Chapter 21 #2
Hala didn’t need any encouragement. Gripping tight to the beanbag gun, she dodged under the arms of an ambling corpse and fired a beanbag into its rib cage; its bony arms flew off in separate directions.
She found herself running into the only space that wasn’t filled with the walking dead.
She felt her feet fighting for traction as she ran, fumbling through the grass and the mud.
She was well past being soaked to the bone, so she didn’t notice the puddles as she stomped water into the air.
She emerged on the empty dirt road they’d walked in on.
She turned and blasted a skeleton that got a bit too close for comfort.
Several dozen more were still coming toward her; she had only a few seconds to think.
Someone should be here. Had no one else gotten out?
Elaine, Hala thought. Maybe she’d already run off.
The beanbag gun was starting to get heavy in her hands; Hala wondered how many more bags it had in it.
Maybe it had magical ammo too? She fired another and struck an approaching skeleton about its skull, knocking its body into several others that were following.
Hala took a moment to think, What now? Just run off?
No. There wasn’t any way to help Mal, but Yu and Des were in that mess somewhere.
She had look for them. She had to do something.
Hala dug into her feelings, wading through her panic and fear until her emotions faded into the distance.
She steadied herself and focused. She could barely look at Mal and Mazino.
Rage and fear and pain exploded from their fray, desperation surging within Mal.
She stoked some hope within him and watched as he stood a bit taller by Taran’s side.
She scanned the bodies ambling toward her, no feelings in them.
Except for one that pulsed with a quiet helplessness—Walters.
He was stuck in one of those things, unable to control what remained of himself.
Hala focused. Somewhere in there was someone she could help.
Someone sprung to life, scared, and full of rage.
Kosh. He’d gotten free. That bastard was escaping.
Hala felt another flare of emotions. Elaine. Running out of the melee, chasing after Kosh. She was going to get herself killed and it seemed Elaine knew it. Hala could feel that part of her, a reckless abandon that screamed, “I am willing to die to put this right.” Hala dropped her powers and ran.
The dirt road crunched beneath her as she ran parallel to the chaos.
She watched Kosh break through a wooded boundary at the far end of the graveyard, Elaine scrambling through after him.
She passed the boundary and clambered over the separating wall, finding herself in an open field.
Kosh, a sickly white beacon, was running with everything he had.
Elaine, sopping wet and cursing, sprinted after him.
Hala gave chase. She had to save her. Had to save someone.
Kosh slowed, trying to pry the anti-jump cuff off his arm.
Elaine collided with him, knocking them both into the dirt.
“You monster, you did this to him. How could you!”
Elaine’s words were muffled by the rain.
Limbs tangled as they clashed on the ground.
Eventually, there was a pop and the two separated.
As Hala got close she could see why. They stood a few meters apart, Kosh with his one good hand raised, gun pointed at Elaine.
Hala aimed the beanbag gun again and pulled the trigger.
Click. Nothing happened. Hala dropped it and dove into her feelings.
“Just leave me alone,” Kosh yelled through the rain.
“NEVER.”
Hala grabbed hold of Elaine, she could sense her desperation to throw herself at Kosh. To stop him for what he’d done. Hala looked for the fear within her and stoked it. Elaine pulled back and Hala put herself between the pair.
“You, you fucking children, just let me live my life!”
Kosh raised his gun with purpose. Hala twisted her hand as if twisting the feelings within him.
She’d only stoked the flames of fear in Elaine; what she did to Kosh was closer to pushing him into a bonfire of guilt.
Kosh swayed as his decaying body churned with emotion.
He buckled and vomited chunks into the earth.
Kosh waved his gun wildly in desperation. Hala turned to Elaine.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“He was going to get away.”
“It’s not worth dying for.”
Elaine refused to move. Hala held her back but couldn’t make her see reason. Kosh righted himself.
“Enough of this …”
He aimed the gun and fired.
Des felt the bullet hit between her ribs; it pierced through the flesh and crunched into the bone.
She flew through the air for a few seconds longer, then hit the grassy earth with a thud.
Her breath was cut short. She felt pain surge through her side, but she pulled herself back to her feet, standing between Kosh and Hala.
BANG. BANG.
Two more blinding punches of pain shattered into her.
One in her chest, another in her arm. She stood strong as the pain washed through her, her eyes shining red in the night.
She held her ground, clenching her fists as her body pushed the tiny bits of metal out from within her.
Vampirism has a few perks, she thought. Kosh watched with bemusement.
She darted for the gun, pouncing at Kosh, who fired wildly.
If they hit, she didn’t feel them. Des grabbed the gun and squeezed with everything she had.
Its barrel screeched as the metal warped in her fist. She quickly let go as Kosh fired another shot.
The gun exploded in his hand, sending fragments of fingers in different directions.
Des took the opportunity and slammed her fist into his chest. Black ooze squirted from his open wound as he was knocked on his ass.
“Get out of here!” Des yelled. She turned to check on Hala and Elaine; they were most of the way to the dirt road by now, out of harm’s way.
Yu should be close by to help them. Des had gotten both herself and Yu out of the maelstrom earlier before heading back in after Hala and Elaine.
Now Des could focus; she’d done her duty by her friends.
She turned back as Kosh was getting to his feet.
She’d knocked him down, but hadn’t done much to stop him.
He didn’t even seem to feel pain. How do you kill a dead guy?
Kosh twisted his mangled hand into place; shadows slunk forth from his arm, replacing his missing fingers.
He held out his hand, and with a small pop, a knife appeared in it.
Des gritted her teeth as he began walking toward her with purpose.
A strange clinking sound pushed its way through the rain, like a sickly wind chime.
They both stopped in their tracks and exchanged a look of confusion.
Several skeletons had ambled their way out of the graveyard and were heading toward them at a leisurely pace.
They seemed much less intimidating now for some reason.
Maybe it was meeting Mal’s parents; maybe it was because she was used to seeing hundreds of them instead of just three.
Either way, the effect had worn off and they looked more like clunky animatronics.
Kosh looked back to her and smiled. He reached his hand toward the skeletons and they came to a stop. Then they started to run with a singular focus. Des.
She readied herself. Their cartoonish presence was gone; under Kosh’s command they had returned to their nightmarish demeanor. Practically frothing at the mouth, and they would have been had they the facilities to do so. Des wound up a punch as one got close, and let loose.
Pop.
The punch connected with thin air. The skeleton reappeared behind her, clawing its bony fingers into her back. She spun at it with an elbow.
Pop.
She was knocked off balance with the spin, missing her target. The skeleton reappeared in front of her, grabbing the arm she’d missed with and slamming a fist into her ribs. She flung the skeleton away from her, watching as it flew through the air.
Pop.
The skeleton reappeared flying toward her, crashing into her legs. The other skeletons were on her now. She’d strike, they’d vanish. Over and over. Swing. Pop. Crunch. One brought both its fists up over its head. Des went to block. It vanished.
A blow like a gunshot struck her in the back of the head.
Two bony hands brought down like a hammer upon her skull.
She buckled and fell to her knees. Her vision swam with the pain.
A fleshy figure hobbled through the bony ones.
A knife glinted in the darkness. She felt a sharp punch slam into her chest. She fell backward; rain splashed against her face.
Something fell with her—a handle, sticking out of her chest. She saw Kosh standing over her, then the red faded from her eyes.
Mal screamed against Mazino’s onslaught.
Lightning struck out through the dark. Oozing creatures lurched and fought with his shadows.
Skeletons battered and clawed at them. Side by side, Taran and Mal held off a maelstrom of rage.
Footsteps got closer, the lightning fiercer, the weight heavier. They were losing.