woman as she, 
gave him such a self satisfied sense that he had to fight down the 
smug, stupid grin it provoked.

                              * * *

Shaggy directed him and he drove.

They arrived at the safe-house, a warehouse way out of the city.

They knew something was wrong as soon as they pulled up across from 
it in the parking lot of an industrial complex.

They walked to the warehouse, on the lookout for signs of the enemy.  
It was only professionalism that stopped Shaggy and Reese from 
running to see if their friends were OK.

When they got inside, that question was answered.  And going by the 
bloodstains on the wall, that answer was not the one they'd been 
hoping for.

Reese rushed in when she saw the bodies, checking in vain hope that 
someone might still be alive amidst the carnage.

But it was hopeless and they knew it.

Amongst the corpses of countless alien beasts, already beginning 
their accelerated, dusty decay, were those of Wendy, Pikey, Sid and 
one other human.

Reese saw Gary assess the man and confirmed what he feared.  'Kal,' 
she told him, simply.  Her voice betrayed no emotion whatsoever.  Far 
from comforting, this coldness sent a shiver down his spine.

'It was a set up.  They just wanted Kal,' Shaggy said.  His voice too 
was cold and frighteningly dead.

'We don't know that.'

'Then explain this.'

He kicked Pikey, turning his head, and revealing to the other two 
what he had seen.  He had died from a stab wound, a flick-knife was 
jammed into his head, right through the eye-socket.

'What?' Reese stammered, not believing - not wanting to believe.

She had been in enough battles alongside Wendy to recognise the 
weapon, to recognise to method of execution that she habitually used 
to dispatch her victims.  And looking at the position with the 
benefit of hindsight, she could see how it had happened, how Wendy 
had turned to Pikey, how she had taken him out, irrespective of the 
beasts that were ravaging her.  One last act of vicious revenge 
against he who had betrayed them.

'No.  He wouldn't have.'

'I'm open to other possibilities, if you can think of any.'

She couldn't; there were none.

'Was he one of them?  Some higher level of disguise.  Most people 
can't see what they really are, maybe we couldn't see what he was.'

'I can't believe that,' Reese said.

'Whatever he was - he's dead now.  We have to go.'

And they went.

                            * * *

'So what now?' Gary asked.

Reese shrugged.  'Go underground.  We get out of here, away from 
anyone who recognises us.  We find more people who know what they 
are.  Kal was connected to a whole underground; thousands of groups 
just like ours, all over the country.'

He put his arms around her, wanting to comfort her.  He was surprised 
as she actually let him, not throwing him off as he expected.

It was more than cheap thrills, wanting to feel what that awesome 
body was like.  It was a genuine sympathy and when she responded, he 
realised he was in need of comfort as much as she was.

She hugged back, wrapping her arms around him in return, offering 
human warmth and comfort.  And something dissolved inside him, some 
residual strength that had been keeping him going throughout this 
insanity.

He wanted to weep but his macho pride held it back.  And he finally 
realised something there as he stood, hugged hard against that solid, 
muscled body.  He had always like muscle-women, always been turned on 
by extreme physical strength.  But he'd denied it was a submission 
thing - a desire to be protected or dominated.  But now, here in this 
powerful embrace, the undeniable fact of her bulging muscles, firm 
against him, he felt safe and cosy and shrouded.

And the erotic appeal was also undeniable, as his stirring erection 
attested.

She pushed him away with mock horror.  'You little perv.'

'Sorry,' Gary shrugged.  'It's not like I can help it.  You must know 
the effect you have on men.'

'Oh I've met men like you before,' she assured him with a coy raise 
of her eyebrow.  'Just for the record, I'm never going to sleep with 
you.'

'I know that, I wouldn't want to spoil our friendship,' he told her - 
lying.

'Good.'

But she held his gaze with just a little too much wry amusement to 
entirely convince.  He still help hope.

It was going to a long and hard life, he knew, with many a hardship 
and battle ahead.  But with Reese besides him, it would be easier to 
deal with.  She was a formidable warrior after all.  And with Reese 
beside him, there might just be something worth living for too.