Read Online Clickers III by Brian Keene, J. F. Gonzalez - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Brian Keene, J. F. Gonzalez
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sense of desperation was almost palpable. Behind the communications area, Wade and Ed scrambled around, searching for candles and babbling to each other in quavering voices that betrayed their attempts to sound calm. Susan cowered in the corner of the lobby, her voice a sobbing whisper as she kept repeating, “Oh God, I don’t want to die, please don’t let me die!”
Jennifer was in the lobby, searching for candles or a flashlight—anything that would dispel the darkness—and Susan’s whining was getting on her nerves. “Shut up!” she barked, and instantly regretted it. Susan had never been in this type of situation before. Neither had Ed and Wade for that matter. “Let’s all just calm down and focus. If we start panicking, we won’t make it out of this alive.”
“You’re right.” Wade wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “We’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”
Nodding, Ed sighed.
Susan stopped her litany and remained huddled in the corner.
“All we have to do is hide until morning,” Wade said. “The Dark Ones can’t handle the daylight, right? They hide from the sun.”
“That’s true,” Jennifer said, “but the same thing doesn’t apply to the Clickers.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
Outside, the sounds of the Clickers and the Dark Ones grew closer.
CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK!
“They’re getting closer,” Jennifer stated, frustrated that she couldn’t even find a goddamn flashlight in the lobby. The hallway that led to the inner recess of the research center was pitch black. She wondered why the back-up generators hadn’t kicked in. Was it possible they’d been destroyed too? If so, then that meant the Dark Ones were inside the building already.
“Hey, isn’t there a basement or a sub-cellar to this place?” Wade asked.
Jennifer was just about to respond with a yes, when the creaking of a door answered Wade’s question. The sound came from the communications area, and its suddenness startled Ed and Wade.
“Who is that?” Ed barked, his strong voice trembling slightly with fear.
The creaking grew louder, followed by the sound of wood resting on the floor. Then, a voice. Soft, with a slight musical island lilt to it, but definitely male. “Is that you Dr. Steinhardt? Is everything okay? I heard shouts, and then the lights went out.”
Jennifer felt herself relax. She recognized the voice.
“Is that you Keoni?” Ed asked.
“Yeah, it’s me. What’s going on?” A moment later a light appeared from the open trapdoor in the floor and Jennifer sighed in relief.
Keoni Mumea held a flashlight up. He was the research center’s groundskeeper and the closest thing to a native they had. Keoni was from the nearby Marshall Islands, and was part Samoan. He was dressed in knee-length shorts and a billowy T-shirt. His black bushy hair was long and he wore it pinned back from his face. He was standing on a rickety set of stairs that led down into the basement, from where he’d just emerged. Jennifer saw that there was a trapdoor in the floor of the reception area that was now open. Keoni cast a concerned look toward the lobby. “Man, what’s going on?”
Wade stepped toward the trapdoor. “Clickers, outside! They’re heading straight for us!”
“What?” It looked like Keoni was still trying to process what Wade had just told him.
“Clickers.” Ed Steinhardt was at the trapdoor now and his more authoritative tone cut through the panic. “ Homarus Tyrannous . And the Dark Ones, as well.”
The color drained from Keoni’s caramel-colored skin. “Oh shit!”
“Oh shit is right,” Dr. Stenhardt said. He quickly filled Keoni in on everything that had happened, including the slaughter on the beach and the arrival of the black Clicker. Then he looked around the communications area. “Where’s Susan?”
Jennifer looked toward the lobby where she’d last seen Susan and saw the anthropologist was still cowering in the
Jennifer was in the lobby, searching for candles or a flashlight—anything that would dispel the darkness—and Susan’s whining was getting on her nerves. “Shut up!” she barked, and instantly regretted it. Susan had never been in this type of situation before. Neither had Ed and Wade for that matter. “Let’s all just calm down and focus. If we start panicking, we won’t make it out of this alive.”
“You’re right.” Wade wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “We’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off.”
Nodding, Ed sighed.
Susan stopped her litany and remained huddled in the corner.
“All we have to do is hide until morning,” Wade said. “The Dark Ones can’t handle the daylight, right? They hide from the sun.”
“That’s true,” Jennifer said, “but the same thing doesn’t apply to the Clickers.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
Outside, the sounds of the Clickers and the Dark Ones grew closer.
CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK!
“They’re getting closer,” Jennifer stated, frustrated that she couldn’t even find a goddamn flashlight in the lobby. The hallway that led to the inner recess of the research center was pitch black. She wondered why the back-up generators hadn’t kicked in. Was it possible they’d been destroyed too? If so, then that meant the Dark Ones were inside the building already.
“Hey, isn’t there a basement or a sub-cellar to this place?” Wade asked.
Jennifer was just about to respond with a yes, when the creaking of a door answered Wade’s question. The sound came from the communications area, and its suddenness startled Ed and Wade.
“Who is that?” Ed barked, his strong voice trembling slightly with fear.
The creaking grew louder, followed by the sound of wood resting on the floor. Then, a voice. Soft, with a slight musical island lilt to it, but definitely male. “Is that you Dr. Steinhardt? Is everything okay? I heard shouts, and then the lights went out.”
Jennifer felt herself relax. She recognized the voice.
“Is that you Keoni?” Ed asked.
“Yeah, it’s me. What’s going on?” A moment later a light appeared from the open trapdoor in the floor and Jennifer sighed in relief.
Keoni Mumea held a flashlight up. He was the research center’s groundskeeper and the closest thing to a native they had. Keoni was from the nearby Marshall Islands, and was part Samoan. He was dressed in knee-length shorts and a billowy T-shirt. His black bushy hair was long and he wore it pinned back from his face. He was standing on a rickety set of stairs that led down into the basement, from where he’d just emerged. Jennifer saw that there was a trapdoor in the floor of the reception area that was now open. Keoni cast a concerned look toward the lobby. “Man, what’s going on?”
Wade stepped toward the trapdoor. “Clickers, outside! They’re heading straight for us!”
“What?” It looked like Keoni was still trying to process what Wade had just told him.
“Clickers.” Ed Steinhardt was at the trapdoor now and his more authoritative tone cut through the panic. “ Homarus Tyrannous . And the Dark Ones, as well.”
The color drained from Keoni’s caramel-colored skin. “Oh shit!”
“Oh shit is right,” Dr. Stenhardt said. He quickly filled Keoni in on everything that had happened, including the slaughter on the beach and the arrival of the black Clicker. Then he looked around the communications area. “Where’s Susan?”
Jennifer looked toward the lobby where she’d last seen Susan and saw the anthropologist was still cowering in the
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