The Warrior's Beckoning

by Patrick Howard

  I wondered about the store’s customers. It was an odd place for a gun store, especially one with the feel of an upscale boutique. Its gun racks were lined with both military and civilian weapons.. There were bins of grenades—frag, stun, smoke, incendiary, concussion, you name it—racks of bayonets and combat knives, and glass cabinets filled with accessories like scopes, silencers, and laser targets.

  I slid a .45 pistol into my vest’s holster and attached another holster to my left thigh for the Uzi. I slung an M4 on my shoulder and filled the vest with clips—two pistol magazines and four rifle magazines. For the Uzi, I strapped three additional clips to my right thigh.

  I grabbed an ALICE pack and filled it with ammo. I attached an LED DOT scope to the M4 and a light and a laser sight to the .45. I put on a pair of night-vision goggles. “Damn cool,” I said as I turned them on. The entire room seemed to be fully illuminated. I followed a sign to the store’s backroom target range, put on a pair of ear protectors, and fired the weapons at the targets, adjusting the sights.

  It all seemed too easy. All the clips had been full, the clothes my size and so easy to find, all the right accessories available—as though everything had been prepared for me, but by whom? The chief? I had no time to puzzle it out, for at that moment the wall behind the paper targets came crashing down. Three large creatures burst from the dust, shrieking. They were humanoid in form, all between six and seven feet tall, with long fingers like talons. Where I would have expected to see heads, I saw only a dark fog curling up out of their bodies.

  “Bring it on!” I yelled, raising the M4 and firing at them.

  Initially, they seemed dazed as the bullets struck them. Then they became enraged. Moving with unnatural speed, the first one lunged. I threw myself forward, rolling onto my back, and fired into the creature’s chest as it passed over me. Landing behind me, it slid into, and partway through, the wall and stopped moving. The second grabbed my vest and hoisted me into the air, knocking the M4 from my hands. I drew my pistol and fired a head shot into the densest part of the fog. The creature roared and threw me the length of the range. To straighten my roll, I braced myself by kicking into the divider.

  The third creature rushed toward me. I drew the Uzi and fired it and the pistol. “I like the skinny ones better!” I yelled out. I leaped to my feet, still firing, and watched as the third creature picked up a hunk of the wall, preparing to hurl it toward me. Firing the remaining rounds of the Uzi, I broke up the concrete into smaller pieces before the big chunk could reach me and dove out of the way of most of the smaller debris.

  A cloud of dust billowed from the impact, and visibility dropped briefly to zero. Hopping over the divider, I ran down the second firing lane toward the shooter’s booth, where I found an automatic shotgun propped against the wall. Holstering my Uzi and pistol, I grabbed the shotgun and raised it to cock it. It was fully loaded.

  I knelt down as the second creature approached. It seemed not to know exactly where I was. As I waited, it approached the divider from row one. I crept out from the booth and turned to stand behind the creature. It froze, sensing that I was nearby, though it still did not know where. I crept a little farther until I was just a few feet away. First, I fired at the backs of its knees, knocking it forward. Then I ran close to it and fired once more into its back. It fell, and I stood over it and fired into what should have been its neck. A black gas seeped out from its fatal wounds. The gas had a strange scent to it, something that suggested night and darkness, though I did not know how.

  The third creature gave up trying to throw concrete projectiles. It howled and barreled toward me. I aimed and waited until he was just six feet from me, then fired. The creature screamed in pain as the round struck between its legs. As it fell forward, I fired another round into the head fog.

  With all three of the creatures still and seemingly lifeless, I was finally free to examine them more closely. Their claws were massive and deathly sharp. They were colossal creatures, thickly muscled and very powerful. I had not encountered them before. The creatures I had previously engaged relied purely on numbers, not individual strength. Their plenitude gave them an advantage that could easily be exploited, but they seemed incapable of tactical attacks. They simply swarmed their targets.

  These new creatures were obviously capable of using different styles of attack, but they did not seem to work together. That was an obvious weakness, although it also suggested that they would be unpredictable foes.

  At any rate, I had to reach the hospital quickly. After reloading all my weapons and stocking up with fresh clips, I left the gun shop through the hole in the wall. With my rifle raised, I moved swiftly across the street. The entire place was barren and dark. The adjacent parking garage showed no activity—that is, human activity. The creatures could be lurking in the shadows, waiting for me to come to them.

  Why keep them waiting? The garage was five stories tall and filled with cars that offered ample cover. Hugging the center wall of each deck, I moved cautiously, thankful for the night-vision goggles, which picked up a faint luminescence from the sky. On the second level, I paused, hearing what sounded like footsteps behind me. I turned quickly but saw nothing but shadows. I walked another twenty feet or so before pausing once more, sensing something near. On instinct, I rolled to the left, just as a car moved past. Its engine was not running; it was just rolling down the ramp, with no one at the wheel.

  Something was following me, either to kill me or trap me. I thought I saw movement just behind a truck about thirty feet from me. I heard sounds I took to be laughter. The laugh was cold and sinister. I knelt and fired a three-round burst toward the shadow. The shadow shrieked and thrashed, and I fired another round through the windows of the truck. The movement and the shrieking ceased.

  A loud thud echoed behind me, and I turned to find a raptor-like creature, five feet tall or so, with a thin crest extending at an angle and two curved horns lining the crest. It looked to be built for speed and agility, not strength, though it did have a pair of nasty-looking talons. Taking flight, it thrust its sharp claws at me, soaring close enough that I could see its eyes, filled with a dark light and black flames.

  “This just keeps getting better and better!” I yelled as I opened fire on the creature. It circled over me, brewing up a funnel cloud of black flames. I fell to the floor and rolled to the side to avoid it. A three-round burst cutting through it sent the creature shrieking into the shadows. I stood slowly, approaching the dark corner where I had last seen it. The hair on my neck began to stand up.

  A thin pipe flew toward me from the shadows. Allowing my reflexes to operate, I focused on nothing and everything. As I leaned to the side, I caught the pipe, twirling it as my rifle fell loose on my shoulder.

  The creature lunged, and I swung the pipe, connecting with the side of its head. Dazed, the creature stumbled. I dropped the pipe, raised my rifle, and fired into the dark flame I could see through its chest. The creature thrashed, and the black flame seemed to seep from its body. As it fell to its knees, however, it released a piercing shriek, and the black flame grew larger.

  I took off running. The entrance to the hospital was near, and I made a full sprint toward it. Diving through the doorway, I kicked the door shut just as the black flame expanded in all directions. The flare lasted a few seconds, and then it was over. I was beginning to wonder if I should have just ignored the dream that brought me to this place, though it didn’t matter now; I was there, and there was no time to play What if? games. I reminded myself of my mission to serve all, to help all that I could, no matter the cost to myself.

  I raised my assault rifle to ready position and moved down the hall. The lights that I had seen were on the third floor, toward the front of the hospital. I was on the second floor, off to the side. On my way toward the stairs, I stopped to peer out a window. Flashlights bobbed in the darkness in front of the main entrance, six of them—probably the Company’s cleanup crew. I had to move fast. I raced up the stairs an
d opened the fire door to access the third floor.

  A light was on, about five doors down the hall.

  “Hello?” I called out, keeping the door open just a tiny crack. The light switched off, and I heard muffled voices and footsteps.

  “Who’s there?” a male voice yelled back, followed by the cocking of a gun.

  “I’m here to help,” I called back, opening the door wider. “I’m coming into the hallway.” As I stepped out, I saw two men in uniforms, with pistols raised, exit the room.

  One was a security guard, the other a cop. I slung my rifle and stepped into the hall with my hands raised.

  “How’d you get in here?” the security guard asked as he approached me.

  “Damned if I know,” I said with a snort. They looked at each other and shrugged.

  “Good enough for me,” the cop said, holstering his pistol. The guard followed his lead.

  “So, you’re a soldier?” he asked, motioning for me to follow.

  “For now I am.” We walked to the room, where I saw two familiar faces. I assumed they were the two witnesses the chief had mentioned.

  “You made it!” said Mary as she and Christina walked to me. It was the patient and the office worker I’d saved previously.

  “Looks like it,” I said lightly, smiling. My tone quickly returned to serious, as we had little time. “It looks like they’re sending in a cleanup crew. I’ve been warned that the Company intends to ‘neutralize all witnesses,’ and I expect that means you two—and everyone protecting you.” I looked at the cop and the guard to make sure they understood that they were in danger. “Odds are, they’re heading this way. I counted six, though there could be more, and I don’t know for sure who—or what—they are or what they’re armed with. Something big and mean would be my guess.” I looked around the room. “What do you have for weapons?”

  “Well, Chuck here has a MP5 and an H&K USP9,” the cop said, pointing to the security guard. “I have a twelve-gauge shotgun and this .22 pistol.” They picked up their weapons and strapped on their ammo. The guard wore a tactical vest lined with magazines. The cop had a sash of shotgun shells.

  “All right, let’s set up a welcoming party,” I said. I handed the Uzi to the Christina, the woman I’d saved from the office. “Take this, along with the ammo. Stay in this room, and lock the door.” She took the submachine gun gratefully. The three of us exited the room, and the door shut behind us.

  We established a defensive bunker, flipping beds and several file cabinets to form a barrier. To slow the attackers’ approach and give away their positions, we littered the approaching corridors with objects too small to provide cover but large enough to create obstacles. We scattered broken glass on the tiled floor to make it impossible for them to sneak up on us, making it harder to move on us.

  “Chuck, watch the halls behind us. Stay hidden until you have a clear shot,” I ordered. I turned to the cop.

  “George,” he said, awaiting my instructions.

  “George, you’re our Jack-in-the-box. Give ’em a surprise if they get close.”

  They crouched behind the barrier. Taking a prone position, I slid the M4 through the gap between a bed and the wall, peered down my scope, and waited.

  We didn’t have to wait long. Screams and gunfire echoed from both corridors, and flashlight beams prowled the walls and floors frantically.

  “Go-go-go!” a man shouted over the gunfire. We heard loud footsteps, then crunching glass as someone turned the corner. We agreed that unless it was necessary, we wouldn’t shoot to kill, but now we weren’t sure we knew friend from foe. When the first Company mercenary entered the hallway and tripped over a box, a creature immediately jumped on him and raised its claws to tear him apart. Firing a small burst, I knocked the creature down.

  “Over here!” I yelled. The man scrambled up and jumped over the beds, crouching beside George.

  “We got another one,” Chuck said. He raised his MP5 over the bed. Another mercenary charged down the corridor with several creatures close behind him. Chuck opened fire, ensuring that he didn’t strike the man.

  “Don’t shoot!” the mercenary said. He vaulted over the beds to join us, rolling into firing position. He blasted one of the creatures into oblivion.

  From around the corner we could hear the sound of a third Company man being attacked by creatures. I leaped over the barrier and ran to where he stood. There the corridors met in a T-shaped intersection. Creatures poured in from both directions.

  “Let’s go!” I said as I opened fire down the left hall. He fired down the right hall, and then we fell back toward the others. George popped up and blasted the creatures that pursued us. The first two mercs joined Chuck, one firing an FAL P90 and the other an H&K G36. The third fired an H&K CAWS.

  We now had a six-man team with two SMGs, two ARs, and two shotguns, plus two women with an Uzi.

  As we fired down the hall, I looked at the third merc. “You seem familiar,” I said while I scanned the hall for movement.

  “I should. You saw me just a few hours ago,” he said with a chuckle, pushing up his night-vision goggles to reveal his face.

  “Chief? That you?” I asked, chuckling as well.

  “Live and in person,” he said, blasting two creatures in half. George and the second merc faced the hall behind us, and the rest of us faced the hall in front. The creatures swarmed in, coming closer and closer, and we blasted them with the shotguns. The obstacles slowed the creatures down, making them easy targets as they climbed over. They tripped and pushed each other, rushing toward us.

  “Reloading!” I said aloud as I removed the empty clip and slid in a new one. The first merc covered me and reloaded after me.

  The creatures that fell did not dissipate as the others before them had but piled up, hindering the others. Whenever one jumped over or crawled under a barrier, we shot it. Soon they began to crawl along the walls and ceiling to bypass the piled dead and our planted obstacles. They inched closer from both directions.

  “Reloading!” Chuck yelled as he emptied his clip. The second mercenary covered him while he slapped in a new one and resumed fire. The hordes of creatures seemed to operate as one, merely splitting into two groups. George blasted each creature that came close, cocking the shotgun and firing again. He paused only to cram shells into it before resuming. The chief had an auto shotgun, which needed to be cocked only once.

  The number of creatures began to thin, which was good news, as we were running out of ammo. I set my M4 aside and drew the .45, firing into the incoming creatures. Chuck did the same with his H&K USP9. The first mercenary fired an FN Browning Hi-Power, and the second used a Glock 19. Soon the last creature fell.

  Our moment of victory was short-lived. We moved back into the room and heard a rumble. The ceiling began to shake. “Ah, come on!” I yelled, firing into the ceiling. The others did the same, until the ceiling was pocked with bullet holes. A roar followed, and the ceiling continued to shake.

  “Move!” the chief yelled. We dispersed just as a large creature came crashing through. It was another massive fog head, like the ones from the shooting range. It smashed at the door, and as we opened fire from the hallway, we could hear the Uzi firing from inside the room. I moved in to try to shoot the creature point-blank in the head, and it backhanded me into the wall. Chuck fired his USP9 into the fog, and finally the creature fell lifeless, the strange gas escaping from its body.

  “You OK?” the chief said, helping me to my feet.

  “Yup. You?” I said.

  “In a fashion,” he replied. “Thanks.” He moved to check on his two men. George and the others walked to me, forming a circle.

  “So what now?” Chuck asked, loading his pistol.

  “Can we trust them?” George asked, motioning toward the men who had most likely been sent to kill us.

  “I think so. The chief helped me out earlier.” I glanced at Christina and Mary, and they seemed to agree. “Besides, I don’t think we have much o
f a choice here.”

  The chief and his group walked toward us. “I still don’t intend to go through with my orders, which—as I told you earlier—were to neutralize all witnesses and aid the Specialist, who is on his way to terminate the dark mass and the girl. I suggest we run parallel to him.”

  “First, let’s resupply at the gun shop. If he’s not close enough to sense us, maybe we can catch some rest before we head out,” I said, picking up my M4.

  “Lead the way,” George said. The hospital was quiet, and no creatures appeared to be active. Soon we entered the parking garage, which had been charred by the black flame.

  “What happened here?” Mary asked, seeing the scorched cars.

  “I had a fit,” I said with a smile. She returned the smile. We left the garage and entered into an open area, where we heard whispers, faint and echoing, descending from the sky. A dark mass swirled above.

  “Whoa! That is one evil-looking cloud,” said the first mercenary, looking up in awe.

  “You got that right,” I said. We pressed on to the gun shop and found it quiet. There was no movement. Aside from the dark mass above us, we were alone…for now.

  “So, why are you two helping us?” Chuck asked the two mercs. They turned to him and shrugged.

  “Partly because you saved us,” the first one said, laughing. “And partly because we know it’s the right thing to do.”

  “And partly because the chief will probably shoot us if we don’t,” said the second one.

  “Works for me,” George said.

  I shrugged, opening an MRE and devouring it. The others did the same. The store was well stocked and seemed to meet our every need—save for lights. At least it had flashlights, head lamps, and batteries. The darkness, though, was perfect for sleeping. Without a word, I curled up in a back corner and fell asleep.

  I soon found myself in a vision. I saw a figure of pure light standing before me. “Warrior,” it said to me. “Know that you are never alone.” Then it vanished.