Page 13 (1/2)
His body cru, and he wasn’t even sure which as up
Pain finally caught up with the trauan to throb as if it were still being pounded
Marcus took the pain as proof he was still alive, and pushed hi his ax as a cane
The ’Gast was al like the last one, and Marcus wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back up
A quick glance around the room showed nowhere to hide The darkened corners and the space behind a giant shipping container would only cage him and serve as a surface the ’Gast could bounce hi was an option, but for all he knew, he’d head right into another Fractogast and have two to deal with Or a pile of shells Those weren’t the kind of odds he’d survive
So he did the only thing he could think to do He backed up onto the raised platfory e him with a wave of mental heat as he approached The machine was powerful Now that he was close, he could sense that not only had it been co he’d felt before--the asts to kill innocents And it was revving up fast, getting ready to do its job
A device this intricate and powerful had to be precious to the Fractogasts He was counting on it
Blood dripped along his te up to the device seeed to cli the ax to steady hi backward took tian to hesitate
Rapid clicks poured fro’sof insect wings Marcus had no clue what it was saying, but the closer he got to the machine, the faster the clicks caot louder, and the ’Gast caated hands
Marcus froze in place, trying to figure out his nextalmost impossible As it was, they were at an aard stalemate, and every second he held it was one et away He didn’t want to do anything to mess that up At least they could warn someone of as about to happen
Seconds ticked by Two asts entered the room He couldn’t tell if they were the same two Simone had draith her safety net or not For all he knew, there were dozens of the things lurking in this building
Betaves of dizziness, one thing beca to make it out of this alive There were too s And even if he was, there were likely going to be a dozen zo Simone hadn’t already driven away in it
The hammer was here Once he died, they’d take it from his belt and use it to build another one of these machines Unless he found a way to destroy the hah to e the handle The
The area he guessed to be the control panel was completely alien No buttons or levers The only reason he suspected that the flat area activated the device was that he sensed a trickle of purpose co from it that seemed to fit the bill
Maybe if he slah, there’d be soy feedback that would shatter both objects Or blow this place up, along with the Fractogasts who could use the ha shot, but it was the best option he could think of
Marcus lifted the hammer to take out the panel when one of the ’Gasts screeched He’d never heard the noise before, and it h to see two hu Simone’s unconscious body in by her boots
Her dark hair fanned out behind her, sweeping through the ash bisected her hairline
The closest Fractogast picked her up as if she weighed no more than a doll It held her liers around her neck
Its gaze swung back around, the ast would do the same to Simone
5
Simone woke in the arms of the creature that had killed her husband Maybe it wasn’t the specific one who’d drained Jereht now
The Fractogast’s skin was rough, like heavy-duty sandpaper There was no give, no cushion to its liave off the faint s hair, and each s sound that set her teeth on edge
She’d never been this close to one before, and now that she was, she was reevaluating her initial opinion that they were beautiful creatures
In a distant part of her brain that was just noaking up, she realized that she wasn’t afraid Pissed off? Yes Disgusted? Big yes But there was no fear
What could this creature do to her that was any worse than taking fro their unborn child? Everything she loved had been stolen All the thing could do noas kill her, and that was a pale comparison to the hell she’d already endured
Her head throbbed She felt the wet trickle of blood cooling along her hairline A slow pitch and roll of nausea sloshed in her gut