Halloween Pumpkin

Marty and Jean turned just in time to see Fonz’ shoes bathed in moonlight before they disappeared into the darkness. They ran in the direction of the screams. Marty could see him with the night vision goggles for a long time — until the bright green image faded. The screams ended abruptly and their blood turned to ice.

“I’m calling Machete!,” said Jean, but her phone was dead. Marty’s was also. They wondered if the beast could drain batteries? Minds working in tandem, they thought, should they run for help or investigate the vent? Marty said, “Jean, why don’t you run up to the house and let surveillance see you. You can explain when they get here. I will try to find out what’s up with the vent.” Jean took off running and Marty knelt down by it. It was cool. He put his nose to it and smelled a faint, rotten smell. He yelled, “Hello!” into it.

A weak voice responded, “I’m here! HELP!”

“How do I get to you??!”

“Ten paces towards my house and you’ll find the flat metal door.”

It was then that Marty realized it was Luis Gomes. He was still alive!?

Wondering how his night goggles still had juice but the phones were dead, he did the paces and found the door easily with them. Soon he came upon a sight he would never forget: Luis Gomes, who had always been a robust man, looking like a living skeleton on a cot. His skin was a sickly pale pumpkin, like the sun’s light just before dusk when a bad storm was coming. Most horrifying were the gaping wounds on his neck, red-rimmed and infected. That must be what I smelled, thought Marty.

“Dios te bendiga!/God bless you!,” said Luis and burst out dry sobbing as he had no fluid left for tears.

Marty said, “We need to get you out of here asap, before that thing returns. Help is on the way. Can you walk?”

“I will crawl if I have to.”

Luis, encrusted with dried blood, urine, and feces, made Marty almost gag when he moved, but he was able to steel himself and put an arm around what looked like the living dead and assist him. On impulse, Marty looked at Luis’ teeth just to make sure they weren’t fangs.

Jean was in front of the house now, jumping and waving her arms. “Help! Help! The beast just carried off our friend!” In a matter of moments multiple fortified vehicles were screeching their breaks. Armed agents asked Jean where and she pointed in the direction of the bomb shelter. “Marty is back there investigating a metal vent coming out of the ground. The beast carried Fonz off from right behind there.”

“Hey we are here!,” yelled Marty. “I’ve got Mr. Gomes! He’s alive!” An agent on walkie-talkie asked that an ambulance come to the scene quickly. In minutes, Mr. Gomes was strapped to a gurney and being transported to the nearest emergency room.

At about that time, Lt. Machete arrived on the scene with Sgt. Hicks and Prof Sadek.

Machete, who had been composed in their previous encounters, was now unhinged with both anger and excitement.

“What the f*** are you kids doing out here???! You had been confined to quarters that are under close surveillance. When you did your little diversion thing with the fireworks and smoke bombs, we checked your rooms and knew you were on the prowl. So you made it and I gotta say, I’m thrilled you saved poor Mr. Gomes from the beast, but I have to ask, What are you going to say to your Uncle and Aunt, Marty? How are you going to tell them their only son has been abducted by a bloodthirsty ET?”

Marty fell to the ground and put his face in his hands.

Jean looked down at Marty and a part of her wanted to crumble next to him and cry. She resisted the impulse and instead looked at Lt. Machete, her face full of fury. “What the f*** are we doing out here???! I’ll tell you. More than your sorry a**es have been able to accomplish with a whole division of special agents. You all have been so busy with your meetings and your watchings that you haven’t done sh*t!”

Prof Sendak said nothing but her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. Sgt. Hicks put his hand over his mouth to hide a smile of admiration for this feisty young woman. She’s right, he thought. We have totally stalled out here in Mexico City and this is where the live bug is at.

“I won’t have a civilian talk to me like that. Either calm down or you’ll be placed in the brig until we get the beast captured.” said Lt. Machete.

“You first,” said Marty, who by then was up and standing behind Jean.

Machete told Sgt. Hicks to round up the agents to try to find the beast and hopefully Fonz but to leave a couple of agents to search the bomb shelter and be on the lookout for its return. He and Professor Sadek were headed to the hospital to talk with Mr. Gomes. Machete said, “Hicks, take these two back to their hacienda. I don’t want any more interference from them.” Hicks followed the first instructions and then was heading back to the hacienda with Jean and Marty.

“Hicks, are you really going to shut us out of the search? That’s my cousin out there,” said Marty.

Hicks said, “they’ll probably court martial me for it, but no, I’m not.” He called an agent and sent him to the hacienda to inform Uncle Ricky and Aunt Rosa of what was going on.

“Where do you think the creature would take Fonz?” asked Hicks.

The only place they could think of was the warehouse. Jean said, “there have never been any victims found at the warehouse, which means it is able to come and go from it undetected. I think we need to discover its secret entrance.”

Hicks turned the vehicle towards the warehouse.

To read this story from the beginning, start here and follow #tshalloweenchallenge tag to find the other parts.