2021 Page 12

  With that Joan signed off.

  ‘STUART! WE NEED TO FIND THE END OF THIS THING BEFORE WE RUN OUT OF TIME!’ she shouted ‘ALSO I’M THINKING ABOUT US HAVING ENOUGH LIGHT LEFT TO EVEN CONTINUE FILMING ANYTHING AS WELL!’ she added.

  ‘We also need to keep an eye on the amount of film we have left’ commented Jenny ‘they’ve only supplied one spool of film.’

  ‘Good point’ nodded Joan ‘maybe we should leave it at that, just for now’ she smiled.

  ‘GOOD IDEA, JOAN’ nodded Stuart as he raced to get on one of the cycles again.

  ‘No, I’ll do it’ smiled Jenny, but her dad just shook his head.

  ‘No, you stay on the camera, Jenny, in case we come across something else we need to film’ he suggested, so reluctantly Jenny just returned to stay with the camera again.

  A while later, they suddenly heard Jack shout out again.

  ‘I CAN SEE SOMETHING MOVING UP AHEAD!’

  Joan and Stuart immediately stopped peddling and ran to the front of the airship as quickly as they could.

  ‘GET READY TO START FILMING AGAIN, JENNY!’ her dad shouted up to her.

  ‘OK, JENNY, WE’RE ALMOST AT THE END OF THE BUILDING, START FILMING AGAIN WILL YOU PLEASE!’

  ‘WILL DO, DAD!’ Jenny shouted back.

  As the airship finally glided over the end of the giant building all their jaws suddenly dropped to the floor in shock.

  ‘Heck, Stuart’ uttered Jack ‘just exactly what am I even looking at?’

  Pouring out of the huge black building seemed to be thousands upon thousands of black creatures of some kind.

  ‘Oh my God, Stuart, what the hell are they?’ uttered Joan as she put her hand to her mouth in horror.

  ‘They’re almost like some kind of insect, locust like’ commented Stuart as he just stared down at them, hardly believing his own eyes.

  Joan just shook her head.

  ‘But I’m a bit confused now, being up here for so long, exactly how big are these things?’ she queried ‘are they small or large?’ she puzzled ‘because I’m struggling to make it out now?’

  ‘But that’s impossible surely?’ uttered Stuart in shock ‘but they look our size?’ he queried as he turned around with a look of disbelief on his face.

  ‘No, they’re even bigger I reckon’ replied Jack as he just shook his head as he looked down again after looking through a piece of equipment he had brought with him. ‘I always bring this with me, as it’s often hard to estimate the sheer scale of things from up here, but there’s never any mistake using this simply piece of kit’ nodded Jack.

  ‘But you must have made a mistake, Jack, surely?’ puzzled Stuart.

  ‘But Stuart, look over the horizon, my God! There are millions of these things!’ now uttered Joan in shock.

  Suddenly though, their attention was drawn back to Jenny. From her vantage point where the camera was mounted up much higher, she could now see what they all clearly couldn’t.

  ‘OH, DAD! JESUS CHRIST, DAD, I JUST CAN’T WATCH THIS, I JUST CAN’T!’ she uttered as she just began to cry as she continued to film away.

  ‘IT’S ALL RIGHT, JENNY, THEY’RE JUST SOME KIND OF INSECT THAT’S ALL!’ shouted her dad.

  ‘IT’S NOT THAT, DAD’ she cried ‘OH, I JUST CAN’T WATCH THIS ANYMORE, IT’S JUST HORRIFIC!’ she shouted down to them as he now ran to be by her side.

  ‘ARE YOU STILL FILMING, JENNY? ARE YOU USING THE ZOOM?’ shouted Jack as he stared down after grabbing up his binoculars to see just what was upsetting her so much.

  ‘YES, I’M STILL FILMING AND I’M USING THE ZOOM’ Jenny just about managed to shout back.

  ‘It’s all right, Jenny, I’ll take over now’ her dad told her as he took over the operation of the camera and began to focus in.

  ‘You need to keep it very still, Dad and use the zoom lever here’ she told him as she kept the camera’s winding mechanism moving for him.

  What Stuart now saw through the camera’s eye piece though, it suddenly hit him in the pit of his stomach like a hard punch and it truly horrified him!

  The larger than man sized creatures were now passing living humans along from one to another until one of the creatures would suddenly bite the neck of their victim and then completely devour them!

  ‘Oh my God!’ uttered Stuart as he trembled in terror as he just had to look away!

  He now knew what had shocked Jenny so much. He could barely force himself to watch anymore now, but he knew he would have to film for longer to allow sufficient scientific study of these creatures later on back at the Pentagon. So he tried his best to keep on filming, but his hands were increasingly shaking too much.

  Soon though, he had to break away from the camera’s platform as he quickly ran down and was physically sick over the side!

  ‘JACK! WE’VE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!’ he screamed.

  ‘WHAT IS IT?’ Jack shouted back ‘ALL I CAN SEE ARE THESE WEIRD CREATURES?’

  Stuart’s throat had dried so much he couldn’t even answer him at first.

  ‘THEY’RE KILLING HUMANS, JACK!’ he finally screamed back as he now held Jenny in his arms.

  ‘But that can’t be right, can it?’ puzzled Jack in alarm as he looked over towards Joan.

  Joan quickly took up the binoculars again, until suddenly she too was forced to look away.

  ‘Oh my God!’ she then uttered in alarm as she immediately stared at him.

  ‘Jack he’s only right, they’re killing people down there’ she uttered in shock.

  Stuart meanwhile, had run back to see Jack.

  ‘Jack we’ve got enough film, we’ve got to get out of here, now!’ he told him urgently.

  ‘THEN OUR JOB’S DONE!’ shouted Jack as he ran back to the controls and started turning the giant airship around.

  Just then though, they all heard Jenny scream out again.

  ‘DAD! THEY’RE ALL TRYING TO GET US!’

  ‘DON’T BE SILLY, JENNY, THEY’RE WAY DOWN THERE WE’RE ALL COMPLETELY SAFE UP HERE’ her dad shouted back.

  ‘YOU THINK, DAD? LOOK! THEY’RE ALL NOW JUMPING UP AT US!’ Jenny screamed again.

  Stuart now ran to look down over the side.

  ‘Christ, she’s only right, Joan, look at them all!’ uttered Stuart in alarm.

  ‘But they can’t possibly reach us high up here surely? Can they?’ questioned Joan, now looking quite alarmed herself.

  Just as she said the words though, they suddenly all felt a jolt and the airship immediately listed slightly to one side!

  ‘What the hell was that?’ questioned Jack.

  ‘You leave it to us, Jack’ suggested Stuart ‘you just get back to the control room and concentrate on turning this thing around.’

  ‘Will do!’ nodded Jack as he immediately ran back up to man the controls again.

  Stuart, Joan and Jenny now all ran around looking down over the side.

  Then Joan screamed out!

  ‘AGGGGGHHHHH! IT’S ONE OF THE CREATURES!’ she screamed in panic ‘IT’S CLIMBING UP ONE OF THE MOORING ROPES!’

  ‘CHRIST, IF MORE OF THEM DO THE SAME, THEY’LL DRAG US DOWN THERE. BRING UP THE MOORING ROPES QUICKLY! AND CUT THAT ONE FREE!’ shouted Jack in alarm.

  Stuart just ran to his daughter.

  ‘Jenny, go and get peddling on the cycle just as fast as you can, we’ll need more speed to quickly gain some height and get the hell out of here’ he insisted.

  ‘But the mooring ropes?’ she queried.

  ‘Sod the mooring ropes! You leave them to me and Joan, we need you to provide the power for this thing to climb higher and then quickly turn around’ he insisted.

  ‘Right, Dad’ Jenny just nodded as she ran to the cycles and began peddling just as fast as she could.

  ‘There’s a long handled hook, Stuart, we use it for grabbing hold of the mooring ropes and getting h
old of them and away from tangling up in trees or power cables and stuff’ explained Jack as he pointed to it.

  ‘OK’ nodded Stuart ‘but where do the ropes fix?’ he queried.

  ‘Just tie them up anywhere you can there’s no specific place or anything’ explained Jack as Stuart began doing as he suggested.

  Suddenly though, both their attention was diverted elsewhere.

  ‘ONE OF THE CREATURES, IT’S CLIMBING UP HERE!’ shouted Joan.

  She hesitated for a second and then shouted back again.

  ‘IT’S ALL RIGHT, LEAVE IT TO ME!’

  ‘NO! I’LL DEAL WITH THE CREATURE. YOU PULL UP THE REST OF THE MOORING ROPES, JOAN’ Stuart insisted shouting as he ran towards her as he then promptly gave her the long handled hook.

  ‘BUT I CAN DEAL WITH THIS THING’ queried Joan.

  ‘I’M NOT ARGUING!’ Stuart insisted and she then just nodded her head.

  ‘But what am I supposed to do with this thing anyway?’ puzzled Joan as she looked at the long handled hook he had just handed her.

  ‘You pull up the rest of the mooring ropes with it’ Stuart quickly explained.

  ‘Oh, right’ nodded Joan before she then ran off.

  ‘JACK, YOU GET US TURNED AROUND AND GET US HIGHER IF YOU CAN!’ shouted Stuart as he then ran for a knife.

  ‘SHIT!’ now uttered Stuart as he looked down to see dozens of creatures now all hopping up and trying to grab hold of the loose mooring ropes.

  ‘God, that’s a nightmarish sight’ he muttered to himself.

  Then he concentrated on the quite evil looking creature that was swinging around and gradually climbing up the mooring rope just below him instead.

  ‘Christ! I never expected to be doing anything like this when I got up this morning’ he cursed away to himself.

  ‘I’M GOING TO HAVE TO CLIMB OUT A BIT IN ORDER TO CUT THIS ROPE, SO TRY KEEPING HER STEADY, JACK’ Stuart shouted.

  ‘NO, DAD, NO!’ shouted Jenny in alarm.

  As he then clambered outside, Stuart began to feel quite faint. The sheer height terrified him and combined with the movement of the airship he was barely even holding on now.

  ‘Christ! I take it back even sailing around the Needles isn’t this bad’ he mumbled away to himself.

  ‘CUT THE ROPE AND LET THAT THING FALL, STUART IT’S AFFECTING MY DAMN STEERING!’ shouted Jack in anguish.

  ‘I’M BLOODY TRYING AREN’T I? IT WOULD HELP IF YOUR BLOODY KNIFE WASN’T AS BLUNT AS ARSEHOLES!’ Stuart shouted back in frustration as the knife’s blade just proved too blunt.

  Meanwhile, the creature was now making progress and gradually getting closer and closer to him.

  The wind was blowing Stuart all around and he felt totally sick and afraid of falling, but he knew he had to cut the rope now in order to save everyone on board!

  ‘A SUPER SHARP KNIFE ON AN AIRSHIP IS NOT SUCH A GOOD IDEA!’ Jack shouted back.

  ‘WELL ONE WOULD BE BLOODY HANDY TODAY I CAN TELL YOU, THIS KNIFE IS JUST CRAP! IT’S JUST TOO BLOODY BLUNT!’ Stuart shouted back angrily.

  ‘THEN JUST THROW IT AT IT!’ shouted Jack.

  ‘THROW WHAT?’ Stuart shouted back.

  ‘THE DAMN KNIFE OF COURSE, THROW THE DAMN KNIFE AT IT!’ shouted Jack.

  Taking Jack’s advice, Stuart brought his arm back and with one almighty throw landed the knife right on top of the creature’s head!

  It just bounced off though, not even leaving a mark.

  ‘UH, OH!’ uttered Stuart in alarm.

  ‘NOW WHAT’S UP?’ shouted Jack ‘DID YOU THROW THE KNIFE AT IT?’

  ‘YES I DID’ shouted Stuart.

  ‘THEN THE CREATURE’S GONE THEN?’ asked Jack as he continued to attempt to steer the airship around.

  ‘NO!’ replied Stuart.

  ‘WHAT DO MEAN NO?’ queried Jack.

  ‘NOW IT JUST LOOKS RATHER PISSED OFF! UH OH, AND NOW HE’S CLIMBING UP TOWARDS ME AND HE’S MOVING UP EVEN QUICKER NOW!’ shouted Stuart in panic.

  ‘OH, DAD!’ cried Jenny as she ran her hands through her hair in anguish as she continued to just peddle away.

  ‘JUST KICK HIM IN THE KISSER!’ shouted Jack.

  ‘NO, YOU COME HERE AND KICK HIM IN THE BLOODY KISSER!’ replied Stuart angrily.

  ‘FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, YOU’RE FROM ENGLAND, MAN, YOU MUST HAVE PLAYED SOCCER SURELY?’ shouted Jack.

  ‘NO, FOR YOUR INFORMATION I PLAYED BLOODY RUGBY AND CRICKET!’ shouted Stuart right back.

  ‘Trust me to pick the only Englishman who never played soccer’ cursed Jack under his breath.

  ‘LOOK! JUST ACT LIKE YOU PLAYED THE WRONG DAMN SPORT THEN!’ cursed Jack as he continued struggling to steer the airship around.

  Just then, Stuart noticed the creature was almost upon him.

  ‘OH SHIT! IT’S HERE!’ he gulped.

  ‘WELL KICK IT THEN! FOR CHRIST SAKE MAN, KICK IT!’ screamed Jack in panic, as now even he could see the ugly creature’s head appearing as he gazed back down over his shoulder.

  Stuart just did as he suggested and kicked the creature right in the face!

  It temporarily lost its grip with one claw before it began climbing up towards him once again.

  ‘IT’S DIDN’T BLOODY WORK!’ screamed Stuart.

  ‘WELL KICK HIM AGAIN THEN!’ shouted Jack.

  ‘I BLOODY DID!’ Stuart shouted back as he now began to panic even more.

  ‘WELL KICK HIM HARDER THIS TIME!’ suggested Jack.

  ‘Bloody harder, I’ll kick you bloody harder in a minute’ cursed Stuart under his breath as he climbed further out and held on with just one hand in order to catch the creature earlier.

  ‘THUMP! THUD! THUMP!’ it went as Stuart kicked the ugly looking creature in the face as it was quickly left gripping on with just one claw once again.

  Then Stuart drew upon all his courage and strength as he gave it one almighty kick right in the thorax area with both his feet this time!

  The creature immediately slipped and fell to the ground!

  Unfortunately though, Stuart himself also began to lose his grip on the rope, then suddenly he fell too!

  Jack with his legs being held by both Jenny and Joan grabbed hold of Stuart now and safely pulled him inside the airship’s cockpit area again.

  ‘Thank Christ!’ uttered Stuart wiping the sweat from his brow as he sat on the cabin floor as all three of them just hugged him in sheer relief.

  ‘You saved my life, Jack’ Stuart uttered.

  ‘No, I reckon you saved ours’ smiled Jack as he raced back towards the control room again.

  ‘DON’T EVER ASK ME TO DO THAT AGAIN’ Stuart shouted after him as Jenny now just hugged him and wouldn’t let go.

  ‘I HOPE I WON’T HAVE TO’ laughed Jack as he began trying to steer the airship upwards again.

  ‘Get back to the cycle now, Jenny’ her dad told her ‘I’m fine now’ he assured her.

  He then left her to return to the cycles when he suddenly heard her scream out again!

  ‘JENNY?’ he shouted.

  ‘DAD, THERE’S ONE OF THE CREATURES NOW PRISING OPEN A WINDOW!’ she shouted as she just stood there trembling in terror.

  Stuart raced around to quickly shield Jenny from any danger as he pushed her quickly behind him.

  He now watched in alarm as he saw the creature already half way inside the airship’s cockpit.

  Before he could think of anything though, Joan just raced around from behind him and smashed the creature flat in the face with the butt of a fire extinguisher!

  ‘WE!

  ‘DON’T!’

  ‘WANT!’

  ‘YOU!’

  ‘UGLY!’

  ‘LOOKING!’

  ‘BRUTES!’

  ‘IN!’

  ‘HERE!’

  She shouted as she smashed the creature hard in face with every
single word she uttered.

  In the end, the creature had had enough and it just let go and fell!

  Stuart just stood back in amazement.

  ‘Blimey! Remind me never to ever upset you’ he smiled as Joan now just collapsed into his arms.

  They now just rushed to the window to watch the creature simply get up again as if it had only fallen a few inches.

  ‘Jesus! How far do you reckon it fell? What, thirty, forty feet?’ Stuart pondered.

  ‘No, more like sixty I reckon’ commented Joan.

  ‘Seriously?’ queried Stuart.

  ‘Yes, easily sixty feet, if not a bit more’ confirmed Jack now standing right behind them.

  ‘And it just got up and walked away, completely unhurt?’ queried Stuart.

  ‘What the hell are these things?’ questioned Joan.

  ‘They look a bit like giant crickets or grasshoppers’ commented Jack.

  Stuart now just slumped down onto the floor of the cabin again as he now blew a huge sigh of relief.

  ‘But wasn’t it always considered by us scientists that things like that couldn’t grow anywhere near that size on Earth?’ puzzled Stuart.

  ‘Well having that I just smacked one in the face I would suggest we were all completely wrong with that theory’ smiled Joan.

  Jack had returned to the controls again now as they both went to join him there.

  ‘We’re back over the giant building again now’ he confirmed.

  Stuart now turned his attention back to Jenny. She was sitting down too and just looked very shocked.

  ‘Jenny, are you all right?’ her dad asked as he rushed to be by her side.

  ‘All those poor people, Dad, I just can’t get the sight of them out of my head. All that blood and the look of horror on their faces’ she cried as the tears just ran down her face.

  ‘There’s no chance of any more of those things getting on board is there?’ she then asked looking completely terrified.

  ‘No, we’re safe now, Jenny’ he assured her as he held her in his arms.

  ‘Look, let’s just get back on the cycles again, I’ll join you, Jenny’ he told her ‘my old clockwork engines must need charging back up to full power again by now’ he suggested.