Burden of Sisyphus bod-1 Page 13

  “What the hell?” Vance asked, seeing smoke rise from the dead Seque behind Nova.

  “It attacked me,” she said breathlessly, seeing disbelief in Vance’s eyes. “I know what you’re thinking, but it attacked me. It had strange sharpened claws and pointed teeth. It stood on its hind legs, for crying out loud! How many Seques have you seen do that?’

  Vance turned toward Yen, who met his gaze with a disbelieving expression.

  “Don’t look at me for answers,” Yen said. “She’s telling the truth. I never saw anything like it.”

  “This could be our culprit, Sir,” Ixibas said. “It’s big enough to….”

  He stopped in midsentence. Though his face remained expressionless, the looks of disbelief on Yen and Vance’s faces told her what she needed to know. She heard a wrenching sound behind her, as her spear was pulled free from the tough Seque hide. Slowly, a dark shadow was cast over her. She didn’t bother turning. Instead, she locked eyes with her teammates, her eyes pleading for salvation, as they moved in apparent slow motion.

  Vance and Yen raised their rifles to their shoulders and fired a volley into the second Seque. The twelve-foot beast, straddling the corpse of its fallen comrade, was unfazed by the gunfire. It clutched the spear tightly in its hands and drove it into Nova’s spine.

  She staggered a few steps forward with the force of the blow. The tip of the spear jutted three feet beyond her stomach, leaving the haft buried in her. She tried to speak, but blood spilled from her lips, dribbling down her chin before falling to the ground.

  Crouching, the Seque hid as much of itself as it could behind Nova’s lithe frame. Yen and Vance held their fire for fear of hitting her. Her eyes pleaded, begging an end to the pain, when the Seque slowly withdrew the spear until the tip was back in Nova’s abdomen. She wretched a mixture of bile and blood onto the sidewalk.

  “Ainj,” Vance said softly, “tell me you have a shot at it.”

  “I….”

  “Ainj,” he said sterner, “tell me you have a shot.”

  “I don’t.” His voice was thick with emotion. “The son of a bitch has her in my way.”

  “Listen to me closely. I want you to shoot through her.”

  “No,” he whispered into the radio. “I can’t.”

  “She’s already dead, Ainj. Look at how she’s suffering. Take the shot!”

  “I can’t!” he screamed.

  Nova’s legs felt like led. She wanted to slump to the ground and feel the cool concrete on her face, but the Seque kept the spear taut. Though her legs were becoming useless, the spear tip in her stomach kept her upright.

  The Seque ignored the argument between her teammates and leaned close to Nova’s ear. In a guttural voice, it muttered gibberish in her ear, as if trying to form unfamiliar words. Backing away, it slid its hand down the shaft until it found the concealed button.

  Though she already lost most of her blood and was near death, her screams erupted through the silent city, as one million volts poured through her body. Her skin, not as resilient as the Seque’s, boiled away from the spear. Cracking, it spouted jets of burning bile. Her eyes rolled up in their sockets before they ruptured in the heat. Her hair danced wildly before bursting into flame.

  Three high-caliber rounds slammed into the Seque. The first tore through Nova’s body, ending her suffering and catching the Seque’s shoulder. Muscle and bone exploded from it, and the Seque dropped the spear and Nova’s body. Its right arm hanging useless at its side, it looked up sympathetically, as the second round struck its left hip.

  The Seque spun and collapsed to the ground. With its good arm, it tried to push itself to a seated position, mewling like an injured pet. The last round, fired through tear-filled eyes, caught the side of the Seque’s face. Bone, muscle, and brain matter vaporized in fine, green mist that coated the alley wall. It fell atop is brethren, finally dead.

  Vance’s radio was alive with chatter, but he didn’t hear it. Unable to pull his eyes from the charred, mutilated corpse of his teammate, he felt the weight of leadership pressing down on his chest. Laboring for air, he fought the urge to vomit.

  A dark, clawed hand settled on his shoulder, breaking him from his stupor. “Halo’s calling,” Ixibas said. “It sounds important.”

  Vance activated his microphone, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “Go ahead, Halo.”

  “Michael,” Halo said, panic evident in her voice, “switch to thermals.”

  “What am I looking for?” He lowered his helmet visor. Switching to thermals was as simple as pressing a button. In the fading twilight, the city should’ve appeared in dark shades of blue, with most of the day’s heat expended. Instead, the entire city glowed bright red.

  “Please tell me those are our people,” he whispered.

  “No.” Halo’s voice shook. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. The whole city’s alive. Whatever you did, the Seques are awake, and they’re everywhere.”

  “Give me a way out of here now!” He hurried back toward Dallis and Decker. Since his communications were being broadcast to the entire force, he wasn’t surprised to see panic mirrored on their faces.

  “You aren’t listening, Michael,” Halo said. Though she was incapable of crying anymore, she sounded near tears. “There’s no way out. You’re already surrounded.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Vance and the members of Fourth Platoon heard gunfire. The radio was alive with voices talking rapidly and the background noise of heavy fighting and screams. Vance tried to make sense of the shouts for help, but the overlapping noise left all his requests garbled. As he tried to contact the other platoons, Decker and Dallis stood behind him, trying the same.

  “First Platoon, this is Command,” Vance said.

  “Anyone on this net,” Decker said, “this is Fourth Platoon. Please respond.”

  The radio crackled, but the words were hard to decipher and were broken by labored breathing and gunshots.

  “This is First….” A gunshot interrupted the transmission.

  “We’ve been completely overrun. They came out of nowhere. Get the hell away from me….”

  More gunshots followed, then nothing but silence.

  “First Platoon, do you copy?” Dallis asked. “Harkund, are you there?”

  “Second and Third Platoons, please respond,” Vance said.

  “This is Blythe,” a weak voice said, his words broken by sobs. “Help me. Please help me. He tore off my leg the son of a bitch. I’m bleeding. Oh, Gods, I’m bleeding bad.” His voice trailed off, followed by silence.

  The radio signal remained active, as if he still pressed the transmit button. All members of Vance’s group heard a low, rumbling growl in their headsets moments before the signal cut to static.

  “Halo,” Vance said, “give me a full vital-signs listing for all platoons.”

  “Michael, it’s….”

  “Just do it, Aleiz,” he said angrily.

  Data poured onto his visor, scrolling through a list of names by platoon. Most were followed by a flat, red line, indicating cessation of heartbeat. A few weak signals were still being recorded, but two of them flat-lined while he watched. His team and Fourth Platoon showed the most activity, having lost only a few people so far.

  His own heart rate looked like a seismograph during an earthquake. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself without success. His heart still pounded in his chest.

  Vance felt trapped. He led his team into the heart of the city and allowed them to be surrounded. Because of his bad decisions, over 100 soldiers were dead, and the beasts that killed them were coming his way.

  “Sir,” Decker said softly, so no one else heard, “we’re in a bad place here. I know things look grim, but we need to move. If we stay put, we’re dead.”

  Vance nodded solemnly. “Get your men together, Decker, and get ready to move. Once we start, I don’t intend to stop until we reach the outpost.”

  Vance tried to exude confidence, as D
ecker gathered his men, but he didn’t feel it in his heart. He was scared, not of dying but of letting so many under his command die while he watched. Nova was dead, run through and burned alive. How many more of his men would die before they escaped?

  Decker worked hard to gather his soldiers, many of whom vacated the buildings they searched when the gunfire began. Nearly a dozen were still inside, and the longer they waited for them to arrive, the worse their chances of survival were. Even if they left immediately, Vance knew they had to cover twenty city blocks to reach the military outpost’s outer defenses. It took a lot of firepower to bring down the two Seques they faced. He didn’t know if they had a chance against a city full of them.

  The Seques were a mystery. Normally beasts of burden, they were peaceful by nature and difficult to anger. They were also herbivores, with blunt teeth for grazing in fields. As far as he knew, none of them possessed claws.

  Something changed the Seques in the city, turning them into sinister creatures with insatiable bloodlust. He remembered how one of them hid behind Nova to use her as a shield. Not only had they become dangerous, someone or something gave them intelligence.

  “My men are all accounted for,” Decker said over the radio. “We’re ready to move.”

  Vance didn’t bother using the radio. Instead, he shouted, “Follow me! Head straight for the outpost and don’t stop. If you fall behind, you’ll be left there!”

  Activating his microphone, he called to Ainj, “I need you covering our backs, Ainj. Once we’re out of range, take flight and meet us at the outpost.”

  “I’ll send every one of the bastards straight to hell, Sir,” Ainj said angrily, the rage of watching Nova die still fresh in his mind.

  Vance sprinted up the street with the rest of the soldiers close behind. He heard Seques scraping and grunting, moving up side streets, but none approached his group, as they ran.

  “Why aren’t they coming after us?” Eza asked, running beside Vance. “I can see them. Why aren’t they attacking?”

  “They’re herding us into a trap of their own choosing,” Vance replied, still running.

  “Since when did Seques get that smart?” Yen asked, joining them at the front of the group.

  “Someone changed them-their teeth, claws, ability to stand on hind legs, and especially their intelligence. Someone turned our gentle Seques into murderers.”

  Eza and Yen, exchanging knowing glances, kept running. The group finally broke from the towering skyscrapers, and the scenery changed to one- and two-story buildings housing either a myriad of shops or apartments filled with traveling businessmen or tourists. They were halfway to the outpost, and Vance dared to allow hope into his heart.

  Such thoughts disappeared into an ear-splitting animal scream that made the entire group slide to a stop in the road. Before them was a massive Seque, even by their large standards, standing on his hind legs in the middle of the road, roaring and pounding his chest. Lowering his head, he made eye contact with the startled platoon.

  The Seque snarled ferociously and barked at the trio in front. Its barks formed strange syllables, sounding like language. Though Vance couldn’t understand the words, he didn’t need Yen’s psychic abilities to know the undertone-hatred. Like slaves casting off their yokes of oppression and turning on their masters, the modified Seques flooded the city with the goal of destroying all those who kept them in servitude.

  The Seque growled after it finished speaking, and other Seques hiding in the shadows took up the growl. The large beasts emerged from rooftops around the soldiers, who backed toward the center of the street for protection. Red eyes glowed from alleyways, as more of the creatures advanced on the trapped Alliance troops.

  Behind them, the already bloodied Seques emerged from the side streets, having feasted on the remains of the other three platoons. In front of them, behind the alpha male, more of the creatures filled the wide street. Dozens of pairs of red eyes glowed in the darkness of early night.

  Nervous soldiers pointed their rifles at any Seque they could see, trying to keep them from advancing farther. Their flashlights reflected off glistening white fangs and elongated bone claws. As they stood in a tense showdown, more and more of the creatures emerged from nearby roads, creating a tight circle around the soldiers.

  “Everyone keep calm,” Vance told the soldiers. “No one give them a reason to charge.” He changed to his team’s internal communications channel. “Everyone still here?”

  “Yes, Sir,” Ixibas said. “Tusque and I are at the back of the group. Our Oterian may be big, but he’s not a fast runner.”

  “All of you need to be ready to run when you get the signal,” Vance whispered.

  “What’s the signal?” Yen asked, standing beside Vance.

  “Believe me, you’ll know it when you see it.”

  Vance, looking at the hundreds of Seques gathered around them, felt hostility pouring off them in waves. “Halo, you there?” he asked quietly.

  “Watching your every move.”

  “Make a hole for us between our position and the outpost. Bring down the fire from the heavens.”

  “Let them be cleansed with holy flames,” she finished.

  On Goliath’s belly, gun ports opened, revealing primed rockets aimed at the planet’s surface. They launched silently into the void of space, hurtling toward the atmosphere. Burning through at incredible speeds, they trailed a line of fire miles behind them.

  Their fiery tails arced over the night sky, as the rockets finished accelerating through the atmosphere and penetrated the thin cloud cover with a deafening sonic boom. Automated onboard systems took control, directing the rockets over the planet, angling toward the city. Boosters firing, the missiles lined up with the main road. Just before reaching airspace directly over the Alliance soldiers, the warheads burst open, spilling their payload of tiny spheres into the air.

  Vance watched the trail of fire arc toward them through the air at supersonic speeds. Waiting patiently, he turned on his radio when he saw the small explosion in the sky above, knowing the rockets were pouring explosive death onto the street just ahead.

  “Everyone, find cover!” he screamed, diving behind a nearby car.

  The small spheres plummeted to the ground, the first ones striking before the giant Seque and continuing a path of destruction up the street toward the outpost. On impact, the spheres ignited in a plume of blue and purple plasma, scorching the ground and sending shockwaves that tossed aside loose debris.

  Dozens of Seques caught on the street were consumed by the superheated flames. Gray skin boiled and melted away, cracking and bursting in the heat, spilling internal organs onto the molten concrete ground. The concussive blast sent shrapnel tearing through thick hides, stripping away skin and blowing off limbs.

  Heat and smoke washed over Vance, as he huddled behind the ruined automobile. He covered his ears and shut his eyes in anticipation of the bombing. As the heat receded, he risked a look.

  Though smoke hung thickly in the air, he saw the street to the north lay in ruins. Concrete was lifted and shattered in a massive upheaval, leaving slabs of stone jutting at awkward angles. The blast leveled many of the nearby buildings, some of which still burned, casting a soft, red glow in the night air.

  Coughing, he looked at the stunned soldiers still hidden behind cover. His eyes fell on a severed, clawed hand in the middle of the road nearby. The index finger pawed the air involuntarily, spasms still rolling through the separated stump of the arm. Green blood oozed from it, pooling on the ruined ground.

  All around them, a new sound added to the crackling fire and rumble of collapsing rubble from ruined buildings-a sea of infuriated growls. From alleys and buildings, glowing red eyes of Seques emerged. One by one, they took up a howl of angry defiance and vengeance.

  Vance stood and picked up his rifle. “Halo bought us time!” he yelled to any soldier who could hear him. “Now run!”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Keryn stormed i
nto the barracks room, fuming from her loss in the aerial joust. All her training and years of practice in the secret Wyndgaart arts amounted to nothing in the Academy. She couldn’t help feeling her entire childhood and schooling were a waste of time. In just days, she successfully embarrassed herself, her family, and her race with her abysmal performance.

  Iana followed her in and quietly closed the door behind her. Either oblivious or uncaring, Keryn paid the Pilgrim no attention. Instead, she angrily threw her pillow to the far side of the bed, only to retrieve it and toss it to its original location. Frustrated with herself, Keryn sought any excuse to keep busy and think of something other than her repeated failures.

  “It’s not all that bad,” Iana offered, standing well outside Keryn’s reach.

  “Spare me,” she growled without turning. “I’ve heard enough pep talks from Victoria to last the rest of my life.”

  “It’s probably because she’s right. You’re way too hard on yourself. A couple of bad days when you’re first learning don’t mean you’re a failure. So what if you didn’t win today? You can always try again. After all, we joust again tomorrow. What’s the big deal?”

  Keryn spun on her, tears welling in her eyes. “It’s a big deal, because I never fail! I may not have been the best, but I always excelled at everything I put my mind to, but this….” Her anger faded, and her tone changed. “I don’t understand this. I can’t seem to wrap my mind around it. Every time I think I have it figured out, someone shows me how wrong I was.”

  Iana moved to Keryn’s side and put an arm around her shoulder. “Then you’ll have to try harder. You don’t seem like the type who’d let herself quit.”

  “What if I just can’t do it? What if I give it my all, and it’s not good enough?”

  “Then you can leave the Academy with your head held high, knowing you did all you could. That’s a damn sight better than the way you are now, constantly second-guessing yourself and fearing waking up each morning.”