by Dave Austin
"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 tapered 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 teary.
"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?”
“I was thinking the same. Damn, there has to be a reason.” I replied, “Let’s focus on the fight.”
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 rain and gripped her whip with both hands, 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.
"It's my time to shine." 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 she felt me on top, she abruptly moved, knocking over the façades of buildings around her, 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 severe 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 gone. 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, and as soon as I had the beast’s neck in my sight, I 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 woke
n up. The monster turned around again, knocking down the bricks he found along the way, still fumigating, his spike swinging through the air, a metallic chain connecting him to the place where it fitted 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 was now 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 trunk, 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, "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 relate 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, get our experience points, and 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 a few boulders, remnants of what was left of the walls, the once golden façade 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 send them to television, where not only the name of the person who took the best picture appears, 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 tiny 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 a 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.
Maggie and I took the lead and walked down the white-walled corridors, dust-covered photographs and pierced with punctures, and stepped on the varnished brown floor with scratch marks. We walked through the bathroom, wide open, and looked inside; the toilet lid down, the remains of a toasted yellow half liquid still in it, cigarettes on the floor at the entrance, and a bottle of liquor beside the shampoo.
"He lives in these conditions..." Maggie said, "What do we do?"
"Do nothing. You must get out of there. We can't save everyone." Ashen said, on the communicator.
"There's got to be something we can do! What's the point of being Hunters if you can't help those in need?"
"We help by defeating the monsters. We save them from a horrible death. The rest is not up to us. Focus on your mission. Just leave him there and come back here."
"If you have to sacrifice humanity to be a rank S, I'd rather not be one," I answered and removed the communicator from my ear.
Maggie followed in my footsteps, "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, he's right about something. There's not much we can do, but
it doesn't mean that we can't do anything, that we have to be content with it. My father wouldn't settle for that."
"Your father... his name was John, wasn't it?" Maggie asked, a few steps away from the boy's mother's room.
"You've heard the stories then..." I said, looking into her eyes, not looking away even when the boy pulled my clothes, "We'll talk about this later."
"Do you think one day I'll be as good a Hunter as you are? I want to be able to save people and save my mother!" He said, with his fist closed, his eyes as bright as before and, still, a certain sadness in the way his lips bowed.
"Of course! Why couldn't you, boy? You just need to train and study. You know they want the best of the best, right? You mustn't be careless." I told him, and I sent him to the living room, saying that we would take care of it without causing him any problems.
He ran down the hall and turned left. His footsteps echoed through the house every time he stepped on a sensitive part, the mold underneath destroying the ground's firmness. We knocked on the bedroom door and entered. Maggie palpated the wall until she could turn on the light. A woman rolled up her sleeves and scratched her eyes, covered with a red blanket, with her thin bare shoulders, visible bones, and facial features embodying the face of death. The lifeless black eyes, the colorless cheeks, and even the features next to the nose seemed to be rooted in the skin itself.
"Who are you? What do you want? GET OUT OF HERE." She said, standing up, ignoring the fact that she was only wearing panties. Her tits were almost at the navel, unable to walk without zigzagging or leaning against the wall.
"Relax, we're Hunters. We've come to bring your son back."
"What did he do this time?" She asked, taking a cigarette out of a box she had in a mahogany secretary in the corner.
"He helped us defeat a beast! You have an excellent son. You should be proud. He might even become a hunter." I explained it to her, looking for a weakness I could use to change her attitudes.
"Oh, good for him." The woman said, disinterested. She pulled the smoke to herself until her chest was no more than thin bones and exhaled until a cloud of smoke overshadowed her face, "His father also wanted to be a Hunter. It didn't go so well for him. If he takes after his father, he'll run away as soon as life gives him a nudge," the woman said, moving toward us.