She heard a subtle creaking behind her, as of bending roof planks and eavesdrops. She tightened her grip around the pistol. Though she wanted very badly to look, she didn’t dare peek past the edges.
She didn’t actually have to, because well overhead, Gizmo remained hovering soundlessly: Rhea still had read access to the drone’s cameras, so she accessed the feed.
Via the drone, she watched the Werang pull itself onto the rooftop with those hairy legs. The creature’s tentacles continued to probe away, and suddenly stopped on the edge, precisely where the party members had lurked only moments before. Its body stiffened, then it crouched, as if trying to hide from the others that it had stumbled across prey and wanted them all to itself.
The Werang continued forward, its tentacles feeling out the rooftop as it traveled the same route Rhea and the others had taken.
It’s going to find us, Horatio sent.
Get ready to strike, Will agreed. If we’re lucky, the others won’t notice.
From Gizmo’s perspective, she continued to watch the Werang approach. It was coming in on her side. Apparently, she was going to have to be the one to do the deed, unless Will or Horatio decided to lean well past her and open fire.
She reviewed her training on taking down Werangs, as taught by Bardain. These particular bioweapons were most vulnerable to energy weapons in the eyes, with the mouth coming in a close second.
She knew where the creature was going to appear beside her, so she reduced the size of Gizmo’s feed to about one tenth its previous dimensions and repositioned the video to the upper right of her vision, below her overhead map.
Then she tilted her body and aimed past the edges of the chimney in anticipation.
The tentacles appeared first, feeling around the perimeter; keeping her pistol pointed in the general direction of the wriggling appendages, Rhea edged backward, sliding into Horatio.
The tip of the long head appeared. Then more of it, along with the razor-sharp teeth.
Rhea was forced to slide further away as the tentacles grew closer to her; Horatio and Will yielded, giving her room.
And then, the slitted eye came into view.
It blinked once, seeming all too human.
Rhea hesitated only a moment. She squeezed the trigger.
The energy bolt slammed into that eye, sending yellow blood splattering onto the chimney.
The Werang lifted its head straight up and then spun away. It retreated, and screamed as it leaped onto the floor below, and again when it bounded onto the ground beyond. Such a terrible, blood curdling sound.
I caused this creature that pain…
But she had no choice.
The runt stumbled, then bolted across the clearing, yelling the entire way. The other Werangs lifted their heads from their meals—lower jaws steeped in blood—and followed the runt’s dramatic departure with their gazes.
The others won’t notice, huh? she asked.
I did say if we were lucky… Will replied.
One of the bigger Werangs looked toward the rooftop that housed Rhea and the others, then grunted at another who had already returned to eating from the same carcass. The hungry Werang ignored its companion, until the first slammed its head into the creature’s side. That got its attention.
The second Werang hissed angrily at the first, and spread its jaws wide, making it look more like an alligator than a shark. The first firmly swung its head toward the rooftop, twice; finally, the second stopped hissing and bowed its head in acquiescence. It left the carcass to investigate.
The screams of the runt, meanwhile, faded as the creature receded into the dead forest.
Rhea focused on Gizmo’s feed, and watched the newcomer approach the house while the others fed. Some of the smaller Werangs that had given up on finding any food inside the house watched from the sidelines.
Far side of the lower rooftop, Will ordered. Now!
Stay low, Horatio said. There are other Werangs watching, now.
Rhea and the others low-crawled toward the side of the house closest to the dead forest, away from the incoming Werang, and when they reached it, they lowered themselves to the rooftop of the first floor below. They flattened themselves to the surface once more, because there were Werangs waiting on the ground beyond.
Via the drone, they watched the bioweapon clamber onto the far side of the first roof, and then the second. It proceeded toward the chimney, guided by its feeler tentacles.
It’s following our scent trail, Rhea said.
I know, Will said. Which is why we have to keep moving. We’ll just keep crawling in circles around the second-floor roof. And if it finds us, we shoot it.
This Werang was about twice as big as the previous, and it moved almost twice as fast. Rhea and the others were already low crawling, moving to the far side of the first-floor rooftop. They hugged the walls of the second level beside them.
The Werang clambered onto the first floor behind them and proceeded to follow once more.
It’s going to overtake us, Horatio said. We have to switch to a crouch.
Then we’ll be spotted, Will said. Especially on this side. We’ll loop back to the far side and climb back onto the roof. Then clamber down the chimney.
What if it’s not wide enough to fit us, Rhea said.
Then we’re screwed, Will said.
They proceeded to the far side, where they had climbed down, and then Rhea helped Will onto the second-floor roof. She leaped up, grabbed the tiles beyond the eavesdrop, and pulled herself up. Horatio did the same. They cleared the edge just in time before the Werang that stalked them appeared.
They low-crawled from the lip of the roof, and then crouched to hurry the rest of the way to the chimney.
Will gazed inside. Crap.
She glanced over the top edge of the chimney to look inside as well: far
