by S. J. Bryant
Nova darted around a tree trunk and jumped a fallen log. "I don't want to hang around to find out."
"Would someone please tell me what you're talking about?" Cara said, face red.
"Reapers," Maya said, eyes fixed forward.
"Grim Reapers?"
"Worse."
"It's just a legend," Aart said. "Some stories say that HAV created monsters. But there's never been any proof. He's bluffing."
Something behind them shrieked.
"Then what the hell was that?" Nova said.
They sprinted faster, dodging thick walls of trees and ducking low branches. Nova strained to keep up but every step brought new pain. Her lungs burned as she fell further behind. She gasped for more air but it wouldn't come, leaving her light-headed.
The sounds of pursuit grew louder. Animal-like screeches echoed between the trees and branches snapped at their backs.
Nova stumbled, her feet dragging on the ground, catching on branches. It felt like they'd been running for hours and yet the forest hadn't changed.
"There's something ahead," Maya called from the front.
"I was hoping you'd find it," the Watcher said, voice echoing from invisible speakers. "I thought it only fitting that you face the Reapers in an Old-Earth style city. It cost me a lot. I hope you like it."
A minute later Nova burst out of a line of trees onto a smooth bitumen road. Buildings lined either side, complete with billboards and ancient cars.
"What the hell?" Aart said.
"He's a mad-man," Maya replied.
Cara peered back into the forest. "I don't think we have time to admire the view."
Nova winced and squeezed her side, scanning the buildings. Most stood only one or two stories high and each had advertising out the front. A food store, a clothes shop, an inn. More buildings spread out on side streets, blending together in the distance.
"How did we not see this from the hill?" Aart said.
"Simple hologram," the Watcher replied. "No hard feelings I hope."
Nova swallowed and red heat burned across her face. If he'd used a hologram then there was no way for them to know if they were near the ships. They could have been heading in the wrong direction the whole time.
"It's rude to listen in on people's conversations!" Aart bellowed.
The Watcher chuckled. "Tick tock."
"Something's coming!" Cara said, backing away from the trees.
Nova jogged towards the nearby inn. "Inside. It's our best chance."
"We'll be trapped," Maya said, eyes wide.
"If the legends are even half true we'll never outrun them," Aart said, "Even if we weren't injured. We have to fight."
"You can't fight a Reaper!"
"We have to."
Nova pushed open the heavy door, breathing a sigh of relief that it wasn't locked, and waved the others through. They hurried in and Nova slammed the door shut behind them, pushing the lock home.
She leaned against the solid wood, breathing hard. "Aart, check for more doors. Cara and Maya, help me push furniture against this one. We have to block it."
Cara grabbed a heavy chair and pushed it towards Nova. "What kind of monsters are these that a bloody big door like that won't hold them?"
Nova shook her head. "I've only heard stories, but better to be safe."
She limped to a small window beside the door, too small for someone to crawl through, and peered out onto the street.
Aart stepped back into the main room. "There's a back door but it looks pretty—"
"Shh!" Nova waved her hand and held her breath.
Three people in tattered clothing burst out of the trees. They stopped at the edge of the city and squinted at the buildings, their lips pulled back to reveal sharpened teeth.
"What the hell?" Cara whispered, peering out of another window.
The Reapers' heads snapped towards the inn.
Nova gripped her gun. "Shit."
"They have super-hearing?" Cara whispered, her voice hoarse. "You didn't tell me they had mods!"
"It's not mods," Aart said, taking a position by the door and checking his gun. "It's mutation."
Cara's face went white. "Great. Is there anything else I should know?"
Nova bit her lip. "The legends don't say much. All of their senses are enhanced and they're rabid. They won't stop hunting until they're dead."
"So let's shoot the suckers!" Cara said, pulling away from the window and brandishing her pistol.
"Incoming!" Aart called, bracing his shoulder against the door.
Something slammed into the door, rattling the hinges and sending Aart staggering back. Dust fell from cracks in the wood, spiraling through shafts of sunlight and coating the Hunters' shoulders.
Nova pushed against the door with her uninjured side and strained as two more bodies smashed into it. The lock shrieked and the chairs bounced away from the entrance.
"Hold it!" Nova said, pressing her back against the wood.
The other three joined her, legs braced on the wooden floor and faces tight. The Reapers threw themselves against the doors in quick succession, the solid thumps like cannonballs.
"It won't last," Aart said between thumps.
Nova scanned the inn, breathing hard.
"They must have a weakness," Cara said. "Something."
"Not that was ever mentioned in the stories," said Maya.
Nova's teeth clipped closed on her bottom lip and blood filled her mouth as another jolt whipped her head forward. "There's only three of them," she said. "There's four of us. We can take them down."
Aart's mouth dropped open. "Nova, we can't—"
"What else are we going to do? Keep running behind doors that aren't strong enough?"
Aart shook his head, mouth gaping.
"She's right," Maya said. "They started out human, so a shot to the head should still kill 'em."
Cara glanced between Nova and Aart, brows drawn together. "If it means we get off this rock…"
Aart sighed. "Fine. But you better hope it kills them. And that you're a bloody good shot."
Nova grimaced.
"The door makes a bottle-neck," Maya said. "I say we take cover behind the bar and when they break in, we take them out. Just make sure we put as much in their way as we can to slow them down."
Nova nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"A bad one," Aart said.
"On the count of three," Nova said, leaning forward. "One. Two. Three."
The Hunters sprinted away from the door to the bar, hurling furniture behind them as they went. Aart vaulted over the counter and landed with a thump out of sight. Nova went to follow but a flash of pain up her side made her wince and she ran around the side instead.
The sound of cracking wood filled the inn and splinters shot through the air. The Reapers burst through the door, chests heaving. Foamy saliva dribbled down their chins and created clear paths through their dirt-stained skin.
The Hunters knelt behind the bar and fired, coloured plasma bolts raining into the Reapers. The noise of gunfire pounded the air, filling it until Nova couldn't hear herself think.
Plasma bolts knocked the Reapers back and left smoking wounds, but seconds later new skin spread out and covered the injuries, healing them and leaving barely a scar.
"Shit," Aart said.
"They can heal," Cara whispered.
Nova gritted her teeth and kept firing.
The Reapers snarled and leapt forward, heedless of the gunfire. They moved like wild beasts, darting across the inn and leaping for the bar, teeth gnashing. Their limbs seemed too long, too thin and bony. Their fingers snatched at the Hunters like long-legged spiders.
A Reaper caught hold of Nova's wrist hauling her up onto the bar.
She screamed as her injured side scraped the hard wood, tugging her stitches. Blood dribbled out of the wound and left a trail across the counter. The other Reapers stopped and turned on her, eyes wild. They surged to the bar, crowding around the blood trail.
The
biggest pushed the others away and leaned down, running his blackened tongue through the stream. The others fought for position, both licking at Nova's blood.
Aart, Cara and Maya stood with mouths open.
"Kill the bastards!" Nova screeched, wrenching her hand free of the Reaper and firing.
Her shot caught the biggest Reaper in the temple and it fell sideways off the bar with a screech. The others turned on Nova, their nostrils flaring and eyes locked on her bleeding side.
Before she could fire again, they leapt. Their hands clamped over her arms and legs, knocking her gun free and pinning her in place.
Nova strained, wrenching her arms free and snatching hold of the backs of the Reaper's shirts, holding them up and away from her injured side. They pulled against her, inching closer to her wound.
"Take the damn shot!" Nova yelled.
"It's too dangerous," Aart said. "You're in line."
"Do I look like I give a damn?" Nova said, wrestling to keep the Reapers' sharp teeth away from her bleeding stomach.
The Reapers pushed against each other, fighting to get to the fresh meat.
Bright plasma blasts slammed into the first Reaper's stomach and pushed it off balance. Nova's right leg kicked free and she slammed her knee into its side as it bent its head to her side. She knocked it sideways just as its black tongue touched her wound.
The rough flick of its tongue on her skin made bile rise to her throat. It felt like sandpaper, like a predator, designed to strip fur from flesh. With renewed strength she wrenched her limbs free and scrambled away from the Reapers. Somehow she could still feel its saliva, chilling the skin on her side like a trickle of ice.
She crawled on all fours to her gun and spun, already firing.
Aart shot and the smaller Reaper's head exploded into bits of flying flesh. Its body slumped to the floor with a dull thud, twitching. The final Reaper snarled and dived for Aart as all four Hunters fired.
The Reaper's head disappeared in a bright blast of fire, leaving nothing behind but a smoking hunk of spine thrusting up out of the thing's neck. It crumpled forward, joining the others on the floor.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nova let out a long sigh and collapsed to the floor, staring up at the stained ceiling. Pain throbbed through her side and she lay still, gasping for air.
"Ugly bastards," Aart said, wiping splatters of blood from his hands.
Cara leaned on her knees, breathing hard. "That wasn't so bad."
Nova clenched her jaw. "Aart. I need you to disinfect me. The bastard licked me."
Aart froze, lifting his gaze to meet Nova's. "Did it—"
"I don't know."
Aart stepped to her side and pulled a bottle of clear liquid from his bag. He ripped it open and splashed it over Nova's stomach.
Fiery pain stung up her side and she grunted, curling into a ball.
Aart laid a hand on her shoulder. "That's all I've got."
Nova nodded, eyes squinted shut.
"What?" Cara said.
Aart sighed. "It's infectious."
Nova let out a long breath and slowly unfurled her body, rising to a sitting position with a wince of pain.
Cara gaped at Nova, mouth hanging wide. "You mean she could…"
Aart waved his hand. "It's not going to happen. Nova's too tough for that. Besides, I used the best disinfectant on the market."
Cara stared hard at Nova but closed her mouth.
Maya plonked a bottle of amber liquid from beneath the bar onto the counter. "I don't know about you guys, but I could use a drink."
Nova struggled to her feet. "Count me in."
Aart grinned and swaggered to the bar. "I'll have a double and—"
"Shut up!" Cara hissed.
Nova froze, gripping her gun.
Cara spun slowly to face the shattered door. "Listen."
Nova held her breath, ears straining. Something shrieked.
"There's more!" Cara turned and ran from the door, feet pounding on the wooden floorboards.
Nova scrambled after her, boots slipping in slick puddles of blood.
Maya snatched the bottle off the bar and pounded after them, Aart at her side. Cara dashed through a low arch, pushing chairs and tables out of the way.
The shrieks raced closer, echoing off the walls and mixing with pounding footsteps and scraping furniture.
"The back door!" Cara said.
Nova raced after her, pushing through the swinging door and bursting into a narrow alley bathed with sunlight. She squinted against the glare and followed Cara up the street, barely glancing at the buildings as they streamed past on either side.
She glanced back to see a pushing mass of creatures swarming into the front of the inn. Their long limbs jerked like spider legs and their teeth shone. They screeched after the escaping Hunters, pushing against each other, leaping forward.
"We need cover," Nova said, leaning forward and sprinting after Cara.
Cara veered to the left into a glass-fronted building with tinned food and groceries.
"Glass doors, really?" Aart called from behind Nova's shoulder.
Cara shot the glass doors and dove through as they shattered. She disappeared into the darkened building. Nova had no choice but to follow.
Inside, the shelves made long shadows across the white linoleum floor. The smell of thick dust and rotting vegetables filled the air, making it hard to breathe.
Nova darted around a pyramid of bean tins and raced after Cara's disappearing back. "I hope you have a plan."
Their boots ground the shattered glass into a fine powder, crackling and skittering across the floor like glitter. The creatures' feet slapped against the bitumen road outside, accompanied by gnashing teeth.
Cara ran to the back of the store and wrenched open a thick metal door with rubber seals, cold air billowed out like a thick cloud. "In!"
Nova dashed inside, Aart and Maya on her heels. Cara dived in last and swung the door shut behind her, slamming it closed with a solid thump. Darkness fell over them like a blanket, so thick it felt like a physical thing, pushing in on them, suffocating them. An icy chill lifted bumps on Nova's skin and made her shiver.
Nova ripped the rag from her gun and the dim blue glow created a small circle of light, big enough for her and the others to find their glowballs. She squeezed hers and let out a sigh of relief, which died in her throat.
She gasped and stepped back until her spine pressed against the freezer door.
The others turned to follow her gaze.
Amongst the boxes of frozen meat and produce lay four human bodies. They were curled into balls on the floor, huddled together. Icy crystals covered their blue skin and glazed eyes, unseeing in the dark.
"Shit," Aart whispered.
"Hello," Maya called. "Is anyone alive?"
Silence greeted them.
Cara knelt beside a frozen corpse. "How long—"
BANG.
Something solid slammed against the freezer door, the sound echoing through the small room and setting Nova's teeth on edge. It came again, and again, incessant banging. At the edge of her hearing Nova caught the faint sound of animalistic howls.
"I guess we're going to end up like these poor bastards," Aart said, flopping to the ground and leaning against a box of peas.
"It's the only thing I could think of," Cara said. "I don't even think their super strength will let them break through that door. Although I guess I never thought about them opening it…"
"Based on the noises from out there, they haven't quite mastered doors yet. It was a good plan," Nova said, sliding to the floor and gripping her side.
Aart nodded towards the bodies. "That's what they thought."
Nova rolled her eyes and shifted, trying to ease the pain throbbing up her ribs. The cool of the freezer seeped through her thin clothes and numbed some of the agony, but the feeling in her fingers was fading too.
"It's okay for now," Maya said. "But we can't stay here long. We'll f
reeze like these guys and be no better off."
"I'd rather die here than be ripped to shreds by those things," said Cara.
"We're not dying," Aart said. "We're getting out of here and we'll make that bastard pay."
"Speaking of, we haven't heard from 'the Watcher' in a while," Maya said.
Nova grimaced. "Maybe he doesn't have any cameras down here."
Cara tossed a loose piece of ice against the far wall where it shattered. "Or he's enjoying himself too much."
The banging on the door continued.
Nova closed her eyes and tried to block it out, breathing deeply. An aching exhaustion filled her muscles, seeping into her bones. She wanted to sleep. Was that too much to ask? Then she could float away on a white fluffy cloud, at least for a while, and forget the pain that roared through her body. She could—
"...Nova... Nova... Nova!" Aart shook her shoulder.
Nova's head whipped from side-to-side as she swam back to consciousness. She blinked, Aart's face floating into view. "Aart."
"Dammit Nova. You can't fall asleep like that. You'll be dead in minutes."
Nova blinked and shrugged his arm away. "Don't be ridiculous. I was just closing my eyes."
"You've been out for ten minutes and I've been trying to wake you for two!"
Nova swallowed, but she kept her expression neutral. "Just a powernap."
Aart snorted. "Yeah. Right."
"Before she drops into another powernap, what are we going to do?" Maya said, clutching the amber alcohol bottle to her chest like a life-line.
They huddled in a close circle, shoulders touching. Their breath made foggy clouds in the air and created an eerie mist in the dim light.
"We've got to get away from this place," Aart said. "I don't know where he's been keeping all these things but if we can get away from here they might not follow us."
Cara frowned. "I don't know. To me they seemed pretty keen to follow."
Nova nodded. "And there are too many. They'd catch us as soon as we opened that door."
"I don't suppose there's a secret exit from here?" Aart said.
Cara shook her head. "I already checked."
"So we can't leave, and we can't stay," Maya said. "Things are really looking up."
Nova wrapped her arms across her chest and shivered. "We have to find a way to leave. Let's think about what we know. They're vicious, and strong."