Part of its long black trenchcoat was burned away from the explosion, revealing a bulging shoulder colored sickly grayish pink. No clear muscle mass, just a twisted lump of flesh growing out of the jagged hole. Its face was seared and scorched, its large yellow eye seeming to glow in the twilight, its twisted mouth a gaping sore revealing sharp teeth and red gums.
“Oh dios mio,” Carlos whispered, backing up.
“Shoot it!” Jill screamed.
The creature stared right at her and hunched forward to scream again, flecks of gray saliva spitting from its crooked mouth as it bellowed its hatred, the sound reaching into Jill’s chest and squeezing her heart with a hand of ice. She gasped for breath and pushed back into the wall.
Carlos remained still but did not open fire. They both already knew what effect bullets had on the creature. Carlos’s teammates had riddled it with bullets back on the streetcar, only to be brutally killed moments later. One single clip of bullets would hardly slow the monster down.
“Shoot it!” Jill cried out again. “Please do something!”
The monster stalked forward, swatting aside the trees and bushes in its way. It stomped to the walkway and took one leaping stride toward them.
Carlos squeezed the trigger. But he didn’t aim at the monster. He squeezed off a single burst of gunfire, and his bullets struck the large tank on the back of the propane grill. There was a sudden whoosh of escaping gas and then a spark, and the entire grill exploded in a stunning fireball. A flash of tremendous heat and a swirling ball of fire shot into the sky, knocking both Carlos and Jill to the ground.
The monster was blown off its feet and hurled through the air, flipping over like a rag doll and crashing limply to the ground, the side of its massive body charred and smoking, bits of fire burning on its tattered coat. It lay motionless, its huge arms and legs in random directions, a twisted chunk of metal from the grill embedded in the center of its torso.
Jill stood up, staring at the burning remains of the grill in awe and then at the smoking body of the creature. Carlos stood as well and lowered his rifle.
“I didn’t think that was gonna work,” he said quietly.
“It’s not going to stay down,” Jill said. “We have to go now, before it gets back up.”
“Look at it,” Carlos said. “It’s dead, it’s got to be.”
“Trust me, I’ve already killed it twice today, and it came back each time. I don’t think it’s possible to kill it.”
Just as Carlos said, there were no zombies waiting for them across the wall. Attracted by the crash, all of the zombies congregated on the other side of the church, and so far none of them had wandered to this side. Jill sat atop the wall and helped Carlos up, and then they jumped down to the other side and took off across the street.
Streetlights illuminated the barren avenues as they ran away from the church and the enormous crowd of zombies beyond it. They ran down the center of the street, avoiding the sidewalks and nearby buildings. Carlos scanned the left and right, his assault rifle always pointing forward. Jill, desperately wishing she was carrying a gun, followed closely behind him.
“We have to find a car,” she said. “The city park is miles from here.”
“You know the way there, right?”
“Yes, but won’t make it there on foot. We need a car.”
They continued down the street, passing a few abandoned cars without keys. Jill felt horribly exposed out in the open, and kept glancing over her shoulder every few steps, constantly checking to see if the monster was coming after them.
Resident Evil Legends Part Six - Escape From Raccoon City Page 3
