by Tom Harem
"Same here," Maggie answered.
"It doesn't work." Kendra said and paused, "Do you hear that? Shut the fuck up. Listen."
None of us said another word. Metal clawing, scratching the ground came from one of the buildings on our right. There were people who didn't take their curiosity and peeked through the windows, facing downwards, only their eyes and hair showing, hot breathing blanking the windows. I waved my hand, so they'd be safe, but they pretended not to see me.
"It's getting closer," Kendra said, placing one foot in front of the other, the extension of the whip going from her hip to the floor.
The sound escalated. The sheer metal hitting on the ground rose to an excavator drilling through the ground.
In less than a minute, the glass from one of the balconies on one of the highest floors broke into hundreds of small pieces and a beast jumped down. I looked up and saw its shadow; a fat belly and four small legs on each side, with metal tips, the green liquid dripping down from it, falling from the sky.
"James, it's going to fall on you!" Maggie screamed, throwing two balls of fire at the belly of the beast, only for the flame to dissipate into sparks as soon as it hit it.
I only had time to run out from under the landing target and that didn't stop me from rolling down the street to the nearest lamp. The beast landed and the impact caused all the glass around it to shatter, the dustbins to topple and for me to be thrown back. Kendra used her whip to hold on to one of the lamps while Maggie hid behind the corner, crouched, her hands on her face, the heat scorching her cheeks to a greyish color.
"Shit. Are we sure it's a level 4?" I asked, now looking at the beast, three times bigger than the wolf, like a giant metal spider with a viscous liquid being pumped out of the shell.
"That's what Ashen said. What do we do?" Maggie asked, standing up and walking towards me, crossing the road to the other side, using the police cars as a cover.
"What we've been trained for. We defeat the beast and collect information and experience points." I answered and got up. I rubbed two fingers on the back of my head and rubbed them on a scar that I had gotten, hidden by my hair.
"Do you have any ideas?" Kendra asked, joining us.
The beast unleashed sonic sounds, close to a metallic voice, and marched towards us, destroying everything that was in its way, the liquid gluing itself to the ground. The street got narrower and the buildings taller. My legs froze for a fleeting moment, my heart almost imploding as my thoughts raced. I had dozens of ideas on how to solve the situation, but they all ended up with me risking myself to get on the beast's head to blow his brains out. The adrenaline was running through my veins, the danger being its aphrodisiac.
"All right, let's do this. Maggie, fireballs straight into its eyes. Kendra flog one of its legs. We have to put him down."
"What are you going to do?" Maggie asked, her soft voice struggling to hide her concern.
"You'll see. I just need you to keep him down for a few seconds. As soon as I fire. Get ready." I said, seeing the beast coming closer, already near the police cars.
Sweat ran down my forehead. The street was full of shattered glass and coffee smell due to the machine that had burst in the café. Even clothes danced through the air, some having already fallen onto the ground, while in the distance the ambulance took care of the wounded in the adjacent streets.
"Ashen must have called them. Now it's up to us." I added and removed my gun from its holster.
I fired a blast of shots. Most of them hit the beast's dark green triangular-shaped eyes, catching its attention while the rest of them hit the metal structure, the crushed casings falling to the ground. Its eyes pierced me, a light gleaming behind them. He excavated one of the police cars with one of his spiked legs and, without hesitating, flung it at me. I swerved while loading the gun, and I shielded myself by hiding behind one of the other cars. Its green painted metal structure was enough to hold the car, breaking it in two, both parts falling in front of the dim yellow light, flashing, one of them smoking.
"Now!"
Small amounts of rain started falling from the sky, tinkling on the metal, dampening the street and leaving its traces on the windows. The drips slipped down my jacket, down Kendra's face and split the edges of Maggie's hair. The solemn moment was broken by a child-like cry, coming from a boy at the door of a building, not even big enough to reach the doorknob. The beast's eyes turned to him and opened its mouth, showing, for the first time, its silver teeth covered with a thick, enamel-colored liquid.
"What is a child doing here?" Maggie asked, looking at me, her eyes opened as if she wanted to transmit something that was stuck in her throat.
"I don't know. Oh, shit. We got to get him out. All right, quick. Stay on plan. We must act now." I said, watching the spider turn around, the back protected by a green shell and a yellow stinger with black stripes, "It looks like a mixture of spider and a wasp. Be careful," I added, removing my cape and throwing it into the cafe.
“Why the hell do they always look like animals, and not even the pretty ones?” Maggie asked me.
“I was thinking the same. Damn, there has to be a reason.” I replied, “Let’s focus on the fight.” I added, trying to quick think of a way to defeat the beast and save the kid.
The child's eyes lacked color when confronted with the beast's nearness, his shadow obscuring the slender body. Maggie's fireballs tearing through the rain, the flames losing strength before the attack even exploded on the back of its curvature. Kendra ran to shorten the distance between her and the beast, her boots clapping, and stretching her arm behind, she threw the whip at one of the metal legs on its back.
"This isn't working!" She screamed, using all the strength she had trying to stop the beast.
"Harder!" I said, waiting for the right moment to take a chance.
Maggie ran through the rainy stage, not and put both hands on the whip, tugging at the same time. Both of their jaws were clenched, their hands reddened, and a vein protruded from Kendra's forehead, but even that didn't stop them from being dragged forward. The beast stopped. The leg bent over, falling to its knees, and, like a piled-up deck of cards that loses a base card, the entire structure crumbled successively.
The heavy air froze my thoughts. I told myself that I needed to act, that that child relied on me, that it was to save others that I decided to become a Hunter. Like my father used to say, "Not everyone can save themselves." Looking back, perhaps it had a different meaning, maybe I could have saved him before he sank deeper into his investigation, but that was the phrase that I needed to repeat in my head.
"Get out of there! Run away!" Maggie yelled at the child.
Yet, it was useless. Snot flowed down his face, red-eyed as well as cheek-washed, but unable to move. He even tried to jump twice to grab the doorknob and close the door, but it was in vain. The beast crawled across the floor, the shell scraping along, like chalk scratching an old chalkboard, as his head drew closer to the sidewalk.
I put the gun in my holster and ran down the street. The road seemed to stretch all the way down, the beast distancing itself from me no matter how hard my feet moved across the ground, how soaked my socks were and how blurred my vision had gotten.
"Help!" The child shouted for the first time.
I stopped and looked sideways; Kendra and Maggie were still working together to hold the beast on the ground, who struggled to get up. They shouted a lengthy "Ahhh" to conceal the pain they were feeling, their skin peeling off as they receded whenever the beast pulled them close.
"I’m going to save all of them. I have to,” I thought to myself.
I ran to one of the police cars and used it to raise altitude and jump on the beast. As soon as it felt me on top, it abruptly moved, knocking over the façades of buildings around it, the sting creating holes in the crater-like walls. People hid behind the windows, some of them running into their houses as soon as they exploded. I held on to a loose nail on the beast's back; the rain blended with
the viscous liquid and both ran down, covering my body with a dusky green reeking of rot.
I clung with only one hand and pulled the gun from its holder with the other. With the monster in motion from side to side, still crawling on the ground, it became difficult to have a steady target. I fired twice but missed both, the bullets scraping the black hair she had on her head, the strands flying up through the air, the wind currents lifting them up.
I was trying to balance myself when the sting of the beast came off shooting at the girls and using it as a tail, the beast tossed them to the ground. Both tumbled to the left, Kendra falling on one of the police cars and Maggie being thrown against a wall, the thin layer of protection shielding her from having a serious problem when her head slammed into the wall. She fainted, and her body slipped to the ground, the rain making her face a small pond. Kendra tried to move but couldn't either. She had one of her hands on the right side of her belly and her eyes closed. I was on my own.
The beast rose and stepped on the sidewalk, opening his mouth as he lowered his head to the same level as the child. The boy sat down on the ground and shrunk, his face between his knees, unwilling to face death face to face. I couldn't let that happen, I couldn't. How could I ever want to climb the rank if I couldn't overcome a D rank, a C rank, whatever the beast really was?
I got up, taking a few seconds to balance myself, the white of my shoes having disappeared. I walked on the beast's back, the quicksand liquid in my path, burying my legs and forcing myself to use all the force I had left until I reached her neck. Behind me, I left the footprint of the sole of my shoes as thick as the fluid. I was panting, my arms and legs were sore, and my right hand was shaking, making it difficult to aim at the target. Drops ran down my face and I felt each one slipping down to my chin, dripping on my clothes. My pants were already soaked, and my movement slowed down, every step taken was like having bricks attached to my shoes.
The beast's head waved towards the building's façade, its graffiti-stained brown walls, and the rain falling on the red roof with white stripes that protected those who were leaving the entrance.
I removed the safety from my gun as soon as I reached the beast's neck. I looked at her rounded head and fired. The shot went through one side and came out the other like an arrow. She raised her neck, twitching, shaking her head in all directions, losing control of her own body. Smoke came out of the hole I had put in her body, as well as an electric current that spread throughout the beast's closest proximity to its backbone. I was tossed back and again I grabbed the loose nail, scraping my hands on it, the blood flowing and mixing with the rest of the fluids. Everything was happening at the same time and I knew it wasn't over yet, not until the monster was on the ground, his legs motionless, his eyes and cameras ripped out.
"Kendra, take the boy, get him out of there. I'll sort it out." I said, as soon as I saw her standing up, stretching out.
She went around behind the beast, ran to the front door, picked up the child, putting his face on her shoulder, covering his vision and protecting his neck, and ran towards Maggie, who had only just woken up. The monster turned around again, knocking down the bricks it found along the way, still fumigating, its spike swinging through the air, a metallic chain connecting it to the place where it fit in.
"Hide behind the wall. Now is the time." I said, under the moonlight, seeing a possibility as soon as the head of the beast approached my car. Well, not totally mine.
The beast stabilized and I got back on my feet. I took a deep breath and started running like never before, the wind scraping my face, the heavy air cutting off my thoughts, and as soon as I reached her head, I jumped backward without thinking if I was on the right trajectory. Three bursts of gunfire; one in the middle of her metallic forehead and one in each eye. The circuits went up in flames. The face began to burn, the fire spreading through the body of the beast using the liquid as fuel. I landed on the hood of the car, crushing it and destroying the front windscreen.
"It's going to explode!” Maggie shouted, "Hide!"
I ran to the corner and threw myself into the café as soon as I heard the click that triggered the explosion. Luckily for all the residents, it was contained in the space between the sidewalks and apart from the broken lamps there wasn't much more damage, except for the road itself which in addition to being bumpy now also looked charred. I got up, grabbed my cloak and waved it until the shards of glass fell off.
"Are you all right?" I asked, exiting the café, being careful not to step on any vertical percolated glass.
"Yes, we are. Is the beast dead?" Maggie asked, the shield that covered her red, and clearly slowing her down.
"Thank you!” The boy shouted, the words muffled as he spoke while wiping his tears with the sleeve of his sweater.
Chapter VI
He freed himself from Kendra's arms, ran to me and hugged me. He didn't have arms long enough to wrap around my waist, but he stretched them as far as he could.
I patted his head until he looked me right in the eye "you're the best Hunter I've ever seen!". He said, his blue eyes glowing like they were the crystal-clear water of the lake next to Ashen's house, "What's your name? I want to tell everyone how good you are!"
I couldn't remain serious and a smile slipped through my humid lips, "James Crusher, but you can call me Crash. I'm still just a mere rank E, but, boy, one day I'll be as big as the ones on the TV," I told him, his warm words heating my heart.
"You will be! I've never seen anyone do that" He said, holding on to me, his child's fingers trembling from the wind that was blowing.
The night was long gone, and the winds were roaring, raging and devastating, the rain dropping harder, the raindrops on the metal being turned into a moonlit piano concert.
"The comms are working again." Maggie said, "The beast must have had some blocker. They're not very expensive but connecting one to a beast this size without also disabling it is the work of someone who knows what they're doing.”
"The things you know..." Kendra said, chin up, sturdy, moving towards the metal body.
My communicator was still in my pocket. I put it in my ear and in mere seconds I heard Ashen's proud voice again, repeating the same question in different ways.
"Are you all right? Did you win? Are you alive?" He said, losing all the composure we knew him with.
"Yes, we're fine. The beast was defeated. Do we have to do something new or can we go back? I'm all sore. I just want to lie down in bed and wake up at lunchtime." I asked him.
"Destroy all camera evidence in the beast. Collect the experience points and get out of there before the pick-up arrives. The fewer people who can identify you, the better. We cannot risk anything. It probably wouldn't make any difference, but it's the best." He said, and from afar I heard a long sigh.
There was nothing left of the cameras. My bullets had drilled through them, leaving nothing more than pieces that we picked up and threw in the nearest trash. The boy followed me wherever I went, jumping, splattering all around him, not losing the smile on his face even though there was no sign of his parents. We were ready to leave, but I couldn't leave him there alone.
"Parents being a disappointment. Nothing new." Kendra vented, whispering something inaudible and straightening her corset, her breasts rubbing against each other.
"Kendra"! Maggie said, "It's not the best time."
"He might as well know that blood doesn't mean sympathy," Kendra said and spat blood on the floor, her lips wounded.
"Silence, both of you." I said, meddling in the discussion. I turned to the boy, "Where are your parents?"
"I don't know. My father is working outside, and my mother is asleep. She always sleeps after eating the white jellybeans."
"White jellybeans? I asked.
"Yes, she always eats one before going to sleep. I've tried it but it tastes bad. I don't know why she likes it."
"What floor do you live on?" I asked him.
Part of me wanted to be able to rel
ate to him, to be able to tell him that everything would be fine, but I could not promise him anything so valuable. The truth was that I had been lucky; a lifetime of present parents until I became older and all derailed.
"Second." He answered, breaking my thoughts about what lay behind the event which my older brother loved to describe as the great separation.
"Maggie and I will take you back in a moment. Kendra, stay and get our experience points then feel free to hop in the car." I ordered her. She frowned but didn't retaliate.
"Mother will still be asleep. She doesn't like to be woken up. I'll be fine."
Maggie and I shared a glance loaded with questions, but we kept our mouths shut. To enter the building, we had to move away a few boulders, remnants of what was left of the walls, the once golden façade being now little more than a few yellow lines between layers of dust. Families had joined at the windows, applauding and thanking us, some parents taking pictures of the beast. Most likely to be sent to television, where not only will the name of the person who took the best picture appear, but the person will also receive some money for the service.
The handrails marked my hand with black and I almost slipped twice. The interior of the building was much older than one could have assumed. The stairs at the corners and in the middle an open space, where the moonlight reached through the transparent roof. The walls hadn't been painted in years; you could see the difference between brushstrokes, some areas had a more worn-out color and even a small signature that had the date 2019 on the side, 150 years ago. Even after having changed the structure of some buildings to something more resistant, of rustic appearance, the walls remained taking only a light painting.
"We're here." The boy said, looking at me, the happiness in his eyes wasted. He opened the door with a key he had in his left pocket and pointed to the end of the hall, "It's my mother's room there." he said, a shy voice, as if inside he wanted to tell us, but inside he tried to show that he would survive alone, as he was used to doing.
