Endgame (Book 2): Alekhine's Gun

by W. A. R.

  “Come on. I’ve got your guns. The others are in trouble.” The man stated dragging a struggling and uncooperative Miles with him. Miles couldn’t speak, his vision going in and out of focus, and through the roars and the screams around him he heard what he hadn’t heard through all of his fighting. He heard Amber’s screams.

  Larry and Rick watched as Jacob took off, the horror of it all hitting them like a bullet. These monsters, these creatures were Biters…right? But Rick knew, he remembered the run-down version that they had given him whenever they found the other Biter that could talk. They had explained Biters similar to these. Experiments. Research. Strong and huge, brutal. They had to help and so immediately hi began running as best as he could on his gimp leg toward the direction that the Biter and Jacob had run. Larry followed and they rushed, trying to find it, but the two of them were far too slow. Still, they didn’t give up. They couldn’t. As more screams were heard, another gunshot, they weren’t even sure of where to go anymore. They couldn’t distinguish between who was screaming or even where they were. Still they ran. It was becoming harder to breath, Rick’s leg aching and Larry following. Larry wasn’t sure what to say, or even how to express his worry or concern for the others. He had no idea what these beings were but he knew that they were bad. That was all he needed to know.

  Suddenly they came up to the razor wire fence, and they looked along the length of it, seeing normal Biters sliced, some caught up with the multiple cutting wires and others separated into pieces. Rick grimaced and searched around them for something, anything that was a sign as to where the others were whenever they glimpsed Derek running through the trees. They watched as he held tight to the knife on his hip, the Biter gripping at his shirt, and he turned, dropping to his knees so fast that the movement was almost missed. The Biter, having gained momentum, catapulted over their friend and he grunted, crying out with the impact of the monster’s feet against his ribs as they caught him. Still, it wasn’t enough and before Rick could ready his gun, the monster and Derek both stood, Derek taking a swing at him. The knife sliced at the Biters neck and suddenly, without warning the Biter picked Derek up with both hands, screaming in his face. Derek panicked, dropping his knife, and as Rick aimed and pulled the trigger, the Biter stepped back, allowing the bullet to hit Derek in the hip. Derek cried out, trying desperately to turn to them, to find them in the midst of the chaos. The Biter turned to them, and Rick swallowed, feeling Larry take a cautious step back. Rick reloaded his gun, his hands trembling. The monster then threw, threw, Derek like a ragdoll into the razor wire. He screamed, but it was cut short. Rick shouted, cried out for his friend as he witnessed the horror of him getting caught in the multiple wires. He became a tangled mess, the wire slicing him crookedly across the throat, carving into his abdomen, flesh being removed from his arms, his legs. Blood pooled along the wire, dripping, no, pouring onto the ground below.

  Derek was dead.

  Rick swallowed the bile that rose in his throat and turned, grabbing Larry and shoving him back. “Run!” he shouted before taking another shot at the Biter. It was hurried, not aimed properly, and it hit the Biter in the chest.

  The creature screamed and Rick turned to follow Larry, slinging the gun on to his shoulder to help him run faster. His limp prohibited him from moving any quicker than he was, but he couldn’t help that. He could only try. His breath was heavy like lead, and his heart was hammering like a bass drum in its cage. He had failed yet another person. Quickly, he shook that thought off, seeing hope ahead of them. He could make out the road a bit of a ways up ahead and he knew he could try to save Larry. He turned to the right, to the woods, shouting at the monster to follow him, to keep his attention, but he didn’t. Instead, he ran straight past Rick, advancing on Larry. As Rick stepped out chasing the Biter, he screamed at it just as it dropped its jaw and screeched, the noise making Rick cringe. The monster hadn’t heard him and when Larry looked back to see the creature behind him, it was too late. The Biter had caught up to him and swung, hitting him hard in the back. Larry screamed, panicked and flew off his feet and landed a few yards away in the road, on top of Amber.

  Amber ran down the road, knowing without looking that behind her the gate was closing. She didn’t blame them, and the sound of a truck starting only served to make her more anxious. She didn’t want more people hurt because of them. These monsters had already claimed so many lives as it was. She couldn’t risk more children, more innocent people. Her innocence was long gone…but those people in the community still had it and some part of her told her that it should stay that way until it could no longer be helped. It gave them something worth fighting for. She knew that the tears were on her face and that Buddy was running behind her, calling her name, urging her to stop, she just couldn’t. The air hit her lungs hard and she had to force herself to breathe, to move because the fear was so great. But the anger was greater.

  “I can’t find them!” She shouted, not to Buddy but to herself, her hands clamping into tighter fists, if that were even possible. Tears stung her eyes even more so when she saw absolutely nothing around her, no sign of them. Her eyes scoured the area around them and she began to slow to a stop. He had said the woods to the left and so she knew that was where she needed to go. The razor fence was right there, and there was nothing, nothing but the sound of roars, of Miles’s screams in the distance. NO!!! her mind screamed and she picked up her pace, rushing towards the wood line in order to do something, anything. She was just at the ditch when she heard a loud screech just yards away. She stopped, and she vaguely made mention of Buddy stopping a yard or two away from her, surprised by something. She barely heard the sound of a truck pulling up as well. She then heard Larry scream, her heart raced, and she immediately reached for her swords. The sudden sight of Larry flying at her made her hesitate and before she could move out of the way the man hit her, hard. One hundred and eighty pounds of male weight hit her full force and it knocked the very breath from her. Her knees buckled beneath her and Larry’s head connected with the asphalt of the road, and Amber’s shoulders landed hard on it as well. She cried out from the surprised pain of the impact, her shoulder screaming at her. She heard Buddy shout, but she couldn’t make out his words. Everything was buzzing, her swords digging into her back, her arms trapped under Larry. She could tell from the distance that the impact had forced them to slide back on the pavement, and she could vaguely feel the road rash, the tearing of skin, on her back, on her arms.

  “Larry?” she asked on quivering, nervous lips, trying to remove her arms from the confines of his limp body weight. She felt blood hit her arm near his head and she squirmed. He shifted a little and she groaned in relief. At least he was conscious. “Buddy! Help me!” she exclaimed quickly, unable to free herself from Larry’s weight. She heard distant cries from Jacob and Buddy to her left, where she had just come in on the road and a quick cursory glance told her that they were fighting off a Biter. She was alone.

  “Michelle?...” Larry trailed off and suddenly, a shadow loomed over them. She let her eyes roll up and take in the massive size of this creature before they widened. Her heart raced and she squirmed some more, but with every move Larry made trying to get up, the more difficult he made it, but still, he shifted and her arms were free. In a desperate move, as the monster reached down to grab Larry, she shoved him off of her and rolled to the opposite side. Breathless and hurting she looked up and saw Larry stumbling lazily on his knees and Rick coming from the wood line, the Biter in the middle seemingly surprised that his prey had gotten away.

  “Amber!” he called out to her, catching the Biter’s attention and then the thing shouted, screeched like a banshee and everyone stilled, covering their ears. Amber remained on her knees, doubling over. It was so loud and so shrill it threatened to bust her eardrums.

  “Get back!” she exclaimed at her cousin, knowing his limitations. It was complete and utter chaos.

  Buddy had watched as Larry hit Amber and knocked her to the g
round, but nothing could be done as suddenly Jacob emerged from the wood line before them, another large Biter behind him.

  “Help me!” the young boy exclaimed breathlessly, having run the entire time, trying to shake the creature but to no avail. He was breathless and hurting, and so he collapsed to the ground and rolled towards Buddy’s feet. Buddy rushed forward and grabbed Jacob, removing him from the aim of the Biter’s fist as it met the asphalt. Where his fist met the ground spidered out in thin veins and Buddy knew that they had to move. He rushed Jacob to his feet and shoved him towards the sound of the truck behind him, never taking his eyes off of the Biter. But then the Biter near Amber shrieked and he had to flinch. The sound was just so horrible. It was just enough for his monster to reach forward and grab Jacob by the arm as he tried to run. A loud pop was heard and Jacob screamed like the boy that he was and Buddy flinched, scrambling desperately for his knife, to release him from the vise like grip of the Biter. The Biter then squeezed tightly, Jacob still screaming, and Buddy knew that the bones of his hand and forearm were shattered. He couldn’t hear his own shouts, nor the shouts coming from the truck. All he could hear was Jacob, the young boy, screaming in complete and total despair. Jacob dropped to his knees, crying, breathless, unable to hear the sickening crack of bone, unable to fight against the pain. And suddenly, just as Buddy jumped on the Biter’s back, he threw Buddy off, Buddy’s knife blade sliding down the length of the monster’s back, and brought his other arm down powerfully. Buddy landed on the ground with a grunt and heard the manic screams of Jacob and when he regained his focus, he saw Jacob lying in a pool of blood on the road, wailing in agony, his arm missing at the elbow. The other half of his arm was in the Biter’s hand, being tossed to the side.

  Amber stood as soon as the Biter stopped its screech, and reached for her swords. Jacob’s screams echoed in her ears but she had to ignore them as the Biter before her began lurching toward Larry. No…not them…she mentally pleaded. Rick was trying to help a dizzy Larry to his feet. She ran, her swords held tightly in her grip and she rushed toward her wide-eyed friend.

  “Rick, get out of here!” she shouted at him but he didn’t listen, he ignored her and continued trying to drag Larry off to the side so he wouldn’t get hurt and whenever the Biter grabbed Larry by his neck, Rick didn’t let go. Amber ran as fast as she could, nearing the monster, desperate to make it all stop. The Biter reached around and pulled a struggling Rick off by his shoulder before throwing him easily to the side and as soon as he did this, Rick’s arm caught her chin in passing, causing her to turn and stumble to her knees. Still, in spite of all of this, amongst the blood and the gore, the stink of death, she couldn’t help but be amazed at how strong these Biters were. If they weren’t so wrong, they would be remarkable. Rick rolled into the ditch and hit a tree to the side with a loud thud and fell to the ground, limp and dazed. Amber ignored him and growled, surging back to her feet. She rushed forward, having lost one of her swords when Rick had hit her, the clang having sounded from near Buddy. She didn’t have the time to retrieve it. She had to save Larry. She had to.

  She bit back the expletive that was on the tip of her tongue and through the red haze before her focused on the silhouette of the monster. It was quick, how he had grabbed her by the hair of her head, pulling her from her feet. She screamed out against the pain, feeling her hair, her skin tear, and the monster merely screamed back at her before dropping her to the cold asphalt. She grunted, winded, but before she could inhale another breath the horrid Biter reached down and grabbed her by her throat, his fingers and thumb against her ears, her jaw bone. She swung her sword, trying to save Larry, trying to save herself, but she felt the Biter’s hold tighten and she could no longer breathe. There was a sickening crack of bone and something wet hit her face. She turned her bulging eyes to her left and what she witnessed made everything inside of her grow cold. She saw the Biter squeeze the life out of Larry, his thumb and fingers gripping his jaw, his neck and squeezing. His fingers dug into the bone and the muscle, and blood poured from this down Larry’s shirt. She could make out the white of the bone, the peach of the esophagus, and above all else, the crimson.

  “NOO!” Amber screamed through her teeth, unable to stop herself. The experiment roared again and squeezed her tighter. She clawed at the monster through fingers curled around the hilts of her sword, flesh and tarlike blood staining her fingers, and she cried, swinging her sword at his arm. The blade went through easily. The arm fell, as did Larry with a resounding, limp thud, and Amber then swung at the neck of the monster, effectively slicing through the bone and tissue, cutting his head off. And then, as the creature’s head rolled away, its teeth snapping, his body fell and Amber with it.

  Her sword dropped as a gunshot sounded to her left and she hit the ground with a hard thud before rolling from the body and balancing on her hands and knees, struggling to remove the vise like grip of the creature’s hand from her throat. Once she was free, however, she threw it to the side and she glanced up, searching for any more threats. She was sobbing, crying, her vision blurry but she saw the other Biter go down, saw Michael and Rusty rushing Jacob to the truck, and saw Buddy coming near her. She rushed to Larry, to see if there was any possibility he was still alive. She scurried over, whimpering, so very scared, so very angry. She placed her palms to his blood covered face, trying desperately not to move him.

  “Larry?” she asked shakily, feeling Rick’s presence as he limped over to them, his eyes wary. She looked down at her friend, his eyes staring into oblivion and his face, his neck distorted and she knew that he was dead. She lifted her eyes as the truck started. “Jacob?” she asked Buddy calmly, though she was anything but calm. This was instinct. This was survival. This was their family.

  “He lost his arm but he’s alive for now. They are taking him back. They are going to take Larry back too, and Rick.” She nodded and another truck sounded in the distance, coming from the community. This entire scene, this turn of events from when she heard the first roar, lasted mere minutes, five, seven tops, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was the extent of what happened within those five minutes. She didn’t have time to think about that, or anything for that matter, however, not then, because while she was trapped there with those two Biters, Miles and Derek were still out there fighting. And now, now everything had gone eerily quiet. Were they dead? They couldn’t be. She refused to accept it.

  “We have to find the others. Miles and Derek are still out there.” She said hurriedly, her words running together, Buddy nodding his agreement. She stood, a nervous feeling settling in the pit of her stomach, and Buddy followed her as she rushed to grab her swords. She grabbed the one closest to her first, running to the Biter she had just killed. “Are there more?” Where are Miles and Derek?

  Rick was beside her in a second as she lifted the sword and shoved the blade into the head of the Biter she had just faced off with. She couldn’t risk anything more happening with that one. She was breaking, her hands trembling, and her mind slipping. “One was with Miles…. but I think…I think these were the only ones. Amber, don’t go out there alone, you shouldn’t see…I don’t know if…”

  “What about Derek? Is he out there too?” she asked quickly before turning towards the woods to the left. She had to go find them. She had to. She glanced over at the road, her eyes searching for her other sword, the partner to the one in her hand…she needed it so she could go find her partner…who would she be without him? She was terrified of that thought. The glint of stainless steel in the sun caught her eyes and she burst forward with energy, her feet carrying her as fast as they could toward the weapons.

  “He didn’t….” Rick began shouting before stopping, doubling over and vomiting. Amber remained impassive, her heart only breaking a little more. More tears fell. Derek was dead too. Now, however, she was more desperate than before. He didn’t know if Miles had made it or not. There was still hope. She could mourn later for their losses. She had to ensure ever
yone was safe before she could do anything. Her mind was on a mission, accepting nothing than the best.

  “Rick, you need to go to Michael. Help him and hurry. Jacob lost a lot of blood. He needs to see Doc now.” Buddy told him before running up to her side. She wasn’t sure why he had said that as the truck carrying Jacob was already leaving and another there to get Larry…if they even knew he was dead yet. And though she was worried about the young man, she knew she was needed out there…no, she needed to be out there, searching for Miles. She refused to let him go again. She was frantic, thinking of nothing other than finding him. Her entire body trembled and her heart beat a rapid rhythm. She forced her mind to be blank, forced the insanity aside, the hunger for violence. She had to find him and with that she began to run across the road, swords in hand.

  And that was when a sudden rustle caught her ears.

  She brought her eyes up and what she saw made her still, swords dropping from her hands and clanging to against the road. Relief, sweet relief, gripped at her as she saw Miles come into view from the woods. One arm was slung over the shoulders of a man in the shadows, and his other arm was wrapped protectively around his chest. He gasped for breath, and he was slightly bent forward, his feet dragging. His eyes scanned everything around him, his focus searching and she swallowed, her knees trembling. Buddy immediately rushed forward to him, Amber right behind him.

  “Miles!” she exclaimed running to him. He was badly hurt, she could tell, but when his eyes found hers she felt like breaking down again. He was there; he was alive.

  “You’re safe…Amelia.” He said gently on a beaten smile before turning to Buddy and closing his eyes, sagging against the man. Amber knew then that he had to be delirious. Buddy reached for him, pulling his arm over his shoulder and Amber stepped forward to help, her heart racing with worry. Buddy suddenly stilled and Amber followed his eyesight, stopping in her tracks. Her breathing stopped, her eyes widened and she felt the anger consume her. It was white-hot and she was infuriated.