SERIES CONTINUED: “Rat Tale” is the third short story in a new La Cucaracha News feature – excerpts from books. A fourth and final installment will be posted in one week. To read the earlier installments, scroll down to “Hatched” and “Shadows.”
By EMILIANO TRUJILLO
Donald Jones was once one of Centennial’s best linebackers. He stood 6 foot 6 and was a solid 280 pounds. Donald caught the eye of every college recruiter this side of the Mississippi. He had dreams of eventually playing for the Denver Broncos.
But, his dreams came to a halt his senior year. They had just won the coveted Bell game, and he went out with his friends to an after party. He made the mistake of getting a ride home from a teammate who was drinking.
The vehicle he was in, flipped on the interstate. Luckily, no one was killed, but the car load of high school students sustained serious injuries that night. Donald’s large frame mitigated most of the damage from the accident, but he injured his neck to the point that he could not be cleared to play football.
This was a season-ending injury. It also dashed his dreams of college football. He graduated with rather below average grades. But, he graduated none-the-less. His injuries healed; sometimes the muscles in his neck and shoulders would tighten up.
Donald was naturally a happy optimistic guy. He never appeared bothered by the injury or the lost opportunity. He focused on the fact he didn’t lose any friends in the accident. He saw this as a learning opportunity to never drink, though he’d never had a drop of alcohol in his life.
Graduation came and went, and because of his injury he could not be cleared for football, therefore did not get the scholarships that were being offered. Deep down, Donald didn’t like the circumstances, but he made the best of them. After high school, he got a job as a security guard at the power plant out near the county.
His pay was decent and the work was easy. He would do his first round and then sit and read mangas all night until he had to do his final walk through. The plant was pretty remote and really had nothing worth stealing.
Donald wasn’t one to settle for the easy road. Recently, his next best dream came true—he was accepted to work in one of the many prisons near Canon City. Even though he wasn’t mean by nature, he had the build and didn’t mind throwing his weight around.
With as many prisons that are in the area, it was a very lucrative career choice. After three years, Donald only had one more graveyard shift and he would kiss the security life goodbye. It was bitter sweet, as he did enjoy the solitude of the job and peace of seeing the sun rise on the prairies. He would miss seeing the wildlife at night, especially when the tarantulas migrated in sheets across the terrain.
Donald walked into the security office, a lonely little box that sits beside the main entry gate. Donald saw old Donald sitting and scrolling through his laptop. Old Donald was a stout, chubby, gray-haired man. Over the years, the two enjoyed their matching names and formed a very close bond.
Old Donald, or big Don, looked up at young Donald, or as he liked to call him, little Don. The nicknames weren’t just irony, but Donald looked up to big Don. Big Don was retired military, police, and corrections. Big Don would often stay after his shift and share stories with Donald. His excuse was that he was retired and had nothing better to do anyway, but it was obvious he enjoyed Donald’s company. Big Don actually put the idea of working for the prison in Donald’s head.
What the Dons had in common is they were both kind and joking guys, considering their occupation as security guards and their tough guy persona. “Welp!” Big Don said, “Don’t have too much fun! Enjoy the rat killing.”
“You know it, buddy,” Donald smiled.
“Are you just going to sit around and read comics on your last night here?” Big Don joked.
“They’re mangas, not comics. They’re from Japan, Donald reciprocated.
“I’m just breaking your balls, kid,” said big Don patting Donald on his broad shoulder “I wish you all the luck with your new career. Trust me, it’s not for everyone. But, I think you’ve got a big future ahead of you.”
Big Don got into his old Cadillac and drove off into the night. Donald clocked in and got the sparsely adorned security desk in order, with his newest manga and an energy drink front and center.
A truck pulled up to the gate, Donald walked up to the truck and pointed his flashlight into the vehicle. He saw the smiling faces of the next shift of plant workers who carpooled from in town.
“Hey yo, DJ!” The driver called from the truck. Donald actually preferred this nickname day to day.
“Just another night of rat killing right?” DJ joked.
“You’ve been hanging out with big Don too much bud. You’re overusing that old school lingo,” the passenger of the truck said.
“Maaan, you better get to work before the whole town loses power.” DJ joked as he scanned his badge and opened the gate.
The troop of workers drove through and ten minutes later another drove out, this group in a minivan. Off they drove to get back to their respective vehicles.
DJ locked up the security box and made sure the main gate was secure. He began his perimeter check. It was a warm summer night and the moon gave a fair amount of light, with scattered clouds lingering above. Visibility wasn’t bad, but he still pulled out his flashlight. The orb danced across the terrain. He shined the light onto a faraway ditch. there was some heavy brush and a couple of deer pranced away from his light.
In the distance, he noticed a shooting star. For a moment he thought of a wish. DJ was still a kindred spirit and never wasted a shooting star by not making the wish. While he was thinking, the light in the sky stopped mid-flight and went north right over the plant. DJ was staring at the light dart overhead and into the distance.
DJ’s train of thought was broken when he heard a metallic grinding noise. It was rhythmic and unnatural for the usual sounds of the night. He pulled his light up and pointed it at the fence. Gentle waves of motion shook the fence with every scrape. He carefully followed the fence and as he pulled his light ahead of him, he only saw a swaying section of fence that looked like it had a hole cut in it.
He got closer to the damage on the fence and saw about a two-foot opening. He reached out to touch the chain link. After looking closer, it didn’t look like it was a clean cut, but ground or twisted to a breaking point. Even more peculiar, it had something slimy dripping off of the ragged pieces.
He reached out and touched the fence and sure enough it was wet and viscous. He brought his fingers up to his face; he recoiled back and nearly gagged. Whatever that stuff was, the smell was foul.
DJ rubbed his hands in the dry dirt to help get the stuff off of his fingers. He heard rustling on the other side of the fence. DJ looked up and pointed his flashlight towards the noise, not far from the fence. He was staring into the red eyes of…something. It looked like some kind of gray skinned dog, its body covered in thin hair. Its eyes were crimson red, it had either hair or quills like a porcupine running down its head to its back. It had long, gangly claws on its front paws.
The claws were even more present as the creature stood up on its hind legs. Its upper lip curled up to expose a mouthful of sharp teeth, the canines much more prominent than the rest of its teeth. It was less a snarl, more so a grin. It got back down on all fours and trotted into the plant.
DJ wasn’t really sure what he saw. He wasn’t even sure if he saw it or made it up. He still sprinted full speed back to his post. He didn’t know what to do, this wasn’t exactly in his training manual.
He came up on the main gate, arms pumping, grunting with every stride. His conditioning kind of went downhill after he stopped playing football, he made a mental note to work more cardio.
He’d really only had people take a wrong turn and he had to turn them around back to town. Once he had a kid who got his car stuck in a ditch and needed a phone. That’s really the most action he’d ever had to deal with at this job. He thought to himself that whatever that thing is, it seems dangerous. There were only a couple controllers and engineers, but it was still his job to keep them safe.
DJ stood in front of the gate, hands on his hips, breathing hard. He took a moment to recover, he looked through the gate and everything was quiet. He was only allowed to guard the perimeter; he actually wasn’t supposed to go into the plant unless absolutely necessary.
He always followed the rules, but he didn’t want that thing hurting anyone, so this had to be an absolutely necessary situation. Unsure of what he would do when he caught up to it, DJ thought he would just chase it out or corner it until animal control could get it.
The card reader beeped, and the gate slid over. DJ crept into the compound, he scanned the area with his flashlight. The gate’s mechanical whir and rattling fence dominated the soundscape and was concluded by the metallic ‘clink’ of the gate locking behind him.
Once again…silence. DJ whispered under his breath, “I’m a big brave dog, I’m a big brave dog.”
This was his childhood affirmation when he was scared, which he was, a surprising amount of time. As a matter of fact, he still found it unnerving to sleep without some kind of light.
His parents actually made him play football to toughen him up, as he was prone to crying and was very shy growing up. When he started playing, he realized he was stronger than he knew. He learned to be more mentally tough, but he at heart, was still a big teddy bear.
One thing always part of his personality was he had a hard time standing up for himself, but wouldn’t think twice to stand up for others. He was known to pull over and help stranded cars to safety. He would stop people from bullying by just exerting his presence. DJ never had to be in a fistfight, he saved all of that for the field. Anyone who had seen him on the field would rather not find out what he was capable of doing in a fight.
As scared as he was, he knew he had to be ready. He had no clue how he was going to deal with that thing; he just knew it had to be dealt with. The workers were his responsibility and he wasn’t going to let them get hurt.
He double backed to where he first saw the hole in the fence. He shone his flashlight on the hole and tracked footprints to where he saw the thing. The footprints led towards an annex that looked like it was empty at the moment. The plant consisted of the main plant, a few annexes, and a parking lot. The compound was a sprawling piece of land, DJ just hoped that thing hadn’t gotten far.
He approached the building slowly. The tracks led to circle around it. Then they seemed to suddenly stop. DJ noticed scratches on the side of the building. It was one of those portable buildings that were made out of thin sheet metal. The orb of light followed the scratches, which at points, punctured through the sheet metal. At the top of the structure, the roof looked like it was pulled up away from the frame.
DJ stretched his neck by rocking his head side to side and rolled out his shoulders. He went back around to the door of the building. “Break room/kitchen” a blue and white plastic sign read on the door.
Pulling out his phone, DJ dialed a number and the line toned. Usually the reception wasn’t very good out here, but luckily it connected. A voice answered on the phone.
“Animal control, can I help you?” DJ whispered “Hi, my name is Donald and I’m a security guard at the power plant.”
“How can I help you?” the voice said disinterested with his pleasantries.
“There’s some sort of creature…animal, I don’t know. It’s got long teeth and claws and stands up kind of like a kangaroo. It’s about 2, 2 and a half feet tall. It got into the power plant south of town. Can you send someone to get it?” Dj asked.
“Take….pictures…far…close….corner it. Don’t worry…be there soon,” the voice said as the connection faded in and out. Then the call dropped. DJ didn’t quite hear the whole sentence, but he got the gist of it, he thought.
DJ looked at his phone and switched his camera on. They said get pictures far and close. Seeing as he can’t see what’s going on from out here, he should go inside and get a picture. Actually, he’d do animal control one better. He switched his phone to record a video. He held the phone in his left hand and placed the flashlight under his right arm while he opened the door.
He stepped in slowly and closed the door behind him. He pulled the flashlight from under his arm and held it at eye level. He scanned the kitchen with the light. There was a cafeteria with about six tables. And a small kitchen nook towards the back of the building.
A rhythmic, metallic grinding noise was coming from the kitchen area. As DJ approached, he saw the counter and a range on an island with a microwave and coffee pot on the wall behind the island. The sound was coming from around the corner.
The light illuminated a cabinet door hanging open and a large stainless steel fridge against the wall. As soon as the DJ pointed the light in the nook, the sound stopped. He pointed the camera ahead of him, and used his flashlight to open the cabinet to see inside.
He shoved his camera in front of the cabinet as he swung it open and to his surprise, nothing was there. He pushed the door back closed. As he did, he made eye contact with a pair of red eyes on top of the fridge.
He pulled the light up and shined it on the creature.
It was perched on the fridge with a chewed up can of soup. It bared its fangs, raised its quills, and threw the can at DJ’s head. The can narrowly missed as DJ slipped his head to the side. The creature jumped from the fridge and onto him, then scuttled off of DJ.
It scurried through the cafeteria, claws clicking and scratching on the linoleum. DJ felt his head and shoulders and confirmed he’d been scratched, nothing worse than a large cat. But, during the scuffle he accidentally threw his phone across the room.
He shined the flashlight into the cafeteria and saw his shattered phone on the ground. For a moment he forgot there was some otherworldly creature who just tried to take him out with tomato soup in the cafeteria.
The orb scanned the cafeteria until it encircled the creature standing on its hind legs, using its long claws to work the door handle. The door opened with a ‘click’, the creature turned to DJ and bared its teeth and stuck its forked tongue out at him before darting into the night.
DJ once again looked at the shattered phone, then back at the door. Since the advent of cell phones, the compound only has landlines in certain buildings. Unfortunately, DJ didn’t know which ones other than the security box. He looked around and confirmed there was not a landline in the cafeteria.
There wasn’t any time to go back to his station, nor look for another phone. DJ jogged outside, swept the ground with the flashlight and caught sight of the creature’s tracks. The corona of light ran up the tracks and DJ just caught the thing slinking into a door of the main plant.
DJ had never actually been in the main plant, he was sure he might get lost. The least he can do is warn the workers and maybe have them call animal control again.
He took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders, and stretched his neck. DJ jogged to the door and whipped it open, he swung the flashlight wildly as he burst through the door.
He dropped his arms in amazement as he was expecting a more sinister scene. The hallway was well lit and clean. White walls almost magnified the pristine scene. On the walls, company posters and safety notices hung neatly.
The flashlight clicked off and DJ collected himself and started walking down the hall. A steady hum vibrated through the building, it was hardly noticeable, but was definitely there.
“Aaaaaahhh!!!!!!” A scream pierced the short-lived calm of the moment.
DJ ran as fast as he could down the narrow hall, he forced air from his mouth with each stride. He looked and sounded like a freight train speeding through the narrow corridor.
The screaming emanated from a room labeled as the ‘control room.’ DJ stepped to a stop and flung the door open. There he saw an employee standing behind a rolling office chair. His hands on the backrest, he pushed the chair out towards the thing, trying to keep it at bay.
It stalked the worker on all fours, trying to creep around the chair. Its quills pulled back, growling menacingly at the man. The thing crouched low. DJ reacted and jumped at it. It lunged at the worker.
Everyone in the room, including the creature, were surprised when DJ caught it midair. Red eyes glared at the dumbfounded DJ. His large hand wrapped around the creature’s torso, the thing started to violently squirm.
It flailed and clawed, DJ gripped it, not so tight as to hurt it. But, the agitated creature reeled back and dug its elongated fangs into DJ’s hand.
DJ recoiled in pain and waved his hand around, the creature still latched on.
It finally lost its grip and DJ flung onto the control panel. In a rare fit of anger, DJ drew his arm back and threw the heavy flashlight at it, narrowly missing. The flashlight hit the control panel with a ‘crack,’ ‘pop,’ and ‘sizzle,’ then the room went black.
Without a light, DJ followed the scraping sound to the door. Emergency lights kicked on, the room was glowing in a low red light. The door was already swinging closed.
“Can you get the lights working?” DJ barked at the worker.
“I…I think so…,” the worker stuttered.
“Do it, please, and warn everyone else. Get them to safety. I’ll go after that…thing.” DJ said. The worker got on his walkie talkie and called out to all personnel.
DJ ripped one of his sleeves off, exposing a very robust deltoid. He wrapped his injured hand and ran out of the door. He jogged down the hall listening for anything unusual. The hall had an eerie glow with the red emergency lights.
As he jogged, he turned a corner and nearly ran into a small man with a thin mustache. The man was actually average size, but looked small standing in front of DJ.
DJ reached out and stopped himself by grabbing the terrified man’s shoulders. The man could hardly talk. DJ shook him and asked, “Which way did it go?” The man pointed down the hall to a set of double doors.
“Get to the control room and see if you can’t help get the power back on!” DJ commanded.
Away ran the frightened man. As DJ approached the doors, he saw a fire extinguisher near the entrance. He grabbed the tiny hammer and broke the glass on the box. He pulled out the extinguisher and yanked the pin out. Not much of a weapon, but it will have to do.
He stretched his neck, rolled out his shoulders, and kicked the doors open, walking in aiming the extinguisher. There was no turning back. He stalked through the room—it was the heart of the plant. Large machines and gauges, DJ couldn’t make heads or tails what these machines did or how they worked. He just knew that thing had to be in here somewhere.
A faint ‘ting’ emanated from his left. Before he could swing the nozzle around, the creature leaped out of a crevice, fangs and claws bared. DJ sidestepped. He felt a burning run across his left shoulder and chest. The creature scratched him and this time it meant business.
It landed among a group of blue metal barrels which tipped over like a row of bowling pins. They clattered loudly but the creature recovered from the miss and scrambled up for another strike.
This time, DJ was ready. Fire extinguisher in hand, he sprayed the thing, covering it in foam. It writhed around on the floor. DJ stood over it, he raised the fire extinguisher above his head. Fire in his eyes, nose flared, he gripped the extinguisher. He was ready to deliver the killing blow.
He sighed and his shoulders dropped down, he lowered the extinguisher until it hung by his hips. The creature was confused and couldn’t see, it was pathetic just rolling around on the ground. DJ set the extinguisher to the side. He picked up a barrel and gently set it over the thing. It didn’t take long for it to start scratching and trying to escape.
It’s efforts were in vain as DJ leaned his weight on top of the barrel. The lights flickered on and the machines hummed to life. Two men in black suits emerged, guns drawn.
They converged on DJ and the barrel.
“Is it under there?” One of the men said with suspicious coolness.
DJ nodded his head up and down.
“Good, we got a live one,” the first man said to the second.
The first man holstered his pistol and pulled a heavy black gun from his coat. It looked more like a paintball gun, but more expensive.
“When I say ‘tip’ you tip the barrel a few inches, then put it down when I say ‘down’.
Understand?” the man with the black pistol said.
“You’re not going to hurt it, are you?” DJ inquired.
The man raised an eyebrow, “Of course not,” he assured.
“Ready?” the man asked.
DJ nodded.
“Tip,” the man said.
DJ tipped the barrel just enough for the man to get the muzzle of the gun into the opening. A faint ‘psst’ ‘psst’ ‘psst’ echoed from inside the barrel. “Down!” The man commanded.
The captive creature was frantically scratching and hissing. A few seconds later, the barrel went silent.
“Go ahead son, you can relax,” the man with the gun said.
DJ hesitantly got up from the barrel. The man with the gun noticed the scratches and DJ’s bandaged hand. He nodded his head and said, “It did a number to you, didn’t it?” the man asked suspiciously.
“It’s just a scratch, I think I’ll be….” DJ was interrupted by the man pointing the gun at him and casually putting three rounds into his chest.
The gun left round purple splatters, and the fumes smelled sweet like flowers. His eyes got blurry and he felt himself nodding off, then that was all he remembered.
Next thing he knew, DJ was in the backseat of a police car, but it wasn’t a police car. The men sitting in the front definitely weren’t police. DJ moved and heard the rattling of handcuffs, he looked down and sure enough. He was cuffed in a strange car.
DJ had never been in trouble or even been in the back of a cop car before. He didn’t really know what was going on, his head hung low and tears began to well up in his eyes.
“Is there anywhere good to eat around here?” asked the driver.
“There’s a chile thing going on, maybe we can try it? Apparently folks around here are crazy over it,” the passenger said.
“Naw, spicy stuff gives me gas. Plus, we still have to question that state patrolman about the Buick incident. I don’t know how long big boy and his pet will be out. So we should wrap everything up,” the driver said.
“How about burgers?” The passenger answered his own question.
“You and your burgers, I swear,” the driver said.
As the car sped up the interstate, its headlights locked onto a crowd of people standing in the middle of the highway. The driver veered off the road and the car flipped violently and came to rest on its top near some railroad tracks.
DJ wiggled his fingers and toes; this was a good sign he was intact. He felt a little banged up but he knew he wasn’t hurt as bad as his last accident. He swung his body around and used his feet to push the damaged door open with a crunch.
He shimmied out and got to his feet. He turned and saw the men in the front, they seemed motionless until he saw them moving and groaning.
He looked over and saw a cage that was torn open, from the inside out.
DJ went to try and help extricate the men in the car, but heard a cascade of shuffling feet coming from the road. DJ didn’t know what to do, his hands were still cuffed, so he couldn’t be that much help.
“I’m sorry guys!” he said to the men in the wreckage and he ran into the night.
To be Continued…
