The things were everywhere, scuttling like bugs, impervious to his blows. Galen whirled the rod, metal singing through the air, a deadly melody punctuated by hollow cracks when he hit a pale skull. The skull was the only point that was susceptible to damage: hit it, smash the bone in an explosion of blood and brain, and the creature dropped, and stayed down, motionless, silent-
... but they were all silent, while they were swarming them, climbing up his legs, the screams around him were from the horses, and from Zana, Zana, but she sounded furious, not panicked, and from himself-
He was screaming, and snarling, and beating, and stomping on the things' backs, but they just threw themselves sideways with a slapping sound that reminded him of fat bugs, and wiggled out from under his feet. Bile was rising in his throat, and he grabbed the rod with both hands, raised it over his head and brought it down, once, twice, but it bounced off the creature's leathery hide, and the thing raced off into the darkness.
Galen went back to aiming for their heads, chucking one off its neck like a stuffed leather ball, he had never been good at that game, Melvin had loved it. He whirled around in the blue dusk, hit a face he hadn't realized was there, they were all around him now. He had moved into the middle of the corridor, away from the wall, bad choice, that wall had been protecting his back, and he had Zana positioned there, and now she was surrounded by these things, he couldn't see her clearly in the shadows, just her movements, frantically hacking and kicking. Kicking was useless, a waste of energy, but he had lost his voice, his speech, he could only growl, the horses were kicking and hopping around, and the scent of blood filled his nose.
He couldn't say if he was covered by his own blood or that of the beasts that were crawling up his legs again, shredding his pants with razor-sharp claws, biting into his thighs with those needle-shaped teeth in their gaping mouths. He was dimly aware that they had fingers like apes, just smaller, tiny hands grabbing at him, trying to tear him to the ground.
Need to get out here... trapped...
He tried to call Zana, but he couldn't even find her name in his mind anymore. He still knew who she was, mate, mother, friend, but speech had fled him and he just howled out his rage, and his urgency, lips drawn so far back that his face hurt.
She got his meaning, somehow, maybe by the same savage instinct that had robbed him of civilization, and grabbed for the horses' ropes. She dragged them towards the entrance, still stabbing at the attacking beasts, plunging the knife into their eyes, blinding them, killing them without remorse, without hesitation, and the horses caught on to her intent, and started racing towards the weak light, dragging her along now, trampling over the jumping bodies of the creatures, and Galen still hadn't found an animal that was remotely similar to what was tearing at their limbs.
He stumbled after her through the gate, and a cool gust hit him with a sudden, unexpected moist slap that somehow woke up a bit of rational thought in him, like waking up from a bad dream. The creatures were still scuttling down the ramp from the street above, but Galen thought there weren't so many of them now anymore, the gaps between them were wider, and hope flooded down his aching arms and he started lobbing at the things with renewed vigor. His legs were burning, from exertion, or from the gashes they had sliced into his flesh, but there was open sky above him, and the horses seemed to aim their kicks, and Zana was striking with deadly accuracy, and maybe they'd make it up the ramp. They were already halfway to the street.
And then what? Where to go? Galen jogged the last steps up the ramp to catch up to Zana and the horses, and brought his rod down at one of the pale beasts before it could jump onto his mate's back. The rod sunk into the bone, and bright red blood splattered into his face and on his lips, and he hastily rubbed his sleeve over his face. For some reason, the creature's blood struck him as tainted - as if he'd catch a sickness if it entered his mouth.
In the twilight, he could finally make out their features - they were only as tall as children, but running on all four, with jerky, angular movements that reminded him of lizards. They had no fur, but they weren't reptiles, either... skin as pale and naked as a human, but their eyes huge and black and protruding, with flat faces. Not human. Couldn't be humans, not even disfigured humans.
He reached Zana, and they were standing back to back now, weapons poised, the horses dancing around them, still hobbled by their fetters, but kicking at their attackers, that were circling them now, more cautious after the initial wave of attack hadn't brought a swift victory.
"Need to flee," Galen ground out, his tongue still clumsy in his mouth. "Too many to kill."
"The humans..."
"Their decision to go in." And who knew, if they had stumbled upon these things down there, they might not even be alive anymore.
"I'm not leaving them here!" He couldn't see her face, but her voice was as hard as the steel in her hand. No use debating with her. No time, either. The creatures were gathering into clumps, clearly preparing for their next attack.
Galen turned his head, looking for somewhere to hole up, somewhere better defensible than that wide-open gate, near enough for the humans to find them, near enough that Zana would follow him.
His eyes found a building, round and twisted, similar to the one the humans had disappeared in for a moment, before Alan had honed in on that cursed tunnel. Only one entrance - small entrance. Another trap, but maybe better defensible. He pointed. "There. Take the horses, I cover you."
The creatures leaped at their little group as soon as they made a move towards the shell-like building, as if the swarm knew that they'd be lost to them if they made it across the threshold. Too many, too many to bat away, Galen felt the rod jerk in his hand, almost lost his grip. He tore at it, fingers cramping with the effort, and while his weapon was locked, the things were climbing him, their gaping jaws angling for his throat, rows and rows of teeth, too many of them, unnatural-
Zana's knife slammed into the creature's left eye, through the socket and into the brain, and the liquid from the eyeball drenched her bloodied fist, and the rod came loose, finally, and Galen had the sudden inspiration to use it like a spear, stabbing it into the mass of bodies, puncturing the leathery bodies between thorny ribs, separating vertebrae, step for step for step across the walkway and towards the curved entrance of the shell, towards safety. The horses balked, not wanting to be trapped in another enclosed space, but this gate was small, and defensible.
As long as he had still some strength left. Galen filled the entrance, legs spread, rod warm and bloody in his hands, gasping for breath. His reserves were dwindling, he could feel exhaustion shivering in his bones.
If the humans didn't come out of that tunnel soon, he'd have to use that rod on his own mate, just to take her to safety. She'd never forgive him. She'd be forever convinced that the humans had died because he hadn't waited for them. But he was willing to bear her wrath, if only she'd live.
The creatures were creeping across the street. Galen braced himself, wishing for his madness to return.
The pale square of the corridor's mouth was like a Fata Morgana, beckoning them, but being forever beyond their reach; and whatever was coming for them had found a way through the cracks in the rubble of the caved-in corridor, and was catching up with them.
Burke cursed as razor-sharp claws sliced at his calves every few steps, as if the things were playing with them, keeping the pace but refraining from tearing them apart for now. But as long as he was forced to prop up Virdon, he couldn't activate another grenade.
"Let go of me," Virdon gasped, as if he'd read his thoughts. "You're faster... need to save Zana... and..."
"Shut up, Colonel," Burke snapped, and tightened his grip around Virdon's arm. "'m not leaving you behind... not leaving anyone behind..."
And then they were out of the tunnel, and stumbling into another nightmare.
Burke let go of Virdon, pushing him to the side of the opening so he wouldn't be hit by the shock wave, and hurled a grenade into the corridor behind him, then another one, ignoring the creatures that were climbing all over him now. Virdon stumbled forward and plunged his knife into one of the creature's huge, bulging eyes, tearing it off Burke's shoulder.
Eyes of a night creature, Burke realized absently. So why had there been lights on down there?
And then he didn't have time to think anymore.
The ground under him shuddered as the corridor caved in, and Burke hurled a third grenade into its lightless depth for good measure, but these things were everywhere now, coming down the walls, pouring down the ramp, a mass of pale, naked bodies, too small to be human, moving in the wiggling jerks of reptiles or insects, but clearly mammals, from what Burke could see. Furless, with huge eyes and bulging foreheads, faintly human...
No, not human. But their ancestors must've been, a long time ago. They still had hands and feet, even if their hips were deformed so much that Burke doubted they were able to walk upright. They made hissing sounds, but it didn't seem to be a language. Despite this, they were moving in a remarkably coordinated way, like ants.
His knees buckled as they swarmed him, clamping on his arms, immobilizing them, he couldn't hack at them, he couldn't raise his arms anymore to protect his throat, they were snapping at his throat now, and then Virdon was there, eyes wild, his face a snarling mask, tearing them off Burke, slashing and stomping and smashing them against the wall again and again, but they twisted in his hands and their skulls didn't connect with the wall, just their strange, deformed hands-
"Peet! Peet, over here!"
Zana's voice, shrill and breathless, somewhere up on the street, more of these things were probably crawling over her just now, where was Galen? Horses?
Burke stumbled and almost fell. Something metallic scraped over the ground, and when he looked down, it was his gun. "Betsy..."
Stupid to pick it up, useless piece of wood and metal, the magazine was empty, and he didn't have any bullets anymore, just the...
... the grenades...
But he couldn't throw them here, would be a waste, he'd just kill two or three of them, and he didn't have enough grenades for that kind of indulgence...
He couldn't remember how they made it up the ramp, couldn't even remember if he had dragged Virdon along or if he made it without his help. He was too busy stabbing the monstrous little critters to look around. It was Virdon who grabbed his arm and pointed across the street, to another conch, just like the one they had entered earlier this morning.
There was Galen in the entrance, bashing in skulls left and right, like a simian demon straight out of his nightmares.
He couldn't see Zana anywhere... she was probably inside. With the horses. God, he hoped they had managed to keep the horses. They'd need them to outrace those creeps. Burke grabbed Virdon under the arm again and dragged him towards the conch. "We need to get outta here!"
From then on, everything was a haze, a nightmarish slashing and stabbing and kicking without making any progress anywhere, only the sensation of warm blood gushing over his hands standing out, and his own blood, hot and thin, pouring from his body from a myriad of bites and slashes, and Al at his side, hacking and kicking and enjoying himself, or maybe he wasn't grinning, maybe he was snarling-
Galen there, all of a sudden, his robe torn, blood slicking his fur, and a dazed fury in his eyes that made Burke fear that he wouldn't even recognize him, and bash his head in with that blood-crusted metal rod that he was swinging furiously. Like in that corridor, in Kira's clinic, that frozen moment of staring him down-
Still more and more of these creatures crawling towards them, and he was bleeding, they were all bleeding, even the horses, and where the hell were they coming from? He stopped for a moment, gasping, trying to get an overview, they had to come from somewhere, a nest, an ant trail...
Yeah. There. One building, spewing forth more and more of them. Burke sprinted across the street, ignoring the alarmed cries behind him, and lunged, throwing another grenade-
He dove behind one of the mushrooms just as the grenade detonated, and suddenly there was silence; and Al and Galen were killing off the last two dozen creatures that were still coming at them-
Burke stabbed at one of them that had somehow found its way to where he was leaning against the base of the mushroom thing (Virdon had called them something else, but he couldn't remember), and it skittered away. There was blood everywhere, on his hands, on the ground, in his eyes. His clothes were clinging to him, wet and cold from blood, the creatures', and his own. He felt tired, and chilly, and the adrenaline was leaving his body so quickly that everything was suddenly dark and muted.
"Zana? Zana!"
Burke blinked.
Galen. Galen racing around, head swiveling like a searchlight, bloodied rod still gripped tightly.
He struggled to his feet, calling out for her, too. "Zana, baby? Where are you? Zana?"
Virdon was stumbling along the outer wall of the conch, face white with exhaustion and dread. "Zana? Zana!"
They spread out, sweeping the entire thing, but met up at the entrance only moments later.
Zana was gone.
Virdon was swaying on his feet, panic blazing in his eyes. Probably felt responsible for the whole fuck-up. "They must've dragged her away, but they, they can't have gotten far!"
"They didn't drag her into the tunnel, in any case," Burke said darkly. He had checked it - it was blocked for good. "Even if one of those critters could wiggle through, Zana's body doesn't fit through any of the cracks." He shook his head. "They took the back door, or one of the windows - some of them were broken. Al's right, we can still find her. Get the horses, I'll have a look."
The horses had been crowding in a corner, trembling, bleeding, trying to kick them, so Virdon had found it wiser to keep them hobbled for the time being. "The fetters can be loosened with one tug anyway."
Burke nodded absently, but Galen didn't answer immediately. When he finally turned his head to look at Virdon, Burke saw his friend freeze.
"If she's dead, Alan..." Galen's voice was almost inaudible, humming with fury. "If she's dead, I swear you'll pay for it."
"Whoa there." Burke stepped between Virdon and the ape, although the look on Galen's face made his skin tingle. "Calm down, Galen, okay? We'll find Zana, and she'll be okay. There's no need for talking shit."
Galen turned his gaze to him then, and Burke unconsciously gripped his knife harder. The look in the ape's eyes was icy. "He's responsible for what happened here... for what happened to her. I do hold him responsible. If we don't find her..." He turned away and jerked at Tala's rope.
"Don't come between us then, Peet. I'm warning you only once."