Consuming Fire

Chapter 84

A terrifying girl with two heads came out from behind the wing of the plane. The sight was so unnatural and terrifying that Will remained frozen, almost curious as to what they were going to do to him. He wished he didn't find out, for they reached with long, skinny arms and fingers and opened their mouths, ready to bite into his flesh. Will scrambled for freedom and gripped their hair, wondering if this was what zombies looked like when they were at their most ravenous, and when he rolled over to try and escape, his hands closed around a gun. He spun onto his back, raised the weapon and fired twice, both shots hitting them between the eyes. The adrenaline passed and Will's hands shook as he dropped the gun.

Then, something truly strange started happening. The ground rumbled. Everything around him shivered as though they were being struck by an earthquake. Those remaining – even the Chinese soldiers – froze in wait of what Will knew somewhere in his conscience was coming.

And then came the roar that turned his blood to ice.

"You've got to be kidding-"

A deafening explosion interrupted Zac and suddenly, the entire left wall of the hanger caved in. Cement and debris rained down upon them. Everyone still alive dove for cover, several of them screamed, and as Will lifted his head from behind a giant slab of cement, he saw the head of a T-rex protrude from the dusty hole.

"Alfie!" shouted Zac excitedly, seeing the dinosaur's return as something positive while Will did not. All it did was make it harder for them to fight without worrying about getting stepped on.

But then he looked back to where Ryo had been lying seconds before and saw that she was gone. She must have finally teleported to the bunker.

I have to help her.

At that stage, only he, Illya and Zac were left. The soldiers were dead. The Captain and the rest of their team were dead. Will hadn't seen every death and therefore didn't know how someone like Alistair or Zokani had been killed, but what he had managed to witness was a devastating nightmare.

Ignoring the bodies strewn under the rubble and the sound of the dinosaur roaring and stomping around, Will grabbed Illya from her husband's body and yelled out to Zac, who was staring up at Alfie like some beacon of hope.

"Let's go," said Will, "we have to get to the bunker!"

"I'm so happy to see him! Look at that magnificent beast!" Zac yelled and held out his arms. Losing Chantal must have flipped his crazy switch. At that stage, Alfie spotted him and started to charge, making Zac's face transform instantly into terror. "AHH!" he screamed and the three of them sprinted to the door.

The ground shook so much that it was hard to keep his footing. When Will looked behind him, he saw the huge body of the T-Rex with his gaping jaw descend upon them and shoved Zac through the door after Illya. A second later, the dinosaur's teeth were slashing at the doorway and the walls cracked as he chomped, trying to catch them in his mouth. A few more head-buts and he'd be through.

A long, lit corridor stretched before them, pipes dripping through the ceiling. Will knew that the bunker was only one floor down through a steel door. He had no idea how they were going to get inside. He could only hope that Ryo had managed to teleport there, or Marcus had shut down whatever the Chinese were trying to take control of.

"You guys have to go!" shouted Illya. "I'll stay and stop the dinosaur!"

"Are you nuts?" said Will.

"He'll kill us all, just GO!"

"Can you turn into a dinosaur too?" asked Zac with eyes wide.

"I can try."

Will nodded. "Thank you."

"Good luck!"

As they sprinted away, getting closer and closer to the stairs at the end of the corridor, they were suddenly skidding to a halt as three Chinese soldiers appeared through a closed door on the left, guns raised and pointed at them both. Will stepped in front of Zac, his heart pounding.

One soldier opened fire. Will felt the sting as a bullet hit his chest, only it wasn't a bullet at all. It was some kind of dart. He lost all feeling in his legs and then his torso and finally his upper body. His legs caved. He fell to the ground but didn't feel the pain.

"Hey, get away from my Willy!" shouted Zac. If this were any other circumstance, Will would have found that funny. But that was just Zac – making a joke even when he knew he was about to die.

He heard gunfire and saw Zac crumple awkwardly beside him. But unlike Will, Zac was shot with real bullets. A pool of blood spread around his chest. Zac's face gazed at him, almost with a smile on his lips, and did not transform into his original body like Will thought he would. Perhaps that's because this goofy, mousey-haired kid was the real Zac, and he had been all along.

"Yippe ... kiyay ... mother ..."

Zac's eyes drooped closed, and he was gone.

Will wanted to say goodbye but his mouth wouldn't move. A single tear rolled from his eyes as the soldiers crowded around his body and lifted him up. Darkness came over him but he could still hear. There must've been something covering his head. The soldiers carried him through several doors, muttering to each other in Chinese. He heard the word 'Wolfe' and his insides cringed.

No, he thought. They're taking me back.