For a full thirty seconds after Hydra's wails were silenced, the storm of metal falling from the sky continued. When it stopped, a cloud of dust hung in the clearing like a curtain. King could hear the voices of the Gen-Y soldiers checking in, but their words couldn't be discerned over the ringing in his ears. The dust settled in minutes and King got his first look at the Hydra. Its body was mangled, almost beyond recognition. More bloody pulp than living thing.
Gen-Y soldiers descended from their rooftop positions while others exited the cabins. They approached the Hydra, some reloading weapons, some already taking aim at the fleshy pile. They split as Rein-hart, Ridley, and Maddox appeared from behind a row of cabins. "Is it dead?" Ridley asked.
"I'd say so," Reinhart replied.
"Burn it."
As Ridley turned to leave, King took aim. Ridley and Reinhart were their targets as much as, if not more than, Hydra. Then he paused. "Does something about the Hydra look different to either of you?"
Knight shook his head.
Bishop squinted. "I'm counting seven heads."
"How many did it have before?"
"Four," Knight answered.
King lowered his aim. Even while being pummeled by the Metal Storm rounds, the Hydra had continued regenerating heads, three of them. He watched as the wounds on the side of the immobile creature began to fill in. The Hydra still lived. "This is going to be messy."
FIFTY-NINE
The first man snatched screamed like a wounded cat before he was flung through the roof of a nearby cabin. A few of the men standing closest took aim, but the other six heads snapped out like whips, squeezing the life from them as rib cages cracked and internal organs ruptured, then tossing them aside and striking out at other men.
Chaos ensued as the Hydra, still healing, stood again.
Some of the Gen-Y men turned and fled without a second thought. Others fired their weapons, but with their force already cut in half they could do nothing to slow the rapidly regenerating Hydra. Some men threw grenades, which had an impact, but more than a few went wide and one bounced back. The concussion sent three men flying. One legless.
Hydra threw itself into the remaining men. Their gunfire did little to slow the enraged beast. As one man became mush beneath its foot, another was eviscerated by its snapping tail. But the majority of damage came from the l ightning-fast heads, snapping out like a twisted game of hungry, hungry hippos.
Five more Gen-Y men fled, all running in the fastest direction: downhill. Maddox was among them, clutching his briefcase.
Reinhart and Ridley, however, fled away from the others, heading back toward the Manifold facility.
Hydra spun in circles, looking for more attackers, but found only bloody, oozing corpses. It roared, louder than ever as the last of its wounds finished healing. Then all seven heads spread in different directions, tasting the air. Snapping branches caught their attention. All seven heads looked downhill, where the fleeing men were doing little to conceal their frantic flight. The Hydra roared again, then smashed through a cabin, reducing it to splinters, before barreling down the hill.
King cursed. He'd watched the whole gruesome event alongside Knight and Bishop. The Hydra was a killing machine. That a single man had managed to subdue the creature seemed impossible. If Deep Blue was right, and its regenerative ability could be stopped, it would be possible, but it had withstood a barrage powerful enough to destroy anything man-made and had come out stronger. And to make matters worse, it was heading for a campground full of families. The Hydra had to be stopped.
But he also couldn't allow Reinhart or Ridley to escape. He turned to Knight and Bishop. "I'll go after Reinhart and Ridley. Do your best to slow it down. Make protecting the people in the campground your—"
Bishop was already up and moving. He passed through the decimated kids' camp and launched down the hill.
"— priority," King finished, then added, "Switch weapons. You'll need the heavier firepower." Knight took King's M4 and handed him the MSG3.
"You might need this, too," King said, handing him the PDA.
As Knight pocketed the PDA and jumped up to follow Bishop, King added, "Keep an eye on him."
Knight gave a thumbs-up and sprinted after Bishop. He was faster than Bishop and could normally catch up, but he was still human, and already breathing heavily from the past hour's action. Bishop, on the other hand, seemed right as rain; no doubt a benefit of his regenerative abilities. He couldn't get tired.
As Knight reached the drop-off behind the kids' camp he paused and looked downhill. In the distance he could see six small figures popping in and out of view as they moved between trees. Behind them ran the Hydra, its heads flailing, rattling, and roaring. Though it gained on the fleeing men, it did so slowly. It ignored trees and other obstacles, preferring to smash through them than run around. The result was a chaotic stumbling stride that left a cleared patch of forest in its wake. Knight stole a glance at the PDA map. They were just under a mile from the campground. They'd reach the quad in ten minutes. Maybe less.
Clutching his weapon, Knight dashed down the hill, leaping stones and running along fallen trees. His chest heaved from the exertion, but he was happy to see that he could still move faster than the average man, or regenerative man for that matter. He gained to within twenty feet of Bishop, just as Bishop caught up with the Hydra… and Hydra caught up with the fleeing men.
Knight had to duck as a man was snatched up and flung backward. The man soared over his head, screaming as blood seeped from a myriad of tooth punctures. A loud crack issued from behind him as the man struck a small but sturdy maple tree, folding his body around its trunk, backwards. He wiped the man's blood from this face as he leaped a fallen tree.
The Hydra struck a rock and careened head over heels, rolling over three more men, crushing them into the mountainside. Without missing a beat, the creature was back on its feet, nipping at the heels of the lone remaining Gen-Y guard and Maddox, whose scream undulated with every rapid footfall like Axel Rose squealing on a scratched Guns N' Roses CD.
The Gen-Y man tripped and screamed as his leg snapped. The Hydra snapped down at him as it passed, taking an arm and portion of the man's chest with it.
"Help me!" Maddox screamed, realizing he was next. "Somebody help me!"
Knight slowed some as he passed the armless, dying man. The fear stitched across his face turned to placidity as his life ebbed. He had never come across something as unforgiving and capable at killing as the Hydra, and for the first time in his life he felt his steady hands shaking.
Bishop, on the other hand, seemed undaunted by the Hydra's massive size and ability to quickly kill every human being it came into contact with. After discarding his weapon, he ran up a half fallen tree, coming alongside and above the massive creature. He drew his machetelike knife and dove onto the Hydra's back, plunging the blade deep into its flesh. Like a rodeo rider, he clung to the Hydra as it kicked its legs and arched its back, but never stopped its downward pursuit of Maddox.
Knight could see the trees thinning in the distance and the blue sky beyond. They were approaching the fringe of the camp. Bishop saw it, too, drew his handgun and fired several rounds in the back of the creature's flailing heads. Two turned to face him, but the bulk of the beast kept on running and the other heads had eyes only for Maddox.
Bishop fired as one of the heads came toward him. The bullets tore into its snout, turning it away as the stinging wounds regenerated. He ducked as a second head struck. It missed and quickly pulled back for a second strike.