Chapter 98: A Monster’s Invitation

"Have you ever seen one?"

"No." Matthew shook his head at once. "If we had, neither of us would be here talking to you. It’s all in the reports they send down. We have to read them before every assignment. Otherwise, we might not even know when to run."

Lin Yan nodded.

After talking with him for a while, Matthew had found him surprisingly approachable. He didn’t put on airs, and the unease Matthew had felt at first was beginning to fade. He finally worked up the nerve to ask where Lin Yan had come from.

"Sir, if you don’t mind me asking—are you from headquarters?"

"Me? I’m—"

A sudden flare of fire rose in the distance.

Lin Yan broke off and turned. Flames billowed upward, silhouetting several buildings.

What the fuck? An attack?

Wait. Over there—

Was that the airfield?!

He tossed the corpse into Matthew’s arms.

"Hold this!"

Matthew caught it instinctively. The weight pushed him back half a step.

Lin Yan had brought the corpse along in case the people at the airfield could learn something from it. If they could figure out how the creature disrupted communications, they might be able to develop a countermeasure and deal with the problem themselves the next time it happened. Leaving it with Matthew and Eli would serve the same purpose.

He didn’t have time to haul the damn thing around anymore. The airfield came first.

Matthew had barely regained his balance when a gust hit both men in the face, sweeping their hair back.

Lin Yan was gone. In moments, he had left them far behind.

"So... fast..."

Eli stared after the rapidly shrinking figure. For a long time, nothing else came out.

Under the night sky, a lone figure raced across the wasteland, trailing a long plume of dust.

Please don’t let them hit the planes.

And if they already had, at least leave him one!

During his half-hour conversation with the officer, Lin Yan had learned that there were only two airfields in this entire stretch of desert. This one, and another more than five hundred kilometers away, farther behind the lines.

Having to run all the way there would be the death of him.

Being fast didn’t mean he couldn’t get tired. The canned meat and bread back at the command post had been so foul he’d spat them out. He was still running on an empty stomach.

The stronger he became, the more food he needed. He’d been too busy getting from one place to another to pay much attention, but now his stomach felt painfully empty. He swallowed.

Five hundred kilometers...

The thought alone was exhausting.

Then the system spoke.

[Just so you know, someone’s put another bounty on you.]

Again?

Lin Yan kept running, irritation rising in his chest.

"Seriously? You couldn’t pick a better time? You think this is what I need to hear right now?"

[Just keeping you informed.]

"Yeah. Thanks."

He ignored it and pushed harder toward the distant flames.

...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Outside the command post, several soldiers poured fire from their Thompson submachine guns. Behind them, the officer gripped his pistol in both hands and kept pulling the trigger.

"Sir! Get out of here!"

The soldier in front shouted without letting up his fire. Bullets struck the creature’s chest and abdomen, drawing bursts of blood, but the wounds were pitifully shallow. They didn’t even slow it down.

"The head! Shoot it in the head!"

Before the officer had finished shouting, the creature was among them.

One long arm swept sideways. The two soldiers at the front flew into the command post’s outer wall, weapons and all. Another tried to retreat, only to be seized by the arm and dragged forward.

"Aaagh!"

His arm tore free of its socket. Blood splashed over the man beside him.

The officer kept firing.

Bang! Bang!

Click.

He pulled the trigger all the way back. Nothing.

He fumbled for the magazine release. The empty magazine hit the ground as his other hand went to his belt. He dragged out a spare, rammed it into the grip, worked the slide, and raised the pistol again.

"Keep firing! Don’t stop!"

The remaining soldiers hammered their triggers. Some fired as they backed away, barely able to keep their stocks against their shoulders. But the thing was too fast. It swept past one man and was in front of the next before anyone could track it.

The gunfire began to thin.

A soldier was seized by the head and slammed into the wall. The concrete cracked around his face.

The last two men were still retreating. One had just changed magazines when the creature’s long hand punched through his chest. He never even screamed.

"Sir! Run!"

The last soldier’s voice cracked as he emptied his submachine gun at the monster.

The officer stumbled backward, still firing. Another scream cut through the gunshots. The soldier in front of him was caught by the neck and smashed into the ground.

Bang! Bang!

Click. Click.

The officer kept pulling the trigger.

Empty.

He stared at the pistol, his finger twitching against the trigger a few more times before he understood.

The second magazine was empty too.

At last, it was quiet. Only the distant crackle of burning wreckage remained.

The officer looked up.

The men who had been firing beside him lay scattered across the ground. One hung half off a broken section of wall. Others lay in pools of blood, their guns strewn around them.

He was alone.

The creature stood only a few paces away. Its enormous eyes rolled slowly in their sockets. It had taken dozens of bullets, yet the wounds across its chest and belly had barely bled.

The officer backed away until his shoulders struck the wall.

Nowhere left to go.

His empty pistol shook in his hands. As the thing approached, one thought came to him.

He should have saved a bullet.

At least he could have made it quick.

The creature stopped in front of him. Its split mouth exposed a row of uneven teeth.

He stared into its face. Terror and despair rose together until, somehow, they became one last surge of fury. He swung the pistol at its head.

"You motherfucking ani—"

A huge hand clamped over his head, cutting him off.

...

The flames were still raging when Lin Yan finished the eight-kilometer run.

He rushed into the airfield and stopped short.

"Hah... hah..."

He blew out a hot breath, his chest heaving. A wave of heat struck him in the face and made him squint.

"Who the fuck did this?!"

The fire he’d seen on the way had told him it would be bad.

He hadn’t expected this.

The airfield had been intact when he left. Now he could barely recognize it.

Most of the hangar had collapsed. Burning fuel ran across the ground. Several bodies lay in the flames, charred beyond recognition. The planes parked outside hadn’t escaped either. One had lost a wing. Another lay upside down, fire still pouring from its belly.

Lin Yan moved to one side, stepped over a fallen fence, and looked behind the hangar.

More fire. There was barely anywhere to put his feet.

Heat washed over his face in waves, bringing back the memory of that black dragon.

Wasn’t there even one plane left?!

He clenched his teeth and scanned the apron. He was about to circle around for a better look when a faint sound came from behind him.

His ear twitched.

As he turned, he felt a rush of air at his back.

He twisted sideways.

A huge claw scraped across his backplate with a piercing screech. The impact hurled him off his feet.

Thud!

Lin Yan hit the ground hard and rolled several times before planting a hand and stopping himself.

He sprang up, finally forcing out the breath trapped in his chest. His mouth was full of grit. He spat and looked up.

A tall, gaunt figure stood where he had been a moment before.

One arm hung at its side. The other held a severed head by the hair. As the creature shifted, the dangling face turned toward him.

Lin Yan recognized it.

It was the officer from the command post.

Now a bloody length of spine hung beneath his head, dripping from the torn end.

Crunch.

The sound of chewing drew Lin Yan’s gaze upward.

The creature had a human thigh caught between its teeth. It tilted its head, tearing at the flesh. When it noticed him watching, its two lidless eyes rolled toward him.

It kept chewing.

Only after swallowing did it discard what remained of the leg and lift the head.

It held the familiar face at chest height, turned toward Lin Yan.

The monster seemed pleased with his reaction. Its mouth stretched wider along the splits in its cheeks.

Then it whipped its arm forward.

Whoosh!

The head flew at him, trailing the bloody length of spine. It struck the ground hard in front of his feet and tumbled, smearing blood across the dirt.

The creature stayed where it was.

It raised one long finger and beckoned.

Lin Yan looked down at the head. His lips pressed together, the muscles along his jaw tightening.

After a moment, he raised his eyes and fixed them on the creature’s grinning face. His own expression was still, but his clenched jaw stood out beneath his skin.

His hand closed around the hilt of his blade.

"You fucking animal."

Steel rang clear as he drew.