Breathe Deep Fear Vol. 1
Page 15
“How many of these bullets do we have?” Cale asked as he pulled himself back into the cab.
“Three more.”
“Terrific.”
Chapter
32
The jeep bounced through the snow as Julia pressed down harder on the accelerator. Cale kept glancing at the thing behind them. It was closer every time. Leaning out the window, he shot a wide tree, the trunk fracturing and burning. They zipped under it as it collapsed, crashing into the ground in a swirl of snow.
War blasted through it in a shower of splinters.
Cale bit back a curse. The thing hadn’t even bothered to go around the tree!
He leaned back in and winced as the back end fishtailed around a slight curve. There was no way of knowing how good Julia’s eyesight was, but all he could see was white and the tiny red speedometer saying they were going almost seventy miles per hour. Driving that fast on snowy back roads was reckless and probably going to kill them, but seeing War hurtling toward them like death personified made him stay silent. He’d rather die wrapped around a tree than getting ripped apart by that thing.
It’d just be nice if he could wear a seatbelt and still fire.
“You have any ideas?”
“No, and the cleaner team is still thirty minutes away. It would appear that it is impervious to damage, at least with our current capabilities.”
“Yeah, I know. For the record, I was asking about the bodies because I was afraid of how much it had consumed, not to question your humanity. Thought you should know that, in case we die here.” He looked forward again into the never ending sea of night and snow. “Can you even see?”
“Slightly.”
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was pale, gripping the wheel so tight it was amazing it hadn’t snapped. It was nice to see she was in the same boat as he was. Well, not nice, but at least he wasn’t the only one on the edge of freaking out. There was comfort in that – somewhere.
Something flew overhead far faster than they were moving, and a blinding spotlight shone down on them. The outline of a helicopter facing them and flying backwards took shape.
So did the mini-guns mounted on its base.
“That one of ours?”
“No.”
The guns started to spin, revving up to start firing. Julia swerved to the left as the ‘copter opened fire, peppering the ground where they had just been. He gripped the seat as they bounced around off road, Julia swerving left and right to avoid the trees. A blood freezing roar came from behind them, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end.
The ceiling of the vehicle crunched down as War landed on top, its talons piercing the metal shell and shredding it like cheese in a grater. Julia struggled to control the jeep with the extra weight as the horrifying maw chomped down between them, the creature pushing its head into the cab.
Cale pressed the gun against its eye and fired.
The bullet sank in halfway and exploded, the fire singeing his hands and face. War recoiled to the side, knocking Julia into her door before falling off behind them. She struggled to regain control as they broke into a spin, the world circling around them in a dizzying array of snow and forest. It flipped and Cale frantically braced himself as the vehicle broke into a roll.
And then went over the edge of the cliff.
Weightlessness claimed the two for a moment as shards of glass hovered around them. They shared a disoriented stare.
The bottom of the mountain looked beautiful in the night.
John burst out of the ice sheet caking the side of the cliff and sliced the jeep in two. He twisted in the air, picking the two of them out from the halved pieces. Kicking out and digging his sharp toes into the ice sheet, the giant grunted and flipped up over the cliff’s edge.
He dropped the two of them down and grabbed the mechanical larynx from a tree branch.
“Son, are you suicidal?” The giant was shouting, waving his free hand about wildly as he loomed over the two recovering on the ground. “I spend five minutes melting snow to regenerate, and by the time I catch up you’re throwing yourself over a cliff. You’re damn lucky I didn’t drop this little robotic voice box of mine.”
Cale ignored the giant as he lay sprawled out in the snow, the cold soothing his mild burns. He looked up at Julia who kneeled on the ground, trying to recover her shaken composure. Her long hair was draped over her head, snarled and partially caught in her mouth.
He gave a short, gasping laugh.
“I didn’t think you could look disheveled, Julia.” He looked back up at the giant. “And no John, I’m not; it was either risk this, or get devoured by that thing. After seeing what it did to you and the station, I’d rather be a pancake.”
“Fair enough.”
“Are you alright, Cale? You took the brunt of the explosion.”
Julia brushed her hair out of her face.
“I’m just a little shaken up. How about you?”
“I am fine, considering what just happened.”
War’s bellow shook the forest, and everyone was on their feet in an instant. They shared a look and sprinted back toward the sound. It was stupid. They had no weapons, not that it would matter, but for whatever reason the noise sounded different. Had that helicopter damaged it?
The spot light came into view, and John merged into the snow as Julia and Cale hid behind the trees. Shining down on War, the creature snarled as some kind of high density net wrapped tighter around it. Several men were around the creature, attaching ropes to the net that led to a giant high tech box being lowered from the bottom of the helicopter.
A metallic whine came from within the box and a struggling War was dragged inside. One of the men slammed his fist on a button, closing the front hatch and caging the monster. The men climbed onto the crate, and it was lifted up into the air. The helicopter shut its light off and took off into the dark sky.
“Who the hell were those guys?” Cale asked.
“I have no idea, but at least the monster is no longer a threat.”
John materialized out of the snow and held the larynx to his throat.
“I beg to differ, lady. Those are most likely the same bastards that started all this. War was a mistake they haven’t been able to get to. Now, they can find out what makes War what it is… and they will eventually be able to replicate it.”
The mountain fell into an uncomfortable silence as the wind carried a sense of foreboding through the night.
END PART ONE
Concept Art
A major aspect of all the Wrathful Squirrel Entertainment stories is the art. The talented, and always improving, Tasha Hicks has spent many hours coming up with character concepts and giving life to the breathtaking scenes you read. As a thank you to all our long time readers, she agreed to share some of the art she creates and let you see how they grow from sketches to fully realized images of the things in my imagination.
For those of you who have no idea what a gutter cleaner is, the first sketch will give you an idea.
The second picture was a sketch Tasha came up with to get the scene down for the titanic battle between John and War.
The rest of the pictures show how our two creations took shape, with a special scene created for each.
About the Author
A resident of Central New York, Heath Waterman holds a bachelor’s degree with a major in history and a third degree black belt in Shotokan Karate. He is the owner and chief instructor of Ryouzan Dojo, the headquarters of Waterman’s Martial Arts, and the owner and lead writer of Wrathful Squirrel Entertainment.
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