In a flash of instinct, Isaiah and the other man used their spears to stab the sand, using them for leverage while forcing their way up the hill. Somehow, they found the strength to climb the last few steps, while fighting the backwards momentum. And then they were at the top of the trench, and their comrades were receiving them.
Relief struck Neena and the others, who lifted their heads to the sky, praising a miracle.
Isaiah and the other man held up their new spears proudly.
They patted each other’s backs, looking at the collapsed hole and the death they’d avoided.
A rumble ripped away further celebration.
Isaiah and his men backpedaled away from the hole, just moments before the sand gave way again.
A black set of jaws emerged.
The beast sprang.
It opened and closed its maw, missing The Watchers at the top of the trench and continuing its ascent. Its enormous shadow blocked out all but the shadows of Isaiah and his men. From a hundred feet away, Neena’s group readied their spears, although they were in no position to throw them.
Whether it was confidence at finding the weapons, or his desire for revenge, Isaiah wasn’t giving up. “Throw your spears! Strike it!”
The man-sized shadows moved, assumedly following his orders. Cries of attack split the air. A cacophonous screech followed. Black blood sprayed from the creature’s underside, raining over the area outside its shadow.
Neena took a step forward, aiming her device, but her shot was uncertain.
“Wait!” Kai yelled next to her, stopping her.
They watched the creature complete its arc, burrowing into the ground at a distance from Isaiah and his men. And then it was gone, and Isaiah and his men were shouting curses after it, stumbling about blindly in the sand. Black blood spackled their clothes. Their hair and faces were tarred and slick. They smeared the blood from their goggles, frantically trying to see.
“Isaiah! This way!” Neena called out, waving her hands to guide them back.
The Watchers raced in her direction, heading for the relative safety of a group.
Not Isaiah.
Surprising her, Isaiah staggered south, covered in brackish slime, heading toward where the beast had disappeared.
Bloodlust had caught hold of him. Or maybe it was anger. Looking around the sand, he stepped carefully around a trench, scanning the ground. Neena called out his name, but he didn’t respond, or stop. Instead, he continued along the edge of the trench, standing over something.
Bending, he lifted up two ends of a broken spear. Hefting one side of it in each hand, he looked to where the beast had continued tunneling. The creature’s noise grew louder, as it swung back for another pass.
“Isaiah!” Neena yelled again, desperately trying to call him back to the group.
But Isaiah was a man possessed. He raced forward with the blunt end of the spear, and the one with the tip. His face was a mask of rage and determination. Rearing back the quill-tipped part of the spear, he took a stance in the desert.
His vengeful scream cut through the storm.
He stood in place, riveted, waiting for the beast, its black blood staining his face.
The beast got closer.
Neena and her people continued shouting.
A moment of clarity washed over Isaiah, just as the sand under his boots shook and caved.
His battle cry turned into a frenzied scream.
The monster rose, snatching Isaiah, catching him too soon and crunching. Only the top half of his body stuck out from between several of its giant teeth. His scream became an agonized shriek, as the creature bit down harder. But Isaiah wasn’t finished. Rearing back, he buried the quill-end of the spear in the creature’s gums. More black blood sprayed over him, as the creature continued rising with him in its maw. He tried striking the beast with the blunt end of the spear, but lost his grip. The second piece of spear dropped from his hands. Isaiah waved his hands in a last, desperate attempt to escape.
And then the beast rammed back into the sand, taking Isaiah with it.
The remaining Watchers in Isaiah’s group watched in horror.
A few of them cried out in empathetic pain.
Neena clung to Kai.
An uneven seam rippled the ground, heading away in another direction.
Neena looked around at the last survivors around her—a handful of Right Cavers, Watchers, Kai, and Roberto.
Only three of them had spears.
Resignation washed over her.
She should never have come back out here.
She opened her mouth, ready to voice that argument, but a Watcher cut it short.
“I saw something when it rose, just now,” he said, through the terror on his face. “Some sort of strange skin, by its head.”
Inspired by the first Watcher, another spoke up. “I saw it, too! It might be another weak point! Maybe we can strike it there!”
Neena shook her head. How could they kill the thing, when they had no spears, and barely any people?
Echoing her frustration, Roberto told The Watchers, “It’s coming up too fast. Even if we get it to rise, we’ll never have a chance to strike it in time. You’d have to be almost on top of it to make a difference.”
Neena closed her eyes, praying for an idea she hadn’t thought of.
And then something occurred to her.
She looked from the people around her to the Comm Building, and the pile of rocks that comprised its now-demolished wall. The craggy, broken material reminded her of a formation in the desert she had climbed.
“I think I know what to do!” she said, grabbing the attention of the distraught, panicked people.
Quickly, she told them what she was thinking.
It was a hope and a prayer.
In a frantic, last-ditch attempt, she ran toward the pile of stones to get onto the Comm Building’s roof.
Chapter 94: Neena
Neena straddled the stones of the fallen Comm Building wall, balancing her weapon and her nerves. The wind tore at her clothing. In the time she’d started climbing, the storm had returned to its former ferocity. She didn’t dwell on it, nor did she stop. And she definitely didn’t look down. Losing her focus meant a perilous fall.
The conversation she’d just had with Kai replayed in her head.
“I’m going with you, Neena.”
“No. I need you to stay here and distract the creature.”
“The others can do that.”
“The more people making noise, the better. You’re needed there.”
“How do you want me to distract it?”
“By doing whatever it takes. Use the Comm Building stones.”
He’d promised her he’d try, before they parted.
Hopefully, he and the others would deliver on that promise.
She had little time to contemplate it.
Neena clambered upward, ignoring the pain of the sharp rocks, and the burn of her calves. The screeching wind pushed her in different directions, but she didn’t give up, or consider defeat. A few times, she lost her grip, barely managing to hang on. One handhold and foothold at a time. That was her goal. She climbed until she reached the crest of the rock pile.
The edge of the Comm Building’s smooth roof appeared above her. A gap of about a foot and a half lay between the uppermost rocks, on which she stood, and its lip.
This was it.
The moment she worried about.
Steadying her beating heart, she leapt, catching the stone with her right arm and pulling with all her strength, while keeping hold of the weapon. For a moment she hovered, legs kicking, heart hammering. And then she was up and over the lip.
Neena climbed a little way up the sloped roof with her weapon in her hand, avoiding a section of roof that had caved, as the wind screamed around her. She turned to face the area below the building.
She could no longer see farther than fifteen feet.
She must be double that distance off t
he ground.
Cracks lined the lower portion of the roof’s edges.
Searching for a sturdier place to stand, she climbed for a higher vantage point, holding her hands out, fighting the same dizziness she’d felt on the cliffs, or on that old rock structure in the desert, when she and Kai had climbed up and sought refuge from the beast.
She hunkered down.
She could no longer see Kai and the others. All she could see was the wind, sand, and the thirty feet of the sloping dome roof in front of her, leading to its edge.
How would this work?
Chapter 95: Kai
Kai led his small group away from the Comm Building, carrying the rocks they’d picked up from the bottom of the collapsed wall—or, in the case of three of them, their quill-tipped spears. It felt as if the entire colony sat on the edge of a treacherous abyss. He no longer trusted his steps.
Looking over his shoulder at the Comm Building, he scanned for Neena. A short while ago, he’d watched her clamber up the rock pile, but the intensifying storm had stripped away his visibility.
The screeching wind drowned out the monster’s incessant rumbling. Of course, he no longer saw any sign of it.
It felt as if their plan was doomed to fail.
Still, he pressed on.
Gripping his rock and his spear, he led the small group to a position alongside the Comm Building, but not too close. Motioning to half his people, he instructed them to pile their rocks in a spot parallel to the wall.
They needed to coax the thing back out of the ground, getting it in a position where Neena could strike it.
He cocked his head, hoping for a clue as to where the beast was located, but he still couldn’t hear anything. The intense wind was probably confusing the beast, but he knew one thing that would draw it.
Loud vibrations.
They were his only hope.
Instructing his group to do the same, Kai knelt down with his rock, banging it violently against the ones they’d set down.
Chapter 96: Neena
A persistent gale picked up, flapping Neena’s clothing behind her and pressing her shawl to her face. From somewhere far below her, she heard the rocks clanking together. They were doing it! They were following the plan!
Her relief was short-lived.
The wind was strong enough that it blew her in several directions. She fought to keep her footing. Every so often, a pebble rolled over the round dome, whipping past her and falling out of sight. It felt as if she was on the top of that secluded rock formation in the desert, far away from everything else, even though she could still hear the bangs of Kai and his people far below.
Abruptly, the clanking noise stopped.
Quiet reigned, other than the storm’s din.
She fought the awful feeling that Kai and the others had suffered some unseen fate. How would she know? She might be the only one left in Red Rock, other than the people on the cliffs. Neena waited a long while, straining to hear the sounds of the monster’s rumbling, or more rocks, but the wind shrieked too loudly.
Each passing moment stoked her unease.
She waited until she could wait no more.
She needed to do something.
This might be her only chance to lure it. She needed to take advantage of it.
Kneeling, Neena held the device steady.
She might never use it, if she couldn’t get the monster close.
Looking around the rooftop, she searched for something to throw—anything with which to draw it. Her fingers met sliding sand and debris. Of course, she had no spear. She looked at the bag over her shoulder. Other than the small spears, it contained only clothing, a few blankets, and a flask. Nothing helpful.
She needed something heavier.
Looking down the sloping roof, she found the spot where she’d climbed up. Most of the rocks on the pile on which she’d stepped were large, but there had to be a few that were the right size to throw. Neena edged down the roof, heading down the slope and avoiding the caved section again, hoping she could reach down and get her hands on something. It was a hope and a prayer. She steadied herself with her hands and boots, using her bottom to scoot. After carefully working her way down, she reached the edge and peered over the drop.
The stones were a few feet away.
Tucking the weapon under her arm, Neena positioned herself so she was on her belly, reaching, while pressing the rest of her body against the dome. The roof’s hard stone ground into her ribs, aggravating old wounds. She bit down on a cry of pain. Still, she didn’t stop reaching, until she’d grabbed hold of a fist-sized rock, pulling it close to her body and retreating.
She spider-crawled up the roof, heading for her sturdy perch, up high.
Regaining her old position, she turned on her haunches, looking down at the rock she’d managed to grab.
A crash vibrated the dome.
Kai! Her mind instinctively screamed.
Something slammed on the roof’s edge, in the general direction where Kai and his group had been making noise.
The rock flew from her hand, bouncing off the stone, rolling down the roof’s slant. Neena followed the path of its descent.
And saw something horrific.
Thirty feet away, on top of the Comm Building roof, the beast’s mouth opened and closed, as it writhed back and forth. Gigantic teeth—nearly the size of a human body—mashed together, searching for prey.
Neena cried out, fumbling with the weapon in her hands, trying to aim.
Giant fissures spider-webbed up and down the roof’s surface, as the beast’s movements broke away more stone on where it had landed.
How had it gotten here?
She had no time to question it.
Neena put out a hand to stop herself from falling, but a hole caved in where she placed her hand. Rock crumbled and fell inside the building. She yelped and pulled her hand away, rolling to the side in time to avoid another caving section of roof. It felt like the building was coming apart around her.
With a cry, Neena felt herself sliding toward the creature’s mouth.
Chapter 97: Kai
“No!” Kai screamed over the wind.
His heart pounded as the creature slammed against the Comm Building roof, thrashing back and forth. Somehow, his judgment had been misguided. Somehow, the beast’s enormous bulk had landed on the top of the structure.
Or maybe they’d been foolish in thinking they could guide it at all.
All around him, his small group screamed and shouted, trying to correct their awful mistake. They found rocks and hurled them.
The beast screeched, but its position didn’t change.
It was stuck on the stone.
The creature was large and dark enough that he saw it, even through the storm. The roof groaned under its weight. From somewhere out of sight, Neena screamed. Those screams stabbed his chest like a thousand spears.
“Neena!”
Sand filled Kai’s mouth as he uselessly shouted. He needed to do something. Running toward the beast’s arcing body, he reared back one of their last spears, hurling it. Through the storm, he saw the weapon pierce the beast’s hide, saw its body writhe, and heard a hideous wail. Two Watchers near him also threw their spears, finding their target, to no avail.
With empty hands, Kai and his group got close enough to see the thing’s hard scales and the puncture wounds on its side, from some of the spears they’d thrown earlier. A few were still stuck inside the thing. Blotches of black blood marred the creature’s exterior.
Nothing stopped it.
Perhaps his worst fears were right, and the thing couldn’t be killed at all.
Kai rushed a few more feet, frantically searching for something—anything—else to distract it. His people clustered around him, shouting things he couldn’t hear, over the creature’s screeching and the grinding sound of the Comm Building’s crumbling roof.
Kai never saw the trench in front of him until it was too late.
Judg
ing by the screams around him, neither did the others.
Kai’s boots flew out from under him.
His wind left his body.
He plunged into one of the beast’s deep, dark holes.
Chapter 98: Neena
Neena fought for balance on the shaking roof. All around her, pieces of the Comm Building caved and fell inward. With each thrash of the beast, she felt herself pitching forward into its mouth. She envisioned her death in between its grinding, vicious teeth.
Too many of her nightmares came flooding back to her: its skeletal body rising above her, dripping bile, searing her flesh, and reducing her to bone.
Her corpse, decomposing in its stomach.
Perhaps this was the culmination of too many bad choices.
The rancid smell of blood and flesh from its mouth filled the air. Neena raked at the Comm Building roof with her nails, keeping hold of the weapon with one hand, while trying to stop her inevitable slide down the slope to the edge, and the beast’s mouth. Her grip was giving way. She pictured Raj hiding in that hovel, or Samel huddled in the caves, waiting for her.
No!
These couldn’t be her last moments.
Letting go of the roof, Neena spun and slapped her free hand above her, catching the edge of a crack. Pulling with all her strength, she managed to get further up the slope and away from the creature, tucking her boots into the crevice and pressing her back against the dome’s slant. Extending to full height while lying on her stomach, Neena rolled onto her back, aiming the weapon onto which she’d managed to hold.
The thrashing creature opened and closed its mouth. Six folds of brown flesh contracted into one point, before gaping open again.
Terror and disgust swirled inside her.
So did fear.
This might be the last spear she’d have a chance to use.
Once it was gone, she might never be able to reload.
And then she saw something.
On the side of the beast’s head, just below its closed mouth and underneath its scales, something contracted and expanded. For a moment, Neena thought she was imagining it. And then she realized what it was: a heart, beating inside it and rippling its flesh.
Sandstorm Box Set Page 76
