Harry Adam Knight Fungus

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

whatever time he had left depressed him profoundly. Christ, I need a drink,
he muttered and stared wistfully at the broken bottle.
Then he walked back to the building and peered in through the strands of
fungus that clung to the window. It was a pub, he realized.
He picked up the crowbar and started to prise the door open. The wood, riddled
with fungus, disintegrated immediately and he was able to step into the gloomy
interior. The stink in there was bad and he held his nose while he waited for
his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Despite the spongy growths that looked like giant green egg yolks covering the
walls, ceiling and floor, Slocock saw that he was in a bar. A shapeless mound
by one wall had to be the bar itself.
He made his way to it, stepping warily around the circular growths on the
floor. He was about to step behind the bar when a hand grabbed his ankle.
He glanced down and saw what appeared to be an emaciated human arm protruding
from an oblong mound of fungus on the floor. He pulled his leg free and
stepped back, the Sterling ready to fire.
A reedy, whispery voice said to him, Help me.. . please help me.
Slocock began to make out what the shape on the floor was. It was a man, or
rather the remains of a man. His body seemed to be part of the fungus growing
out of the floor, though apart from his head, his torso, and one arm there
wasn t much left of him.
Help me, the thing whispered.
Sure thing, said Slocock with a smile and pulled the trigger. Closing time,
pal.
Page 94
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
He then went behind the bar and began wiping aside the moss-like growths
covering the bottles and glasses. The labels had been eaten away but he was
soon able to identify a full bottle of scotch. He opened it and took a long
drink. Canadian Club, he told himself happily.
He went to the front of the bar and perched himself on top of a fungus-draped
bar stool. Its upholstery was gone but its tubular steel frame was still
solid. The fungus squelched under his buttocks.
He placed the Sterling on the pulpy surface of the bar and then laid out the
spare clips of ammunition beside it. There were four of them left. Thirty-two
rounds in each. One hundred and twenty-eight bullets, plus what was left in
the clip on the gun. Oh, and the four bullets left in the .38. He smiled and
took another long drink from the bottle. He d be able to kill a hell of a lot
of things with all that, provided he used the ammunition sparingly.
It was going to be a good night.
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ks/Harry%20Adam%20Knight%20-%20Fun
gus.htm (130 of 161) [12/28/2004 12:37:51 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/Harry%20Adam%20Knight%20-%2
0Fungus.htm
Wilson had given up trying to resist. Now he just let himself be carried away
by the tide of shoving and pulling creatures.
He was dimly aware that he and Kimberley he got brief glimpses of her up
ahead had been dragged back up along the
Harrow Road to the spot where they d first encountered the big mob.
And now he was being hustled through some gateway and down a lane. In the
fading light he saw that they were inside a large, sprawling cemetery, the
tombstones still visible among the fungi. He was mildly surprised; he d driven
along the
Harrow Road many times but had never really noticed the existence of this
large place before.
The horde of creatures surrounding them seemed to be increasing in size as
they were carried along a lane bounded on both sides by a profusion of fungal
growths amid tall obelisks and blockhouse-like mausoleums. Wilson guessed that
the cemetery was a more than ideal source of nourishment for the fungi.
The lane widened and Wilson saw that they were approaching a strange building
that seemed to be a Victorian reproduction of a Greek or Roman temple. In
spite of the fungus growing on it he could see the rows of columns extending
out on either side from a tall central structure, forming a square with one
side open.
Dominating this curious scene was the biggest fungus Wilson had ever seen. It
grew in the center of the square beside the main building which it easily
dwarfed. It was either a mushroom or a toadstool and it stood at least
40
to
50
feet high.
He saw several of the fungus victims fall on their knees as they approached it
and he realized, with a shock, that they were praying to it.
Then the mob formed a circle in front of the giant fungus, or rather beneath
it as its huge cap was about 100 feet in diameter.
Wilson saw Kimberley thrust into the center of the circle. She staggered a few
feet and fell. She was obviously having trouble walking. He struggled against
the ones who held him, but couldn t break free. He was forced to watch
helplessly as several of the creatures converged on Kimberley.
They pulled the contamination suit off her, then stripped her of her clothes.
After that they pinned her on her back on the ground, her body spread-eagled.
What were they going to do to her, he wondered frantically. Rape her?
No; he soon saw that the violation of her body they intended was not a sexual
Page 95
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
one.
One of the creatures came forward carrying an armful of colored fungus. He
kneeled beside Kimberley and began to rub chunks of the material over her
body.
Kimberley screamed and struggled but soon her body was soaked with juices from
the fungus.
And then they forced pieces of the stuff down her throat. After that they
backed away from her, watching her as she writhed on the ground, choking and
retching.
Wilson was suddenly propelled forward into the circle.
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...ks/Harry%20Adam%20Knight%20-%20Fun
gus.htm (131 of 161) [12/28/2004 12:37:51 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/Harry%20Adam%20Knight%20-%2
0Fungus.htm
It was his turn now.
3
Wilson s arms ached. He d been tied to one of the columns for several hours,
his arms pulled back behind him and secured by thick strands of woven fungus.
The night was pitch-black apart from the faint illumination provided by the
moon. He could just make out the pale shape of
Kimberley s body similarly tied a few columns away. He had tried speaking to
her, but she wouldn t answer. She seemed to be well and truly sunk in her
personal pit of despair.
He shifted his position in yet another vain attempt to ease the strain on his
arms. And he was also dying for a drink of water. It was a hot night and the
air was thick with humidity and the fecal odor of the fungus.
He stank of it himself. His whole body was smeared with it, it was in his
hair, and he could still taste it from the time they had forced him to eat the
stuff and swallow its juices.
After the ceremony he and Kimberley had been tied naked to the columns, and
their captors had settled down to wait.
Wilson had quickly realized what they were waiting for, and so had Kimberley,
to judge by her frightened sobbing.
Every so often one of the creatures would come and examine them, looking for
signs that the fungus was growing on them.
So far the examinations had proved negative, to his intense relief, but he
knew it could only be a matter of time before one of them, or both, displayed
the inevitable stigmata. What would happen then he had no idea. Presumably
they d be released to be full-fledged members of this fungus-
loving crowd.
What a total fiasco, he told himself bitterly. Instead of even beginning to
search for Jane and her papers he d ended up in this situation. No
transportation, no weapons, not even any clothes.. . and certainly not even
the remotest hope of achieving what he d come here to do. He had begun to
realize that the whole mission had been a wild long-shot from the very start.
He heard a sound, turned and saw a shadowy outline shuffling towards him. Most
of their captors seemed to be sleeping now but one or two had obviously stayed
awake to carry out the inspections.
Then, as the bulbous figure drew nearer, Wilson saw the moonlight being [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Tematy