The Terror From Beyond the Void

I HAD THE DRUGS, but wasn’t certain I could leave the confines of the cabin safely. I looked out the front windows, the bedroom windows, and even cracked open the back door, but lingering dread was quick to force me to close it again. I had no idea if it was safe to leave or not, and every moment that went by with me not knowing, was another painful eternity for my wife.

Ultimately, I didn’t have a choice; Macie needed help. I opened the front door, gun in hand and pills safely in my pocket. I left the door open, so as to not make any unnecessary noise closing it. I knew better than to assume I wouldn’t be chased, but anything I could do to give myself a head start was required at this point.

Cautiously, but determined to not waste anymore time, I stepped off the porch and swiftly made my way through the camp. I crossed through the overgrown divide of the properties and back into ours.

I heard one of my boys scream:

“Dad! Dad, where are you!?”

It was Wes; frantic and crying.

I ran the rest of the way, disregarding the creature that lurked nearby, and up to the cabin where Wes stood at the door. He was a mess, crying and overthrown with panic.

“I’m here! I’m here! What’s wrong?” I insisted.

“Mom—” was all he could mutter.

I ran into the cabin as Wes, seemingly routed by whatever had caused his frantic state, dropped to his hands and knees in the doorway.

I turned the corner into the bedroom. Kevin was pressed up against the wall, keeping a monitory distance from Macie. I looked at her next; her skin was green and flaky, and her expressionless glare was aimed straight up at the ceiling. She was still breathing, but taking jumpy, spasm-like breaths.

“Macie?” I cringed, setting the gun down against the wall and fishing out the pills from my pocket. I looked up to Kevin, who seemed in shock. “What happened?” I hastily asked.

He shook his head, not completely sure. “The infection must have—it must have been in her bloodstream. It didn’t even matter that we cut off her leg.”

I went to open her mouth with my fingers to help her swallow the pills, but stopped when I realized I would have to physically touch her. Kevin noticed my conundrum and grabbed the TV remote from the bedside table.

“Use this,” he said, handing me the remote.

I accepted it, and placed it on Macie’s bottom lip to separate them. With a couple pills in my other hand, I pressed the remote down on her lip. The pressure, although gentle, caused the remote to sink into her face. Dark green fluid rose up from the expanding pocket, and I ripped the remote away quickly.

Kevin gasped and I stumbled backwards as her entire face gave way, sinking into itself to create a goopy, mucky mess on the pillow. The rest of her body followed: a chain reaction of ghastly deliquesce from head to toe.

As my wife dissolved into an unidentifiable secretion, my knees weakened; my vision became blurry, a loud ringing erupted in my ears.

“Mom!” Kevin cried out.

His heartfelt cry reminded me that my boys needed me now more than ever. I didn’t have time to mourn or panic. I needed to get my kids to safety. We had to survive this.

“Come on!” I yelled. I picked up the gun as Kevin shimmied around the bed, unable to let his eyes off of the nightmare unfolding before him. As I turned to the doorway, something squeaked under my boot; it was wet and slippery. I looked down. Green splotches, embedded by the tread of my boots, were left in the wake of where I had hastily entered the room. With my eyes, I followed them through the doorway, until they disappeared around the corner.

I must have stepped in some of it outside. It was the creature’s tactic to use this stuff to stop its prey dead. It engulfed the squirrel, the deer, the entire Saunders family, now my Macie — but only when it made contact with their skin …

My boot was keeping the unstable substance from causing its catastrophic manipulation of my body. That was the key—protect our bodies.

I had momentarily drowned out Kevin’s screams for “Mom!”, but they fired back with a vengeance as my son collapsed to the floor in a crying fit.

“Watch what you’re touching!” I screamed at him, knowing the tacky, green goo was now present in the cabin. He seemed confused; his eyes were red and tears were actively falling from them. He looked at me, and it was only then that I realized that Wes hadn’t rushed into the room after hearing the screams and chaos.

“Wes?” I whispered, looking back through the bedroom door and into the eerily silent living quarters of the cabin. I cautiously stepped through the threshold and turned the corner.

Wes remained on his hands and knees, in the same exact spot where he had dropped to when I rushed in. Only now, the trail of green muck that my boots left went straight into his space, and out the front door. His hands were on the wooden floor, palms both down, stuck in the slimy filth. It had climbed his arms and was wrapping around his shoulders when I laid eyes on him.

My eyes widened and I let out an audible gasp. He cracked his head toward me, absorbing the sight of his own frightened father, before the infection took over the entirety of his face. The upper portion of his body broke away, splattering to the floor. His torso and legs went next.

I was speechless as I zombie-walked toward him. I could hear myself moaning sickly; groaning in utter disbelief. I cocked my head, once again hoping it was all a dream. As I inched closer to the bubbling, gurgling mass on the floor, I was stunned by the creature’s sudden appearance. It was just out of view, out on the porch, and lunged itself on top of Wes, slurping up his remains in a noisy, sloppy manner. I stumbled backward and fell to the ground. I aimed the shotgun and fired a shot. It blew a chunk off the creature’s side. I fired again; another wet clump splattered against the wall.

All at once, the wounds I had inflicted on it regenerated, stringing themselves back together with roots and a natural, bodily adhesive. I fired again, missing this time completely. When I tried pulling the trigger one final time, the weapon only clicked. My heart sank. I clicked the trigger again and again, and then threw the gun to the side. All the while, the creature paid me no mind. All it did was feed on my son. When it was finished, it would no doubt try to claim me and Kevin, as well as devour Macie where she lay.

Two of us were gone. I couldn’t let it take Kevin and I. Scrambling to my feet, I checked my hands to make sure they hadn’t come into contact with any of the green substance. They hadn’t, so I raced into the bedroom and pulled Kevin out. I refused to look at the bed; the putrid odor in the room reminded me enough of what lay on it.

Rushing through the cabin, I grabbed the bloodstained hatchet off the counter. Kevin and I burst out the back door and into the thickness of woods behind the cabin.

“Where are we going?” Kevin insisted. “Where’s Wes?”

“Gone,” I muttered, choking back all of my emotions. “Keep moving,” I desperately urged.

We crashed through the wild brush and maneuvered through the trees—I was leading the way, but I didn’t have an end game. Getting as far away from the creature as possible was the extent of my plan.