Butterflies in Winter

::Chapter 38:: Chance

In the midst of the chaos, Kit struggled to keep his footing as he threw himself into combat.

By this time, the space between the door and the power source was less then a couple of metres. The group had done their job well.

Perhaps a little too well. Kit thought, grunting as he struggled to avoid being thrown back into the pile of shattered glass, branches and stones behind them.

Death would come a lot less quickly to Kit and his friends at the hands of the beast, then a beast against the pile of death protecting the power source.

Their enemy was something they had never seen before. More human than anything Kit had ever seen of the beasts. It towered above them, maybe three or four times their height, it's head brushing against the ceiling.

For a second, Kit panicked that he might be able to penetrate though the roof, which would add an entirely new problem for them to deal with.

Yet no matter how hard the creature tried to stand upright, the ceiling refused to give way.

He was stuck.

And they were stuck in here with him.

Count your blessings not your curse, Kit thought sarcastically. Dodging left and right, struggling to avoid blows and kicks and claws which went flying his way.

Before another blow landed, Kit allowed the shift to take over him and he was once again standing on three legs. Already tired from the work trying to protect the power source, this was going to be a hard battle on their already drained bodies.

Forcing himself to not think about how truly tired he was feeling, Kit threw himself between the legs of the beast. Biting at anything he could find and tearing back.

The beast screeched an agonised sound, an all too human sound. It leant over and tried to grab at the wolf, managing to find its grip and hurling forward with everything it had. Directly towards the pile of sharp objects.

Kit practically saw his life flash before his eyes as he scrambled to land in a manner which wasn't going to instantly kill him.

Landing hard on his side, he wrenched forward. Thankful he hadn't broken a rib, merely bruised them for the time being.

How much longer it would last was not entirely certain.

Supressing the cry of pain which ricocheted through him with a blow to the head, Kit staggered backwards with a grunt. Falling to his knees with a yell as he very nearly planted his face into the dirt and concrete under foot.

In spite of the pain, Kit barely noticed it when he heard a familiar cry of pain. Lunging back to his feet he lunged forward. Catching the beast's attention before it could deliver a fatal blow to Jess and leaping left.

The beast tore forward with it, landing hard when it missed and as a result hurling himself into the side of the only wall left uncovered. The very ground shook with the impact, and Kit braced himself as to not fall over once again.

Yet no matter how many blows they seemed to land on the creature, it didn't seem hurt or as much as inconvenienced by everything they had done. Every single time they had toppled him, he seemed to get back up.

The only thing which had changed was that each time he seemed angrier as he returned to his feet. With a renewed want to kill everything and everyone.

More and more Kit was growing the dreadful feeling that there was no way that this was going to end in any positive manner.

Pulling himself to his feet after what had to be the millionth time he had been thrown to the ground. Kit limped out of the way, managing to dodge the blow of the monster by the skin of his teeth.

The terrible miss made Kit realise something.

It was blind, or at least had very poor eyesight. Even in the dim light of the underground, partially lit by the not fully blocked light of the power source. Kit and his friends were still able to see adequately.

Yet the monster seemed to stumble and struggle through the darkness.

Finally, they had managed to find something which they could use in their favour.

If they wanted to take advantage of it, they were going to work quickly.

Looking for Vic through the dim light, he barked. Trying to catch his attention, dodging blows as best as he could at the same time until he saw the bear's head pop up amidst the chaos, Max and Jess were not far off.

From the looks the others were giving him, it was apparent that he was not the first to make this realisation.

"Block off the rest of the light, totally blind him," Kit yelled before throwing himself onto the pile. Struggling across the painful surface until he had reached the very back of it all. Where light was leaking through the gaps in the border, giving the room very little light.

Moving like a madman, Kit began to pile as many things as he could on top of the gaps. Soon he was joined by others in a flurried attempt to leave the room in total darkness.

It seemed to take an eternity, before very suddenly the area was plunged into complete darkness.

The beast let out a furious cry at being blinded, and Kit could guess that their intentions had balanced the playing field at least somewhat.

Kit lunged forward, struggling across the uneven surface before tearing once again at the beast. Tearing and biting and scratching with renewed confidence. Now able to work harder without being as easy a target.

Quickly the others joined him in the battle, as they fought on and on. Doing what they could to drag the creature down and keep him that way.

However, in spite of the new darkness. It didn't take away from the seemingly incredible stamina of the beast. He continued to find his way to his feet and continue fighting. The group were growing more and more weary, soon enough the beast was managing to land hits once again.

Once again they brought the creature to his knees, it kicked out as he landed, but this time something was different.

A metallic screech tore through the air, but not one made by the creature or the group. Kit hesitated, as a strange smell began to flood the area.

Gas.

Pipes ran under the ground, leading too and from the power plants from back when it was still a useable facility. They carried gas to fuel the necessary equipment, as well as gas which was natural to the island.

Lethal in too greater doses. Kit realised all too quickly.

Flammable.

From far above them, Kit guessed that Romany and the others would soon be making their way back with the most recent set of resources. Unaware of what was happening metres bellow them.

If they didn't end this soon, they would all end up dead.

Kit looked left at Max, and then towards Vic.

They seemed to be thinking the same thing.

They too came to the same conclusion.

Yelling out to the rest of them, and calling for the to retreat. They all lunged in the same direction.

All of them would have found out the same time.

Kit only hoped that they would understand what had to be done.

Crawling into the corner as far as they could push themselves, as close to what they had spent the last hour trying to make sure no one could get to. They found themselves backed against the concrete wall.

Looking left and right, to Max and Vic sitting next to him, and the rest of the group spread out on either side of him. Kit brushed shoulder with them one last time.

In that moment, he managed to smile weakly.

Brothers till the end.

Kit struck the match.