Tales Of Pete: I Work At The Only Pizza Place In Town (Part 5)

You know, there are days when I really fucking hate this job. In particular, we had a bit of a hostage situation, literally the day after my last post. I know what you might be thinking, who the hell robs a pizza place? That’s what I thought when someone walked in around closing and pulled a gun on us. And by us, I mean Mr. and Mrs. Formaggio, Nick, and myself. The man, in particular, looked to be the biker type. He was overweight and looked to be in his late forties, early fifties with a long beard. This isn’t the first something like this has happened. It’s usually either someone seriously fucked up on drugs. Or, a passerby who thinks they can rob a store consequence-free. Then skip town. Seeing as how it tends to happen frequently, we actually have a bit of a protocol. And that’s where the monsters actually come in handy. If we just can’t get to a gun without the robber noticing. Believe me, we tried to warn him not to go out. But he didn’t listen. They never do. Some returned tore him apart before he could even get on his motorcycle. He didn’t even see them coming.

Nick was understandably nauseous from seeing it and threw up. He wasn’t used to it, like the rest of us were. Ahhh, I remember just starting out. Seeing him spew, actually made me feel a bit nostalgic. After that, it was just a matter of making sure the coast was clear. Then getting the money back. Now, this plan won’t work if the robber gets swallowed whole. Sometimes the monster who swallows them will cough up the money. Which is usually in a plastic grocery bag. But man, we were doing good! We didn’t have a robbery at our store for like a year until then. But the silver lining is, we managed to get the cash back. Enough of that though, I want to tell you all about what I’ve learned about that, what I’m going to refer to as the rainbow thingy that I mentioned in the last post. To start, I have some bad news. The town lost some people to the new monsters that showed up. Me and people I know were lucky enough to have survived.

But, other people who didn’t have the weapons to fight these things, weren’t so lucky. Chuck told me that they found five bodies. And that five were missing. He told me they tried their hardest. But they just didn’t have the equipment or manpower to deal with these new creatures. Truth be told, he looked pretty distraught about the whole situation. Chuck is a good guy. And I hate seeing him like that. So, I promised to help him solve this problem. That started with calling Carl for an update on the rainbow thingy. Bizarrely and annoyingly enough, it seems to have vanished since landing near his property. He said he spent hours looking for it but found nothing. He even got a search party together to help him. But, it yielded similar results. The only thing they did see was a tall figure with gold eyes. Not gold as in yellow. Carl and several others described them as looking like two big almond-shaped eyes that looked like they were made of solid gold.

They couldn’t make out the rest of the figure because of how dark it was in the forest. The only reason they noticed the eyes, was because of how bright they were. I told him not to be so reckless. And how dangerous the forest is. He told me.

“No shit, I only live here, Pete.”

I said to him that his point was taken. And to call me if any new developments occurred. Naturally, he’s also been keeping the police updated. Speaking of which, Carl has actually hooked them up with some explosives to deal with the new creatures. In exchange for them looking the other way on the fact, he owned them. It’s supposed to be a temporary solution until we can find the right combination of whatever colored runes to keep these things away. Assuming that’s what will work on them.

Now, the town was lucky enough to not have lost anyone since the last incident. Mostly due to the fact, the town was now under an emergency, home before sunset curfew. It was in effect until we were able to solve the problem. And as much as I hate working on my days off, the weekend is the only time where I can investigate anything. If I’m not called in that is. Nick was nice enough to accompany me. Our search started on Saturday. We headed to the town library to see if Alice knew anything. Alice is a nice woman. She’s thirty and works alone. I don’t know how she manages everything without help. But she finds a way. She greeted us with her usual cheerful demeanor and I quickly introduced her to Nick. After they shook hands, the three of us got to talking.

“So, Pete. It’s been a while since you’ve been here. And I didn’t order any pizza. So, what’s the occasion?”

“It’s about what happened last week.”

“Oh…That. It’s a real shame what happened. I’m surprised I didn’t have any trouble, to be honest. I only heard about what happened the next day.”

“Wait. You mean, none of the new creatures attacked the library?” Nick asked her.

“No. None.”

“It’s not that hard to believe. The library is so quiet the creatures tend to ignore it. Anyway, we were hoping there might be something here to help us deal with the new ones,” I said.

“If you mean a book, I’m not sure if there is.”

“Aw, come on. You don’t have any old books lying around or anything?” Nick asked.

Well, I do have this one book. It’s from the town’s early settlers. But, it doesn’t have symbols in it. Just pictures.”

“Mind if we take a look at it?”

“Sure thing.”

The book she handed us was old and leathery. It looked like she had made repairs on it, to keep it from falling apart. Looking through it, we saw sketches of various monsters. Some of which I didn’t recognize. But two caught my eye. One being the worm creature we saw. And the other a pair of eyes, with the word gold beside them and a question mark. That was on the last page. After looking through the rest of the book, we closed it. Then I told Alice that we had to head out.

“Thanks for your help, Alice,” I told her.

“No problem, Pete. It’s been too long since I had some of Formaggio’s pizza.”

“Well then. I’ll have to bring some by. Later.”

“Bye!”

After that Nick and I got in his car. Then he asked me where to next. I told him I was about to give Carl a call. When coincidentally my phone started to ring and saw that it was him. I put him on speaker. Then began speaking with him.

“Carl, I was just about to call you. Is something up?”

“I need some help. Everyone else is busy. So, I figured I’d call you.”

“What exactly do you need help with?”

“No time to explain now! Just come on over!” He told me. Then hung up.

“Should we head over there?”

“I get the feeling we should.”

It didn’t take long to drive there. Only about, half an hour. Carl was waiting for us far away from his property.

“You should probably park here,” He said.

“Why?” Nick asked.

“Because I have traps set up in my yard.”

“What kind?” I hesitantly asked.

“Just some bear traps…”

“Oh, well that doesn’t sound too bad.”

“A few land mines… I also got some C4 lying around.”

“And there it is.”

“Why? Why would you have all that?!” Nick asked.

“Cuz of the new fuckers! They come anywhere near my property. And they’ll leave in pieces!”

“What if someone just happens to wander over here?!”

“It’s cool. I had a barbed wire fence set up. See?” He asked, pointing.

Between the trees, we saw parts of the fence he installed.

“When did you get all this?” I asked.

“Earlier this week. Some people helped me install it. The fence I mean. All the other stuff I put in by myself. Now, hop out. I’ll help you inside, Pete.

“So, what exactly did you need us for?” I asked once we were inside. We could see clear locked cabinets, with weapons in them, lining his walls.

“This,” He said, holding up a long silver pendant. at the end of it was a flat golden star. With a clear diamond imprinted into it.

“Oh…I mean, it’s pretty and all. But, did you really need us to come all the way out here for it?”

He rolled his eyes. Then responded, “I got this from that gold-eyed fucker!”

“Huh? How?!”

“Honestly, pure luck on my part. I was searching the forest again when I caught some movement from the corner of my eye. I thought it was just another creature. So, I quickly turned and swiped at it with my pocket knife. Afterward, I heard something hit my boot. Followed by fleeing footsteps. I got a glimpse of those gold eyes. So, I know it was that same one.”

“That reminds me. We actually saw a sketch of those eyes. It was in an old settler book that Alice had at the library.”

“So this isn’t the first time that thing has shown up, huh?”

“Guess not.”

“Anything about the rainbow thingy?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Damn. Anyway, I need you guys for a stakeout. There’s a chance that Gold Eyes may be after it.”

“That’s your plan? Who knows how long it’ll take to show up, if at all,” Nick said.

“Don’t worry. I got plenty of room and food, Make yourselves comfortable.”

Nick and I sat by the windows, watching and waiting. It took until sunset for me to spot something in between the trees. I saw what looked like two pieces of gold floating in the darkness.

“Look!” I said, pointing.”

Carl and Nick looked out the same window I did.

“There’s that son of a bitch! Come on!” Carl said, grabbing a rifle. Then opening the door.

“Hang on!” I said, grabbing my crutches. I hopped out, right behind Carl and Nick.

“You want this?!” Carl asked the pair of eyes, holding the pendant out in front of him.

“Carl, don’t antagonize it! We have no idea what it’s capable of!” Nick said.

Carl ignored Nick’s comment and continued. It didn’t take long for the figure that the eyes were attached to, to walk around to the entrance of the fence. And into the light of the sunset. The three of us were surprised to see a stereotypical grey alien. He was tall. I’d say over eight feet. Its mouth was in a neutral position as it stared at us with its shining gold eyes. It held a large metal briefcase in one of its hands. And it wore a black business suit with a red tie, that it looked really good in if I’m being honest. The alien stared at us for a few moments, before Carl aimed his rifle at it.

“Wait,” I told Carl, putting up my hand to stop him from shooting.

“What?” He asked, lowering his gun.

“It’s not doing anything. It’s just looking at us.”

“So, what? Are we just supposed to have a staring contest with this fucking thing? I can at least scare it off.”

“Maybe we can just ask it to leave?” Nick suggested.

“Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?! Here, I’ll try!” Carl said.

“You, walk-off, my property!” He told the alien, finger walking on the air.

“Understand?” He asked it sarcastically.

“Clearly,” The alien replied calmly.

We were shocked, to say the least.

“You can talk?!” Carl said.

“I think the answer to that question is fairly obvious.”

“Who are you and why are you here?” I asked it.

“My name in my native tongue is probably too long for you humans to remember. But in English, it translates to Zohl. And I have two answers to your second question. The obvious one is my necklace. It’s important to me and I want it back. And the other answer is in relation to the new creatures which I’m sure this area has experienced again.”

“What do you know about it?”

“Plenty. If you let me inside. I can tell you all about it.”

“Now, hang on. I don’t know if we can trust this guy. He can get his necklace back. But I want him off my property!” Carl said.

“What makes it yours?” Zohl asked him.

“Because I was here first!”

“Pardon me. Were you alive one hundred and fifty-one years ago when I came here last? I don’t recall seeing you. Then again one hundred in fifty years is quite a while. So my memory may be hazy.”

“Smartass motherfucker…” Carl said.

“What’s in it for us if we let you in?” I asked Zohl.

“This,” He said, pulling an old book out of his pocket. He showed a page that had a creature we didn’t recognize, on it. With some runes drawn beside it.

“You know how to stop the new creatures!” Nick said.

“Indeed I do. Will you accept my offer?”

“Carl?” I asked, looking at him.

“Grr…Fine. I should probably warn you where the explosives are buried.”

“No need. I saw where you put them,” Zohl said, casually stepping around them, much to Carl’s irritation.

Later, Zohl was sitting on the couch beside Carl. His pendant was on the table beside his open briefcase. In it looked to be some kind of laptop.

“This is insane…There’s a real-life alien, sitting on Carl’s couch!” Nick said, gesturing towards Zohl with his arm. He and I were talking in the kitchen.

“I know. Honestly, I feel like I should be more surprised than I am right now. But I’m not,” I replied.

“I guess living near all the other shit has caused us to be less surprised at events like this. Don’t get me wrong. It’s still crazy. But like you said, it doesn’t feel as crazy as it should.”

“Guys?” Carl called to us. Then told us to come into the living room.

“Something up?” Nick asked once we were seated.

“I wanted to explain some things. First, Carl here seems to be under the impression that I brought in these new creatures. This is not the case. I merely arrived at the same time they started showing up.”

“Then what caused them to appear?”

“I have a theory. The second thing to clear up is about what you refer to as “The Rainbow Thingy”. That is my ship. I have it hidden in the forest.”

“Let me guess. It’s invisible, right?” Carl asked, sarcastically.

“Actually, yes.”

“Oh.”

“So what’s your theory?” I asked Zohl.

“To put it simply, someone let these creatures in. Not just the new ones. But the old ones as well.”

“What? Who would do that? And why?”

“I’m not sure. But, I came here to search for an answer.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I promised the townspeople I would help them when I returned. And because my planet is being overrun by these creatures. And I’m searching for the way to stop them once and for all.”

“Y-your planet?”

“I’m only one of a handful of survivors that managed to escape. As we speak, those monsters have taken it over. I happened upon this planet where parts of it were giving off the same energy reading as the portals they come from.”

“Oh, so they do come out of portals,” Carl said.

“Yes. We tried to fight them. But we eventually ran out of resources. And were overtaken over.”

“Well, if you help us, we’ll help you,” I said.

“Good to know. I say we search tomorrow. I’ve been searching by myself.”

“ For what?”

“Another being like me or some trace of them.”

“Got it. But we got to be home before tomorrow night.”

“Very well. I think I’ll head out now. Can you three do me a favor and not mention our encounter to anyone? I think it’d be for the best.”

We all agreed. Then Zohl left. We went to bed shortly after that, to prepare for the long day ahead of us. The next day wasn’t very rewarding. We covered a lot of ground. And found nothing. I tried helping as best I could. But hopping around on crutches made me a burden more than anything else. The only thing I could do was be a lookout for any creatures. Which, to my credit, I was decent at. And was able to warn everybody before we were attacked. The other silver lining was that Nick got the book Zohl showed us to Alice. He told her that we had happened to find it in the forest. But we didn’t remember where exactly. He told us that she would immediately get to work making copies for everyone. When all of us were back at Carl’s house, I asked Zohl if there was any chance we could see the inside of his ship. He told me that he would think about it. But it’d have to be next week. And he stressed that we were not allowed to touch anything unless he gave us permission.

So, that’s a bit of motivation to get me through the week. I’ll be sure to let you know about the inside of Zohl’s ship in my next post. Shit has been nuts. Well, they already are but more so than usual. Anyway, see you all next time.

This is Pizza Pete, signing out.