He raised his rifle, heart climbing into his throat with anticipation.
A nod from Fitz and Dohi slipped into a vast room, zeroing in on movement at the opposite end. Past the stringy columns of webbing, shapes rushed their position, letting out growls and snarls. Behind them was a much larger creature, hunched to fit into the room, its flesh hanging in folds like the surface of a brain.
A mastermind.
But was this mastermind the Prophet?
Either way, it wasn’t alone. A group of Variants crawled around the room.
Fitz gave the order to open fire.
Dohi sighted up a Variant on the webbing, the others following his lead. Bullets lanced into the beasts, dropping them from the ceiling and walls.
In only a few seconds, several were bleeding out on the ground. Another group of four careened from a side door. More suppressed gunfire echoed in the room. Two monsters crashed forward against the webbing, dead. One of the survivors slammed against Rico, knocking her on her back.
“No!” Fitz charged the monster and grabbed its shoulders, trying to tear it off Rico.
The other Variant shouldered into Ace, knocking him flat on his back.
Dohi couldn’t get a clear shot without risking hitting Ace. Instead he tackled the monster, freeing Ace.
The creature hissed and snapped at him, teeth coming inches from his face. Dohi pushed the head back, but it was stronger than he was and inched toward him with jagged, yellow teeth.
A bulky shape lunged overhead.
Ace.
He wrenched the Variant’s head back, twisting it violently until a sickening pop echoed in the room. Ace gasped for breath, letting the monster drop, then offered a hand to help Dohi up.
Ten feet away, Rico and Fitz had recovered and approached the mastermind.
Only now, Dohi had time to see what kind of room they were in. Chairs were scattered throughout the space and a long table lay on its side. What used to be glass walls appeared to have shattered, letting the vines spill out from a neighboring corridor. Behind the mastermind were more sweeping views of the city covered in fire and smoke.
The beast was nearly twice as tall as any of the operators, but it seemed to cower at their approach. Using claws, it tugged on the tendrils of the network, undoubtedly sending messages for help.
“Ain’t no one coming to help you, sweetheart,” Ace said.
“This looks like the heart of the comms network,” Dohi said. “But unless that thing is the Prophet, I don’t see anything else.”
“This hunk of meat is the Prophet?” Rico asked.
Corrin squinted from where he stood near the entrance of the room, tugging on a few of the red vines. “No, this is just a normal mastermind.” He held the vine. “It’s scared of us. That’s why it’s sending all these messages.”
“You sure?” Fitz asked.
“Yes, the Prophet is not one of these organic computers,” Corrin said.
“Fine,” Fitz said. “Kill it.”
The group opened fire on the beast, aiming for its head. Bullets plunged into the flesh, drawing blood wherever they pierced. The monster writhed, pulling hard on the vines, backing away from the gunfire. One of its eyes popped, viscous fluid leaking out, and the monster let out a pained roar. It fell backward, arms still flailing, and broke the windows behind it.
Beaten back by gunfire, the mastermind plummeted out, snapping vines. A moment later, Dohi heard a sickening smack against concrete.
“Let’s move,” Fitz said. He pointed toward the corridor they hadn’t yet explored to their right.
Did the Prophet go that way before they had arrived? Were the other New Gods leaders waiting for them?
Before they moved, voices filled the first corridor where they had come from. Spearhead hobbled into the room, shutting the door behind them quietly.
Neilson signaled that they had seen more contacts.
Those voices grew louder, permeating under the door. There was no mistaking their rasping, crackly words. Chimeras were on their way. Dohi tensed, aiming his rifle at the door, waiting for them to burst through.
But the beasts went quiet.
Corrin sniffed at the air. “I smell something sharp. Like gun powder, except…”
“TNT,” Dohi said in a low voice. “They’re setting explosives.”
“Just like the rest of the city,” Fitz said. “We have to get out of here.”
They ran down the new corridor to their right.
A few lone Variants lurched at them from the shadows. They dispatched them quickly, then ran into a stairwell. Dohi looked down the winding stairs from the fifth floor. Monsters had reached the second floor and were climbing quickly. A few let out hunting cries when they saw Dohi.
He ducked back into the hall. “We can’t get down that way.”
A low explosion boomed behind them. Wood splintered, the doors to the conference room breaking. Smoke billowed down the corridor.
Fitz signaled for the team to take firing positions.
As soon as the first dark shadow moved within the smoke, Ghost and Spearhead unleashed a fusillade of gunfire.
But unlike the Variants before, this time their enemy fired back. Bullets punched into the walls and webbing around them. The team scrambled for cover, but there was nothing but knots of webbing and a few gurneys to hide behind.
“Keep low!” Dohi shouted.
From the smoke, collaborators emerged wielding rifles and pistols. The first few went down in a barrage of fire from Rico and Fitz. But then came the real threat, a group of Chimeras in armor, gripping machine guns and wielding saw-toothed swords.
Their golden eyes practically glowed in the low light environment, and they moved like professional soldiers, advancing on Teams Ghost and Spearhead.
The beasts outnumbered them three-to-one.
They couldn’t stay here. Running down the stairs back to the ground floor would be suicide too, which left one option.
“On me!” Dohi yelled. He fired a burst of suppressing fire and then ran for the stairs, bullets searing past him.
Fitz switched on the comm. “Command, this is Ghost One, we need immediate evac! Surrounded at the UMC!”
There was no immediate response and with the distant explosions, Dohi began to wonder if anyone was out there to answer.
“Command, this is Ghost One, do you copy?” Fitz tried again.
A familiar voice surged over the channel.
“Ghost One, this is Reaper One, report your position, over.”
“Beckham,” Dohi whispered. If anyone could save their asses, it was the former lead of Team Ghost.
***
A thud rang out from an impact against the locked door on the rooftop, rattling the crates and debris Team Ghost had stacked against it.
“Get ready,” Fitz said.
The team had already taken firing positions behind the ducts and rusted air-conditioning units around the rooftop. Rico was next to Fitz behind a unit near the cornice lining the perimeter of the roof.
“Stay close to me,” he said to her.
Corrin sheltered beside Ace and Dohi. Neilson propped up his rifle on a ventilation shaft, aiming at the doorway with Toussaint crouched nearby.
The roars of the beasts surrounding the building nearly drowned out the gunfire cracking through Vegas. Thuds continued on the door, each one knocking more of the stacked crates away.
“At least I got to see you one last time, Fitzie,” Rico said. “If I’m going to die, I want it to be next to you.”
“We’re not going to die,” Fitz vowed.
Shrieks of monsters from all sides of the buildings made it hard to believe his own words.
“Reaper One, Ghost One,” Fitz called over the radio. “Is our evac en route?”
“Copy that, Ghost One,” Beckham answered. The line crackled with static, interspersed by gunfire. “I’m trying to locate all members of Recon Sigma, but I called in a special favor. Hold tight.”
Fi
tz didn’t have time to guess what the favor was going to be. A pair of creatures clambered over the edge of the roof, their mouths opening to let out howls. Their muscles flexed as they leapt, and their tongues whipped over their wormy lips.
“Conserve your ammo, and watch your firing zones,” Fitz called out. The rooftop was wide, but the close proximity of the soldiers made firing extremely dangerous.
He switched to single shots and didn’t fire until he had a clear target. The first shot thunked into the closest creature’s muscled chest, knocking it off balance. The monster crashed next to the other beast that Rico dispatched with a head shot.
“Contacts!” Neilson yelled.
All around the roof, the Variants crawled over the railings. Gunfire lashed out from the two teams, taking down the first wave easily. Corrin hunched, growling, waiting to join the fight with his claws.
As a second wave emerged, he stood and let out a roar.
Fitz fired at the blurs of diseased flesh.
Each second turned into its own hellish eternity, and he resisted the urge to avert his gaze and check the smoke-clotted sky for a helo.
The door to the roof access stairwell finally exploded open. Fitz turned toward it as four Chimeras rushed out, slinging fire. Bullets punched into the air conditioning unit, forcing him down close to Rico, their faces nearly touching, eyes locked.
“Stay down,” he said.
He switched to automatic fire, knowing it would take more than a single well-placed round to kill these creatures. Holding in a breath, he popped up and fired a burst straight into the face of the lead Chimera.
Another was hit by a blast that crippled its legs.
Even as the two surviving beasts found cover, five more rushed out. Four ducked behind shelter immediately. The last one stood in the doorway, firing as rounds punched into its armor and flesh.
Fitz only got a glimpse, but he could tell the Chimera was larger than the others and wore a tattered cape along with the front of a human skull as a mask.
Could he be the Prophet?
Rico fired from around the air conditioner while Fitz reloaded. The beast zeroed in on them, returning fire.
Ace and Dohi continued to attack the monsters crawling over the edge of the buildings, while Toussaint and Neilson provided suppressing fire to allow Fitz to select his shots. He was easily the best marksman. It was on him to take the leader down.
The Chimeras pushed forward, their gunfire and growls growing closer. They outnumbered Spearhead and Ghost, and the ever-present threat of the Thrall Variants climbing the walls closed in.
Fitz needed to make a move soon or they weren’t making it off this roof alive.
“Rico, cover me!” he said.
“Wait…” she began to say.
Fitz bolted toward a vent stack closer to the Chimeras.
From his vantage point, the flanks of two of the beasts were visible. Corrin suddenly ran out to meet them, screaming, “ELIJAH!”
He slammed a fist into the skull mask, shattering it. The blow knocked Elijah to the ground. Fitz used the opportunity to put a burst of bullets into the face of another distracted Chimera.
Another Chimera turned and sprayed the vent stack he had moved behind with rounds. Fitz hunched down, bullets crashing against his position. Rico remained flat against the roof.
More Variants dragged themselves over the railings, snarling with rage and hunger. Neilson and Toussaint killed a swathe of them, but the monsters kept coming. They appeared to be thinner than those inside the building, clearly desperate for a fresh meal.
The Chimeras were just as determined. Fitz got up to see two of them had taken down Corrin while their hulking leader advanced with a saw-toothed cutlass in hand. Heading right for Rico.
“JENI!” Fitz yelled.
She turned with her rifle, bringing it up to deflect the blow meant for her head. The impact sent her sprawling backward. Her helmet thudded against the roof.
Time seemed to slow as Fitz tried to find a shot. Gunfire slammed his position, one round slashing his cheek it was so close. He tried to get up again, but more bullets streaked by.
“Dohi, Ace!” he bellowed, straining to be heard over the gunfire.
The pair reacted immediately, providing cover fire for Fitz. When the Chimeras recoiled from the concerted fire, Fitz rushed the leader that Corrin had called Elijah. The grotesque half-man swung toward Rico with his cutlass, knocking her rifle from her grip.
Fitz slammed into the massive creature from behind. A blow like that would be enough to knock the air out of a normal man and take him down.
Not this abomination.
Elijah dropped his cutlass and wrapped his arms around Fitz. Injuries from his torture in Seattle reignited, bruises and lacerations burning with agony. His teeth ground together, and he tried to kick at the Chimera as he lifted him off the ground, bringing them face to face.
Only part of the skull mask remained, but the rest of the scarred face was visible. Fetid breath puffed as Elijah began to crush Fitz’s ribs. Rico started to push herself up, but the creature slapped her down with its free arm.
She fell back, blood gushing from her nostrils.
Fitz reached for his blade, but his arms were trapped.
“I got other plans for you, Fitzpatrick,” the creature said in a crackly voice.
Elijah suddenly slammed Fitz to the ground. A sharp pain swam up from his spine into the back of his skull, and his vision went blurry, blackness threating to overwhelm his vision.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Elijah said. “The Prophet will reward me handsomely for your corpse.”
“Elijah!” another scratchy voice said.
Fitz blinked, seeing a second Chimera, but this wasn’t an enemy.
Corrin strode over, blood gushing from multiple wounds.
The half-man stood to face the Chimera, wielding the cutlass Elijah had dropped.
“So you’re the traitorous heretic?” Elijah said.
“This is not the path to your so-called salvation,” Corrin said. “You can still join us and end this evil.”
“Fool!”
Elijah let out a roar and stormed toward Corrin while Fitz scrambled over to shield Rico. By the time he got to her, Corrin was swiping at Elijah with the cutlass. Elijah blocked each blow with his claws.
Across the roof, Dohi, Neilson, and Toussaint had finished off the other Chimeras and were fighting the last of the Variants.
“I’m okay,” Rico said. “Help the others.”
He got up with his rifle, trying to get a clear shot on Elijah, but the creature had picked up Corrin, squeezing him and forcing the smaller Chimera to drop the cutlass. He swung Corrin toward the edge of the rooftop.
Fitz put a burst into Elijah’s back, knocking him forward. Corrin slammed into the railing, and then fell over the side.
“No!” Ace shouted. He let out an angry yell as he used the butt of his rifle to slam Elijah in his back.
A throbbing pain still beat at Fitz’s head, but he forced himself to stand. He pulled out his knife and stumbled over to help Ace. He lunged at Elijah with the blade. The creature knocked Fitz back with a swipe of his arm and scooped up his cutlass.
Ace pulled out a pistol and fired at Elijah, but the bullets hardly phased the beast. It brought the cutlass down on his wrists, severing them both in a single slice.
“No!” Fitz yelled. The creature hit him again, knocking him backwards.
Ace staggered, looking down at Fitz while blood pumped out of both wrists. They locked eyes as Elijah swung the cutlass again, straight at Ace’s neck. This time it didn’t cut all the way through, leaving Ace’s head hanging partly from his neck.
Elijah let out a roar that masked Fitz’s own scream.
Using his claws, he cut through the gristle, and held Ace’s severed head up, his voice rising into a war cry.
Fitz reached for his knife as Elijah strode toward him.
“You’re next, Fitzpat
rick!” he shouted.
A flash of motion came from the railing. Corrin had climbed over. He lowered his shoulders like a linebacker ready to blitz and slammed into Elijah so hard that the Chimera went airborne, still holding Ace’s head.
Elijah hit the ground and turned. Fitz got up and Rico did too, firing her rifle. Elijah erupted in a frustrated screech and then bolted away into the stairwell leading from the roof.
Dohi ran over with his hatchet and blade in hand, and Corrin scooped up the dropped cutlass.
“On me!” Fitz shouted. The survivors all closed around him, preparing their weapons for the next wave. They could already hear them coming up the sides of the building.
Fitz held up his pistol in one hand and his knife in the other, trembling from the shock of losing Ace. Dohi was looking around, still unaware of what had happened to the older operator.
“Where is—” he started to yell.
The chainsaw roar of an M-249 cut him off. A Black Hawk rose over the rooftop, a crew chief manning the machine gun and firing into the climbing monsters. The rotor blades washed away the oily clouds of smoke rising around the building.
Once it had completed a full flight around their perimeter, the crew chief stopped firing and the chopper swooped in close to the roof, the side door open.
“Get in!” Fitz said.
Rico put an arm over his shoulder, and he helped her toward the bird. Once they were all inside, he stared at the bloodstained roof where the headless body of Ace lay sprawled.
“I’m so sorry,” Fitz choked out.
Climbing monsters continued to ascend faster toward the rooftop, driven by the scent of spilled blood.
The crew chief passed out headsets to them, and Fitz turned his on.
“You okay, Jeni?” Fitz asked.
A wet sheen covered her eyes. “Ace… he’s…”
Dohi looked over. “What happened to Ace?”
Fitz bowed his head, unable to talk.
Toussaint checked over her rifle, and Neilson peeled off some red vines still clinging to his ACU that he’d never gotten the chance to remove.
Dohi slammed a fist into the bulkhead.
“I promise we will kill Elijah,” Corrin said through clenched fangs.
Extinction Cycle: Dark Age Box Set | Books 1-4 Page 115
