"Aim for the skin underneath, Colin. That thing's shell looks bulletproof," I reported. Jessica and Dan screamed, rushing toward us as they fled the beast.
"It's really a monster," Jessica cried, sounding shocked. I growled and removed her vise-like grip from my arm.
"Out of the way. Go back to the road," I snarled. I jerked my hand to gesture behind me as Colin let another bullet fly. Jones and Evans came up behind me, heading for the monster like we’d planned.
Jessica’s eyes went wide, but then her hungry gaze shot to the camera in Dan's hand. "Babe, we need footage of this."
I didn't have time to scream at her. "The federal government wants a word with you. Get back, or I'll shoot you for trespassing." While Jones and Evans surrounded the beast, which reeled back, snuffling, Holt sprinted up to me. He glared at the couple, yanking Dan back by the collar as he attempted to turn his camera on.
"Do you want to die today, son?" Holt demanded.
Jessica screamed again. “Look!” I turned around to see Jones leaping away as the beast snapped at him. Where its tongue darted out, droplets of saliva fell into the dirt, the soil beneath it seemed to boil. My heart thudded hard against my chest.
"Get them out of here and get that camera," I told Holt. He nodded and took off. I fired at the beast, nailing it straight on the nose. It screamed in pain and fell back, only coincidentally missing Jones, who was getting too close again. "Stay away! Look at the freaking dirt." He rolled his eyes, then found the ground and took a hasty step back. Just my luck for Fenton to stick me with two hotshots.
The beast’s leathery skin was resistant to most of the shots. It reared back, then lurched forward as if to headbutt Jones, missing him by inches with its tongue. Jones let out a cry as he was knocked to the side. Evans got the message quickly and retreated closer to me.
"Colin, the skin's too tough," I reported on the comm. One of Reshi's knives rested in my equipment vest.
From afar, I heard Holt shouting, "If you kids don't turn off that camera—"
"Get everything, babe!"
I seethed with frustration. We needed Holt here, not wasted on babysitting duty. Did they want to get people killed today?
"Evans, cover me," I told her. "I'm going for the neck. This knife is the only thing that's going to get through." It was still full of dark energy from the harvester evacuation, where I’d fought off a few errant beasts before the meld. Hopefully that would help here in the Leftovers.
My throat tightened at the memory of Kane looking over his shoulder at me, smirking, making fun of the way the harvester children clung to me. Not now, focus.
I darted forward as Evans leveled her shots, moving toward the front of the beast to distract it from my side assault. Jones was pulling himself up, but Colin and Evans were making up for him. I sprinted up toward the beast as Colin nailed it in the cheek. The neck was always weakest, and it looked like that was where the shell connected to the skin.
I leapt into the air, grabbing a low-hanging tree branch, then pushing myself off the trunk and landing on the creature’s back as it shrieked in pain from the last shot. It felt me on its back and tried to buck me off, but its size and width worked against it. I held on like hell, grasping at the strange bit of matted fur that grew at the base of its neck.
My hand found the knife and I drove it in as Colin aimed another shot. Evans and Jones covered the feet. My blade sunk in with some resistance, but blood sprayed out. It smelled the way it did when we killed shrieking decays. I gagged; the smell was overwhelming in combination with the stench from the trees. Focus, Roxy. I just needed to land my blade in the other side of the neck, and that would be enough. Already I felt the beast stumbling. I sucked in a breath and worked my knife free.
"Are you okay?" a low, rumbling male voice whispered in my ear. "It pisses me off when people don't listen." He sounded furious. My heart froze. I knew that voice. And that hearing it was impossible.
"Kane?" I whispered.
Commotion blocked out the voice in my head for a moment. "Roxy, take your strike," Colin yelled into the comm. My fingers felt numb around the knife, blood dripping over them.
“Roxy,” Kane said.
“Stop talking to me!” I cried. Colin took in a sharp breath. Before I could apologize, the world shifted, and I was flying back into one of the bushes at the base of the nearby tree, thrown off as the creature lurched. My back hit the ground hard, my teeth jolting in my mouth, and my head swam with confusion.
"Does she need an assist?" Jones asked over the comms. He was forty with two kids at home. At that moment, I wanted to punch him in the face. “I thought you were supposed to be an expert.”
"Don't be afraid," Kane’s voice muttered darkly. Where was it coming from? He wasn’t behind me.
“Jones! It’s coming at you again!” Evans’ voice rang through the comms. At thirty-two, she was a decorated soldier; she and Jones had been teammates before. “Taylor, get yourself together.” Jones let out another cocky comment and I could see the fight getting away from me.
"Warriors need to
