Free The Creeping Kelp by William Meikle, Wayne Miller Page B

or appeared stripped and bare. It wasn’t long before Noble saw the purpose of the attack. Even from his high vantage he could see the pieces of material being passed through the fronds; plastics, cottons and flesh. Anything organic was being taken; anything else was discarded, dropped, and overrun as the kelp searched.
    Noble felt tears unbidden in his eyes as the kelp fell on three soldiers who only had time for one scream before they were submerged in the creature’s folds. All along the shore soldiers fought to maintain a semblance of defence but, even despite his lack of military training, it was obvious to Noble that the kelp was going to win this battle. The soldiers were trained to fight other soldiers, and the kelp wasn’t playing by the same rules of engagement. More soldiers fell, screaming only for as long as it took for the carpet to fall on them and start to feed.
    More floodlights started up, lighting the whole expanse of the bay. Choppers thwupped overhead and started to strafe the kelp. The defending soldiers on the ground retreated as far as the Town Bridge before enough reinforcements arrived.
    Concerted blasts from flame-throwing units started pushing the carpet of kelp back towards the sea. Several soldiers grew cocky with their success and broke ranks to move forward. They lasted less than ten seconds before being flanked by seething kelp. Two beach balls launched a direct attack. The soldiers took them out – but that only gave others time to roll forward. The sound of the men’s screams as the kelp fed was loud even above the gunfire.
    It seemed for a while that they had reached an impasse, with the bulk of the kelp out in the bay staying out of range of the soldier’s weapons, just at the reach of the floodlights. Two attack choppers decided to take the fight to the kelp. They swooped overhead, heading for the mass of vegetation in the bay. Bits of kelp flew in the air. But just as the choppers banked for a second run, a larger shape lifted up out of the bay—a wall of kelp like a tsunami heading for the town. It washed over the shore, the promenade wall and the road beyond. The defenders had to retreat, fast, and several didn’t make it, disappearing into the kelp, limbs flailing and guns firing even as they were swallowed .
    Because of the angle of the parapets, Noble couldn’t see where the wave had ended. He moved forward and leaned over. The black carpet was already halfway up the castle wall, long tendrils creeping in front of it as it sought out more food.
    Noble felt movement at his side. Suzie had come to look over the parapet. He pulled her away, just in time as the first tendril came over the top, probing, as if tasting the air.
    “Go away,” Suzie shouted, using the same tone of voice she had with the lab specimen. And the tendril replied in kind, stopping in its tracks, as if confused.
    “Burn it,” Noble heard the Colonel shout. Something whooshed past his ear, a blast of heat that knocked both him and Suzie sideways. He turned to see two soldiers wielding flame units, washing wave after wave of fire over the balustrades. The tendrils withered and burned, falling away out of sight, but the soldiers kept washing the wall with flame until the Colonel ordered them to stop.
    Noble helped Suzie to her feet and they crept forward again, hoping to look down into the harbour. He heard the Colonel bark fresh orders, but the noise of gunfire and screaming overpowered everything else.
    Or so he’d thought... until another chopper flew less than twenty feet overhead, the downdraft nearly knocking them from the battlements, the noise deafening. Noble saw the Colonel point down to the promenade at the same time as he saw the large tanks strapped beneath the vehicle. Even before he staggered to the battlements again and looked over he knew that the sight would be forever etched on his memory.
    The chopper made long strafing runs along the shoreline, wet flame pouring down like