Chapter 36

Claire's scream echoes through the hallway. I run until I come to a window. It overlooks a big lift. Standing on it are Claire and a monster about the size of a man. Fried yellow skin stretches over its thick torso and shoulders. One of its arms shrivels into a fin. The other arm stretches into a long, thick whip with three gnarled fingers at the end.

Snapping the whip arm, it grabs Claire by her neck and hoists her into the air. I fire. The window explodes. Jumping onto the lift, I fire again. The monster screams and drops Claire. She lies motionless.

The monster rounds on me. I unload on the son of a bitch, backing it into a corner. The monster staggers. I kick it into the wall. I aim at its heart and pull the triggers. Screaming again, the monster slumps to the floor, dead.

I go to Claire. Her eyes open. Groaning, she rubs her neck and winces. She looks at the dead thing.

I give her a smile. "Don't worry, Claire. Your knight in shining armor is here!"

She pushes herself to her feet. "You wish. But thanks for your help. By the way, since you're here..." She retrieves a pair of submachine guns from the floor and holds them out. "Fully automatic. Just as you requested."

"Wow..." I finger the black metal.

She pulls them away. "You know the deal. Your Lugers in exchange for the subs."

I grin. "Okay, okay!"

The subs are heavier than the Lugers - heavier but faster and more powerful. More dependable in a fight.

Sliding off the safety locks, I aim at the wall, the door, the dead monster. "Now this is my kind of weapon!" I say.

I pull the triggers. The subs click. I try again. All I get is click-click-click. Claire snickers.

I round on her. "Hey, these things are empty! You cheated me!"

Smiling, she nods at a tall stack of boxes on the lift. "That top box has some ammo for them. Give me a boost, and I'll get you as much ammo as you can carry."

"All right, all right," I say, dropping to my hands and knees.

Claire steps on my back, and pain shoots through me. For such a skinny girl, she sure is heavy.

"Hurry up!" I groan.

She steps off me. When I climb to my feet, she's holding a box of ammo clips.

"Happy now?" she asks.

I have to admit, Claire's pretty cool. Kind of a tease, but at least she doesn't scare easily. And she doesn't whine when the going gets tough. Plus, she's cute. Not a bad person to get stuck with -