The creature stood above the butchered corpses of the soldiers. It slowly raised its head in her direction. A second later, it rocketed forward, heading directly for Ellen, Karen, and Joey.
Just then, Ellen finally realized.
I’m the target. It’s after me . . .
And it will slaughter every living thing on this ship to get what it wants.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The queen had closed to near striking distance of Van Ness. Two more thumping strides and her tail would carve him to pieces. He frantically pressed the control pad on his armrest, but the wheels of his chair spun in the dirt without gaining any traction. His face had whitened. His lips trembled. Through all of Van Ness’ detailed planning—and all of his graceless bravado—Cafferty knew his mortal enemy hadn’t seen this coming.
But apparently the queen already had ideas about this meeting. It appeared she wanted to kill Van Ness up close, unlike the supersoldiers, which she continued to dispatch with her terrifying telekinetic power. Another Roux look-alike shot across the park in several pieces and splattered against the side of a wrecked ice-cream truck.
“Diego,” Cafferty bellowed above the queen’s roars. “What the hell?”
“Give it a second to work, Tom.”
“We might not have one.”
Bowcut sprang to her feet and sprinted for a laser in a crouching run. She reached within a few feet and dove for the weapon.
The queen, momentarily distracted from Van Ness, flicked a talon in her direction, sending Bowcut toppling across the grass. Her body slammed into one of the tennis court’s steel poles. Blood from a creature’s corpse dripped onto her now motionless body.
“Sarah!” Cafferty shouted.
Bowcut slowly rolled onto her side, eyes half closed.
Still alive.
For how much longer, though?
Cafferty shuddered.
Sarah wasn’t getting up any time soon, though she was spared being ripped to pieces. He guessed his team would be the next target for the queen’s personal treatment, considering they’d destroyed two nests.
The queen took another crashing step toward Van Ness. She screamed, and the force rammed his chair back against the chain-link fence. His gray hair and face were soaked with her sticky saliva. He snatched the laser from his lap and raised it in her direction. She flicked a talon toward him. The laser flew from his grip and cartwheeled hundreds of yards away through the smoky air.
“Goddamn it, Diego,” Cafferty growled.
“It’s fired up, Tom. I’m just not sure it’ll work.”
Just then, a high-pitched, nearly indiscernible whistle came from Munoz’s device. Cafferty waited, desperate to see if it had any effect.
The queen jabbed out her talon in the direction of another advancing soldier, trying to use her telekinetic force to stop his attack.
But nothing happened.
She tried again, but the action failed to slow the soldier’s charge. He slammed into the queen and crashed his fist against her teeth.
“Holy hell, you’ve done it, Diego!” Cafferty blurted out while staring at the remaining supersoldiers launching themselves forward. “You’ve taken away her power!”
“For now. Whew!” he replied, wiping sweat from his brow.
Cafferty grabbed Diego’s face and kissed him on the cheek.
Munoz stayed focused on his device, gazing at the measurements streaming across the LED screen. He tweaked a few dials, oblivious to the desperate fight that was taking place only a stone’s throw from the tree.
Two more supersoldiers hammered into the queen. They shoved her back several yards while punching her face and chest. She swung wildly at them, screeching. She managed to batter several away, though the force of her strikes had visibly waned. Van Ness’ creations staggered back only a few feet now before immediately reengaging the enemy.
The battle is turning . . .
“I’m checking on Sarah,” Cafferty said. “Keep that damned thing going.”
Munoz looked across to him. “That’s my plan, Stan. I’ll keep her jammed. We’ve gotta take this boss-level bitch down.”
Cafferty slapped him on the back. He rose to his feet and rushed across the grass to Sarah on unsteady legs. Adrenaline propelled him forward. His rapid pulse hammered in his ears. He took a wide berth of the area where the soldiers continued their fight with the queen and skidded down by Bowcut’s side.
He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “How you doin’?”
Her eyes flickered open. “I’ve seen better days.”
“We all have,” Cafferty added. “I think Diego just saved our asses.”
Bowcut winced and let out a grunt. “The queen?”
“Going down.”
“Thank fuck.”
The soldiers had pushed the queen to the right of the tennis courts, away from Van Ness and toward the trees that lined the park. Closer to Diego, but the shuddering blows inflicted on the queen had visibly started to take their toll. Her confident roars had turned to frantic howls. Swings from her arms and legs missed their targets. She spun wildly, attempting to throw off two soldiers, but they maintained their grip.
Seven supersoldiers now attacked the queen, all throwing weighty punches. It seemed only a matter of time until the repeated blows ended her resistance.
The proverbial death by a thousand cuts.
Van Ness peered across to Cafferty. The fear in his eyes had gone, replaced by a look of curiosity. The wheels on his chair bit into the dirt, and he powered to the other side of Bowcut’s prone body.
“I’d say our agreement is terminated,” Cafferty shouted.
“Nonsense,” Van Ness said. “While I owe a debt of gratitude to Mr. Munoz, you were never going to survive, Thomas, no matter what.”
The supersoldiers pummeled the queen closer to the trees. One hung off each arm and leg. One on her back. Two attacking her torso. Munoz kept peering from behind the tree with an increasing look of panic etched across his face.
The queen staggered closer and closer to Diego’s position by the second. Cafferty realized what was happening and shouted, “Diego! Move! Right now!”
Sudden fear in his eyes, Munoz obeyed immediately and sprang to his feet, clutching the military-grade tactical beacon under his arm. He needed to get out of the line of fire—fast.
A supersoldier took a running jump at the queen. He pounded both fists into her chest, sending her staggering back a few yards . . .
. . . right to within striking distance of Munoz.
He lurched away from the tree trunk and sprinted toward Cafferty.
The queen’s head whipped in Diego’s direction.
A split second later, her tail rose to strike.
“Diego, fucking run!” Cafferty screamed, searching desperately for a weapon, any weapon, on the ground.
Munoz glanced over his shoulder—the queen was upon him. There was no way to outrun her wrath. He turned and looked back in the direction of Cafferty and Bowcut, locking eyes with his friends one last time. He smiled that classic Diego smile they had come to know and love.
As he did, the queen’s tail lashed forward, so fast that the movement was a blur.
The tail impaled Diego right through his chest, piercing his heart instantly. He clutched at the new appendage with one hand, knowing that when the tail withdrew from his torso, he was doomed. Blood spurted from his mouth.
He looked back up at Cafferty, and with his dying breaths, mouthed his last words:
“Finish this . . .”
The queen withdrew her tail, and Diego instantly crumpled to the ground.
“No!!” Cafferty cried out in anguish. Bowcut turned away in agony at the sight.
As Munoz’s body went limp, the beacon he was holding crashed to the ground as well, smashing to pieces.
The piercing signal it emitted abruptly stopped.
Sensing the device’s shackles now removed, the queen let out a deafening screech. Her pos
ture stiffened, followed by the sound of a low boom.
Then a massive telekinetic shock wave left her body, stronger than any previous one. So powerful that the soldiers around her were instantly ripped to pieces, along with Diego’s lifeless body.
The air distorted as the wave raced across the park in all directions, picking up anything loose and blasting it away like pieces of shrapnel.
Before Cafferty could move, the wave slammed into him, picking him up and hurling him back at a terrifying speed. Bowcut’s injured body was also lifted and thrown, knocking her out.
Van Ness’ wheelchair was thrust clear across the tennis court, and he sailed alongside Cafferty, screaming in agony.
With the beacon now destroyed, there was no stopping the queen.
They were all likely flying to their deaths.
And Diego . . . was gone.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ellen sprinted into the massive hangar bay, looking back every few seconds to ensure Karen and Joey hadn’t become separated from her. They had to stick together. The young paramedic remained hot on her heels, only a few steps behind while carrying her son. Heavy footsteps pounded after them, closing with every heartbeat, as did the snarls and the screeches of the monster giving chase.
The creature was in a frenzy like she had never seen, coming directly for her. She’d seen these things enough times before to recognize the intent and persistence, but never directed against a single individual like this.
Ellen frantically scanned the area for any sort of cover: crates, a maze of pumps and piping, the packed missile bay—all easily searchable by the creature. A brutal game of hide-and-seek would not work.
I needed to stop this monster . . . somehow.
Ellen raced through the options in her mind. The first time she’d come down to this level, she was so focused on reaching the crew quarters that she hadn’t noticed the corpses littering the floor. Engineers, pilots, and whoever else had had the misfortune of being here after the creature had made its first pass through. Blood slicks that looked like oil surrounded the dismembered bodies.
At the far end of the hangar, twenty supersoldiers stood in two ranks, unmoving, seemingly uncaring about what was about to unfold. It became clear to her on the bridge that the supersoldiers would not help. Thankfully, the majority of them had been destroyed on the boats. She knew these remaining few on the Nimitz would not provide her salvation.
A light gray Super Hornet fighter jet lay to their left, sitting on one of the elevators with a clear blue sky overhead. The windshield was raised. A ladder was attached to its side. The jet was armed, ready for a mission. Firing a missile inside an aircraft carrier seemed like a very bad idea to her, though, and besides, Ellen had no clue how to operate the plane or the lift. But she had to do something.
“This way,” she shouted.
She led Karen and Joey to the rear of the fighter. The first task was to get out of direct sight of the creature, who was about to burst through the corridor.
They ducked beneath the Super Hornet’s wing and headed for the tail.
A split second later, the creature bounded into the area.
Ellen craned her neck around the fighter.
Blood dripped from the creature’s three rows of teeth. The red light on the box drilled into its brain kept blinking, confirming to Ellen it was still under Van Ness’ direct control. It peered around the hangar, then leaped onto a fighter jet on the opposite side of the area. From there, it sprang from plane to plane, scanning the hangar bay for anything left alive.
It’s only a matter of time before it gets to us . . .
The creature screeched and dipped out of sight like it had identified something of interest. A moment later, a distinctly human scream rang out, then abruptly stopped. The monster sprang back into view, landing next to a prone sailor, and rammed the point of its tail through the back of his head. The man’s body briefly jerked.
Joey went to scream at the sight, but Ellen quickly covered his mouth. She was well aware of the creatures’ heightened senses compared with those of a human. The slightest mistake and they’d be toast.
The creature vaulted into the air toward their side of the hangar. Its feet slammed against the body of another Super Hornet, roughly fifty yards away. The metallic clank chimed around the area. The creature slowly turned toward the supersoldiers, eyeing them for a brief moment.
Please God, have the supersoldiers stop this thing.
Nothing happened, though. They stood there, motionless, careless. A far cry from what Ellen had witnessed in Lima.
Shit.
We’re on our own.
The creature ignored the supersoldiers and continued on its hunt, thrashing equipment and crates around.
Ellen leaned close to Karen and, keeping her voice low, asked, “Don’t suppose you know anything about fighter jets?”
“Like what?”
“Like how to fire their weapons?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry—”
“Hey,” a weak male voice called out from a few feet away.
Ellen twisted to face a bank of batteries.
“Hey,” the voice repeated.
Karen went to head over.
Fear instantly shot through Ellen. She grabbed the younger woman by the shoulder. “Don’t trust any repeated phrase.”
“Huh?”
“They can mimic any sound.”
Karen grasped Joey tighter and crawled back a few yards. Ellen was unsure what to believe when it came to these creatures.
“Please help me,” the male voice continued.
Definitely human.
Ellen crawled toward the bank of batteries on her hands and knees, cautious not to get too close. It didn’t seem like a trap, but she couldn’t afford a single misstep. A man lay behind the pile, dressed in a green coverall. He had slash wounds on his arms and legs.
“Can you move?” Ellen asked.
“I think I’m a goner.” He winced, revealing his red-stained teeth.
Ellen scanned his body up and down. Blood poured from deep gashes all over his body. It looked to her like his femoral artery had been pierced. He’d be dead in a matter of minutes.
She noticed a name tag on his uniform. “Are you a pilot?”
“Best in the fleet,” he replied, forcing a smile.
Loud crashing continued inside the hangar bay as the creature manically tore through everything.
“Can you tell me how to fire a missile from that jet?” Ellen asked.
The pilot turned his head in the direction of the creature, understanding what she was asking. “You do that in here, no one survives on this ship.”
We’re out of options.
The pilot’s eyes widened. “Wait. The afterburner. We could fry that motherfucker.”
“How do we do that?”
“Get me up to the cockpit, and I can ignite the afterburner. But . . .”
“But?”
“We need to lure the creature behind the plane.”
Ellen realized what he was saying. “We need bait.”
“Precisely.”
Ellen drew in a shuddering breath. The last time she felt this way was being tied to that pole in Van Ness’ lair with a snarling creature only feet away. Even if she could lure it into the perfect spot, the odds of her surviving the blast were slim to none.
She looked over at Karen clutching her terrified son in her arms, tears running down his face once again. Ellen and Tom’s son, David, was only a year younger. She couldn’t bear the thought of their lives ending this way, in fear.
Ah, fuck it.
Ellen frantically beckoned Karen and Joey toward the injured man. They crawled to her position, keeping low to avoid being spotted by the increasingly furious creature. Karen immediately knelt and tied her belt tight around the pilot’s thigh to slow the bleeding, swiftly and skillfully, without any ceremony. He pursed his lips, trying desperately not to scream. He had lost too much blood already, b
ut maybe that would buy them the few extra seconds they needed.
A plan had started to quickly formulate in Ellen’s head. She remained convinced that she was the reason the creature had been let loose on the Nimitz. With that in mind, she had to take responsibility for the biggest risk.
Ellen leaned in close. “I’ll give you the bait. You fry that motherfucker.”
“You got it, boss.”
“Listen up, guys,” she said. “Karen, you and Joey help the pilot to the cockpit and lock yourselves in the rear seat. I’ll lure the creature into position.”
“How?” Karen asked, her face full of fear. “I mean, are you sure?”
“I made you a promise,” Ellen replied to her. “I intend on keeping it.” She winked at Joey and tousled his hair.
At the far end of the hangar, the creature tore through more crates, methodically on the hunt. Then it paused and appeared to sniff the air in a primal way and slowly turned in their direction.
The creature stared at them.
“Christ,” the pilot wheezed.
Before anyone else could utter another word, the creature bounded straight for them, direct and fast, locked on its next victims.
“Move! Get on the plane!” Ellen yelled to the pilot and Karen.
She didn’t wait to see if they followed her order or even if the pilot would be able to climb the ladder.
Ellen darted in front of the plane and grabbed a rifle from the mutilated body of a crewman. She knew bullets wouldn’t pierce the scaly black skin, but that wasn’t the point. She needed to piss the thing off. She shouldered the weapon and fired—all the training she’d done with Sarah coming back in a flash—taking single aimed shots as the creature rapidly closed on them.
The creature took the bait and raced faster at Ellen. A tracer round smacked the monster in the chest, slowing it only momentarily. In her peripheral vision, Joey scampered up the ladder and jumped behind the seat. The pilot followed, with Karen below him, shoving him up with her shoulder, blood still running down his leg.
Ellen ran to the starboard side of the plane, still taking single aimed shots, continuing to keep the creature away from the far side. She had no idea how long it would take the pilot to get everything ready.
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