Savage World

by Jennifer Slusher

  If Derick knew anything about Tom, it was that he couldn't be persuaded from some things. Like now. He stared right back at Jazz, face unreadable. “You heard him, Sergeant,” Derick said, knowing the formality would make Jazz toe the line.

  Not for the first time, Tom thanked the high heavens that Derick was his Gunny and his friend. “Use the Thumpers on the door but do not detonate until I give the word. The minute those buggers break through the wall, they're going to swamp us. That's your window, while we're dealing with them, you take the squints and run your arse off.”

  Still hating the idea, Jazz nodded. He had his orders, didn't he? “We'll get them home safe, Major. I give you my word.”

  “Good bloke,” Tom patted his shoulder and looked over the temple, saddened by what they needed to do to the place. “Derick, let's get to work setting those charges.”

  * * *

  By the time the first ray of sunlight cut through the dust-choked air, they were ready.

  Standing next to Derick, Tom cast a brief glance over his shoulder at Jules, their eyes making contact. She stared back at him with those soulful blue eyes, full of promise and sadness. Full of everything they could have been to each other. She gave a quick nod and turned back to the scientists she would be leading out of the room in a few seconds. Tom refocused on the task at hand, making Jules a promise that he'd do everything possible to get back to her.

  Rock buckled around the ragged hole, a large piece breaking free a second before a section caved in. Tom barely had enough time to blink in the bright sun before it was blocked by The Big Motherfucker. “Short, controlled bursts. Make every shot count!”

  Suddenly, the wall exploded inward, sending large chunks bouncing and skittering everywhere along with an enveloping cloud of dust that rushed across the floor. The Sharks that weren't masked up had hidden their faces behind bandannas. To Tom's right, one of the now shadowed soldiers yelled as he went down.

  “Get him up!” Derick bellowed from Tom's right and the shape regained its feet.

  “Are you hurt?” Tom asked and received a negative in reply. “Steady on, hold your fire!”

  Backlit by the sun, The Big Motherfucker finally revealed itself to those who hadn't been privy to Harwood's feed from earlier. Even though Tom had seen it, he still wasn't prepared for what was filling up that hole. More than ten feet tall, closer to fifteen, Tom estimated. The subs had formed into a tinker toy monstrosity, connected by tentacles and clenching limbs. The head wasn't something he'd likely ever forget, a cluster of tentacles whirling like hair. There were no eyes, just… jaws. Multiple jaws, snapping away.

  For a moment, there was dead silence, both entities sizing up the other.

  “FIRE!”

  In a bone-shaking roar, every rifle and firearm opened up on the beast. Beta went high, targeting the chest carapace while Alpha went for the lower body. Ren was perched on the dais to get a bead on the beast's head with her sniper's aim.

  Long, thick tentacles lashed out across the room, retaliating against the plasma fire. There was a yell as someone was yanked off their feet. The big Maori, who kept his head and was swinging at the tentacle with his machete as Tom fired at the appendage. When he hit the floor, he rolled back to his feet and let out a war cry.

  Another tentacle raced along the floor, heading for Derick. Ren reacted immediately, her trained sniper's eye pulling the trigger on her rifle even before it got anywhere near him. The short, abrupt burst of plasma severed it mid limb, sending meat and dark fluid spurting everywhere.

  Suddenly, the creature roared, rearing back as Tom realized what was happening. “TAKE COVER!!”

  The Sharks scattered. A huge gob of fluid shot from the beast and splattered against the big stone altar, sending Harwood, Richards and the Maori diving behind the big rock.

  This was their window, Tom thought. It was time for the squints to go. “Jazz, now!”

  A split-second later, the titanium barricade exploded violently, the shock wave making everyone stumble and covering them all in eons worth of dust. Tom blinked through it in time to see Jules ushering the squints through the opened doorway.

  Beside her, Luke hesitated, staring at his brother. Sarge and the Captain were shouting at him and the rest of the civilians to move, but Luke couldn't make his feet work. If he left, he'd lose Derick and after Tammy, he couldn't lose Derick. Not now. Not…

  “Luke, go!!”

  Someone pushed at him and Luke found himself staring at an insistent Captain Curran. He almost refused until Derick's bellowed order drew his attention to where his brother was steadily firing on the monster. He'd never seen him in action, not like this and with sudden clarity realized why his brother fought so hard. For him. For him to get free. He had to go because it was what Derick would want — no, needed — him to do. With a curse of anguish, Luke let himself be ushered out of the room, praying he'd see his brother again.

  * * *

  “Beta! Cover the squints!”

  With his back pressed against one of the large columns flanking the altar, Tom barked his order over the discharge of blast rifles. Only when they were mostly gone did he turn back, laying out his own hell. Two shots struck a knee, destroying the sub and disrupting the creature's movement. About to issue an order to aim for the joints, Tom blistered the air with curses when an individual sub crawled up to replace the ruined joint.

  “Switch to grenades! FIRE IN THE HOLE!!” Tom called over the noise, yanking a grenade off his own belt, arming it and hurling it at the monster.

  Ren followed suit just as Harwood grabbed her arm, pointing to where three subs had just oozed their way into the temple, past the mother beast. Jesus Christ. They were like rats, Ren thought, boneless and dangerous at the same time, slithering over one another. She lobbed the grenade expertly, a pitch any major leaguer would be proud of, and snatched back her rifle as the device flared brilliantly and disintegrated the three creatures.

  An outraged scream filled the air as the beast focused on Ren, stomping towards her as it reared back. She was yanked downward just as another glob of acid spit splattered against the stone altar, eating into the already weakened bricks.

  “I think you pissed it off!” Cori shouted over the noise.

  “I'm good at that! Fall back, I'll cover you!”

  Rising to her feet, Cori opened fire on the beast as she and Pookie backed away to re-join the others. “REN! Heads up!!” she yelled as a massive tentacle slammed into the column beside it.

  The abused stone finally crumbled and gave, sending rock, dirt and stone tiles washing over Ren. She had just enough time to pull her limbs close and shield her head before it all came down on her.

  “Richards!!” Derick moved towards her on instinct, barking at Harwood to cover him.

  “Gunny!” Cori swore under her breath and aimed her shots higher, to get the beast's attention.

  Sliding through the rubble, Derick easily tossed a large tile off Ren and breathed a sigh of relief to find her not fully covered. He grabbed her by the harness and hauled her over a shoulder before scrambling back to the others.

  “On your left!!” Tom yelled, opening fire on the sub making straight for his Gunny and his unconscious corporal. Behind that creature, more were pushing their way into the temple, around the big one. “Beta squad,” he ordered. “Take out all the stragglers. It can't do a Lego on us if there are no extra pieces. Alpha squad! Concentrate all firepower on the big bastard!”

  A barrage of shots exploded before he even finished giving the order, cutting down the subs flanking the behemoth and driving them back through the ragged opening. The big one was still outraged, forcing itself ahead and determined to reach its prey.

  With its size, Tom figured it wouldn't take long for the beast to reach them. Unless… he popped up from the fallen boulder he'd taken cover behind to assess the expanse of stone in front of him. He could do it. It would be a Hail Mary pass, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd pulled a miracle out of his ass
. Snatching one of his last grenades, Tom darted towards the altar and jumped onto what was left of it. Using his momentum, he launched himself off the altar and hurled the incendiary into the centre of all those tentacles.

  Sure, in his aim, Tom didn't watch to see the grenade land, too busy with not breaking his own neck as he hit on the stone. Rolling out of the drop, he threw himself behind another huge rock just as the grenade went off, evaporating at least four of the subs making up the head and bathing the upper half of the body in fire. For a few seconds, Momma Beast stood in place, her tentacles whipping around like Medusa's snakes before subs started shedding off and breaking apart.

  “Take them out!” Derick encouraged as the beasts seemed to lose their organization. “Keep 'em from regrouping!”

  Separated from his squad, Tom was a man alone against the wall as two subs advanced on him. Blasting away at the nearest one, he was relieved to find the second one was shredded into meat. Looking up, Tom nodded to Ozzy and French before rushing back to safety. Near him, someone cursed as they ejected a fire pod from their rifle and kicked the smoking capsule away from them. Others were doing the same, changing out the plasma containers and, when he looked, more subs seemed to be spilling through the opening.

  It was time to bug out.

  Tom tapped his link. “Jules, what's your status?”

  “We're at the Firefly!” came the broken, static filled reply. “We're coming back for you!”

  “We'll meet you in the compound!” He replied, relieved to hear her and turned his attention to the squads.

  “Beta squad, start to withdraw through the main doors! Alpha, lay down suppressing fire to cover them. WE ARE LEAVING!” While dying was something they were all prepared to do, unnecessary martyrdom was not on the agenda today if he could help it.

  As the units separated to their tasks, Tom heard Ozzy shouting. He spotted the guy shortly, one hand firing his sidearm and the other holding onto French's harness for dear life. The former Legionnaire was caught in an absurd tug of war, between Ozzy and two subs, tentacles snaked around his legs. Just as Tom raised his gun to fire, a thick tentacle lashed out of nowhere, slamming into Ozzy, making him release French as he was sent tumbling backwards. He scrabbled unsuccessfully along the stone as Shiny appeared beside him, using her weight to keep him from going after the Frenchman.

  “ALAIN!” His yell was eclipsed by French's scream as he was sucked into the whirling, slithering mass of carapaced bodies.

  XXVII

  The Slurry

  “You hear me, baby? Hold together.”

  Tom would appreciate that line, Jules decided when Dr. Nordin said nothing from the co-pilot's seat beside her. Jules pulled back on the throttle a second time and heaved a sigh of relief when the tell-tale vibration of the engine igniting, rumbled through her boots. She waited a hot minute to make sure the shuttle wouldn't stall out again before glancing back to the main compartment. “Everyone buckle up, NOW!” she bellowed over a shoulder.

  The Bobbsey twins, she forgot their names, quickly relayed the order in a tone that promised future command positions if … no… when they made it through all this. “You too, Doc!” Something groaned as the shuttle levitated upwards. When something thudded against the deck plating under her boots and a yellow light started to flash on the console, Jules repeated the famous order under her breath.

  “What's that?!” Dr. Nordin asked, staring at the warning light.

  “Nothing, she's just bitching. We're fine!” Jules replied, quickly acknowledging the hopper's attempt to inform her of the O2 leak in the rear coolant access hatch. Yes, she knew about that. Or expected it. The sky crabs' attack and subsequent salvage of anything that could reinforce the temple left the shuttle in a perilous condition. In fact, the short flight Tom envisioned for their continued survival might be the Firefly's last.

  Second to last, dammit. They still had to fly somewhere else.

  As she brought the hopper around to head towards the temple, the yoke stuttered in her hands, shaking for a brief second before it steadied out. When Jules pushed the throttle, the craft lurched forward. They picked up speed, creating a whole new group of noises as wind whistled through various openings. Something tore loose, making a lot of noise before stopping altogether. One of the Sharks yelled an order to ignore the equipment. He was right. Equipment could survive falling out. A person couldn't.

  Cresting over the outer wall of the city, Jules could hardly believe the damage. Fresh new craters, courtesy of weapons fire, grenades and even the subs left the verdant greenery pockmarked and trashed.

  “Tom, we're here!” Jules announced over the link as Subs spread across the main pyramid like a swarm of fire ants returning home to their hill. Spying an opening in the underbrush nearest the temple, she turned the shuttle in that direction and keyed in the landing sequence. Not that the computer would help much in its present condition. She was going to have to do this manually. Otherwise known as 'by the seat of her pants'.

  Hoo-ya.

  Three new lights flashed red on the console but Jules ignored them as she muscled the hopper into touch down.

  “Brace for landing!!” she yelled, not breaking her gaze from the contours on the fritzed digital screen.

  When the shuttle set down with a jarring thump, Jules swore it breathed a sigh of relief.

  * * *

  Time screeched to a halt when Dupree was taken by the Subs.

  Ozzy's scream was an aria of anguish and the seconds it took to reach crescendo moved like molasses. Everything was drowned out in that horrified cry; the bass thumpthumpthump of blast rifle fire, Derick's booming voice and the Subs' chilling war cry. Even Tom, who was only Dupree's commander for a matter of months, felt his granite constitution fracture.

  Shiny was wrestling with Ozzy, using her full body weight to keep him from diving into the writhing mass after Dupree. There wasn't anything to get back, Tom thought, the kid would be ripped apart by those fuckers. You didn't have to be a twenty-year lifer to know that.

  “Ozzy! HE'S GONE!” Shiny's voice was sharp and shrill and just like that, everything snapped back into motion. With Dupree taken, Tom knew they didn't have much time left. Hurrying over to his distraught corporal, Tom yanked his harness to get his attention. “LOOK AT ME CORPORAL!! Pull your fucking head out!” When Ozzy's mouth opened, as if to protest, Tom yanked at him again. “LOOK AT ME!” he ordered.

  When the younger man's head snapped around, focus solely on him now, Tom was glad to see Ozzy wasn't too far gone to ignore his conditioning. “He's gone! And if you don't move it, we'll be gone, too!!! Now lay down suppressing fire and RETREAT!”

  Ozzy blinked, his body starting as his fugue released him. Tom saw the pain and sorrow, watched as the kid forced it into the lock box all Sharks kept inside of them.

  “Yessir,” Ozzy swallowed thickly and nodded.

  Tom patted him on the shoulder. He knew those eyes. The kid would survive. His heart might not, but the kid would make it. Now it was up to Tom to make sure the rest of them did. Turning to the rest of the Sharks, Tom bellowed. “Anyone with grenades, we're not saving them for Christmas! USE THEM and get the fuck out!!!”

  On cue, several dark shapes hurtled by overhead as the Sharks vacated through the tunnel. Staying behind until he was sure the last one was out, Tom primed his last two grenades and dropped them where he stood before heading for the passageway and the outside.

  He had just cleared the tunnel on the other end, breaking into the sunshine when heat washed over him. The concussion wave tossed him down the stone stairs to the ground, hitting it hard and rolling over and over until he came to a crunching, pained stop against a tree.

  Before he could register what was broken or even get to his feet, someone grabbed his harness and hauled him up.

  “Stop trying to impress the ladies!” Derick yelled, just as a second explosion erupted from behind them and sent them both scrambling for cover. Dirt, stone and unidentifiable objects show
ered down all around them. “Claymores! You okay?” he shouted, pulling Tom back to his feet.

  “What?” Tom shook his head again, shaking Derick off once he was certain he wasn't going to kiss the ground again.

  “Jesus, Tom…” Derick began, cutting off when he glanced behind his friend. “Shit!! RUN!!!” he bellowed, giving Tom a shove.

  Looking over his shoulder, Tom swore as he took off for the hopper. The subs were coming up through the ground again.

  “DIE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!” Ozzy's voice carried above the dull roar in Tom's ears as weapons fire raced over head. Tom spotted him standing on a rock with Ren's sniper rifle with Shiny next to him firing on anything that wasn't a Shark.

  “GO! GO! GO!”

  Derick's order urged him into a run for the shuttle behind the other Sharks.

  * * *

  “I see them!” Jules flinched at the ear-stabbing burst of artillery through her headset as gunfire erupted at the rear of the hopper. She fervently hoped that was cover fire and not because the subs had gotten wise.

  The ship's console whined ominously but the sound of boots stampeding into the back drowned it out. She patted the console once more. “You can do it, baby,” she murmured. Someone in the back called out that Beta Squad was on board. She leaned over the link, not even sure if Tom's was still working. “Come on, old man!!”

  A very Australian curse was sent back in reply. Jules grinned, not even caring what he said because if he was talking, Tom Merrick was still alive.

  * * *

  Shiny ran onto the shuttle, quickly turning to keep covering the Major and Gunny, who were running flat out. They ignored burning piles of plasma and detritus, leaping over them and only breaking their stride when a sub shot out of the ground. “Don't let anything live!” Shiny yelled to her team as they fanned out to each side of the ramp and opened fire.

  * * *

  To her untrained ear, the gunfire seemed to change pitch and Jules desperately hoped it wasn't because they were running out of ammunition. Just then, she noticed a single, blinking blue light to her right. She did a double take before slapping it hard, filling the cockpit with a most welcome voice.