Wheatley called for backup. Said he’d get a ride with them. I told him they had to destroy all the baby creatures before they got too big. If they got loose, who knew what havoc they’d cause. One killed over a dozen people. A small army could take out a city. He agreed. He understood.

Back at the house Mo’Lock was waiting for me. It had been a hell of a week. I thanked him and told him to pass along the thanks to the ghouls. They got on my nerves sometimes, but when push came to shove, the ghouls always had my back.

I was out of beer and broke so I grabbed the bottle and sat at my desk. I found some pills, not sure what, in the drawer and popped a couple. I’d just wait and see what happened.

Mo’Lock was messing around on his phone and muttering to himself.

“What is it?” I asked, not really caring.

“It looks like a body has been found in the sewers,” he said. “It was found in some sort of cocoon.”

I rubbed my eyes. “Sounds weird.”

“You want to check it out?”

“Not really.”

“Cal.”

I exhaled as hard as I could and stood, checked my gun, and shot the ghoul for fun. I headed out the door with the ghoul whining at my back about his shirt. I was guessing it would be another long night.

Author

STEVE NILES is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back to prominence, and was recently named by Fangoria magazine as one of its “thirteen rising talents who promise to keep us terrified for the next twenty-five years.”

Niles is currently working for the four top American comics publishers—Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse. Currently ongoing at Image is the creator-owned series Bad Planet with co-writer Thomas Jane and The Cryptics with artist Ben Roman. Everyone’s favorite monster hunter Cal McDonald returns in the monthly Criminal Macabre series from Dark Horse.

In 2002, the success of 30 Days of Night sparked renewed interest in the horror genre. A film version of the graphic novel was released in 2007.