Outrun Stories #48

“Take my word for it. The moment they make it through that door, we are toast,” Connor said, leaning back against wall, sucking on a cigarette, his Uzi by his side and hair slicked back as always.

“Screams? Can you hear that? It sounds like screams,” Alice said, holding her mouth open, eyes wide with fear. The sound coming from the other side of the door to the little room they were stuck in resonated through them.

Connor walked over to her, flicking his cigarette away and put his hand on her shoulder. “That’s because they are screams, my dear. Now, what are you going to do about it?”

She crouched down, pulling herself into a little ball, shaking her head, her body giving off little twitches. “No, Connor, no, not again, not again.”

“Listen, Alice, you know who you are, you know what you are.” He knelt next to her, brought his face close in to hers, pulled one of her hands away from her eyes, and flashed his best grin. “My dear, we’ve got quite some way to go yet before we’re out of this one, and I just know you can do it. You’ve got us so far, you’ve helped so much, and just look at how you’ve healed already.” He grabbed one of her hands and ran his fingers across the scar tissue fading across her knuckles. “These little things outside here—you’ll get them out of the way, and then we’ll be heading home. I promise. We’ll be out of here and I won’t be asking for any more from you. You’ve done so well. It’s time for rest and everything you could ever need, I can get it for you now, once we get out of here, but we just need this one last jump.”

He looked her dead in the eye, hoping, praying to see the switch, to make sure she caught the moment, and just at the right time, another scream came rattling through and into the little room.

“Okay, Connor,” she said, standing and clicking her neck, balling her fists, teeth gritted, ready for another burst. “After this, you promise we’re going home?”

“Promise, my dear. We’re so close now, so, so close.” He stepped away from her and over to the door keypad, entering the code as heavy fists from outside came crashing down on the thick steel. “You ready?”

She nodded, he hit enter on the keypad, and the door slid back quickly. “You look like you’re going to hurt,” she said as the giant hulking monster stepped through the doorway. Skin-like red leather, a thick hide, wrapped around pulsing muscles. It smashed its fists together and roared from its gigantic demented head. “Time to party.”

She took two steps, gathered enough momentum, and leapt forward, knee first, that after a split second connected with the jaw of the beast. Following through with a wall of blows, she slammed her tiny fists across its head in quick succession as it reeled in horror, screaming and lashing out, grabbing at her.

Trying desperately to rip her off its head and chest, it was quickly over as she gouged out an enormous eye with her little hand, scooping and penetrating, shoving deeper into the thing's skull before grabbing a large chunk of its brain out through its eye socket.

It fell to the floor backwards, with her riding its chest.

Connor came out from the shadows. “See, my dear. No problem for you, no problem at all. Soon, we’ll be home.”