After Earth: A Perfect Beast (49 page)

“The PC has studied the attacks and thinks they’re hungry. It’s been an unusually hot season and their normal prey may have been diminished. These are walking engines of destruction and they need to stay fueled. If they can’t eat anything warm and bloody and human, they’ll find the next best thing,” Macionis told the Ranger. “Besides, people may still be in hiding somewhere and we have no time to do an apartment-by-apartment sweep.”

“They’ve lasted decades out there,” Kevin said.

“Our job, Ranger, is to find them and kill them. You up for the task, Minh?”

“No doubt about that, sir,”
Minh told her, sounding more certain than he could possibly be.

“It can run faster, so be smart. Take a moment to map a route. We’ll try and slow it down from the rear.”

Diaz whispered a silent prayer for Minh’s survival. As he moved, he could hear the Ursa scuttle away up another flight of steps. Minh had clearly been on the move and he heard a roar. Minh was now exposed, his scent carrying through the warm air.

Macionis’s planning time got cut woefully short when they heard the sound of cloth tearing, and then something crashing with a metallic sound. Next came the screams, confirming the building was far from as empty as they’d hoped.

Macionis shouldered her way through a doorway and was taking the stairs two at a time, followed by Varley, Kevin once more in the rear. He tried to determine how high up the sounds were coming from, estimating it to be no more than the third or fourth floor.

One shriek was cut off midcry but a fresh one was heard and then the unmistakable sound of crying.

The Rangers arrived on the third-floor landing and saw two hind legs; the rest of the hideous creature was inside an apartment. Once more, it would be close-quarters fighting, which Kevin dreaded. An Ursa, civilians, furniture, narrow spaces, and three, soon to be five, Rangers meant no one would have an advantage. The ferociousness of the Ursa would probably dictate how quickly this fight would turn into raw carnage.

Perhaps sensing trouble was coming, the Ursa swung about, literally ripping through the wall and placing its forward legs into the hall. It roared at Macionis, who stood her ground, aiming her sword-shaped cutlass at the beast.

Kevin could never be certain afterward who charged first: his leader or the Ursa. It really didn’t matter because
the woman was torn in two before he could move. Her torso was hurled down the hall toward the Rangers while the lower half collapsed in place, her blood splattering the Ursa and walls, pooling underneath.

He imagined its roar was one of triumph.

The next sound was that of his fellow Rangers finally making it to the end of the corridor. Telgemeier cried out,
“You ugly bastard!”
and charged the Ursa, whose back was turned his way, returning its attention to the apartment. The soldier leaped toward the beast, his cutlass shaped like a sickle, and he swung. Amazingly, the weapon cut through the skin only to strike a metallic portion. It still hurt the beast, which writhed and cried out in a terrible high-pitched tone.

Telgemeier landed on one knee, grimacing in pain, but held on to his weapon. The Ursa turned toward him, and as it twisted in the tight space Varley struck with his own cutlass. His attack was met with a razor-sharp talon piercing his chest, nailing him to the wall. The cutlass fell and was quickly covered in its owner’s blood.

The wounded beast roared once more and charged toward Minh. The Ranger backpedaled until he found a door to an emergency stairwell. He started up at a scramble and stumbled through a thin, wooden door, leading into a different apartment. The Ursa followed into the stairway where Kevin could hear it head upward. He knew there were just two more floors before the roof. The stairway was wide enough not to impede its progress so he tried to determine if it was smart enough to get to the roof and leap away until it could heal.

Or would it lie in wait? It was, after all, a hunter. It seemed programmed for maximum slaughter. It probably ran to find open space for a better fight, and the Rangers were hellbent on giving it to the creature.

In less than a minute it had killed two Rangers and received little more than a flesh wound. Diaz cursed himself for being in the background, not following through on his convictions, not attacking. What was
keeping him from engaging the creature: Fear? Or some vestige of his upbringing?

Minh recovered from his stumble and was on his comm unit, reporting in, begging for more Rangers. What Colonel Green told him was dispiriting. Three Ursa were on the opposite side of the city, and a disproportionate number of Rangers had been redirected in that direction. Being unable to see the Ursa at all times meant the Rangers had to spread themselves thin around the city’s perimeter along with the interior. Each Ursa sighting was usually accompanied by reports that Rangers were being maimed or killed, further depleting the ranks. That Minh was still alive felt like a miracle.

They needed a new plan and Kevin Diaz was out of ideas, brilliant or otherwise.

All his life, he seemed to strike first, especially since he’d watched his brother’s less aggressive approach fail miserably. Strike first, strike hard, and don’t give your enemy a chance to get up. He had used it in simulation after simulation, satisfied with the results.

It clearly wasn’t working here when others tried it in a non-simulated situation.

“What next?” he asked Telgemeier, now the senior member of the team.

“Hell if I know,” he said, wiping sweat from his eyes. “Follow that sucker and kill it before it gets Minh. Oh, and keep the citizens safe.”

“A little weak on tactics but it works for me,” Diaz agreed, sounding a little too enthusiastic for someone who hadn’t accomplished much in this fight.

The sound of rampant destruction punctuated his comments and both Rangers looked up, concluding that the beast and their colleague had made it to the roof. “It will follow Minh over to the grain storage building since it probably hasn’t eaten in, well, minutes,” said Kevin with bitter sarcasm.

“We stay together.”

“That didn’t work terribly well before and we need to keep tracking it,” Kevin said, shaking free and ignoring
the direct order. He had Rangers to avenge and an Ursa to kill. Somehow.

“Minh, it’s Kevin,” he said into the comm unit. “Same plan: Lead it to the granary.”

“Easier said than done, but it shall be done,”
Minh replied.
“Since when are you in command?”

“No one’s in command,” he insisted. “Just following orders. Out.”

As he made his way downstairs, he flashed on the dead bodies, the portions of Macionis that had once been a comrade in arms. He was channeling the anger, trying to control it and let that fill his thoughts instead of the fear that he’d be next.

Turn the other cheek
.

His parents’ favorite phrase echoed in his mind, but it seemed eminently useless. An Ursa would simply tear any turned cheeks to shreds.

“That sucker is on the roof with me, where the hell are you?”
Minh cried.

“We’re coming,” Diaz said, finally spurred into taking action, leading Telgemeier upward.

By the time they reached the roof, they watched as Minh, choosing to wait no longer, leaped across to the next building, where scaffolding wrapped two sides for maintenance. The Ursa didn’t hesitate and leaped after him, but couldn’t reach him through the metallic scaffolding. This bought the Ranger time to make it to the street.

Diaz and Telgemeier didn’t hesitate, rushing back into the building and leaping down steps to make it to the street, hoping Minh would still be alive when they reached him.

The Ranger had been successful, darting and weaving around statuary, abandoned carts, and even a well. The Ursa made a straight line, but Minh still had the advantage and managed to enter the granary without incident. The others followed close behind.

Night began to envelop the streets and automatic lighting snapped to life, casting new sets of shadows.
The squad followed the onscreen map and made a direct line toward the grain storage facility, which was a mammoth structure.

The remains of a young man’s body were a ghastly signpost but the Rangers barely paused to study the corpse. Not far from it was a woman’s body. What they were doing outdoors staggered Diaz’s imagination, but they had clearly paid too high a price for ignoring the sirens. That neither of the victims let out a cry for help disturbed him and reminded him anew how stealthy the Ursa could be.

Heat continued to radiate from the streets despite the cooling air, and Kevin found he couldn’t make himself comfortable. Gripping his cutlass, he forced his feet to keep moving, not letting Telgemeier get too far in front of him.

Kevin turned his back on the pair, slowly circling the area, checking for movement. The empty streets refused to tell him anything, the air still. Two dead bodies and no one to mourn for them. That would have to come later. He wondered how many had been killed, how many Rangers died to protect a city. They had let two people die while he ate and that bothered him, made him angry.

He looked over his shoulder before moving ahead.

Within five minutes they had walked the perimeter of the squat building, seeing no obvious sign of entry. There was also little sign of blood—nothing to indicate the Ursa was actually there.

Wearily, Diaz unslung his weapon and entered the granary. Its automatic lights had gone on when Minh entered so he could see the bins of various grains, most of which had already been processed. This entrance led into the storage facility, which gave Minh plenty of places to hide and confuse the Ursa. Telgemeier followed him inside, Diaz taking the rear position. His stomach rumbled a bit, seeking sustenance, but he had to ignore it and concentrate on protecting the people living in the vicinity. Isinbaeva had made it clear: people first, killing
Ursa second. All he thought about was the bodies left behind.

The first sounds they heard were of the creature gulping down raw, crunchy grain, making slobbering noises in the process. It had somehow entered the building and was stopping to chow down before killing Minh.

“How could that thing still be hungry?” Telgemeier asked.

“It could be they haven’t eaten in a while and are gorging. We have no idea how much they can eat or how quickly they metabolize their food,” Diaz said. “Besides, if they’re used to flesh and blood, grain might not be enough. They need a constant supply of fuel, like the reactors.”

“They’ve been coming here for half a century and we still know jackshit about them, is that it?” Telgemeier said.

“They keep evolving,” Kevin reminded them. “And these have been here for decades so who knows how long they live or how they have adapted to the environment.”

“Thanks, Professor,” Telgemeier said drily.

He pointed inside the building, showing an obvious trail the Ursa had left behind. It made a clear path, easy to follow.

“Spikes,” he whispered. Both activated the configuration and within seconds the pair of cutlasses began to re-form themselves into trident-shaped weapons. Four points of entry certainly beat three and could cause far more damage.

Kevin took several deep breaths, steadying his nerves, finding the will to move, forcing his weary limbs to carry him after the beast.

Suddenly he found himself on point, the other Ranger at his side. Various grains he couldn’t hope to identify had spilled from their torn containers. Pipes, conveyors, cords, all manner of damage made the trail easy to follow. Every now and then ocher- and maize-colored grain was tinged a dull red with drying blood.

What bothered Kevin the most was that he could not hear the Ursa.

“Shh!” he said. He’d heard something and paused, waiting to hear it again. There it was, grain shifting, as if moved by a four-legged monstrosity. With the cutlass, he pointed in a southwest direction. His partner, bathed in sweat, nodded, going silent.

The Ursa hadn’t bothered to camouflage itself, just tore open the top of a grain bin and began shoveling food into its maw. The creature glistened, light reflecting off the exposed smart metal that was fused to the tough hide, making it an ideal target. Diaz spread his right-hand fingers wide, signaling Telgemeier to fan out, surrounding the vast bin. He remained fixed in place, the cutlass thrumming with energy.

Minh was still nowhere in sight, and it was too risky to use the radio. Telgemeier went right while Diaz headed left and then began climbing atop other bins, gaining an advantage over the seemingly oblivious creature. He was halfway up when the creature stopped eating and raised its head. It had smelled or heard or sensed them. Kevin was still uncertain how it functioned, but the Ursa knew it was no longer alone. Maybe it had caught Minh’s scent again, Diaz thought.

The Ursa leaped forward and rushed toward wherever Minh was hiding. Diaz and Telgemeier trotted after it, their trident-shaped cutlasses at the ready. Up ahead, Diaz could see Minh panicking, climbing high atop one bin, seeking the next, foolishly hoping to outclimb the beast. The Ursa was pulling ahead of the Ranger duo and gaining on its target.

Minh’s cutlass slashed at the leaping Ursa, but its momentum was too great and it fell upon the Ranger. The Ursa easily jumped to the ground, dragging Minh down, its forelegs literally pinning the Ranger. Minh screamed in pain and kicked with his free legs, but the creature lowered itself, dripping that vile black liquid onto his face, pouring it into his sputtering mouth. The
black globules burned and hissed, a form of poisonous acid that corroded his skin almost on contact.

Diaz knew Minh was a dead man so he aimed and watched as Telgemeier hurled the cutlass at the creature, hoping the momentum would aid in cutting deep into the alien threat. The cutlass did pierce the skin but not anywhere near as deeply as hoped. The wounded Ursa snarled and turned on the now-unarmed Telgemeier. That it abandoned Minh meant he was dead.

It wasn’t hurt enough to slow down for Telgemeier, who was screaming something at the beast when he was cut off mid-yell as his head was separated from his neck with a swipe.