Oh fuck.
The only thing that stopped him dropping to his knees was the thought that he would land in it.
'WHERE ARE THEY?' Dave screamed. Whether to Monty or not, he wasn't sure. Before he got an answer the door in front of him banged open and his query cut off into a shriek while more gunfire echoed throughout the stairwell. This time in deafening close proximity from the four soldiers stumbling out of the door, their already shoddy uniforms even messier now; all shredded and coated in blood. Even the brief glimpse Dave caught was enough to tell him they weren't faring too well. Wet rents glittered from various parts of their bodies, leaking thick red blood that made Dave wonder how they were even still on their feet, let alone moving backwards, firing off round after round into the open doorway.
Not that the bullets seemed to have any affect whatsoever on the shadows. Dave saw them rushing for the soldiers even as one turned and screamed when she spotted him. She fired her gun and Dave shrieked in chorus with her, though the soldier must have realised her mistake the split second before her finger tightened on the trigger. The shot went wide, thudding into the concrete wall behind him, sending whining ricochets that had Dave holding his breath as they bounced around the stairwell.
It took Dave a second to compose himself. Then a split second more to realise that he recognised the soldier who stood before him holding her gun one handed while blood coursed down her other from two nasty looking gashes. She was the same one who'd given him the pack of cigarettes. Only now her eyes were wide with terror. The muscles along her jaw pulsing. The blood misted across her features only adding to her crazed look as she stared with pure unadulterated panic from Dave to the boy who was finally having a reaction to events around him, making some weird hacking noise while he stared wide eyed around the blood soaked landing, his brow furrowed.
The soldier screamed something but Dave couldn't hear it over the deafening roar of gunfire. She resorted to pointing and Dave felt the bottom of his stomach go into freefall. He turned to look behind and saw the shadows flood the landing of the stairwell just below him. When he looked back the shadows were also at the threshold of the door into the stairwell swooping forward even though the soldiers were unloading round after round into their midst.
‘Fuck!’ one of them screamed when it became clear it was over and they ceased firing, bracing for the final charge though as he lobbed his gun into the midst of the shadows, Monty’s voice boomed out across the landing.
‘NOW THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!’
For a split second there was a flood of misting colour as the surrounding blood lifted from the concrete and hurtled toward the old man while he backed down the last step, the glowing barrier still in place. Still holding back the shadows.
‘CLOSE YOUR EYES!’ Monty screamed as the shadows reached the first of the soldiers, just crossing over his outstretched legs. Immediately there was a glint and the thigh exploded into a crosshatch of jagged wounds.
Dave obeyed though he barely got his lids closed before a blinding glare obliterated everything. Even through closed eyes, it seared into his eyeballs and Dave reeled, unsteady and off kilter while the cries from the soldiers let him know they were caught off guard too.
He shook his head and as the glare faded, risked opening his eyes. Colours sizzled and kaleidoscoped across his vision, mixed in with dancing black motes and Dave had to shake his head again to clear it.
It finally returned to a semblance of normality just in time for him to see Monty hurtle past, heading down the next set of stairs.
‘Come on,’ Monty hissed as he dashed by and Dave only spared a second’s glance back across where the soldiers stared in open mouthed shock after the old guy before following. The tide of shadows appeared to have disappeared from behind them and even the area through the swinging door was clear of darkness – though Dave didn’t linger to see how long that lasted. Instead he trod the dry husks – the only remains of the gore that had coated the stairwell – and followed Monty as he charged down the stairs toward the oncoming tide of black, one hand stretched out before him, more of the strange light streaming from it.
There was a split second of panic as they approached the oily horde and they swelled up to greet them but they obediently parted to allow them passage, streaming around the edges as Dave wheezed and tried to keep pace. Behind him, the slap of boots told him that the soldiers had recovered enough from their shock to at least realise what their best chance of survival was.
Another stairwell passed in a series of adrenaline filled bursts. Then Dave almost ground to a halt as he realised he’d forgotten something kind of important.
THE KID!
He risked a glance back and almost collapsed in relief when he saw that the female soldier had dropped her gun and was now carrying the boy, held against her chest in a hug.
How the hell she could lift him and still move was beyond Dave. In his current condition, Dave doubted he’d make it more than half a dozen steps before he keeled over. But she was moving and moving fast, another flight of stairs and she’d probably be overtaking him. Another of her comrades kept hot on her heels, though the other two soldiers were not fairing so well. Hampered by his shredded leg, one of the soldiers started to lag more and more behind, despite his comrade’s best effort to help him along. Dave could see them slipping further and further back from the trailing glow that fanned out like a comet trail behind. Further and further toward the diverted shadows that amassed in their wake then set off after the group like an avalanche picking up steam.
Dave wanted to scream at Monty to slow down but panic jittered his entire body and he barely had enough breath to even keep moving. He couldn’t stop glancing back though, even when he knew their fate was a forgone conclusion.
And sure enough, a couple of more stairs passed and then he glanced back and they were no longer there. Swallowed up by the roiling horde of black that flowed like ink, gaining a little with each set of stairs they passed down as the glow started to shrink.
The landings blurred by until Dave could barely even think he was so exhausted. The only thing pushing him on was raw adrenaline and Dave wasn’t certain if even that was going to last much longer. Each step made him feel like he was about to vomit. Don't know how she's doing it, he thought when he glanced back and saw the soldier was still hot on his heels. To add insult to injury, she didn't even look that puffed and that was while carrying the child with an injured arm.
The second bright light from Monty came without warning and caught Dave completely off-guard. He almost careened into the wall while he shook his head to clear the after effects.
A little warning wouldn't go astray, he thought, straggling to a halt and swaying, his rubber legs on the verge of collapse. The thought was soon forgotten though as he saw Monty and did an abrupt double take. The old man's recovery had only been temporary it seemed. He now looked even worse than when he'd first appeared on the roof. His image flickering so rapidly Dave thought it might give him a seizure. All hunched over; sweat cascading down his face, Monty looked as though he'd even lost weight in the flight down the stairwell. His clothes seemed baggier and his face looked like the skin was getting too loose. Like it was sagging clear of his skull where it shouldn't be.
He only noticed that the surrounding gunfire and screaming had ceased when he saw the shadows starting to amass once more on either side.
'What's...' He couldn't even finish the question he was wheezing so bad.
Monty seemed to get the point anyway.
'Blood... I need more blood. There's only so many other prisoners... here and I've pretty much exhausted my supply at this end...' Dave's swimming vision made it difficult to tell but it looked as though Monty was starting to shrivel before his very eyes. Slowly but surely, dropping a little more weight with every passing second. 'I can’t keep this up without more... it's already starting to eat through... my own.'
Monty waved a glowing hand in an arc above his head as the other hobbled up and
gave a long grunt that let Dave know it hurt like hell.
A dome settled around them seconds before the shadows swamped them, blotting out the light.
Then for a long few seconds, there was only darkness and the harsh wheezing of their breath. Someone, Dave didn't know who, whimpered slightly but he barely even focused on that as another sound started to rise around them. A plink, plink, plink that sounded like someone tapping on glass with a nail.
Over and over and over. Plink, plink, plink. Dave heard all the harsh breathing sharpen in response.
He actually roared a garbled scream as a snap of fingers sounded and the interior of the dome burst into light. He blinked against the sudden glare and then quickly shot glances around in every direction. Solid walls of blackness greeted him on all sides. As he gaped at the bizarre sight, the source of the tapping became clear. Glints shifted and danced through the swirling black mass and each time they rebounded from the barrier Monty had erected there was a sharp plink of contact.
Dave swallowed as he imagined the damage they would have done if the barrier wasn't in place.
He scanned across the others who stood staring around in similar confusion and turned to Monty. The old man held a shaking hand outstretched and in the palm a small flame flickered and guttered, illuminating the interior of the dome.
'How…how …how… are…you doing…that?' Dave managed to stammer out between gasps while his brain reeled trying to comprehend why, of all the things he'd witnessed Monty do, he was finding the flame the most amazing.
'It's the…blood. You can do anything…if you…have the blood.' Monty sounded even worse than Dave felt. 'And I…I need the…blood. I…I …can't get…us out of…here …without it.'
Monty's image flickered badly but even so, Dave could see that the old man wasn't looking at him. His eyes were fixated over Dave's shoulder where the male soldier continued to stare around, muttering, 'fuck, fuck, fuck,' under his breath while blood oozed from a couple of deep gouges that crossed one arm and bit deep into his chest.
It was easy enough to divine why Monty was staring and Dave started to feel his stomach churn.
His eyes flicked across to the lady soldier. She crouched and slowly put the kid on the ground, her wide eyes locked onto the darkness surrounding them. He looked back just in time to see the other soldier abruptly start to convulse, gagging and choking as he did so. A second later, the man's eyes rolled up and he crumpled to the ground and his choking abruptly ceased.
It happened so fast that it was over by the time Dave managed to force out a, 'No!'
The blood started to flow thicker from his wounds, easing across the concrete floor.
'Perfect,' Monty gasped and Dave stared from the soldier to the old man in horrified shock as he swooped over to the fallen body.
'What are you doing?!' The lady soldier had spun at the other soldiers choking and started forward to intercept but stopped dead in her tracks as Dave tried to restrain the old man and simply passed straight through the flickering image, stumbling until he hit the barrier and bounced off to crumple in a heap on the ground.
'What the hell is going on?' The soldier stayed frozen as Monty started to drain the blood from her fallen comrade. Whether shock or simply the knowledge that it was futile pinned her to the spot, Dave didn't know. He just stayed on the ground and tried his best not to watch the blood splashing over Monty.
'I am trying to save everyone.' Monty hissed through gritted teeth and rose. He did look a lot healthier.
'What the hell does that mean?' The soldier's voice rose in volume. 'What the hell are you?!'
'Wait,' Dave's addled brain managed to latch onto something. 'You can see him?' He asked the soldier who replied with a look that made Dave wish he'd never opened his mouth.
'I had to appear in a little more substantial form this time, Dave. The magic won't work right otherwise.'
'But... but why did I pass straight through you...'
'Look, there's no time to explain – for either of you – therefore I'll make this very simple: either shut the fuck up or I'll leave you behind. How's that sound?'
Dave shut his mouth with a click. The soldier looked like she was going to complain again but seemed to think better of it and shut her mouth too. Though it was clear her silence didn't mean she was happy about it. As she stared around the dome, muscles clenched and jumped in her jaw and her eyes blazed with anger that had Dave avoiding her glare, worried that if he made eye contact she might attack him in lieu of the insubstantial Monty.
'Fine, good. Now how about we keep on moving?' Monty said and lobbed the guttering flame on his palm into the air. It floated up to the apex of the dome and stayed there, burning in mid air while Monty rubbed his hands together and looked expectantly at Dave.
Slowly Dave eased himself up. His muscles were already seizing even though they'd only been immobile for a few minutes. He winced while he forced them back into action.
He started to stretch, realised that was probably a mistake and instead limped over to where the kid now stood tapping against the barrier in a call and response pattern to the plinks that sounded all around them. He tried his best to ignore the soldier's wilting glare as she tracked him across the dome and fought back bile when he saw the mummified husk the other one had been reduced to.
'C'mon,' he said as gently as he could, his breath finally settling to a point where he could speak with relative ease. He expected streaming tears when the boy turned to face him. Huge, great big wracking sobs that had already started to make Dave feel uncomfortable even though they hadn't yet eventuated. The kid's glassy moon eyes still stared at Dave when the boy turned though and Dave had to give a wry grin. Looking around at the soldier who now stared around and shook her head in disbelief, and, feeling how his own cheek seemed to have developed a tic that kept his right eye blinking, it seemed the kid was handling things the best out of all of them.
The kid stepped across and put his small hand into Dave's larger, shakier one and Dave limped into position to stand behind Monty, doing his best to ignore both the desiccated husk on the ground and the fuming soldier. Dave was glad she had lost her gun somewhere along the line.
'Everybody ready?' Monty already looked a little more pained and Dave felt a little alarmed at how quickly the fresh intake of blood appeared to have worn off.
He was thankful when he heard the soldier move into position behind him and then Monty slowly started forward, one hand raised up to the roof of the dome he'd erected.
Dave did his best to block out the scraping noise as the husk of the other soldier was dragged along with them.
16.
Weariness didn't come close to describing Dave's condition as they turned into Sussex Street and headed for his flat. Bone tired was closer but Dave even thought that missed the mark. Each shuffle forward sent agony lancing up through his feet and legs. Each stumble a miracle when he discovered he was still on his feet once it passed. It felt as though he'd been walking for days rather than the two or so hours it had been.
The only consolation was that no matter how bad he felt – and he ached like he'd never ached before – Monty looked infinitely worse. The old man hobbled along just ahead of him, wheezing steadily and dropping into the occasional coughing fit while he flickered in and out of existence. The gap between disappearing and reappearing had stretched out to a couple of seconds but Dave didn't have the energy to worry about what he'd do if on the next flicker Monty didn't return. It had bothered him at the start but now he was beyond caring.
Being shredded by the fucking things seems like a better option at the moment, Dave thought, throwing half-arsed glances around. As far as he could tell his street seemed clear of any huge patches of deeper black. It was crisscrossed with shadows because the streetlights were out and the radiating glow from the burning CBD wasn't quite enough to illuminate between the densely packed flats. But they didn't seem to have that oily look that was the tip off.
Though even if the
shadows weren't currently present, judging by the destruction that ran down the adjacent Copeland Street, they'd been in the vicinity at some point.
More's the pity–
'Coast seems clear,' the soldier called from over his shoulder, her voice completely free of fatigue. Dave eased around to stare at her. She was carrying the kid again – something she'd done on and off throughout the walk – and even though her free arm was doused in a thin sheen of blood from her injuries, she didn't appear even mildly puffed. Dave couldn't help it. He felt a little spike of hatred as he watched her trudge along, peering about alertly.
He had no idea where her energy came from. He'd been knackered by the time they'd made it to the bottom of the skyscraper and exited through the basement car park. And that was before the ten k's or so they'd trekked to reach their current destination.
At least I'm not the only one suffering. Dave turned his attention back to the flickering Monty, leading the way. The strange dome the old man had conjured to aid their escape was long gone now. Perhaps because the shadows had disappeared too – though Dave suspected that Monty could no longer sustain it even if they had still been around.
Fortunately they'd started dropping away once they'd exited the car park, breaking off to join the hordes of other shadows swarming up and down the other skyscrapers. They'd had to pause for a second as that sight had become clear, lit up as bright as day by the surviving spotlights. The entire length of Collins Street had been filled with buildings transformed into giant rectangles of swirling blackness filled with glinting. Muffled gunfire and screams still rung out to the backing track of shattering glass but mercifully the veil of shadows hid the horrors of the other buildings.
Despite the sheer quantity of them, as the group had made their way down Collins Street, the shadows paid no attention to them whatsoever. By the time they'd turned onto Spencer, heading down toward the rubble of Crown Casino, the dome had been pretty much clear. Dave had felt safe enough to turn to Monty and whisper. The first words the group had spoken since they'd paused on the stairwell.
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