The Silence (GxG)

Chapter 23 - The Beast

I ditched the effort to find a weapon and ran outside to see what's going on, noticing Chester and Clive are still standing by the wall, watching on helplessly as Darren and Grace simultaneously unleashed an array of shots at the quickly approaching beast.

"Kenzi, the bag! Get to the bag!" Darren called as he drew another arrow from its quiver and readied it quickly.

My eyes landed on the pair of duffel bags laying on the cracked concrete and without questioning him, I ran directly for them. The second I got close enough to the items, I could see why he had yelled the instruction.

I reached inside the dark brown one that is laying slightly open and pulled a small handgun from within, grateful that it seems to already be loaded with a full clip. I tried to remember what little gun training my father had given me when I was younger, the basics still quite fresh in my mind as I ensured the weapon was ready for use.

I stood back from the bag as Chester and Clive approached me with shock written all over their faces. They each copied my actions without a word and quickly searched the bag for a weapon.

"Fuck! I'm out of ammo!" I heard Graces voice break in a panicked shout, something I'm not used to hearing with such weight behind it.

I Immediately started to close the growing distance between me, the beast and the duo who are now running for their lives down the runway.

When I felt I was close enough, I raised my handgun, aiming directly for the fleshy red area between the two large fungal masses growing from its shoulder blades since it seemed like the best place to target.

I squeezed the trigger and the infected dropped to one knee with an immense growl, different from before. It quickly regained its composure and turned to me, bearing its large mouthful of teeth to the world.

My heart stopped for a moment as I froze at the sight. If there was ever a moment to remind me of how unpredictable nature can be, this is definitely it.

"Between the shoulders! It's a weak spot!" Grace yelled as she noticed the mutations unusual reaction to the last attack, bringing me back to my senses.

I refrained from releasing another shot, instead allowing Darren to take this one seeing as he has the creatures back exposed to him. I held my breath as the towering beast approached me with a gaining speed, only stopping to fall with a screech when Darren's arrow successfully pierced the soft spot.

"Hey! Over here, motherfucker!" Darren yelled to gain its attention, releasing another shot whilst he had the chance.

He seemingly missed this time, hitting its lower back, only enraging the monster as it spun back towards the pair.

Before I had the chance to even raise my weapon and aim at the desired area, Chester and Clive appeared at my side and released two shots each, crippling the creature once more when one of them hit the weak point successfully.

This time the roar that echoed through the air was different again, it was laced with a pain that made the hairs on my neck stand at attention. Grace seemed to notice this as well, only it brought her to her knees with an unreadable expression as she watched the beast stumble forward. It as though she can feel the anguish of the infected.

I've got the perfect shot from this angle, so I took the opportunity to aim and fire, taking into account the recoil to successfully land a second clean shot immediately after.

The mutated infected fell flat, twitching slowly but still making strange and struggled noises. I'm presuming it's spine has been shattered from the final blows. It's slowly bleeding out, rendering the body useless... but the infection forces the brain to remain active and conscious until the end, which means there's still one thing to do in order to end the suffering.