Good. She didn’t want the kid to have any more scars than he already would.
She pulled out a knife and went to the woman’s side. With one well-aimed thrust, the blade slid in between her ribs, severing a major artery near her heart.
The ’Gasts might have been able to keep bodies moving, but they couldn’t repair that kind of damage. The old woman would never be used again.
“Time to go,” said Brighton, grabbing the hammer from the floor.
She wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to cloak all three of them, but she was sure as hell going to try.
She took the kid’s hand just as another giant Fractogast lumbered out from a connecting hallway.
Reflexes honed from years of self-preservation had her hiding her presence instantly. The kid shimmered out of sight right along with her.
Brighton, however, was still visible.
The ’Gast saw him. Its beady eyes flared in recognition and it headed straight for him.
4
Marcus stepped in front of Simone and the boy as they vanished from sight. “Run,” he whispered. “I’ll hold them off.”
He briefly considered giving her the hammer, but it would have been visible, giving away her location. Assuming she was even still within arm’s reach.
Marcus hoped like hell she wasn’t.
As the Fractogast closed the distance, he pulled his ax from the loop on his belt, slid the hammer in its place, and rolled his wide shoulders. In an instant, all of the training his father had forced on him came roaring back.
A fluid strength filled his limbs, leaving no room for fear. He fixed his grip on the haft and swung like his life depended on it. Which was fitting.
The creature’s long arms gave it an unfair advantage. Marcus misjudged the ’Gast’s reach and took a heavy blow to the side of his head for the mistake. He was so stunned by the hit, he didn’t realize that he’d been airborne until he landed. Hard.
His shoulder rammed into the device that had just drained that old lady. The whole ring rocked on its cables, detaching luminous filaments in a shower of sparks.
His body crumpled to the ground, unable to move. His ears rang, and he wasn’t even sure which way was up.
Pain finally caught up with the trauma he’d just endured, and the left side of his body began to throb as if it were still being pounded.
Marcus took the pain as proof he was still alive, and pushed himself up, using his ax as a cane.
The ’Gast was almost within reach again. Another slug 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 him off.
Running 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 platform to where the newly finished ring stood.
Energy emanated from the thing, blasting 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 completed; it had also been activated.
This was the thing he’d felt before—the machine that would bring more Fractogasts 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 temple. The steps leading up to the device seemed almost impossibly steep. He managed to climb them only by using the ax to steady himself.
He didn’t dare turn his back on the ’Gast. Inching backward took time, but as he got closer to the machine, the creature began to hesitate.
Rapid clicks poured from the thing’s mouth, so fast it almost sounded like the beating of insect wings. Marcus had no clue what it was saying, but the closer he got to the machine, the faster the clicks came. The steady stream of sound got louder, and the ’Gast came to a halt, holding up its elongated hands.
Marcus froze in place, trying to figure out his next move. Dizziness and pain made thinking almost impossible. As it was, they were at an awkward stalemate, and every second he held it was one more that Simone and the kid had a chance to get away. He didn’t want to do anything to mess that up. At least they could warn someone of what was about to happen.
Seconds ticked by. Two more Fractogasts entered the room. He couldn’t tell if they were the same two Simone had drawn away with her safety net or not. For all he knew, there were dozens of the things lurking in this building.
Between waves of dizziness, one thing became clear to Marcus: He wasn’t going to make it out of this alive. There were too many of them. He wasn’t fast enough to outrun those long legs. And even if he was, there were likely going to be a dozen zombie shells between here and his RV. Assuming 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 hammer.
There was no source of heat intense enough to melt the metal or even singe the handle. The most powerful thing in the room was the oddly shaped ring.
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 coming from it that seemed to fit the bill.
Maybe if he slammed the hammer down on it hard enough, there’d be some kind of energy feedback that would shatter both objects. Or blow this place up, along with the Fractogasts who could use the hammer to build another portal.
It was a long 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 made him look up for a split second—just long enough to see two human shells dragging Simone’s unconscious body in by her boots.
Her dark hair fanned out behind her, sweeping through the muck on the tile. She was too pale, and a deep, bloody gash bisected her hairline.
The closest Fractogast picked her up as if she weighed no more than a doll. It held her limp body in one arm and wrapped its spindly fingers around her neck.
Its gaze swung back around, the message clear: If Marcus destroyed the device, the Fractogast 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 Jeremy of his life, but a detail like that hardly mattered right now.
The Fractogast’s skin was rough, like heavy-duty sandpaper. There was no give, no cushion to its limbs, and they were cool to the touch. It gave off the faint smell of burning hair, and each small shift of its body made a low
