Reverend Johnny fired M16 rounds in the direction of a second fin. One bullet punched a hole in the appendage and the creature retreated.
The same story played out around town. Groups of soldiers barricaded in buildings. The monsters circled outside. In the fifteen minutes since the swarm first arrived, Brewer confirmed five of his men dead. They managed to kill one of the creatures with a lucky burst of gunfire while at least two more of the things suffered serious wounds when they burrowed into occupied homes and met shotguns at close range.
At the partially assembled command module, Casey Fink retrieved a large case and a small box. Unfortunately, the vehicle could not be driven; the caterpillar tracks had not yet been affixed and the fuel tank lacked gas, although several large barrels of petrol stood nearby.
Fink-case and box in tow-rejoined General Brewer and Reverend Johnny. The three climbed the slope of the mountain at the back end of the town.
Meanwhile, the rest of the expeditionary force remained in small groups at various hard points throughout the settlement. Of course, when an enemy can move through the ground as easily as a person moves through air, no point could be considered particularly ‘hard.’ Nonetheless, the soldiers concentrated fire at any approaching fin, discouraging the predators, but not chasing them off: the creatures circled the ‘streets’ waiting for an opportunity to feed.
“Did you get the scope?” Jon Brewer asked Fink.
“Yes, I got the scope,” Fink answered as he hoisted a. 50 caliber sniper rifle from its case.
Their elevated position on a rock outcropping afforded a good view of the entire town.
Captain Fink removed the telescopic sight and replaced it with a thermal scope. A moment later, he scanned the ‘streets’ of Qaanaag which appeared dull white through the heat-sensing sight.
“All units, do you copy? Who has eyes-on any of the things?” Jon Brewer radioed.
“Sir, Cooper here, Sir. We’re held up in the southwest quadrant in two homes. Got three of the damn things circling us.”
Fink swept that area with the sniper rifle. He saw the heat signatures of the men inside the buildings. Then he saw a yellow and red blob moving around outside.
He took careful aim, anticipated the creature’s movement, and fired.
The. 50 caliber round could penetrate armor, so it easily penetrated several feet into the tundra. Nonetheless, Fink’s first shot missed, as did his second. Fortunately, the creatures did not appear to realize the bullets aimed for them.
Finally, his third shot hit a fast-moving Bore-Shark. Its momentum through the hard dirt obviously contributed to its demise as the thing broke into three big pieces.
“It sees us from our body heat,” Jon started and Reverend Johnny finished, “Turnabout is fair play. You are a clever man, General.”
Fink picked off two more.
“All units, if you’ve got infrared use it to track these things,” Jon radioed.
Only a handful of the men possessed any type of heat-sensing sights or devices, but those who did directed grenades and rifle fire. The odds of the battle finally started to turn.
Meanwhile, Fink picked off another one, dwindling the school of Bore-Sharks to five.
However, his success drew attention. Captain Fink watched through his scope as the remaining creatures formed a wedge and ‘swam’ across the town…in his direction.
“Um…I think they’re on to us.”
“Then keep shooting,” Brewer said.
Fink, prone on the side of the slope with the rifle balanced in a small tripod, drew a bead on the approaching group. He fired a series of semi-automatic shots from the big gun.
“That’s one…,” he reported as the school closed to one hundred yards.
Casey carefully aimed and pulled the trigger.
Then again.
“That’s two…three to go”
Seventy yards.
“Casey, are you going to get them all?”
Blam.
“Shit. Missed.”
He pulled the trigger again but nothing happened. No bullet fired.
“Oh you gotta be friggin’ kidding me!”
“Jam?” Jon shouted. “It jammed? Jesus Christ! Fix it!”
Casey went to work on the weapon, struggling to remove the huge clip.
Reverend Johnny acted. He grabbed his M16 and descended the slope, directly toward the trio of closing fins.
“Reverend! What the hell are you doing?”
“The Lord is my Shepherd!”
Reverend Johnny ran down the rocky slope toward City Hall and the non-operational command vehicle, but would need to outmaneuver the bore-sharks to get there; all three adjusted their course as they locked on to his body heat at fifty yards.
He fumbled with his utility belt as he ran and found a flare.
“Let…me…have…your…undivided…” the flare sparked to life, “attention!”
He could nearly feel the sharks roar in hunger as the sparkling heat signature beckoned like a siren’s call.
The creatures closed to twenty yards…ten…five…
Johnny cut hard and changed directions like a halfback heading for the end zone. As he swerved, one of the attackers leapt from the ground, hungry for a new meal. For an instant, Johnny stared directly into its round mouth. He saw no teeth, only pinkish gums dripping with liquid and he understood: the creatures did not chew their prey; they dissolved them. Dissolved them with the same acid that allowed them to ‘swim’ through rock and earth.
In the next instant, that Bore-Shark disappeared into the ground again.
All three creatures circled around for another attack.
“Get that gun going!” Johnny yelled to his friends on the hillside. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this!”
The Reverend’s nifty dodging bought him enough time to reach the snow-covered dirt road outside City Hall. He aimed specifically for the cluster of fuel drums by the partially assembled command vehicle.
Johnny set the flare on top of one drum, bear-hugged the container, and found the strength to move it-in hops-thirty feet away from the other two barrels.
Behind him, the three remaining Bore-Sharks completed their circle and found his heat signature again. They ‘swam’ through the ground in his direction. When they closed to fifteen yards, they accelerated for the kill.
“And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with FIRE…”
The Reverend ran, leaving the flare atop the fuel drum.
All three Bore-Sharks greedily targeted the heat source of the flare. The lead creature jumped from the ground with its acid burrowing excretions coating its head as usual. It swooped half the petrol barrel and the flare into its mouth.
Boom.
A golden explosion knocked Johnny off his feet. He felt a blast of heat singe his neck as he fell face-first into the cold earth. A rain of burning liquid fell around him, thawing that cold ground to mush.
The explosion left behind a crater, chunks from two melted monsters, and a smell similar to burning electrical wires.
“Praise the Lord, two for the price of one.”
The remaining creature withdrew, most likely disorientated or frightened off by the explosion. It ‘swam’ around to the far side of City Hall, disappearing from the Reverend’s view.
