|
The agent stopped a few doors down from the shack and waited. He
had the boy, but the girl was still too ill to remove.
A few shadows flitted in and out of the night. One large shadow
split up into three smaller ones. Shrouded under the night and the black
clothes, the agent felt them move by in the direction of Antone’s. Contempt on
his face, he waited. Raiders, preying on their own people.
Only after they rounded a corner did he move to the shack. Again,
he waited, listening as the Taoist masters taught. His nostrils flared, trying
to catch any untoward scent.
When he was satisfied there were no others in the shack, he slid
his hand in a palm lock hidden in the wall. The door opened for him. Chong moved
in; the door slid shut; and an electric shock so fierce his heart ached from it
raced through him.
A woman said, “Nephew, why are you so late?”
The shon:gili leaped
over the guard and through the door. A tazer snapped, and electricity shot
through him. With a scream, he grabbed the one who shot him, and his jaws cracked
through the body armor. A gun exploded. Dropping the screaming man, he knocked
down the next man and then attacked the last one, clawing through the helmet and
ripping away the eyes before killing him.
The third man raced away. Bouncing with a scream of delight, the shon:gili
darted after him and rammed him in the back. The man was driven to the road.
Taking the head in his jaws, the shon:gili
ripped away the helmet.
The man jerked and shuddered, his legs kicking and hands
fluttering. Tossing the helmet away, the shon:gili
stared at the stump of a neck.
Growling at the loss of the taste of terror, he went back and
stalked the one with the soy pork. The man leaped to his feet.
Pounding on the closed door, the guard screamed and punched the
button to open it. The door groaned, then sparks shot from the lock.
“Oh, man. No . . . “ Sagging against the door, the man turned
and fumbled at the holster. He pulled it and fired.
The shon:gili
side-stepped ,and the steel slug took a few hairs from one cheek.
“Shit.” Eyes wide,
the guard set it on automatic and a red line traced through the night.
The shon:gili dodged the
slugs and closed in, the teeth crushing through the chest armor and then ribs.
Splinters of bone and the heart went down the gullet. The shon:gili brushed the twitching body aside.
A siren began to scream. From the top of the buildings came harsh
spears of light to sweep the ground.
He pawed at the door. A plate of pastisteel, it was light in
weight, but strong and bombproof. He backed away and cocked his head at the
window. The lone survivor was screaming into a microphone. The shon:gili
ducked his head and rammed the window. The glass held. Inside, the guard dropped
to the floor. He tried again. A star crack appeared. Peering in, the shon:gili
smiled.
Mouth open in a scream, the guard fired. The shon:gili ducked, and the window exploded.
With a casual bunch of hindquarters, the shon:gili hopped through and winked at the staring guard.
He pushed away the hand holding the gun and gently took the man by
the shoulder.
Floodlight opened over the parking lot.
On one wall was there was a black, twisted cross and a picture of
a man with a tiny mustache. The Carl part snarled a few unclean words. The shon:gili
snarled in response. He reached up and dragged the claws of one paw through the
cross and the face.
The guard whispering protests, he hopped out under the lights.
Inside his mind, Carl muttered, Oh, crap.
Get out. Now. Run!
A machinegun chattered, and he dived away, racing under the glare
of lights and the hot scream of bullets.
He ran back through the alley. The pack of dog snarled, then fled
from him. Lights followed with Carl shouting in his mind, he darted across
another wide street. Bullets chipped dust and shards of pavement from the street
around him. Snarling at the guard shacks and machinegun nests he ran down a side
street. He stopped to scowl at the helicopters droning through the night.
Harsh light pooled around him.
Carl shouted in horror. The shon:gili
ducked, and a chunk of the building behind him crumpled. People shrieked in
terror, bodies raining from the gaping hole. With a yelp, the shon:gili
darted away. Carl was screaming at him, and he ignored it. The guard flopping in
his jaws, he leaped a barrier and more guards scattered, firing as they went.
The river shined under him for a moment, then they dropped,
crashing into the light reflected from below.
Shocked and freezing amid chunks of ice, the shon:gili broke through and began swimming towards the far shore.
The guard was struggling, and the body armor
filling with ice water. It dragged the shon:gili’s
head under. He jerked it up only to sink with it.
©2004 StoriesByEmail.com
|
