"Let's try the town center and the mall," Janice said.

"Okay." Rick drove, heading toward the center of town, leaving Main Street behind them. Leaving the beach and the Phillipsport pier behind them.

Where a dozen dark shapes emerged from the ocean and began making their way up the beach, heading inland.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

They didn't see a single living soul on their drive through town.

Driving down the empty streets reminded Rick of an old ghost town; streets were vacant, cars parked haphazardly. Bodies lined the streets, although not in the numbers they had toward the pier. Rick surmised that the Dark Ones' emergence caught a lot of people by surprise, especially since most of the town's population was near the pier and the beach fighting off the Clickers. Farther into town, the carnage didn't appear nearly as bad as it did along the beach front and the first five blocks into town. There, it looked like a war zone. Here, it just looked deserted.

They drove past city hall, Carl's Grocery Store (which was the oldest grocery store in town, having first been established in 1843), Cliff's Books, Mabel's Antiques-all deserted. Janice was silent, looking out the window as they drove by. Rick kept his eyes on the road, watching for any sign of life, human and unhuman.

"Let's try the shopping center," Janice said. "If we don't find anybody there, we'll hit the interstate."

"Okay." Rick turned down Elm, cruising slowly. He paused to look at Doc Jorgensen's as they approached it. For a moment Rick was tempted to stop and try to see if Glen was home. But that wouldn't do-suppose you do and a Dark One is lying in wait and it comes rushing out, and suppose there are others lying in wait, just waiting for the chance for you to leave the car so they can get you and Janice and Bobby- He shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. He drove past Glen's house, turning left on the next street, heading toward the shopping center.

They were silent as they headed down the road. Rick saw the shopping center in the distance, the parking lot dotted with cars, an occasional body here and there. The sky was dark, but not as dark as it had been when the storm broke. It still looked like they were in for another bout of rain.

They pulled into the almost-empty parking lot, cruising past the storefronts; the Piggly Wiggly, Shelby's Drugstore, Blockbuster Video. Rick was looking into the windows, trying to catch a glimpse of life, thinking maybe people may have run into stores for refuge.

Janice gripped his arm and pointed out the windshield. "There's somebody here!"

Rick whirled around, bringing the car to a stop. A man was running toward them, waving his arms. He looked familiar from a distance. Rick accelerated and cruised, bringing the car to a stop as they drew closer together. The man ran up to them and now Rick recognized him as Glen Jorgensen.

Glen ran up to the window and Rick rolled it down. "Thank G.o.d, you're alive," Glen said.

Rick threw the car into park and let it idle. "What's up?"

Glen motioned toward the supermarket that he had been standing in front of when they first glimpsed him. "A bunch of us have been holed up in the freezer of the supermarket. It's a long story. We haven't heard anything for the last several hours, so I decided to take a look and see what was going on. I had just stepped outside when I saw you."

"Who's in there?" Janice asked. She still held Bobby on her lap. Bobby was no longer hiding his face. He was looking around the parking lot in rapt awe, as if trying to deal with all that had happened the only way an eightyear-old could.

"Lee Shelby, Melissa Peterson, my nurse Barbara, Fred Logan down at Huskies Sawmill, a few others." Glen leaned against the car, looking in through the window at them.

"Everybody okay?" Rick asked.

Glen nodded. "No major wounds." He looked in at Bobby. "How you doing, Bobby? How's that hand feel?"

"Fine." Bobby suddenly cradled the splintered hand to his chest, as if suddenly remembering it had been injured.

"Why don't you come back with me to the store," Glen suggested.

"Hop in." Rick opened the driver's side door and reached for the lever to move the seat up to allow the physician entrance. Glen scooted inside and Rick shut the door. He drove them all back to the Lucky's Supermarket and pulled the car up against the large front windows near the double doors. He killed the engine, then got out. The others followed, Janice setting Bobby down on the ground. Rick moved around the hood of the car, Glen in tow, when he caught a glimpse of movement at the end of the road that led to the town center. Something green. Moving.

The others didn't see it. Glen was pushing open the doors, and Janice was retrieving her rifle and jacket with its pockets of ammunition when Rick suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. "Let's get going quick," he said softly. She looked up at the sound of his voice, noticed his gaze extended toward the highway and followed it. Her eyes grew wide when she saw what he was looking at.

The Dark Ones. Heading inland. Toward the shopping center.

Glen had the doors open. Janice grabbed her weapons and Rick herded Janice and Bobby through the doors, then motioned for Glen to go on through. Glen read the urgency in his eyes and slipped through. Rick grabbed the rocket launcher and the ammunition, patted his jacket to make sure he had the other weapons, then went in after them. Once inside the two men slid the doors shut. Rick grabbed Glen's arm and motioned outside. "Looks like we'll be having company."

Glen looked outside and his face grew pale. He turned and motioned down the dry foods aisle. "Freezer is directly in the back, past the seafood department." He herded them down the aisle and around the seafood department and reached the freezer. It was tucked behind the seafood department at the end of a short hallway near the employee breakroom and lockers. A pair of double doors opposite the freezer led presumably to the warehouse. The freezer door was a large fortress of steel. Glen rapped on the freezer door three times-one short rap, two long ones. A moment later there was a shuffling from behind the door, the sound of something being slid back, and then the door was opening. A burly man with curly blonde hair and a scraggly beard stood behind the door, his blue eyes reflecting relief when he saw Glen with Rick, Janice and Bobby. "Thank G.o.d, you're back." They darted inside the freezer and the man shut the door behind them. He slid a long metal rod through the handle of the door, wedging it against the doorway jamb. A makeshift lock from the inside.

Rick stood inside the freezer and rubbed his arms. It was still cold inside despite the lack of electricity for the last twenty-four hours. The freezer was large and filled with rows of hanging slabs of beef flanks, shoulders, legs. The meat was red and moist, still fresh. If they had to stay in here for another two days though, the cold would be gone and the meat would begin to spoil. Rick looked at the group of people huddled against the far wall and noted with relief that they all appeared to be fine. Melissa Peterson recognized him and got up from the circle of people and approached them. She was wearing faded jeans and a long sleeved T-shirt. Rick smiled and Melissa smiled back, embracing him. "I'm so glad you're all right," she said.

"I'm glad you're all right, too," Rick said. Melissa looked up at him, her smile warm, and a little laugh escaped her lips. She caught Janice's eye and her smile grew wider.

"Janice!" she exclaimed. Janice's features broke into a smile and she met Melissa halfway. They embraced as if they were sisters who hadn't seen each other in years. Rick grinned. He looked over at the other people huddled against the wall. He recognized Lee Shelby, owner of Shelby's drug store, who had been so nice to him when he first came into town, which all seemed like ten thousand years ago. Glen's nurse Barbara Schob had joined them and was conferring with the physician. Rick traded a weary smile with her; her gray hair was in disarray and there were dark circles under her eyes, but otherwise she seemed fine. She was dressed like the others in the room: blue jeans, a heavy long-sleeved shirt and boots.

Lee walked up to him, extending his hand. Rick shook it, gripping the man's hand tight. "Good to see you again, Rick," Lee said. "Although I surely do wish the circ.u.mstances were more pleasant."

Rick laughed. "I agree."

Introductions were made. The blond, bearded man was Fred Logan. The others who had now joined them were Annette Berger, a middle-aged matronly looking woman, and a husband-wife team Charley and Anne Dennings. Lee found some extra empty crates, which everybody had been sitting on, and some heavy wool blankets they had been using to keep warm. Melissa and Janice were setting them up, chatting with the others, while Rick drew Fred and Lee aside. "There's more of them coming," he said. He quickly recapped their arrival at the supermarket and told of his seeing several of the Dark Ones making their way down the highway toward the shopping center. "Did any of them break in here last night?"

Lee shook his head. Like the others, his features bore the battle-wounds of fatigue in the lines and creases on his face. "I don't think they knew we were in here. I was manning the store yesterday with Missy when all h.e.l.l broke loose. Charley and Anne were at the counter, and Barbara was having a prescription filled when Fred burst in and relayed the news about the crab things."

"The Clickers," Rick said, nodding.

"The what?" Fred asked.

"Clickers," Rick explained. "It's what I call them on account of the sound their claws make when they click them together. They surely aren't regular crabs."

"Right," Lee said. "Anyway..." He turned to Fred. "Why don't you tell him."

Fred's blue eyes still reflected the fear of what he saw. "I had been over at John's junkyard looking for a fuel pump for my Chevy when all the commotion started on the beach about those crabs...Clickers, or whatever the h.e.l.l they are. I ran down and helped Bill Hawkins and Sheriff Conklin fight some of 'em off, then I saw these...things," He held his arms out wide, as if describing their size. "They were huge, green slimy things. Walked like a man. Looked like something out of that movie Creature from the Black Lagoon. Anyway, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I was a bit farther up the sh.o.r.e than Roy was, closer to Main Street when I saw them coming from the south near Ralph's sport shop. Anyway, I yelled for Roy, but he didn't hear me. Then they were coming up the beach and one of them attacked Bob Price, the minister at the First Presbyterian Church. It just grabbed him and..." Fred's voice cracked. "...it...bit his head clean off. It just leaned forward, opened its mouth and chomped on him, like a kid eating a popsicle." Fred looked at them, his features grave. "I broke into a run and just kept on running, screaming about them monsters coming out of the ocean, trying to warn people, but...they wouldn't listen. I just kept running till I got here." He sighed, his face blank. Lost. "I'd be dead now along with the others if I hadn't took off." He looked at Rick. "They're all dead, aren't they?"

Rick nodded.

"It wasn't until I was halfway here that I saw that Sheriff Conklin was running along with me," Fred continued. "When we got to the parking lot here, there were more of them. I panicked and ran in here. Conklin went the other way, toward the Blockbuster. I haven't seen him since."

Rick told him what he had found near Main Street. Fred's features were grave, as if already prepared for the news. Still, he appeared a bit surprised. "I wonder how he got back to Main Street?"

Rick didn't have an answer to that mystery.

Fred looked at him with his empty gaze, the confirmation breaking through. "All dead. All of them..."

Lee took over the narrative. "When Fred came in he was screaming about monsters, I thought I knew what he was talking about. We'd been seeing these Clicker things and we were inside watching them. They never really came that close to the mall, just sort of wandered around in the parking lot and went off into the woods. After a while it got real quiet. We all went out to take a look and that's when Fred started running toward us with his rifle from the beach screaming about monsters. Missy, Barbara, Charley, Anne and myself headed toward the store. I saw Annette and got her into the store with us." His features furrowed, as if trying to remember important details. "There were still people all over the place, kids jumping into their cars to rush over to see what all the excitement was."

"I kept telling them not to," Fred broke in, his features still blank and grave.

"By then a young couple, a couple of kids, had come through and yelled that there were these things, just as Fred described them, raising holy h.e.l.l," Lee continued. "I grabbed Missy and herded her into the supermarket as a bunch of people were on their way out. We stood in the store near the magazine racks that overlook the big plate gla.s.s windows and looked outside. By then the place was mostly deserted, people had left to go into town to see what was happening..." Lee shrugged. "I don't know what happened to them. I pray for them, but I think they're dead. All I know is when I saw those things, those that were left-me, Missy, Fred here, Annette, and Charley and Anne along with Dr. Jorgensen and Barbara, who'd just gotten here-we all went to the back where the freezer was. Fred found a metal bar to lock the door from the inside, and we just sat in there and waited. Till now."

Rick took this all in. He had his run-in with Sheriff Conklin around...four? Five? He tried to remember what time yesterday he met Janice. He'd left the house around one for his walk, met Jack at- Jack! Where was he? Rick went over to Glen Jorgensen, who was inspecting Bobby. He looked up at Rick as Janice smiled up at him. "Bobby seems to be doing fine," she exclaimed happily.

"Yeah," Bobby said. "Dr. Jorgensen said I was almost as fit as a fiddle."

"And he's absolutely right," Rick said. To Doc Jorgensen: "Have you seen Jack?"

Glen shook his head, trying not to display his thoughts for Bobby to read. "Afraid not."

Rick was alarmed by this fact. The last he'd seen Jack Ripley was when Conklin had taken him to jail. Janice told him that Jack later left to find Glen Jorgensen in the hopes of the physician talking sense into the lawman. Had he ever gotten to Glen's? He posed this question to Dr. Jorgensen as the physician joined him, Lee, and Fred near the door. "Yes, he did get to my place," Dr. Jorgensen said. "Only I didn't want to upset Bobby back there."

"Did something happen to him?" Rick's stomach felt empty with dread.

"Hold on, hold on, one thing at a time." Glen Jorgensen looked amazingly calm for someone who had seen and been through so much in the last twenty-four hours. "I was upstairs in my little attic study when I saw the beginning invasion. Jack did come and I somehow guessed he was coming to see me. I went downstairs to open the door and..." He related the story of ushering Jack upstairs, their vigil at Glen's attic window, their conversation, and Glen's theory of the origins of the Clickers.

"We saw the Dark Ones converge and start coming up the street, finally coming to the house, but they never came to the door or tried to get in. We watched everything from my window and telescope. Finally we ventured out about two hours ago when the storm lifted. By then they were heading back to the ocean."

"So they did go back into the ocean, then?" Rick asked.

"Oh, definitely. I watched them. They started diving into the water pell-mell as dawn became light. I think they have an aversion to the light due to their living in the ocean. When they came up yesterday, remember, there was a raging storm, and the clouds were extremely dark. Almost black. Remember?"

Lee and Rick nodded.

Glen continued his narrative. "Anyway, when I knew they were all gone, we went outside. We got into my truck and headed straight here. I didn't want to risk going to the sh.o.r.e even if there might have been survivors; would have been too risky for me if a few of the Dark Ones had stayed on sh.o.r.e and hidden away in houses. Then if I was killed, what use would I be to any survivors? Anyway, we came here and started hunting around in the stores and finally came here, into the grocery store." He grinned, looking at Fred. "I was walking up and down the aisle, calling *is anybody here?' when Fred opened the door of the freezer. I've been here for the last few hours."

Rick couldn't stand the excitement. "And Jack?"

"Jack wanted to take the truck and try to head south by the secondary roads," Glen said. His features became grave. "He said he knew where there was an Armory Post near Fort O'Brien. We had been talking about Fort O'Brien last night. It was the site of the Lost Village incident in 1605."

Rick had no idea what he meant by that, and he pressed on the subject of Jack. Glen shrugged, as if at a loss for what happened. "I told him it was a stupid idea, that we would be better off in here, but he insisted. I was afraid my truck was the only vehicle we had, but Fred told me he had a car out in the parking lot in good working order and Jack seemed to take that as a yes. I was still holding the keys to the truck in my hand and he s.n.a.t.c.hed them from me and headed outside. I went after him but Lee and Fred held me back. I was furious." For the first time Rick saw the anger surface in Glen's face, his eyes clouding over in anger. And then just as quickly, the physician got himself under control. He shook his head ruefully. "Jack got into the truck, told us he would be back with help, and took off. That was two hours ago. We haven't seen him since."

There was silence for a moment among the men. From behind them in the farther recesses of the freezer, the women were clucking over Bobby and amongst themselves.

Glen broke the silence. He motioned toward the middle-aged woman. "Annette had a mild case of shock and I treated her for it. Had her lie down and take a nap. She seems stable enough now to move her. Everybody else here is fine."

Lee picked up where they were thus far. "We were planning on going back to Glen's and holing up in his attic again where we could see everything, being he's got a radio, guns and the medical facilities if somebody needs it. He went outside to check things out when you pulled up."

Rick turned to Glen. "Guess we'll probably have to put off going back to your place for another day."

From beyond the big steel door of the freezer, the Dark Ones began crashing through into the supermarket.

They sat huddled against the back wall of the freezer as the Dark Ones burst through the supermarket. From inside the freezer it sounded like the store was being torn apart by a tornado; the sound of shelves being knocked down, canned and boxed goods being spilled to the floor and plundered, reached their ears from within the locked confines of the freezer. The destruction grew closer, and for a good ten minutes the sound of a serious destruction-rumblings, tearings, crashings and the wet sounds of ripping and chewing-reached their ears, peppered with guttural roars. Rick a.s.sumed they'd hit the meat department and were consuming T-bone steaks, ground beef, and chicken. The sound of destruction and pillaging moved from the meat department and spread to other parts of the store.

Through it all, they remained quiet. Rick stood against the wall, Janice at his side, holding her while she held onto Bobby, who had his arms wrapped tightly around his mother's waist. Glen Jorgensen, Barbara Schob and Lee Shelby were on either side of them, Melissa Peterson cringing against the noises outside. Lee put a comforting, fatherly arm around her and she drew close to him. The others sought comfort from each other in their own way, Charley and Anne clinging together as couples will do, Fred and Annette standing by the corner, both of them equally rigid. n.o.body made a sound or moved a muscle. The Dark Ones didn't appear to realize that they were in the meat locker, and to make the slightest noise or move about to cause their own commotion might alert them. Rick had explained his reptile/dinosaur theory to them briefly while they a.s.sembled in the rear of the meat freezer. They understood the concept clearly. They remained as quiet and still as a mouse about to be attacked by a snake.

And beyond the locked door of the meat locker, the destruction of the supermarket by the ravaging Dark Ones continued.

Chapter Twenty-Six.

They'd started up from Boston two days ago on October 21 and the weather had been great; clear skies, brisk winds, temperatures in the mid-sixties. By the time they reached Vermont it was raining, and Brenda told Gladys that maybe they should pull over and spend the night in Lewiston, Maine once they crossed the state line. The radio said the storm was going to be bad and Gladys was inclined to agree. The two women and their sons had taken a vacation from their jobs at Blue Cross to spend a week at Brenda's mother's cabin in Maine. They needed it; both of them were mid-level executives in the company, and were the two most successful African-American women in the organization. Brenda and her son came up to Maine every season, and Gladys had never been and wanted her son to experience what life was like in the great outdoors. All the boy really knew was the streets of Boston, which she didn't want him experiencing any more than he had to. He was twelve going on thirteen and in the seventh grade. Both women had taken their sons out of school this week for the trip, hoping to bond closer to their offspring and each other.

Both boys had been friends for a year now, and hung out together all the time. Brenda and Gladys, on the other hand, had been friends for the last three years, lovers for the past nine months. If the boys knew what their mothers did while they went off and did the kind of things pre-teenage boys did together, they never brought it up.

They'd stayed in Lewiston in separate rooms, boys in one, women in the other. The boys stayed up all night watching cable TV while the women sat up and talked and made love.

The morning of October 22 had dawned bright and sunny, and they rose late. They took in breakfast at a Denny's on Interstate 95 and as they were leaving to go back to the hotel and pack, Brenda motioned to the sky overhead. "Looks like it's clouding up again. Maybe we should check the weather report before hitting the road."

Gladys agreed.

By the time they reached their hotel the sky had been spitting big, fat drops of rain. Gladys turned on the radio and flipped across the FM band, finally finding the weather. "The storm that brought nearly five inches of rain along the coast of Maine yesterday and last night is expected to return today, bringing hurricane conditions along the entire eastern seaboard that should last till tomorrow..."

Gladys turned off the radio. "Maybe we should stay here another day. After all, we have at least two weeks."

That much was true. Gladys was Brenda's boss at Blue Cross. When your boss was also your lover you could get away with anything.

So they'd stayed. They watched the clouds roll in across the horizon, ordered out for pizza late in the afternoon, watched TV with the boys as the storm thundered outside. The boys went to their room at eight to play Damon's portable Mortal Kombat game, and the women took a bath, ending their foreplay in bed where they made love again for hours.

Gladys was up early on the morning of October 23 getting dressed when Brenda woke up. She rose slowly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Is it still raining?"

"No," Gladys said from the bathroom. "It's stopped but it's still cloudy outside. Weatherman says it's not supposed to start again till later this afternoon, so if we wanna get going we better go now."

"Girl, you better believe it." Brenda headed for the shower to get ready.

They were on the road by eleven. They had another four hours to go by Brenda's estimation, and she tried to make the best of it. Halfway up Interstate 95 they were forced to take a detour down a secondary road due to flooding. Brenda cursed under her breath as she maneuvered the Blazer over the b.u.mpy road.

In the back seat, Damon and Terrence played Mortal Kombat, exclaiming with delight whenever one of them chopped the other one's head off or ripped his guts out. G.o.d, but kids were little psychopaths nowadays. Gladys gave her a warm, understanding smile, as if reading her thoughts and agreeing with her. Brenda smiled back. In just a few hours they'd be at the cabin and they could unwind, but for now she had to keep her mind on the driving.

An hour into the drive they hit Route 1, another secondary road and another detour. They pulled over and consulted the road map; Interstate 1 skirted the coast and went through Harrington, Jonesboro, Fort O'Brien, and Phillipsport. Mother's cabin was ten miles north of Phillipsport, a two-hour drive according to this map. She put the map in the glove compartment and turned onto Route 1.

An hour later it began to rain. By the time they reached Phillipsport it was coming down hard. Brenda had to turn the windshield wipers on high and turn the headlights on. The wind made the rain beat down even harder, blowing great sleets of water on the road. She slowed down, cruising slowly down Route 1, just skirting Phillipsport. Gladys was looking out the window when Brenda yelled "s.h.i.t!" and begin to slow down.

They were approaching another roadblock. The detour sign stated that the next ten miles of Route 1 was closed due to flooding and to proceed through Phillipsport and take Route 191. Gladys rested her hand on Brenda's thigh. "We're almost there."

"I know," Brenda said. "This is just getting to be a real pain in the a.s.s." She made the exit and headed through Phillipsport.

"Do you know your way to Route 191?" Gladys asked. The Mortal Kombat game made a bleating noise and an eruption of cheers rose from the backseat. Gladys turned to the backseat. "Shut up back there."

"Not really." Brenda answered. They were approaching a large shopping center, a big-city, suburban open mall. A few cars dotted the parking lot. Brenda swung the blazer in and drove through, headlights picking out a Blockbuster Video Store, a Barnes and n.o.ble, a Lucky Supermarket. The usual strip mall fare. "Maybe we can get directions here. Besides, I've gotta pee."