Pearson’s jaw dropped, truly surprised at the performance he had just witnessed. He was full of questions. “Can she breathe in that?”
Contrarily, Noah was tired of the questions. “I’m really not in the mood to explain all this right now. I want to know what you people know before I go sharing all my secrets, otherwise you have no reason to tell me anything.”
Pearson signaled that he understood. “I guess we haven’t given you much reason to trust us.”
Noah felt like that was the most obvious fact in the world. “Are you kidding me? Yeah. Zero trust. You people have tried torturing me twice now.”
The Major leaned back in his seat in response to Noah’s comment. He seemed to be contemplating what he would say next. “Major General Wolfe will explain more when we get there, but the situation is pretty serious. That’s all I can say though.”
“And where exactly are we going?” Noah asked.
“To…”
Suddenly a bright light flashed by the helicopter, causing everyone but Noah to shield their eyes. Noah, however, looked directly at the light, seeing what no one else could see. It was another massive insect crashing down to Earth. Just as the light faded, Noah noticed another three balls of fire falling onto the city below further in the distance.
“Shit!” Noah said out loud. He unbuckled and jumped out of his seat to look through the window at the ground. Madison looked at him with concern, about to ask what was going on, when Pearson cut her off.
Speaking to Noah, he said, “Was that what I think it was?!”
Noah nodded. “Yes. We…” Pearson cut him off.
“Don’t worry about it. Our guys on the ground will take care of them.”
The Major’s words revealed they either had little experienced confronting this enemy, or else he wasn’t aware of just how ineffective their weapons were. Rather than risking Pearson cutting him off again, Noah decided to be blunt about just how inadequate his knowledge was.
“You realize we aren’t safe up here, right? I’ve seen one of those destroy a helicopter. They can jump up here like a missile.”
Madison finally chimed in. “What can jump up here? ”
Pearson’s face seemed to lose some color. Had he not heard about the one that had attacked their hospital escort?
Noah continued. “Also, bullets won’t kill it. So, I hope your men have something a lot larger than machine guns. Even the Gatling gun from a helicopter didn’t do anything.”
Major Pearson sincerely looked disturbed by this information. His men probably didn’t have anything other than machine guns. He doubted they had tanks or bombs ready to go, not to mention that these monsters had landed on the edges of a highly populated city.
Pearson gathered himself and brought forth his bravado again. In a serious, deep voice, he asked, “How do we kill them?”
Looking down below, Noah was surprised that the giant insect hadn’t already tried launching itself at the helicopter. He could see it was on the move, but it was heading towards the city. He wondered if he had been wrong about the monsters targeting him, since it appeared they were aiming for the noisy city this time. Maybe they were just attracted to loud sounds in general? Even just one two-story tall insect could easily demolish an entire metropolitan area without resistance. Never mind four of them.
There was nothing the military could do, shy of bombing the place, which would just be helping the monsters accomplish their goal. If he didn’t stop them, everyone might die, including his and Madison’s parents.
Noah looked away from the window to glance at the Major. “You don’t. I’ll have to do it. You need to get her out of here. ”
“What? No!” Madison cried. “You promised!”
Noah abruptly kneeled in front of her, holding her hands.
Pearson interrupted again, before Noah could talk. “Negative. Our orders are to bring you in. Our men will handle it.”
Noah ignored him, speaking to Madison instead. “That bright light wasn’t a meteor. It was a monster that only I can kill. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to scare you, but if I don’t kill them soon, then everyone we know will probably die.”
Madison was gripping his hands tightly. She leaned down, touching her forehead to his. “But we’re supposed to stay together.”
“Madison, I can’t protect you and fight…”
Pearson interrupted again. Noah was really starting to get annoyed by it.
“Our top priority is to bring you in. They will be…”
“Dead .” Noah interjected. “They will all be dead . Your men, the people, all dead. Unless you want to try bombing the city, you don’t have the resources to handle this problem.”
Pearson was getting angry now, speaking more bluntly. “We can’t risk losing a war, just so you can try to win one battle.”
The Major’s statement revealed that they did have a hidden agenda. Were they wanting to try to replicate him, so that they could have an army of super soldiers? Was that their end goal? It made sense. That must be what they were after. Wolfe had mentioned that scientists were waiting for him at the base. They wanted to study him in order to create an army of rapid-healing soldiers who had the ultimate weapon, shy of nuclear bombs.
Noah was suddenly torn. If he left Madison here, then she would be safe from the horror below, but they would likely use her to force him to comply again. They might also get more creative with keeping her out of his reach. Alternatively, if he didn’t go now, then surely everyone in the city below would be killed. Trying to quickly consider his options, he realized that the apocalypse below was a certainty if he didn’t intervene, whereas them using Madison as a hostage again was only a risk. But could he accept that risk?
Noah withdrew his blood from Madison’s body. Then, looking at Pearson, he was forceful in saying, “I’m going. You keep her safe, and don’t even think about using her against me – it won’t turn out well for anyone. Just pick me up after I’m done.”
Noah opened the helicopter door, wind blasting into the cabin, as the Major yelled at him to stay. Noah faced Madison, yelling “I love you,” and fell backwards out of the opening.
Chapter 13: Invasion
As Noah fell, Madison screamed after him, reaching out her hand in a desperate attempt to catch him from falling. He had promised he wouldn’t leave her, even for a second, but he would come back once he had resolved the mini-apocalypse below. He couldn’t save the city and protect her at the same time. Noah caught some wind with his blood to turn himself around midair, facing the ground. He probably could have reoriented himself with his arms, but using his blood was starting to become second nature.
Ever since Noah had woken up at 6:07 AM that morning, he had felt different. At first, he didn’t know why, but he had slowly begun to realize he could do things he hadn’t been able to do before. For one, he could still sense Madison in his mind even though he wasn’t looking at her, like a bright start in the night sky. He also felt more bold.
Now freefalling with the helicopter already high above him, he wasn’t afraid of the ground thousands of feet below. When he had been protecting Madison on the way to the hospital, it had terrified him. Now, the rapidly approaching Earth excited him, despite his lack of a parachute.
At first, he had planned on turning his blood into something like a makeshift parachute, or possibly slowing his descent by clinging to a helicopter with a rope of blood. However, as he was approaching the city below, he realized he needed to try to win this fight without using his blood in plain sight. It was bad enough that someone might recognize him, because then he definitely couldn’t return to a normal life. But it would be even worse if they identified him as a monster. It was very possible someone might manage to capture him on camera, and then everyone would know who he was. If that happened, he would rather be seen as a modern-day superhero than a blood-wielding monster.
All he would need to do is just touch the creature, and it would be over. He could slice up the in
side while leaving the outside intact, so people wouldn’t see how it had died. It wasn’t the best-case scenario, leaving people to wonder how a touch could kill such a behemoth, but it was better than the truth.
As Noah rapidly drew close to impact, he tried to angle himself in the air towards the closest insect. It was still over a mile away from the general range of where he would land. The black creature was smaller than the two-story tall versions, looking more like the one that had attacked their escort helicopter. It crawled on all six legs and was actively destroying everything in its path. Even from here, Noah could hear screaming more shrill than he had ever heard before. People were abandoning their cars, running down the streets, trying to escape into any building available.
The impact crater where the monster had landed appeared to have been in the middle of a housing district several miles away. Noah wondered how it had traveled so far in such a short amount of time. Had it jumped?
Noah braced himself for impact. He wasn’t sure where his newfound confidence had come from, but he felt invincible. He hoped it wasn’t misplaced. Feeling invincible was a common trait among people his age – it’s why they made such great soldiers. But feeling invincible and being invincible were entirely two separate things. He at least had some evidence to support this feeling. He already knew he could recover from serious, life-ending wounds, but could he recover from becoming a pancake? Somehow, he didn’t feel like that would happen, unable to determine why.
As Noah’s freefall came to an end, he smashed into the concrete street, creating his own small crater in the concrete as if it had been hit by a human-sized rock. He half expected to lose consciousness, but he didn’t. He didn’t even break a bone. In fact, the abrupt impact didn’t even hurt.
Noah rose to his feet with a grin on his face. He was invincible. Moving one foot behind him, he prepared to run, pausing briefly like a sprinter waiting for the signal to start the race. The muscles in his legs tightened just before he pushed off, shooting him forward like they were spring loaded. And then he was running, faster than he thought possible, zooming down the street much faster than the inner-city speed limit. Cars shook from the wind he was creating as he skyrocketed by them. The insect that was at least a mile away was suddenly within his reach in under thirty seconds – a trek that would take a normal person at least ten minutes to jog .
People were highly concentrated in this area, many trying to escape their vehicles as the behemoth plowed through them. It was facing away from him, quickly making its way through the street. Its leg movements were fast, so fast that it probably looked like it was glitching to everyone else, moving almost instantaneously from one position to another. Noah knew all he needed to do was just touch it, so he decided to just barrel right into it.
He was coming up on it, readying himself for collision, when suddenly the creature’s leg twitched like a powerful spring had been holding it back. The barbed spike smashed into Noah, quicker than he could react, abruptly throwing him through the glass windows of a building. He slammed against the back wall, sliding to the floor. The hit hadn’t really hurt surprisingly, but it had been so quick he hadn’t had time to inject it with his blood. He realized he would need to get creative with using his blood, because otherwise he didn’t stand a chance with his physical abilities alone. The creature outside was turning now, its jerky movements looking otherworldly.
Noah began to get up, ready to try to strike again, when something caught his eye. Looking over to his side, he saw a flat screen TV on the wall, with an image of the room he was in. LIVE was in big red letters in the corner of the screen. On the TV, he could just barely see the top of his head appearing over a large desk. The room looked like some kind of office.
Dammit !
This was the worst possible situation he could have hoped for. He had to think fast. The creature was coming, getting ready to enter the building. The mask he had created for Madison had been practical for breathing, but not seeing. He couldn’t fight with impaired vision. Thinking frantically, as the insect broke through the remaining glass, he tried to think up something that wouldn’t look too weird. He was afraid any kind of full-face mask he created would either look stupid or else constrict his breathing too much. It would be best to make something that looked like an ordinary object someone might wear. With no time left, a crimson bandana formed over Noah’s nose and mouth like a bandit. He also covered his forehead with a band so only his eyes could be seen. Even if someone did recognize him, he could deny it since he was wearing a military uniform and wasn’t old enough to be in the military.
Better than nothing. He thought, as he launched himself at the intruder. The insect tried to hit him again, but this time he dug his blood into the floor straight through his military boots, like a makeshift pair of football cleats, so he could ground himself. The force of the impact into Noah’s side was enough to move furniture in the room, yet he remained stationary.
This is my chance. It’s over!
He quickly wrapped his arms around the barbed claw and shot his blood into the bullet-proof exoskeleton. The behemoth shrieked an ear-piercing cry as he sliced through the insides, leaving the outside untouched. Abruptly, the monster dropped to the ground under its own heavy weight. Noah dropped the arm, having already retracted his blood.
He was tempted to look towards where the camera should be in the room, but he resisted the temptation. He didn’t want them to have a good image of the front of his face, even if it was mostly covered up. Instead, he rushed forward and slammed into the massive black body, pushing it out into the street, so he could exit himself. Blood briefly shot from his feet as they connected to the ground, so he could have the traction to move the two-ton body. He could still feel Madison’s presence in the sky, which meant the Major had not left as he had asked. He didn’t have time to waste – he needed to kill the rest of the insects before one took down the helicopter.
Noah was already searching for the next one, feeling for the presence of his enemy. In less than a second, he had found it, and he bolted down the street. Several bystanders on the sidewalks were knocked off their feet from the force of his passing. This next insect was further away, but it still took him less than a minute to reach it. It was on the interstate high above the street. The road in front of him was littered with cars that had been thrown from above.
As he approached, he heard rapid gunfire from multiple machine guns. Without time to spare, he leaped into the air jumping further than he had expected. He cleared the concrete barrier to face his next victim.
A spring-loaded claw was already coming, smacking into him again. His feet hadn’t contacted the ground yet, and he didn’t dare have witnesses. Noah smashed into the back corner of a semi-trailer, almost knocking the entire trailer over as it was forced forward several yards. He could see that the insect had already destroyed many vehicles, and had been in the process of killing the military firing at it. Several impaled bodies were laid out on the ground. It appeared there had been a few caravans of soldiers traveling on the interstate when the insect had crashed landed nearby. The creature likely attacked them after they had shot at it. But the bullets they fired from their machine guns bounced off with no effect. They continued to shoot anyway, not having any other weapons available to them. However, now that Noah had appeared, it was ignoring the soldiers to focus on him.
Noah rushed forward as the insect’s leg twitched, and it came swinging at him again. Just as it smashed into him, he felt another enemy descending rapidly from the sky. He realized that another one of the creatures was converging on his location in response to Noah having slain the first. The one above him had leapt into the air from a great distance away, and with extreme precision it was about to land right on top of him.
Uncertain if he could still be impaled by them, Noah abruptly jumped backwards as the third monster landed right where he had been, cracking the concrete road from the force of impact. One of its sharp legs was in the exact spot Noah had just aband
oned. He dashed forward again, trying to get both of them within reach.
The newcomer rapidly spun around, hitting Noah in the side, while the other struck with a leg from above. Holding up his hand, he shot blood out just as both claws made contact. He initially attempted to hold onto the claw with his grip, but then realized the blood traveling up its leg was already holding it in place. Both monsters shrieked as the first had done, and then immediately fell silent. The explosive sound from their bodies dropping onto the concrete ricocheted off the concrete barriers.
Noah was already searching for the last one, but it was too far away. He could barely sense it, and it was moving fast in the opposite direction. Faster than he could run. Within seconds, it was gone – completely out of his reach.
Noah sighed, almost sad it was already over, but then suddenly shocked by his own response. Why was he sad? Had he really enjoyed fighting that much? Had the feeling of invincibility gone to his head? The battle had been so one-sided, and Noah could honestly say he enjoyed it. But he knew he probably shouldn’t have. He reminded himself that just because he was a monster physically didn’t mean he needed to become a monster mentally. He didn’t want to enjoy killing, even if it was killing other monsters.
Bringing his thoughts back to his surroundings, he remembered that Madison was still waiting for him. Looking in the distance, he confirmed that the helicopter had not left the city, but it was in a different location. He was partially upset that Madison had been in harm’s way, but also glad she was still close and safe.
Noah jumped over one of the insect’s legs blocking his path and headed for the surviving soldiers. They had stopped firing, but still had their guns raised unsure of what had just happened.
As Noah approached, he called out to them. “I need one of your radios.”
The Keras Genome Page 13