Wicked Encounter

Wicked Encounter

Jon looked out at the flat, desolate Texas panhandle’s landscape and sighed. He’d been in desperate need of fuel, food, and water for a week. Ever the optimist, he hoped Amarillo might offer some relief, but the city was decimated. 

 He had lost track of how long ago the plague, or pandemic, or whatever the heck it was swept across the world. He only knew years had passed since he’d seen anyone.

Jon flicked on his multi-fueled Jeep Rubicon’s monitor and accessed a map. When he expanded it, the town of Canyon came into view. It sat nine kilometers southwest of Amarillo and a minor river ran through it called the Palo Duro.

Being small, Canyon might give him a chance to restock his food supplies. If the stream hadn’t dried up, he could replenish his water plus take a long-needed bath. With renewed purpose he drove south until a half-buried sign announced he was entering Canyon, Texas. 

A kilometer later, he approached a bridge on the verge of collapsing, but the only thing that mattered was the shallow river that flowed beneath it. He wound his way to a former park on the river’s bank, then waded into the warm waters of the creek.

 Later, he laid in the Jeep’s rear compartment and listened to the brook ripple through the night. Now bathed and shaved, he decided coming here had been well worth it.

##

Ten meters away, a pair of green eyes peered at him from the safety of the underbrush. Sniffing the air only confirmed what it already knew. One of them had returned. Earlier in the day, the truck’s scent served as the initial clue, but now the sight of the man confirmed it.

Slowly, the eyes receded into the darkness along the river bank.

##

Early the next morning, Jon set out to replenish his dwindling food supplies. The first shop he came across had windows so grimy he couldn’t see inside. The instant he forced open the door, an overpowering, rancid stench struck him. 

 He winced, and turned to leave, but as he did, he noticed the utter chaos of the store’s interior. Its contents were strewn everywhere. When he retreated to the street, he took a deep breath and shivered. “Ugh! What a mess.”

 He figured it must’ve been an animal. Ever since leaving home, he’d been in many stores to pick up food. Few were neat and tidy, but none were a total wreck. This was different. Something had devastated the interior.

 He hoped this might be an aberration, so two blocks away, he cautiously entered a grocery store. In the dim light filtering in from outside, Jon saw the inside was similar to the last market, only here the odor wasn’t as bad.   

Once he walked into the shop, he noticed something had ripped apart and discarded cans and plastic containers. What he smelled were the decaying remnants of these packages that left a feast for the bugs and small rodents that always followed. 

 Anything the vermin didn’t eat hardened into a petrified mess. He took a moment to pick up a can and examine it. It was obvious the culprit had never heard of a can opener. The can had been hacked open and then torn apart. Yet, after picking up other examples, he saw no sign of teeth marks.

By the fourth store he noticed a pattern. Each shop had less damage, and many items were now left alone instead of being opened and discarded. He guessed whatever did this learned to recognize labels and stopped wasting energy opening stuff it didn’t like.

Jon picked out a few things not on his predecessor’s menu and went back outside. As he walked to his Jeep, a chill run up his spine. He could have sworn something was watching him. But when he looked around, nothing moved. Even so, he jumped in the truck to get out of there fast.

As he drove through the deserted streets, he decided he deserved a good night’s sleep in a proper bed. After scaring himself at the food store, the idea of spending another night in his Jeep didn't appeal to him. 

 Ever since his arrival, he’d noticed a hotel adjacent to the park. It appeared in decent shape, and if the interior remained in reasonable condition, it might provide a comfortable night’s rest.   

Once he parked outside the Richmond Inn, he grabbed the lobby door handles, but they didn’t budge. The building had held up well despite the lack of maintenance. The windows and doors on the ground floor of the four-story hotel were intact and the upper levels also appeared okay.  

 Wiping grime from the front window, he peered in. The interior looked undisturbed. He considered breaking in, but doing that to one of the last pristine buildings still standing didn’t seem right. A walk around the exterior provided the opportunity he was looking for when he saw a boarded-up window. He wedged his fingers between the wood and the window’s sill, and pulled.

  Just as he hoped, the original plexiglass was missing. He hopped through the opening and entered a lobby featuring a four-story high atrium capped with a translucent ceiling. The front wall was made of glass, creating the illusion of being outdoors. To the right sat a reception desk, and on his left, two transparent elevators offered guests a view of the dining area, lobby, and the nearby park.

He entered the nearest hallway and opened the first door he came to. The room had an unworldly appearance with a thick layer of off-white dust covering everything. Jon thought that if he cleaned this place up and it could be okay.

Once he stepped further into the room, the sound of something scratching startled him as a large rodent scurried for the sanctuary of a closet. With his heart pounding, he backtracked into the hallway and decided he didn’t want that for a roommate. 

 Jon shook his head and mutter to himself. “I should have known. If I got in, there’s no telling what kind of varmints are in here.”

 When he returned to the lobby, he observed a lot of little paw prints on the dusty floor.

After unlocking the front doors, he went out into the fresh air. While leaning against the Jeep, the thought crossed his mind that maybe the upper floors were uninhabited.          

He reentered the building and climbed an open staircase leading to the fourth floor, and opened the closest door. The room he entered was twice the size of the one downstairs. It featured a glass wall overlooking the park with couches and a fireplace. To his left was a dining area with a compact kitchen and a separate bedroom. But best of all, everything looked clean. Other than a thin layer of dust, he couldn’t see signs of anything living here. After finding bedding in a closet, he opened vents to let fresh air in. There was no doubt about where he would spend the night. 

 Jon ran down to the Jeep and returned with clothes and water. With the ventilation system open, the rooms decades of stagnant air was now replaced by a cool breeze. He threw a pillow and comforter onto the bed and laid down to watch the day drift into evening from his lofty perch.

The following morning dawned the same as it had for weeks in the Texas panhandle, hot and sunny. Jon stretched and enjoyed the freedom of the large bed. He took his time going downstairs to rustle up breakfast and wondered what he should do today. Normally he would eat and then moving on, but last night’s rest caused him to think he might stay here for a while.

As he strolled through the lobby, he glanced at the Jeep. Something wasn’t right. 

 “Damn,” he shouted out loud. “I left the rear hatch open all night!”

 He cursed himself for his stupidity as he sprinted out the door. That was all he needed, multi legged visitors getting into his food supply. The moment he swung around to the back of the truck, he was stunned by what he saw. 

The interior resembled the stores he entered yesterday. Something opened all his storage boxes and threw the contents about. His packaged foods were torn apart and his water was missing. Jon staggered backwards in utter amazement

 “Why did I leave this open?” He chastised himself. Then he remembered dropping a water bottle and grumbling about how he should’ve set it down before trying to close the heavy door.

 When he looked inside again to inspect the carnage, most of the mess was from his clothes being tossed around. But a significant amount of his food was gone. Jon immediately recognized the items that remained as the same ones left behind in the grocery stores.

“Well, whatever is doing this is still here,” he muttered.       

In that instant, a plan developed. Jon wanted to see what this bandit was and thought he had a few advantages. First, the Inn’s restaurant held an untapped food supply. Second, he understood what it liked. Third, it would come at night.

  The idea was simple. He’d place food inside the hotel’s open front door and rig it to close once his thief came in. A light would be useful to get a good look at this culprit, but that shouldn’t pose a problem. He would have to set up a tripwire for the door, but the rest was easy. With his day’s agenda established, he got to work.

Just as he suspected, the kitchen contained all the necessary food. He scrounged around the hotel to find a wedge to prop open the front door and then collected wire and a lantern from the Jeep. That’s when he remembered he had night vision goggles. They would be great for watching whatever entered.

With everything set, he cleaned up his truck and pulled a chair into one glass elevator. He planned to sit inside in case the intruder turned violent. Now he just had to wait for nightfall.

  A few hours after dark, he began to doubt his plan. Since the thief had stocked up last night, it might not return. By midnight nothing had shown up except an occasional critter scamping past.

As he dozed, he dreamed an alarm clock buzzed by his bed back home. Subconsciously, he knew he wasn’t there, so he opened his eyes. He woke to a confusing green tinted world, then remembered he had night vision goggles on.

The buzzing came from the goggles, warning him of movement in his line of sight. Jon scanned the entrance and spotted a crouching figure right outside of the lobby. 

The dark silhouette moved toward the open door, then paused to sniff the air before sneaking closer to the food.  

Jon pulled the tripwire taunt in the event the thief tried to grab the bait and run. Just as the suspect reached the food, he yanked the wire and hit the switch on the lantern. The old building lit up like a lighthouse.

 Jon screamed as the night vision goggles gave him a burst of light so bright it hurt. Startled by the instant daylight, the thief shrieked and broke for the exit. Not knowing the door had closed, it ran head first into the thick plexiglass and promptly crumpled to the floor.

 Jon ripped off the goggles and rubbed his eyes to relieve the pain.

“Damn,” he cursed, thinking he’d blown his chance to capture the mysterious creature. Still blinking, he opened the elevator and stumbled toward the crumpled heap lying at the base of the door.

 Unaware his target was knocked out, Jon stood over what he thought was a pile of rags. It took him a moment to recognize the shape of a human sprawled on the floor. He reached down to turn the apparently lifeless body over and gasped, “It’s a girl!”

 Shocked, he stared at a young woman’s face. She was a sorry sight. Her clothes were not much better than rags, while her hair was a dirty, matted mess. She obviously hadn’t taken a bath in quite some time, if ever.

 He didn’t know if she was dead or alive, so he gently shook her. As he tried to roust her, she uttered a low moan. 

Without thinking, he stooped down, intending to pick her up. Suddenly, her eyes popped open, and she looked directly at him. For just a moment, he thought he detected fear in her eyes, but that quickly turned to fury. 

 Before he could react, she let out an ear-piercing shriek and lunged upward, lashing at his face with razor sharp fingernails. Jon leaped backward, covering his head with his arms. Her claw-like nails ripped at him for what seemed like an eternity. All he could do was retreat from the onslaught and cover his eyes. Between his momentum and the frenzy of the girl’s attack, he fell over a chair and landed with a bone-jarring thud. 

 He scrambled to his feet and raised his arms to fend off another assault, which, surprisingly, never came. As he peered between his fingers, he could see the girl backing away. She reached for the front door’s handle, and never once took her eyes off of Jon. In one lightning quick move she swung around and sprinted through the opening, then dashed into the park across the street.  

 Stunned by the anguish his attacker inflicted, Jon could do nothing but gawk in amazement as she disappeared into the night. Shocked by the sudden turn of events, he staggered to the front door. The moment he reached for the doorhandle, he became aware of a red liquid dripping from his hand. Still shaking from the encounter, it took a moment for him to realize his arms and face were bleeding profusely.

Jon had wondered for years if he might be the last person alive. Now he knew he wasn’t. Finally, he managed to meet another human, and now he wished he hadn’t.

END