Wormwood Dawn (Episode VIII) by Edward Crae Page B

serial killer. Coyote after coyote fell to his blade, slashed and chopped to pieces. Gena rushed around, firing shot after shot, never missing. Dan turned his attention back to the pack leader, which was now backed up against the gate, slashing and chomping at Eric and Toni.
    Dan rushed to help them, firing until his magazine was empty. He released it, stuck it in his pocket, and slapped in a new one just as he reached his two friends. The creature howled and rumbled its fury, wounded and stumbling. The grenade had torn open a gaping hole in its side, and black sludge flowed from the charred and lacerated flesh like an oil spill.
    Behind him, he could hear the dying yelps of Jake’s victims, and the full auto fire of Drew’s rifle. He growled, raising his rifle again, aiming right for the creature’s left eye. A double blast of .44 magnums sent the creature rearing back, and Dan followed with his scope. He fired, exploding the red orb from its socket.
    The creature let out a deafening roar, and Eric blasted the underside of it jaw. Its tongue, jaw bone, and several teeth exploded outward, splattering against the gate, and the ground around it. The mangled head began thrashing from side to side. Toni emptied her revolvers into it again, backing away to reload.
    Dan fired into the mangled jaw, exploding more chunks out the other side. The creature lunged forward, bearing down on Eric. Dan fired into its flank just as Eric knelt and blasted upward. The top of the creature’s head erupted like a volcano, and it slammed into the gravel, quivering and bleeding.
    Dan approached it as Eric reloaded. Toni joined them, cocking her hammers back.
    “That was one tough mother fucker,” she said.
    “Yep,” Dan replied. “Time to go night night.”
    The three of them blasted the thing to oblivion. When they were empty, Jake joined them, covered with frozen blood and chunks of coyote flesh. He took one last look at the giant creature, grinning.
    “That was fun,” he said.
    Dan turned to look for the other three. Gena, Cliff and Drew were approaching, winded and exhausted. Dan was thankful everyone was alright. Now the question was, what would they do with the bodies?
    “We can’t just leave them here,” Dan said. “They might attract more of them.”
    “This thing’s big as fuck,” Cliff said. “And those little ones aren’t very little, either.”
    “We’ll figure something out,” Jake said. “They’re not going anywhere. I’m going back in. My skull is frozen.”
    Jake walked through the gate, rubbing his head. Dan turned toward the column of heat he and Gena had seen earlier. He raised his rifle again to look through the scope. It was still there, ascending into the sky like a pillar of flame in his IR scope.
    “Cliff,” he said. “Look in the distance and tell me if you see what I see.”
    Cliff took out his IR binos, sweeping from left to right in search of any heat signatures.
    “I see a few fleeing coyotes,” he said. “But nothing… oh wait. Yeah I see it.”
    “There must be a cabin out there,” Dan said. “If so, Toby may be there.”
    Drew sighed. “Come on, man,” he said. “It’s sub-zero temps out here, and Toby doesn’t have heat vision. There’s no way he would have found that place.”
    Dan felt a twinge of anger with Drew’s words. Though Drew was probably right, some part of him couldn’t help but think the kid was out there. If what he was seeing was a cabin, then there was a chance that Toby found it. Besides, even if Toby had succumbed to the elements, Dan wouldn’t just leave his body to rot. He had to find him. He owed Lena that.
    “I don’t care,” he said finally. “I’m going. If you don’t want to, then stay here.”
    “I’ll go,” Toni said.
    Dan turned to her, smiling. Her face was plastered with resolve. She wanted to find him, too.
    “Count me in,” Gena said.
    Dan nodded to her in thanks. “Does this count as a threesome?” he joked.
    “You wish,”