Marcus (8 page)

“I’m working as fast as I can,” she
snapped.

He heard the tremor buried under the snark
and he gripped her shoulder. “I know you are. You can do this.”

She sucked in a deep breath, nodded. “Put in
another one, please.”

Only Elle would still be using her manners
in the middle of a post-apocalyptic warzone. He shoved another
crystal in. A few seconds later, she shook her head.

Thumps echoed from the front of the library.
They all swiveled to look in that direction. The distant howls of
the canids reached them.

“Marcus, we need to go,
amigo,
” Cruz
said, shifting his grip on his carbine.

“We aren’t leaving without the damn
crystal.” He put another one into the system, then tapped his
earpiece. “Noah?”

Still nothing.

“Get some cover between us and them. Gabe,
scout for a secondary exit.”

Gabe gave a brief nod before he disappeared
into the shadows. The others tipped over some tables and dragged
them over.

Marcus and Elle worked through three more
crystals before she gasped. “Yes!”

Raptor language filled the screen with its
distinctive letters that looked like claw marks and scratches.
Elle’s eyes moved back and forth as she scanned it.

“Is it enough?” he asked.

She nodded. “I think so.”

A crash sounded from the front of the
library. The excited yips of the canids sounded—loud and getting
louder.

“Time to go.” Marcus helped Elle shove the
crystal into her backpack. Gripping her bicep, he tugged her close.
“Hell Squad, let’s get out of here.”

***

Elle hurried alongside Marcus, jogging to
keep up with his long stride.

The flush of excitement at finding a crystal
containing the raptor language had faded in an instant. The howls
of the canids sent chills across her skin.

Gabe loomed ahead. “This way.”

They maneuvered through the rows of books.
Paper books had long ago gone out of favor, eventually becoming
nothing more than quaint collectibles. But the invasion had made
them popular again in the base. Not everyone had a working portable
comp, so they had to read from paper. She spared one longing glance
at the shelves and shelves of books before focusing on their
escape. She needed all her concentration to keep up with Hell Squad
and not slow them down.

Gabe opened a side door to the outside. He
slipped out with his gun up, followed by Claudia.

“It’s clear,” Gabe said.

They stepped out into a deserted alley,
parts of it in shadow as the sun sank toward the west. Large
plastic waste containers were lined up near the door, some marked
for trash, others for recycling. To the left was a dead end,
dominated by an overflowing dumpster that stank of rot.

Shaw cursed. He had a palm pressed to the
now-closed door. “It’s self-locking. We can’t go back that
way.”

Marcus nodded. “Doesn’t matter.” They moved
together in a tight formation, headed toward the entrance on the
right. “We need to—”

Suddenly, a team of seven enormous raptors
appeared at the alley entrance.

Elle gasped. They were so big, and all
brandishing wicked-looking weapons that vaguely resembled Hell
Squad’s carbines, but were covered in scales. She heard Marcus
curse.

Then the raptors opened fire.

Marcus shoved Elle back hard, and she fell
behind the waste containers. She stayed there for a second on her
hands and knees. Dark-green poison splattered the wall above her.
The roar of her squad’s carbines was loud in her ears as their neon
green laser fire lit up the alley. She heard Marcus calling orders
to his team.

She lifted her head and risked a glance. Saw
the raptors advancing and Marcus and others returning fire.

They were trapped in this damn alley like
animals in a cage.

She pulled out her thermo pistol and tried
to calm her racing heart. Marcus was right, this was way worse than
listening to a fight over the comms.

Then she heard another terrible sound.

Canids growling.

She swiveled. The first dog-like alien came
through the door from the library. It was big, the size of a wolf,
with a spiked ridge along its back. The animal lifted its head and
spotted her.

It opened its mouth, baring sharp teeth.
Then it leaped into the air and with one bound, landed on top of
the waste container in front of her.

Elle scrambled backward.

And dropped her pistol.

The canid leaned down, its jaws snapping. It
smelled like rotting meat and old blood.

Elle moved her hand desperately across the
concrete. Her heart was hammering like drums in her chest.
Pistol. Pistol
. She touched cool metal and whipped the gun
up…just as the canid leaped at her.

The weapon discharged, the canid’s body
shuddering under the impact of the thermo bullets. The creature
fell on top of her, pinning her to the cracked pavement.

She stayed there for a second, panting. Warm
stickiness coated her chest.
Ick
, canid blood. With a heave,
she pushed the animal off her.

More raptor poison hit the wall above her
head.

With a yelp, she ducked back down, cheek to
the ground.

Then Marcus was there, his big body
shielding her and pressing her into the ground. He patted a hand
over her blood-soaked armor. “Where are you hit? Are you okay?”

She gripped his wrist. “It’s not mine. I’m
fine.”

He spotted the canid’s body and his jaw
tightened. Then he touched his ear. “Noah? Tell me you got the
comms fixed.”

“I’m here. I broke through the jamming
signal.”

Noah’s voice was still faint, but clear
enough. Elle released a breath.

“We need a way out,” Marcus said. “We’re
pinned in an alley.”

“Okay. Okay.” Noah sounded harried. He was
probably regretting volunteering to do comms. “I’ve got a Hawk on
its way. And I’m searching for an exit for you.”

“Now, Noah!” Marcus yelled.

“He’ll come through,” Elle said. “Noah
always comes through.”

A distant roar echoed through the alley.

“Shit,” Marcus bit off.

Elle swallowed.
Boom. Boom. Boom
. The
ground beneath them trembled.

The raptors ahead scrambled out of the way.
Two huge, scaled legs with clawed feet the size of SUVs stepped
into view.

It took another step and the huge, bulky
body of the rex filled the alley entrance.

It lifted its enormous head and roared.

In his head, Marcus worked through all the
curse words he knew. And he knew a lot.

This was bad.
Fucking bad.

He stepped closer to Elle and wished like
hell she was anywhere but here. He needed to keep her safe. He
needed a way out.

She was looking around and he could almost
see the wheels turning in her head.

“Marcus. Back through the library. We need
to go that way.” She pointed.

He saw the door that had locked behind them
was now torn and bent from where the canid had come through.

He cupped the nape of her neck. “Good work.”
Then he looked back at the team. “Everyone, back into the
library.”

They sprinted toward the door. The raptors
opened fire again. The thick, green goo hit the side of the
building, sizzling as it ate into the brick. The squad returned
fire.

The rex roared again and took a step into
the alley. But the massive creature’s progress was halted by the
tall buildings on either side of the narrow alley.

As they moved inside, it took Marcus’ eyes a
second to adjust to the dim light. Elle stumbled on an overturned
chair. He grabbed her arm and kept her on her feet. They ran down
the rows of shelves.

Suddenly, part of the roof gave way with a
crash and a huge clawed foot came down and squashed the bookcase
beside them.

Marcus swerved left and looked up. Through
the gaping hole in the roof, he saw the rex.

“Marcus.” Noah’s voice cut through the
chaos. “Hawk will be landing in five minutes in a park two blocks
north of your location.”

“Roger that, Noah. Now keep quiet. We have a
hungry rex to deal with.” A raptor appeared in front of them.
Marcus shot it in the head. “Everyone, keep moving!”

“Marcus!”

Claudia’s shout came through the earpiece.
Followed by Cruz’s swearing in Spanish.

Marcus swiveled. Elle slammed to a stop
against his chest.

Hell
. Claudia was pinned by an
overturned bookcase. Cruz was trying to free her but one of his
arms was hanging uselessly by his side and covered in blood and it
looked like the bookcase was too heavy even with the help of his
armor’s exoskeleton.

Three raptors were heading their way,
tossing debris out of their path to get to them.

Overhead, the rex roared, smashing its tail
through a wall. Hunks of plaster flew through the air, one smacking
Marcus in the back. He pulled Elle to his chest, curling his body
around hers.

“Fucking fuck.” Shaw appeared beside them.
He knelt and sighted his rifle at the raptors bearing down on Cruz
and Claudia. “We have to get her out of there.”

Gabe rushed passed them, sprinting toward
the pair.

“Zeke!” Marcus roared.

The man materialized beside him. He held his
carbine in one hand and his knife—covered in raptor blood—in the
other. “Boss?”

“You take Elle and you get her out of here.
Get to the evac point.”

“Marcus, no!” she said. “You need Zeke
here.”

“I need you safe.”

She opened her mouth and he gripped the
front of her armor and yanked her onto her toes. He pressed a quick
kiss to her open mouth.

“I. Need. You. Safe,” he growled.

He didn’t wait to see that she followed his
order. He spun and plowed toward his fallen team members. Shaw had
taken down a raptor, Gabe was wrestling with another. Marcus lifted
his carbine and shot the third.

More raptors stormed through the door from
the alley.

“Shaw and Gabe, get Claudia and Cruz out.”
Marcus stepped between his team and the door. “I’ll hold them
off.”

The sniper didn’t miss a beat. He leaped to
his feet and raced over to Claudia. Gabe followed, then gripped the
heavy bookcase with one hand and heaved. It should have been far
too heavy for one man to lift, but it moved.

Marcus kept firing his carbine. The front
few raptors fell but he knew there were too many. All he had to do
was keep the majority of them off his team and give them a chance
to escape. Two aliens rushed him.

He went down under the weight of them. As he
fell, he yanked out the two gladius combat knives he carried.

God, the raptors were heavy bastards. They
were bigger than humans but they were also more dense. He stabbed
one up through the ribs, rolling to avoid the second raptor’s
jagged, black blade.

They strained against each other. The
raptor’s red eyes were narrowed on Marcus. The alien managed to
force Marcus’ arms away from him and aim his blade for Marcus’
throat.

Fuck
. Marcus pushed upward, trying to
keep the wicked edge away from his skin.

Suddenly, the rex crashed through the roof
again.

Chunks of ceiling crashed on top of Marcus
and his opponent.

While the raptor was startled, Marcus jammed
his elbow up, catching the creature’s chin. With his other hand, he
jammed his knife into the softer flesh under the raptor’s neck. The
skin there was still harder than a human’s and Marcus had to work
the knife in. Finally, blood spurted and the raptor made an
agonized noise.

Marcus heaved the creature off him and
rolled away. He pushed to his feet. As he sprinted to his people,
he saw that Gabe had managed to get the bookcase off Claudia and
Shaw was helping her up.

The rex roared, a sound so loud it made
Marcus’ ears ring. He glanced over his shoulder and almost lost his
footing.

The rex was staring down through the hole in
the roof.

Right at them.

Its red eyes looked like the fires of
hell.

“Go! Get her out,” Marcus yelled. But he
knew it was too late. The rex could kill them all with a single
swipe of its claws.

“Hey! Ugly! Over here.”

Marcus stumbled, his gut pulling tight.
No. No. No.

Elle yelled again. “Yeah, come on you
hideous thing. Come this way and leave them alone.”

Marcus clenched his hands. He saw her on the
other side of the library, waving her arms in the air.

He saw the rex tilt its head, watching
her.

It had lost interest in the rest of
them.

Zeke rushed in beside Marcus. “Sorry, boss.
She got away from me and refused to leave without you.”

Jaw tight, Marcus moved to the others. “Up
and at it, soldier.”

“Yes, sir.” Claudia grimaced. Shaw was
holding her upright. “I can make it.”

The rex let out a horrible roar and Marcus
watched Elle lunge to the side.

The rex swiped out with its claws.

Marcus’ heart just stopped.

Agile and nimble, Elle dropped flat on the
floor. The creature’s massive claw swiped through the air about a
meter above her head.

She leaped back up in one lithe jump and
started running. Her gaze caught Marcus’s.

Come on, baby
. She was running
flat-out.

The rex stamped its feet, managing to squash
the last few raptors heading Hell Squad’s way. Then it swiped at
Elle again.

And this time he caught her.

The creature raised its claw, Elle dangling
from it, her arms and legs thrashing.

No
. Marcus swung his carbine around
and ran toward her.

***

Adrenaline stormed through Elle, leaving her
heart racing and her mind pumped.

The rex’s claws had hooked into the back of
her armor. The creature was waving her, wildly trying to shake her
loose.