Guns & Roses (Tremors story)

Are we going to survive?

Chapter Five -

"It worked! They can't find him!" He pause " Okay, okay...uh...we gotta make some noise...a lot of noise! HEY, YOU SORRY SONS OF BITCHES, COME AND GET ME...!!!!" He yelled out trying to get them to come over where they were.

He starts jumping noisily up and down. Miguel joins in, cursing the monsters in Spanish. Rhonda kicks and shouts. But it's obvious they need some-thing louder. She spots the aging outlet pipe coming from the water tank. Bracing herself, she kicks at it with both feet. It finally gives way at a rusted joint. A torrent of water blasts out, thundering into the dirt.

All the creatures wheel about in the dirt and zoom off toward town. Val breathes a big sigh of relief and sprints to the bulldozer. "That did it, girl! Goddamn good thinking!" Earl said smiling. A mass of tentacles and snouts swirl through the big puddle where the water is falling. The creatures' breathing throws up spouts of muddy water. Rhonda looks down nervously. Earl calls reassuringly from Walter Chans.

"Don't worry. No way they can lift that tower. I mean it's really heavy." Earl said, resorting her. The dirt begins to cave in around the tower's footing. The creatures are digging the dirt away!

Val lands in the driver's seat and turns the engine over. The old machine starts. Val slams it into reverse and backs up toward the semi trailer. Val has used heavy chains on the back of the bulldozer to jerry-rig a hitch to the semi trailer. 

Now he scrambles back into the driver's seat. He guns the engine, wrenching the old semi trailer from years of dried mud and tumbleweeds. Ancient tires disintegrate. Rusted wheels screech and complain but it moves. Val lets out a whoop and heads full-tilt for town.

In BG the bulldozer rumbles toward the tower at top speed at an excruciatingly slow eight miles per hour. The bulldozer grinds closer and closer. As he is by the water tower her and Allea leaps for the blade of the approaching bulldozer. The blade is only inches off the ground but Val swiftly raises it, lifting Rhonda and Allea high into the air just above the grasping tentacles!

As Rhonda and Allea climbs down into the cab, the creatures attack, a frenzy of tentacles grabbing at all sides of the massive earth-moving machine, slithering into the treads. Val and Rhonda, Allea watch this nervously Val mentally crosses his fingers and sends the bulldozer roaring forward. It effortlessly tears loose from the tentacles, grinding one to pulp in its treads. The creature shrieks in pain. They cheer! At last they've got the upper hand!

Burt is using a hacksaw to cut lengths from a heavy vertical pipe to which his TV antenna was anchored. Heather works with the sections Burt has already cut off. She is filling them with gunpowder from reloading canisters and hammering the ends shut -- they're making bombs. Then they hear rumbling. What is it, more creatures? They're surprised by the odd sight of the strange contraption approaching.

"God damn! Armored transport!" Burt said impressed. Val climbs up on the bulldozer roll cage so he's about even with Heather and Burt. A creature occasionally slams into the underside of the bulldozer of the semi trailer, rocking them slightly, throwing up clouds of dust.

"Let's go you two. We're headed for the mountains." Val yelled out to them.

"In a minute." He said going back to what he was doing. He grabs a coil of black powder cannon fuse. He cuts off a length and stuffs it in the end of one of the pipe bombs during

"Come on, Burt, we can't hold still long. They're damn smart and getting smarter by the minute." Val yelled back Burt hefts the finished bomb.

"That's fine. We've got some new things to teach them." Burt said, showing him the stuff he made.