Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (popular novels .TXT) 📗

tolerable smog the Humvee was putting out. Summers immediately scanned the horizon and saw another of those small lizards.

Seeing it like that, it occurred to Summers that it was a baby version of the monster he’d seen. At the same time, one twice its size rose up in the distance. Followed by another. And another.

“Guys . . .”

Nowak must have heard the worry in his voice, because his head snapped to where Summers was looking. There were about a dozen dog-sized lizards eyeing them. And more were starting to show themselves through the thick forest.

“Cortez, get on the Humvee!”

The lizards began moving in toward them.

“Screw it!”

Summers abandoned the mostly empty cannister, piling in with the others.

“The incense still burning?” Nowak looked up to the rooftop.

“Yeah, we got more from the south,” Cortez called down.

Summers shifted the Humvee to drive.

“Stay slow. If they’re keeping a distance—”

As Nowak spoke, Summers saw the lizards edging closer, through the smoke.

“Sarge, I don’t think this shit’s working.”

“Cortez!”

Summers gunned it just as gunfire from up top erupted. A lizard twenty feet in front of them exploded into a fine red mist.

As if on cue, a cluster of lizards rushed in from behind. Summers jammed the accelerator in response. Unfortunately, with all the crap they’d piled on, their Humvee wasn’t as mobile as Summers would have liked.

“Shit!” Nowak blurted while readying his gun. He angled the barrel out the window, firing into anything that got too close.

Then it appeared in front of them—a thirty-five-foot-tall monster Summers could only assume was the alpha of the pack. No doubt it was the same one he’d run into earlier. And they were heading right for it.

It roared, and the other beasts surged forward. Only vaguely, Summers realized they were herding them toward it.

“Cortez!”

“I fucking see it!”

Summers heard the thump of one of their MAAWS, followed by an explosion that resounded in his teeth. The monster rocked back, but still managed to stay on its feet. It was distracted just long enough for Summers to blow past it.

Not fast enough, as it turned out. Some of the lizards must have caught up; Summers could feel something on the Humvee tear loose. One of the smaller creatures managed to cling to the window frame with its teeth, and Logan fired, killing it and leaving a hole in their previously pristine Humvee.

Summers was having a hard time hearing over the ringing in his ears.

Vaguely, he saw Nowak gesturing and took the risk of turning his head, only to see a minivan-sized lizard charging in from their right. It wasn’t as big as the first one, but he was certain it could fuck up their day just as easily.

Summers jammed the brakes just before the creature would have slammed into them, and saw Cortez flip head over heels onto the hood.

“You fucking asshole!”

“Less yelling, more shooting!” Nowak responded.

Cortez flipped onto her back and finished priming the rocket in her hands.

Thump. Boom!

The backblast cracked the windshield as the creature took the hit to its head. It fell to the ground with a resounding crash and lay there, unmoving. Cortez was already crawling up to the roof again as Summers accelerated, ignoring the damage to their already run-down Humvee.

Cortez fired another rocket. Considering what was behind him, Summers was hoping it hit its mark. He swerved around a cluster of lizards, and then saw where they were headed. A road wound up and around a mountain pass. It seemed to be the only way through the steep cliffs up ahead. Hopefully, it would bottleneck anything that tried to follow them.

Cortez fired from the roof almost nonstop. They were getting some distance between them and the creatures now, just as an odd sputtering noise resounded from the engine.

Summers was halfway up the first stretch of the mountain pass when he realized they were running out of gas.

“It’s not going to make it up the hill!”

Summers didn’t waste time fighting with the machine. He grabbed his gun and stepped outside, helping to cull the first wave of lizards that charged up the hill after them. What was with these things?

“Are you serious?” Cortez yelled from the roof.

“Buy me enough time to gas it up!” Summers was already heading to the back when he saw the claw marks where their last full cannister was supposed to be. “We’re out of gas.”

“What?” Nowak responded.

“We’re not moving!” Summers yelled.

Nowak glanced at the empty spot beside Summers. It didn’t take him long to catch up.

Then another roar interrupted their conversation. The big one was back. It had a huge chunk taken out of its side, but it was looking more pissed off than hurt.

Summers saw Cortez line up a shot with her final rocket, and then fire.

The creature charged, avoiding the rocket with an agility that belayed its enormous size. It splashed harmlessly onto the cliff beside it.

“Shit . . .”

They had nothing else that could kill something that big. Nothing that Summers could think of, anyway. Grenades? No. The C-4? There wasn’t enough time to rig it up.

They needed time.

“I’ll try to lead it away!” Summers yelled. He only took a second to grab something from the back. The Humvee would block the creature’s charge, at least long enough for them to get some distance, maybe even set up a trap. They just needed someone to distract it.

Summers fired his weapon, charging at the still approaching creature. It didn’t even seem to register the gunfire, or maybe it was too pissed to care.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit!” Summers watched as the creature barreled closer, far faster than he would have assumed it capable of.

It didn’t pause for Summers. It didn’t even try to attack him. From the monster’s perspective, Summers