The Long Dark by B.J. Farmer (important books to read .TXT) 📗

Grays. I closed my eyes and concentrated. It was now or never, I thought. The plan went from zero to fucked after just one step. The old floorboards creaked loudly as I shifted my weight to take a step. Shit! The sounds of searching Grays stopped and were replaced with those of agitated ones.

Something was wrong. Well, everything was wrong, but something was wrong on top of all the wrong I’d come to expect. Although there was a lot of variance in how Grays moved, none of them moved like a trained dancer. It was imperfect and jerky, and certainly not the buttery smooth movement that came from directly behind me. The only reason I knew he was in the room, besides the barely audible creak of the same floorboard I had stepped on, was because the motherfucker had bathed in the last week. I caught just a hint of deodorant that stood out amongst the rank ambiance filling the room.

I knew there was an island counter somewhere to my left. I also knew there was a block of kitchen knives sitting somewhere on the island’s countertop. If I was going to make it out of there alive, I was going to have to make my kills up close and personal. One shot from my rifle and all the repellent gel in the world wouldn’t do anything to stop the Grays from doing whatever their misfiring minds desired.

I took a lateral step to my left, followed by another and another until my left hand brushed up against the cold laminate of the island’s cheap countertop. I slowly moved my hand to the location I hoped the cutlery block might be, and I found it. Not exactly how I wanted to find it, though. I felt the glass as my middle finger speared it, but it was too late. My clumsy ass had knocked it over. The glass bounced two times off the laminate, making just enough noise to give away my exact position. He was on me before I could face him.

He grunted once from his exertion, and that was the totality of noise he made. I saw stars as the corner dug deep into my left hip as he drove me hard into the island.  The pain was tremendous, but I miraculously managed to stifle the scream on the tip of my tongue, while also staying upright. I knew if I fell, the resulting noise from my falling to the floor would open the flood gates.

The pain was too much. I broke free from his grasp and rolled away from the edge, losing my balance along the way. As I fell, I managed to scrape my arm across the table, knocking off everything that sat on it, including the block of knives. The clang of the metal on metal thoroughly roused the Grays that hadn’t joined in after I knocked the glass over, and they piled on like a rugby maelstrom. I couldn’t tell who was who, so I punched and kicked like a caged beast, trying to disentangle myself from the quickly piling bodies. It was futile. The gaggle of wretched bodies pressed hard against me as I lay trapped at the bottom.

The rustle of bodies piled together, their probing hands and constant sniffing, seeking out, even if they didn’t understand why the destruction of anyone who wasn’t one of them. Their never faltering desire to satiate their inhuman desires caused them to wail in anger as they sought their quarry. The Grays would keep going in their quest until they were killed or otherwise successful. There were no other options.

The stink of urine, body odor, and other bodily excretions filled my nose, including the stench from an especially rancid Gray whose face pressed hard against mine. I threw up a little in my mouth. Fearing to spit, I re-swallowed the putrid liquid. I tried to push him off, but he was too strong – too heavy. He sniffed violently while flailing his arms in protest.

A female Gray shrieked in pain. The sick sound of a knife stabbing flesh, followed by another shriek. More meat and bones were added to the quickly growing madhouse of bodies. Whoever was in the room with me was stabbing randomly, hoping to find me. I frantically probed the dark void with my loose hand, hoping to find one of the knives that had fallen to the floor. I needed just a little bit more luck if I was going to survive. It came in the form of cold steel. I had found one of the knives. A big one at that.

I stifled a scream as the attacker finally found his target. Instead, I gave my rendition of a Gray’s grunt. I fought unconsciousness as he struggled to pull his knife out of my leg. I swore to the Gods that I was going to kill that bastard real soon.

The knife now in my hand, I knew who my first victim was. The stinky, slobbering squatter who had occupied a portion of my face for way too long, was getting ready to feel my wrath.  Another stab to my leg; that time I let out an uncontrolled whimper. He hit a nerve or bone or both. My leg was ablaze with pain and heat.

Neighbor stink ass was now on to me. Because of the press of new bodies, he didn’t have a free arm to flail me with. He used the next best thing. I moved my face as humanly far away from his as possible. His teeth chattered as they sought flesh. I grunted as the first arc of the knife was sent towards him. The chattering teeth stopped long enough for the monster to yell out in pain. He tasted my blood, and I his. Several more knife strikes and the chattering teeth were quieted. On to the next bastard.

The squirming of bodies diminished as I used every bit of energy I had, bringing knife blow after knife blow mercilessly down