THE DESOLATE SOUTHLAND

CHAPTER 14: DANGER!

Riko looks up and peers into the rear view mirror.  Tension builds and finally subsides once the jibbers, one by one, round the corner.  Once the last once is out of sight, Riko continues to his next stop.

That close call caused hi to be more alert as he made his way to the sporting goods store.  This was a locally owned store just as big as a "Bass Pro Shop."  He stopped a safe distance away as he stared in amazement at what he saw. 

"Holy fuck! This is where the whole goddamn town ended up!"

Jibbers were everywhere.

"I wonder why they are all here?" he thought.

"Ah, that's why.  I forgot about the official weigh-in sight for the local bass tournament being held on the river," he mumbled as he seen the big flamboyant stage.

Jibbers wandered around the area like herds of cattle.  Riko studied the situation and finally decided he needed to circle around and get another view to find an entrance point.  He also determined he would be able to avoid contact with jibbers of he was on foot, so he got out.  With a large empty duffle bag strapped to his back, he moved quickly and quietly avoiding any stray jibbers he seen.  He made his way a block over and two blocks up. 

"Now I will be able to approach the back side of the store.  I hope that fire escape is still there," he thought. 

When he got close enough he seen that the fire escape had been removed, but a pipe anchored to the building would allow him to climb to the roof if he could reach it.  He ran to the building. 

"Damn it! I can't reach it.  But I will be able to out of the bed of my truck." So he began to run, darting between cars, into alleys, ducking behind dumpsters, until he made it back to his truck.  He slowly backed up, turned and idled away from the store.  He drove the same way he ran to make his way to the back of the store, pulling as close as he could to building directly under that pipe.

He got out and climbed over into the bed of his truck and organized his gear once more.  He started to start climbing the pipe when Harley's voice came through the com link again.

"Riko, how is it going."

"So far so good.  I am having to get in the sporting goods store a different way, jibbers are everywhere because of the fishing tourney."

"O-kay, well you be safe."

"10-4."

He started climbing little by little.  As he reached for the roofs ledge, his com link fell from his ear to the ground.  PING, on the trucks roof, bounced and roled off to the pavement below. 

"Oh well, I just talked to her so she won't be checking up on me anytime soon, I'll get it when I am done here."

Grasping the roofs ledge, he pulled himself up and over.  He moved from corner to corner looking out over the town.  He could see everything.

"Wish I brought my sniper rifle.  Would be like shooting fish in a barrel." He thought.  "Oh well, another time."

He sprinted to the center of the roof where the door was that lead inside.  It took a minute to pick the lock in order to gain entrance.  Normally, his team would just blow it, but he wanted silence this time.  He worried that jibbers would be inside and didn't want to attract them.  During these events, the owner always put things on sale inside to attract patrons here for the weigh-n.

"Maybe they all went outside when the commotion started," he thought as he felt bad for his fellow towns people.  "Either way.  I better be alert."

He cautiously made his way down to the second floor.  On Jibber was walking in the opposite direction.  Looking left, all clear, looking right, all clear, he drew his kukri and darted out of the shadows.  The kukri went up in the air and came down with penpoint precision across the jibber's neck.  Its head bounced and rolled across the floor as the body collapsed with a big thud.  Immediately Riko dropped to one knee behind a display listening and looking for his next target.  Again and again he took down eight more jibbers in like fashion.  He was starting to enjoy himself.

Once he fealt comfortable he could complete his purpose, he took out a list of everyone's sizes and started a shopping spree.  His military side came out as he neatly rolled the clothing up tightly and stuffed everything into the duffle bag.  Once the clothing was gathered up, he made his way down stairs, gathering everything he could think of that they might need and placed into the bag.  While he gathered supplies, he didn't pay attention to the jibbers outside, there was no need.  He had just reached the third step heading back up to the second floor when he heard a scream.  His jerked around and there was Samantha, hiding behind a register counter directly in line with the vestibule.  He immediately looked at the jibbers outside.  Only a large plate glass window separated them from the inside.  They had seen her.  They began trying to get to her.  With all of them leaning against the glass it shattered.  Those in front fell through and to the floor with shards of glass cutting some in half, yet they continued to try and get to her.  Samantha sat on the floor, with her hands over her ears, screaming.  Jibbers piled in by the groves.  Before Riko could get Samantha's attention they had her.  Blood spewed from her body as they bit her and tore flesh off in chunks.  She screamed as death oozed from her eyes.

As Riko watched in horror he slowly backed up the steps distancing himself while the jibbers tore at Samantha like a school of pirahna's. One jibber stood up, stuck his nose in the air and sniffed the air.  Groaning loudly, he attracted the attention of the others who stopped what they were doing and looked directly at Riko.

"Son of a bitch!  That is the same bastard that stopped by the truck earlier."

He turned and scampered up the steps, skipping one with every stride.  One the second floor he ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the stairwell leading to the roof.  Up those steps he bust through the door.  He pause only long enough to listen.  The groans were getting closer.

"Shit, they are following."  He shut the door and used the chock used to hold the door open while people were on the roof to jam the door close.

He turned and ran to the back side of the store, leaned over the ledge to see if any jibbers were down there.  He soon heard the jibbers banging on the door behind him causing him to spin around and  look.

Again, he leaned over the ledge holding the duffle bag full of items out and dropped it to the bed.  It made a big bang that echoed.  "Shit!" He said as he began his decent.  On his way down, one foot slipped causing him to loose his holding and fell.  Falling backwards, he kicked with his feet so he would clear the cab of his truck.  His body spun and cleared the truck all except his left shoulder that caught on the edge of the bed.  He heard a big crack as it flipped him over to his stomach and onto the pavement.  He grunted. 

"Fuck!  I have dislocated my shoulder again," he said as he rolled over to his back.

He laid there a couple of seconds gaining his composure when he coughed up some blood.  He turned his head to the side and seen his com link.  He started to reach for it when heard foot steps running.  He rolled up under the truck out of sight.  The sun had just began to rise so he could see the bright orange Nike's run past a few feet away.  He was just about to roll out when he heard a scream and foot steps coming back from the direction they had just went.  The same Nike's came back by, tripped and fell not more than ten feet away.  More foot steps approached and he could tell it was a kid by the sobs.  The closer they got, the more aggressive the groans became.  They came from both directions.  Then there was the sounds of a scream fading as the sound of clacking teeth tearing flesh, crunching bones and squishing blood grew louder.  The jibbers feasted like Vikings celebrating a victory in battle.

Riko hoped they would move on when they were done but there was no such luck.  They walked around aimlessly, between him and his only means to call for help, his com link.

"Oh Harley.  I miss you so much.  If I could just hear your voice."