PART THREE

Copyright 2002 Mike Suchcicki

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4 | Part 5

As Gray drove through the city, it occurred to her that she could barely remember the time before the Infestation, before people spent every waking moment of their lives in fear of Ghouls.

There were fewer cars on the road, not because people were afraid to drive, but because people were afraid to park. One, parking garages tended to be heavily infested; two, many Ghoul attack fatalities occurred as victims tried to seek shelter in their cars.

More city dwellers rode in buses, not for the convenience but for the safety in numbers, and because the Transit Authority was meticulous in keeping their buses swept free of malectoplasm. The buses themselves stopped more frequently than in pre-infestation days, often right in front of a store or office building, so riders spent less time on the sidewalks.

Gray turned up the radio. Whereas the newscasters once gave traffic reports, they now gave infestation bulletins. The DJs touted sales in stores that were "100% Ghoul Free" and "Ghoo Protected." The number one song currently on the charts was, "Safe With Me."

She stopped at a red light. A group of loud and happy teen-agers was coming out of a corner bodega. Gray watched them turn and walk down the sidewalk. At least two of them had Ghoo Ghuns sticking out of the rear band of their trousers.

The windows of the bodega were covered with posters and ads of products on sale. One sign announced "TruBlu Dishwashing Liquid, 32 oz. Family Size, $2.99."

Gray closed her eyes and willed away a tear even as she grinned at the irony. TruBlu Dishwashing Liquid. In the time before the Infestation, her mother Paula was lead chemist on the TruBlu development team. She spent her days making the world safe against dirty dishes. Gray remembered the day her mother came home, beaming and proud, having received a massive bonus for developing a grease-cutter that surpassed all others on the market. She took the entire family out to dinner that night. When Gray graduated from college, she went to work in her mother's department, continuing her doctoral work at night.

Then came the Infestation. Before the world had really comprehended what was happening, massive Ghoul attacks swept the globe. Gray's father and two sisters were among the more than 250 casualties at the infamous Paragon Mall Disaster.

When it became known early in the conflict with the Ghouls that traditional weapons like bullets and explosives wouldn't harm the creatures, Gray and her mother, filled with anger, grief, fear and determination, turned their work from dishwashing liquid to Ghoul destruction. Day after sleepless day, they worked in the lab, creating formula after formula, working with scientists like Lake and his contemporaries to learn what they could about malectoplasm and Ghouls.

The work often was frustrating. Sometimes their formulas would seem to have an effect on Ghouls, sometimes they would have no effect at all. Many volunteer Ghoul Hunters gave their lives in the testing.

It was a much younger David Lake who finally figured out the answer. While accompanying Paula Gray and a team of hunters one day, testing a variety of formulas, the upstart Lake realized the reason that a formula seemed to be effective one moment and useless the next: The hunters always were aiming at the same spot. He was the first to document that every Ghoul, because of the variations in the malectoplasmic formation process, had a weak spot, but not in the same place every time. With that knowledge came the realization for the Grays that one of their early formulas was, in fact, the most effective, and they quickly put it into mass production. The soldiers and hunters who used it began calling it Ghoo.

Because of the variations in Ghoul weak spots, different sprayers were used, and even a type of Ghoo Gas. But it was discovered, the hard way, that only a concentrated blast of Ghoo in the Ghoul's weak spot would trigger the molecular reaction that disintegrated it. The armorers of ADEF developed a line of Ghoo Ghuns, both large and small.

Paula Gray set her sights on developing a Ghoo that would disintegrate Ghouls regardless of where it hit. But one day she left the lab without telling anyone; Pamela never learned why. Soon the call came from an ADEF skirmish unit on patrol that Paula had been besieged by a pack of Ghouls and killed.

Pamela continued her work, but never stopped wondering what it was that lured her mother from the lab that day.

Could it be, she wondered, the same thing that's luring me out here right now? Should I have tried to contact Cornealius and brought him along? She considered turning back.

But she was already deep into the city, in the heart of Baker sector. She had her Ghoo Ghuns and plenty of ammo. Besides, she was sure that she had heard a report that Baker sector had recently been swept virtually clean of 'plasm.

She turned into an industrial complex that was now almost completely unused. A few factories still bellowed steam, but most sat empty. Gray followed the instructions, turning again and again, deep into a maze of buildings. She eventually pulled in front of a low, wide and long single-story building. The faded sign on the front said that it used to be a commercial bakery. Beside the entrance, a sports car was parked. The front door of the building was ajar.

Gray stepped out of her car and strapped her Ghoo Ghun holster about her waist, then reached back into the car for her Ghoo rifle, which she slung over her shoulder.

It was then she realized what she had forgotten to do before she left ADEF. "Damn!" she said, and reached in the car for the tracer in her purse. She flipped the on button.

Gray suddenly felt ridiculous for rushing out of headquarters in such a single-minded, gung-ho fashion, regardless of what the caller had said. She realized that she should have reported the original call and let Zone know where she was going. She reached for her cell phone to report in.

No sooner had she punched the speed dial than she heard a scream from inside the building. She dropped the phone and dashed into the building, expertly sliding the rifle from her shoulder and into her hands as she ran. Cornealius had trained her well.

Inside, gray light filtered through the dust and fallen wires and ceiling grating. The massive room was empty of machinery. Rows of support pillars stretched into the dark distance.

She had no trouble spotting the low phosphorescent green glow of a Ghoul as it swung its claw at its smaller human target. The human, a man in a business suit and trench coat, was backed against a pillar, firing up at the seven-foot-tall Ghoul with a small Ghoo Ghun.

Gray shook her head when she saw the tiny Ghun. It was one of those fancy "executive" models that the hucksters foisted upon impressionable wealthy folk. Protection without that unsightly bulkiness, they promised. Even if the Ghoul stood perfectly still and let you hit it in the weak spot, the tiny pistols were near useless. Against a moving Ghoul at full rampage, they were little more than paperweights.

"Get behind the pillar!" yelled Gray as she brought up the Ghoo rifle. The man turned to flee, but too late to avoid a sweep of the Ghoul's claw across its back. He screamed again and fell to his knees, scampering like a puppy behind the pillar.

Gray fired a thick glob of purple Ghoo into the Ghoul's face to get its attention away from the man. It turned and stomped toward her. She fired into the upper torso. No good. Again into its "stomach." Still it raced forward.

Left shoulder! She fired and the shoulder exploded in a mass of purple Ghoo and green jelly. The Ghoul's left arm flew away and bounced against a far pillar. Rearing back, the Ghoul let out the strange, scream-like sound that Ghouls make upon destruction, quickly rising and then fading as the Ghoul bubbled and vibrated and finally burst in a glowing green splash. The phosphorescent green droplets faded and withered quickly to dull gray flakes.

Gray ran to the man, who was sitting on the floor with his back to the pillar. She crouched in front of him. He was bleeding from a deep gash to his temple, and the blood from his back wound already was forming a reddish-brown mat on the concrete of the pillar.

Gray reached into his trench coat and pulled a handkerchief from his suit jacket pocket. She pressed it against the temple wound. The man winced and sobbed. "Hold it there!" she snapped. "You're losing too much blood." She grabbed him by his free arm and began to lift him. "Come on," she said. "It's best we talk outside. Ghouls attack less frequently in the sunshine." The man staggered to his feet. He was a small man, not hard to lift. Balding and bespectacled, he looked vaguely familiar to Gray.

"I've got to tell you about your mother," he said. "I know who killed her."

"What do you mean?" asked Gray as they worked their way to the entrance. "My mother was killed by Ghouls."

"But she was lured there," the man said, staggering. Gray had to help him remain on his feet. "By someone who arranged for an abundance of malectoplasm to be deposited there. She was lured into a Ghoul ambush."

"By who?"

"Wynn."

Gray gasped. "Heston Wynn?" It seemed so ridiculous. Heston Wynn was the CEO of the conglomerate that owned the company that manufactured TruBlu. He had been their ultimate, many-levels-removed boss years ago. Gray had seen him in person once, but had never met him. It didn't make sense, unless ...

"Why would he want my mother killed? And who are you and why are you telling me this?"

"Because your mother..."

Gray shooshed him. "Wait..." She heard a faint whoosh, as if someone nearby had taken a deep breath. Cornealius called it "The Rustling," and it always signaled ...

Gray turned suddenly. She had to drop the man in order to unsling her rifle and face the Ghoul that was reaching for her. Before she could get her finger on the trigger, the Ghoul's massive hand slammed her between her shoulder and neck, sending her and her rifle flying sideways.

She quickly gained her bearings and scooped up the rifle. As she aimed, the man screamed again. A second Ghoul had risen suddenly, and had the man in its grips. She fired at the second Ghoul, which left the first Ghoul free to spring toward her. As the glob of Ghoo hit the second Ghoul in the back to no effect, she leapt to one side, narrowly evading the first Ghoul.

Again the man screamed, but it was his last. The Ghoul swiped a claw across his throat, killing him instantly. He crumpled to the ground, as the Ghoul turned to join its brother in attacking Gray.

Gray got to her feet, rifle in hand. She fired at the closest Ghoul's upper torso. Weak spot! It erupted in a blast of green Ghoul rain. But the second Ghoul was on her already, stomping through the flakes of its brother like so much dust.

Gray had no time to raise her rifle. Instead, she dove straight for the Ghoul and slid between its thick legs. Another trick taught by Cornealius. But Cornealius usually did it with a Ghoo pistol in hand, not a rifle. Also, he was smaller than Gray. Her rifle barrel caught on the Ghoul's leg and stopped her slide. She was trapped beneath it.

The Ghoul bent forward and down to grab her. Gray grabbed the Ghoo Ghun pistol from its holster and fired a shot into the Ghoul's upside-down face. It wasn't a weak spot, but it momentarily startled the Ghoul, which rose back up and wiped at its bubbling, throbbing skin. Gray continued through its legs. She climbed to her feet and turned to fire into the Ghoul's back.

But she felt another presence. She turned to face yet another Ghoul, only a few feet away. Instinctively she dove to one side, hoping to make some distance so she could fire clean shots. As she ran back into the heart of the building, however, two more Ghouls formed, one on either side. She fired with her rifle at the closest. The shot had no effect and the Ghoul swung at her, scraping her shoulder. Again she fired to no effect.

By this time, all four Ghouls were marching toward her. In her thankfully brief experience fighting Ghouls, she had only before faced two at one time by herself, and only some desperate two-Ghun showmanship and some lucky shots had saved her then. There was no way she could bring down four attacking Ghouls at once.

Still, she had to try. Raising the rifle, she pumped one shot of Ghoo after another, firing down the approaching line of Ghouls like a carnival duck shoot. None of her shots were hitting weak spots.

Suddenly, one of the middle Ghouls reared back with a shriek and exploded. Through the haze of Ghoul dust, Gray could see Cornealius running into the building, a Ghoo Ghun in each hand. Beside him was Lake, wielding a rifle like Gray's. The two men each fired at a Ghoul. Gray aimed at the remaining Ghoul and began blasting. Soon she had found its weak spot and it disintegrated.

Still, other Ghouls were forming, two to one side and one to the other. Gray ran to Cornealius and Lake, and the three formed a back-to-back stance, firing away at the approaching phalanx of translucent Ghouls.

No sooner had one Ghoul burst into bright green sparks than another formed to take its place. Gray soon lost count.

"Work your way to the door!" Cornealius ordered.

The floor soon was thick with the flaky remains of fallen Ghouls. A gray haze filled the room. The vinegary smell of Ghoo began to sting their nostrils.

"Ugh!" Lake cried as a Ghoul slashed his upper arm. Cornealius turned and took out the Ghoul with a single shot.

"I think they've stopped forming," Gray said, noticing fewer Ghouls.

"The 'plasm's running out," Lake said, stating the obvious. Seasoned Ghoul Hunters knew that every infestation of malectoplasm had its limits.

"Just in time," Gray said. "My Ghoo's running low."

"When you were a little girl," said Lake, "did you think you'd ever say the phrase, 'My Ghoo's running low'?"

"Shut up," said Gray, collapsing a Ghoul with shot to its leg.

"Thank you," added Cornealius, taking down another.

"Geez," said Lake, blasting at a particularly stubborn Ghoul, "you make one little comment on the evolution of societal paradigms and everyone gets on your case."

"Shut up," said Gray and Cornealius.

With a final blast to its head, Cornealius brought down the last Ghoul. The three stood, panting, in the thick gray dust.

"I need some air," said Cornealius.

"I need a band-aid," said Lake, holding the wound on his arm.

"I need a drink," said Gray.

Outside, in the sunshine, the trio shook off the gray flakes from their clothes and hair. Cornealius reached into the trunk of his Honda for the first-aid kit. Lake doused his wound with antiseptic and then pulled on a tube-type bandage.

"How did you guys pick up my trace so fast?" asked Gray.

"We didn't," said Cornealius. He pointed to Lake. "He had your location written down."

Gray looked at Lake. "How did ...?" She shook her head. "Next time I'll just take the entire pad of paper."

"One," said Lake, "it wouldn't have mattered, I have many more tricks up my sleeve, and two, you're welcome. My figuring out your location just saved your life."

Gray looked contrite. "You're right. Thanks for being so nosy." She leaned over and kissed Cornealius on the forehead. "And thank you, too."

Cornealius flashed a quick grin. "You're welcome. So, you want to tell us what you were doing there?"

"Yeah," said Lake, jerking a thumb back toward the building. "And who was that guy in there? And can I have his car?"

Gray told them about the mysterious call and what the man said about Heston Wynn and her mother's death.

Cornealius poked Lake in the chest. "Cover me," he said. "I'm going back in."

The two headed for the entrance and Gray started to follow. "Why don't you stay out here?" Lake said.

"If you're covering him, then someone's going to need to cover you," Gray replied.

Inside, most of the dust had settled. Cornealius walked over to the dead man and began checking his pockets. He pulled out a wallet.

"Marcus Jordan," said the hunter. "Ring a bell?"

"In fact, it does," Gray replied. "If I'm not mistaken, he was corporate counsel. We seemed to see a lot of him not long after my mom finalized the formula for Ghoo."

"Well, if anyone would know for sure if Wynn had set a trap for your mother, this guy would," Cornealius said. "Any idea why, though?"

"At first, it seemed ridiculous. Wynn funded the research into Ghoo. But then I remembered something: After we found the right formula, Marcus Jordan came to Mom and said that Wynn wanted to market Ghoo. My mom was incensed. She thought everyone should have the formula. In fact, she published it on the Internet and faxed it to everyone she could think of."

"Certainly Wynn wouldn't have been too happy about that."

"Right, but do you think he would have killed her over it? In revenge or something?"

"Why don't we go find out? Let's go talk to Wynn. ADEF will have your trace soon and will send a team to come clean up and take care of Jordan's body." Cornealius turned to Lake, who was kneeling to one side, his satchel open. "Are you coming?"

"Just a second," said the scientist. "I always get 'plasmic samples, to look for variations and recurrences. The team at U.C. Davis is close to pinpointing the source of 'plasmic infestation, and every sample helps."

Gray asked Cornealius, "Should we let Zone know where we're going?"

"We could, but then he wouldn't let us go. He'd want to send any investigation through proper channels."

Lake flipped his satchel shut and joined them. "Ooo, and we just hate proper channels, don't we?"

Part 1 | Part 2 | Continue to Part 4 | Part 5