The Blob

morass not just of sin, but of ignorance, especially the youth of today.

Like that incident in the Rexall today with young Scott Jesky and his purchase of those prophylactics. If the youth of today took their minds off sexual pursuits and put them into learning… well, then the world would be a better place.

He was just turning away from the ornate wooden doors of the church when he heard the tinkle of broken glass. Down the road, a block and a half away, was the establishment known as the Tick Tock Diner, a rude and crude blemish on the community. But it was from the opposite side of the Tick Tock’s block that the oddest sight came. Where there had once been a phone booth, there was now a twisted frame of metal and shattered glass. And some kind of reddish water was pouring from the booth, slipping into the gutter, and washing down into the sewer grill on the curb.

What was that thing? “Merciful God!” he cried, as a shudder gripped him. It didn’t move like water. It moved like something that was alive!

He was about to turn, go back into the church, and call the authorities, when a second, louder crash distracted his attention back to the diner.

There the front door was being kicked out. Two figures appeared. The reverend recognized both Brian Flagg and Meg Penny, but before he could call out to them, they raced off into the darkness.

What in heaven’s name was going on at the Tick Tock Diner? He decided that he’d better go and check. Somebody might need help.

He was forty-four years old, but he kept himself in shape with a regular exercise program at the local Young Men’s Christian Association. In no time at all he was in front of the Tick Tock, where he discovered that the front door wasn’t the only thing broken. The plate glass window off to the right was smashed, with a chair lying in the bushes below it.

From inside the diner he heard a low moaning.

“Hello?” he said.

He entered the darkness, almost immediately thumping his shin against the door. “Ouch!” he said, suppressing a curse. The lights weren’t working in here, so he took out his key chain, which had a small pocket flash attached. The small beam provided enough light for him to pick his way through the scattered tables and chairs.

“Is anybody in there? Is anybody hurt?”

No response. He found the door into the kitchen and entered. Up ahead, at the end of the hallway, he could see a shaft of light. He made for it but was stopped by that moaning sound again. Close by, higher in pitch. And rising.

He swung the light beam around… and caught the glow of the eyes of an alley cat, licking a spill of gravy and meat from the floor.

He exhaled, relieved. Just a cat. He turned back. That open door, that spill of light… As he approached it, he could tell it was a freezer door, wide open, letting out light and cold.

He looked inside. Nothing but food racks, hanging meat, and… Wait a second. How odd.

In the frost on the floor were frozen chunks of some unidentifiable substance that glittered like fine jewelry in the light. Fascinating! Maybe Abner Able down at the university would be able to make something of these things. He looked around and found a shelf holding a few mason jars. He opened one, crouched down, and scooped up the rough, magical-looking things. Like chunks of rubies they were!

He fastened the top back on the jar and carried his strange prize away.

Meanwhile, at the sheriff’s office, Meg Penny and Brian Flagg rushed in to get some much-needed help. Brian realized this was the first time he’d ever actually wanted to see Sheriff Herbert Geller!

But instead of the sheriff they found themselves confronted by a frazzled Sally Jeffers, sitting at a lit-up phone console, overwhelmed by incoming calls.

“We have to see the sheriff!” said Meg.

“I don’t know where he is!” said Sally, punching a phone line in. “Sheriff’s station, please hold,” she said into the mike in front of her mouth.

“What about Briggs?” demanded Brian.

Sally pointed at the radio. “I can’t raise anybody, all I’m getting is static.” She punched another line. “Sheriff’s station, please hold.” Then she turned back to Brian and Meg. “Last I heard from the deputy, he was heading up to Elkins Grove to check out some disturbance.” She punched a button and spoke into the mike again. “Sorry to keep you waiting…”

Meg turned to Brian. “Elkins Grove.”

“That’s where I found the old man.”

They rushed out of the station, got back into Meg’s VW, and zoomed into the night.

The patrol car was parked on the side of the road in a long swath of tall grass just before the woods.

“Look over there,” Meg said, directing Brian’s attention.

She parked and they got out, approaching the patrol car cautiously. The driver’s door hung partially open.

“Looks like he left in a hurry,” said Meg.

Brian looked suspiciously into the black-and-white car. This was the same place where he’d run into the stricken Can Man. Just about the same place where the Can Man had run into the road in front of Meg and Paul.

Brian looked out into the woods.

“Yo, Briggs!” he called.

In the woods crickets chirped. Nothing more.

“He’s up there somewhere,” he said to Meg.

“In the woods. In the dark woods!”

“Right. I guess we could wait here.”

Meg sighed. “While that thing wipes out the whole town?”

She started up the incline, and Brian Flagg followed her, muttering to himself. “Never thought I’d go out of my way to find a cop.”

They wended their way through the thick underbrush. The pale moonlight filtered through the thick latticework of branches overhead, highlighting the shallow ground fog that had been building as they progressed.

Brian bumped his head into a low-hanging branch.

“I feel like fucking Hansel and Gretel out here,” he complained. “We shoulda brought bread crumbs!”

“Shh,” said Meg. “I think I hear something.”

There was something, realized Brian. They stood still, listening to it. A distant thrumming sound, fading in and out of the silence of the night.

“What the hell was that?” Brian asked.

Meg shook her head, and they went a little farther before the rumbling sound stopped them in their tracks again.

“Boy, that sound gives me the willies!” said Brian.

Meg looked around apprehensively.

Suddenly a bright light flared up deep in the woods, suffusing the sky above them with a white glow. Brian started backing away, pulling Meg with him.

“Maybe we should get out of here,” he suggested.

“Maybe you’re right,” said Meg.

But before they could set upon this course, the vibration in the air grew deeper and louder. The light approached, sending moving shafts through the trees, turning night into artificial day. An unnatural wind kicked up suddenly, whipping the foliage into a frenzy.

Brian felt the sudden urge to run.

The light swept over them, and a descending wind almost knocked him down. He lost sight of Meg. He spun around, looking for her, and it was then that he saw the men.