“Is it designed to withstand monsters?” Dream asked, gazing out the window.
“I don’t know.”
“I think we’re about to find out. Aura, tell me you have a plan.”
She unstrapped herself and looked out the rear window.
The creature they’d seen before lumbered toward them.
She gazed at the grotesque homunculus marching toward them. It was twice as tall as Tank and about three times as large, which pushed it well beyond any human parameters. It was hairless and its skin bore a gray tinge. Facial features were all but gone. She was completely unable to read its expression, so she didn’t know if it was angry or nasty or if that was how it looked all the time.
“Monster” was the right word. If this had ever been human, it wasn’t any more.
The Creature roared. It pounded a huge foot against the street and the intensity rocked them so hard she teetered as she crawled out of the wreckage.
Twinge stood beside her. “Is that…a Shine?’
She gazed at it, dumbfounded. “I don’t know. I hope not.”
The Creature howled as it barreled toward them, shattering concrete and metal as it moved. The thin layer of skin on its face shifted as if something were moving beneath the flesh. It was grotesque and inhuman—but that wasn’t the most frightening thing about it.
The Creature reminded her of her mother. The last time she’d seen her. The black bugs burrowing under her skin. The throbbing limbs. The harrowing expression.
Please God. Please. Don’t let it be true.
She noticed something else. Something protruding from its left temple. Some kind of implant.
That looked familiar, too.
“What the hell is that thing?” Dream asked.
“Organic or mechanical?” Gearhead asked.
“Or a little bit of both?” Mnemo murmured.
“I have no clue. But I think it wants to kill us.”
Twinge pursed her lips. “Welcome to the boss level, ladies.”
The Creature destroyed everything that came within its grasp. It grabbed the end of a car and tossed it sideways as if it were nothing. Police officers opened fire, but the bullets didn’t seem to hurt it. Not because the Creature could heal so quickly. But because they simply couldn’t pierce its skin.
“Attention Shines!” The voice was amplified as if it came over a bullhorn, but she couldn’t spot the speaker. A barricade of police cars subdivided the street. “Surrender immediately. Do not resist arrest. We will take you to safety.”
“Seriously?” Twinge said. “That gray golem is on the loose, and they’re worried about us? I think they need all the help they can get.”
“We’re sending an agent to take you into custody,” the disembodied voice continued. “Do not resist. This is in your best interests.”
“Look,” she said, pointing. “Something isn’t right.”
Three police officers crested the hill walking side-by-side, almost in lockstep. Their eyes were wide and glassy.
Then they opened fire.
“What?” She grabbed Dream and tugged her back behind the choppercar. “I know we’re fugitives, but that’s a bit extreme.”
“They’re being controlled,” Harriet said.
She jumped. “Harriet! Where did you come from?”
“The lobby. You weren’t hard to find. Crashing choppercars tend to attract a lot of attention.”
The Creature broke through the police barricade like it was walking through toilet tissue. The police retreated. A few brave souls hunkered down behind open car doors and fired, but it did no good. The Creature kicked away another auto, sending it skittering down the street like it was a Matchbox toy.
“What is that thing?” Twinge asked.
“I’m not sure. But I think it may be the twisted product of something called…Project Intensify.”
“What are we going to do about it?”
“Maybe I should try to reason with it.”
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, sister, but it doesn’t appear to be a member of the debating society.”
“There must be some way to get through to it.”
“You’ll get yourself chainmailed.”
“I’m still gonna try.”
To her surprise, Twinge did not disappear. “All right then. I’ve got your back, homeslice.”
She swallowed hard, then stepped out from behind the choppercar. “We mean you no harm.”
The Creature made a strange, almost purring sound. It tilted its head to one side, as if studying them.
Its eyes lit up.
The Creature strode forward, even more urgently than before.
It slammed a fist down against the pavement, creating a tremor that thundered down the street. She fell to the ground, and the others were flew all around her. She scraped her face on a dislodged chunk of concrete, then fell sideways, reopening the wound Trent had given her.
Damn. She would have to be more careful if she planned to survive this.
“We should work together,” she shouted at the Creature. “I think the same people who are after us have done something horrible to you.”
“Get back,” Tank said, already back on her feet. “I’m the only one who has a chance against this thing.”
“Tank, you can’t—”
“Watch me.”
Tank swung hard, but her blow landed with a thud on its chest. The Creature grabbed Tank by both shoulders and squeezed.
“Tank!”
She thought it was going to throw Tank across the street. It shook her hard, several times. Then abruptly, it pulled her close.
A long black tongue emerged from the Creature’s mouth.
The tongue slithered into Tank’s ear.
Tank tried to resist, but she couldn’t get free. The tongue pressed harder and harder, penetrating her.
“What’s it doing?” Twinge asked.
“I don’t know. But we’ve got to stop it.”
“How?”
She thought she saw something—maybe one of those bugs—travelling through the tongue.
Into Tank’s ear.
“Get back!” Gearhead shouted. She held a glass jar—like the homemade bombs she’d concocted before. Apparently she’d been cooking again.
She lobbed it just behind the Creature, presumably to give Tank the most cover. The bomb exploded, shattering their ears and raising a huge black cloud over the street. The surrounding buildings shuddered. Rubble flew through the air. She heard screaming. Everyone ran for cover.
The Creature toppled backward, throwing Tank clear. More rubble fell from the surrounding buildings—what was left of them. A cloud of debris and dust filled the air.
She peered into the smoke. “Please,” she whispered. “Just this one favor. Please.”
The next ten seconds were the longest she’d ever experienced, even counting her long stint in the torture chamber.
And then Tank crawled out of the smoke.
She ran forward and pulled Tank to safety.
Tank looked shattered. She had never seen the strong girl appear so vulnerable.
“What did that thing do to you?’
“I…don’t know.” Tank’s eyelids flickered. She could see Tank struggling to remain conscious. “I don’t seem to have my full strength.”
She wanted to help Tank somewhere safe, but she didn’t know where that would be, and she wasn’t strong enough to move her much anyway.
“Oh. My. Gandhi,” Twinge whispered.
She looked up.
The Creature strode out of the smoke cloud, still making the hideous howling sounds.
“It wants to kill us all,” Mnemo whispered.
“No.” Harriet’s voice was faint, but still audible. “It wants to eat us.”
“What do you mean?”
“I picked up a transmission. Someone trying to talk sense to someone named Estes.”
The name triggered her memory. “When you say ‘eat’—”
“Any flesh?”
Harriet shook her head. “Shines.”
“And we’re the only Shines in the neighborhood.”
She looked up and saw the Creature thrashing its bizarre claw-like hands in the air, salivating. Looking at them with hungry eyes.
Harriet continued. “The police are being controlled by someone communicating on a frequency like nothing I’ve ever detected. Tank is losing her strength because—” She dropped her hand. “Another Faraday cage. Only more powerful and blanketing the city. Soon none of us will be able to Shine at all.”
“We have to shut that down,” Mnemo said, staring at the rampaging monster.
“How?” Dream said. “Tank was the strongest by far, and it tossed her aside like a kitten. What chance do the rest of us have?”
“We have to try,” Harriet said, hands dancing before her eyes. “That thing won’t stop till it’s devoured us. And every other Shine on the face of the earth.”
83
Dr. Coutant stared at the transparent holographic image rotating above her virtual desk. “Are you completely out of your mind?”
Dr. Estes maintained his usual calm demeanor. “I felt the time had come for decisive action.”
“You mean you were so desperate to take out seven Shines that you unleashed a monster?”
“The experiment had proceeded as far as it possibly could in the laboratory. It was time to test it in the field.”
“Why wasn’t I told about this?’
Dr. Estes remained complacent. “Because you’re not nearly as important as you think you are.”
“Those girls were under my supervision.”
“The operative word being ‘were.’ They got away from you. Now we’re going to take care of the problem.”
“You’ll destroy the city.”
“And everyone will blame the Shines. Just as they’ve done before.”
Short hairs rose on the back of her neck. “Did you plant another PK-10?”
His expression bordered on the smug. “I do not intend to leave any traces behind. My former colleague made that mistake. That’s why we’re in this mess.”
“Haven’t you done enough already? Your monster craves flesh.”
“More specifically, Epimethius is designed to seek out the Shine genome and render it inoperative.”
“It’s an anti-Shine cannibal with the strength of twenty men.”
“It’s necessary.” Estes set down his tablet. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Dr. Coutant, but I am quite busy at the moment. File your complaint with the proper authorities. I’m sure there will be a formal review in a few months. When this is all over.”
He disconnected the link.
Coutant grabbed her satchel and started toward the door. Damn that arrogant bastard. She’d done what he asked for years now, and for what? She’d engaged in acts that made her sick to her stomach, and why?
Because she had no choice, she liked to tell herself. But Aura was right. Everyone has a choice.
Time for her to do what she should have done a long time ago. Set an example for…the next generation.
She had that syringe for a reason, after all.
She raced down the stairs and headed for her car. Her security clearance should get her through the barricades. She just hoped she wasn’t too late.
***
Aura stared at the rampaging monster headed toward them. “Ideas, anyone?”
“I’ll stop it,” Tank said, pushing herself to her feet. “Or at least slow it down.”
“Tank, you’re not ready to go back into combat.”
“Do we have another option?”
They did not. She hated throwing Tank into the line of fire, but there was no Plan B.
The Creature roared, thrashing the air, trying to connect with the targets. This time, Tank tried a less full-frontal approach. She weaved and dodged, delivering punches when she could, but never letting the Creature get its hands on her.
“May I make a suggestion, Aura?”
She whirled around to find Trent standing behind her. Like this wasn’t a complete happy meal already. In the midst of fighting the Shine-eating monster, she’d forgotten all about him. “Do you know what that thing is?”
“I…think I do.”
“That’s Project Intensify, isn’t it? Some idiot trying to create Shines. Only it didn’t work out so well.”
“The first pancakes should always be thrown out,” Trent said, gazing at the Creature. “This should never have been released.”
“Then why was it?”
Trent shrugged. “Desperation. We may have…erred.”
“Are you the one who activated the Shine-draining cage?”
He nodded. “Mounted on the top of my building. Capable of broadcasting throughout the city.”
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. “Then turn the damn thing off.”
“At this point, I would. That monster will destroy the city and take hundreds of lives in the process unless you stop it. But I have to get back to my office to do it.”
“Then go.”
“I can’t get past the police cordon.”
“Can’t you talk to them?”
“No. They’re not talking to anyone.”
“Why not?”
His eyes darted, and for a moment she thought he actually looked scared. “Helsinki.”
She didn’t know what that meant. “Is there something we can do to snap them out of it?”
Trent hesitated. “You? No. But your Harriet can interfere with wireless transmissions. It’s possible she could disrupt the signal that’s manipulating them.”
Harriet drew in close. “What kind of signal is it?”
Trent looked down at her. “No one has any idea.”
“Swell. I’m on it, Aura. But I’ll need my Shine.”
She thought for a moment. She hated this, but it was the only solution. “Trent, do you think you can fly the choppercar?”
“The one you just wrecked?”
“The engine is intact. It might still fly.”
“I’m willing to give it a try. I realize I am…to some small extent to blame for the crisis that now confronts us.”
Because you wanted to mate with teenage girls to produce a master race, you sick flick? But she kept the thought to herself. “If you double-cross us, I’ll come after you.”
“Let’s not give him a chance,” Dream said. “I’ll go with him.”
“No. Too dangerous.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve been fighting off pervs my entire life.”
This she did not doubt.
“I’ll make sure he gets the job done.” She gave Trent a shove and they headed toward the wreckage.
“Stay back,” Gearhead said, holding a backpack, reared back and ready to throw. “I’m trying to help Tank, bombarding the monster between her attacks.”
“Is it working?”
“My little makeshift bombs aren’t stopping it, if that’s what you mean. I’d make more of an impression if I threw every one I have left at once.”
“Those bombs could bring down every building on the block.”
“The monster already has, practically. I’ve seen lots of evacuating.”
“There could still be people in there.”
“If we don’t stop this thing, how many people will it kill?”
In the background, she heard an engine roar into action. The choppercar rose into the air, damaged and spastic, but moving. Good. Maybe they’d be able to shut off the cage.
But this Creature could defeat and devour them all before that happened.
Gearhead might be able to stop it. But Gearhead’s bombs could level the city.
A bullet whistled past them, much too close. Beyond the barricade, she saw a long phalanx of police officers with their guns trained. Apparently they had recovered from the previous explosion. Whatever controlled them w
anted to make sure the Shines did not escape again.
And eventually, one of them would get lucky.
They did not have much time.
Okay, she reminded herself, a leader has to make tough choices, even when none of the available options were good. Maybe that was the true definition of a leader.
She clasped Gearhead on the shoulder. “Do it.”
Gearhead started to throw.
“You won’t make it,” Menmo said.
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve got a puny arm. You know you do. I watched you lob that last one. Give it to me.”
“Sweetie, I love you, but you’re only—”
“I used to play softball. Fast pitch. I know what I’m doing.”
Gearhead obliged.
Menmo threw. The backpack hit the Creature square in the chest. And exploded. The Creature reeled backward. Tank ducked for cover.
“Move back!” she screamed.
The titanic explosion that followed shredded everything in sight. The sound was deafening. Shards of glass and chunks of rubble flew like projectiles all around them. Several thudded up against her. Smoke filled the air.
And even beyond the tremendous din, she heard the Creature.
She heard it scream. Good.
But a few moments later, it was back on its feet. Coming for them. With a hungry look in its eyes.
***
The Chief watched the dramatic tableau play out on a remote monitor. “Do they know about the PK-10?”
Estes’s voice crackled when he spoke. Too much interference. “No. They think Epimethius is the worst thing they have to worry about. They don’t realize it’s bait. Just to get them to Shine. Then the PK-10 will be blamed on them. And they won’t be around to deny it.”
“And your test subject gets a tasty afterschool snack.”
“Something like that.”
“Make sure that nightmare of yours occupies their attention. I don’t want any more mistakes.”
“It’s the only thing on their radar.”
“Keep it that way. They’ve been free much too long for my comfort level.”
He disconnected the link and leaned back, contemplating how much better life would be when this ongoing problem was resolved.
He opened a new link. “Agent Coal?”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Are you headed toward the battle?”
“Of course. Didn’t you say—”
Shine: Season One (Shine Season Book 1) Page 36