Vitalis Omnibus (44 page)

She grabbed onto the creatures leg and pinned her arm to her side to keep it from ripping the side of her belly out. The other three taloned toes on the foot curled, gouging into her side but not digging deeply enough to be life threatening. She reversed her spear in her other arm and stabbed her attacker in the leg, jamming the wooden point into the first joint above its dew claw.

It made a shrieking noise with just enough rasp in it to keep it from making her spine curl out of her back. The noise reminded her of the other time she’d encountered a creature like this. It had been a happier time for her, she’d had her X109 rifle to ionize its brain into mist.

The beast yanked its leg away from her, jerking her away from the tree and sending her sprawling half a dozen feet away. She rolled with it, her spear still in her hand, and started to rise when the other forelimb slammed into her shoulder and crushed her back to the ground. Elsa tried to spit the dirt from her mouth but it only served to force her lips to be crushed between the soil and her teeth.

Her body went into action, operating on years of training and drilling when her mind couldn’t conceive of a way out of her situation. She pulled her legs up, dragging her knees across the dirt until they were under her. She shoved her hips up, arching her back with a flexibility she was sure she didn’t have a week ago. First one foot then the other found position on the ground, and from there she used her powerful leg muscles to force herself into another roll.

Elsa screamed as she rolled. The claws tearing through the flesh of her shoulder mixed pain with the primal cry of victory she let loose. The monstrous beast lunged at her, its jaws open to snap and tear her head off in a single bite. She met it with her spear, thrusting it up into its open mouth.

The creature jerked back, nearly yanking Elsa’s arm out of its socket as it took her spear with it. It scrambled, its multi-jointed legs hindering it as it tried to escape. The creature dug as its mouth with its claws until fresh blood flowed from its jaws and cheeks. It kept backing away, using two and three of its legs to drag itself away from her. It backed into a tree and continued to gouge at its own mouth for another moment before all signs of life went out of it. The spider-monkey slumped forward, smashing its head into the ground and letting a stream of mixed drool and blood pool on the ground beneath it.

“That’s what you get, fucking with a Marine,” Elsa whispered. She glanced down at herself and saw the blood and dirt that smeared her side. She clenched her teeth and rolled over, fighting against tears of agony that were only now beginning to rush through her.

“Have. To. Warn. The. Others.” She panted the mantra while forcing herself back to her feet. Her left arm hung limply, blood trickling down her back and her chest to join the blood that ran steadily from the wound in her side.

She knew her time was limited. Vitalis or not, she’d been stabbed through and through twice. One in the meat of her shoulder and traps and once in the abdomen. Even if her guts weren’t shredded the dirt from the wounds promised nasty infections.

A vision of the supplies she and Fiona had retrieved from the crashed shuttles popped into her head. A strong course of anti-biotics could kill off just about any infection! Jess, her medic that had survived the failed insertion of Marine FIST team 3, could patch her up. Jess had saved her ass from worse in the past. She just had to make it back to Treetown.

Elsa looked around. Her spear was in the mouth of the creature. She used her good arm to pull her bow off and, using it as a cane, staggered one agonizing step at a time to the west.

Chapter 3

Elsa stumbled and fell into the stream bed. Her progress had gone from a turtle to snail as the pain intensified. It was too dark to see more than a few feet, forcing her to focus more on her injuries. Elsa also felt chilled, something she could never remember feeling. It was blood loss and shock, but stopping to deal with it wasn’t an option. Her only chance was to get back to Treetown and the medicine. She refused to let herself consider how each passing second made the odds longer.

But even a long shot was better than none, and that required her to drag her tired ass out of the stream. Her left arm had been numb for the last ten minutes. It jarred against her, causing fresh agony when she crashed onto the wet rocks. She picked herself up with her good arm, forcing herself onto her hip. She cursed, a sharp edge scraping her naked buttock, then shifted her weight forward to get her legs under her. Her curse turned into a hiss of agony from the torn muscles in her stomach and back.

Elsa’s bow had been swept downstream a few feet. She looked at it then looked at the far shore. Treetown was less than ten minutes from the stream. Even in the dark she could recognize the landmarks. She was upstream from where they’d found the Marines that served as hosts for the new breed of spitter she’d been tracking earlier that night. She took in a deep breath, shuddering as she did so, and forced one foot ahead of the other.

The sharp rocks bit into her feet. Her feet had toughened in the few days she’d been on Vitalis, but not enough to spare her. She grimaced and pushed through the additional pain to climb onto the opposite shore. “I’m a fucking Marine,” she hissed through clenched teeth, “and I ain’t dead yet!”

A snort from behind her made her twist around. She’d reacted without minding her injuries. The sudden movement brought them back, making her head swim with pain induced nausea. She stumbled and went down, falling on her useless arm and rolling onto her back. A small pack of three prowlers were gathered on the far edge of the stream. The lead one looked up from where it had followed her blood trail. It snarled at her, displaying sharp teeth that promised even more pain.

“Come on!” Elsa shouted at them. “What are you waiting for?”

The middle prowler shook its head, almost as though it was denying her words, then it stepped into the stream. The others advanced, each spreading out to their respective sides to prevent their prey from escaping. Elsa scooted back, finding a tree to put her back against. Her fate was sealed but if she could at least hurt one…

The middle prowler came close enough to extend its head and sniff at her left foot. She pulled it back, goading it closer, then she kicked out and smashed its nose. The pain from the explosive movement stole from the breath from her but it was worth it. The prowler snapped at the air and snorted repeatedly, spraying droplets of blood across the ground and even her leg.

Elsa drew her legs under her. She felt suddenly weightless. Her pain didn’t matter anymore, it was a restraint. A limitation. It was something that tied her to failure, not to her success. She let it go and pushed with her legs, leaping into the prowler and twisting to let her battered arm smash into the prowler’s open jaws.

In spite of its greater mass and six legs, the prowler fell back with her on top of it. The other two spun to face her, but hesitated. They were shaken by the sudden turn of events. They watched, looking for a chance to leap in and tear into Elsa’s flesh as the human and the prowler grappled.

Elsa rammed her right fist into the mouth of the prowler, forcing it past the hinge of its jaws and where her left arm was being lacerated by the meat rending front teeth. She felt the skin on her hand tear as the sharp molars impeded her progress. Then it gave way as two of its teeth were torn free. She forced her fist in deeper, aided by the blood and saliva lubricating her hand. The prowler struggled, pushing against her and the ground to try and escape. Elsa pushed back, forcing herself onto and into the vicious beast until her arm was buried to the elbow in its throat.

Elsa felt the spongy slick tissue. She ignored the claws gouging into her breasts and abdomen. Her life was already forfeit, all that mattered was doing the impossible once more before her time was done. She hooked her fingers into the flesh and pulled, relying on the strength of her genetic enhancements and the boost that Vitalis had given her. She felt the viscera tear slowly at first, then faster as she pulled her bloody arm free.

Blood, bile, and chunks of flesh spewed out of the mouth of the prowler. A hissing noise accompanied the gore, followed by burbling as the fluids rushed into the beasts torn windpipe. It snapped at the air and spun around, trying to run away to safety. It stumbled over the prone body of one of the other prowlers, then rolled on the ground for several more seconds until it lay quivering and desperately trying to pull air into its lungs.

“Hope you don’t mind, we killed the other two.”

Elsa stared up. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Yellow and red flickering torch light painted the figure that towered over her. It was a man. Not any man, but a god among men. She smiled. She’d thought that the last time he’d saved her too.

“S’ok,” she wheezed. She wanted to say more but spasms passed through her that stole the control of her lungs for a moment. It didn’t hurt anymore, she just couldn’t control her breath long enough to make words come out.

“You’re a fuckin’ mess,” Tarn observed. He shook his head. “The stream ain’t gonna do it, you need more.” He turned to the two other people that were behind him. Elsa couldn’t make them out, Tarn the Titan blocked her vision. “Barry, go get Jess, then have Coral show you the way to the beach. Run, don’t walk, you got it?”

“Sir!” Barry said. Elsa wasn’t sure if she should have been amused or pissed off at how her man treated Tarn like an officer.

“Shorty, those stumps of yours better keep up. You cover our ass if you want to see your sergeant make it through the night.” Tarn squatted and picked Elsa up easily. His arms felt like steel lifters on a robo-loader.

Elsa tried to speak. She had to warn them to pack and get ready to evacuate. If she failed they might all die.

“Shut up,” Tarn growled at her. “I didn’t save your ass just to get your killed a couple days later. Save your strength, you’re arm is broke and half chewed off, I’ve got to push your guts back in to keep them from spilling out of your belly and I can see a couple of your ribs under your right boob.”

He didn’t understand. Her life didn’t matter, there’s did! If she could just talk she could tell him!

“Every life matters,” Tarn growled. “We don’t sacrifice no one, even if it means everyone else is safe. We live together or we die together. You focus on staying alive. You’re fucked up and even the fighter I saw tear the guts out of that prowler is going to have a rough time with this fight.”

Elsa felt the wetness on her face. She was crying. Why, she didn’t know, but she couldn’t deny it. Tarn cradled her tightly against him, then he turned and launched himself into a jog.

Chapter 4

The majority of the jungle nightlife fled at Tarn’s approach. A few smaller creatures were either too hungry or stupid. The first, a creature that looked like dog-sized salamander was kicked into a tree hard enough to make its bones crack. The second was a short haired four legged animal that had a snout with a pig’s nose, but otherwise had a faint resemblance to a Terran bear. Shorty put an arrow into its side then followed it up with a couple of jabs to its neck with his spear. Whether it was fatally wounded or not, the creature fled into the jungle and they heard no more of it.

Tarn emerged onto the sandy beach soon after the confrontation. He slowed to a jog and looked around. He’d never been to the beach at night, only Kira and Fiona had attempted it. Now he could appreciate why. Several of the bear-like creatures roamed along the shore. Many stood still in the shallows, staring into the water. Tarn watched as one dove in, it’s face smashing into the water while its front limbs slammed together. It rose up a moment later, clutching a squirming fish in its mouth. A few quick chomps and the fish was gone, swallowed nearly whole.

“Guard duty,” Tarn growled to the Marine behind him. Ben “Shorty” Stevens nodded and made sure the arrow in his bow was tight against the string.

Tarn moved towards an open spot along the shore and waded into the water. “Bath time, beautiful,” he whispered to Elsa. Elsa’s lips curled slightly but her eyes were little more than slits. She’d lost a lot of blood and the run through the jungle had been anything but gentle. “Remember that you’re a Marine. You don’t have permission to die.”

Her lips moved but he couldn’t make out any words over the gentle lapping of the surf and the occasional splash made by the fishing pig-bears. One of them huffed from nearby, then shrieked. Tarn ignored the creature, instead he made sure none of the meat eating fish or crabs were nearby before he knelt down and gently placed Elsa in the briny water.

He knelt beside her, cradling her head to keep it above the swell of each wave. Tarn risked a brief glance and saw Ben yank his spear out of one of the pig-bears, then fall back while the creature thrashed on the ground. He stood with his spear poised, then lowered it when another of the pig-bears found more interest in the fresh meat Shorty had provided. Ben snatched up his bow and fit another arrow to it, then moved closer to where Tarn and Elsa were in the surf to stand guard.

“How is she?”

Tarn glanced at Elsa. The clear night sky made it seem bright compared to the dark jungle, but it was a cold light that offered little depth into the water. At best he could see the dark cloud of blood around her injuries. “She’s fucked up,” Tarn admitted. “We’ve had some bad injuries but none like this.”