“Jesus!” Hood took an involuntary step back even as he braced his weapon and took aim. The targeting laser stabbed out into the darkness, zigzagging crazily in the air as Hood tried to zero in on the creature, but there was no way to shoot the monster without shooting Rollie.
Letting the rifle fall on its sling, Hood drew his .45 and rushed forward to join the melee, but before he could cross the distance, Rollie abruptly staggered backward and collapsed in Hood’s path. His hands were clamped around his neck, under the jawline of his pro-mask, but could not stem the cascade of blood pulsing out of the ragged wound in his throat.
Hood only glimpsed this from the corner of his eye. His attention was wholly focused on the monster crouching just beyond. He lined up the front sight on the creature’s exposed head and started to pull the trigger. As if sensing his intention, the monster raised its gore-streaked face to him and snarled.
It wasn’t Wolfman.
It wasn’t Sharky.
Hood staggered back. “Dale?”
Mad Dog snarled again and then, moving faster than a cat, snaked out one hand to seize Rollie’s left leg. Without taking his bulging eyes off Hood, he began backing away, dragging Rollie with him.
Hood gripped the pistol tightly in both hands, willing himself steady, and lined up the shot.
Do it, he told himself. You have to.
Kill or be killed.
Put him down like a…
Like a mad dog.
His arm quivered. He couldn’t seem to find the strength to break the trigger. After a few seconds, he abandoned the struggle, lowered the pistol.
“Dale,” he said again, desperately hoping that the name might break through the fog in his friend’s brain. “It’s me. Jeff. Dale. Let me help.”
Growling, Mad Dog kept retreating with his prize, shrinking into the shadows. Rollie’s hands had fallen away from his neck, arms outflung and flapping as he was dragged along. The pulse of blood from his ruptured throat had become a constant dribble; his life already drained away. A long, wet streak trailed after his body.
“Dale!”
But Mad Dog had disappeared from view. Rollie’s head and shoulders remained visible a few seconds longer, then he too was gone, swallowed up by the darkness.
Hood staggered sideways, falling against the wall of the passage, and then slid down to seated position with his back against hard stone, weeping into his mask.
He knew what he had to do. What he should have already done.
Kill Mad Dog.
Kill Dale.
If he pushed through his doubt, executed his best friend, he would have to live with that betrayal for the rest of his life. If he didn’t…
He had just squandered his best chance to end it quickly, mercifully. To put Dale out of his misery. Next time, he would be the prey. If he faltered, he would die, just like Rollie and Bender had died. Torn apart. Eaten.
Dale certainly wouldn’t hesitate.
“Just do it, soldier,” he rasped into his mask. “Don’t think. Do it. He’s not Dale. Not anymore. He’s a monst—”
He broke off, choked with emotion.
A monster.
If only I could see you the way you see me, he thought.
And then he realized that he could.
He set his weapons on the ground beside him. He switched off his NVGs, embracing the darkness once more, and removed his helmet, placing it with the guns. Then he removed the protective mask, savoring the feeling of cool air on his face.
He took a breath through his mouth, which helped him tolerate the rancid odor. After a minute or two of trying to breathe normally, the smell didn’t seem so bad.
After a few more minutes, he could distinguish the faint glow of luminescence all around him. Soon he would be able to see just fine. Better than fine. He would be able to see the subterranean environment as well as the creature that would soon be coming for him.
When it did, he would see only the beast.
CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES
JAKE BIBLE is the author of 55+ novels, including the bestselling Roak: Galactic Bounty Hunter series of space crime novels, the bestselling Z-Burbia series set in Asheville, NC, the bestselling Salvage Merc One, and the MEGA series for Severed Press. He is also the author of the YA zombie novel, Little Dead Man, the Bram Stoker Award nominated Teen horror novel, Intentional Haunting, the middle grade ScareScapes series, and the Reign of Four series for Permuted Press. As well as Stone Cold Bastards and the Black Box, Inc novels for Bell Bridge Books. Jake hosts and produces a semi-weekly podcast, Writing In Suburbia, where he gives his take on being a full-time professional writer while also living a suburban life as a father and husband. Find Jake at jakebible.com. Join him on Twitter @jakebible and on Facebook.
KIRSTEN CROSS IS a Scandi-Cockney hybrid with an aversion to liquorice and a passionate love of motorbikes. She’s a laid-back horror and Sci-Fi writer who, because of a dubious internet search history that includes ballistic profiling of semi-automatic weapons and whether shooting pheasants with a longbow is still ‘technically’ illegal in the UK, lives in perpetual fear of arrest. Occasionally, to try and avoid being classified as ‘shady as all heck’ by British Intelligence, she shouts “I’M JUST WRITING STORIES!” at the computer. When not blowing things up, documenting alien invasions or otherwise engaging in literary shenanigans, she writes web content for a living. She now lives in splendid isolation in glorious Devon with a biker husband and a lot of wildlife, some of which makes really weird noises at three in the morning. When not writing, she surfs, and is also an MIA Hall of Famer for her contribution to the advancement of women’s martial arts.
SEAN ELLIS IS a survival writer and action-adventure novelist. He has authored and co-authored more than two dozen action-adventure novels, including the Nick Kismet adventures, the Jack Sigler/Chess Team series with Jeremy Robinson, and the Jade Ihara adventures with David Wood. He served with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources Policy from Oregon State University. Sean is also a member of the International Thriller Writers organization. He currently resides in Arizona, where he divides his time between writing, adventure sports, and trying to figure out how to save the world.+
JONATHAN MABERRY IS a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-WARS, is in production as a Netflix original series, starring Ian Somerhalder (LOST, VAMPIRE DIARIES) and will debut in early 2019. He writes in multiple genres including suspense, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and action; and he writes for adults, teens and middle grade. His works include the Joe Ledger thrillers, the Rot & Ruin series, the Dead of Night series, Glimpse, The Wolfman, X-Files Origins: Devil’s Advocate, Mars One, and many others. Several of his works are in development for film and TV. He is the editor of high-profile anthologies including The X-Files, Aliens: Bug Hunt, Out of Tune, New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Baker Street Irregulars, Nights of the Living Dead, and others. His comics include Black Panther: DoomWar, The Punisher: Naked Kills and Bad Blood. He lives in Del Mar, California. Find him online at www.jonathanmaberry.com
PAUL MANNERING IS an award-winning writer living in Wellington, New Zealand, where he lives with his wife Damaris and their two cats. Author of: The Tankbread/Deadland series (published by Permuted Press), Engines of Empathy and Pisces of Fate (published by IFWG), Hell’s Teeth, EAT, The Trench, and Hard Corps (published by Severed Press), numerous short stories and podcast audio dramas (produced at BrokenSea Audio).