Pred Killer
You added to the rage.
\\Chapter 1
<Somewhere in the remote wastes of Alaska, circa 2000's, remote weather outpost.>
As Ambrose sat at his monitor, drinking coffee, watching the game, he wondered about his life. It all seemed like a hollow shell after he got out of high school, he was glad to be out of there anyway, though, constantly beat up, and picked on, he just didn't fit in. He had always wanted to be a writer, he'd even written a couple of stories, he just hadn't published them yet. He looked over to see Ashley was asleep. He shook his head and smiled, he wouldn't bother waking her up, she was a heavy sleeper. Nolan was sitting in his office, his boss, he was glad he could hire him, he had feared nobody would, he just had to get enough money for college, then he would be outta here. Ambrose's thoughts were interrupted when he saw a strange wind reading, too fast to be an approaching storm, "What the hell?" was all that escaped his lips. Then, the whole building started to shake.
Ash awoke and Nolan dropped his paper and rushed over to the monitor. "What's going on Ambrose!?" asked Nolan. Then the monitor shut off. Ambrose's face went blank as it stopped. "Earthquake?" asked Ambrose. "In Alaska?" Nolan shook his head. He opened the blinds to see nothing but thick fog outside. "Something weird is going on." he said. He rushed to the closet and immediately began throwing on weather equipment. Ambrose stood up. "Are you going out there?" Ash stood up behind him. "Yep, and you two are coming with me." Just then the power went out. Nolan hesitated and looked around. "Okay, get your things together, looks like we're going to Bear Ridge." Ambrose nodded and began packing his clothes and belongings. As soon as the trio were packed and dressed, Nolan started his truck. Ash hopped in the back, and Ambrose in the passenger seat. As Nolan was backing up he slammed on the breaks, "Shit!" Ambrose looked at him wild eyed. "What happened?" Nolan shook his head. "Do you remember the damn grand canyon being next to the outpost?" he asked getting out of the truck. Ambrose and Ash exchanged glances, and got out as well. As they rounded the truck, Ambrose's breath caught in his mouth as he joined Nolan's side. They were staring down into the blackness of a massive gorge, and the truck was just inches from backing off into it.
"That's strange." said Ash holding her hand over it. "What is?" asked Ambrose, a hint of confusion, and fear in his voice. "There's... there's heat down there. There's some sort of heat coming from down below." As Ash got down on her knees and stuck her face over the edge as did Ambrose. He instantly got a huge wave of heat on his face as well, and something which smelled of burning metal, and, burning flesh. "Okay, let's... let's get going..." said Nolan, backing away slowly. The two stood up. "Yeah... creepy..." They got back in and took off down the snow covered path. They hadn't noticed the strange spider-like creature hop in the back of their truck...
\\Chapter 2
~~~~
Nolan pulled onto the main road, driving slowly. Bear Ridge was a small, quiet Alaskan town, always covered in snow year round. There were only a few vehicles driving by, and only a few residents outside, mainly just gathering firewood or yard work. The snow coming down was almost too thick to see through. Nolan spotted a glowing red sign. 'Foothills Lodge' The downpour was too thick to see through now and he didn't want to risk wrecking. "Okay, we're going to stay here for a night and then we'll call an electrician in the morning." said Nolan pulling into a parking space and turning off the vehicle. He sat back in his seat and sighed heavily. "You want me to pay man?" asked Ambrose, obviously seeing he was very tired. "No, I will. You need every penny." he said getting out.
Ambrose awoke to the ringing of his phone. He picked it up and slammed it back down. "Damn wake up calls." He got up and headed into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He wasn't a very big man, at just under five nine and just over one-forty, he was pale with blue eyes and dark brown hair that came down below his ears. He put his clothes on and headed out into the lobby. It was a big room, with a large fireplace illuminating it. He yawned and saw a group of people talking near the large flat screen television, he saw one of them holding up what appeared to be a large crab looking thing. "It was latched onto his face and..." was all he could make out before walking up to Nolan and Ash who were sitting on a couch. "Is the power back on?" asked Ambrose. Nolan nodded. "What's going on over there?" asked Ash looking over her shoulder. Nolan shrugged. "They found a guy laying face down in the snow next to our truck, when they turned him over that thing was attached to his face, the police then found him dead, looked like someone had just shot him in the chest with a shotgun, I wasn't there, just what I heard from them." This was strange, but all Ambrose could think about was getting back to work, just last year he was lazy, and lethargic, yet now, he was almost a workaholic. "So when are we going?" asked Ash.
They arrived back to see the whole place taped off and a whole bunch of black trucks and a helicopter outside the outpost, there were men all around the large crater now. The trio got out. "What the hell is going on?" asked Nolan. "Oh, glad you could arrive. You must be the owner of this place." said a heavyset man walking up to Nolan. "I'm Glenn Bogart, glad you could arrive, and you are?" "Nolan Moran. These are my associates Ambrose Connor and Ashley Miller, we run the weather outpost... um, what is going on here?" he asked, with a fake smile. A heavyset police officer then walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. Bogart nodded and turned back to Nolan. "I think it would be best if you came back tomorrow, or, how about just relocating, this place is under quarantine." he said, with a smile so fake Ambrose almost laughed. Nolan didn't smile at all. "Sir... what is going on here?" He asked. "Just leave." Bogart replied, still smiling. "No, tell me, what the hell is going on here." Bogart shook his head. "I... I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Mr. Moran. Leave now.. or there will be trouble." Ambrose noticed a group of police officers watching them. "Nolan, let's just go." said Ambrose. "You're being shut down." he said. "Leave." "My work here isn't finished." replied Nolan. "Let's go." retorted Ambrose curtly. Bogart's smile disappeared. "It is now."
Nolan stepped back to the truck, climbing into the seat. Ambrose joined him, and Ashley climbed into the back. Nolan rested his head on the steering wheel. "Hey, let's, let's just go back to the lodge." said Ambrose. "I think it's time for a break anyway, not to mention, we can get out of this freezing hellhole, and go back to, well, where it's warm." said Ambrose trying to cheer him up. Nolan started the truck. "You're right, being negative is only going to attract more negative things." As Nolan pulled out, Ambrose felt a presence by the window, like, somebody was there... he just didn't see them.
~~~~
The next day, they arrived back to see, everyone... gone. It was roped off again, with a different color tape. There were investigators everywhere. Ambrose threw up when he nearly tripped over a human head. "Officer, what the hell happened here?" Nolan asked a nearby police officer. The officer shrugged. Some people came in and wiped the place clean, there were over a dozen bodies, I'm glad you all weren't here.
Over the next few days, people began dissappearing, from both the town and surrounding towns. There were also strange animal sightings. Ambrose figured it was just bears, but he wasn't sure. It didn't feel right. Something was strange, dark, with the stench of death in the air. Ambrose managed to get a job driving log trucks back and forth in and out of the city, and it was confusing, very confusing, since it seemed like it was night all the time. His boss was a strange man who Ambrose only knew as Hank, a large man with long hair and a thick beard, he kind of reminded him of a bear. The two only talked when Hank was giving him a job to do, not to mention he was very rude. Ambrose hated being in his presence, but it was the only job he could get. Hank had just finished berating an out of towner when he interrupted Ambrose as he was getting into his truck. "Hey, new guy!" Ambrose had hoped he could get away with the load he had, and avoid Hank all day, it was too good to be true. "Get over here!" Ambrose slinked back out of the truck, slamming the door. As Ambrose approached he stood there with his arms crossed, looking back and forth between him and the truck. "You call that a load?" he asked. Ambrose shrugged. "You're gonna get more firewood, you understand... you've only been with us for..." chills ran down Ambrose's spine... someone was behind him... standing there, but Hank didn't seem to notice. Ambrose always had that trait. Everytime he sensed someone was coming down the hall to his bedroom as a child, there had always been either his mom or younger brother, standing there at his door. Whenever he had sensed someone was there, he was always right. Hank was snapping at him now. Ambrose quickly nodded fakely, and turned around. Nobody was there... but... there was, they were still standing there, but, nobody was there. He then slowly reached his hand out. "Hey! Turn around." As his hand touched something that wasn't there... he screamed and fell backwards. "WHAT THE HELL!" was all that managed to escape from his mouth. There had been someone... or something there. He noticed twigs breaking, and footprints appearing in the snow, but nothing there. What he had felt had been warm, and clamy, not human skin... it was... blending in with its environment. Hank had seen it too. "Okay, i'm gonna kill that rat sonovabitch right now!" said Hank grabbing an axe. Ambrose shook his head. "No.. no don't do it." Ambrose grabbed the axe but Hank whirled around, hitting him right in the nose. Ambrose's nose began bleeding. "You asshole!" Ambrose retaliated by kicking Hank right in the face. Hank stumbled back holding his jaw, dropping the Axe. Ambrose then got to his feet and reeled back about to hit him, but the large man caught his fist and hit him square in the chest, sending him to the ground. Ambrose got back up but the man tripped him and kicked him right in the ribs. Ambrose screamed in pain. "Stay down, you little wimp." Hank grabbed the Axe and disappeared into the forest. "I hope you get what you deserve!" said Ambrose, still lying on the ground, holding his broken nose.
~~~~
Hank walked through the ankle deep snow, the massive trees casting large shadows across the ground. He held his axe tight in his hands. Then, he heard something that sounded like 'purring' or 'clicking'. He whirled around, backing into trees, and holding his axe tightly against his self. "Where are ya!" He screamed. Now he wasn't so confident. He was scared... really scared. He heard the noise again. "Sh... show yo...yourself!" He said. Whirling around again. Then he heard a tree branch cracking and something landing heavily behind him. He screamed and ran, dropping his axe and running wildly into the woods. He then tripped over something large. He turned around to see one of his workers, flayed, his skin removed, and blood everywhere. He screamed louder than he had ever screamed in his life. Screamed until something threw him into the tree behind him.
He coughed up blood as he fell to the ground. "What do you want from me!?" he screamed through sobs. He looked all around, holding his head, and screamed some more. He was cut short as he was hit again. This time with something metal, and across the head. He screamed and got to his feet. "I'm not going down without a fight!" he screamed. Then he felt something hit him hard in the chest. Then he was hit again from the side, sent flying into a tree. Whatever was attacking him, there were more of them... there was atleast two. He was hit again, he heard a sickening crack as his arm snapped backwards. He screamed, and then it all went dark as he felt something stab through his chest. The last vision before he died was a large metal 'pole' appear out of nowhere.
~~~~
Ambrose was running faster than he ever had. He scrambled into the driver's seat of his truck and quickly began trying to start it. "Come on! START!" He screamed as he heard footsteps approaching. "You motherf**ker!" Ambrose heard Hank's voice... but he realized it wasn't Hank... he had heard him scream, he was sure the whole town did. Suddenly the truck started and Ambrose sped off, forgetting to close the tailgate as his haul spilled out behind him. Ambrose caught a glimpse of a shape appear behind him in his mirror, and he floored it. The shape had just been standing there, appearing out of nowhere, just standing there, staring at him as he sped away. Then.. out of nowhere, a bright blue orb erupted from its shoulder and impacted with the back of the truck, sending it flying off the cliff.
~~~~
~~~~
When Ambrose awoke he had been asleep for days, as the snow was piled up atop the truck, which was lying on it's back. Ambrose felt dried blood on his head and two deep gashes across his forehead and nose. He crawled out and got up onto his knees, he realized his leg was hurt bad, possibly broken. He was able to put a little pressure on it. He got up and scurried his way up the hill. More dead bodies. As he managed to hobble his way to the nearest gas station to ask for directions he noticed the gas station was deserted, and all was quiet... save for a constant eerie 'breathing' sound. As he approached, looking for any sign of someone, he knocked on the door, first lightly, then heavily. He moved on... searching for somebody... anybody... nobody in sight, at all.
~~~~
Ambrose continued, going by buildings, knocking a couple of times, entering some that were open, then continuing onwards. Mostly everyone was gone. He stopped to ask a few solitary civilians, but they simply looked at him with their wild-eyed stares like animals and ran off, driven insane, but by what? He finally managed to find an old woman, who seemed to just be sitting there on a bench, staring off into space. As he got closer he realized she was blind, her pupils an eerie white. "Ma'am, do you have any idea what's happening?" he asked. She continued to stare off onwards. No use. He continued to the lodge
<Somewhere in the remote wastes of Alaska, circa 2000's, remote weather outpost.>
As Ambrose sat at his monitor, drinking coffee, watching the game, he wondered about his life. It all seemed like a hollow shell after he got out of high school, he was glad to be out of there anyway, though, constantly beat up, and picked on, he just didn't fit in. He had always wanted to be a writer, he'd even written a couple of stories, he just hadn't published them yet. He looked over to see Ashley was asleep. He shook his head and smiled, he wouldn't bother waking her up, she was a heavy sleeper. Nolan was sitting in his office, his boss, he was glad he could hire him, he had feared nobody would, he just had to get enough money for college, then he would be outta here. Ambrose's thoughts were interrupted when he saw a strange wind reading, too fast to be an approaching storm, "What the hell?" was all that escaped his lips. Then, the whole building started to shake.
Ash awoke and Nolan dropped his paper and rushed over to the monitor. "What's going on Ambrose!?" asked Nolan. Then the monitor shut off. Ambrose's face went blank as it stopped. "Earthquake?" asked Ambrose. "In Alaska?" Nolan shook his head. He opened the blinds to see nothing but thick fog outside. "Something weird is going on." he said. He rushed to the closet and immediately began throwing on weather equipment. Ambrose stood up. "Are you going out there?" Ash stood up behind him. "Yep, and you two are coming with me." Just then the power went out. Nolan hesitated and looked around. "Okay, get your things together, looks like we're going to Bear Ridge." Ambrose nodded and began packing his clothes and belongings. As soon as the trio were packed and dressed, Nolan started his truck. Ash hopped in the back, and Ambrose in the passenger seat. As Nolan was backing up he slammed on the breaks, "Shit!" Ambrose looked at him wild eyed. "What happened?" Nolan shook his head. "Do you remember the damn grand canyon being next to the outpost?" he asked getting out of the truck. Ambrose and Ash exchanged glances, and got out as well. As they rounded the truck, Ambrose's breath caught in his mouth as he joined Nolan's side. They were staring down into the blackness of a massive gorge, and the truck was just inches from backing off into it.
"That's strange." said Ash holding her hand over it. "What is?" asked Ambrose, a hint of confusion, and fear in his voice. "There's... there's heat down there. There's some sort of heat coming from down below." As Ash got down on her knees and stuck her face over the edge as did Ambrose. He instantly got a huge wave of heat on his face as well, and something which smelled of burning metal, and, burning flesh. "Okay, let's... let's get going..." said Nolan, backing away slowly. The two stood up. "Yeah... creepy..." They got back in and took off down the snow covered path. They hadn't noticed the strange spider-like creature hop in the back of their truck...
\\Chapter 2
~~~~
Nolan pulled onto the main road, driving slowly. Bear Ridge was a small, quiet Alaskan town, always covered in snow year round. There were only a few vehicles driving by, and only a few residents outside, mainly just gathering firewood or yard work. The snow coming down was almost too thick to see through. Nolan spotted a glowing red sign. 'Foothills Lodge' The downpour was too thick to see through now and he didn't want to risk wrecking. "Okay, we're going to stay here for a night and then we'll call an electrician in the morning." said Nolan pulling into a parking space and turning off the vehicle. He sat back in his seat and sighed heavily. "You want me to pay man?" asked Ambrose, obviously seeing he was very tired. "No, I will. You need every penny." he said getting out.
Ambrose awoke to the ringing of his phone. He picked it up and slammed it back down. "Damn wake up calls." He got up and headed into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He wasn't a very big man, at just under five nine and just over one-forty, he was pale with blue eyes and dark brown hair that came down below his ears. He put his clothes on and headed out into the lobby. It was a big room, with a large fireplace illuminating it. He yawned and saw a group of people talking near the large flat screen television, he saw one of them holding up what appeared to be a large crab looking thing. "It was latched onto his face and..." was all he could make out before walking up to Nolan and Ash who were sitting on a couch. "Is the power back on?" asked Ambrose. Nolan nodded. "What's going on over there?" asked Ash looking over her shoulder. Nolan shrugged. "They found a guy laying face down in the snow next to our truck, when they turned him over that thing was attached to his face, the police then found him dead, looked like someone had just shot him in the chest with a shotgun, I wasn't there, just what I heard from them." This was strange, but all Ambrose could think about was getting back to work, just last year he was lazy, and lethargic, yet now, he was almost a workaholic. "So when are we going?" asked Ash.
They arrived back to see the whole place taped off and a whole bunch of black trucks and a helicopter outside the outpost, there were men all around the large crater now. The trio got out. "What the hell is going on?" asked Nolan. "Oh, glad you could arrive. You must be the owner of this place." said a heavyset man walking up to Nolan. "I'm Glenn Bogart, glad you could arrive, and you are?" "Nolan Moran. These are my associates Ambrose Connor and Ashley Miller, we run the weather outpost... um, what is going on here?" he asked, with a fake smile. A heavyset police officer then walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. Bogart nodded and turned back to Nolan. "I think it would be best if you came back tomorrow, or, how about just relocating, this place is under quarantine." he said, with a smile so fake Ambrose almost laughed. Nolan didn't smile at all. "Sir... what is going on here?" He asked. "Just leave." Bogart replied, still smiling. "No, tell me, what the hell is going on here." Bogart shook his head. "I... I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Mr. Moran. Leave now.. or there will be trouble." Ambrose noticed a group of police officers watching them. "Nolan, let's just go." said Ambrose. "You're being shut down." he said. "Leave." "My work here isn't finished." replied Nolan. "Let's go." retorted Ambrose curtly. Bogart's smile disappeared. "It is now."
Nolan stepped back to the truck, climbing into the seat. Ambrose joined him, and Ashley climbed into the back. Nolan rested his head on the steering wheel. "Hey, let's, let's just go back to the lodge." said Ambrose. "I think it's time for a break anyway, not to mention, we can get out of this freezing hellhole, and go back to, well, where it's warm." said Ambrose trying to cheer him up. Nolan started the truck. "You're right, being negative is only going to attract more negative things." As Nolan pulled out, Ambrose felt a presence by the window, like, somebody was there... he just didn't see them.
~~~~
The next day, they arrived back to see, everyone... gone. It was roped off again, with a different color tape. There were investigators everywhere. Ambrose threw up when he nearly tripped over a human head. "Officer, what the hell happened here?" Nolan asked a nearby police officer. The officer shrugged. Some people came in and wiped the place clean, there were over a dozen bodies, I'm glad you all weren't here.
Over the next few days, people began dissappearing, from both the town and surrounding towns. There were also strange animal sightings. Ambrose figured it was just bears, but he wasn't sure. It didn't feel right. Something was strange, dark, with the stench of death in the air. Ambrose managed to get a job driving log trucks back and forth in and out of the city, and it was confusing, very confusing, since it seemed like it was night all the time. His boss was a strange man who Ambrose only knew as Hank, a large man with long hair and a thick beard, he kind of reminded him of a bear. The two only talked when Hank was giving him a job to do, not to mention he was very rude. Ambrose hated being in his presence, but it was the only job he could get. Hank had just finished berating an out of towner when he interrupted Ambrose as he was getting into his truck. "Hey, new guy!" Ambrose had hoped he could get away with the load he had, and avoid Hank all day, it was too good to be true. "Get over here!" Ambrose slinked back out of the truck, slamming the door. As Ambrose approached he stood there with his arms crossed, looking back and forth between him and the truck. "You call that a load?" he asked. Ambrose shrugged. "You're gonna get more firewood, you understand... you've only been with us for..." chills ran down Ambrose's spine... someone was behind him... standing there, but Hank didn't seem to notice. Ambrose always had that trait. Everytime he sensed someone was coming down the hall to his bedroom as a child, there had always been either his mom or younger brother, standing there at his door. Whenever he had sensed someone was there, he was always right. Hank was snapping at him now. Ambrose quickly nodded fakely, and turned around. Nobody was there... but... there was, they were still standing there, but, nobody was there. He then slowly reached his hand out. "Hey! Turn around." As his hand touched something that wasn't there... he screamed and fell backwards. "WHAT THE HELL!" was all that managed to escape from his mouth. There had been someone... or something there. He noticed twigs breaking, and footprints appearing in the snow, but nothing there. What he had felt had been warm, and clamy, not human skin... it was... blending in with its environment. Hank had seen it too. "Okay, i'm gonna kill that rat sonovabitch right now!" said Hank grabbing an axe. Ambrose shook his head. "No.. no don't do it." Ambrose grabbed the axe but Hank whirled around, hitting him right in the nose. Ambrose's nose began bleeding. "You asshole!" Ambrose retaliated by kicking Hank right in the face. Hank stumbled back holding his jaw, dropping the Axe. Ambrose then got to his feet and reeled back about to hit him, but the large man caught his fist and hit him square in the chest, sending him to the ground. Ambrose got back up but the man tripped him and kicked him right in the ribs. Ambrose screamed in pain. "Stay down, you little wimp." Hank grabbed the Axe and disappeared into the forest. "I hope you get what you deserve!" said Ambrose, still lying on the ground, holding his broken nose.
~~~~
Hank walked through the ankle deep snow, the massive trees casting large shadows across the ground. He held his axe tight in his hands. Then, he heard something that sounded like 'purring' or 'clicking'. He whirled around, backing into trees, and holding his axe tightly against his self. "Where are ya!" He screamed. Now he wasn't so confident. He was scared... really scared. He heard the noise again. "Sh... show yo...yourself!" He said. Whirling around again. Then he heard a tree branch cracking and something landing heavily behind him. He screamed and ran, dropping his axe and running wildly into the woods. He then tripped over something large. He turned around to see one of his workers, flayed, his skin removed, and blood everywhere. He screamed louder than he had ever screamed in his life. Screamed until something threw him into the tree behind him.
He coughed up blood as he fell to the ground. "What do you want from me!?" he screamed through sobs. He looked all around, holding his head, and screamed some more. He was cut short as he was hit again. This time with something metal, and across the head. He screamed and got to his feet. "I'm not going down without a fight!" he screamed. Then he felt something hit him hard in the chest. Then he was hit again from the side, sent flying into a tree. Whatever was attacking him, there were more of them... there was atleast two. He was hit again, he heard a sickening crack as his arm snapped backwards. He screamed, and then it all went dark as he felt something stab through his chest. The last vision before he died was a large metal 'pole' appear out of nowhere.
~~~~
Ambrose was running faster than he ever had. He scrambled into the driver's seat of his truck and quickly began trying to start it. "Come on! START!" He screamed as he heard footsteps approaching. "You motherf**ker!" Ambrose heard Hank's voice... but he realized it wasn't Hank... he had heard him scream, he was sure the whole town did. Suddenly the truck started and Ambrose sped off, forgetting to close the tailgate as his haul spilled out behind him. Ambrose caught a glimpse of a shape appear behind him in his mirror, and he floored it. The shape had just been standing there, appearing out of nowhere, just standing there, staring at him as he sped away. Then.. out of nowhere, a bright blue orb erupted from its shoulder and impacted with the back of the truck, sending it flying off the cliff.
~~~~
~~~~
When Ambrose awoke he had been asleep for days, as the snow was piled up atop the truck, which was lying on it's back. Ambrose felt dried blood on his head and two deep gashes across his forehead and nose. He crawled out and got up onto his knees, he realized his leg was hurt bad, possibly broken. He was able to put a little pressure on it. He got up and scurried his way up the hill. More dead bodies. As he managed to hobble his way to the nearest gas station to ask for directions he noticed the gas station was deserted, and all was quiet... save for a constant eerie 'breathing' sound. As he approached, looking for any sign of someone, he knocked on the door, first lightly, then heavily. He moved on... searching for somebody... anybody... nobody in sight, at all.
~~~~
Ambrose continued, going by buildings, knocking a couple of times, entering some that were open, then continuing onwards. Mostly everyone was gone. He stopped to ask a few solitary civilians, but they simply looked at him with their wild-eyed stares like animals and ran off, driven insane, but by what? He finally managed to find an old woman, who seemed to just be sitting there on a bench, staring off into space. As he got closer he realized she was blind, her pupils an eerie white. "Ma'am, do you have any idea what's happening?" he asked. She continued to stare off onwards. No use. He continued to the lodge