Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Reaching the jet, Nick and Casey hastily climbed the three metallic steps leading inside.  MED and SCOPE were already inside, standing off to the side of the entryway so they would be able to come on board.  As soon as they entered, the two took their positions yet again, blocking the entranceway in order to keep watch for any closing creatures…for any sign of BANG.

Casey took this brief moment of peace to catch her breath.  She couldn’t believe she almost went through two full clips on their run here.  Taking in a deep breath, she considered the area around her.  No cut on expenses here, she noted, seeing the lavishly furnished interior.  There was a single red velvet carpeted aisle, enough to fit two people walking side by side, and on either side of the aisle were cream colored, cushioned seating; four rows on each side, with two seats in each row.  The seats made Casey feel a tad jealous; they were better than her own recliner at home…even accommodated with an adequately sized window for a great view.  I guess that money didn’t get you very far, did it Mayor?

  Standing within the jet’s center, she was able to see the back, where the restroom resided, and the cockpit, where AUTO was located.  He had left the cockpit door opened, allowing her to see him hovering over the control panel, assessing the situation for their takeoff.  She thought it was truly amazing that one person could be able to hold such vast knowledge, but AUTO truly seemed to be working the controls with such ease and grace with no pause in his movements.

She swallowed down a hard lump that was forming in her throat, her anxiety getting the best of her.  BANG had yet to return and other than the sporadic gunshots fired from SCOPE and MED, everything seemed rather quiet.  It gave her the chills.  How much time did they have?  Would BANG make it back in time?  Would they be able to continue on takeoff before everything was blown to smithereens?  BANG had set enough explosives within the town itself to destroy it all without the help of the self-destruct system within the facility.  It might have even reached as far as this airfield with no problem.  

Casey bit nervously at her thumbnail, her thoughts flooding her tired mind feverishly.  Why did he have to go off on his own?

The jet’s engines came to life, startling her from her thoughts, and then AUTO’s voice called back.  “Everything’s a go!”

That’s good.  Now all they needed was BANG to return so they could finally get the hell out of here.

 That’s when he finally came into view.  “BANG!”  MED called out to him, waving for him to hurry.

Casey was able to squeeze between the two enough to get a good view of their comrade, a relieved smile crossing over her features.  She didn’t know what she would do first.  Hug him, or slap him so hard that his grandchildren would feel it.  Her smile soon faded as she watched him steadily limp out from behind the fuel tanks.  He held his rifle up with one arm, waving them off, his other arm, completely bare of its uniform, hung flaccidly at his side as blood poured from the opened wounds on his bicep.  The way his arm moved freely at his side made it clear that it was dislocated. 

More blood glistened from the side of his head as he staggered into an awkward run towards them, waving his rifle in the air more wildly then before.  Over the roar of the engines, they were barely able to hear his voice calling out to them.  “…ooo!  Goo-” His voice kept cutting through the engines.

Casey couldn’t understand why he wanted them to go.  He was so close to the jet!  Then something hit the jet hard from the left side.  Again on the roof.  And again and again, as if heavy rain drops were falling from the sky onto their only salvation.

SCOPE and MED fired their weapons as the creatures began coming from different directions.  Some had set their sights on BANG, which they tried their best to fend off of him until others began to come from the sides towards them, forcing the two to guard their post and leave their injured comrade to fend for himself against the horde that surrounded him.

Casey knelt down, trying her hardest to take aim at the 10s coming ever so closer to BANG, but there were just too many.  She was able to take maybe three of them out, injuring only a few as BANG did what he could on his end before

*click, click, click*

His bullets had run out and after a few moments he turned his gaze to the others residing within the jet’s entryway.  He smiled. Casey’s jaw dropped feeling at an utter loss.  There was nothing they could do…and he knew that.  Though knowing this didn’t make what she was about to see any easier.  Looking to his gun with the creatures approaching in a slow taunting manner, he threw it to the side.

 “No!”  Casey stood swiftly to her feet at the sound of Nick’s distress.  He had seen everything through the adjacent window.  He hit his hand off the glass before rounding the chairs, attempting to exit the jet.  Casey grasped his arm nearly powerless to stop him from leaving and found herself fortunate that his way remained blocked by SCOPE and MED’s bulking forms in the doorway.

All they could do was watch as the creatures came closer, hissing and screeching as they approached BANG.  Those things seemed to enjoy his fear, and drew their attack out for as long as they could until finally attacking.  The first one pounced on him from his right, knocking him painfully to the ground, before the others joined in on the attack as they began to shred him to pieces.  His agonizing screams sounded as they ripped through his uniform to the skin, muscle and tissue beneath.  

Casey pulled Nick back to face her, turning him away from the scene as she held him tightly against her.  She didn’t want him to have to see what he had seen.  This is all she could do now to shield him.

There were only a few more seconds passing by, and one last scream from BANG before his voice was cut off by a devastating explosion.  The pile of creatures over his body were blown away.  The blood and pieces of the creatures rained back down over the bloody mess BANG once stood.  He had followed his own silent words; what he had indirectly told TECH to do only a few minutes before.

AUTO took his seat in the pilot’s seat, the rhythmic banging and scraping of the creatures continuously bombarding them.  “Close that door!  We are getting the hell out of here now!”

SCOPE and MED did as AUTO said taking the last few shots of the creatures they could before pulling it shut.  Casey pulled away from Nick at the sound of the door locking in place.  His face was twisted with anger, shock, sadness and a grave pain, all of which were fighting to come to surface.  She watched him intently unsure which emotion would win but was determined to help him no matter which one took over.  

Sorrow won out in the end, his face crumbling as tears welded up within his eyes.  He had lost so much over the years that he grew accustomed letting whatever it may be roll off his shoulders.  But now he lost three people that were important to him.  LINGO, TECH, and BANG, his comrades in arms.  His brothers for life.  

 “Take your seats, this may get bumpy!”  AUTO instructed.

Casey ushered Nick to the nearest chairs, and gently pushed him into his seat, taking the place beside him.  She pulled his head downward so his forehead rest upon her shoulder, allowing him to cry into the nook of her neck.  From where she sat, she could see MED and SCOPE take their seats as well, their faces lined with the emotions Nick had worn only a few moments before.  

With one hand to the back of his head, she ran her fingers soothingly through his sweated hair, and with her other hand she held his right hand firmly, noting he still held the dagger securely within his left hand.  Casey could feel the jet’s steady movement along the runway.  The periodic bangs still sounded against the out walls of the jet accompanied by the scraping noises of the creatures’ claws across the metal walls as the creatures slid from the top as the jet gained in speed before finally lifting into the air.  Making their steady ascent into the sky, the jet grew silent as they ultimately achieved their long awaited tranquility.

Looking over her shoulder Casey could see the group of creatures below steadily grow smaller.  Only a few seconds after that, the fuel tank erupted, sending flaming fuel across the private airport and over the swarming creatures beneath them.  Switching her gaze to the other windows, she could see the town erupting into flames as well.  The whole town was a sea of flames and blackened smoke.  She felt as if they had escaped hell and were ascending into the heavens above.

She took in a deep breath of relief, turning her attention back to Nick.  “Things will be alright now.”  She soothed.  “We will make them pay.”  Her gaze turned to MED and SCOPE.  “One way or another they are all going to pay.”

Nick pulled away from her.  “Damn right they are going to pay.”  He wiped his tears with the back of his forearm and stood.  “I don’t care how long it takes, those b******s are going down.”  He placed a hand to his vest pocket where he had placed the backup date TECH had given him.

Everything had finally come to an end.  Though Casey had only dealt with a margin of that terror and pain for only 2 days, those 2 days had felt like years to her.  Watching everyone in the safety of the jet’s cozy atmosphere, she couldn’t imagine what the past events had done to them.

Being taken from their hometowns, from their family and friends, to be subjected to experiments in order to make a stronger, faster, weapon…The thought had bothered her greatly.  To think there were people in the world that could do such things to another person, to little children…it was sickening.  And to think she may have known two of them, the ones accountable for this whole nightmare.  

She sighed leaning back within her seat.  Since they were now using Mayor Gozby’s private jet, it was safe to assume he was one of those creatures now…or at least one of their meals.  General Hopskener still resided somewhere in Arizona living on early retirement.  Completely untouched.  Completely unaware of what had taken place within this small community.

A cruel smile crossed her face.  He will pay too in any case.  She’ll make sure they all pay.  They will go through the same hell-

Her thoughts were cut short from the noise that came from the back of the plane.  An all too familiar sound, like one of those things horrific cries...but that couldn’t be.  She had to be mistaken.

Regardless, she jumped to her feet, her gun held out before her, catching the fretful glances of Nick, MED, and SCOPE; they had heard it as well.  She felt her hope being ripped away from her once more.  So it wasn’t just her imagination after all…damn.

SCOPE and MED stood slowly, their weapons ready, when the bathroom door crept open.

Nick stepped before Casey.  “Aim carefully.  We cannot allow a bullet to go astray in here.” 

Casey kept her gun trained to the door, her heart beating painfully within her chest that she thought it would explode.  The seconds ticking by felt like minutes, the minutes felt like hours.  The tension seemed to have thickened the air around her, making it harder for her to breathe.  She knew however that that was only her imagination.  If she didn’t keep a cool head, her nerves were going to throw her into a panic and she couldn’t have that.  She needed to stay calm, for her and everyone else’s sake.

The door stayed still for nearly a minute, as if to tempt them in coming closer, before it suddenly flung open with a bang.  The 10s filed out; somehow, three had been able to fit inside the little room.  Time seemed to have sped up as the first creature leapt at SCOPE with such swiftness Casey was unsure what had happened until she saw him on his back on the floor, trying to hold the creature off with his bare hands.  Its razor sharp teeth snapped at his face, managing to get a little closer with each chomp as it tried to get a mouthful of fresh meat. 

The moment SCOPE had hit the ground the second 10 was already on the move towards MED scrambling towards him with the same speed as the other before it came to a stop only a few feet ahead of him, lurching its body back as it prepared to jump.

Without any hesitation, Casey aimed and fired at the second creature, hitting it squarely in the temple killing it instantly, its body landing lifelessly to the side.  She trained her gun to the creature attacking SCOPE, and fired, hitting that one in the chest and arm.  It screeched, halting its assault on SCOPE and jumped back.  It brought its head up readying itself to vomit its acidic toxin onto SCOPE’s bare face when the sound of MED’s assault rifle erupted, riddling the creature with bullets before it too collapsed to the floor with one last final screech.

Her relief was short lived when she realized that had only been two of the creatures.  Nick!  

The first two had been taken out within seconds of each other, and as she turned she could see the third laying under Nick’s booted foot, his dagger plunged into the back of the creature’s skull.  He efficiently killed one of the creatures single handily without her notice.  She felt a slight awe in being in his presence now.  This is the first time she had witnessed him in a fight.  Though she felt disappointed, she hadn’t really seen a thing.

“Hey, is everyone all right back there?”  AUTO questioned looking to them over his shoulder.  The next few moments consisted of the others giving their shaky replies.  They had truly thought they were safe and in a manner of seconds that was snatched away from them…again.  Would this never end?

AUTO let out a long breath.  “Good.”  He looked back to the window his gaze widening at the sight of a creature looking back in at him from the windshield, one of its talon hands already held out behind it, readying an attack.  “S**t!”

Before the others could make it to the cockpit, the creature hit the windshield in a rapid succession splintering the glass on its third hit before lurching back and with all its might against the gusting wind, flung itself into the glass, crashing through.  AUTO had already made it to his feet aiming the gun towards the creature as it looked up to him.

And the jet began to nosedive, rapidly falling back towards earth.  AUTO’s footing slipped beneath him, bringing him down hard, where he proceeded to slide down beneath the control panel.  He could see the creature plunge its talons into the jet’s flooring, its attention no longer to him, but to the others struggling to their feet.

Casey felt herself loose her footing as the plane tilted forward causing her to slide forward, right towards the creature clawing its way up to the aisle towards her.   She grabbed for a nearby chair, squeezing her eyes shut she could feel her fingers slipping on the smooth material.  “No!”  Her cry was caught short as a heavy force was pressed into her abdomen, knocking the breath from her.

At first, she had thought the creature had lunged at her but when she wasn’t greeted by the pain of torn flesh, she opened her eyes, seeing someone had grasped her from behind, holding her back with one arm.  She glanced back.  “Nick!”  She breathed turning her gaze back to the 10 she had seen; it had advanced a few paces.  Taking the opportunity, she raised her gun, aiming it directly at the things forehead and fired.

-click-

She looked at her handgun in disbelief, promptly unzipping her vest pocket, digging inside for a new clip.  The creature was but a few feet from her now, if she didn’t hurry-

She didn’t want to think of that.  She dislodged the empty clip, jamming the fresh one in.  The creature was to its feet, its mouth opening wide revealing its teeth stained with blood.

-Bang-

The creature’s eyes rolled back as blood seeped from the newly made hole in its forehead.  Casey couldn’t believe her eyes for she was not yet able to raise her gun as the creature went limp before her, hanging down from its impaled claws on the floor.

Casey sucked in a deep breath angling her head back to see SCOPE a few feet back hanging over a chair his rifle lowering an expression of relief crossing his face.  He gave her a thumb up which she gladly returned.

The entire jet jerked back, though remained in a nosedive.  “Damn!”  AUTO’s voice sounded from the cockpit.  He pulled back hard on the controls, yet the jet protested his orders.  “Hang on everyone!”

Casey wrapped her arms around Nick’s arm still wrapped around her ribs.  The jet began to shake violently now.  No, not like this.  Not after what we have been through!  Not after we-

Her thoughts were drowned out by the sound of crunching metal around her.  She felt herself being lifted into the air.  The last thing she could remember was a sharp pain in her head and the sound of her name drifting off into the darkness of her subconscious.