The Sanitation Business - Ch 2
Chapter Two
I hit the floor like steel bricks. His face had turned in my direction and, realizing that a face like that couldn’t mean me any good, I did a sort of military crawl to the light-switch by the door and hit the lights from a kneeling position. I pulled the door open and, scrambling to my feet, raced to the light switch that was at the hallway. I flipped that switch. All was dark but the moon. The man-thing quickened its pace into a horse-like gallop. “Crap! Crap!” I hissed as I stood up and ran to the door . I couldn’t make it to my truck, the thing was gaining distance. I pulled the door open, yanked my keys from the lock, slammed it shut, and twisted the lock . The sound of that “click” had never sounded better. No, not even the voice of my sweet Jesus could sound any better than that locking sound!
The man, the inhuman, the beast ran full force into the metal framing of the glass windows, it’s hips banging into the metal door handles with a surprisingly wet thud, as if someone slapped a wet towel against the surface. He and I, it and I, fell at the same time; I from fright and it from sheer brunt force. I lifted my body like an arachnid and scrambled away from the door as the thing’s booted feet planted themselves soles down and, to my utter horror, slinked back up to a stand.. it was a Goliath sized monster! It had to be over seven feet tall with sickly, white skin that was too tight, no, too small for its size. The hair on the thing’s head was sitting off to the side. “What the?” I asked the building. As if in a drunken stupor, the thing swayed back and forth, back and forth. It took a step back with each sway back. Forth, back, step. Forth, back, step. Forth, back, step, stop. With a gurgling inhalation, it gathered its energy before running toward the doors and banging against them with the brute force of a brainless being. It fell again, this time leaving pieces of it’s face on the window.
I wanted to barf, for the smell that oozed through the crack between the door smelled like the contents of a dumpster. I couldn’t hold it and retched as I stood to run.
I looked back, afraid to let the creature out of my site. What is he doing? He was ripping off his clothes. He was naked in a matter of moments and, putting his hand to the gap in the window, sliding through with the elasticity of an octopus. Before I knew what I was doing, I yelled “Noooooooooo!”
I ran! Oh, boy did I run? Where? Into a wall. Dizzy, I made a scrambled for my feet, my inspiration being the sound of sluggish footsteps. It sounded as though wet mops were slapping the floor. “That’s going to streak, boy. You stupid?” My father’s voice in my head asked. I need you now more than ever, Pop! Tears were falling down my face when I realized something. “My phone!” I yelled in a whisper. I got up and, not being able to see, I took my phone from my pocket and clicked the side button for light, not having enough time to search for the flashlight icon. It wasn’t much light, but it allowed me to see just enough to grip a door handle and slip through. Then, I quickly touched the flashlight icon and sprayed the room.
Where I stood was a passageway to a warehouse. There was a door to my right that led outside, but it was secured with a massive padlock. To my left there was a swinging door that I remembered would open to the warehouse. I ran toward the door and burst through it. I saw a light fixture and pulled it up. “Crap!” The warehouse was empty, nothing to hide behind or under. There was a door on the far end of the warehouse and I ran toward it, thinking that I had a plan that was sure to work.
To be continued..