Fall Prey: The Hunt

by Dallas Massey

  “You’re not part of the security detail.” The Surgeon spoke absent-mindedly, piercing the red-skinned creature’s forearm with his sewing needle to begin his stitch. “Why are you the one providing me with this information?”

  “We spotted the convoy on our way back from our retrieval assignment, just as we turned onto the highway.” Anoura grew tired of being the only one concerned.

  “How did you confirm that they were Legion men?” The Surgeon’s attention remained on his stitching. “Isn’t it possible they could be regular military who just happen to be passing through?”

  “Sir, it was just an assumption,” Anoura explained, a feeling of dread seeping into her mind.

  Would he really dispose of one of his most loyal servants over such a minor infraction?

  “Sir, it was a very large convoy.” Anoura attempted to conceal her fear. “It was a line of military-looking vehicles, armored trucks, transport vehicles, a few of those tank-looking things. It was impossible to miss.”

  “Still doesn’t rule out regular military.” The Surgeon tied off his stitch and bit through the string. Finished, he looked back up at her, still skeptical.

  “A regular military convoy just seems too coincidental, sir.” Anoura’s muscles became taunt as she waited for his reaction.

  “Anoura.” The Surgeon rose from his stool and stepped over to her. He reached out to stroke her face with the back of his hand, causing her to tense up even more. “You are one of the most efficient, and I dare say one of my favorite, servants.”

  He caressed Anoura before withdrawing his cold hand, much to her relief. If anyone else touched her the way The Surgeon had, they would receive much more than a punch to the nose.

  “Regardless, I do hate it when unauthorized personnel enter this room without permission.” Severity returned to his voice. “It is true, I have had assistants, good ones too, disemboweled for less, but I think I can make an exception for you just this once.”

  The Surgeon turned and stepped away from her. “Let us take care of this battalion.”

  “What is our plan of attack, sir?” asked Anoura, relieved, though uncomfortable.

  She went over their defenses in her head, counting very few. The guard had insinuated that The Surgeon’s lab possessed other weapons she didn’t know about, though she wasn’t sure if they were sufficient to deal with what looked like a whole battalion.

  “Surely you don’t plan on fleeing, sir.” Anoura feared she had severely misjudged The Surgeon from the start.

  “Flee! Ha!” The Surgeon turned back toward her, glee in his usually emotionless eyes. “And leave all of my research and life’s work out here for those vultures to just take? Not to mention that we’ll be the laughing stock of the organization and all vampire society. We’ll be a joke to even the filthiest and most uncouth feral should they find out. Haha! That’s a good one!” He hit the exam table with his fist, causing the test subject to struggle in its restraints.

  “Yes, I was sure that you would never do that, sir. It is a sad day when vampires flee from humans, no matter how well armed they may be. Though in all sincerity, sir, if you don’t act soon, they will likely trash the lab and kill most of us, even if they are just a bunch of pathetic blood bags.”

  “No need to worry, Anoura.” The Surgeon gave her a wicked, malevolent grin. “I have anticipated a visit from the Legion for some time.”

  “Why is that, sir?” Anoura frowned.

  “Oh, it’s nothing really.” The Surgeon’s evil smile looked more insane and idiotic by the moment. “The arrival of those little soldier boys on our humble mountainside has presented a fabulous opportunity.”

  “What opportunity is that, sir?” Anoura felt she was trying to coax a small child into telling her where they hid their Halloween candy.

  “I suppose there is no point in keeping it a secret now. The day has finally come at long last.”

  “Sir, could you please just tell me what you are talking about?” Anoura’s mild frustration grew into anger.

  “Come with me. I’ll show them to you,” said The Surgeon, walking away.

  Anoura followed him as her rage subsided.

  “So, I’m sure you, and everybody else around here, are rather curious about all the strange noises you hear around this place. You know the ones.” The Surgeon led her through the maze of exam tables, weaving around lab personnel as they worked on their specimens.

  “Yes, sir, they are difficult to forget, especially given the way you deal with anyone who asks. As I recall, the last time someone asked about all the noise, you stabbed them in the eye with a rusty pair of scissors.”

  “When I said not to ask, I meant it.” The Surgeon’s voice was grim.

  They neared the edge of the lab, this side much less brightly illuminated. Cages made of perforated metal lined the walls, most of them empty, though the red-skinned creatures occupied a few of them.

  “Back to those noises.” The Surgeon’s tone lightened. ”They are caused by certain biotech side projects I have been working on. All under The Master’s nose, of course. I wouldn’t want her to take them from me. I know she would love to have them, as they are some of my loveliest creations.”

  They crossed into the darkest part of the lab now, approaching a door Anoura hadn’t noticed earlier.

  “I suppose it could be termed a ‘prototype’ at this point,” The Surgeon elaborated. “Several prototypes, actually. I would like very much to release them now and let them have their way with the ‘play’ soldiers down there. It isn’t right to keep such beautiful things cooped up.”

  “Whatever they are, sir, you might want to release them soon. Those soldiers will be in here with their guns, blasting your laboratory to pieces and stealing everything they can grab.”

  “Ah, here we are,” The Surgeon pulled a key card from his pocket, sliding it into the door’s electronic lock. “Right this way.”

  He turned the handle and pushed through the door, holding it open for Anoura to pass through. They entered another red-lit room, this one substantially smaller than the private lab, though still encompassing a considerable amount of space.

  The Surgeon continued toward a giant, metallic door, the apparatus rising to the ceiling. He stood off to the side, resting a clawed hand against the wall beside a big, flamboyantly red button.

  “Try not to be too terribly shocked or scared when you see them.” The Surgeon’s grin returned. “They’re a sight for the unprepared.”

  “I think I can handle it, sir.” Genuine fear was something Anoura had all but forgotten.

  “Very well,” said The Surgeon as he pushed the button. “Here they are.”

  The giant garage door slowly slid open, revealing another large room. This one was dark, separated from the lighter room by a considerably thick, heavy pane of glass.

  The Surgeon’s prototypes rested in the middle of the room. Massive metal restraints held them against enormous, upright display tables.

  “Impressive.” Anoura’s jaw went slack. Shock was an emotion to which she was unaccustomed. “What do you call them?”

  “Do they need a name?”

  Chapter XXVIII

  The Revelation

  Asher slapped the side of his helmet, having lost the card game he was playing on his visor screen. Frustrated, he leaned against the SUV door to pick it up and paused to look through the window at the scenery. He found the sky was turning from blue to orange, and the sun crept ever closer to the horizon. Shadow already masked some of the low-lying areas. The night would soon be upon them.

  Their Legion convoy had made its way up the mountainside for some time now, crawling forth like some great, green serpent. Their precession carried what amounted to a few hundred more than half a battalion, all of them crammed into various dark military green vehicles.

  They moved at a leisurely pace, their momentum halted by the highway's heavy curvature and rough surface. The terrain was hazardous. The San Gabriel Mountains were prone
to rock slides, the most recent one cleared poorly and not long ago. In addition, an endless multitude of coniferous trees dotted the slopes. This offered a tremendous amount of cover to all creatures upon the mountain.

  Asher’s eyes left the window as he took a quick survey of the rest of his immediate surroundings, his gaze drifting toward the driver’s side window.

  Sergeant Ito drove, her arms taut upon the steering wheel. With Driscoll missing in action, she served as their temporary group leader and fulfilled his role while she carried out her duties as a sergeant. Their assault group occupied their own SUV due to Ito’s dual stations, making their trip quieter and more comfortable than usual, though it did little to ease their restlessness.

  Sergeant Ito had been wordless for a while now, focused on the road, as fed up with the trip as Asher was. Time dribbled away from them ever since the early morning, the day marred by delays. The most significant of these was an unexpectedly slow travel rate due to all the hairpin loops in the highway and the hazards on the mountain road. Their superiors couldn’t account for everything.

  Aaron and Milo sat behind Asher, both deeply involved with their helmet visors, desperate to find any way to make their trip up the mountains seem shorter.

  “Are you ever going to tell us exactly what happened to Driscoll?” Asher asked abruptly. He was sick of the hesitation displayed by his fellow privates. None of them dared to ask Ito, and her silence during the trip suggested she wasn’t ready to tell them. Asher couldn’t wait any longer.

  “What do you mean?” asked the sergeant, her voice remaining level. “You were there,” she said, unwilling to elaborate.

  “Yeah, I guess you told us enough already.” Asher decided to leave it, prepared to bide his time until she was ready.

  For a paramilitary group accustomed to death, they sure are touchy, Asher thought to himself.

  “Do you have any idea how much longer it will take to reach our destination, Sergeant?” Milo inquired. “I’ve looked, and I know we’re nearly finished with the highway, but with our slow speed around these turns, it’s kind of difficult to determine how much longer things will take.”

  “We should be approaching the barrier shortly, Private. I can’t give you a precise amount of time.”

  “Can’t we turn on the radio or something?” Aaron asked. “We’ve been driving for a while, and I’m getting tired of the silence.” He leaned up from where he sat behind the sergeant and reached for the radio knob.

  “Absolutely not, Private.” Ito gently pushed Aaron’s arm away. “We need to keep things quiet in here so we can hear whatever orders arise. This pass is dangerous, and we don’t know what might be up here.”

  “Whatever you say, Sergeant.” Aaron moved his arm back, exasperated. “Though I think I might lose it if we don’t get there soon.”

  Silence returned to the vehicle’s cabin, giving way only to the hum of vehicles upon the highway and the distant sounds of nature from outside. Asher let out an audible yawn.

  “Approaching the road barrier now.” Asher heard an unfamiliar voice say into his helmet. It was the commander from District X.

  “About time,” Sergeant Ito murmured.

  Asher looked over at the clock display on the SUV’s radio, taken aback when he saw it read 6:37 PM.

  “Looks like we’ll have to snap that chain,” said the voice. “The barrier is locked.”

  Ito pressed down on the brakes, and they slowed to a stop, a line of red lights in front of them. The other vehicles in the convoy stalled as well.

  A noise came from over the ridge above, a faint, distant howl like that of a wolf.

  Asher perked up when he heard it, looking over his shoulder in the direction of the sound.

  “Do you hear that?” Asher asked no one in particular, feeling as though he were the only one to hear the noise.

  “Well, yeah,” said Aaron, still frustrated. “Kind of hard to miss something like that.”

  A howl came again, different from the first, this one belonging to another individual.

  “You have any idea what it is?” Asher asked.

  “I don’t know.” Aaron shrugged. “A coyote? A wolf, maybe? You ought to know. You’re the one from Hickville, Missouri.”

  “I thought it might be a coyote, but I kinda doubt it.” Asher scratched his chin. “Sounds way too big.”

  “You think it might be a wolf, Sergeant?” Aaron leaned up toward Ito’s seat once again.

  “I have no idea, Pritchett. Sorry, but I don’t know much about animal calls.”

  “This is southern California,” Milo chimed in. “Wolves aren’t native to the area.”

  “Think it might be a bear?” asked Aaron.

  “What kind of bear howls?” Milo chuckled, barely suppressing his laughter.

  One of the howls grew louder as the creature drew closer. Asher glanced past Ito and back through the window, trying to determine the direction of the noise.

  “It sounds closer now,” Aaron held his weapon in his hands, gripping it tightly. “You think the commander is hearing this? Maybe you should say something, Sergeant.”

  An enormous creature suddenly burst through the trees, charging down the hill like a kamikaze locomotive. The thing slammed into the truck in front of them, sending it flying from the road. Both beast and vehicle plummeted down the ravine, leaving nothing but dark skid marks on the highway.

  “What was that?” Asher jumped in his seat, nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. It all happened so quickly that it gave him little time to react. The beast was massive, as big as a grizzly bear, and he could have sworn it was wearing some kind of armor.

  “Commander, are you hearing this?” Ito shrieked into her speaker, her composure gone. She slapped the side of her helmet but received nothing but static. “Everyone out of the van!” she shouted, turning the keys in the ignition and scrambling for her door latch.

  “Why would you want to be out with that thing?” Milo shouted back at her. “You saw what it did to that truck!”

  “It beats just sitting in here waiting to be thrown down the mountain!” the sergeant shouted back, dismissing Milo’s concerns as nonsense.

  Asher already had his door open and climbed out of the vehicle. He sensed the need for urgency. Many soldiers behind them climbed out of their vehicles as well, mortified by what just transpired. Ito slammed her driver’s side door and joined Asher and Aaron on the other side of the SUV. Milo appeared moments later, going around the back of the vehicle to stand beside the back tire.

  Asher looked over the SUV toward the line of coniferous trees near the road. He felt eyes watching him.

  The howling sounded yet again, coming from the trees on the upward side of the mountain. The soldiers turned in that direction, expecting the creature to burst through the line of trees at any moment.

  “What are you doing?” Greaves bellowed at them, emerging from one of the trucks near the front of the convoy.

  The soldiers turned toward the commander, no longer watching the forest.

  “You’re supposed to stay in your vehicle until we reach the destination!” Greaves thundered, oblivious to the missing vehicle and unable to see much from where he stood atop the step of his own truck.

  “Commander, one of our trucks was just sent over the edge by some giant animal!” Ito shouted at Greaves.

  “Can’t you hear that howling, Commander?” Asher heard someone closer to the front of the convoy yell. Whatever else was out there, it knew exactly where to find them.

  “What are you talking about?” the commander roared. “Get back in your vehicles! We got the boom barrier open now!”

  “Keep your voices down!” Asher shouted at the commander, disregarding rank, certain his shouting would just make things worse. “There’s more than one of them!”

  Asher’s words didn’t reach the commander before another massive creature emerged from the forest. The beast lumbered out of the woods above them on the mountainside, its eyes res
ting on Greaves. It was just as big as the first but stood upright, rising nearly eight feet from the ground. It was fitted with a preposterously heavy set of black plated armor, covered in such a way that Asher couldn’t discern exactly what manner of beast it was. He guessed it was some kind of giant bipedal wolf, equipped with mercilessly sharp fangs and claws, predator and weapon fused into one.

  The giant creature made for the commander, steadily accelerating toward him on its hind legs. Greaves remained oblivious, his attention remaining on his personnel.

  “Commander!” Asher yelled, sprinting for Greaves on reflex, running past his comrades to reach him.

  “Commander Greaves!” Sergeant Ito shouted, joined by Aaron and Milo as they raced after Asher. The beast crashed through the boom barrier, oblivious to the metal bars crushed beneath its massive bulk, still intent on Greaves. The thing roared, dropping to all fours, barreling across the highway as it charged toward the commander.

  “We got company!” Greaves shouted. He jumped off the truck step and onto the road, his firearm strapped to his back. “Looks like the fight’s come to us!” He scrambled up onto the hood of the truck and then onto the roof, aiming his weapon at the beast.

  “Fire ‘em if yuh got ‘em!” commanded Greaves. He pulled the pin out of a grenade with his teeth and tossed it at the beast before opening fire.

  The grenade was off target, landing behind the improbably quick monster, throwing up dust and shrapnel upon the mountainside.

  “Why won’t you die?” Greaves shouted. He sprayed the raging creature down with round after round, failing to penetrate its armor, the gunfire doing little to slow its attack. The commander was lost, his weapons useless and his support minimal, while most of his soldiers were still in their vehicles.

  The beast plowed through the convoy, intent on tearing Greaves into a bloody pulp, oblivious to the gunfire. It ran for the front of his truck at full gallop, wolf-like maw opened wide, ready to have its prey.