Awesome. But a bullet in the brain should take the bitch down pronto.
“Maybe. It depends if your rifle can penetrate her skull. I confess, I do not know much about firearms yet. I’m beginning to understand they vary in power. But I have seen how strong she is, and some of the things she has done require a frame able to withstand the pressures her strength puts on it. I suspect her bones are made of the same stuff as my shell…and there are very few places a rifle could harm me.”
Gutshot then?
“Not yet, Kitten. Be patient. Something more may be going on here.”
Sonni almost glowed at the use of her late father’s pet name for her. Her bond with this entity was growing.
Something more? She stared out at the still figure in the fog.
“Yes. I thought I sensed a presence down at the bridge yet now it is gone. But I know somebody was there. And it wasn’t Maggie. So she may not be alone. Let’s wait in the middle of our web and see what comes to us before acting.”
The woman brushed aside a dust-clotted strand of hair hanging in her face and nodded.
That is very wise.
“It is simply my way.”
###
“What do you think?” Adam asked.
He leaned forward and looked out the windshield into the brightening fog. Somewhere out there dawn had broken, but their surroundings were shrouded in a gray blanket of mist.
“It’s light enough,” Olivia muttered as she started the van’s ignition. The vehicle purred to life almost without sound. “Miss Weston is not the patient type, and I do not want her starting without us.”
After leaving the bridge almost an hour earlier, Olivia had run to catch Maggie and try to convince her to hold off the attack until dawn. She explained that having her people running around in the night fog with flashlights would only give away their positions, cost them any element of surprise, and transfer all advantages to the rogue. Adam had caught up just in time to see the tall woman give a surly shrug of agreement and move on.
Then Olivia had turned and halted the following van. She had it park with its lights out, four hundred yards short of the farm house.
That had been less than an hour ago.
Now it was time to see who would live, and who would die.
She eased the van forward, moving at a crawl. Adam saw her flip a switch on the dashboard and realized it cut out the running lights that would normally be on whenever the van was running. This vehicle was definitely designed for covert operations. It was armored and had bullet proof glass. A video screen designed to monitor the little headsets they wore flipped down to cover the rear view mirror. It was also definitely designed for four men, a fact embarrassingly obvious to Adam since his presence up front now had four men packed uncomfortably tight behind him. Cristobal kneeled on the floor between the two rear seats, and the hulk named Apolo hunched on the medical chest.
“Three points,” Olivia called back to the black-clad men. “First, break out the M-16s and leave the Uzis. This thing has natural armor and we’re going to need all the penetration we can get. Second, we’ll bring grenades for the attached M203’s but none will be chambered. I don’t know how close of quarters this fight will be conducted, so those are last resorts. And third, remember that Maggie Weston is not our current enemy and neither is her companion. But she has no experience fighting as part of a team, and any training she might have had in this area will have been with other telepaths. So although she is our ally…of sorts…do not count on her for anything.”
“She isn’t the only one,” Aurelio’s voice growled back. “And at least we don’t have to worry about her keeping up.”
Yeah, screw you too, pal. Adam refused to look back and acknowledge the man. He peered out into the fog as the vehicle rolled forward instead. Better to keep his mind on the problem at hand. Somewhere ahead, a monster waited…and an ally “of sorts” that might be a monster as well.
“That will not be a concern. Mr. Sellars will be staying in the van.”
It took a couple of seconds for what she said to sink in.
“Wait…” He turned back toward her. “What?”
Her eyes were hard as gemstones.
“I said you would stay with the van.” She held up a hand to still his objections. “Adam, your legs are getting better, but they are nowhere near back to normal strength. You cannot even run yet. Not to mention you left your cane in Billy Clayton’s car.”
“But…”
“No. No ‘buts.’ I’m sorry, but that’s an order. If we have to move fast you won’t be able to keep up. We would be forced to either leave you behind, or split up and thus endanger us all. I cannot take the risk. So as much as you may want to assist me in this, the best thing you can do for me is to stay here.”
That stung.
The fact it was true didn’t make it feel a lot better either.
“On the other hand, what you can do is monitor our transmissions and provide backup if needed. I will also leave you a rifle and ammo belt, so if this monster comes within sight of the van you may feel free to shoot at it. Otherwise, you wait and be ready to help us pull out if the need arises.”
He glared at her, not wanting to believe this was happening. At the same time, he couldn’t fault her logic and he wasn’t about to embarrass her by starting a futile argument in front of these other men. So what recourse did that leave him?
Trust her. That’s what she needs from me right now. She has to go after a monster, and her companions are going to include a man who hates her, two guys who probably have more loyalty to him than her, and an unstable superhuman killer who she has made a temporary alliance with. Cristobal is the only one she can trust. She has enough on her plate without me making her job tougher.
“Right,” he muttered. He wasn’t going to pretend to be happy about it. “I can do that.”
“Very well,” she acknowledged.
He thought he might have detected a hint of gratitude in her eyes, but it was hard to tell with her trying to focus on her driving without lights in the thick fog. And since he wasn’t horribly enthusiastic with what she might be grateful about, he found it easier to turn his attention back to the primeval looking world outside.
“There she is.”
Maggie Weston emerged like a grim specter from the fog. She stood at the edge of the road with folded arms, facing a farm across the highway from her. A tiny farmhouse made a barely visible outline on a low rise about seventy yards away.
“Okay,” Olivia instructed, “everybody but Adam out. Adam you get ready to slide over here and buckle in. You need to be ready to drive in an instant.”
“Yeah,” his throat suddenly became very tight, “I’m ready.”
The sliding door of the van whispered open and the four men behind him disembarked with practiced silence. Their smooth competence only reinforced Olivia’s point about his legs. He could be nothing but a hindrance to men who moved like this. The door slid closed with the same lack of noise, leaving the two of them alone in the van…but with her hand already on the door handle.
Adam caught her other hand just as she opened the door.
“Don’t…die…” he commanded. “That is the only husbandly order I will ever give, but I mean it. I want to grow old with you.”
She paused and looked back at him, her eyes dark and serious.
“I won’t,” she replied, “and after today, I promise I am going back to being strictly an analyst. My uncle can get himself a second sub-chieftain for this kind of thing. Good enough?”
“Good enough,” he nodded, then gave her the best smile he could muster. “Now go shoot your big-assed spider and we’ll be sure and get a picture of you standing there with your rifle in your hand and your foot on its carcass. I’m sure your uncle can find some other trophy to hunt.”
Olivia stepped out the door, paused, then turned back to him with a look of dawning realization.
“Oh, lovely,” she sighed. “I hadn’t considered t
hat. I guess now we know who Uncle Antonio is going to shoot first this weekend. He is never going to forgive me for this.”
###
“Finally,” Aurelio seethed as he watched Olivia close the van door and walk their way, “our Great Leader decides to join the circus.”
He waited in the small knot of men standing slightly apart from the Spider Tribe woman. She had ignored their approach, seemingly content to continue staring at the distant house like some blood-encrusted nightmare waiting to come true. There was nothing that looked remotely like sanity in her eyes.
As far as Aurelio was concerned, she was the living embodiment of everything wrong with putting a mix-blood woman like Olivia in charge. But now he kept his face carefully neutral as she drew near.
In other circumstances he would have appreciated the trim figure approaching in the black combat jumpsuit, but his usual contempt for her as a person had now grown to utter hatred. She had humiliated him twice in the past two hours, and once in front of an enemy! And now he was stuck participating in this idiocy because not “volunteering” would make him appear afraid to take on a mission even a woman was willing to lead.
There were other tribes out there that had allowed women to be Chieftains for some time now, but when he finally got in charge he intended to use his position and influence on the council to put a quick end to this nonsense. Until then, he would work harder on hiding his thoughts on the matter and bide his time.
Olivia gave them a brief nod of acknowledgment as she reached them, then held up a finger for them to wait as she continued on to their ghastly compatriot.
“Miss Weston? Is something wrong?”
The grisly looking woman continued to stare up at the house for a second or two longer before answering.
“There is a horse screaming up there,” she muttered in a strange voice. “Somewhere behind the house. It is mad with terror and in great pain. There was a man too, but now there is just a horse.”
What the hell?
Aurelio looked nervously from the woman to the misty house in the distance. What in the hell were they getting into here?
“So she is definitely here then. Could she be feeding?”
“She’s here,” the blonde continued softly. “But she’s not feeding. That would kill a horse in minutes.”
“Can you sense her then?”
“Not directly. Not enough to pinpoint her. She’s too strong for that. But she’s here.”
“I see. Anything else?”
The blond shook her head, her strange eyes never leaving the house.
“Maggie,” Olivia gently but firmly directed the girl’s attention to her, “you are the only one of us who has seen and faced this creature. Any advice would be appreciated.”
Maggie blinked, then seemed to collect herself and become aware of the rest of them. She gazed over at the four men with an expression best described as harsh curiosity. The fact she hadn’t even considered them a threat worthy of her notice did nothing for Aurelio’s mood.
“Just remember,” she muttered, “she’s big, but she’s still a spider. Her only physical attack is biting, which means she can only attack one person at a time. Spread out a little. That way if she attacks one of you, the rest can blast away at her. Aim for her face, it’s where her armor will be thinnest and those .223 rounds you’re using have the best chance of doing the most harm.”
“Anything else?”
“No,” Maggie shook her head and eyed the house again. “Nothing else, other than to pay attention. She’s smarter than hell, and in a way not at all like our Great Mother. She’s different…more unpredictable. And by now, she probably knows we’re here.”
###
You were right. Sonni peered through the rifle’s scope. There are more of them.
“I thought there might be,” her friend answered. “These others must be the Dog People, since their minds are dark to me. I have heard about this. It appears Maggie has somehow struck up an alliance of her own with them, and recruited some for her purposes.”
But they are just men, aren’t they?
“Yes. They are nothing like Maggie. But they are still dangerous men. Very dangerous. I would have preferred to do this at some other time.”
Sonni looked at her friend’s avatar with alarm.
This is bad then? We’re in trouble?
“It’s okay, Kitten,” the entity soothed. “It will be okay. We will kill them. They do not know you are here, so your attack will come as a complete surprise.”
Shall I kill Maggie now then? She raised the rifle as the distant group started to split up and spread out. Since she is the most dangerous, losing her would hurt them the most.
“No, there is too much chance the shot won’t kill her and then we lose all advantage of surprise. Leave Maggie to me. I need you to focus on the Dog Men and be ruthless…as ruthless as you know how. Can you do that for me?”
Ruthless. Sonni’s teeth showed in a death’s head grin beneath the eyepiece of the scope. She moved the crosshairs from the dim female outline and centered them on one of the figures in black. Yes, I will be ruthless.
“Very good, Kitten. Very good. Now get ready, they are about to come.”
###
Aurelio motioned to his left, directing Apolo to take the position on the end as they spread out into a widely spaced line. The huge warrior gave him a dark look but moved to the directed place.
This put Antu to his right, next to Olivia, then Cristobal, and finally the Spider Tribe woman at the right end of the line. He felt more comfortable having somebody between himself and whatever lay out in the fog-shrouded fields to either side. At the same time, logic told him that position made little difference since they were dealing with a creature who could come right over the house ahead of them when it decided to attack…wherever it was.
This tactic of the Spider Tribe woman felt like they were deliberately throwing whoever got attacked first to the wolves. But he also realized it was merely acknowledging reality. When dealing with a creature possessing an almost unstoppable but one-dimensional attack, you allowed for that in your strategy.
“Last check, Maggie,” Olivia murmured. “Do you sense anything at all?”
The tall woman frowned at the house, then gave a frustrated growl.
“Just the horse. With its screaming there’s no way I can feel the quiet stuff. If anybody sees it, shoot it. You’ll be doing both it and us a favor.”
“Understood.” Olivia looked down the line, obviously to make sure everybody else understood it as well, then faced back toward the house herself. “In that case, let’s move out. “
The line started forward into the murky dawn.
He knew they were moving quietly, but to Aurelio their footsteps seemed to crunch like thunder. Even the rustle of their clothes and gear was magnified in the gloomy morning hush. He found it somewhat irksome to think the ill-equipped woman at the other end of the line probably made less noise than any of them. With nothing but a pistol and a couple of magazines shoved in the back pockets of her pants, she stalked through the fog in complete silence.
Aurelio tore his attention from her and back to the task at hand. The barest outline of a windmill started to form behind the house and to the left. He knew from the satellite picture Olivia had shown them on her tablet that a barn sat next to it, and an attached carport sat next to that. She had theorized the spider was using the barn for concealment during the day and hunting at night. Aurelio wasn’t sure if he believed it, considering this type of spider preferred hanging in webs in more open places.
A second later he didn’t give a shit where the damn thing decided to sleep because everything went straight to hell.
A shot rang out.
For a frozen fraction of time, Aurelio thought one of their own guns must have gone off. It was only them and the damn spider, right? But a look to his right demonstrated how deathly wrong they had all been.
Cristobal dropped his rifle and took a step ba
ck. His mouth worked for a second as if he had forgotten he could not talk, then he fell to his knees. He looked up and over at Olivia, made some kind of gesture with his hand, and fell face forward in the dirt.
Their paralysis ended a second later when the next shot blew most of Antu’s head off.
“Single shooter!” The Spider Tribe woman called out. “Front window! He can only shoot out one side of the house at a time!”
She sprinted off across the driveway as she yelled, and into the mists to the right. Her pistol thundered twice as she ran.
Aurelio cursed her as he followed Apolo into the fog on the left. They should stay together! Had the insane woman forgotten the twenty-five foot spider lurking somewhere out here?
No, he realized. She simply thinks she can take it by herself and isn’t really concerned with group tactics. Goddammit, the snotty bitch was right on this one. And where the hell is our fearless leader anyway?
He looked back to see Olivia had hit the ground and taken cover behind a low-cut stump near Cristobal.
Her M-16 barked as she fired a burst back at the house, then took cover again. Another shot boomed out from the house and he heard her cry out. It was getting harder to see due to the fog and their increasing distance, but he thought he saw her pop up again and he heard the “thwoop” of her M-203 grenade launcher. There was a distant “crump” and at the same time the lights of the van came on behind her as it started to move.
Aurelio slowed as he considered the idea of turning back. Running into the fog to go around the house had been a mistake caused by following the Spider Tribe woman’s lead. A split-second decision prompted by Apolo’s acting on the damn crazy woman’s advice. In the heat of the moment, he had followed without thinking. Hell, anybody could make a mistake like that.
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