“You’re still outnumbered.”
“It won’t matter, as long as I know there is a possibility of getting to Burt in time. They know about Burt. They knew I was coming to find him. That’s why they’re here. They may have someone at the hospital. Be careful.”
“Mia Cooper, we have conversed and find a legal precedent for your request,” the first Other said.
Mia pushed Mike behind her as the Other approached. She held out her hand, palm up. The other took out a folded document and laid it in her hand. Mia waited for the Other to back up before she opened it.
Mia was pleased to see it wasn’t written in demon but heartbroken to recognize the signature on the bottom. The terms were clear. Kill Mia Cooper and bring her heart back for proof of death. “Oh, how Maleficent of you, Grandmother,” Mia said. She bent down and laid the contract on the ground. She reached into her pockets as she backed away from the Other, taking fistfuls of jacks out. She waited until he secured the contract in his pocket before she jumped back and tossed the jacks on the ground. An explosion of fire and smoke happened. “Run!” she shouted to her companions.
“Romeo, Juliet,” Mia called first and then, “Murphy!” She felt him behind her, and as the smoke cleared, she was turning slowly, sizing up the competition.
The Other wasn’t surprised to see the ghost. He had been warned the girl traveled with a spirit. What did surprise him was that both of them were armed with weapons that could hurt him and his partner. This wouldn’t be an easy taking. He mentally called for his largest thug. “Take her.”
The ground shook as the giant lumbered up the incline. He didn’t get to set a foot on the pavement. Mia tossed her knives. The first penetrated the thick hide of the monster, and the second burrowed in from the back, determined to join its partner.
“Romeo, Juliet!” Mia called. The knives returned to Mia before the giant hit the ground. Mia turned and said, “Take your men and leave, and no one else dies.”
Mike had pulled Cid along with him.
Glenda caught ahold of Ted who was determined not to leave. “She can’t be worrying about one of us being taken hostage. Come!”
The four ran hard for the building that, hopefully, would provide some protection from the strange creatures that they heard running on either side of the road towards them.
A multi-armed creature crossed the road and stood blocking their way.
Glenda raised the shotgun and gave him both barrels. Rock salt hurts no matter the creature. The thing crumpled to the ground in agony. Its companions hissed from the edges of the road.
Mike picked up Cid and ran. Cid twisted around, took his slingshot, and shot a few jacks as they ran. Each time one hit the ground and exploded, it confused their pursuers.
Glenda reloaded as she ran. Ted guarded her back as he lit the rag he had thrust into one of the bottles of Glenda’s hidden supply and waited until the group of assassins had congregated before he launched it at them.
The explosion of the expensive Molotov cocktail not only toasted the hides of the squad but confused the Others long enough for Mia and Murphy to move past them and follow the rest towards the hospital. If the Others hadn’t targeted her friends, she would have stayed and fought them away from her friends, but it became very apparent that the Others were not going to leave any witnesses.
One of the assassins reached out for Mia. Murphy separated the hand from its owner with a swing of his axe as they passed the impromptu barbecue.
Another one jumped out. Mia slashed at the creature, only catching enough flesh to spray her with its blood, momentarily blinding her. She felt its cold claws move around her waist. As she was hoisted in the air, the creature shuddered and fell as Murphy relieved it of its head.
Mia wiped her face on her sleeve and allowed Murphy to move her behind him.
Ted had reached an old stone wall, climbed it, and set out his incendiary and percussive weapons. He pulled out the launcher he had made from Mike’s bicycle tire and the bike’s fork. He did the math and managed to launch another bomb, warning, “Incoming!”
Murphy dove, taking Mia with him, off the side of the small bridge.
The explosion covered them in dirt.
“My bad,” Ted said and recalculated and sent a Molotov cocktail into the regrouping squad. This one was true and managed to kill one of them while burning the clothes from the others. “What the fuck are they made of?” he asked, not expecting an answer.
Cid and Mike had made the hospital doors. They stopped. Mike helped his mother over the broken pavement.
“I’m going back,” he said.
“No!” Cid shouted. “Mia needs us to get to Burt. I can’t do it alone. Look at this place. Now get your ghost deterrents out, and let’s keep moving.”
Mike looked down at the dormouse and over at his mother. Someone had to protect them from whatever horrors were waiting inside the building. Mia would have to hold her own outside. “Lead the way,” he said.
Cid entered the building, and Glenda clicked the shotgun shut and followed him in. Mike took one last look at the maniac on the wall, wished him luck, and entered the hospital.
Chapter Eighteen
“We can’t let them get in that building. If they start to split up inside, we’re doomed,” Mia said, crawling up the side of the ditch.
“We need to get to the Others. If we can kill them, then the squad may stop pursuing us,” Murphy strategized.
“I agree. Toss me up there, and I’ll encourage them to come at
