That was when he felt it. A slight tug on his prosthetic like he’d run into a fishing line, providing just a modicum of resistance. Then he heard a whir, like a spring releasing.
“Get down!” he roared.
Beckham dropped to the ground, Rico diving next to him. Horn threw himself down onto the edge of the stream.
Lindquist was too slow.
A bounding mine launched from where it had been planted, spraying shrapnel in a wide disc about five feet off the ground. The shrapnel cut into Lindquist’s arms and chest, tearing into his neck. He didn’t have time to scream before his body hit the ground.
Almost as soon as the mine exploded, Beckham heard a roar to his left and rolled just in time to bring his rifle up. A Variant burst from the grass, claws extended, sucker lips popping. A trigger pull peppered the beast with three rounds.
Gunshots exploded around the park along with the roars of other Variants. Horn pulled on Lindquist, trying to drag him to safety, but the man was dead, his head practically severed from his neck.
“Leave him,” Beckham said.
“Chimeras are moving!” Ruckley’s voice burst over the radio. “They’re splitting up!”
Beckham’s heart raced. This wasn’t just a chance for the Chimeras to feed. It was a damned trap. Things were quickly falling apart, and he couldn’t help but think of Timothy. He couldn’t let the young man die out here.
Other voices over the radio cried for help, reporting more men down as the Variants tore into the teams. Gunshots were interspersed with the boom of anti-personnel landmines.
Beckham recalled Outpost Turkey Creek and all those other frontier outposts that had secured their lands against Variant attacks using mines. Now those weapons were being used against them.
“Reaper, Recon Sigma One here!” Ruckley said. “Variants headed your way!”
Beckham stood, trying to watch for monsters and mines all at once.
“Horn, Rico, on me!” he yelled.
They advanced into the darkness, following the creek. Another two Variants exploded from the grass around them. Rico shot one, and the second slammed against Horn. The big man clenched his fingers around the Variant’s neck as the beast snapped at him.
He let out a roar, cranking back the creature’s neck, followed by a resounding crack. The creature went limp in his grip, and he dropped it to the ground.
Rifle up, Beckham went into the clearing where the picnic shelters were. Toward their south, two Chimeras engaged in a gun battle with Bravo. Recon Sigma had descended from the RV and were at the edge of the park. He spotted Timothy next to Ruckley, both still alive and unhurt.
Thank God, Beckham thought.
Beckham spotted two Chimeras sprinting northward, straight toward his position. The ghastly soldiers saw him, too, and brought up their rifles, firing. He threw himself to the side as bullets stitched the ground, kicking up a spray of mud.
Another roar sounded behind them as Variants pounced at Rico and Horn again.
Beckham kept his focus on the Chimeras. He centered his sights on the first Chimera and pulled the trigger. Rounds punched into the half-man’s chest, blood spraying out the exit wounds.
The second beast leapt over the new corpse, firing wildly mid-jump. Beckham had to duck, pressing himself into the side of the creek as the Chimera retreated northward on the other side of the creek.
“Chimeras down!” a voice from Bravo reported. “Engaging Variants now!”
That left this single running Chimera alive.
“I’m going after him!” Beckham shouted as Horn and Rico battled a pair of Variants.
He ran as hard as he could, his prosthetic threatening to slip on the muddy shore. The Chimera turned back only to let off another series of wild shots.
Beckham pushed harder, accelerating, but the creature was far faster. He stopped and aimed his rifle, aiming for a leg.
The shot hit the back of its knee, sending the half-man tumbling.
Beckham kept his rifle up as he approached. The Chimera tried to drag itself away.
Pulling out his combat knife, Beckham ran toward the injured monster. The mutant creature turned and sliced with clawed hands as he approached but he managed to drive the blade hard into his shoulder.
The Chimera roared and slammed its skull into Beckham’s nose, knocking off his night vision optics.
Dazed, he fell back, warm blood oozing out of his nostrils. He tried to scramble away to give himself some room to recover.
Footsteps sounded, followed by snarling and a crack.
Vision blurred, Beckham pulled out his pistol and swung it toward the noise, ready to pull the trigger and kill the Chimera.
“Boss!” Horn yelled. “Don’t shoot!”
The stars cleared and Beckham saw his friend in the moonlight, wrestling the Chimera on the ground. Rico joined them to help secure the creature. Timothy ran over a minute later, and relief swelled through Beckham when he saw the young man.
“Area is clear,” Timothy said, panting.
Beckham put a hand on his nose. “Damn, that hurt.”
“At least it’s not broken.” Horn chuckled. “Kate wouldn’t be happy about that.”
A little laughter was a good thing, but it didn’t last. They had lost a lot of good soldiers tonight and were returning home with fewer men and women to defend what was left of the Allied States.
***
Azrael marched down the long corridor of the Citadel, the command center of the Land of the New Gods. Red tendrils of webbing covered the glass walls like oversized spiderwebs. Scions walked up and down the hall, and a few Variants crawled between them, some traversing the walls or ceilings, using the webbing as handholds.
Across the webbing, cocoons writhed, filled with prey the Variants or his Scions had brought back to feed the organic communication network.
Azrael took his time admiring the ecosystem on his way to the throne room. Two Scions bowed, then stepped aside so he could enter what had once been a lecture hall.
In his past life, he had attended a multitude of scientific presentations here. This had been a place of technological progress.
