Hours later, a patrol wandered into their trap. By then they'd sent half the men to sit in some of the buildings across the street. Snipe, however, was in a building at the corner of the street as a lookout.
He was the one to give them the news. "Heads up, guys. Brute patrol incoming."
The resting marines grabbed their weapons and got into defensive positions along the window frames.
Shane poked his head above it just enough to see, and said into his radio to the rest of the group. "Okay. Seven of them. Keep the captain alive. But, subdue him. Wait for my mark."
The men then waited for him to give them the signal. The brutes, totally unaware of the danger, continued on down the street. Shane waited until they were right in between his group and the group across the street. Then he yelled, "Fire!"
Snipe was the first to fire. Two shots echoed through the street before any other. One ripped right through the captain's leg, and another split a brutes head like a watermelon. Two more shots sounded off again, but by then the rest of the men had opened fire.
Shane aimed carefully at a brute minor as he turned to fire his spiker at the group in the opposite building. He pulled the trigger three times before a round hit the beast in the back of the neck. The small projectile shattered the spinal cord and vertebrae before exiting through the windpipe. The monster would've suffocated if the bullet hadn't shattered his neck bone.
He moved on to another target as the rest of the men quickly mowed down the rest of the beasts. In the end, only the wounded captain remained alive. Shane jumped out of his cover and said to Snipe, "Cover us and keep watch."
"Roger that."
The rest of the men came out to meet him, and they circled around the monster, still giving him plenty of room. The beast roared his defiance and reached for a carbine a few inches away from his hand. Shane put three rounds through his wrist. After that, the monster was compliant… to say the least.
"Where is the wreckage to the space elevator?" asked Shane.
The monster stared down the barrel of Coop's shotgun, only a foot away from his face. He growled and said slowly, "It's a quarter mile to the north."
"You sure?" asked Shane. Coop moved in closer, stressing how honest he should be.
"Yes. The wreckage took out a large section of the city. You can't miss it," he said in his deep voice.
The captain shifted his weight and finally asked, "Do your superiors know about the ship crashing near the wreckage two miles away?" He didn't see the harm in asking the brute. In a minute he wouldn't have a head.
"Of course!" laughed the brute deeply. "How could we miss it?"
"Did they send men—I mean, brutes to attack it?"
"Yes. But the survivors inside locked up the ship. We've been trying to find a way in the last couple days."
Shane closed his eyes and silently thanked God. There were survivors alive in there, and they were safe, for the moment. He opened his eyes and smiled devilishly.
"Thank you. You've been most helpful." He then nodded to Coop.
The man fired his shotgun into the monster, almost obliterating his whole head. There wasn't a face anymore and they could see part of the bone. The men were satisfied with his fate, they had no remorse for any of the brutes they'd killed.
"What do we do now?" asked Shawn.
The captain smiled. "Now, we head north." He keyed his mike and said, "Snipe. We know where to go. Get over here."
"Yes, sir," said the sniper. He could hear a little skip in the man's voice. And minutes later, when he joined them near the brute's carcass, he had a smile on his face. "So, we know where to go?"
Shane nodded. "Yup. North a quarter mile. Our buddy here," he kicked the brute's body as he said it. "said we can't miss it." Snipe and the others laughed a little at the dead alien captain. "Okay, men. We've wasted enough time. No more waiting. Let's go!"
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