I'm not sure if Jonesy has managed to take care of the guards, but I need to start cutting these people loose.
“As soon as I free you, go!” I yell, as shocked faces turn my way. “Head into the tunnel. Someone is there to show you the way.”
I slash at the bonds on Amy’s hands and push her towards the door.
Luke yanks Amy down from the car and hands her off to Morley, not giving her a chance to reunite with her brother. There’s no time as Sam hops up onto the platform with me and starts cutting people free. Jonesy joins us, his blade covered in blood. I guess we don’t have to worry about those ravagers at least. Instead of making a run for it like I expect him to, he starts helping us free the prisoners.
Outside, I can hear shouting and gunfire. Not sure if the ravagers are aware of us or not, or if the leeches have already arrived. I don’t have time to worry about any of that. Instead, I keep hacking at the ropes binding my people to the iron bar above our heads. Some of them are crying, some calling my name in relief, while others have eyes rolling in fear, too far in shock to even seem aware of what’s going on.
I stumble across to Cookie and as I cut her ropes, she’s yammering at me in Spanish. Probably calling me a stupid shit since my knife slips off her ropes a couple of times and nicks her wrists. That don’t stop her from pulling me into a bear hug as soon as she’s free.
“Good to see you, girl,” she caws, but I push her away.
“Get them all down that tunnel,” I cry. “There are queen leeches on the way.”
I don’t need to say more. Her mouth forms a grim line and she starts moving the stragglers, herding them like lost sheep.
Without pausing from my next target, I call to Sam over my shoulder.
“How much time do we have?”
“Not much. They’re close. The ravagers have spotted us as well. Luke and the others are trying to hold them off, but they won’t be able to for long.”
“Then move fast,” I yell back over the sound of gunfire.
“Bixby.”
My eyes follow the shout to find Jessica bound to the back of the car. She stares after me in panic, and I rush to her side, glad to see the blond doc had made it after all.
“Get me out of here.” She shakes her rope, yanking at the binding. I start sawing at the cord.
“Is Gunner here? That mohawk wearing bastard?” I ask her as I work the ropes.
She shakes her head. “He was at first, but he left earlier and took some of our people with him.”
I cuss under my breath as the hatred in my belly grows along with the disappointment. So after all this, we still can’t rescue everyone. And I still don’t get the chance to cut that bastard down with my own two hands.
The sound of gunfire draws closer as I set Jess free. The window beside me splinters, and Jess grunts in pain, nearly falling into me as the bullet wallops her in the shoulder and she stumbles. I grab her before she hits the ground.
“She’s hit,” I yell to Sam, my shoulder under her arm the only thing holding her up. Sam ducks his head toward the door.
“Get her out. We got the rest.”
I move her toward the door, knowing there’s no time to argue. We don’t get more than two steps when screams of pain rent the air. A splash of crimson splatters the outside of the window as a body hits the car so hard I swear the floor sways. A desperate prayer flashes through my head that the body is a damn ravager and not one of my people, but I don’t pause to look back. I just hope the car will keep us out of the leeches’ view, and they’ll focus on the ravagers instead.
“Don’t you faint on me, doc,” I yell in Jess’s ear as I drag her off the car. I glance over my shoulder. Just like Sam said, Luke and Dom are trying their damnedest to keep ravagers and leeches at bay. I can’t help them, not with Jess unable to move on her own. I drag her into the tunnel, yelling at her over her moaning. “Focus and run!”
The smoke from the smoke bombs is now curling its way down the tunnel, and I cough as the toxic fumes seep into my lungs. So much smoke. There’s no way this all came from Morley’s bombs. More survivors rush by us, running and screaming, but Jess keeps stumbling and slowing us down. I glance back frantically over my shoulder, trying to see if Luke or Sam or any of my crew have made it into the tunnel yet, but I can’t see far through the haze.
A body erupts from the mist right in front of us, and I stifle a scream when Morley comes into view.
“Take her,” I yell, handing Jess off. “Get her out. I gotta go back for the rest.”
Pulling my shirt up over my mouth and nose, I head back out to the chaos. More bodies materialize out of the mist. Sam, Jonesy, and Robyn.
“Luke and Dom?” I question, and Sam shakes his head.
“I thought they were already in the tunnel.”
“Shit. They’re still out there.”
I try to brush past, but Sam grabs my arm. “Bix, you can’t. The leeches are everywhere.”
“I’m not leaving any of my crew,” I snarl at him, pushing his hand off. He falls into step with me, refusing to let me go on my own, Robyn close on our heels.
Flickering flames of oranges and yellows leap high above the train car and shoot down the platform. The whole place is on fire. The Molotov cocktails worked better than anticipated. I search frantically for Luke and Dom as my terror competes with the smoke for my breath.
Where the hell are they?
“There!” Sam shouts, and I follow his pointing finger.
Luke and Dom stand back to back, swinging at the snapping horde of leeches with their rifles and kicking at anything within reach, trying to beat them off.
Out of ammo. Fucking great.
We don’t get time to formulate a plan. A leech attacks low, taking Luke down at the knees and he loses his balance. My body goes numb, and my heart stops beating in my chest as the last thing I see is the look of panic etched on his face just before he disappears under a barrage of parasitic predators.
Chapter Five
“No!”
My scream jumpstarts my useless body, and it reacts before my mind can process the horror. With my gun dropped fuck knows where, I grab the closest thing I can find to use, a piece of rebar laying on the ground. Holding on tight with both hands I run straight for the pile of buzzards hovering over Luke like he’s roadkill.
“Keep them offa me,” I yell over my shoulder as I barrel into the nearest leech, knocking it off the pile. It tumbles down the mound. Raising my leg, I plant my heavy boot into the next deformed face that swerves my way. The sound of the thing’s jaw breaking as the mouth snaps shut, severing the repulsive worm hanging out of it is like music to my ears.
Holding the rebar high above my head, I swing it down across the skull of my next victim. Black blood splatters everywhere as the creature falls to the side, and I gag, holding back my vomit even as I swing at the next monster in the same manner. It turns and lunges at the last moment, and my piece of rebar sinks deep in its skull like it’s made from ripe cheese. I tug and yank, but it’s stuck good. I can’t get the metal back out.
“Damn it.”
Frustrated, I let go of the rebar as the leech falls over, taking my weapon with it.
I can finally see Luke now as he struggles with the last gigantic beast pinning him to the ground. The man-leech is massive. Bigger than Luke. A good three hundred pounds at least. Luke tries his best to hold the beast’s weight but even from here, I can see his arms trembling with the effort. The worm protruding from the ripped lips snaps hungrily at his neck, the smell of Luke’s blood pounding through his jugular driving it into a frenzy.
Pulling my knife, I leap onto the leech’s back and wrap my arms around its neck, hoping to take a blind stab at its heart. Only the damn thing bucks, trying to throw me off and loses its balance. We fall over sideways, and Andre the Giant lands directly on the arm holding the knife. The knife falls out of my hand and clatters across the ground.
“Fuck,” I moan, flailing like a grounde
d fish. Wish I had thought this through a little better.
If I’m a grounded fish, then this creature is the proverbial beached whale. It twists and jerks as much as me trying to get to its feet. I catch a glimpse of Luke over its bulbous head. He’s finally back on his feet and doesn’t appear any worse for wear. No spouting arteries or missing flesh that I can see. At least I’d managed to save him, even if now I was the one trapped under the behemoth.
Luke’s eyes lock with mine as he starts toward me, ducking nimbly as an intercepting leech gets past our crew and leaps at him. The thing flies over his head as Luke tucks and rolls, snatching my dropped knife in the process. He’s back on his feet with all the panache of a superhero. All that’s missing is a cape to set the picture.
The giant crushing me jerks and stills as Luke swoops in low, and the knife finds its mark. He pulls the carcass off me, and I yelp in pain as blood rushes back into the numb limb.
Luke holds out a hand, and I give him my good arm. He yanks me to my feet. I grin at him in thanks.
“That was one smooth move, dude.”
“Well, Rico Suave is my middle name.” He wipes the blade on his pants leg and hands me my knife, eyebrow cocked. It’s such a surreal moment that I can’t help the snort escaping me. I actually fucking laugh. Call it shock, relief, or just plain craziness, but I crack up. Luke, too, and for a moment, we forget the mayhem surrounding us.
“Come on, you crazy assholes,” Dom yells, shoving at us both. “We got more than leeches to worry about.”
We turn in tandem to see what has his panties in a knot. My smile dies as my blood turns to ice in my veins. Standing in the middle of the attacking leeches and running ravagers is a pair of queen leeches.
They stand there staring at us, oblivious to the pandemonium happening around them. Ignoring the screaming and raging flames, their eerily human eyes observe us and only us.
“Is it my imagination, or are they not as butt-ugly as the last bunch of these bastards we encountered?”
Dom’s horror filled whisper is correct. There’s no doubt these are queen leeches all right. The razor-sharp claws on their hands, and their oddly shaped mouths are a testament to that, but their features are more aligned than the ones we encountered at St. Joseph’s. More human looking. Scary. As. Fuck.
“Why are they just standing there staring?” Robyn asks.
I don’t bother to answer, even though I fear I know what that answer is. My gaze moves to Sam, his stare just as intent. Sweat glistens on his pale skin, and his fingers twitch uncontrollably at his side. I know what’s happening. Question is, are they already in his head?
“Robyn, shoot those bastards right between the eyes,” I hiss at her through the corner of my mouth.
“No ammo.” Her blunt reply twists my guts even more.
“Sam?” I’ve had enough of his weird comatose state. “We gotta go.”
I tug on his arm hard enough to almost yank him off balance, but his eyes don’t leave the hybrids. It’s like he’s in some damn trance.
I turn to push him ahead of me, but the ground buckles under my feet as a thunderous roar resonates through the subway. I duck, pulling Sam down with me as a barrel whistles past our heads and crashes into the train car, disintegrating on impact.
“What the…?”
A second explosion tears through the air, and huge jets of flame shoot up from the northern platform. Seems like the ravagers were keeping more than human cargo down here for bartering. Probably kerosene or some form of accelerant. Whatever it is, the fire has found it and given us the diversion we need.
“Into the tunnel!” Luke orders, and I yank harder on Sam’s arm. Thankfully, he responds and moves with me as I haul ass toward our escape route.
The smoke in the tunnel seems thicker than before, swallowing up our pounding footsteps and panicked breathing. But even the smoke isn’t enough to dull the weirdly pitched sounds following us. The hybrids aren’t letting us get away that easily.
Sam and I get separated in the tunnel. I can’t see any of my crew. All I can see are dark shadows dancing among the gray wisps of smoke. I keep running, my breath hitching in fear and muttering frantic prayers that I don’t trip and fall. Last thing I need is to lose my sense of direction in the dark and bring up solid in the tunnel wall. Hoping against hope that a razor claw doesn’t find its way to me through the gloom and lop my head from my neck. Yeah. That would be bad.
Sixty feet. Just gotta get through sixty feet. We can do this. I reach up and wipe away the sweat stinging my eyes.
Forty feet. My lungs burn with every breath. The sound of claws clambering against steel tracks gets closer, kicking my adrenaline into overdrive and forcing my legs to move faster. A low-pitched growl rumbles behind me, and I wince in fear.
Move your fucking ass, Bix!
“Almost there,” Luke shouts encouragement, trying to drown out the terrifying sounds at our backs. I glance around, hoping to pinpoint him, but his disembodied voice echoes around the darkness. “Keep moving.”
Twenty feet. Light flashes up ahead, and I almost sob in relief. Gordo is highlighted in the door, trying to light our way and guide us in. God bless his silly little heart.
I aim for the light giving it all I got, ignoring the shrieks and growls behind me. If I pretend they’re not there, they can’t hurt me, right? It doesn’t work. These low-pitched growls are so much worse than the gurgling of the regular leeches. I’d take that over this shit any day.
The light bobs up and down, signaling us. Gordo’s frantic voice travels through the gloom. “Guys. Come on, come on, come on!”
We’re coming, you little dipshit.
“Gordo, we’re coming in fast. Five of us, two leeches on our tails. Start shooting soon as you get a visual,” Luke shouts.
“Roger,” Gordo yells back at Luke’s command.
Five feet.
The smoke thins out, and I see Gordo, rifle raised and standing in the doorway. The door to our safety.
Come on, you got this. Just a couple more feet.
“Argh!” The scream drops from my lips as something hooks into my jacket and jerks me backward. My feet sweep out from underneath me and I sail through the air, hitting the ground hard. My lungs collapse as every breath of air is knocked out of me. Gasping like a fish out of water, I make a desperate attempt to roll out of the way of the descending claw filling my line of vision. The claw digs into the dirt at my head, barely missing my cheek.
Closing my eyes against the flying debris, I try to push myself to my knees, the voice in my head screaming at me to move or die. But my body refuses to cooperate. My feet can’t get traction on the gravel and my arms, too weak to support me, won’t push me upright. My face hits the ground, rocks digging into my cheek. I roll over onto my back, trying to get the bearings of my attacker. Doesn’t take much work. The queen leech hovers above me and without air in my lungs, I can’t even manage a squeak of terror as the clawed hand wraps around my neck.
It lifts me up in the air, eye level with it, my feet dangling off the ground. Black spots compete with the starbursts in front of my eyes, and my hands move automatically to my neck, attempting to loosen its death grip. I gurgle in disbelief as much as terror. This is it. I’m fucked. Not the way I pictured myself going out, strangled by an overgrown, dirty maggot.
“Stop it!”
The scream terrifies me more than my predicament. Amy sounds petrified, but no more than me at this point. What the hell is she still doing here in the tunnel? She should be safe on the other side of that door.
Everything else fades away. The yells of my crew as they battle the other leech, trying to get to me. Gordon’s panicked face. Even my own impending death. All that matters is Amy and my overwhelming fear for her as she emerges from the shrouded corner of the tunnel and steps toward me and the queen leech.
“Stop it,” she repeats the words and the leech’s hold on my neck loosens as it turns its head her way. “Let her go.”
> Maybe my eyes play tricks on me because of my lack of oxygen, but I swear the thing tilts its head and stares at her like it understands her order. I gulp air and try to yell at her to run, but all that comes out is a tiny squeak.
A sound escapes the thing’s mouth. That low gurgling I’m used to but different. Throatier. A sound that fills me with disgust, but it’s as if Ames understands. She speaks again.
“No. You can’t do that. That’s mean.”
Is she actually talking to this thing like she understands it?
The hybrid shrieks in anger this time, and the clawed hand around my neck tightens again. My body tenses and I kick out my legs, attempting desperately to escape its grip.
The shot registers in my brain seconds before the gaping hole blooms in the hybrid’s forehead, and warm blood splatters my face and neck. Its spooky human eyes stare into mine with a mixture of anger and disbelief before the hand loosens on my neck, and we both drop to the ground. I land on my hands and knees, gasping for air, my eyes already searching for the second hybrid.
More shots ring out, and the second mutant goes down as well. The black spots blurring my vision ease up, and I spot my rescuer. Sam stands in the doorway, holding Gordo’s gun and staring at the dead creatures with a mix of shock and hatred. Tears of relief burn my eyes and swell my throat. Sam saved me.
My relief is short lived. As Amy runs to me and helps me to my feet, a scream fills the tunnel. Only this scream is embedded in pure pain.
Sam falls to his knees, the gun clattering to the ground. He holds his head in his hands like it’s about to burst apart, and his eyes roll back, just the whites showing.
“Sammy!” Amy cries as he falls over sideways, his body convulsing so bad I’m scared he’ll snap his neck. “What’s wrong with him?” I hold her back as Luke and Dom rush by us.
“You okay?” Luke throws my way and I nod.
“I’m fine,” I rasp. “Check on Sam.”
Strain of Vengeance (Bixby Series Book 3) Page 5