Things Get Brighter

As we made our way into the cave, the light grew brighter and brighter, soon removing the need to feel our way forward. That was strange but not really concerning. When we came across the hatchway and entered the metal structure, that's when some nerves kicked in.

I got that weird excited feeling that I get when I'm starting to figure something out; that reaction that seems to leave people with the impression that I'm completely insane. “Yes, of course!” I noted as I walked through the hatchway without pausing.

Dave and Tina hesitated to tread further, lingering at the doorway. “The metal doesn't seem to be a problem to you?” Tina demanded.

“A problem?” I echoed. “It's a problem but it's also a solution.” They looked at me strangely. “Smell the air,” I directed.

Dave and Tina exchanged a look which I recognized as the 'he's lost it' look. Still, they indulged me, visibly sniffing at the air. While Tina shrugged her shoulders, the smell seemed to trigger something for Dave. “What is that? It is familiar.”

“Remember when we found Tim?” I prodded. His eyes lit up. “Same smell in here.”

Dave stepped inside but Tina was less willing to do so. “No. Explain this. People are dying and now you're dragging me to your weird secret lair? I don't think so.”

“What secret lair?” Dave questioned. “I don't have a secret lair. And he's never been here before so he can't have a secret lair.”

“It's 'your' cave,” she protested. “And I don't know him,” she gestured in my direction, “so I don't know where he's been before or what weird mind tricks he might have done to you with this smell or whatever. Explain!”

I was eager to do so and did at a rapid pace. “You see there was this weird smell near where Tim died and the smell kept returning to the 'scenes of the crimes' and it was really familiar but I couldn't quite place it because I hadn't smelled it in awhile but that smell is the smell that's in here and seeing the metal and the style of the ship I realized it's the smell that the Na'Dar associate with clean to they work to have all their machinery exhaust this scent because it's 'clean'.”

They watched me grin madly. Slowly Dave checked “So, this is a spaceship?”

“I'm thinking so,” I answered. “Probably crashed here ages ago. Wonder if it was one of the scout ships they used to observe us before they officially landed? That would be kinda cool.”

Tina gave me a very grumpy look. “People dying,” she reminded.

“Sorry, sorry. Time and place.” I took a deep breath and focused. “Yes. Right.” I once again sought to go deeper into the ship.

“Was the bear hibernating in here?” Dave questioned, causing me to pause. “Is that why it smells like that in here?”

“There'd have to be another entrance,” Tina reminded. “We decided the bear couldn't fit through the gap we fit through. That's how we talked ourselves into coming in here in the first place.”

“I think we'll find it's not really a bear,” I explained. “Na'Dar technology also generates that scent.” I once again made for the interior of the ship.

Dave's next question made me hesitate again. “So we're outrunning alien technology?”

“Not at this speed we're not.” I started running again. If they wanted to follow me, so be it.

Exploring

“It opens up?” Dave nodded in response to my question. I referred to what was an oversized crack in the rock wall. An average sized human being should be able to fit through it but it didn't look like there was any reason to fit in it. “I used to play in there as a kid,” Dave explained. “It felt like a giant cave then but it was just a room. I didn't explore it much because it didn't seem safe.”

“Even with a flashlight and string?” Tina teased.

“I never got any string,” Dave moped.

“So we're going inside then.” I started testing how I'd fit. There was a slight amount of gut sucking in required.

“Don't bears live in caves?” Tina wisely pointed out.

“If we can barely fit in here, no pun intended,” I responded, “then I don't think it's home to a bear.” I started working my way into the gap, shuffling along through it.

“What about a smaller bear?” Tina questioned.

“You're not helping,” I informed.

The gap in the rock was just long and thin enough to be uncomfortable. I am aware that I have some issues with enclosed spaces, not so much that I'd call myself claustrophobic but enough where I began to become nervous and tense as I progressed. Not being able to take a deep breath did not help. As I was able to keep moving the entire time, my growing panic never got out of control.

I soon popped into a large dimly lit 'room'. The ceiling was within reach and I used it to help me maneuver in the room, dodging the occasional stalactite that hung from the ceiling. Or is that stalagmite? Never was good at remembering that. Tina and Dave soon joined me. “This was your little clubhouse?” she asked.

Dave grinned. “Yeah.” He gravitated towards a corner. “I used to fit in there, eat my lunch, while tucked in between those rocks.” He kicked a candy wrapper. “Mallo cups.”

“Question.” I interrupted. “Where is all this light coming from?”

We'd been in the cave for a few minutes now and I found it far too easy to see for being in a cave. Dave frowned. “That's a good question. It was never pitch black in here but I always had a flashlight with in the past; one of those square lantern style ones I could put on the ground. I never really thought about it as a kid. Crack in the ceiling maybe?”

“Perhaps.” I kept examining the far wall, the area from where the light appeared to be coming. There was another, wider gap in the wall there, more of a tunnel compared to the entryway. It was large enough that the light emanating from it was defused, making the edges of the tunnel difficult to define. “Where does this go?”

“I don't know,” Dave informed. “I never explored in there.”

“Never had the string,” Tina added.

“What she said,” Dave agreed.

“Don't have the string now either,” I noted. “Today it's not going to stop us.” I began feeling my way into the gap.

“Is this a good idea?” Tina asked.

“I doubt it.” I kept moving.

A Rapid Pace

I would love to say there was a plan at this point. To say that would be stretching things a bit. There was running. The only plan there might have been would be 'avoid the bear'. Not a bad plan under the circumstances but nothing grandiose at the same time.

I am not a good runner. I sit a lot, far too much, and don't do enough cardio work to make running easy.  Fear is a great motivator and got me moving. Once that adrenaline faded, so did my ability to keep moving. I know the old joke states that you don't need to outrun a bear, just your friends that are also trying to outrun the bear. I wheezed, my foot hit a patch of ground on an uneven level, twisted, stumbled, and nearly tumbled down this steeply inclined hill. On the plus side, this helped me catch up with the rest of the group, mostly for those nice enough to stop to check on me.

“You okay?” Dave was keen to know. I gasped for breath in response. I'm not sure he was even winded. I hate that. I tried nodding as they helped me up, somewhat aware that this motion might be lost amongst the other actions.

Once I reached my feet, I leaned up against the chunk of exposed rock that was the side of the hill and worked to catch my breath. Panic faded slightly, allowing my reason to began returning. “Where... where is it?” I wheezed.

Dave and Tina looked around, searching for the odd looking beast that had chased us. “I don't see it,” Dave noted.

“I don't hear it,” Tina added.

I managed a deep breath.”Did it give up?”

“Possibly,” answered Dave. “Bears are defensive creatures. Generally speaking they don't attack for the sake of attacking.”

“What was this bear defending when it attacked us?” Tina demanded.

Dave shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno.” He considered this for a moment. “It was a bit small and baggy looking. Maybe it was sick?”

“Maybe,” Tina agreed. “I'm no vet. It would make sense if it was lashing out in blind pain. Or explain the lack of expression on its face.”

“Hey,” I interjected, “is this rock vibrating or is it just me?”

Dave laughed. “Are you that shook up from some running? That's just...” He stopped his mockery upon feeling the rock. “It is vibrating. Or pulsing or something.”

“Why would that be happening?” Tina wondered.

“I don't know but I think we should find out.”

A Clue?

“This makes no sense,” Karen declared. “Why are we doing this?” All of my limited interaction with her has been unpleasant. It's still not clear to me if this was her way of dealing with unpleasant circumstances, to retain control of them, or if she was just an unpleasant person.

I stomped towards the garage, the others trailing behind me. “Because I feel we're being told something about what's going on here but we aren't hearing it.”

Karen had no issue expressing her thoughts on this matter. “Are you nuts?”

“Probably!” We piled into the garage. It was a large structure with space for at least a couple vehicles, a handful of off-road vehicles, and a large tool bench. Upon this tool bench is where we had laid Tim's corpse. A figure still lay there beneath a tarp.

For a moment, no one spoke. There was some sniffing and loud breathing, but no speech. Tina fought through her tears to ask “What are we looking at?”

Dave quietly answered. “That's where we left Tim to rest.”

“He hasn't got much rest so far,” Jeff commented.

Slowly I approached the bench, prepared for the possibility that the prone figure might suddenly move but continuing on as if it would not. “Are you nuts?” Jeff hissed.

“I believe I answered that question already,” I murmured. I lifted the tarp. Tim lay below it, motionless.

Some sounds of disgust met this action. “Is this really necessary?” Karen demanded.

“Yes, I think so,” I pondered, forcing myself to stare at the corpse before me, looking for the clue my brain kept telling me was there.

“He doesn't look like he's been up walking,” Dave declared.

“What should he look like if he was up walking?” asked Jeff.

“I don't know,” Dave responded, “but that's not it.”

Tina sniffed. “He looks congealed.”

“He doesn't, doesn't he?” My brain recognized this as a piece of the puzzle but I knew I had to keep my mouth running in order to motivate my brain. “Congealed. Stopped. Collecting. But yet a few moments ago we sat him upright and fresh.” I dropped the tarp. “There's a difference, isn't there?”

“Was it yet the way the sun was illuminating him?” Jeff conjectured.

“I don't think so.” Images of the freshly wounded looking Zombie Tim flashed through my brain. “There's a difference between the two.”

“Two?” Dave echoed. “How are there two? Why would there be two? Someone's imitating him?”

“It seems likely. This Tim is changing, settling, solidifying. The Tim we saw outside was in motion, fresh looking, like... like a snapshot of that last moment.”

Karen huffed. “This is stupid. Let's just go to the police. It's their job to figure out why this happened and who's doing it, not us.”

Chris cleared his throat quietly. “She has a point. Let's get the professionals in.”

I nodded. “Yes. Yes of course.”

As we exited the garage, Karen's mouth kept moving. She grumbled about the delay in departing, how dumb us men were to speculate about these impossible things, and started discussing where we might go after dealing with the police. Once we were outside, a weird looking bear emerged from the trees, swatted Karen to the ground, and growled loudly. Then there was a lot of running.

She Ought Not Have Done That

Tim's reappearance did not bode well. Whatever might have been causing his reappearance, the message that his presence gave was clear to me: Don't leave.

This did complicate the situation slightly. We were going to report Tim's death via accident, a believable occurrence, but here we had a walking, well, shambling, undead Tim, which was less believable. We should be able to plow him over with the car as we left but would there be more behind him? Would car crash damage to his person make it look like we had something to injure him? A good coroner would be able to tell the difference but who know if that would be the case? Or would the evidence be twisted against us? It was unlikely but unreasonable people are plentiful.

I blame these considerations running through my head for distracting me when Janet reacted to Tim's presence. I don't know what thoughts went through went through her mind when she broke away from us and ran to Tim. Perhaps her tortured mind no longer saw the damage to his face or the unsteadiness of his stance. Perhaps she just saw Tim, saw him upright, and thought the events of yesterday were just a nightmare. Whatever her logic, she bolted from us and we were unable to stop her from reaching Tim.

She reached out to embrace him. He reached out to slash open her throat. Of the two, Tim was the one that succeed. Having accomplished this, he shuffled to the front of the cabin.

Moments later we were around Janet. Chris, as it turns out, is an EMT so, as he was one with the most medical training, the rest of us did out best to stay out of his way. Jeff and I did a quick look around for Zombie Tim but found nothing. Nothing visible anyway.

“There's that smell again,” I noted. “The one we noticed when we found Tim originally.”

“Yeah, I smell it too,” Jeff agreed. “Dry but sweet. You'd think there'd be a foul edge to it, of rotting. Nothing strong yet something.”

We were nearly back to the rest of the group. “Its almost...” I struggled to process the smell into words. “Like lavender and something.” Saying the words aloud made them sound familiar. “I know that description. Why do I know that description?”

Chris' declaration broke my train of thought. “She's dead.”

Morning Dawns

The evening quieted. The 'attack' was not repeated. Nor did it begin to make any more sense. I mean, it was clearly a zombie, not built for speed, so where did it get to? We all managed to go to bed or whatever but I don't know if anyone really slept. I dozed but I can't say that I slept. I rested. When the sun no longer allowed me to rest, I was still tired.

Slowly we got up and got going. There was a quietness to us, as if we were waiting for the next thing to happen, as if knowing we'd be attacked whilst munching on toast. Janet ate, which seemed to be a good sign. She also managed a little smile at one point. Small progress.

While still early, we made our way outside to the vehicles. We were all heading to town to speak with the police. No one wanted to be left behind in the cabin near the corpse. I blinked in the sunlight and stretched, trying to wake up a bit more. Fighting a yawn, I turned and looked down the driveway towards the road. There stood Tim. Or Zombie Tim.

Whichever.

Wha Ha?

Thankfully it wasn't too dark outside. The moon was full enough to reflect light down upon us. Light bled from the house to illuminate a zone around the building. I moved quickly but quietly, checking the shadows, moving towards the back of the cabin.

Once I got near the back, I slowed, not wanting to burst in on the possible zombie horde. I could hear murmuring from the back room and the occasional tap on the door. Good guys. Good help.

Slowly, carefully, I leaned around the side of the building to locate the creature.

I saw nothing.

I paused from confusion. How did that happen? Slowly I moved around the side of the building, searching for the zombie that we'd all seen. Nothing.

Cautiously I searched the 'backyard' area. Nothing. I approached the garage. The door was still locked as we had left it. I circled the building but found no trace of an exit.

We saw the creature at the back door. We heard the creature at the back door. So where did it go?

Quietly, confused, I returned to the cabin via the back door. Distracted as I was, I never thought twice about entering the cabin, but should have as I walked in and was immediately assaulted about the head and neck. Once I protested, the assault ceased. Dave managed to look more sheepish than Jeff. “Sorry.”

“I appreciate you looking to see who you were attacking before attacking,” I grumbled. “Golf clubs?”

“They were handy,” Dave noted.

Ouch.