The Green Slime Part-1

  Green Slime



Miles Sharp was looking up into the boughs of a Red Maple tree that was overhanging his black 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. He had been focused on a beautiful red chirping Cardinal that was half camouflaged by the unusual brightness of the Red Maple tree. Considering that these trees were wild and not cultivar, they were astonishingly red. He was momentarily lost in the beauty of the natural world in which he had been absent for much too long. The weather was warm and mildly humid, but a faint cool breeze made the day feel perfect. He could smell a variety of wildflowers carried by the calm, but steady breeze. He was so enthralled by the experience his mind wandered off of the task before him. Suddenly, before he knew what was happening and before he could tighten his grip to ease the impact, the heavy ice chest that he had slowly been moving from the rear of the Jeep, slid out and landed hard on the toes of both feet. "Shit!" he said harshly. The sudden; sharp, but relatively brief spell of pain, temporarily turned his contentedness into anger at the cooler and it's contents.



"You shouldn't use that kind of language around Alison" Sara said. Miles didn't reply to his wife but he irrationally thought, shut the fuck up. Almost at once the pain passed and he realized how stupid and illogical his anger had been at both the cooler and his wife.



Picking up the ice chest that had a second ago been his adversary, Miles carried the cooler through the short green grass to a large yellow blanket that Sara had lay across the lush green grass. As he walked he could see Alison heading down toward the large creek adjacent to their picnic area. Miles sat the ice chest beside another cooler he had put down minutes earlier. One was full of ice cold beer, soda, and bottled water while the other held lunch meat, hotdogs, cheese, mustard, relish, lettuce and an onion among other assorted food items. There was also a plastic bag on the blanket with hotdog buns, chili, and big marshmallows. The pots, pans, and silverware were still in the Wrangler, but it would be awhile before they needed them and right now all he wanted to do was open a beer and relax.



Alison, Miles and Sara’s eight year old daughter, was knelt down at the edge of the creek that was about 20 yards wide and ran along their campground. The water in the creek was clear and about two feet deep, but was calm enough that they needn’t worry about Alison being swept away in a violent current if she accidentally fell in. Alison was wearing a radiant yellow sun dress, and although she was somewhat of a tomboy she refused to dress like one. Sara had desperately tried to persuade her into wearing something more suitable for the wilderness, but to no avail. She had her hands in the warm water splashing it around. As Miles stood looking at her with his open can of Coors, he couldn’t help but smile. He felt happy and content for the first time in a long time. He was finally away from his hectic job with the family he loved. They were Isolated from others even more so than most campers. Miles didn’t want to camp in the campgrounds that offered little privacy, where people were always near. To him those places resembled trailer parks and all he wanted was to be in nature with his family.



Miles had been here once before during a very bad time in his life. That was three years earlier when things weren’t as good between him and Sara. Not were things only bad between them, but in total disrepair. He had been in dire need of help at that time. The unpalatable truths that would emerge drove him to the lowest point in his life. He had drove miles through secluded, public and private, lands on roads that were more suited for hiking than driving. Without his four wheel drive Jeep Wrangler he wouldn’t have been able to make it. When he had found this beautiful open area full of green grass and blooming wildflowers, he had walked to the center and sat among the beautiful blooming Indian Paintbrush. For a few minutes he sat in a trance like state watching the water of the creek make it’s way downstream. Then he had taken his wallet from his back pocket and opened it; he removed a picture of Allison who was only five at the time. He had started to softly sob. Her thick blonde hair hanging at the sides of her face, her large sky blue eyes, and the wide innocent smile that he would never see again. Then he had raised his right hand that held the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum and put the barrel in his mouth. A split second before he pulled the trigger an inexplicable and drastic change occurred in him. Almost instantly an uncomprehending feeling arose in him. He was calm and his sobbing had subsided. Miles was suddenly overwhelmed by the noises of nature that he had been deaf to upon sitting in the grass and flowers. His mind had become uncluttered and the water in the creek had a new brilliance that he had not recognized moments earlier. That’s when he had noticed the wind blowing through the leaves of the beautiful Red Maple trees and the allure of aromatic fragrance that carried with it. He could hear chirruping sounds all around him. It seemed that this place had magically filled him with a new and refreshing vitality for life.



As Miles now stood on the thick yellow blanket holding a beer in his right hand instead of a .357 and watching his daughter play near the creek, he thought of how far he had miraculously come in such a short period of time. This was where he had went from imminent suicide to discovering a new love of life in what was an incredibly short amount of time. Still watching his precious Alison skipping alongside the bank of the creek, he was overcome by a great feeling of shame and guilt. He was sickened with himself for having come so close to selfishly ending his own life. How could he have been so thoughtless to the emotional pain that it would have caused her. How had he ever let himself wallow in self pity to the point where he had given a big fuck you to the people who cared for him.



He of all people should have known the consequences of his actions; he was, after all,  the one who at the age of 10 had discovered that his own father had taken his life. He could still vividly remember finding his father in his study slumped forward in his large black leather chair with tendrils of crimson flesh trailing down upon his mahogany desk. The top right side of his head was gone and the back of his chair was splattered with blood and brain tissue. The shotgun barrel was still visible; rising above the desk. He had only glanced at the gruesome scene for a second before fleeing the room, but the image was as vivid now in his minds eye as it had been then. Shaken by his disturbing memories he downed the second half of his beer in one swallow and immediately pulled open the cooler and grabbed another. He quickly opened the new beer and took a long swallow as a mild shudder moved through him.



Sara was happy to have this time with Miles and Alison, although she didn’t understand Miles insistence on coming this far up into the secluded wilderness. He had told her of this place before and she knew it held a special place in his heart, but he had never let her know the reason why. She found the place even more stunning than that in which he described it. There were bright Red Maple trees that were thick and beautifully formed. White Oaks on all sides that were a healthy lustrous green. The creek gently rolled over moderately rocky terrain and made a pleasant relaxing sound. Wild blue Fern-leaved Phacelia grew along the bases of many of the White Oaks; some rising as high as two feet, while red Indian paint brush grew thickly in the clearing where she had lay the yellow picnic blanket, and sun flowers were clustered at the edges of the open space. The site was so dazzling it briefly made her dizzy. Several butterfly of different colors explored the various plants adding to the dreamlike quality. Although they were miles from civilization the beauty in this place looked preternatural, as if someone had spent each day meticulously caring for the flora here.



While the place was gorgeous Sara still would have preferred the meager accommodations of a regular campground. The idea of peeing among the flora and fauna was closer to nature than she cared to be. Although the insects and birds that she could hear and see now made for a serene sight, she knew uglier and more sinister creatures lurked in the shadows of the bushes, shrubs, and tree boughs.



  “You want a beer?” Miles ask.



“What?” she said; distracted by her own thoughts.



“Do you want a beer” Miles repeated.



“Oh, yeah” she replied and smiled.



Miles was starring at her with a grin on his face. He looked handsome, more so than usual to her. His brown hair was slightly tossed by the breeze and his brown eyes shown brighter than normal in the golden sunlight. They still had the vague tormented look, as if a lost soul resided beyond them. They had looked that way ever since she had known him. She knew Miles better than anyone else in the world, but she still knew little of the pains he had endured throughout his life, and how deeply they had affected him. She knew she held some responsibility for the pain that he carried with him, but things were good now, and they had been for awhile. Their past hurts may always be with them but they would never hold them down.



Sara sat on the yellow blanket and Miles followed. He handed her a beer and kissed her soft full lips. Sara was a natural beauty and didn’t need makeup to enhance her appearance. Her smooth light skin was perfection; her large beautiful eyes were a shade of blue he had never seen before except in Alison’s, which were as rare and unique as her mothers. Her thick blonde hair was the envy of many women and smelled faintly of strawberries. She was wearing blue jeans and a light blue blouse that fit snugly and revealed the perfect contours of her supple body and full breast. Miles leaned close and kissed Sara again. He savored the taste of her lips.



Alison was now skipping rocks across the creek. She was the spitting image of her mother; big blue eyes, blonde hair, and same bone structure. She turned toward them and yelled “Daddy, watch”. She skipped another rock and looked at him with a huge innocent smile that could only come from a child. The rock hit the water and skipped twice before hitting dense brush on the other side of the creek.



“That’s good sweetie, just like I taught you”. Alison moved along the shore searching for more flat rocks to skip. Periodically she looked back to see if they were watching her.



Sara was opening her beer when a fat black and yellow bumble bee buzzed close to her head, temporarily landed in her hair and then took off again out of sight. She let out a low scream; fell into Miles, and spilled a little beer on him, then started to laugh. Miles laughed with her and put his arm around her. He was charmed by her childlike reaction to the bee even though it was capable of delivering a painful sting.



“I love it out here” he said, “Everything is so peaceful and beautiful”.



“Right now it is” she said, “But I don’t like the woods at night”.



“There’s nothing here at night that isn’t here now” Miles assured her.



“But that’s when things come out to hunt and I don’t like the idea of having to pee in the woods while animals are stalking through the trees.” She said.



Calmly Miles said “There really isn’t any animals here you have to worry about attacking you. You have more to worry about when it comes to insects than carnivores.” , “Plus I’m here to protect you and I have a gun.” he said with a grin.



“The last time we went camping you had to lay down after getting stung by an ant” she laughed, jokingly mocking his macho attitude about protecting her.



She was right that he had laid down in the back of the Jeep after being stung by an ant but that was only partially caused by the sting, or at least that’s what he liked to believe. He had been laboring to set up a new tent in horrid heat and was exhausted by the time he was stung, and accordingly discovered he was attempting to erect the tent on a red ant hill. Looking back it was funny, but he had been in serious pain at the time.



“That won’t happen again” he said, “Next time I’ll get a clear shot at it before it has time to sneak up and attack me”.



“What about snakes” Sara said with a little sincere worry.



“We’ll be in the tent when we’re sleeping, besides there aren’t many poisonous snakes” he explained.



“But we’re so far from help if something happens, maybe we shouldn’t let Alison play near the water.” she said with more worry than before.



“We can’t make her stay right beside us all the time. This is for all of us and we can’t take the fun out of it for her by being overly protective. Besides there aren‘t anymore snakes by the water than there is here.” Miles said.



Sara replied sourly “Alison getting bit by a snake would take the fun out of it for everyone.”



Miles tried his best to assure her that Alison was fine and would stay that way. “Don’t worry so much baby, Alison is safe.”



Sara sat her empty beer can down and started to stand, “I’ve got to pee.” She said,  “I’m just going over there by those bushes.”.



“Alright, just let me know if any carnivorous ants try attacking you.” Miles said in a lame attempt at a joke.



As Sara walked towards the bushes lined with blue Fern-leaved Phacelia, Miles withdrew his third can of beer from the cooler. As he pulled the tab he looked up at the sky and watched a Turkey Vulture as it joined other circling buzzards upstream. He was struck with an ominous feeling that he couldn’t pin down. Then he had the unsettling feeling that he was in the past. Three years ago; just a spirit watching the buzzards circling his decaying body that lay in a beautiful bed of wildflowers. Dead eyes starring up into eternity while those that loved him wondered where he was, and frantically searched for him. Miles quickly removed that thought from his mind. He was having a difficult time keeping disturbing thoughts and images out of his mind. It was as if his mind was a rollercoaster of thoughts that ranged from the blissful beauty around him to the horrors of the past. He thought that some people might find it strange that he would return with his family to a place he last visited while empty inside, and planning to end his life, but this place had in fact saved his life. He knew that if he hadn’t come here that fateful day he would have ended his life someplace else, consequently damaging, if not destroying the lives of his friends and family.



Miles heard Sara scream. This was not the scream of an encounter with another bumble bee but something more serious. The scream had come from behind him, from the bushes she had gone to relieve herself. He dropped his can of beer as he was getting to his feet, and it’s contents spilled across the yellow picnic blanket. Within two seconds he was at the edge of the bushes; he met Sara coming through them still pulling up her jeans, with a look of pure terror on her face.



“What is it!” Miles shouted.



“A big green snake, it’s crawling through those bushes!” she said shakily. Sara was now holding onto Miles’s arm as he rounded the bushes, and at once spotted the smooth green snake.



Alison was beside them now, alerted by her mothers scream. “What’s wrong, what happened mama?” Still shaken, Sara didn’t reply.



“It’s harmless babe. Just a smooth green snake. I use to play with them all the time when I was a kid.”



The snake was actually quite attractive; for a snake anyway. It was light green with an ivory belly. Miles knew a lot about this species of snake, Opheodrys aestivus, because they were his favorites as a child. This particular one was relatively large for it’s species at almost two feet long, but was as harmless as a butterfly.



He snatched the snake up in both hands. Sara let out a shrill shriek and released her grip on Miles at once while taking a few steps backwards.



As she moved backwards, Alison moved forward and ask, “Can I hold it daddy, please!’.



“No! Alison you can’t touch that thing. Put it down Miles!”



Miles knew Sara didn’t like snakes but he had never seen her like this. “Relax baby, this isn’t a poisonous snake, it’s even docile compared to other non venomous snakes”.

He lowered the snake so Alison could touch it. The snake was smooth and sleek in his hands. Sara continued to argue as to why Alison shouldn’t be allowed to hold the snake but finally relented when she saw the girl touching the snake and smiling.



“I’m getting a beer and getting away from that damn snake!” Sara said. She returned to the blanket while Miles and Alison were entertained with the snake.



Alison was having a hard time keeping a grip on the snake. She was smiling as she fumbled with it; the contrast between her yellow sun dress and the light green snake was a cute sight. He had decided to get his camera from the Jeep when the snake wiggled itself loose, and slithered into the green grass that concealed it’s position.



“Ah, shoot!” Alison said, frustrated. A frown briefly found her face but was almost instantly replaced by her customary smile. “Can I swim in the water? Please!”.



He glanced at the slow moving iridescent water where the golden sunlight had been fragmented by trees along the bank. “Sure sweetie but stay right in front of our camp. Stay in sight and don’t go downstream or upstream.” Before Miles could finish Alison had already started towards the creek. Sara tried to stop her as she flew past, but she either didn’t hear or pretended not to hear her.



Miles had started to remove the pots and pans from the Jeep. The afternoon sun was pleasantly warm on the nape of his neck. There were still perhaps 3 hours of sunlight left in the day which left him with plenty of time to cook up the hotdogs, and have the tent set up before dusk. As he turned to carry the cookware to the blanket he saw that Alison was in the water still wearing her dress. Sara had moved from the blanket to the edge of the creek to keep a closer eye on Alison.



“Aren’t you going to help me cook?” he asked.



“I think you can handle it yourself” she said smiling.



She moved up the slight incline from the creek walking in a relaxed and carefree manner. She looked beautiful as she always did to him. Miles had started his fourth beer. He knew he was drinking faster than he should considering he already had a good buzz going, but the unique atmosphere filled him with a craving for alcohol.



“I should get the grill sat up, so I can cook the hotdogs before I pass out.” he said jokingly.



“We could just eat sandwiches today and the hotdogs tomorrow” Sara said.



“I’m in the mood for chilidogs and it will only take a few minutes to cook the hotdogs and heat up the chili” Miles said as he opened the back of the Wrangler to get the Coleman road trip pro SS grill.



Miles was hungry and the beer was making him even hungrier. They had ate a light breakfast early that morning and had snacked on salted peanuts on the long ride out.



“You can get started by cutting up some onion while I get the grill set up” he said, carrying the black portable propane grill to the edge of the blanket; facing the creek in which Alison was still playing. He unfolded the legs and sat it atop the green grass and red wildflower blooms.



“So why did you bring us all the way out here?” Sara asked, she was now sitting on the cooler filled with drinks using a small paring knife to cut the onion into a Tupperware bowl.



“Because I think it’s beautiful out here” Miles said, turning on the matchless propane grill.



“But how did you know about this place?”.



“I’ve been here before. A long time ago.” He said.



“I know, but why did you come here before?”

.

“I just wanted to get out in nature.”. He was being evasive.



Sara knew there was much more to his story than he was revealing; something much darker. “How long ago was it that you were last here?”



“A few years ago.” He said, his words trailing off toward the end.



“What happened out here, Miles?”



“Nothing” he said bluntly, letting her know he wasn’t interested in continuing the discussion.



Although she knew he was getting upset she pressed the question. “It’s obvious something happened, something profound, when you were last out here. I just want to know why this place is so important to you.”



”Why the fuck do you care? You sure as hell didn’t care back then!” he snapped. He was fumbling with the package of hotdogs while trying to control his emotions. He needed another drink of beer. Well, maybe he didn’t need it, but he sure as hell wanted it.



She said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up that time in our lives. I just wondered why you were drawn to this place.”



”Just forget it.”, he said placing the hotdogs on the grill.



Miles hadn’t wanted to think about the circumstances that had brought him here before. Three years ago he had learned that Sara had been cheating on him. She had told him that he wasn’t around enough, but that had been a hollow excuse. He hadn’t been around as much as he would have liked a few months prior to the revelation that she was having an affair, but he had gotten a new job as a computer analyst, and was in charge of upgrading and designing a new computer system for the company. It had been an important job that would have furthered his career if he was successful. He had been under an enormous amount of stress, when Sara had told him she would leave him if he didn’t attempt to work on the betterment of their relationship. The news had come as a shock to him. He didn’t know, or think, their relationship needed any work. As far as he was concerned things couldn’t have been better. Yes, he had been spending a lot of time at work, but he felt that was understandable considering his busy schedule was temporary. He was not only working long hours for himself, but for Sara and Alison as well.



After she had admitted the affair and they had reconciled she had thought she should be completely honest with him about everything that had happened. That’s when she told him who the other man had been. Even though she was doing what she thought was best he wished she had never told him. It had not been a stranger as Miles expected, but a man named Eric Long. He was a friend of Miles and an old boyfriend of Sara’s. Eric had been the one who had introduced them nine years earlier. Sara and Eric had stayed friends after their breakup, even after Eric had married. During the heated exchange that followed she had revealed that Alison was more than likely not his child, but Eric’s. That’s when he had lost it and struck her with his fist. That was the only time, before or sense, that he had hit her. He was not usually a violent man, but his emotional state had deteriorated considerably during that period.



Alison had been 5 years old back then and they had been married for 6 years. Sara’s excuse about him not being around was complete bullshit. He had showered her with love and affection during the time they dated, and during the first years of their marriage. He may not have showed that same love as strongly in the latter years, but he was far from a bad husband. Sara had told him that her relationship with Eric had not been going on ever since Alison was conceived, but that she had two different affairs with Eric. He had believed her about that, but he wasn’t sure why considering that before he had found out about the affair he couldn’t have imagined her cheating on him, especially during their first year of marriage.



He had never gotten a DNA test to see if Alison was his because he was sure she wasn’t, not in the biological sense anyway. She resembled Eric more so than she did him, but she was his; he raised her, provided for her, and he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone else in his life. He was the only father she had ever known or ever would know.



That’s the time when things fell apart in his life. Sara had tried everything to win his forgiveness, which was ironic since she had threatened to leave him if he didn’t work on their relationship. However he had wanted nothing to do with her. Instead of working on the relationship he fell into a deep depression, and stopped working on everything in his life. He was busy feeling sorry for himself while everything around him fell apart. He had started drinking heavily; lost his job, and alienated everyone in his life. Sara had taken Alison and moved out, having given up on him. He had become a miserable shadow of his former self.



  On top of all the turmoil that had already infected his life, he had lost his mother from breast cancer. He had not even visited her on her deathbed. Shortly after losing his mother his younger sister, Rachael, had taken her life with an overdose of benzodiazepines and alcohol. As with his mother he had not attended Rachael’s funeral. He couldn’t grieve for others because he was busy grieving for himself. At times he thought Alison was lucky not to carry his damaged genes. Not to be biologically related to his tragic family that was full of lives cut short by natural and unnatural death.



After the deaths of his mother and sister he had decided to follow them to the grave. That’s when he randomly drove, not knowing his final destination, which eventually led him here. After the miraculous transformation that he had undergone here, he returned a changed man. He slowly rebuilt his life and eventually rekindled his relationship with Sara. Ever since, their relationship had been better on every level than at any other point.



Standing at the grill brooding in silence, Miles was determined not to dwell on the past and let anger and self pity seep back into him. He said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. This was were I came when things were at their worst. When I didn’t think I would make it, but this is where I also realized how much I actually had in life. You and Alison are all I have and all I need or want.”



Sara thought she knew what he meant. Why he had come here; what had happened. She reassuringly said, “It’s alright. I understand.”. She put down the bowl with the onions and came to him. They embraced and she kissed him.



She whispered “I love you, and I’m so sorry about everything”



”I love you too, babe. More than anything.”



They stood holding each other and for a moment everything was silent. The outside world muted by emotions of joy. Then he noticed greenish-black storm clouds upstream to the west.



They were fairly distant but looked ugly and mean. The vague but easily recognizable green color within the clouds looked extremely odd. He couldn’t recall ever having seen anything quit like it. He had let go of Sara, and she had turned to see what he was so intently staring at.



Then he realized the danger of a flash flood that the storm posed and he turned to Alison, “Sweetie, you have to get out of the water now.”



”I don’t want to, daddy”, She said splashing around in the still calm and clear water.



Heading towards the creek Miles said “It’s raining upstream and there could be a flood. You have to get out now.” Miles noticed a thick black sludge coming downstream.

”Just five more minutes, please?” Alison said, unaware of the substance coming upon her.



”Alison, get out of the goddamned water!” Miles yelled.



  Miles rarely cursed around Alison, and never at her, so his sudden outburst had finally gotten her attention, and had her immediately moving toward the shore. As Alison moved toward dry land she noticed the thick slime which hasten her approach. When she reached the shoreline, Miles pulled her up and away from the sludge that enveloped the spot where she had been playing only moments ago.



On closer inspection the sludge also had a green tint similar to that in the clouds. It was a black tar like substance with a dark iridescent green slime swirling within. The substance itself seemed to move independently of the current. At first he thought it might be sewage but he couldn’t detect any smell. Moving away from the creek while holding Alison’s hand he studied the greenish slime and wondered what it could be. Maybe some type of contamination picked up in the clouds, if that was possible. He knew acid rain clouds looked no different than normal rain clouds, but maybe there was something else. The color and appearance of the clouds and the sludge were too alike not to be related. The clouds seemed to be moving extremely quick as they already seemed closer than before. Thunder echoed in the distance.



Miles decided he better get the tent sat up before the storm arrived. Sara was removing the hotdogs from the grill and placing them on a plate.



“Go help mom” Miles told Alison as he went to get the tent from the Jeep.



“What the hell is that stuff in the creek?” Sara asked disgusted, just noticing the slime.



“I don’t know. Sewage maybe, but I can’t smell it.”



The creek was now thick with the sludge.  It gave the illusion of a stream of syrup flowing in slow motion. Like before when he had spotted the soaring buzzards Miles was filled with an ominous dread of impending doom. The sludge was lumpy and bulging in places as if it carried debris, or something more mysterious, beneath it. That’s when he saw the two foot high wave of slime rushing down the creek, as if someone had opened a valve, and released an inrush of sludge into the stream. As it passed there was a low foreboding roar. The creek was dangerously turbulent now, but would still have to rise much higher to endanger their camp. He seriously doubted the chances of that happening. The ugly sludge and clouds was in stark contrast to the beautiful foliage that was all around them.



As the wave passed by Alison was amazed, “Wow! What is that?”



“No idea” Miles said surprised by the occurrence, eyes fixated on the wave.



As the wave passed he begin to assemble the tent at the tree line farthest from the creek. He had no idea what the substance in the creek was, and he was a little concerned, but he wasn’t about to let a little green slime ruin his vacation with his beautiful girls.



“Maybe we shouldn’t stay here, Miles. If the water, or what…. Ever that is, rises we could be in danger. We don’t even know what it is. It could be toxic, we might be in danger now.” Sara said.



Miles replied, “I don’t know. I think it might be coming out of those clouds. Lets just eat and when the storm get closer we will get in the tent or Jeep and wait it out.”



Sara hadn’t connected the unusual colored clouds with the sludge, but as soon as Miles mentioned it she understood why he had come to the conclusion he had. They were dark black with swirling currents of green near their center. They looked like fat blobs of organic sludge floating through the air instead of clouds.



“Why don’t we just eat and pack up and leave. I don’t want everything covered in that stuff. If it’s coming out of the clouds like you said then it isn’t normal, and we shouldn’t treat it like it is.” She said.



Starring intently at the river, Miles calmly said, “We can eat and then put the coolers and blanket in the tent and just wait it out.”



“What if we come out and that slimy stuff is all over everything?”



“We’ll leave if it’s that bad but we’ve come to far to leave now when this will probably just pass. Most of that stuff in the creek should have flowed downstream in a few hours.”



“I hope you’re right, but we don’t even know what this stuff is, and were not even sure where it’s coming from.” She said exasperatedly.



“It will be fine, babe. We’ll stay in the tent and when it’s over we will decide on whether to stay or not.” Miles said with a smile.



Alison had opened the chili and put it into a cast iron chili pot. She gave it to Sara who sat it on the grill to heat. Sara slowly stirred it, but her mind was on the clouds that were moving ever closer. Although she hadn’t ate since breakfast the sludge in the creek had ruined her appetite.



Miles was tying a knot in a rope he had connected to a stake he had stuck in the soil to hold the tent down, when at the peripheral of his vision he saw a large mass protrude from the slime. It was about two feet in diameter and seven feet in height. It resembled the neck of a prehistoric creature, but seemed to be covered , or consist solely of the sludge. Almost as soon as it appeared it disintegrated and  fell back into the flowing slime.



“What the…fu…” Miles said astonished.



While disintegrating it made loud popping noises as it was swept away in the violent torrent. Miles wasn’t sure what he had seen. Maybe a log beneath the sludge had snagged a rock and was briefly thrust upright, giving the illusion of something alive protruding from the slime. However that didn’t explain how it came apart and dropped back into the stream without revealing anything that was being cloaked by the slime.



Whatever was flowing down the creek seemed stranger  now than it had before. No longer reminding him of sewage, but something so foreign it frightened him. Suddenly, there was another series of loud pops and crackles; like a brick of black cat firecrackers going off, and was then punctuated with the loud crash of thunder.



  Alison and Sara had seen the entire spectacle and had turned toward Miles, about to speak when the cacophony of strange noise startled them. They both looked toward the creek as they moved toward him, frightened and putting distance between themselves and the vile deluge of crackling slime.



“Miles what’s happening? We have to leave now!” Sara said fearfully, holding onto miles right arm while Alison held onto his left.



“I’m scarred daddy!”



With tension in his voice, Miles said, “It’s okay, it’s just something coming from upstream. It’s nothing to worry about.”, trying to calm himself as well as the girls.



“We’re not staying here, Miles. I want to leave now, before the storm is all the way here.” Sara said anxiously.



Miles had no intention of staying any longer. He was now almost as worried as Sara and Alison , but he didn’t want them to see how nervous he really was, and his fear couldn’t completely diminish his curiosity. Suddenly he heard the shrieking of an animal. It was a horrible sound of agony, as if some large animal was in it’s death throes.



“Let’s go, Miles!” Sara said with more terror in her voice than before. Alison began to cry, “I wanna….leave. Da…d..dyyy, let‘s…go”. Her eyes were already filled with tears that glistened in the sunlight.



Miles said, “It will be okay. Just wait here. I’m going to check it out real quick. You two get in the tent and I’ll be back in just a few minutes. I’ll pack up and we can leave when I get back.”



“Why can’t we just leave now? There isn’t any reason for you to go wondering off right now.” Sara said, frustrated with him.



“I’m not gonna take long. I just want to walk upstream a little ways and see… if there’s anything to see.”



Knowing she couldn’t talk him out of going she reluctantly said “Hurry up and come back. I don’t like waiting while that storm is so close. It‘s going to start raining anytime now”



“I‘ll hurry. Just stay in the tent.”



“We’ll wait in the Jeep instead”



“Okay, I’m going to get the gun before I go”



“Why do you need the gun?”



“Just to be safe. You heard that animal.”



“Just hurry up, Miles, please!.”



Miles started up creek with the same Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum that he had come close to using on himself three years earlier. The gun felt good in his hand and his feeling of dread somewhat subsided, although he didn’t know exactly what he feared, or how the gun could protect him from anything he had witnessed thus far.



The further he moved upstream the more dense the vegetation became. The sky was being enveloped by the green and black clouds. They now stretched into the north and south and were almost on top of him. He was close enough to see the sheets of rain coming from the clouds nearest him. As far as he could tell the rain looked normal. Although the menacing clouds still looked alien to him, and were moving at unprecedented speed, thankfully they weren’t raining green slime. The closer they got the more they looked like the sludge flowing to his right. Both the clouds and the sludge had roiling currents of green swirling toward their center. The clouds were producing an early dusk and visibility was fading. The wind had picked up considerably, and the trees were swaying and creaking, adding to the already sinister mood. He heard more popping and crackling sounds like the ones he had heard before but more distant.



Miles continued toward the clouds that were slowly overtaking the sun, even though everything around him seemed more threatening by the minute. His attention was split between the clouds and the ever expanding creek of unknown sludge. While looking into the clouds he could see large shapes vaguely moving within, like he was looking into a vast ocean and seeing large sea creatures moving in the murky depths below. Another two foot high wall of water came barreling down the stream. Almost exactly like the one he had witnessed earlier. After passing the turbulence grew worse and the noise it made created a miasma of coming death.



The wind was blowing much harder now and an occasional gust blew Miles off balance. After regaining his balance after one of these gust he spotted two deer running ahead of him, partially hidden by thick vegetation. That’s when he saw something extraordinary, a sleek slender dark green tentacle reaching down from the clouds. It was as thin as the arms of a man but it reached all the way down to the ground and grasped one of the deer in what appeared to be a hand. The hand resembled that of a human hand but was several times larger. Although the fingers seemed to have the same diameter of a large human hand they were much longer. The human like appendage had a fierce baleful look that instantly stopped him in his tracks. His heart seemed to stop altogether for a few seconds, before it started to pound hard in his chest. Then he saw something coming out of the contaminated water just like before; this time it didn’t disintegrate when he looked at it. No, it wasn’t just like the one before, different, it had the shape of a malformed human. A body rising seven feet from the sludge, long skinny arms hanging at it’s side, and a blank featureless face. Instead of running around the figure, the slime seemed to run up it’s body. An arm with oversized hands reached toward the sky and grasped a tree limb that overhung the creek. It pulled itself upward, it’s body extending to great lengths. As if made of liquid it poured into the dense foliage and disappeared.



Miles was stunned to the point of inaction. His trancelike state was finally broken by several flashes of brilliant lighting that was followed by horrendously loud thunder. The clouds were now on him and rain started falling hard. Finally able to move he spun around toward the east, ready to run., when he saw it starring at him. He couldn’t be sure it was aware of him, because it was a featureless pile of dark green slime in the deformed shape of half an ape. He couldn’t see any eyes, nose, ears, or mouth. Just a torso with large thick arms and a head. The vile beast had no legs, but was trailing threads of green slime, standing on what seemed to be closed fist. It moved toward him on it’s closed first, like that of a gorilla. Only this wasn’t a gorilla and didn’t have any legs, but nevertheless it came at him shockingly fast. As he started to run it stopped and he saw that there were more of these ungodly creatures in the surrounding area.



He stopped, and shot at the abomination closest to him, aiming at what he thought was the head. Almost immediately he regretted having shot at the thing. He had hit it square in the head, but it only got the thing on the move again. He ran as fast as he could through the dense brush, his clothing already weighed down from the hard rain. Even as Miles ran he noticed the increasing shadows caused by the shifting clouds. When he finally reached the camp, Miles saw that Sara was now standing beside the Jeep looking up into the clouds, trying to shield her face from the rain.



  “Get in the Jeep!“ Miles screamed so his voice could be heard over the pouring rain and rushing creek of slime that now looked more like a river.



When Sara saw him she knew something was wrong. He was wild-eyed and stumbling through the grass in his haste to reach her. Sara got in the Jeep and was joined only seconds later by Miles. Within a minute he had reached the Jeep and was speeding down the narrow trail that had brought them here.



The downfall was coming even harder now and visibility had been further reduced by the advance of the clouds. Only a few spots of daylight were still visible to the east. In minutes the darkness would be absolute. As Miles sped down the path he fished tailed and almost lost control before his tires found traction again. Letting up on the gas he tried to calm his nerves and not run the jeep off the road.



He focused intently on the path ahead oblivious to Sara as she spoke to him. Finally he heard her, “Miles! What the hell is going on!”



“There was something back there. We have to get out of here.”



“What was back there, Miles?” Sara looked back at Alison who was crying. Her eyes were red and tears were streaming down here face. She had a pitiful look of terror and confusion.



“It’s going to be okay sweetie” Sara said trying to console Alison.



Sara couldn’t see anything but rain beyond the windows. The tailgate was open and banging back and forth on it’s hinges as Miles drove over the harsh terrain. Sara looked out the windshield which presented a better view, but she could see nothing but the deserted path in the headlights. Every minute or so lightening would flash briefly illuminating their surroundings. During one of these episodes Sara spotted the dark forms in several trees. The beast were motionless except for their heads, which followed the Jeep. The lightening subsided and the nightmare creatures were once again immersed in shadows. Sara was silent, trying to comprehend what she had seen. They reminded her of demons, or what she imagined a demon to look like. They were like large men who had been cut in half just under the ribs, using their strong arms to hold themselves upright. What at first she thought were entrails hanging from their torso’s, suddenly seemed alive, squirming and moving against the wind. The awful image of the gargoyle’s perched in their trees, silhouetted by lightening, burned an image in her mind that filled her with panic. The more she thought about what she saw the closers she came to losing her grip.



Miles noticed a large object in his path. He slowed as the headlights revealed a large hickory tree laying across the trail. It was too large to move; on his left was the ever expanding river of slime, and to his right was a steep incline covered in dense brush. He came to a stop and looked closely at the incline while deciding what to do next.



“How the fuck did this get here!” Miles screamed. He noticed a strangeness in his voice that scared him.



He couldn’t allow himself to lose control. Not now, not while he had Sara and Alison to think about. He had seen the figures in the trees, but hadn’t said anything because he didn’t want to cause panic, mainly in himself. Sara started to silently cry.



“Everything will fine, baby. There’s nothing to worry about.” Miles lied. “, “I think I can make it around the tree.”



A sudden dull bang crashed and vibrated through the Jeep as something struck the hard top. Miles looked over his shoulder toward the rear of the Jeep as a new sound of twisting metal issued  from that direction. The tailgate was ripped off the hinges from something unseen, and flung upward. Miles opened his door and looked up to see if he could detect the source of what was happening. He could see movement between the clouds. There was little light to help him out, but he saw what he thought was some sort of slow moving gray aircraft. It was unlike any aircraft he had seen before; moving too slow to be a plane, and it looked nothing like a helicopter. It reminded him of a huge blimp, hovering over the dark storm clouds. The peculiar object seemed to have an aura of unearthliness that permeated through the clouds. Everything seemed like a dream to him. What the hell is happening, he thought. None of this seemed real. Nothing was familiar anymore; a strangeness had even entered the trees and vegetation that earlier seemed so peaceful.



He raised the .357 and emptied the remaining 7 shots into the clouds. Lightening flashed. Then he saw the arm on it’s way down from the clouds, coming with tremendous speed. He pulled back as the hand grabbed the door frame, shattering the safety glass as it tore the door from the Jeep. Miles threw the gun to the floor, at the same time pressing the accelerator, and hit the incline at the wrong angle at a dangerous speed. He thought they were going to make it, just as the tires lifted off the muddy soil and the Wrangler tumbled onto it’s roof. He had been too reckless. Even before completing the rollover, Miles thought if he had taken the incline slower he probably would have made it. However there was no time to beat himself up. They had to keep moving. Miles and Sara were thrown hard against the roof. Alison was the only one restrained by a seatbelt, and she hung suspended in the air crying hysterically.