Battle Zone Read online

  Anna turned back to the lake, to where the road wound around its eastern edges and away from the mountain. She turned and expected to see a police car, perhaps chasing the speeding vehicles. She even hoped that she might catch one more glimpse of her daughters out on the glacier-fed clear blue waters of the lake. She turned her head and when her eyes fell upon the creature, the thing that the truck and maroon van had been driving from, she let out her own scream of terror. A creature defying description came bounding down the sidewalk, crashing through the trees and crushing park benches beneath its feet. Parked cars were knocked aside and flipped over as if they were toys. The creature was like nothing she had seen before, and had to stand at least fifteen feet tall.

  “The hell is that?”

  Anna felt a hand on her shoulder. A long-haired young man with a backpack on his shoulders removed his sunglasses to reveal brown inquisitive eyes. He held a hand-written side that read ‘Banff,’ and a cigarette dangled loosely between his lips. His accent was stiff, as if English was his second language.

  “Are they filming a movie here?”

  Anna shook her head, but suddenly doubted herself. Was this all a trick? Were they filming a scene and she had just missed the discreet cameras? She felt dizzy, as if everything she knew had been replaced by a world of strange creatures and backpackers.

  “I don’t think so. I think...I think it’s real.” Anna watched the monster reach the pontoon where she had earlier seen Kelsea and Susie cast off. The man who rented out the kayaks emerged from his hut and pointed a gun at it, letting off six rounds at the monster’s head.

  “I think you are pulling my feet.” The backpacker walked out into the road, took a drag on his cigarette, and pointed. “See that white truck over there? That is where the camera is, yes? It must be. Back in Paris we would not allow such dangerous activity in public. The studios would make sure the streets were clear. This is crazy.”

  Anna felt her throat constrict, as if an invisible force was squeezing the air from her lungs. She wanted the young man to be right, but he was wrong. She knew he was wrong, no matter how convinced he sounded. The rental guy began to run, throwing his gun to the ground. The bullets had made no impact and done nothing but to draw the monster’s attention. Within a few seconds, even the backpacker knew that this was no movie set. The monster scooped up the terrified rental guy in its long jaws and tossed him against the solid trunk of a pine tree. Then, with the man knocked out, it used the tip of it jaws and tossed him into the air again before swallowing him whole. A woman nearby screamed and ran to her parked car. She jumped in and started the engine. Anna saw the unidentified monster run up to the car and slam into it, sending the small car sideways into the middle of the road. A passing 4WD coming the other direction had no time to stop and rammed into it, sending the woman hurtling through the front window and out onto the road. Instantly the monster was on her, long teeth biting her and severing her body in half as she screamed in agony. The driver of the 4WD tried to reverse away but the monster saw it and clamped its jaws around the back half of the vehicle. The punctured tires began to deflate, and the monster slammed the 4WD against the road. Anna saw the driver, a man in a black suit, open the door and try to run. But the monster saw it too, and in a split-second the driver was on his back, the monster clawing at him until there was nothing left of the man but a bloody motionless mess.

  The backpacker dropped his cigarette and grabbed Anna’s shoulders. “Come. We need to go.”

  The young man ran and Anna was about to follow him, when she saw two canoes pull up to the pontoon. Two figures in yellow lifejackets got out and clambered out of the boats onto the small jetty. As the monster devoured the unfortunate drivers of the crashed cars, Anna deftly stepped back under the relative protection of the trees. She snuck forward, aware of the terrified screams behind her and the sound of panic and running people. Her focus was now drawn to the two figures emerging from the canoes, and she prayed they weren’t her children. Surely Kelsea hadn’t brought them back already? They should be out on the water, safe, away from this carnage.

  Sharp popping noises drew Anna’s attention back to the road where she saw Nigel and four other men advancing toward the monster. They all had guns drawn and were firing at it, trying to drive it back. The backpacker had left her and was now running for his life away from the shooting and the beast. Anna turned back to the lake and crept across the short grass, her prayers unanswered.

  “Kelsea? No, damn it, go back. Go back.”

  Anna saw her eldest daughter lead Susie by hand to the rental hut. They sheltered outside, clearly unable to decide whether to stay put or keep moving. They looked scared and confused, and Anna knew she had to get to them. With the monster’s attention on the men in the road, she ran, darting between the trees until she was close enough to see her two daughters. When she was barely twenty feet away, she stopped. The tremors had started up again, and she could hear the men crying out. One quick look told her that they were losing. The monster was devouring them all, running amok through the streets of Lake Louise.

  “Kelsea, stay there. What are you doing?” Anna shouted. “It’s not safe. Get back out on the lake and wait.”

  “Mom?” Susie yelled and began to cry. “Mom, we tried to warn you. We saw the animal coming, but—”

  Suddenly the tremors grew larger, and Anna saw a shape coming through the trees. Kelsea and Susie broke into a run and left the cover of the shop. Sunlight splashed against their bright yellow vests and they left wet footprints on the wooden pier as they darted for their mother.

  “No, stay back!” Anna yelled and ran to them.

  There was no time. The monster arrived before her, blood dripping from its massive jaws. It ducked its head and swept a screaming Kelsea up without even breaking stride. Kelsea screamed and punched the beast’s head, but Anna was unable to do anything as it clamped down firmly on her daughter. The monster squeezed Kelsea’s body and then bit her in half. Kelsea screamed a second time and then she was gone, swallowed by the beast.

  “Run, Susie, run!” Anna began to cry as she ran for her youngest child. Her gut felt like it had taken a blow from a heavyweight boxer, and cold shivers ran up her arms. Anna cried desperately for her children “Susie, please”!

  Susie tripped and fell onto the cold grass beneath a tree. She crawled forward on all fours, sobbing, but the monster reached for her and snagged the yellow lifejacket on its teeth.

  “No, leave her, leave her alone!” shouted Anna.

  A gunshot like a punch to the side of the head caused the monster to jerk back and fling Susie to the ground.

  “Get the hell out of here!” yelled Nigel. He strode past Anna, shooting.

  The monster growled and left Anna breathless. It towered over Susie and broke the lower branches of the tree as it moved. Its elongated jaws were similar to that of a crocodile, and it walked on two rear legs. Its two forward arms were stunted, but sported sharp claws. The beast was as long as it was tall, and as Mahoney fired at it again, it whipped its powerful tail around, sending the policeman flying. He crashed against a tree stump and Anna cried out.

  “Susie, honey? Come to me.”

  The monster snapped its jaws together and sent a snapping sound around the park. As Susie moved, it darted forward and raked its claws down her back. She cried out and struggled to free herself of the lifejacket, and as Anna began to run to her daughter, the monster swept Susie up into the air and into its mouth.

  “No!” Anna ran to the beast, screaming. “Susie? Susie?”

  There was a muffled scream from within the jaws of the beast and then the girl was gone. Thick blood oozed from between the monster’s teeth and its black eyes slowly rolled around to look at Anna. With a deft flick of its tail it sent Anna flying across the park until she hit a bench.

  Anna groaned and clutched her chest. She’d come to rest near the road, and the ground was hard and cold. She spat out a tooth and struggled to gain her breath. The impact of the monster’s tail had felt like being hit by a ten ton truck. A blazing pain shot through her head, and she knew she had broken bones. Her chest was on fire, and she suspected several ribs were busted. Anna coughed and spat phlegmy blood onto the grass as she hauled herself up onto the bench. Through the shadows of the trees she saw the monster begin to run forward, into the main center of the town. It barreled through a busload of frightened Japanese tourists, gobbling up several in its mouth and scattering the rest like skittles. It smashed through the store where she’d earlier bought coffee and moved like a predator who knew exactly what it was doing. Anna slumped down in the bench seat, barely able to suck in enough oxygen to keep her eyes open. She kept thinking about Kelsea and Susie, struggling to accept what had happened. They had come to warn her, and now they were dead. Both her daughters were dead. Thank God her husband and son weren’t in town for this.

  Anna heard the faint tinkle of a bell as the monster continued its rampage through Lake Louise. Like a distant alarm, she ignored it, her eyes drooping now as her punctured lung filled with blood. Anna doubled over and coughed up blood that splattered her legs. The faint tinkle of a bell again forced her eyes to look away from the beast, back to the lake, and back to where she had lost her daughters. There were two cyclists heading toward the park, to the place where Susie and Kelsea had been eaten alive. The figures were waving and shouting something, but were too far away to be understood. The nearest one was smaller, perhaps a child, and as Anna felt darkness engulfing her she recognized the rider. She had no energy left to warn them to turn back, to scold her husband for bringing them back. All she could think was that she didn’t want to lose any more of her family.

  “Harper?”

  Anna was terrified. She was dying, and her husband and
son were riding right into the path of the monster that had eaten her children. With pain and grief burning her mind, Anna slipped into unconsciousness, never to see her home again.

  CHAPTER 4

  Zooey sat down at the wooden picnic table and tied her hair up in a bunch. She reached for her cold beer and drank, thirsty after spending the last twenty minutes on her feet, dancing and singing.

  “You seem a lot better.” Taylor nodded her head in time with the rhythm of the music. “All recovered?”

  The gentle music of the band filled the marquee, and the chatter of people faded into the ether. After retreating to the hotel, Zooey had passed out on her bed and woken to find Taylor and Aaron tucking into room service. A large glass of ice water and a small plate of tacos had brought her back into the land of the living, and after a hot shower, soon they were back out in Calgary. On their way to the stadium they had stopped by a street full of market stalls. Aside from the usual assortment of food trucks, craft beer and hats for sale, they had found one run by a grizzled old man with a cane. He had erected a sign above his stall that read ‘COWBOY SHIT.’ It had practically begged them to buy something, so Taylor had ended up with a toy pistol, Aaron with a ten gallon hat that was so big for his head he ended up giving it away to a kid on the way to the bar, and Zooey had bought herself a fake Sheriff’s badge.

  “Guess I’m not quite as young as I like to think I am.”

  Zooey felt mortified when she remembered how she had acted. Taylor and Aaron refused to accept it was the hot dog, and Zooey refused to believe it was the drink. The one thing they could all agree on was that their vacation was off to a legendary start. Throwing up over a policeman on day one would not be forgotten, and Zooey was sure her friends would remind her of it at every opportunity they found.

  “Oh, are you okay?” asked Aaron. He winked at Taylor. “You’re not going to vomit are you?”

  “No,” said Zooey firmly. “I am not.”

  “Are you sure? Because I can go find another cop if you need?” Aaron laughed. “Maybe not one quite so hot, but—”

  Zooey playfully punched Aaron on the arm. The marquee was large enough to fit around two hundred people, but right now it was nowhere near capacity. There were a dozen or so dancing, and twenty people scattered around the wooden tables and benches that had been laid out over the chipboard floor. The bar served cold beer and warm wine, and little in between. As Aaron squealed, Zooey straightened her sheriff badge. After this they would head to the stadium. There was still plenty of time before the first show. And there was plenty to see on the way.

  “I was thinking about tomorrow. How about we go rogue, do something really crazy,” said Taylor. “We come to Calgary for the Stampede, but this little girl from Spokane wants adventure. I want to do something wild.”

  “Like what?” asked Aaron, nervously. A tall blonde guy stood next to the table and smiled at Aaron. “I was kind of making plans for later.”

  “Keep it in your pants, lover boy,” said Taylor.

  “Yeah, buzzkill.” Zooey sipped slowly on her beer, aware that she needed to pace herself for the rest of the day. “You forgetting about our pact. This is our time. This is party central. You want to go back to Spokane and retire?”

  “I was thinking we could go out into Banff National Park tomorrow,” said Taylor, trying to contain her obvious excitement.

  “Oh, great. So we can drive bumper to bumper with old people in their campervans just to see a few elk?” Aaron licked his lips and smiled at the young guy standing next to him. “I don’t think so.”

  “Actually, there’s this company I found. They’re going to pick us up at seven tomorrow to beat the traffic.”

  “Hold on their, Hoss.” Zooey could tell Aaron was distracted, but it wasn’t like Taylor to go and do something without checking with them all first. “Seven? Sounds a little early, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah, I guess, but we have to get to the airfield while the weather is good. I know it’s July, but we’ve been real lucky so far. It might not last, so I signed us up earlier. All three of us.”

  “For what?” asked Zooey tentatively. “Signed us up for what?”

  Aaron began to chat to the guy next to their table. Zooey could tell they had lost him. If everything went like it usually did, Aaron would disappear for a few hours and resurface later, as if by magic, with one more notch on his belt buckle.

  Taylor finished her beer and slammed the glass down on the table. She beamed with pride as she announced what they were doing. “Skydiving.”

  Zooey opened her mouth to speak, but was too shocked to think of a response. She looked at the dance floor, black and brown boots kicking up sawdust, loose hands spilling beer, and smiling faces as people danced. She should’ve stayed out there. When the music played she lost herself, let it sink into her soul and wash away all of her worries. She forgot about going back to work after this was all over, forgot all about hot policeman and dodgy hot dogs, and let her feet move wherever they wanted. That was what she wanted, not jumping out of a plane at twelve thousand feet high.

  “Skydiving? I don’t think so, Taylor.”

  Taylor whipped a brochure from her pants pocket and unfolded it. “Look, it’ll be amazing. You can see for freaking miles. And you have a guide with you the whole time. It’s completely safe.”

  “What’s safe about jumping out a plane?” Zooey exhaled, knowing that as much as she protested, Taylor would win. “Unless the plane is on fire, I see no reason to voluntarily throw myself out of it. That’s insane. Why on Earth would you want to do that?”

  Taylor’s smile slipped. She shrugged. “I just do.”

  Zooey looked at Aaron for back-up but he was lost in conversation with the blonde guy. Zooey looked back at Taylor. “Let’s stick to the plan. We came here for a good time, like we always do. What’s wrong with that? Maybe next year, okay. Just give me some time to process this.”

  “No, it has to be tomorrow,” insisted Taylor. Suddenly, tears were rushing to her eyes. She reached across, took Zooey’s beer, and drank. “Please?”

  Zooey waited until Taylor put the glass down, and then reached across the table, holding her hand. “Taylor, something’s up. Tell me.”

  Taylor closed her eyes and spoke softly, her voice only just audible above the live band. “It’s my mom. I have to go back home. I don’t know if I’ll be back next year. She’s moving into a home in a couple of weeks. It’s all planned. I have to go back to Spokane to be near her. The doctors said...they said she might have another year in her. But they don’t...they can’t tell me exactly—”

  Zooey jumped out of her seat and rushed around to hug Taylor. She held her friend, letting the tears blossom until they were coming in a flood, soaking into her shirt. After the moment had passed, Taylor pulled herself away.