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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17fd5ae --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65676 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65676) diff --git a/old/65676-0.txt b/old/65676-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 11609cf..0000000 --- a/old/65676-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,951 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Thing in the Truck, by Darius John -Granger - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Thing in the Truck - -Author: Darius John Granger - -Release Date: June 23, 2021 [eBook #65676] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THING IN THE TRUCK *** - - - - - - The Thing In The Truck - - By Darius John Granger - - There's nothing peculiar about a load of - potatoes going to market--but we knew something - was wrong when the spuds suddenly came to life! - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - December 1956 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -It started with a load of potatoes. - -Joe Loftus and I were driving the big semi-trailer back from Montauk -that night after delivering a load of fishing gear to one of the big -resorts out there and wondering if we'd be able to pick up a truckload -of anything on the way back to increase the take when Joe spotted this -sign. - -It was one of those standard hand-painted _Return Load_ signs, so we -pulled in and I climbed down from the cab while Joe remained behind the -wheel, ready to roll if they had nothing for us. - -The sun was going down in a bank of heavy black clouds. I figured it -might rain before the trip was over. I went over to the door of the -farm house and knocked. Pretty soon I heard footsteps inside and a man -chewing a mouthful of his supper opened the door for me. He needed a -shave and he had tired, defeated eyes. - -"What's the load, friend," I said. "I saw the sign." - -"Potatoes." He named a price. - -"Well," I said in surprise. "That's cheap." - -"Tell you the truth, bub. They got blasted." - -"Blasted? What do you mean?" - -"Well, now, it's hard to say. Something fell and hit the storage barn." - -"Fell?" - -"Fell, bub. A bitty explosion. But nothing much. Maybe seventy percent -of the load is good. The bad ones will be in sacks in the middle. Won't -even know it. What do you say?" - -That season potatoes were going good in the wholesale markets around -the city. I figured Joe Loftus and I could clear a neat profit even if -thirty percent of the load was waste. So I agreed to the deal and for -the next hour or so used the muscles of my back along with Joe, the -farmer, and the farmer's two grown boys to load the sacks of potatoes -into the empty van of our big semi-trailer. When he had finished I paid -off the farmer and his wife gave us each a cup of coffee. Then Joe and -I climbed into the cab and we rolled. - -"Hear something?" Joe asked about half an hour later. - -It was dark by then and traffic on the Montauk Highway was light. -"Potato sacks shifting around," I said. "We didn't pack 'em too good, I -guess." - -The noise came again. Maybe it didn't really sound like sacks shifting -around in the van. I don't know. I was in a hurry to get home. It had -been a long day. - -I was driving. Joe squirmed around and peered through the rear window -of the cab but could see nothing. "Stop the truck," he said. - -"What for?" - -"'Cause I don't like that noise. Something's going on back there." - -"Sure," I said, grinning, "our farmer's a shrewdie. His boys are back -there and they're eating up all the potatoes." - -"Very funny. Just stop the damn truck." - -I turned my head and looked at Joe's face. He was scared. Maybe he -had one of those premonitions you read about. I shrugged and found a -widened stretch of road shoulder and pulled the big semi up. Joe hopped -out of the cab and went around back. After a while I heard the rear -doors swing open. Then they closed again and Joe came back. I hadn't -heard him stomping around inside the van or anything. - -"Sacks shifting around like I said?" I asked. - -Joe's face was white in the dash light. He shook his head. - -"Harry," he said. That's my name. Harry. "Harry, we was tricked." - -"What do you mean, tricked?" I was getting a little annoyed with Joe. -He stood half in and half out of the cab. I wanted to get moving. - -"Ain't no potatoes," Joe said. - -"No potatoes? What the hell are you talking about? We loaded those -spuds ourselves." - -"Ain't no potatoes," Joe repeated in a funny voice. "Harry, listen. -Let's just leave the load and truck and everything and get the hell out -of here." - - * * * * * - -I looked at him and snorted, then swung out of the cab on my side and -went around back. I undid the chain and the door-bar and pulled the -tongue down so I could open the rear doors. Then I swung up into the -van in the darkness. - -There was a smell in there. Not a potato smell. To this day I still -can't say what it was. But it was a funny smell and it made the short -hairs on the back of my neck feel all cold and prickly-like. - -I lit a match and swore. Joe was right. There just weren't any -potatoes, I don't care _who_ loaded them. - -But there _was_ something back there. - -Call it jelly, if you want. I saw it and I can't do better. Say, two or -three tons of quivering jelly filling up the center of the floor of the -van. - -Joe called: "Well?" - -I was carrying a lighted match into the van with me. It burned my -fingers. I lit another one and slowly approached the jelly. It didn't -seem to have any color, so it took on the orange glowing color of -the flaming match. It pulsed. I went near it, then stopped. There -were still a few potatoes on the floor of the van, after all. I stood -by while the jelly rolled sluggishly toward them. The potatoes were -enveloped. In a minute there weren't any potatoes. - -Then the jelly-thing stopped quivering. I came close and touched it -gingerly with one finger. It burned. I withdrew my hand. - -"Harry?" Joe called. - -Just then I heard the sound of glass breaking. A section of the jelly -had blubbered over against the van's small front window, smashing it. I -didn't think a soft jelly would have the strength. - -"Harry!" Joe shouted. It was like a shout of animal fear. I heard the -sound of more glass breaking. The rear window of the cab, I thought. I -hopped over the rear tongue of the van and sped around to the cab. - -Joe was sitting there, smoking a cigarette. - -"What's the matter?" I asked him. "What happened?" - -"Nothing's the matter," he said. "You want to drive or want me to -drive?" - -"You just now yelled." - -"Me? You sure I yelled, Harry?" - -A car sped by, following its headlight beams. "Window's broke," I said. - -"Is it?" Joe Loftus asked me in mild surprise. "Is it now? That's what -you get for trying to shift those potatoes around in the middle of the -trip." - -"Potatoes!" I yelled. - -"Hell, yeah. Potatoes. Hey, what's the matter with you, anyhow?" - -"Potatoes," I said. "All right, so go take a look." - -Joe scowled but went. In a little while I heard the tongue and doors -slamming and the chain being dragged across. Joe came back and gave me -a long funny look. "Yeah, potatoes," he said. - -I didn't push it. We'd been on the road a long time today. Sometimes -the road can get to you like that. Maybe you read something about -highway hypnotism. If you're driving too long on a good road like the -Montauk Highway or one of the throughways, after a while you get to see -things which aren't there or don't see things which are there. It can -be plenty trouble but it wasn't going to hurt me tonight if I imagined -a return load of Long Island potatoes was a big glob of jelly. - -I scratched my head. "Highway's got you, huh?" Joe said. He knew the -symptoms. "Tell you what, Harry? Why don't you sleep it off? I feel -pretty good. I can take her in." - -I thanked Joe and climbed up on the slab bunk in the rear of the cab. -The window was broken back there, all right. You couldn't argue about -that. But it was too dark to see into the van, except that I could see -the van window was likewise shattered. I drifted off sleepily, not -thinking about it much. Joe was a good driver, one of the best. Maybe -when I opened my eyes we'd be in the city, heading for one of the big -wholesale produce markets.... - - * * * * * - -It was raining when I awoke. Thunder rolled and rumbled and then split -like a pine board overhead. Lightning was stabbing at the sky. - -"Joe?" I said, sleepily. - -He grunted a wordless answer. - -"We near the city yet?" - -"You only slept maybe half an hour, chum. Why don't you catch another -forty?" - -I said: "That's real white of you, pal." - -Joe grunted again. - -The truck lurched around a turn. The rain beat down. I opened my eyes -and looked down past Joe's head. Just then a flash of lightning lit up -the night. I caught a glimpse of a narrow two-lane asphalt road and -stunted scrub pine growing in what looked like sandy ground. - -"Hey!" I shouted. "This isn't the Montauk Highway. This isn't the way -back. What's going on?" - -"Just get some sleep, will you?" Joe said. "Detour back there." - -"Wasn't any detour when we came out." - -"Well, there's a detour now." - -I was wide awake. I didn't like the way Joe sounded. "Listen," I said. -"The road's fine. There wasn't anything wrong with the road. So why the -detour?" - -"Flash flood, I guess." - -"It's raining. But it hasn't been raining that long and it isn't -raining that hard." - -"So I'm not the highway commission," Joe said. "Now get some sleep, -will you?" - -It was this on top of what I'd thought had happened to the potatoes. -Something was up, I didn't know what. Funny how sometimes a thing like -that doesn't get to you at first. What had the farmer said? Something -fell on his load of potatoes. Fell? I thought now. From where? And -hadn't he said something about a little explosion? Ten hours on the -road, I thought. Ten hours on the road or we'd have asked him sure. - -"Hey, Joe," I called down from the bunk. "When do we cut back West?" - -"Soon as there's a road." - -But soon a crossroad flashed by, dimly seen by the glow of distant -lightning. Joe's face was set. He didn't look at me. - -"Joe," I said. "Stop the truck." - -"What's the matter now?" - -"I want to check the potatoes," I said. "You know the lock bar isn't -what it should be. Don't want to lose the load, do you?" - -"I thought you said it wasn't a load of potatoes?" - -"Highway hypnotism," I said. "I'll take your word for it. Hell, I -loaded them, didn't I?" - -"You loaded them," Joe said, slowing the truck. I didn't really know -what I wanted to do. I'd look inside the van, sure. If it had been -highway hypnotism, I'd know it now. Because the illusion wouldn't last. -They never do. But after that? After that I hadn't figured yet. Joe was -acting funny. Real funny. - -The truck stopped. I went around back in the hard, driving rain. It -was an unfamiliar road, but the kind you find all up and down the East -Coast near the ocean, with scrubby growths of pine on either side in -sandy soil and no sign of civilization except the marching files of -telephone poles. I pulled out the lock bar and swung down the tongue -and opened the back doors. - -Just then the truck growled to life. The rear tires spun and whined -and threw pebbles at me. The truck lurched forward. I lunged after it, -grabbing the swinging lock-chain and pulling myself up on the tongue. -My right foot scraped along the ground and for a minute I thought I -was going to lose my hold and fall off. But slowly I pulled myself up -while the rain beat down on me. I tried to keep it quiet. As far as I -knew, Joe thought he left me back there. That crazy Joe, I told myself, -climbing into the van. The rear doors swung in the wind, banging -against the frame. Joe must have known I had opened them. He didn't -seem to care. He was like a crazy man up there. We didn't work for any -trucking company. This truck was ours. With what we made on it we hoped -to buy another before long and start a fleet. Joe and Harry, trucking. -But Joe was up there in the cab, acting like a crazy man, and I was -back here in the van--with what? - - * * * * * - -I listened. Nothing but the sound of the motor and the rain outside. -I sniffed. That odd smell was gone. I fumbled for my matches and -scratched one against the flint. It made a faint sodden sound and -I thought I wasn't going to have any luck. But just then the match -spluttered and flared and caught. - -There were no potatoes. There wasn't any glob of jelly. - -"Come on in away from the rain. Come over to me, Harry, honey," she -said. - -I dropped the match and it went out. It was a woman. There was a lovely -blonde-haired woman in the van there. She had been dressed up like for -a party, at least in the little I saw of her I thought that was the way -she was dressed. And she was absolutely dry, as if she hadn't somehow -come in out of the rain or anything. - -"Come on, Harry," she called in a seductive voice. "I'm waiting, Harry." - -I walked stiffly into the van. Well, I'm human, aren't I? - -I was fumbling again with the matches. I had to see her once more. If -this was highway hypnotism, I was all for it. In the light of the first -match she'd been beautiful. I struck the second match but the head -crumbled wetly. I tossed it away irritably and was about to strike a -third when her hand touched me. "Harry," she said. "Harry." - -I never did get her name. What the hell, it didn't matter. She was -only there for one purpose. Probably she didn't even have a name. She -didn't need one. There was no before and no after for her. Only the -all-containing now and a guy named Harry Miller. - -"Do you like me, Harry?" she asked. - -She came against me, softly firm and straining. She had a strong, musky -perfume on her. Her hair touched my face and her voice whispered in my -ear. - -"Desire me," she said. "Do you desire me?" - -Damn fool question, I thought without pushing it. Hell, yes, I desired -her. Who the hell wouldn't? - -Outside, the rain drummed down. In the cab, Joe gunned the motor. I -kissed the girl in the van and she returned my kiss hotly, avidly. -"Harry," she said. I folded her in my arms and sat down on the floor -of the van. The truck lurched and something rolled against my leg. I -reached down with one hand. The woman sensed this. Her warm fingers -touched my arm as she tried to draw my hand back. But I found what had -rolled against my leg anyway. It was a potato. It was what should have -been back there in the van in the first place, no lump of glob and no -beautiful dame, just a return load of Long Island potatoes for market. -I pushed the woman away from me and stood up, holding the potato like -it was a talisman. - -"Harry?" she cried, hurt in her voice. "What is it? What's the matter?" - -I didn't answer her. I walked to the rear of the van and looked out. -It was dark out there. The rain came down in a heavy, faintly silver -curtain. After a while lightning lit the sky and I saw the road was -running parallel to the ocean now. I figured we were somewhere not too -far from Riverhead. Probably south and a little west of Riverhead, down -by the water. But why? Why? - - * * * * * - -Ten minutes later, the big truck rolled to a stop. I jumped down from -the van and sped around to the cab, slipping on wet sand. There was -a salt spray with the wind-driven rain in the air, and I smelled the -sea. I thought I could make out the gleam of the breakers through -the darkness, but it might have been my imagination. I did hear the -pounding roar of the surf, though. - -I saw Joe's dark bulk getting down from the cab just as I reached it. -"Are you gonna be any trouble, boy?" Joe asked me. - -"Trouble?" I repeated his word. "What are you doing? What did you drive -here for, Joe?" - -He didn't answer. He went around to the van and helped the woman down. -She said something and it almost sounded like she was crying. "Take it -easy, baby," he told her. "It won't be long now." - -The rain poured down, drenching all of us. The surf roared and hissed -and boomed across the beach. - -"Hey, where are you going!" I shouted. They were heading down across -the sand. - -They didn't answer. I could stay with the truck. I could pull the truck -out of there. Or I could follow them and see what the hell was going on. - -But just then Joe came back from the beach. I couldn't see his face, -but his voice sounded odd. "You better come down with us, Harry," he -said. "She figures you know too much. I figure she's right." - -We stood very close. In the dimness I could barely make out the big -monkey wrench in Joe's hand. If I said no, he'd bop me one with the -wrench. If I said yes and went down there with him, would he use the -wrench on me later? It didn't look as if I had much choice. I went down -across the sand with Joe. - -The woman was waiting for us at the water's edge. The breakers were -faintly phosphorescent with glowing plankton and I could see the -outline of the woman's figure against them. Then Joe's bulky silhouette -came between us. I stood there and stared out across the black sea. - -Neither of them paid any attention to me. The breakers broke and foamed -and rolled themselves out on the sand. The tide was coming in. The wind -blew spray. - -"You're waiting for something, aren't you?" I asked. It was a dumb -question. They weren't down here for their health. - -"Something coming in from the water?" I guessed. "Submarine, maybe?" - -Joe said: "We're not waiting for something coming in from the water." - -The woman said: "Don't tell him, Joe." - -Joe said: "Funny, you calling me Joe. Still calling me Joe." - -The woman: "You're Joe. You're Joe until we leave." - -Joe: "Yeah, but it's funny." - -The woman: "I hear something, Joe." - -Joe: "No. It's the wind." - -The woman: "Will it be soon?" - -Joe: "Yeah, soon. What we gonna do with him? With Harry?" - -"He knows too much," the woman said, "but does it really matter?" - -They were talking about me as if I wasn't there. Or like two grown -people will talk about a little child in his presence, or maybe even -like two people will talk about a dog, right in front of the dog, -feeding the dog a juicy bone, maybe--the day before they take it down -to the pound. - -They stopped talking. They stood there, waiting. After another twenty -minutes or so, I began to hear something. Maybe they were listening too -hard. Anyhow, I heard it first. A distant hissing sound. Before I knew -it the sky had begun to grow brighter. - -"Joe!" the woman cried happily. "Listen!" - -"Yeah, and look at it," Joe said. - -They ran by me, not down toward the water but back up the beach toward -the truck. "Wait a minute, baby," Joe called. "You can't go near it til -the changeover. The heat...." - -I whirled and followed them. I saw it as soon as I turned, but I -couldn't believe my eyes. It was why they had come down to the water's -edge. It was why Joe had picked out the untraveled road. I gawked. - -The big truck was glowing. - -Not burning, not on fire--but glowing. As if it had suddenly gone -phosphorescent--say, a million times more so than the plankton-glowing -surf. It stood out as clear as day. - -Joe and the woman stood between the glowing truck and me, standing hand -in hand, watching it, waiting. - -The truck changed. - - * * * * * - -It wasn't highway hypnotism. Too much had happened. Too much still -would happen. The square lines of the truck were flowing, shifting, -coalescing, like a slow fade on the TV, as one scene shifts slowly into -another. The glowing truck flowed and altered and--wasn't a truck any -longer. - -"Take him with us!" Joe said suddenly. - -The woman grabbed my arm. I pulled loose from her and she started to -yell. She came after me, throwing herself on my back. I was plenty -scared by what I had seen, and I wasn't having any, not if I could help -it. I threw the woman off my back and she fell away yelling into the -rain, but Joe came after me with the wrench. I stumbled and fell just -as Joe swung the big wrench. It thudded in the sand half a foot from my -face and I got up and started running. - -Joe threw the heavy wrench this time and it hit the small of my back, -driving me down to my knees. Joe came after me, kneeing my face as I -swung around and tried to get up. I flipped over but grabbed his foot -as he tried to stamp it down on me. He didn't know what he wanted, that -boy. I guess if he couldn't take me with him, he was going to try and -kill me. I twisted his leg and he yowled and fell down on top of me and -we rolled over and over in the sand, clawing for each other's throat. - -The woman was yelling something but I didn't hear what it was and I'm -sure Joe didn't either. We were both breathing raggedly and swinging -without much force at each other now. Call it almost a draw--except I -was fighting for my life and I knew Joe had an ally in the woman. I -climbed to my feet slowly, unsteadily, and found the monkey wrench on -the ground. I wielded it, shaking it in Joe's face. - -I said: "You can do what you want. I won't stop you. But just leave me -the hell out of it." - -All of a sudden something struck my back. It was the woman, trying to -knock me over from behind. I whirled and she backed out of my reach, -but then Joe was on his feet again and when I turned to face him she -clawed at my back. "Kill him, Joe!" she cried. "Kill him now!" - -Joe came for me. He didn't pay any attention to the monkey wrench in -my hand. He lunged at me and I took a swat in his direction with the -wrench. We both missed but Joe was still half out on his feet. He -stumbled past me and I turned and shoved him. He struck the woman and -they both went down. - -"Joe," the woman said. "Joe! It's starting." - -She meant the truck. Or what had been the truck. It was a gleaming -silver globe now, and something was hissing at the bottom of it. I -didn't know what it was, but they knew. I didn't know it then, but I -had won. I'd delayed them past the point where they could take me with -them by force or kill me. They had to hurry. - -I wasn't going to stop them. I stood there, hurting all over, and -watched them run for the thing which had been the truck. It was still -glowing, but the glow was fading. A hole seemed to open in its side for -them, but then suddenly the glow became so bright that I couldn't see -anything but the dazzling light. - -Which--slowly but with increasing speed--rose into the rain and the -night. - -On a pillar of flame. - -I blinked. I smelled ozone. The sphere was gone, but there was an -afterglow in the sky. - -Numbly I walked over to where the truck--then the sphere--had been. - -I found Joe. Or what was left of Joe. It was a dry husk of a body, -hardly recognizable, as if some great power had taken Joe and twisted -him while an enormous heat had dried all the moisture from his body -without burning the skin. - -I never found the woman. Instead, there were a few hundred dry husky -things near Joe. I didn't recognize them at first, and when I did I -suddenly got hysterical and ran. I couldn't figure it out then, and I -still can't although I've tried to. - -The husky things were burned potatoes. Next to Joe. Where the woman had -been. But the way I figure it, they went up there. Both of them.... - - * * * * * - -The police gave me a rough time but eventually let me go. What happened -to Joe could have been the result of lightning. Lightning, they said, -can do funny things. Nobody ever found the truck. I could have told -them that. It had gone--up there. - -Home? - -I did some investigating. There'd been a meteor fall two days before we -picked up the load of potatoes. I saw the farmer and asked him about -the meteors. But he merely insisted--vague as before--that something -had fallen into his barn, through the roof, from the sky. - -Figure it got among the potatoes. A sentience of some kind. Figure it -was sleeping. Figure the motion of the truck stirred it to life. Figure -it could--well, take over things. Like the potatoes. It became the -girl, to keep me busy. Like Joe. It took over Joe so it could drive off -on the deserted beach. Like the truck. It took over--and changed the -truck into a, well, something--so it could get back where it started -from. Me? I must have been immune. - -Or am I? Because a few minutes ago something crashed through the roof -of my new truck, into the van. I don't know what, but I'm afraid to go -look. What would you do? - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THING IN THE TRUCK *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Thing in the Truck</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Darius John Granger</p> -<p style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 23, 2021 [eBook #65676]</p> -<p style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE THING IN THE TRUCK ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>The Thing In The Truck</h1> - -<h2>By Darius John Granger</h2> - -<p>There's nothing peculiar about a load of<br /> -potatoes going to market—but we knew something<br /> -was wrong when the spuds suddenly came to life!</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -December 1956<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>It started with a load of potatoes.</p> - -<p>Joe Loftus and I were driving the big semi-trailer back from Montauk -that night after delivering a load of fishing gear to one of the big -resorts out there and wondering if we'd be able to pick up a truckload -of anything on the way back to increase the take when Joe spotted this -sign.</p> - -<p>It was one of those standard hand-painted <i>Return Load</i> signs, so we -pulled in and I climbed down from the cab while Joe remained behind the -wheel, ready to roll if they had nothing for us.</p> - -<p>The sun was going down in a bank of heavy black clouds. I figured it -might rain before the trip was over. I went over to the door of the -farm house and knocked. Pretty soon I heard footsteps inside and a man -chewing a mouthful of his supper opened the door for me. He needed a -shave and he had tired, defeated eyes.</p> - -<p>"What's the load, friend," I said. "I saw the sign."</p> - -<p>"Potatoes." He named a price.</p> - -<p>"Well," I said in surprise. "That's cheap."</p> - -<p>"Tell you the truth, bub. They got blasted."</p> - -<p>"Blasted? What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"Well, now, it's hard to say. Something fell and hit the storage barn."</p> - -<p>"Fell?"</p> - -<p>"Fell, bub. A bitty explosion. But nothing much. Maybe seventy percent -of the load is good. The bad ones will be in sacks in the middle. Won't -even know it. What do you say?"</p> - -<p>That season potatoes were going good in the wholesale markets around -the city. I figured Joe Loftus and I could clear a neat profit even if -thirty percent of the load was waste. So I agreed to the deal and for -the next hour or so used the muscles of my back along with Joe, the -farmer, and the farmer's two grown boys to load the sacks of potatoes -into the empty van of our big semi-trailer. When he had finished I paid -off the farmer and his wife gave us each a cup of coffee. Then Joe and -I climbed into the cab and we rolled.</p> - -<p>"Hear something?" Joe asked about half an hour later.</p> - -<p>It was dark by then and traffic on the Montauk Highway was light. -"Potato sacks shifting around," I said. "We didn't pack 'em too good, I -guess."</p> - -<p>The noise came again. Maybe it didn't really sound like sacks shifting -around in the van. I don't know. I was in a hurry to get home. It had -been a long day.</p> - -<p>I was driving. Joe squirmed around and peered through the rear window -of the cab but could see nothing. "Stop the truck," he said.</p> - -<p>"What for?"</p> - -<p>"'Cause I don't like that noise. Something's going on back there."</p> - -<p>"Sure," I said, grinning, "our farmer's a shrewdie. His boys are back -there and they're eating up all the potatoes."</p> - -<p>"Very funny. Just stop the damn truck."</p> - -<p>I turned my head and looked at Joe's face. He was scared. Maybe he -had one of those premonitions you read about. I shrugged and found a -widened stretch of road shoulder and pulled the big semi up. Joe hopped -out of the cab and went around back. After a while I heard the rear -doors swing open. Then they closed again and Joe came back. I hadn't -heard him stomping around inside the van or anything.</p> - -<p>"Sacks shifting around like I said?" I asked.</p> - -<p>Joe's face was white in the dash light. He shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Harry," he said. That's my name. Harry. "Harry, we was tricked."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean, tricked?" I was getting a little annoyed with Joe. -He stood half in and half out of the cab. I wanted to get moving.</p> - -<p>"Ain't no potatoes," Joe said.</p> - -<p>"No potatoes? What the hell are you talking about? We loaded those -spuds ourselves."</p> - -<p>"Ain't no potatoes," Joe repeated in a funny voice. "Harry, listen. -Let's just leave the load and truck and everything and get the hell out -of here."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I looked at him and snorted, then swung out of the cab on my side and -went around back. I undid the chain and the door-bar and pulled the -tongue down so I could open the rear doors. Then I swung up into the -van in the darkness.</p> - -<p>There was a smell in there. Not a potato smell. To this day I still -can't say what it was. But it was a funny smell and it made the short -hairs on the back of my neck feel all cold and prickly-like.</p> - -<p>I lit a match and swore. Joe was right. There just weren't any -potatoes, I don't care <i>who</i> loaded them.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>But there <i>was</i> something back there.</p> - -<p>Call it jelly, if you want. I saw it and I can't do better. Say, two or -three tons of quivering jelly filling up the center of the floor of the -van.</p> - -<p>Joe called: "Well?"</p> - -<p>I was carrying a lighted match into the van with me. It burned my -fingers. I lit another one and slowly approached the jelly. It didn't -seem to have any color, so it took on the orange glowing color of -the flaming match. It pulsed. I went near it, then stopped. There -were still a few potatoes on the floor of the van, after all. I stood -by while the jelly rolled sluggishly toward them. The potatoes were -enveloped. In a minute there weren't any potatoes.</p> - -<p>Then the jelly-thing stopped quivering. I came close and touched it -gingerly with one finger. It burned. I withdrew my hand.</p> - -<p>"Harry?" Joe called.</p> - -<p>Just then I heard the sound of glass breaking. A section of the jelly -had blubbered over against the van's small front window, smashing it. I -didn't think a soft jelly would have the strength.</p> - -<p>"Harry!" Joe shouted. It was like a shout of animal fear. I heard the -sound of more glass breaking. The rear window of the cab, I thought. I -hopped over the rear tongue of the van and sped around to the cab.</p> - -<p>Joe was sitting there, smoking a cigarette.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" I asked him. "What happened?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing's the matter," he said. "You want to drive or want me to -drive?"</p> - -<p>"You just now yelled."</p> - -<p>"Me? You sure I yelled, Harry?"</p> - -<p>A car sped by, following its headlight beams. "Window's broke," I said.</p> - -<p>"Is it?" Joe Loftus asked me in mild surprise. "Is it now? That's what -you get for trying to shift those potatoes around in the middle of the -trip."</p> - -<p>"Potatoes!" I yelled.</p> - -<p>"Hell, yeah. Potatoes. Hey, what's the matter with you, anyhow?"</p> - -<p>"Potatoes," I said. "All right, so go take a look."</p> - -<p>Joe scowled but went. In a little while I heard the tongue and doors -slamming and the chain being dragged across. Joe came back and gave me -a long funny look. "Yeah, potatoes," he said.</p> - -<p>I didn't push it. We'd been on the road a long time today. Sometimes -the road can get to you like that. Maybe you read something about -highway hypnotism. If you're driving too long on a good road like the -Montauk Highway or one of the throughways, after a while you get to see -things which aren't there or don't see things which are there. It can -be plenty trouble but it wasn't going to hurt me tonight if I imagined -a return load of Long Island potatoes was a big glob of jelly.</p> - -<p>I scratched my head. "Highway's got you, huh?" Joe said. He knew the -symptoms. "Tell you what, Harry? Why don't you sleep it off? I feel -pretty good. I can take her in."</p> - -<p>I thanked Joe and climbed up on the slab bunk in the rear of the cab. -The window was broken back there, all right. You couldn't argue about -that. But it was too dark to see into the van, except that I could see -the van window was likewise shattered. I drifted off sleepily, not -thinking about it much. Joe was a good driver, one of the best. Maybe -when I opened my eyes we'd be in the city, heading for one of the big -wholesale produce markets....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was raining when I awoke. Thunder rolled and rumbled and then split -like a pine board overhead. Lightning was stabbing at the sky.</p> - -<p>"Joe?" I said, sleepily.</p> - -<p>He grunted a wordless answer.</p> - -<p>"We near the city yet?"</p> - -<p>"You only slept maybe half an hour, chum. Why don't you catch another -forty?"</p> - -<p>I said: "That's real white of you, pal."</p> - -<p>Joe grunted again.</p> - -<p>The truck lurched around a turn. The rain beat down. I opened my eyes -and looked down past Joe's head. Just then a flash of lightning lit up -the night. I caught a glimpse of a narrow two-lane asphalt road and -stunted scrub pine growing in what looked like sandy ground.</p> - -<p>"Hey!" I shouted. "This isn't the Montauk Highway. This isn't the way -back. What's going on?"</p> - -<p>"Just get some sleep, will you?" Joe said. "Detour back there."</p> - -<p>"Wasn't any detour when we came out."</p> - -<p>"Well, there's a detour now."</p> - -<p>I was wide awake. I didn't like the way Joe sounded. "Listen," I said. -"The road's fine. There wasn't anything wrong with the road. So why the -detour?"</p> - -<p>"Flash flood, I guess."</p> - -<p>"It's raining. But it hasn't been raining that long and it isn't -raining that hard."</p> - -<p>"So I'm not the highway commission," Joe said. "Now get some sleep, -will you?"</p> - -<p>It was this on top of what I'd thought had happened to the potatoes. -Something was up, I didn't know what. Funny how sometimes a thing like -that doesn't get to you at first. What had the farmer said? Something -fell on his load of potatoes. Fell? I thought now. From where? And -hadn't he said something about a little explosion? Ten hours on the -road, I thought. Ten hours on the road or we'd have asked him sure.</p> - -<p>"Hey, Joe," I called down from the bunk. "When do we cut back West?"</p> - -<p>"Soon as there's a road."</p> - -<p>But soon a crossroad flashed by, dimly seen by the glow of distant -lightning. Joe's face was set. He didn't look at me.</p> - -<p>"Joe," I said. "Stop the truck."</p> - -<p>"What's the matter now?"</p> - -<p>"I want to check the potatoes," I said. "You know the lock bar isn't -what it should be. Don't want to lose the load, do you?"</p> - -<p>"I thought you said it wasn't a load of potatoes?"</p> - -<p>"Highway hypnotism," I said. "I'll take your word for it. Hell, I -loaded them, didn't I?"</p> - -<p>"You loaded them," Joe said, slowing the truck. I didn't really know -what I wanted to do. I'd look inside the van, sure. If it had been -highway hypnotism, I'd know it now. Because the illusion wouldn't last. -They never do. But after that? After that I hadn't figured yet. Joe was -acting funny. Real funny.</p> - -<p>The truck stopped. I went around back in the hard, driving rain. It -was an unfamiliar road, but the kind you find all up and down the East -Coast near the ocean, with scrubby growths of pine on either side in -sandy soil and no sign of civilization except the marching files of -telephone poles. I pulled out the lock bar and swung down the tongue -and opened the back doors.</p> - -<p>Just then the truck growled to life. The rear tires spun and whined -and threw pebbles at me. The truck lurched forward. I lunged after it, -grabbing the swinging lock-chain and pulling myself up on the tongue. -My right foot scraped along the ground and for a minute I thought I -was going to lose my hold and fall off. But slowly I pulled myself up -while the rain beat down on me. I tried to keep it quiet. As far as I -knew, Joe thought he left me back there. That crazy Joe, I told myself, -climbing into the van. The rear doors swung in the wind, banging -against the frame. Joe must have known I had opened them. He didn't -seem to care. He was like a crazy man up there. We didn't work for any -trucking company. This truck was ours. With what we made on it we hoped -to buy another before long and start a fleet. Joe and Harry, trucking. -But Joe was up there in the cab, acting like a crazy man, and I was -back here in the van—with what?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>I listened. Nothing but the sound of the motor and the rain outside. -I sniffed. That odd smell was gone. I fumbled for my matches and -scratched one against the flint. It made a faint sodden sound and -I thought I wasn't going to have any luck. But just then the match -spluttered and flared and caught.</p> - -<p>There were no potatoes. There wasn't any glob of jelly.</p> - -<p>"Come on in away from the rain. Come over to me, Harry, honey," she -said.</p> - -<p>I dropped the match and it went out. It was a woman. There was a lovely -blonde-haired woman in the van there. She had been dressed up like for -a party, at least in the little I saw of her I thought that was the way -she was dressed. And she was absolutely dry, as if she hadn't somehow -come in out of the rain or anything.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Harry," she called in a seductive voice. "I'm waiting, Harry."</p> - -<p>I walked stiffly into the van. Well, I'm human, aren't I?</p> - -<p>I was fumbling again with the matches. I had to see her once more. If -this was highway hypnotism, I was all for it. In the light of the first -match she'd been beautiful. I struck the second match but the head -crumbled wetly. I tossed it away irritably and was about to strike a -third when her hand touched me. "Harry," she said. "Harry."</p> - -<p>I never did get her name. What the hell, it didn't matter. She was -only there for one purpose. Probably she didn't even have a name. She -didn't need one. There was no before and no after for her. Only the -all-containing now and a guy named Harry Miller.</p> - -<p>"Do you like me, Harry?" she asked.</p> - -<p>She came against me, softly firm and straining. She had a strong, musky -perfume on her. Her hair touched my face and her voice whispered in my -ear.</p> - -<p>"Desire me," she said. "Do you desire me?"</p> - -<p>Damn fool question, I thought without pushing it. Hell, yes, I desired -her. Who the hell wouldn't?</p> - -<p>Outside, the rain drummed down. In the cab, Joe gunned the motor. I -kissed the girl in the van and she returned my kiss hotly, avidly. -"Harry," she said. I folded her in my arms and sat down on the floor -of the van. The truck lurched and something rolled against my leg. I -reached down with one hand. The woman sensed this. Her warm fingers -touched my arm as she tried to draw my hand back. But I found what had -rolled against my leg anyway. It was a potato. It was what should have -been back there in the van in the first place, no lump of glob and no -beautiful dame, just a return load of Long Island potatoes for market. -I pushed the woman away from me and stood up, holding the potato like -it was a talisman.</p> - -<p>"Harry?" she cried, hurt in her voice. "What is it? What's the matter?"</p> - -<p>I didn't answer her. I walked to the rear of the van and looked out. -It was dark out there. The rain came down in a heavy, faintly silver -curtain. After a while lightning lit the sky and I saw the road was -running parallel to the ocean now. I figured we were somewhere not too -far from Riverhead. Probably south and a little west of Riverhead, down -by the water. But why? Why?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Ten minutes later, the big truck rolled to a stop. I jumped down from -the van and sped around to the cab, slipping on wet sand. There was -a salt spray with the wind-driven rain in the air, and I smelled the -sea. I thought I could make out the gleam of the breakers through -the darkness, but it might have been my imagination. I did hear the -pounding roar of the surf, though.</p> - -<p>I saw Joe's dark bulk getting down from the cab just as I reached it. -"Are you gonna be any trouble, boy?" Joe asked me.</p> - -<p>"Trouble?" I repeated his word. "What are you doing? What did you drive -here for, Joe?"</p> - -<p>He didn't answer. He went around to the van and helped the woman down. -She said something and it almost sounded like she was crying. "Take it -easy, baby," he told her. "It won't be long now."</p> - -<p>The rain poured down, drenching all of us. The surf roared and hissed -and boomed across the beach.</p> - -<p>"Hey, where are you going!" I shouted. They were heading down across -the sand.</p> - -<p>They didn't answer. I could stay with the truck. I could pull the truck -out of there. Or I could follow them and see what the hell was going on.</p> - -<p>But just then Joe came back from the beach. I couldn't see his face, -but his voice sounded odd. "You better come down with us, Harry," he -said. "She figures you know too much. I figure she's right."</p> - -<p>We stood very close. In the dimness I could barely make out the big -monkey wrench in Joe's hand. If I said no, he'd bop me one with the -wrench. If I said yes and went down there with him, would he use the -wrench on me later? It didn't look as if I had much choice. I went down -across the sand with Joe.</p> - -<p>The woman was waiting for us at the water's edge. The breakers were -faintly phosphorescent with glowing plankton and I could see the -outline of the woman's figure against them. Then Joe's bulky silhouette -came between us. I stood there and stared out across the black sea.</p> - -<p>Neither of them paid any attention to me. The breakers broke and foamed -and rolled themselves out on the sand. The tide was coming in. The wind -blew spray.</p> - -<p>"You're waiting for something, aren't you?" I asked. It was a dumb -question. They weren't down here for their health.</p> - -<p>"Something coming in from the water?" I guessed. "Submarine, maybe?"</p> - -<p>Joe said: "We're not waiting for something coming in from the water."</p> - -<p>The woman said: "Don't tell him, Joe."</p> - -<p>Joe said: "Funny, you calling me Joe. Still calling me Joe."</p> - -<p>The woman: "You're Joe. You're Joe until we leave."</p> - -<p>Joe: "Yeah, but it's funny."</p> - -<p>The woman: "I hear something, Joe."</p> - -<p>Joe: "No. It's the wind."</p> - -<p>The woman: "Will it be soon?"</p> - -<p>Joe: "Yeah, soon. What we gonna do with him? With Harry?"</p> - -<p>"He knows too much," the woman said, "but does it really matter?"</p> - -<p>They were talking about me as if I wasn't there. Or like two grown -people will talk about a little child in his presence, or maybe even -like two people will talk about a dog, right in front of the dog, -feeding the dog a juicy bone, maybe—the day before they take it down -to the pound.</p> - -<p>They stopped talking. They stood there, waiting. After another twenty -minutes or so, I began to hear something. Maybe they were listening too -hard. Anyhow, I heard it first. A distant hissing sound. Before I knew -it the sky had begun to grow brighter.</p> - -<p>"Joe!" the woman cried happily. "Listen!"</p> - -<p>"Yeah, and look at it," Joe said.</p> - -<p>They ran by me, not down toward the water but back up the beach toward -the truck. "Wait a minute, baby," Joe called. "You can't go near it til -the changeover. The heat...."</p> - -<p>I whirled and followed them. I saw it as soon as I turned, but I -couldn't believe my eyes. It was why they had come down to the water's -edge. It was why Joe had picked out the untraveled road. I gawked.</p> - -<p>The big truck was glowing.</p> - -<p>Not burning, not on fire—but glowing. As if it had suddenly gone -phosphorescent—say, a million times more so than the plankton-glowing -surf. It stood out as clear as day.</p> - -<p>Joe and the woman stood between the glowing truck and me, standing hand -in hand, watching it, waiting.</p> - -<p>The truck changed.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It wasn't highway hypnotism. Too much had happened. Too much still -would happen. The square lines of the truck were flowing, shifting, -coalescing, like a slow fade on the TV, as one scene shifts slowly into -another. The glowing truck flowed and altered and—wasn't a truck any -longer.</p> - -<p>"Take him with us!" Joe said suddenly.</p> - -<p>The woman grabbed my arm. I pulled loose from her and she started to -yell. She came after me, throwing herself on my back. I was plenty -scared by what I had seen, and I wasn't having any, not if I could help -it. I threw the woman off my back and she fell away yelling into the -rain, but Joe came after me with the wrench. I stumbled and fell just -as Joe swung the big wrench. It thudded in the sand half a foot from my -face and I got up and started running.</p> - -<p>Joe threw the heavy wrench this time and it hit the small of my back, -driving me down to my knees. Joe came after me, kneeing my face as I -swung around and tried to get up. I flipped over but grabbed his foot -as he tried to stamp it down on me. He didn't know what he wanted, that -boy. I guess if he couldn't take me with him, he was going to try and -kill me. I twisted his leg and he yowled and fell down on top of me and -we rolled over and over in the sand, clawing for each other's throat.</p> - -<p>The woman was yelling something but I didn't hear what it was and I'm -sure Joe didn't either. We were both breathing raggedly and swinging -without much force at each other now. Call it almost a draw—except I -was fighting for my life and I knew Joe had an ally in the woman. I -climbed to my feet slowly, unsteadily, and found the monkey wrench on -the ground. I wielded it, shaking it in Joe's face.</p> - -<p>I said: "You can do what you want. I won't stop you. But just leave me -the hell out of it."</p> - -<p>All of a sudden something struck my back. It was the woman, trying to -knock me over from behind. I whirled and she backed out of my reach, -but then Joe was on his feet again and when I turned to face him she -clawed at my back. "Kill him, Joe!" she cried. "Kill him now!"</p> - -<p>Joe came for me. He didn't pay any attention to the monkey wrench in -my hand. He lunged at me and I took a swat in his direction with the -wrench. We both missed but Joe was still half out on his feet. He -stumbled past me and I turned and shoved him. He struck the woman and -they both went down.</p> - -<p>"Joe," the woman said. "Joe! It's starting."</p> - -<p>She meant the truck. Or what had been the truck. It was a gleaming -silver globe now, and something was hissing at the bottom of it. I -didn't know what it was, but they knew. I didn't know it then, but I -had won. I'd delayed them past the point where they could take me with -them by force or kill me. They had to hurry.</p> - -<p>I wasn't going to stop them. I stood there, hurting all over, and -watched them run for the thing which had been the truck. It was still -glowing, but the glow was fading. A hole seemed to open in its side for -them, but then suddenly the glow became so bright that I couldn't see -anything but the dazzling light.</p> - -<p>Which—slowly but with increasing speed—rose into the rain and the -night.</p> - -<p>On a pillar of flame.</p> - -<p>I blinked. I smelled ozone. The sphere was gone, but there was an -afterglow in the sky.</p> - -<p>Numbly I walked over to where the truck—then the sphere—had been.</p> - -<p>I found Joe. Or what was left of Joe. It was a dry husk of a body, -hardly recognizable, as if some great power had taken Joe and twisted -him while an enormous heat had dried all the moisture from his body -without burning the skin.</p> - -<p>I never found the woman. Instead, there were a few hundred dry husky -things near Joe. I didn't recognize them at first, and when I did I -suddenly got hysterical and ran. I couldn't figure it out then, and I -still can't although I've tried to.</p> - -<p>The husky things were burned potatoes. Next to Joe. Where the woman had -been. But the way I figure it, they went up there. Both of them....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The police gave me a rough time but eventually let me go. What happened -to Joe could have been the result of lightning. Lightning, they said, -can do funny things. Nobody ever found the truck. I could have told -them that. It had gone—up there.</p> - -<p>Home?</p> - -<p>I did some investigating. There'd been a meteor fall two days before we -picked up the load of potatoes. I saw the farmer and asked him about -the meteors. But he merely insisted—vague as before—that something -had fallen into his barn, through the roof, from the sky.</p> - -<p>Figure it got among the potatoes. A sentience of some kind. Figure it -was sleeping. Figure the motion of the truck stirred it to life. Figure -it could—well, take over things. Like the potatoes. It became the -girl, to keep me busy. Like Joe. It took over Joe so it could drive off -on the deserted beach. Like the truck. It took over—and changed the -truck into a, well, something—so it could get back where it started -from. Me? I must have been immune.</p> - -<p>Or am I? Because a few minutes ago something crashed through the roof -of my new truck, into the van. I don't know what, but I'm afraid to go -look. 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