"So, you told her about the hole? You brought them here, to my beloved town? You?" Mary finally said.
"I’m afraid so."
"AAARGH!"
The outburst came from Josh. He had grabbed a couple of papers more and was now ripping them into big pieces while staring at his mother when, finally, he let go of it all and let it fall like snow to the carpet of Mary's living room. Then he stormed to his mother, bent down, and looked her in the eyes.
"Can't you do anything right, woman?"
Martha looked at her son, who was panting heavily, staring at her like a madman. For a second, Mary waited for her to explode in anger the way she usually did to the boy, even though he was a grown man, but this time she didn't. She just shook her head with a deep sigh.
"I guess not. I guess not, but I will. I will make it up to all of you. I might have gotten us into this mess, but I will also get us out of it."
"How? How on earth do you intend to get us out of this?" Mary said grimly, sounding angrier than she liked to be.
Martha swallowed, hard. She rose to her feet. "I have an idea. Now, hold on for a few seconds, all right? We all agree these Chinese people aren't really Chinese, right? I think I somehow already knew it back when I spoke to that woman in the bar. She never drank anything from her drink, she hardly ever blinked, and she did have a strangely long tongue, I noticed when she spoke. Now, Josh has this theory, right Josh? Son?"
Mary looked at Josh. His nostrils were still flaring, when he nodded and combed his hair back with his hand, calming down.
"Yes."
"See, Josh believes they're a sort of chameleon, you know, that they can disguise themselves as whatever they want to be. Now, before you think we're both nuts here, bear with me. He told me he thinks that they might have chosen to disguise themselves as what we Americans feared the most, to scare us, you know. And so, well, apparently, what scares us the most is the Chinese, so when they came they looked like them, but they can't hide their true nature, those long tongues, and the claws or talons or whatever they are on their fingers and toes."
"Get to the point, Martha," Mary said.
"Yes, well, once we had an infestation of chameleons in our yard. It was long after Josh's Karma died, but anyway, these animals destroyed everything in the yard, and if you're not careful, they'll get in the house too. I read that somewhere. So that was when I found this DIY trick online to get rid of them. I simply googled How to Get Rid of Chameleons. I don't know if it'll work, but it did back then."
"What is it?" Mary asked with a sigh.
Martha paused for half a second, then said, "Tabasco sauce. I filled a spray bottle with Tabasco sauce and water and sprayed it on them. Apparently, it burns their skin and they flee. Lots of them died actually from the burns. Their skin bubbled up and it was very nasty. Anyway, it worked back then and I thought it might work now."
"You're kidding me right now," Josh said. "Is that what you're suggesting? Tabasco sauce?" He threw out his arms. "The woman is raving mad. You can't fight an army of a million soldiers with Tabasco sauce. It's not only stupid, it's insane."
Martha looked at the others pensively. "I say it's worth a try. I mean, what do we have to lose?"
"Our lives for one," Irene said.
The others mumbled in agreement.
"We don't have any other weapons," Martha said. "Mary said all the weapons were confiscated. I am not leaving my two grandchildren and my daughter in the hands of these…these things. I refuse to."
"Martha, I think it's best if you sit back down," Mary said. "You've had a lot to drink. Maybe we should all sleep and then talk about all this in the morning. There's hardly anything we can do about it right now. Please, Martha. We all need it. Let's rest."
Martha grumbled something, then sank back into the chair. Mary told the rest of them that they could crash on the couches or beds in the guestroom.
Soon, a thick calmness fell upon the old house and, finally, Mary managed to doze off. Even the soldiers, who still stood tightly packed in the street outside her window, didn't make a single sound.
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Ridge Manor, Above
The sound of the phone ringing was deafening. Wayne stared at the old Stromberg-Carlson on the wall, then at the major general, who was smiling as she approached it. She gave him one last glance as she grabbed the earpiece with her claw-like fingers. She spoke into it with a lisp, "Yesss?"
Please, let it be Arlene; please, let her be all right, dear Lord; please, protect my daughter.
Wayne's heart was pounding in his chest, drowning out all other sounds in the room. He felt dizzy and closed his eyes for a few seconds to better focus.
"Yeessss? Yes. Yes."
Major General Li Xiaoyan turned to look at Wayne and their eyes locked. The look in her eyes sent a chill through his spine. A smile spread slowly across her face and he could see her tongue. It made him sick to his stomach.
"Woman is dead?" she asked.
Wayne felt his heart drop. There was no way she would ever ask Arlene that question. And she wouldn't be smiling like that if it was Arlene that called either. It couldn't be her. It couldn't.
Does that mean she's dead? Does that mean he killed her? Please, don't let it be true.
"Aha, yes, yes," Major General Li Xiaoyan continued, then paused. She played with her tongue in the air in front of her face, still staring at Wayne, before she finally asked, "And girl? She dead too?"
She almost sang the o in the word too, like she was being cheerful. Wayne felt like grabbing her by the throat and strangling her.
So, that's it, Joanna is definitely dead then?
The thought was unbearable to Wayne. He had really cared about her and couldn't believe that she had sacrificed herself to save Arlene. How was he ever going to continue living after this?
Maybe he wasn't. They would very likely kill him as soon as they were done with him here.
"Yeesss. Yesss. Good. Good. Good."
Major General Li Xiaoyan hung up. Wayne couldn't feel his face. The room was spinning. He had to grab the edge of the desk to not fall. The click from the phone hanging up felt like a bomb blasting in his ears. He wanted to scream, but no sound came out of him.
Major General Li Xiaoyan approached him, her tongue dancing like a snake to a snake charmer's flute. She shot it towards him, letting it caress his ear before it grabbed his neck and pulled him close to her. He felt the thick saliva drip from his earlobe as she moved her face close to his.
"All are dead," she whispered. "The woman and the…giiirl."
Wayne fell to his knees while the woman addressed her soldiers. "People. We go home."
She looked at one of her officers. "Start send them in."
The officer made a strange sound rolling his tongue and soon everyone in the room chimed in, the sound shaking the earth around Wayne, who no longer could hold back his tears.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Ridge Manor, Beneath
CLICK.
Tang hung up the phone, then turned to look at Joanna and Arlene. They were both on the wooden floor, Arlene crying from the bloody nose she had gotten when Tang had thrown her down while grabbing the earpiece from her. Joanna's head was hurting too from when he had grabbed her and lifted her into the air, then thrown her, headfirst, into the wall.
She was holding the young girl in her arms while comforting her, but Arlene couldn't stop crying. They had been listening while Tang had spoken on the phone and said that they were both dead.
Now, he was approaching them, tiptoeing forward on those strange talons of his, his nails or claws tapping on the wooden floors. He was reaching out his hands, snapping his claws at them. Arlene whimpered and pulled away, crawling backward across the floor. Joanna rose to her feet and stood tall in front of the little black creature who was staring at her with his glowing green and yellow eyes moving in all directions. He had a small yellow beard growing on his chin that didn't look much like hair, more like
spikes poking out of his skin. His bald forehead had a huge bump with spikes on it as well.
"Leave her alone," Joanna said.
Tang stopped in front of her. His mouth was closed, the sides drooping. His eyes were poking eerily out of his face. Joanna noticed his skin was scaly and seemed to be turning brown as he stepped on the wooden floors. It was like he could no longer hide his true nature here.
Then, he smiled. A wide smile from ear to ear, literally. The sides of his mouth were that long. His jaws made a clacking sound, and then it sounded like he whistled, but his lips didn't move. He rose to the tips of his toes and swelled his throat and chest, making him look bigger and more menacing. The scaly skin on his face turned reddish more than the brown it was earlier.
Before Joanna could react, Tang then shot out his tongue towards Arlene, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her into the air, then rolled his tongue back as fast as it had come out and dragged Arlene back into his huge mouth till only the lower part of her body was sticking out. Arlene was screaming from the inside while kicking her legs wildly.
"Put her down, you creep," Joanna yelled.
She clenched her fist, then slammed it into Tang's stomach as hard as she could. Her knuckles hurt like crazy, but the guy didn't even move.
She thought she heard crunching sounds coming from Tang's mouth and gasped in fear. She hit him again, then again and again till her knuckles were bleeding from hitting the spikes on his skin. Still, Tang didn't budge. He gagged a few times and Arlene's waist disappeared.
Oh, dear God, he's swallowing her. Like she was some giant bug.
"Let her go! You creep. Let her go!" Joanna screamed, but there wasn't much she could do. Arlene was slowly sucked further and further into the mouth of this creature, and Joanna could hear her screams from inside the throat.
Joanna threw a glance around the room, scanning it for anything she could use as a weapon, a knife maybe, but as much as she searched, she didn't see anything. Instead, she grabbed a pan and swung it at Tang, hitting him in the back of his head with a loud CLANG.
Joanna stared at the creature while panting, as he turned to look at her, turning only his head, Arlene's legs still sticking out of his mouth. Joanna grunted and swung the pan once again when the creature's tail emerged from underneath the long coat. Faster than she could react, it was rolled out and slammed into her face, causing her to fly across the kitchen and into the wall. Joanna had the air knocked out of her and slid to the floor with a loud exhale, completely paralyzed by the blow.
Chapter Eighty
Ridge Manor, Above
She waited till they were all deep asleep before she rose from the recliner. She had been pretending to be sleeping for at least a couple of hours, just to be certain no one would try and stop her.
Slowly, Martha pulled herself up from the chair, grabbed her shoes in her hand, and snuck across the creaking floors, trying to step as lightly as possible as she approached the back door. She opened it and didn't look back as she snuck outside where the truck was still parked in the grass, severely beaten up from the trip through the swamps. She looked at it and thanked it in her quiet mind for bringing her this far. But this time, she wasn't going to need its help.
Martha snuck past it and disappeared in between the trees. She didn't go deep, just a few feet into the swamps and then turned left, using the old trail towards town. She never was much of one to exercise and soon she was panting from running and had to slow down to a quick walk. It was muggy out and she was sweating heavily, but she didn't care. She had a mission in mind and no darn heat flash was gonna stop her from accomplishing it.
No siree.
Martha followed the trail and soon it led her close to downtown, where she could see all the soldiers in the street, standing in the line in the complete darkness, not moving a hair.
Now, that's not normal.
But, then again, she knew nothing about these things was normal. Why wouldn't they be standing in a tight line in ninety-degree weather wearing full uniforms, not even breaking a sweat?
The trail led her as far as it could before she had to take another route to make it to Treiman Boulevard. Martha left the protection of the grand trees and approached the streets. Just before she reached the line of soldiers, still unnoticed by them, right by St. Anne's Catholic Church, she knelt down, grabbed the manhole cover, and pulled it off. It made a sound and Martha gasped, then looked at the soldiers standing not far from her.
Is the line moving?
It was. At least a tiny bit forward. Whatever they were waiting for had begun. None of them seemed to notice her or hear the sound from the manhole cover and she hurried up. She put her foot inside it, took in a last deep breath of fresh air, then crawled inside.
Soon, she was in water to her waist, muggy, thick stinking sewer water. Martha almost regretted her decision, but still moved forward, shoes in her hand, while her dress was soaked in the smelly water.
She counted the streets each time she reached another manhole and, as she reached what she believed was Dogwood Drive, she grabbed the stairs and crawled up out of the water. She lifted the cover and pulled it to the side, then poked her head out and smiled. She had landed exactly where she was aiming for.
Pulling herself up, still without being seen by the seemingly oblivious soldiers, who all looked in the same direction, into the neck of the one in front of them, she got back up on the ground, her dress still dripping from the smelling water. She put on her shoes and looked at the building in front of her. The sign was shut off due to the power outage, but Martha could still make out the letters spelling:
SMOKEHOUSE GRILL.
Chapter Eighty-One
Ridge Manor, Beneath
Joanna couldn't move. Defeated, she watched as Tang gulped down Arlene. She could still hear her muffled screams. Terrified, she could do nothing but watch, thinking it was all over, they were done. She was never going to get back; she was never going to see Ellie Mae again.
She felt tears escape the corners of her eyes and soon tasted the salt on her lips, as she thought about Jack and how she had messed up everything good in her life. She had seen how Ellie Mae would die, and she wasn't going to stay here for that. She decided she might as well die now and meet both of her loved ones on the other side.
Joanna closed her eyes and pictured Jack when she heard something, a sound. It was the sweet sound of steps.
Someone is here!
Joanna opened her eyes just in time to see a figure step inside the kitchen, pull a bow back, and shoot an arrow at Tang. The arrow went straight through his leg and he roared loudly. Tang gulped up Arlene in one gag and spat her out, letting her slide across the floor.
"Arlene!"
Joanna suddenly felt her legs again and managed to drag herself up as the shooter shot another arrow at Tang, one that went straight through his stomach this time. Tang roared again, grasped the arrow that was now covered in slime, and pulled it out. Then, he launched towards the shooter with his tail and hit the figure, which was thrown through the air and landed on the floor. Tang roared and somehow reminded Joanna of a dinosaur, a T-Rex, the way he growled and swung his tail back and forth.
The shooter's hoodie was pulled off in the fall and Joanna could now see a face. It was a woman, an elderly woman about sixty or so, hair gray, skin pale, but eyes strong and feisty.
"Mrs. Johnson?"
Mrs. Johnson had been Joanna's third-grade teacher when she suddenly disappeared one day. Everyone thought she had just finally had enough of Mr. Johnson and all their fighting and his drinking and left town without a word. The police investigated the whole affair as a murder for a while, but as long as there was no body, it was hard to even call it that. Eventually, people just stopped talking about it, even though, every now and then, someone told their children the tale that Mrs. Johnson had been taken by the Swamp-Ape.
Joanna's eyes met Mrs. Johnson's as Tang approached her, shooting his tongue at her, removing the bow a
nd arrow from her hand so fast she couldn't react. He then shot his tongue at her, wrapped it around her throat, and started to squeeze.
Joanna rushed to the living room, to the old fireplace, grabbed the fire poker, and rushed back into the kitchen, where Tang was now squeezing all the air out of poor Mrs. Johnson. Joanna didn't even think twice before she ran towards him, accelerated, and pierced the poker straight through his back till it poked out on the other side, pierced through the wall, and was stuck.
Tang roared in pain, green sticky stuff was gushing out of him, into her face and onto her clothes. He tried to turn and reach for Joanna but was stuck by the poker. Joanna backed up while Tang tried to get loose, wiggling back and forth, growling in pain and anger. He fought for his life for a few seconds longer before he gave up, his body becoming lifeless like a deflated balloon.
Chapter Eighty-Two
Ridge Manor, Above
His hands were shaking. Still, Wayne managed to get himself up and out of the office, elbowing his way through the crowds of soldiers standing in line through his house and into the backyard.
Gasping for air, refusing to completely surrender to the feeling of devastation, he managed to get to the stairs. Luckily, no one seemed interested in what he was doing and since they were all so busy getting into the backyard, he could sneak upstairs without anyone noticing.
"Marley?" he whispered as he walked through the hallway, opening doors to each room and searching for the girls. "Ellie Mae?"