Goblins.
by Vanderbilt.
Chapter Four.
Beth and Rachel supported Juli under her shoulders, the three of them running in ragged time across the gravel paths and between the trees of the park.
“Oh, god, I see them,” said Juli.
The ground sloped down to a landscaped lake with elegant wooden bridges crossing its middle, linked by little islands. Thickets of trees and bushes twisted across a hill on the north side of the lake with paths artfully weaving amongst them. They could see goblins running across the bridges towards the hill, their pale limbs reflected in the fading daylight.
“Shit,” said Rachel. She pointed her finger up the path they were crossing. “North. They’re trying to cut off our cover.”
Beth sobbed as they swiveled on their heels, momentarily lifting Juli’s feet from the ground. Beth cried out, “Ten o’clock!”
A goblin stood in the trees above them in a patch of shadow. Purple lesions pockmarked its skull in intricate webs. Its arms reached out as it fumbled towards the light. Hands finding a tree trunk, it straightened, empty white eyes turning towards them.
The goblin moaned, creating vibrations deep inside Juli’s core.
They hurtled past it, up the path, shadows lengthening as the air filled with soft answering cries.
“Keep going,” said Rachel, breath hissing through her teeth. “Not much day left.”
“They ain’t gonna stop for night, Lieutenant,” said Beth. Juli turned her head, Beth’s eyes looked glassy, staring ahead. “She’s hunting us now.”
Rachel didn’t respond.
Juli grit her teeth at the jabbing pain in her ankle as she tried to keep pace, her left toes tapping on the red-brown gravel, her right foot falling heavily to take her weight. She clung grimly to Beth’s combat jacket and Rachel’s black uniform shirt, casting her head around while the others concentrated on the path.
Juli yelped, “More of them!”
Goblins filtered through the trees ahead of them, their arms stretching as they passed through the shadows, suddenly jerking into stride when they reached light. They sang to each other in shuddering moans and high, ecstatic cries.
Rachel pointed again, “Right! Go right!” They started to climb a path between thick bushes, briefly passing into darkness. Branches crackled and snapped around them.
Juli forgot the pain as a sudden collective burst of energy brought them to a circular wooden building. She had a sudden flash of recognition.
Shakespeare in the summer with Charlotte.
“Oh, god, we’re fucked,” she sobbed, an immense weight punching down on her chest.
“No, we’ll make it,” said Rachel. They turned around the building, pulled up and stared.
A great open lawn stretched before them, its grass grown thick and long, dappled at the edges by fingers of shadow falling off the surrounding trees. Scattered wire batting cages still stood abandoned around the sides. The air filled with the sound of the goblins closing.
“The reservoir is on the other side,” gasped Juli. “There’s trees around it. We’re almost there.” She cried. Beth squeezed her shoulders.
“No way to go around,” said Rachel. She ran her fingers through her raven hair, hands on top of her head. The sky above glowed with burning orange shot through with black.
Juli wiped her nose with the back of her hand, “Used to line up for tickets for the summer plays just here.” Her limbs felt so heavy. So near to the hospital now. Might as well have been on the moon. She bent over, hands on knees.
Rachel shrugged off her small backpack, “Don’t waste bullets, make them count.”
Beth’s red curls shook as she unslung her rifle, “Lieutenant, any chance I could speak to my boys on your radio?”
Rachel reached over Juli and touched a finger against Beth’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Sergeant,” said Rachel. “You know it’s not allowed. . . . And we don’t exactly have time anyway.”
Beth glanced at the small backpack, “Figured.”
Beth looked at Rachel, “You better carry Juli, Lieutenant. You’re a better sprinter than I am.”
Rachel bit her lip and nodded.
Juli looked up, her mouth open, “What?”
She squeaked as Rachel’s arm went between her legs, through to grab the waistband of Juli’s sweatpants under her rain jacket. Juli found herself lifting off the ground. She hung suspended across Rachel’s shoulders, a leg and an arm clasped against Rachel’s chest.
A goblin turned the curve of the building, close enough to see its dark purple coloring. Its mouth opened in a wide smile, showing a row of sharply pointed teeth. One hand rose to trace the stiff nipple on its right breast; it sighed.
They all screamed.
“Run!”
Rachel sprinted through the long grass, knees rising high, Juli jerking up and down against her shoulders. Beth ran beside them, her rifle bouncing from side-to-side in her hands. For a moment, behind them, Juli only saw the empty green sward of the great lawn and the high wooden rotunda of the theater. A little ornamental lake lay beside it, its surface gone solid green with algae.
Then, the goblins came, pouring out of the trees from both sides, spilling around the theater and out of the paths. They surged onto the lawn, naked limbs rising and falling, eating up the ground in the failing light.
“Lieutenant!” shouted Beth. “You and your captain look after my boys!”
She stopped in the middle of the grass. Juli could see the small gap between Beth’s front teeth as she smiled. Beth waved, “Run along now!”
Juli howled. Rachel kept going, her breath rasping.
Beth swiveled around and dropped on one knee. The goblins arced in a spear across the lawn, only seconds behind. Beth’s first bullet took a goblin in the chest. She swung and shot another to the left. Swung right, hit another. Switched to automatic fire.
The spear broke around her, scattering. Beth’s rifle flash-flash-flashed. A wave formed, adapting to the danger, blurring limbs circling behind her back. Beth kept firing as the pale wraiths tightened in on her position.
A shadow fell across Juli’s sight, a tree trunk cutting her off. Beth’s rifle stopped firing.
Rachel halted, dropping Juli to one side against the trunk. Rachel drew one of her black handguns and stepped away. She adopted a firing stance, feet wide, knees bent, looking back towards the lawn.
“I can get her,” said Rachel. Her lower lip pressed up, protruding as her brow creased. She held the handgun cupped in her right hand with the palm of her left underneath the handle.
Juli looked round the tree.
The goblins swarmed in the center of the grass, starting to move slowly in the twilight. She glimpsed red curls. She saw Beth arching, face tilted up to the sky, mouth in rictus. Her eyes gone solid white. She made a sound that traced fingernails down Juli’s spine.
Juli placed her right hand on Rachel’s left arm. “Rachel, we need to run,” said Juli.
Rachel’s eyes flickered, then she holstered her gun. She slipped her arm under Juli’s left shoulder and they fled, skirting the reservoir, following an overgrown running track before crossing through trees and bushes to the wall of the park. They could make out pale figures in the distance, approaching slowly up the road, threading along the walls of the park and against the tall buildings.
“We need to get inside the hospital,” said Rachel. “Centcom says our mission is critical.”
They scrambled across the wide avenue, the slate-grey buildings of the hospital complex looming over them. Juli’s stomach hollowed as Rachel helped her up the steps to the old hospital lobby.
At last.
They hurried through the dark atrium, moonlight starting to filter into it from the high windows above the entrance. The warm air smelled dusty and stale. Scattered clothing and paper lay strewn on the floor, occasionally sliding beneath their feet.
“We need your input now, Doctor,” said Rachel, hurrying. “Never had somebody who worked on-site before.”
“This way,” said Juli. She tugged Rachel down a side corridor past the reception desk towards the elevators, then stopped, “Shit. No elevator.” Her mind blanked, momentarily fused with fury at herself. “I can’t remember where the stairs are.”
“I do,” said Rachel. “This way.” She half-lifted Juli to turn her around and the two of them headed back out into the atrium. Juli glanced at the glass doors to the street, but saw nothing coming through them.
Rachel guided her towards the far corner of the atrium to a service door behind a turned-over news kiosk. She levered the door, propping it open with a foot as Juli limped through. Rachel swung it shut behind them and they paused at the bottom of the stairs. “Second,” said Rachel. Her headtorch clicked on as she adjusted it on top of her head.
A thought prickled against Juli’s skin, “Rachel, how’d you know the stairs are here?”
Rachel’s arm slipped under Juli’s left shoulder. “I’m going to have to help you up, Doctor. There’s a lot of steps,” she said. She pulled Juli forward to the first step, “What floor should we head to?”
“Rachel, you . . . .” Juli thought of the goblins in the road, getting closer. She didn’t have time to waste. “Sixteenth floor. Cancer ward.”
“Great,” said Rachel. “Let’s move.”
Rachel counted off the floors. They got into a rhythm. Juli hopping her foot up each step, leaning her weight on Rachel and the stair rails, then Rachel and Juli’s bad left ankle following behind. Clouds of dust kicked up, making it hard to breath in the stale air.
Juli felt light-headed, her heart pumping hard in her chest. Beads of sweat soaked through her tee, sticking Juli’s thin rain jacket against her skin.
Almost there.
Rachel pulled her up, “Need to break, Doctor?”
Juli shook her head, gasping. “No, keep going,” she said. Her muscles screamed. “Just a little anaerobic shock.”
Rachel laughed. They kept moving upward.
“Sixteen!” Rachel yanked open the door to the floor, igniting a mutual coughing fit as the dust flew up in their faces. They staggered through onto a wide, dark corridor, stars visible through windows at either end.
“Doctor?” Rachel leaned in, “Where to?”
Deep breaths.
Juli reached out her hand against the wall, “This way. I can take myself from here.” She limped along and turned a corner.
Have to do it.
Rachel followed behind her, the dim light of her torch illuminating the dust-grey tiles on the floor. Their footsteps echoed along the pale blue walls, yellowing posters still hanging pinned to cork message boards. Rachel’s light scanned a sign over a wide, double door—EXPERIMENTAL CANCER THERAPY. She strode past Juli and pushed the doors gently open for her.
“Thanks,” said Juli. She inched past into the main ward. “You can find files to look through over there.” She gestured to her right. Rachel’s light followed Juli’s hand movement over to a reception area with a row of green filing cabinets set behind the desk.
Rachel hurried across to the cabinets, “You think they could have something about the outbreak? Maybe give us a clue about the Queen?”
“Yeah,” said Juli. Whatever. “I have something personal to do.”
Rachel didn’t respond.
Juli heard the file cabinets being yanked open. She limped down the left side of the corridor, one hand on the wall. Stopped outside the second room on the left.
Oh, god, Charlotte. I can’t do this.
Juli put her hand up to her mouth and sucked air through her fingers.
She’s dead. What the fuck was I ever thinking coming back here.
She let the air back out of her lungs.
Have to do this.
She propelled herself into the room before she had any more time to think.
Her scream brought Rachel running.
Empty.
Juli held her hands over her mouth.
In the dim light, filtering through the window on the far side of the room, she could make out the shape of Charlotte’s monitors. The drip feed still hung off its tall metal stand beside the raised bedhead. The sheets on the bed were crumpled, pulled back, Rachel’s torchlight picking out a pillow lying on the floor. A plastic chair stood in front of a table by the bed, the desktop covered in plastic binders and brown files.
“What’s all this stuff?” said Rachel. She brushed past Juli and picked up one of the brown folders.
“She must have been moved . . . ,” Juli pressed her right hand against her forehead, “When the outbreak started . . . somebody must have moved her.” She noticed Rachel holding up a folder.
Rachel coughed as she blew dust off the file.
“Those are my notes on Charlotte’s treatment. . . . Viral load, tumor antigen profile, her blood work,” said Juli.
Rachel nodded, placed the file down and split open a plastic binder. “This is good. Centcom says we should take it,” she said.
Rachel peered at the papers inside the red binder, the pages snapping against the rings as she turned them. She cracked open the binder’s teeth and shook a row of pages off.
“Rachel, those are just my . . . ,” said Juli. She stopped.
Rachel bent over the desktop, emptying out one of the brown folders at random then stuffing the papers from the binder into it. Juli could see Rachel licking her lips in the torchlight, shoulders rising and falling.
Juli steadied herself against the wall behind her, “Rachel, how are you speaking to Centcom without the satellite radio? . . . You said ‘Centcom says,’ but you left the radio back in the park.”
Rachel straightened, pushing some more papers into the folder. She awkwardly pushed the folder into the back of her combats. “We need to see if we can find more stuff. Maybe about their Queen,” she said, turning. Her black eyes shone beneath the torch, her high cheekbones casting shadows on her face.
Juli chewed on her lower lip, “You said it outside too. ‘Centcom says.’ And you knew where the service stairs were. . . . How?”
Rachel moved for the door, she shook her head, “Not important. We don’t have time.”
Juli grabbed Rachel’s arm before she could pass, “No. It’s fucking important.”
Rachel’s eyes blinked at Juli, face blank. “I’ve taken recon teams here before,” said Rachel.
Juli let go of Rachel’s arm.
Rachel continued, “I have a standing requisition order to take the materials I require from any military base or law enforcement facility to facilitate recon missions.”
Juli looked down at the palms of her hands, “And how are you speaking to Centcom without a satellite radio?” She could feel Rachel’s eyes boring into her head.
“The radio is a deception,” said Rachel. She leaned in, whispering, “For national security.”
Juli looked up into her black eyes. This close, she could see the little glowing filament dying inside Rachel’s flashlight.
Rachel tapped the side of her raven hair, “The government put chips inside our heads before the outbreak. Secret program by the CIA, Congress never knew, just the President and the Pentagon. They activated mine when things fell apart.”
“Jesus,” whispered Juli. She’s . . . .
Rachel nodded, “You’ve got one inside your head too. You might not even realize it, but that’s why you wanted to come here, they gave you the mission. Wanted you to join my team and help find intelligence.”
“Fuck,” said Juli. She turned and levered herself along the wall, pushing past Rachel to the door. She shut her eyes, sudden wetness running down her cheeks. Juli swallowed, “The Captain was-was . . . . The Captain is your . . . what?”
Rachel sounded surprised, “My fiancee. . . . I hope you’ll understand that, that’s private, Juli.”
Juli nodded, “Yeah. I.”
The double doors to the ward swished as they swung open. The smell of musk licked across Juli’s skin. The goblins whispered in the darkness, making quiet silken sounds that slid between her thighs.
Rachel’s light clicked off behind her. She took Juli’s arm and pulled her gently back into the room. Her lips pressed against Juli’s ear, “We need another way out.”
Juli nodded, she turned her own head, “The other side of the ward. Doors to the service stairs on the other side of the building. Just follow the corridor.” She kissed Rachel’s cheek. Rachel straightened.
“Juli, what?”
“I’m not coming. Sam had the right idea.”
Juli pushed herself into the corridor. She could see the outlines of the goblins in the dark, shuffling forward along the walls. They heard her steps and chorused their pleasure. It made Juli’s pussy drip.
She let go of the wall and limped forward, grimacing as the pain stabbed up through her leg. She sucked in the musk, letting it fill her lungs. Her nipples hard under her tee, her mind filling with the thought of letting go. She heard scrambling boots behind her on the tiled floor.
Goodbye, Rachel.
A warm hand touched her shoulder in the dark. It pushed at her rain jacket, slipping it off her shoulders. Another hand cupped her left breast, teasing the hard nipple through the cloth.
“Kiss me,” said Juli. “I want to forget.”
A tongue curled inside her left ear, hot molten desire pouring inside her mind. She arched her spine as another tongue licked up, raising the cloth of her tee. Hands cupping her naked breasts. She mewled as hot lips sucked on her nipples, fingers squeezing and lifting her soft flesh. She raised her arms. Dimly registered that they’d stripped her top.
Fingers and hands and tongues licking and stroking. Pulling the waistband of her sweatpants down. The air filling with the soft squelch of the tongues tracing across her stomach, across her back, pressing through the sodden cloth of her panties.
“Oh . . . god, yes.”
Her wet panties slipped down and she bent her knees, parting her thighs for the tongue licking between them. It made quiet liquid sounds as it worked its way between her labia. Slid up to vibrate against her clit.
She felt herself lowered to the floor, the last of her clothing removed. Opened her thighs wider for the mouth pressed between them. Intense heat enveloped her pussy, a tongue pushing into the wet entrance to her cunt. She spread her legs in surrender, her hips jerking upward against her lover in obscene need.
“Please . . . . Oh, god, please!”
Mouths on hard nipples, suckling; teeth gently tugging, nipping. Slick fingers playing between asscheeks. Bending, being twisted, turned. Tongues inside cunt and ass, circling clit. Musky thoughts, nothing thoughts, nothing, nothing. Hungry need. Melting. Open mouth, licking intensely hot skin. Pussy lips pressed against tongue, eating, sucking the swollen clit. Juices running over chin.
Her first orgasm took her then another and another. She gasped for air. Some part of her still aware. Still remembering.
“Pleasse . . . .”
She could feel herself being lifted. Her eyes flickering open to see stars through a window. Shutting them again.
Descending. Feeling the hands moving her, carrying, touching and caressing.
The night breeze blew across her skin. Outside. She drifted.
No longer begging. She let go.
Doors opened.
Gentle hands placed her down on a carpeted floor. She heard the doors shut again.
Juli opened her eyes. She lay between rows of seats. Tall candles lit the rows, running down the sides of the theater to the stage. The musk filled the air, making her feel both languorous and horny. She raised herself up on her elbows and then reached a hand up onto a seat arm to pull herself upright.
On the middle of the stage, lit by more tall candles, a woman reclined on a long wide couch piled with plush patterned cushions.
The woman had deathly pale skin and swollen purple lesions that traced the sides of her body from the top of her ankles to the scalp of her bald head. She had perfect round breasts with stiff, prominent purple nipples. Her hard stomach muscles rippled as she stood, her dark labia glistening in the candle light. Along her arms, the purple lesions had raised almost to become little sharp spikes. She had a pretty, fine-boned face. Her purple tongue ran across her pale lips, her mouth opened and closed. She extended her arms, palms out wide. She had beautiful green eyes.
“Juliet,” said the woman.
Juli felt the world spinning, the blood rushing in her ears; the floor tilted from under her feet.
“Charlotte.”