“I really don’t like this,” Kinimaka said.
Drake’s fingers flexed over the reassuring metal at his side. “Aye, pal. Never seen anything like this in my life.”
As if by telepathic signal the creepy horde exploded into action. Not as a mass this time, but instantly separating and coming at the village from as many different directions as possible. They broke off in twos and threes, scampering between houses and along rutted lanes, crawling through gardens, hugging walls like enormous slugs, scuttling close to the floor without space between them so they resembled one, terrible, giant spider.
Doors could be heard smashing, windows opening. And that gave the SPEAR team some leeway. Hayden rose from her position across the street and shouted at the top of her voice.
“Stop, or we will be forced to fire on you. This is your only warning.”
Blank, featureless faces turned slowly and looked upward. Drake suppressed an eerie shiver and readied his weapon. Were these people really cannibals? Were they seeking a sacrifice?
You’re a long way from home, matey.
Cold winds gusted by, the mountains watched impassively and the wild, untamed lands spread far and wide. The rooftop was exposed, dirty and unsafe. But they were soldiers and they were here to do what they did best — protect the people. Help the villagers in their time of need. It wasn’t only a duty; it was a calling.
Still, the faces were pointed up at Hayden, disconcertingly quiet and immobile. In stillness, they watched. Hayden stared back and seemed at a loss.
“What the hell am I supposed to do now?” she whispered over the comms.
“Go down there,” Alicia whispered back. “We’ll watch.”
“We’ll all go down there,” Drake decided. “Maybe we can talk some sense into these muppets.”
At the edge of town, where the darkness held sway, twenty black-robed figures with twenty burning torches shifted their weight, making the flames flicker and the black smoke billow.
And right below, Drake saw the unmistakable movements of enemies reaching for weapons.
“Cover!” he cried.
Kinimaka hurled his bulk to the ground, making the roof creak ominously. Drake and Alicia paused just one extra second, concerned to see what manner of weapon the creatures pulled out.
Not believing their eyes.
“You gotta be kiddin—” Alicia managed before the first thick black arrow whistled overhead.
Drake met her eyes. The two were lying flat on the roof, protected by the height of the house but still vulnerable. Alicia blinked rapidly.
“You believe this?”
“Because Incas,” Drake said, as if explaining the answer to a fundamental question.
“You tryin’ to be funny? This ain’t the time, Drakey.”
“No. It’s just like the answer to every motoring related question is simply: Because race car. This is Inca country.”
A shaft struck the corner of the roof and tumbled onto Drake, its momentum spent. He picked it up and took a look. “Nothing special about ’em,” he said over the comms. “Rudimentary, no metal at all. I can’t tell if the tips are poisoned though, so take care.”
He looked over at the other roofs. Arrows lanced through the air and the gaps between houses, a deadly wooden shower. Unreality washed over him. If some crime lord was trying to unbalance them with peculiarity, then he was doing a damn fine job of it.
Rushing noises from below told him the creatures were on the move again, searching for victims. He rose fast, wishing there was more light. It would be too easy for these things to hide in the dark shadow and take pot shots.
Other figures rose all across the rooflines. Hayden leaned over and took the first shot. An arrow flew past her face. She fired again. A figure shrieked and then fell, twisted all wrong. Drake lined another up but a twitch in the dark made him duck away. The arrow parted the air where his head had been. Crawling forward, he peered over the edge of the roof, took aim, and sent a bullet into the ground an inch wide of its mark. Gunshots filled the night and the villagers clasped their weapons, unable to help for now but desperate to save their kin and their way of life.
“Time to move,” Mai said. “We have to get among them.”
Drake agreed. The real battle was in the streets, not up on some low rooftop. Crawling fast, he made his way to the ladder at the rear of the house and hesitated as Kinimaka reached it first.
“You go, bro.” Kinimaka heaved out a sigh. “Ladders and I just don’t get along.”
Drake swung onto a rung and climbed down, Alicia a foot above his head. He jumped off into darkness, checking for enemies around the narrow alley and seeing nothing. Rifle ready, he moved off just as the ladder creaked alarmingly to signal the steady descent of the big Hawaiian. Indistinct shapes flashed across the far end of the alley, becoming larger as Drake moved closer. Alicia breathed in his ear.
“Look out for teeth.”
He nodded, focused ahead. Bows and arrows might be rudimentary but they could kill as well as any bullet. And who knew what other weapons might be still concealed? He paused at the exit, hugging the wall and looking around. Something low to the ground squeaked and sprung up at him, arms and legs striking hard, surprising him more than anything. The training was usually to look above ankle height, and the black-clad figure had been crouched incredibly low. A spindly elbow smashed his head back, bruising his cheek, but he managed to hold on to his weapon. As he fell back he registered another shape creeping across the wall at head-height, clinging to a row of trashcans, before launching at Alicia. She fell back, grunting, striking the opposite wall and trying to get a grip on her attacker. Drake managed to get a secure grip on his own assailant and threw him bodily against the wall, hearing bones crunch. Kinimaka jumped from the third rung of the ladder, coming down full force on Alicia’s opponent. The creature fell without a single sound, obliterated.
Drake ran out into the street, spotting a bow-and-arrow wielding man and firing first. The bullet struck; the body fell. He spotted Mai and Yorgi to the right; the others coming up the main street. Darkness flowed toward them.
“Come on!”
Drake found himself kicking out at the low-scuttling pack, striking what he assumed and hoped were ribcages, thighs and shoulders. Some collapsed or flew backward, smashing into their colleagues, upsetting the entire pack. Chaos took hold. Dark creatures rose fast, weapons in their hands, and now Drake saw an assortment of knives, scalpels, a sword and even a scythe.
It was the scythe that swept toward him, blade glinting red with reflected torchlight. Drake danced back into a deeper dark, then jammed the barrel of his rifle into the figure’s stomach, doubling it over. The scythe fell.
Alicia was battling alongside, face to face with a man, his features partially hidden but thankfully all too normal. Drake heard her sigh of relief above the din of fighting.
“It’s truly just a man.”
Drake elbowed another. “Ya got a good look at the choppers yet?”
“No, hang on.”
And then what Drake thought would be a punch, a tilting of the head and a second sigh turned into a terrible, sharp intake of breath.
“Oh, shit. Jesus, Drake. Fuck off!”
Alicia punched and kicked and threw her opponent across the width of the street, freaked out; acting crazy. “I was joking!” she cried at the swaying man. “Joking, you hear!”
Drake lifted his own enemy by the chin, ignoring the empty, staring eyes and the hard jabs to his body. With force he managed to wrestle the face mask over the lips. A punch to the nose made the mouth open and exposed the teeth.