Chapter Thirty Seven
Alicia screamed a torrent of abuse at the beast of a man and he laughed, shaking her by her hair and pressing her own machete to her throat.
"Come for your woman!" he cried, dragging her around in a circle as she kicked at the mud to keep the sharp blade from cutting into her neck.
"It's me they want," Coal whispered, pulling his knives from his belt and pressing them into my hands. "Stay here."
"They want all of us," I protested but he was already shaking his head.
"No, in their society men are in charge. I'm your King as far as they see it. You're only useful to help him get to me." He raised a hand and ran his fingers down the side of my face, leaving a burning trail in their wake.
"There has to be another way," I said in a small voice.
"This is it. You two need to stay here and be ready, use those knives and your guns to pick off the surrounding Creepers when the time is right."
"Won't they just kill her once they have you?"
"I'm hoping I can get her out of their reach long enough for the fighting to begin, that's when you strike."
"Please-" I grabbed his hand as he turned to leave.
"I have to go." He looked at me steadily without fear, but I trembled at the thought of him in danger. I released his hand and he moved along the branch away from me.
"Don't worry," he said, looking back over his shoulder at me. "I don't intend to die today."
He gave me a crooked grin before turning away and jumping, grabbing hold of another branch and using it to swing himself forward. He let go and landed in a crouch in front of the Creeper King who was holding Alicia.
"What do you want?" Coal demanded, straightening and glaring at the filthy man with defiance.
"Death," the King replied with a savage grin.
The other Creepers were circling closer and closer to Coal but they seemed to be waiting for permission before striking.
"Are you scared to fight me alone? Or do you need all of these-" Coal pointed to the surrounding Creepers, "-to help you?"
I pressed myself back against the trunk of the tree, my fingernails digging into the damp bark.
"So long as you die, I win." He tugged on Alicia's hair and pressed the knife to her throat, drawing a thin line of blood.
"So you are afraid then?" Coal asked.
He rolled back his shoulders and stared the King down, a clear challenge in his gaze. The Creeper glanced around, taking in the looks he was getting from his followers.
"No," he snarled, tightening his grip on Alicia so that she was stretched up into the air then pushing her back downwards where she slumped with her legs curled beneath her.
"I'll give you a fair fight," Coal said, emptying the rounds of bullets from his guns and tossing them all into the dirt. He spun slowly on the spot to show that he had no more weapons. The King surveyed him with a scowl.
My hand shook as I held my pistol aimed at the King. I drew in a ragged breath and steadied my aim.
I glanced at Alicia. Her head was down and it looked like she was crying. She pulled her knees up underneath her and trembled.
None of the Creepers were paying any attention to her now, all of their gazes were locked on Coal, but the sight of Alicia breaking down caught my attention. If there was anything I knew about her it was that if she was going down, she would go down fighting.
As if on cue, Alicia's hand slid down her leg to her boot, her fingers just skimming the top of it. She took another shuddering breath and, as the King shook her by the hair again, she snatched a concealed knife from her boot and swept it up towards him.
I gasped at the sight of the machete still pressed to her neck but Alicia didn't swing for the Creeper. She twisted the knife around above her head and sheared through her hair just below the Creeper's grasp. In the same movement she spun backwards away from the machete and kicked up a circle of mud around her before stopping in a crouch with the knife held out to one side.
Alicia's cut hair fell in a tumble of curls as the barbarian let out a howl of frustration and flung them aside but Coal was already moving, running towards the King as fast as he could.
His boots sent mud flying in huge clumps as he pounded across the short distance between them. Coal leapt into the air with his arm drawn back and his hand curled into a fist. The King turned back just in time to see Coal's fist connect with his face and a sickening crunch signalled what must have been his nose breaking.
The machete fell from his grasp as he stumbled backwards, blood pouring down his face. Coal followed, his fist raised again and he swung in, closing the gap between them and gave three sharp jabs to the King's stomach.
Alicia jumped into action, flinging her knife at a Creeper who was darting across the clearing towards the dropped machete. He took it in the chest and fell backwards in a heap.
Alicia dove forwards, skidded on her knees through the mud and scooped the machete into her grasp. The force of her movement slid her towards another Creeper who met the sharp end of the huge knife with a scream.
Coal's opponent had gotten past his initial shock and was swinging fists like hammers with an inhuman rage. Coal moved quickly, darting under the swings and aiming punches to the King's abdomen and face.
The fires around the clearing blazed and gushed smoke with equal determination.
The sound of a gunshot brought me to my senses as a Creeper on the outskirts of the group collapsed. Laurie was already aiming at another before I realised I was supposed to be helping too.
Something clicked into place in my mind as I let my training take over. I pushed my emotions aside and selected a target with cold detachment.
My aim was true and I hit a stumpy Creeper with enough force to send him skittering into the bushes, out of sight.
Alicia was like a shining light amongst a throng of dirty Creepers, her knife slicing to and fro as she spun this way and that, avoiding their grabbing hands and gnarled fingernails. Her beautiful hair whipped about her head, still long enough to fan out around her, sometimes brushing a Creeper who had gotten close but none could land a grasp on her.
I took out as many of the Creepers who were pouring towards Alicia as I could, so long as they were far enough back to give me a clear shot.
My pistol clicked with the sound of the empty chamber. I was out of ammo. I shoved it back into the holster before starting with my knives.
I moved from branch to branch taking aim at any Creeper I could and hitting more times than I missed. Laurie was throwing knives too, her face pulled into a mask of concentration. Some of the Creepers were starting to look up at our tree and made their way towards the hulking trunk.
Coal and the Creeper King were locked in an embrace of fists, knees and elbows. There was blood flying in every direction and I couldn't tell how much of it belonged to either of them. Coal tripped the King who stumbled aside but swung his massive elbow backwards into Coal's face and sent him sprawling to the ground.
I threw a knife at him and it plunged squarely into his thigh. The King let out an enraged howl but ran forwards without removing the blade and jumped on top of Coal, fists flying.
Coal had his arms up to cover his face but the sheer force and weight of the massive Creeper was preventing him from doing much else.
The crack of a branch behind me announced the arrival of the Creepers to our canopy hiding place and I turned as Laurie released a torrent of bullets at the emerging heads.
"Time to go." She smiled fiercely as more Creepers took the place of those who had fallen. Laurie grabbed a vine and swung down into the clearing below us.
Coal, his face bloody, got his knees up and launched the King backwards off of him. He was on his feet a second later and threw himself on top of the bigger man, pinning the King's arms down with his legs and punching again and again at the grotesque face.
The fires crackled around the clearing, slowly forming a wall around the fighting beneath me. Smoke billowed up into the tre
etops and I coughed.
I braced my feet against a knot raised from the branch I was standing on and pulled the shotgun from my back, levelling it at the row of Creepers who had made it onto the branches surrounding me. My first shot sent three of them tumbling down out of sight but the others quickly scattered. It dawned on me that they were obviously more used to traversing the branches than I was.
I took another shot as the Creeper I was aiming for jumped to a different perch and caught him in the chest. The Creeper collapsed and crashed through the branches, slamming into them one by one before hitting the forest floor.
Another Creeper lunged at me and I stumbled back, fumbling to get my shotgun between us. The snarling face, lined with broken teeth loomed towards me and I pulled the trigger. The Creeper was blasted away but the recoil caught me off balance and I had to drop the shotgun so that I could steady myself on a branch to my left.
The gun spun through the canopy and squelched into the mud far below me.
I cut my losses and leapt for a vine of my own. I caught it and it held for half a moment before snapping. I screamed as the vine went slack in my grasp and I fell towards the ground. I slammed into a thick branch which splintered and broke beneath me. The impact spun me around and dropped me into the middle of the raging battle below.
I hit the ground on my back, hard. The breath was forced from my lungs and I couldn't move as I gasped for breath, the pain paralysing me. Mud splattered up all around me and I could feel the moisture soaking through my clothes.
My vision swam but I could make out a blurred shape moving towards me from my right. I tried to reach for a knife but my body wouldn't respond.
"Maya!" someone screamed my name but I couldn't concentrate enough to work out who it was.
The Creeper loomed over me, laughing, as I dragged in a shuddering breath, my fingers spasming towards the hilt of the knife.
My boots scrabbled in the mud, but I still couldn't get my body to do what I commanded. The Creeper leant over me, his rancid breath filling my nose and making me cough harder. His gnarled claws reached for me and my heart spluttered with panic.
Something wet splattered onto my face and I managed to raise a hand to wipe it off. My fingers swam in front of me smeared with red. Blood my brain supplied sluggishly as I focused my eyes on the Creeper in time to see him totter, a surprised expression frozen on his face. He crashed down on top of me, knocking the breath from my lungs once again.
A second passed and my lungs screamed, then someone pulled the Creeper's body off of me.
"Are you having a rest? You know there's a fight going on here?" Laurie smiled, offering me a hand.
She pulled me to my feet and I stumbled as I regained control of my body. I doubled over, clutching my knees for support as my lungs heaved down air and I tried to stop coughing it back out. It was made harder by the amount of smoke swirling around us from the bush fires.
Laurie grabbed my shotgun from the ground and pressed it back into my grasp as I surveyed my surroundings.
I could see Coal, still on top of the King, pounding his fists down again and again. Alicia was only visible as a flicker of blond hair or swish of machete between the throng surrounding her.
As I watched, a feral scream burst from Alicia's lips and the group around her spilled apart. She was surrounded by a pile of bodies, some still moving, and she climbed over them panting with exertion.
She turned towards her brother and took a step in his direction. A Creeper, who had been hiding amongst his dying comrades, launched an attack from behind her. There was no time to warn her. My feet started moving before I consciously made any decisions. My shotgun was up and I screamed an animal challenge that spurred me forwards.
The Creeper turned, a look of surprise and horror fixed on his face. I wrenched the trigger back and the shotgun kicked hard against my shoulder. I was ready for it and I felt the pain with a fierce satisfaction as Alicia's attacker was thrown down into the mud.
Alicia turned, her green eyes connected with mine momentarily. I nodded in response. She snapped her head back around to the fight still taking place between Coal and the King and I followed her gaze.
The beast beneath Coal had managed to get an arm free and launched a punch hard enough to send Coal rolling to the side. He regained his feet almost instantly and ran forwards, jumping into the air as he aimed a kick at the Creeper King's face. There was a sickening crunch and the King went still, falling limply into the thick mud at Coal's feet.
The Creepers who still hung around the clearing stared with horror at their defeated King. There was a moment of total stillness and silence before they turned and scattered into the forest.