[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
remains still quivering in the effort to continue forward.
Magazines fell to the floor and weapons were hastily reloaded as the distance between them and their
enemies began to rapidly diminish. Malory dropped her empty shotgun and reached around to unsling her
rifle, hurriedly taking aim and firing short three-shot bursts. Even with half of his head torn away, Danforth
moved forward resolutely. His body flying away unnoticed in bloody chunks.
Finally he dropped, leaving only Gregory who was almost completely untouched and at an alarmingly
close range.
Malory inserted a fresh magazine and stood. Fall back! she yelled, taking careful aim at the
depressingly young body that had once belonged to the quiet and unassuming Gregory.
The men hurriedly retreated into the mess and Malory suddenly found herself alone and three body
lengths away from the advancing creature. Her finger moved to depress the trigger but paused when
Gregory stopped and stood unmoving in the middle of the hall. He lifted his hands to his mouth and
jerked down savagely, completely unhinging his jaw with a sickening crack of bone.
Malory didn t hesitate and emptied her rifle into the man s face, neck, and chest. The assault of bullets
only succeeded in knocking Gregory back a stutter-step and he turned a hellishly ruined-featured stare in
her direction, abruptly lunging forward with his arms outstretched.
She dropped her rifle and turned to run into the mess, a scream dying in her throat. Her body barely a
hairsbreadth across the threshold when Reynolds threw his weight into the door, barely missing her as the
door meet a fleshy and unyielding resistance and she was seized by an impossibly strong grip in her hair.
McNeely lunged forward into the door to add his strength to the effort. Get on the fuckin door! he
yelled.
All of Malory s forward momentum was stopped by the power of the grip and she was ripped
backwards, colliding with the half-open door painfully.
Alvarez leapt forward with a lightning fast draw of his knife and brought it down, cutting off a sizeable
chunk of her ponytail to free her. Malory staggered forward with the unexpectedness of her liberty and
turned to put her strength against the door.
Seeing the dilemma, Clovis let go of a frantically struggling Corky and ran forward with a roar. He
lumbered powerfully across the room and utilizing all of his considerable strength, collided into both the
startled soldiers and the door.
The force of his arrival slammed the door closed with a sickening crack of bone as one of Gregory s
Page 129
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
arms was crushed and almost severed in the doorframe. Blood filled the doorframe like glue and
Gregory s fingers twitched madly as the crushed limb dangled from the precarious tissue still exerting a
hold on the appendage.
The door won t hold! Reynolds yelled.
Back up, Malory ordered. Form another firing line!
The words were no sooner out of her mouth when the door crashed open with stunning force, scattering
the soldiers and Clovis in all directions. The edge of the door caught Malory on the side of her face and
knocked her several feet backward to land painfully on her back. She groggily rolled over and brought
herself to her knees, drawing her pistol.
Malory! Corky screamed.
The sound barely registered as she was yanked into the air by the scruff of her neck, catching sight of an
evilly unnatural mouth filled with grotesquely gyrating worms descending upon her. She screamed and
desperately thrust the barrel of her pistol into Gregory s remaining eye. The bullet splattered brain matter
on the wall behind him and the grip holding her aloft was suddenly released. She fell to the floor and
collapsed to her knees, dimly aware of McNeely running forward to grab her by the shoulders.
He started to pull her away but Gregory s wildly flailing arm caught him in the chest and propelled him
into the air, dropping him with a grunt of pain several feet away. Malory was struggling to get to her feet
when the swing that had dispatched McNeely returned to catch her in the side. The blow lifted her off her
feet and sent her smashing into a table halfway across the room, where she lay motionless.
Another scream from Corky and she wrenched free of the men holding her, racing over to her fallen
lover.
Alvarez rushed into the hall to retrieve Malory s discarded shotgun and walked back into the room
loading it. He approached the blind and still thrashing Gregory from behind, coming to just within arms
reach and shouldering the weapon. The blast removed what was left of Gregory s head and he followed
the shot with two more to the back of his knees, dropping the twitching body to the floor.
Burn it, Hanson! he ordered. Terrel, get the ones in the hall. Everyone still standing find something to
block the door with when he gets back, move!
Corky frantically rolled Malory over and checked for a pulse, tears of relief filling her eyes when she
found it strong and steady. She was in the process of searching out any obvious injuries when blue eyes
fluttered open.
Is& is everybody okay? Malory croaked.
The threatening tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. I think so.
Hey, Malory whispered softly. I m alright.
You better be, Corky sniffled.
I just needed a little nap, Malory said with a grin. Now help me up, we got things to do.
Page 130
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Okay, Corky said wiping at her eyes.
Malory got to her feet and winced, knowing that she had broken or at the very least bruised some ribs.
She shook it off and smiled for Corky s benefit, squeezing the hand in hers tightly before turning to assess
the situation.
Evidently, she was the last person to regain her feet and the men were busily working to block the door.
She turned a look at the broken table that had borne the brunt of her impact and spotted her gun on the
floor several feet away. Not caring if anyone might be watching, she released Corky s hand and leaned
over to peck her on the cheek.
We re gonna be okay, she whispered and ambled over to pick up her pistol.
Twenty minutes later, Malory gingerly sipped at a cup of coffee and surveyed the prison they had
created for themselves. She had pointedly ignored everyone since obtaining her java and the men had
only just finished shoring up the doors to their satisfaction. A task she personally thought was a waste of
time; if they wanted in, they were gonna get in and a confrontation within the small confines of the mess
hall was a prelude to disaster.
She shot a glance over her shoulder at Corky, who was going about the task of getting what food she
could ready for consumption. Not that anyone had much of an appetite after witnessing Gregory s
bloody demise firsthand, yet she realized that the doctor was coping with things in her own way. A smile
came to her face as Corky stuck an experimental finger into her concoction and brought it to her mouth,
nodding slightly in satisfaction. Suddenly, the situation became intensely personal and a grim purpose
fought for air. It was a feeling she had only experienced once before and she recognized it for what it
was; resolve.
She rose to her feet and spared a long glance at all the people depending on her leadership. It was do or
die time.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
