by Eddie Jakes
"Police," said Maddix. "Possibly an ambulance, too. We need to move fast, or it's going to be a massacre.”
"Police? Like the constables?"
"You got it."
"Perhaps they will join us in our fight?"
"Doubtful. Besides, I doubt that silver bullets are standard issue for law enforcement these days."
"You are right. The police will all be killed."
A tingling sensation hit Tanya's senses, leading her to one of the alleys near a large store. Although she hadn't done a lot of reading while locked up in Malevolent, she remembered enough to make out the words "Plumbing Supply." The scent she was picking up was obviously familiar.
"Jurgen. He's somewhere down here," said Tanya, motioning with her broad snout.
Maddix let her lead the way, while he kept his pistols aimed up in the air and ready for anything.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered the alley a group of six fell from the top of the buildings and surrounded them for an attack. Maddix's instincts kicked in, and he unleashed a volley of deadly shots taking out two werewolves instantly and wounding one.
Before the last of the six even hit the ground Tanya had grabbed one of them out of mid-air and proceeded to tear their neck to shreds. Its head dropped to the cement and bounced twice before hitting the wall. She made a move to rip the heart from its still twitching body, but she was overtaken by the other two from behind.
Maddix rushed to Tanya's aid but a swipe from the wounded werewolf's paw tripped him up, and he fell on his face. Despite the shock and impact, Maddix was still able to keep a grip on his weapons, and he turned to fire three shots into the skull of his attacker. The beast barely made a whelp as his skull exploded from the exit wound and his lifeless head collapsed on the concrete.
Even though Tanya had fought with some of the strongest of her kind in the past, these two were exceptionally agile and difficult to pin down. After a back and forth between her and the two, they managed to get the better of her and she was on her back. Razor sharp teeth grabbed her by the throat and bit down hard, cutting her air supply and making it hard to breathe. Then the second set of teeth sank into her chest and gnawed away at her flesh.
Although she couldn't see his face from her position, she was able to recognize a pair of feet standing above her head. There was a click followed by two shots into the wolf crushing her windpipe. She watched him back off of her and flop around in death throes. The wolf on her chest was still locked, and she could feel its fangs begin to pierce her heart. For the first time in her life, she was panicked as she tried to wrestle her opponent to the ground.
"Get him off me!" shouted Tanya.
Maddix aimed for the werewolf's head but Tanya batted his hand away with her paw.
"No! His jaw will lock up!"
Maddix looked around the alley and then at one of his pistols. Climbing on the back of Tanya's attacker, he wedged the gun into its mouth like a bit and pulled hard with both hands. The beast growled and wiggled to try and get Maddix off its back to no avail.
With on hard tug combined with Tanya's strength, they pulled the monster's head off of her and both it and Maddix fell backward. Tanya rolled over and gasped for air, attempting to shake off the shock of almost being killed.
Even with the gun in the werewolf's mouth, Maddix couldn't keep hold of the savage beast, and it managed to flip over on top of him, ready to kill. As fast as it was, it wasn't fast enough for Maddix who already began to empty an entire magazine into its body, causing it to fall over dead.
"Tanya," Maddix called out.
She didn't respond.
"Are you okay? Tanya?"
"Yes. I'll be okay. I just need a second."
"There might be more of them. We need to move."
There were more of them, and they were watching.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Just before entering the town, Krazek had broken away from the group to begin his transformation ritual back into William. Ephrain continued to walk down the street so that he could watch the emergency vehicles rushing to help the wounded. He smiled at the ignorance of their futile actions. These patients wouldn't need any medical care, and he was pretty sure the vets were ill-equipped to handle canines of such extraordinary proportions.
The few who had survived the fight limped away slowly from the piles of naked bodies sprawled out everywhere. Their wounded appendages appeared human due to the toxicity of the silver. It would almost be worthy of study, if not for more pressing matters.
Craig stood anxiously next to Ephrain rubbing a fist into the palm of his other hand.
"Patience," said Ephrain. "You'll have your chance soon enough."
"How about I get some practice in on those cops? You know, before the main event."
Ephrain was inspired by the idea. Craig was green … not just to his new form but to the whole life of being a predator. The cops wouldn't put up much of a challenge, but it would be an excellent opportunity to see just what the young thug was capable of executing.
"I think you have a good mind for this. Indulge yourself."
Craig removed his coat and shirt. His physique was every bit as impressive as Ephrain's, and he gave a quick flex before running into the thick of the action.
The first victim in Craig's rampage was a disabled werewolf struggling to get to its feet. He grabbed the beast by the throat and lifted it off the ground like it was nothing. Seeing a bullet lodged into the creature's ribcage, Craig pressed his index into it hard until the rib cracked and the bullet pierced its heart. Craig stared into the wolf's eyes as it died painfully in the air, unable to breathe or call out to anyone. The body went limp in his hands and Craig smiled.
Several police officers stood by their squad cars for cover. Their faces revealed that didn't know what to make of this new threat which had entered the area. They just stared in awe.
"Don't move!" one of them finally shouted.
Not to be bullied, Craig proceeded to perform acrobatic cartwheels and flips in defiance. He landed on his feet less than ten feet from the accumulation of police vehicles.
"I'm sorry," said Craig, "I couldn't hear you from back there."
Every officer had their gun barreled down on Craig.
"Well, that's rude."
Casually, Craig started to walk closer to the squad of cops.
"Don't move! Put your hands on your head and get on the ground!"
"No."
"Last chance, asshole!"
"Is it?"
The entire wall of police erupted into a hail of gunfire; each cop hit the mark, the bullets burning up once penetrating Craig's skin. He barely flinched as each round dissolved into his body. The grin on his face could not be bigger.
Soon it became a bloody horror of limbs being ripped off, necks broken, and whole bodies tossed against walls. There were no survivors to Craig's relentless killing spree. One of them had even tried to pull a knife and stab it into Craig's back, but both the knife and the officer’s hand burned away in the process.
The screams of the policeman seemed to irritate Craig, as he pulled his tongue out and pushed it down his throat. Due to the pain he was suffering at Craig’s hand, he couldn't stop screaming and suffocated.
Pleased with his creation, Ephrain stepped out of the sidelines applauding.
"That was fantastic work! How do you feel?"
"Like the Six Million Dollar Man. Only more badass!"
The two of them were shocked to see a pair of headlights come on and a police car charge at them. Ephrain quickly stepped out of the way, but Craig was too slow and got the full impact of the car, sending him backward twenty feet. The car continued to speed away, and soon it was out of sight.
Ephrain rushed over to Craig who was lying on the ground with scrapes and open wounds that had already started healing.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Didn't see that coming. Mind if I settle the score?"
"Not at all. Hit and run is a crime, isn't
it? They should know better."
With that, Craig climbed to his feet and gave chase. His running speed was supernatural. Ephrain couldn't have been more pleased with himself and just continued to smile.
After two more encounters with werewolves, Maddix was running dangerously low on ammunition and Tanya was running low on strength. Supernatural as she was, she was still limited by finite energy. Her will was unbreakable, and Maddix knew that she would continue to fight till they had won or they were both dead`.
They had many close calls as they engaged in this "gang warfare" of a sort. Either the wolves were getting smarter, or they had saved the best ones for the final battles. Still, though, they weren't quite the warriors Tanya was, and she always caught the scent before they could make their move. After some time, Maddix stopped watching the streets and the rooftops and kept his eyes trained on her for any twitches of fur, or the quick jerking that her neck did when she was alerted to a situation.
It was Tanya that first heard the distant gunshots and the screaming of men and women. Maddix guessed it was the police arriving on the scene to protect and serve, but he knew they were powerless against any savage beasts they would encounter.
Savage beasts.
Maddix almost felt guilty using the term. It wasn't accurate under these circumstances. They were being misled and operating under Krazek's orders. Their deaths were on his head. He just had to keep that in the back of his mind as he fought. It was just like those mutant wasps back in the prison. He had no choice but to kill or be killed. Perhaps it was better that they were thinning out the numbers? Maybe—
Maddix shook his head to get the thoughts out of his mind. He was getting paranoid, which was happening a lot lately. Probably a byproduct of his past life. That had to be it.
After thirty minutes without an encounter, the two of them took a turn back onto the main road and almost gasped at what they saw. There were cars overturned and smashed everywhere. Buildings had street lamps and newspaper boxes thrown through the windows. The blood drenched road looked covered in entrails with shredded blue uniforms everywhere.
"The cops must have had a run-in with your pack."
Tanya stuck her snout into one of the bodies, flipped it over, and began sniffing. Her face shook in disgust.
"No. This was not done by any of my pack.”
"Willam's? Eric's? Not the time to get technical, Tanya."
"You don't understand. This carnage wasn't done by any werewolf."
"How do you know?"
"It smells like something unnatural, and there are no bite marks or claws."
"Maybe they just got out of hand. You know? Overkill."
"These are human men. If any of them had been bitten, they would have already started the turning process. They would start to heal until the next full moon and then they would be one of us. These bodies are rotting. I can smell it."
The scenarios began sprouting in Maddix's head like wildfire. Vampires? Some other monsters that had escaped without them noticing?
"Let's be ready for anything," said Maddix.
"I agree."
The two of them decided to double back toward where they had first heard the sirens. Just like the rest of the town, there was bodies and destruction everywhere. Whatever had hit them was powerful, vicious, and frightening. Most of the victims looked as though they were attacked from behind to indicate they were running from whatever was stalking them. The poor souls weren't fast enough and looked as though they were tossed around like empty boxes.
Tanya's nose kept twitching and snorting. She could smell something, and it was bothering her senses.
"What is it?" asked Maddix.
"Whatever killed these people is here."
"Can you tell where?"
"Up here," shouted a voice from above.
They had barely a second before their attacker was on them. The figure landed flat footed and proceeded to kick Tanya hard in the gut, sending her rolling to the side away from Maddix.
Maddix was shocked by the appearance of the man’s dark, see-through skin and visible muscles. He aimed his pistol center-mass and opened fire to no effect, as each bullet evaporated into a cloud of mist once it penetrated his skin. It was like this thing had Ephrain's toxic blood in its veins.
Whatever it was, it didn't even flinch at Maddix's volley of bullets and returned the favor with a slow but powerful fist to his face. He fell backward into the street and sat there in a daze as warm blood trickled from his nose. He was so phased by the attack that he couldn't tell if it were broken or not. He could still hear some medium-pitched dark laughter coming from his opponent through the fog in his brain.
"So you're the guy that Ketter's been worried about? Thought you'd put up more of a fight than that."
Ketter? So he’s alive and somehow must've created this abomination.
Once he shook the confusion from his field of vision, Maddix took a good look at the creature, trying to find some kind of weakness he could exploit. Unfortunately, everything seemed perfect on this Frankenstein monster.
"Where is Ephrain? Why doesn't he come kill me himself?"
"He's around. Think he'll be more pleased when I offer your corpse to him in a soda bottle, though."
The thing reached down to pick Maddix up, but Tanya had gotten back up to her feet and tackled the brute. She gave it her all, biting at the neck and digging her razor sharp claws into his body, but as he bled her body began to burn. Even though it wasn't enough to kill her, it caused her enough pain to weaken her. He lifted the mighty wolf over his head like a wrestler and brought her spine down on his knee with immense force. It was so hard that Maddix could hear the bones snap.
Tanya howled from the pain and dragged herself across the ground with her front legs. No doubt the injury would heal itself but for now, she was helpless.
"Run," whimpered Tanya.
He was hesitant to listen and leave her behind, but he knew it was the best thing to do. He picked himself up from the ground and ran to the nearest building. Holding his arms in front of his face Maddix jumped through a window that was already severely cracked and brittle.
Maddix took a second and looked around. It was the plumbing supply store he had seen earlier. It was as big as a warehouse and hopefully had plenty of places to hide. Pushing his legs as far as he could, he moved deeper into the store.
Behind him, he could hear more painful howling from Tanya.
Javier and Tara entered into the thick of the fight with only a few skirmishes with some random werewolves. They were weakened for some reason, and quite easy to dispatch. They had no idea where their friends were so they followed whatever unusual noises they heard; lots of screaming, a few gunshots, and the sounds of wolves being slaughtered.
There was one howl, though, which caused Javier some serious worry.
"That was Tanya. We have to move, now!"
"You sure?"
"Oui!"
Their worst fears were confirmed when they saw the limp shape of Tanya being thrown across the street by some ghastly looking man. She landed hard in front of them and could barely move. Kneeling down beside her, Javier placed his hand on her side. It was as if every solid piece of her was crushed into an almost liquefied substance.
The dark figure approached them casually. Tara began to shoot at the strange looking man with Javier following her lead with the shotgun. They watched in horror as the projectiles did nothing to stop him in his tracks, but instead seemed to amuse him.
As he stepped in to greet them, he placed his left foot on Tanya's broken body and lifted Tara and Javier up by their throats. Both of them grabbed his wrists and kicked wildly, but it was no use against his firm grip. Tara could feel the oxygen leaving her brain.
Then there was clapping.
Two more figures approached them from the sidelines. One was William in his human form, and the other looked familiar. It was Ephrain Ketter, sure enough, but he looked a lot like the dark-skinned creature draining the
life from them.
"Good work, Craig," said Ephrain. "You've exceeded all expectations and performed phenomenally."
"Thanks. You want me to end these two?"
"I don't care what you do with the woman. I have a little score to settle with Constable Larouche, however."
The monster Ephrain referred to as Craig released his grip on Javier and let him fall to the ground. Tara was still fighting to get just one more breath of air. She managed to get a few little sucks of air in but it was getting harder. Below her, she could feel Tanya trying her best to get it together enough to be able to escape from the crushing pressure of Craig's foot.
Ephrain moved in on Javier and grabbed him by the back of his hair, yanking his head back.
"You know, Larouche," said Ephrain, rubbing his throat with his free hand, "I have to admit I was really pissed about this at first. But if it weren't for you, I never would have had this great breakthrough. You could say that you've made me the man I am today."
"What kind of man would that be, monsieur? All I can see is a carnival sideshow freak and his trained monkey. Does he dance when you play music?"
With barely any effort Ephrain smacked Javier in the throat with the back of his hand. His body fell back hard, and he coughed violently, trying to catch his breath again.
"That's just a small sample of what I'm going to do to you, Larouche! Just as soon as I find Benbrook."
"He took a leap through that window over there," Craig stated.
"I can go after him," said William.
"No. I will go myself. You have some business with that bitch under Craig's shoe. Deal with it, and I will be back soon enough. If he tries anything, snap that girl's neck."
Ephrain whipped off his coat as he approached the store. As the moonlight hit his skin, Tara could see through his muscular tone that he was much stronger than this Craig person was. She only hoped that Maddix was ready for the fight of his life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tanya could feel the last of her bones completely heal except for the discs in her back. That thing they called Craig was still pressing his foot down in just the right spot to keep them from reattaching. The pain wasn't as bad as before, but she maintained the expression of suffering so as not to reveal her strengths to anyone. She would need the advantage if she were going to be of any use.