by Ian Woodhead
To his utter shock, the creature did just that. It stood up, walked over to him, and dropped the weapon into his lap.
“My old unit, what is left of them, would not believe tales of a human soldier who had travelled from the old world and can kill one of our greatest military assets with just a knife. I am a traitor to my own kind. At least, that is the designation that I have to bear until they do kill me.” The foot-soldier turned around and walked over to the car. He placed a hand-sized lump of grey material on the roof then turned around. “Good luck with your continued fight against the oppressors. Your two human friends are still alive. I didn’t kill them if you were thinking that. A large patrol passed this location a couple of moments ago. They moved onto the next street.” It tapped the roof of the car. “This will revive your weapon. It does take a few time units to fully recover, but the fleshmelta will be functional again.”
“Wait!” Cried Harry, running towards it. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”
The foot-soldier gave the approximation of a shrug. “Perhaps because I am not an automaton? More likely because I can no longer follow prevailed doctrine when our so-called Gods change it when it suits them. You had better rejoin your companions, human.” It jumped across the car bonnet.
Harry covered the distance between them in less than a second. He reached across the car and grabbed the foot-soldier’s bony wrist. “Wait, please. Continue. I need to know. Why are you unsettled?”
It signed heavily. “Are all humans as inquisitive as you? Very well. Look, soldiers talk. It is the way. Amongst ourselves, when we’re alone and away from our masters, we discuss everything from what makes you different to the beasts we used to harvest to more delicate and potentially blasphemous subjects involving our Gods.” It licked its lips. “I used to hold a privileged position, you know. Privileged for my caste, that is. I was once assigned to the Right Hand of God.” It leaned against the side of the vehicle. “Then our Gods decided on a change of structure and we were forced to serve some other creature.” It screwed up its face. “A beast not worthy of such an esteemed position.” The creature passed Harry the device. “Go now, please.”
Before he could respond, it ducked down and ran across the road. Harry watched it look towards the direction of the ship where the other foot-soldiers had retreated then ran the opposite direction. He turned the device around, turned the fleshmelta upside down, and searched for the location where the lump had been removed from. ‘There you are,” he murmured. He pushed the lump into the hole, watched the black flesh fold over it then clipped the weapon on his back.
The other two were making their way back to his position. They must have decided to come back to him after leaving him. Had they seen him speaking to that foot-soldier? So what if they had? Thanks to that creature’s sudden change of loyalty, Harry had acquired some valuable information. Harry lowered himself against the vehicle and waited for Callum and Malc to join him.
“Did you kill it?”
Harry jumped. He wasn’t prepared to hear the same words come from Callum’s mouth. He nodded. “Yes. It is dead. That unit had lost their heavy artillery. They no longer pose a threat. Where did you go?” He already knew the reason for their disappearance, but Harry felt they might become suspicious if he didn’t ask the question.
“A load more foot-soldiers almost fell over us,” said Callum. “It felt best to move until they left.” He peered over the roof of the car. “So, you think it’s okay to get the remaining group moved?”
“Sooner than later,” replied Harry. He gave the weapon another once over. It looked to be back to normal. Harry would not know for sure until he pressed the trigger.
Callum unclipped the walkie-talkie, passed it over to Malc then walked over to Harry. “Okay, this is it. The big push, so to speak. Are you ready?”
Harry waited for Malc to give the order. He then took up position behind the car, keeping his aim on the van. The bio-tank might be gone, but those foot-soldiers were still in there. He stayed in position while their remaining people filed past him. There were no signs of any suspicious activity anywhere. He began to believe that they might have been able to move the civilians without him going to all that trouble of trying to get himself killed.
Callum tapped him on the back. “That’s the easy bit.” He passed out two rucksacks filled with Callum’s sweet smelling glass containers to Malc and Harry. It took him a bit of manoeuvring to place the canvas bag on his back but after a minute, he managed it.
“Now it’s time for the fun stuff.” Callum raced along the street and took up position on the corner. He peered around the edge and jumped back as if he had been electrocuted.
Harry ran up to him and crouched beside Callum. “Are you okay?”
The other man shook his head. “You had better take a look.”
Harry looked around the corner. He saw the huge organic tank which had so excited Callum. He also saw both Goliaths stood over it, several foot-soldiers, three bio-tanks and over a dozen flyers perched on the Goliaths. The flyers took off as one and flew straight towards their position. “Oh Fuck! They know we’re here.”
One of the bio-tanks turned to face the building they were hiding behind.
“Run!” screamed Harry. He raced across the road, fully aware that the foot-soldiers were running towards them. He felt a rush of hot air roll over his back. He didn’t need to turn around to know that the building they were hiding behind no longer existed. He dived over a car bonnet, spun around, and brought up his fleshmelta, giving the other two cover while they ran towards him. Harry fired three times, two of his shots hitting foot-soldiers. He said a silent prayer that his weapon still worked.
“Look out!”
Harry threw himself down, rooted around, and blasted three diving flyers into red mush. Callum and Gavin pulled him up and dragged the man along the pavement, occasionally ducking in response to the plasma fire smashing against the sides of the vehicles.
Harry screamed as the car just behind him literally dissolved. He saw two bio-tanks rushing towards them through a car window reflection, as well as the two Goliaths. One of the bio-tanks fired again, destroying two more vehicles a couple of metres from Callum.
“What are we going to do?” he shouted. “We’re running out of cars to hide behind and time.”
Harry turned and fired a continuous stream of energy at the closest bio-tank, not stopping until the superheated plasma managed to eat through the creature’s hardened plate armour. When it did get through, the resulting explosion took out four foot-soldiers who were running beside it.
“Do that again!” shouted Gavin.
“I can’t,” he replied. “The fleshmelta will now be useless for at least five minutes.”
Malc pulled both Gavin and Harry into a stone alcove. “I say we make a run for it through the park and up onto the housing estate. It’ll give Harry’s weird gun to recharge.”
“No, Malc. We can’t. We only have one chance to do this. It won’t take them long to realise that we’ve found their weakness and plug it up. If we turn back now, we’ll lose that chance forever.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” screamed Malc. “Have you seen how many of those things there are out there?” He leaned his head out of the alcove.
Both Harry and Callum grabbed an arm each and pulled him back but they were too late. A stray blast slammed into Malc’s chest. The man literally dissolved in their hands.
“Oh God, Harry. We’re not going to survive this, are we? How am I going to explain this to Dosser?”
“Do you want to follow Malc’s suggestion, Callum? You are right. The chances of us getting anywhere close to that well are next to zero. Perhaps we can come back a bit later?”
The Goliaths had finished feeding and were now striding towards them, joining the three bio-tanks already close enough for Harry to smell their pungent chemical stench. Harry didn’t think they could escape from this alcove, let alone cause enough damage to stop t
hose gigantic monsters in their tracks.
“Bollocks. You only live once,” growled Callum. “Follow me, you two, and try to keep up!” His companion ran out of the alcove, scrambled over a car bonnet, and raved straight towards the advancing bio-tanks, running straight through the middle of them. The large creatures were too slow to catch him.
Harry swallowed hard then followed Callum and Gavin. By the time he had reached the bio-tanks, they had only just started to turn their bulky bodies. Harry threw himself behind a wheelie bin.
“What a rush,” said Callum. “Don’t stop now, man!”
The three of them ran over to a second-hand shop. Callum started to grin. “I don’t believe this!”
“Above you!” shouted Harry.
Callum saw the flyer about to dive bomb him and Gavin. Callum turned his shotgun around and blasted it into a cloud of red muck. “Thanks, man.” He pushed open the shop door and pulled Harry inside. “There’s another door at the end of the shop,” he hissed. “It leads back into the shopping mall. I can’t believe how lucky we’ve been. We can resupply and make sure we really turn their feeding bowl into liquid poison!”
Callum ran through the empty shopping mall. “Gavin, it feels like it’s been years since we were in here. How can that be?”
Gavin shook his head. “Do we have to go back in there, man? I mean, we almost didn’t make it out of there alive the last time.”
Callum stopped dead right in front of the store entrance. “What the fuck is this?”
Harry and Gavin joined him. When Harry saw what it was, he pulled them both back. Thick sticky threads of organic resin covered the doorway. “I haven’t seen this type of stuff for a long time. The Goliaths use a spider-like construction to weave this stuff. They use them to stop us from moving around in the surface, usually in the place where they keep their food stores. I don’t think this is a coincidence. I think they have done this to stop you from collecting any more of your strange-smelling chemical.”
“Well, this is great news!” said Callum, excitedly. “It means that they know how dangerous the stuff is. It could work, Harry!” Callum looked behind him.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Gavin. It’s just that I thought I heard a noise. Harry, can you blast a way through that stuff?”
“I could,” he replied, “but I’m not sure that this is such a good idea. It feels wrong.”
“What choice do we have, Harry? We need more of that chemical. Come on, man, blast it!”
Harry sighed heavily and did as the man asked. The stuff stuck to the door melted away.
Callum ran through the door and straight over to a shelf. He picked up a clear, plastic box and paused. “I don’t get it, the box is empty.” He threw it on the floor, picked up another, and another. He groaned softly then swept all the boxes on the floor. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep away,” chuckled a deep-throated voice from behind Harry.
He spun around only for three foot-soldiers to run out from behind a clothing rack, grab him, and pull the fleshmelta out of his hands. He stared in revulsion as another creature, one which looked similar to another foot-soldier but with twice their bulk, made its way towards them.
“It is still not too late to agree to my terms, Callum. I am a benevolent being and I am willing to forgive.” It opened its arms and smiled at him. “I won’t be offering you this opportunity again, my friend. You have no other choice now. You cannot get out of this situation. Choose the only possible outcome and live.”
Harry jumped as the foot-soldier holding his left arm screamed out in agony then fell to the floor.
“There is always another choice,” spat another voice. One more large, armour-plated monster stepped out from the shadows. Harry used the distraction to grab his weapon from one of the other foot-soldiers. He smashed the gun stock into its face, turned the fleshmelta around, and fired at the remaining creature.
It raised its own fleshmelta and pointed it at the foot-soldier hybrid. “Still playing your deal games, I see?”
“How dare you!” it roared. “You are supposed to be my Right Hand.”
“Yeah well, things didn’t work out. You know, with you and your other buddy giving my job to some worthless piece of excrement. You know what does annoy me about this situation? When I pull this trigger, I’m only melting an extension of your being and not the real deal. I am coming for you. I’d start running, both of you.” The armour-plated monster pulled the trigger.
Harry kept the gun levelled on the new arrival while watching the liquidised remains of the hybrid run under a shelf. It lowered its own fleshmelta, looked at Gavin then at Callum before it settled its gaze on Harry.
“I’m Copperfield,” it said, “and I don’t think we have much time left.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Callum pressed himself against the wall. He tightened his fingers around the shotgun’s pistol grip and mentally dared their new pet monster to even look at him in a weird way. Copperfield lumbered past him and kneeled down next to Harry. Of all the sights that his old eyes had shown him today, seeing those two bitter enemies sharing ideas and thoughts about their current situation just had to take the biscuit.
“Gavin, how are you holding up?”
“About as well as expected, I guess.” The boy looked towards the newcomer and then he peered through the gap in the line of cars. “Our new friend looks like he’s made from the same stuff as that tank full of gunk. It’s kinda unsettling, you know?”
That was the understatement of the century. “Look on the bright side, Gavin, at least we’re not dead. There’s also the added bonus of having two guys carrying those pretty phenomenal fleshmeltas.”
“I guess,” replied Gavin. “As long as he doesn’t turn it on us.”
The man from another world and his colleague, the thing from this world, both stood up. Harry looked over his shoulder. “Callum, prepare yourself, my friend. It’s time to go.” Harry gave him a rare smile. “I hope you can keep up.”
He watched in astonishment as those two jumped over the car they were hiding behind and raced along the empty street, heading towards the huge, grotesque-looking monstrosity across the road. “Come on, Gavin. We’d better stay with them as they’re the ones holding the big guns.”
“Not like there’s anything to shoot at,” muttered Gavin.
Callum ran after the other two. He had noticed the lack of extra foot-soldiers. After what they’d done, he thought the streets would be full of them by now. He had tried to argue with himself that they were not all that bothered about him and his armed group, that they were too concerned with flushing out the last of the town’s survivors. It just sounded to him like he was lying to himself, that this was yet another bloody trap.
The other two had stopped beside the huge tank. He joined them and looked up towards the tank’s lip. “Is it safe to touch?”
The newcomer nodded. “The outer coating is just a hardened resin. It swallows your hand if you get too close, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” Copperfield tapped it with the stock of his fleshmelta. “Shouldn’t be too difficult to break, if the case arises.”
“You suggest that we can starve them?” asked Harry. He nodded. “Yes, we can do that if Callum’s plan does not work. A couple of well-placed shots will easily destroy this foul construction.”
Callum could not stop looking around. “This is mental. Where the hell were they? There’s no way that the creatures would leave such an important construction unguarded.” He ran into the middle of the road and spun around, trying to spot signs of any movement in the windows surrounding them.
“Copperfield,” said Harry. “Can you sense anything?”
He shook his head. “Yes, but not here. It feels like both Gods and all of their familiars are congregated in one location on the other side of the town.” He furrowed his brow. “The images I sense are too confusing.”
“You recko
n that they’re going for the others?”
“They could be, Gavin,” said Callum. “If that’s the case, then the bastards are looking in the wrong place.”
“Meaning they don’t attach much importance to this place,” said Harry.
“More likely, they don’t attach much importance to us.” He grinned. “Let’s prove to them just how wrong they are,” replied Callum. “Come on, let’s get moving before they change their minds and come back!”
“It still doesn’t feel right,” said Gavin. “What if he’s lying?”
“I’m not lying,” snapped Copperfield. “And I would advise you to keep your accusations to yourself. That is, if you wish to keep your head attached to your spindly body.”
Harry held up his hand. “Enough,” he muttered. “If you are to disagree, then please do it quietly. The air will carry your voice far and wide. It does not matter if the enemy is on the other side of the town or in the next street, because you can be assured that once they hear it, they will come. Remember, there is a curtain of energy around us and until that is gone, none of us are going anywhere.”
“Sorry,” said Gavin. “It’s just…”
“Yes,” interrupted Harry. “It’s all a bit too much to take in.” He shrugged. “I believe that goes for all of us.” He nodded over at Copperfield. “This creature saved your life, Gavin. If his Gods had not changed, adapted themselves in order to conquer this world, then he would have most likely eaten you. We are here for one purpose only. I suggest we do that and see where it takes us. Agreed?”
The others nodded, including Gavin. “That let us find a route to the top as I am sure that the collectors did not fly up there.” Whether Callum’s insane plan worked or not, once this was over, Harry intended to end the existence of the hybrid creature. It did not matter if it had offered to help them; it had already changed side once. Harry dare not risk that happening again.