The Chosen Ones: Book 3: The War

15

Sam was already out of the truck and running for Jenna's car. Matt told Tyler to get down on the floor, then he and Casey followed her. Phil and Shannon had already crawled out by the time they got there.

"You hurt?!" Matt asked them in a panic.
"We're okay, get them out." Phil said, pointing back towards the overturned vehicle. He winced in pain as he clutched his shoulder. Still, he was in better shape than the others.

Casey went to the passenger side. An unconscious Jenna hung upside down, only being held there by her seatbelt. Matt helped Sam grab Shaun under his arms and drag him away from the wreck. He then joined Casey on the other side as he let Sam tend to Shaun.

"I'm going to cut the seatbelt." Casey said. "When I do, you lower her down."
She took a knife from her belt and started cutting. Matt put his hands on Jenna's shoulders and gently lowered her down when she was cut free. Phil came over and helped carry her behind the overturned Ford Bronco.

"Is she okay?" Shaun asked, groggily. He was in bad shape himself.
"She's breathing." Matt replied. He knelt down next to Shannon. "You okay?"
"I think so." She said. She had a cut above her eyebrow and was favoring her right shoulder.

"What the hell happened?" Casey asked.
"Something hit us." Shaun said.
"SOMETHING? What the fuck was it?" Phil asked. He was in the back and had no idea how the car flipped.
"It flew through the sky." Shaun said.
"I saw it too." Matt replied.
"Me too." Casey agreed, ominously.
They all cautiously looked up but didn't see anything at the moment.

"We got to get Tyler out of the truck for Jenna." Matt told them.
"I'll go." Phil offered.
"Me and you." Matt said. "Keep your head up. We don't know what's out there."
They ran for Matt's truck, making it unscathed. Once there, they climbed in the back seat with Tyler.

"Hey buddy. You okay?" Matt asked.
They could both tell he was frightened. He nodded his head and got back up on the seat.
"You ready to run?" Phil asked him.
"Yeah. Jenna is hurt." Tyler said.

Phil looked up at Matt. The only way Tyler would know that is if he peeked his head out and saw them drag her body out. They knew that didn't happen. Tyler just KNEW Jenna was hurt. His senses and powers were getting stronger.

"Yeah, we're gonna go help her, okay?" Matt said to him.
Again the little boy nodded. Matt picked him up. Phil grabbed a shotgun out of the bed of the truck.
"Go, I'll cover you."
Phil focused his attention to the sky as Matt ran towards the others.

Shannon shielded her eyes as she aimed a rifle overhead. The last of the sun was getting ready to set. Tyler knelt down next to Jenna.
"Where is she hurt?" Shaun asked him.
"Her head." Tyler replied, knowingly.

Jenna had multiple lacerations to her face. Tyler put both his hands on her forehead and closed his eyes. The others stood guard. It took only about thirty seconds and all of Jenna's cuts were gone. She slowly opened her eyes.
"You again?" She said to Tyler.
"Thank God." Shaun said, hugging her.

"Where is that thing?" Jenna asked.
"What thing? Did you see it?" Sam asked her.
Jenna looked at Casey. "I saw it. It was her." She said.
"Her who?!" Matt demanded.

Casey knew after Jenna said it. Jenna and Casey were the only ones who had seen "her" before.
The winged girl from the lab in the dungeon. The experiment. Walker must have finally finished her, and this was her test run. They were her prey.

"It's something Walker created." Casey said.
"What like those monsters?" Shannon asked.
"Not quite." Jenna replied.
Then, out of nowhere they heard a screeching holler from above. Before they could react Phil was slammed into by a white blur that blasted by. It went by so fast the rest of them felt the stiff wind from it.

It flew with such incredible speed they didn't have time to even aim their weapons at it. Phil was thrown about fifty feet and hit the earth with a with a sickening thud. He was out cold. Shannon fired into the air without seeing what she was shooting at, just to keep whatever this thing was at bay. Matt and Shaun ran for Phil.

"Don't move him!" Matt yelled. It was hard to find a pulse on him. Phil laid there, shirt ripped and bloodstained. Matt could see his chest already turning black and blue. He knew his friend had to be bleeding internally.
"Stay with him." Matt ordered Shaun, who was armed with an AR15. He took post in front of Phil as Matt ran to the others.

"Where the fuck is it?!" Shannon yelled.
"I don't know!" Jenna called back.
It was chaos as they searched the sky. All of them had their weapons aimed upward. Another screech. Another dark shadow overhead. They all spun in different directions, shielding their eyes from the setting sun.

That's when it came into view. It was a sight to behold. The winged creature flew through the air, her enormous wings stretched to their limit as she glided through the sky. She was as beautiful as she was deadly. Her skin was now a milky white. Her ripped white dress blew in the wind as she made a direct line right for them.

"There!" Matt yelled. He raised his gun and fired on it. She moved with unbelievable speed, easily dodging his bullets.
Her wingspan was like nothing they've ever seen. When she swooped down on them they dove out of the way. Sam had Tyler behind the overturned Bronco, shielding him with her own body.

They could hear the swoosh of the creature's wings as she flew by. This time they didn't lose sight of her. They saw her swing around for a second attack.
Jenna fired and connected with the creature's left wing, throwing her off course. Just like with any flying object, if you damaged one wing you have made it impossible for the object to fly straight and steady.

Finally they had landed an attack. The wings were almost see through with black veins running through them. They almost looked paper thin.
Jenna's direct hit made it vulnerable as it came towards them with fury in her eyes.
Shannon saw an opportunity. She dropped her rifle and took out two of her curved blades. She ran right towards the flying beauty.

With rage in her eyes, she jumped onto the wrecked SUV and took a flying leap off of it, meeting the creature in mid air with rabid force. They both went crashing to the ground as a cloud of dirt kicked up. When it cleared Shannon was on top of the girl. Her one blade plunged deep into the girls chest, up towards her shoulder, pinning her to the ground.

Shannon raised her other knife and came down hard with it, sticking it through the creature's left wing and pinning that to the ground as well. The abomination screamed wildly. It thrashed on the ground as it struggled to get free. Matt and the others gathered around Shannon, who was staring down at the girl.

"Jesus Christ. This is what they're making at the Nest?" Matt asked.
"Among other things." Casey replied.
Phil, Shaun and Tyler came over. They hadn't even noticed Tyler had healed Phil already.
"Bitch can hit." Phil remarked.

"What is it?" Sam asked.
"A monster." Casey replied.
The creature's face went from a menacing scowl to an innocent girl once again. Her eyes went from a scary glowing red to a regular ocean blue. The once horrifying monster was once again transformed into a teenage girl, although her winged appendages remained.

Tears were streaming down the girl's face as she reached a hand up to them. For a moment they all saw the young girl she used to be. Before Walker  destroyed her. She was just a young girl, just like Sam.

"Help me." She pleaded to them.
The same plea she gave Casey in the dungeon when she first saw her. She had been at the beginning of her transformation, scared and confused. But there was nothing they could do now. Her transformation was complete. Casey aimed her gun at the girls head.
"I am helping you."
She fired a lone bullet into her forehead.

Shannon walked towards the road. Night had just about fallen. The glow of the diner's neon sign was visible now, but something else caught her eye barreling down the road. A black SUV. As it started to get closer she noticed it was actually three black SUV's as they broke from a single file formation and fanned out, veering off the main road and driving onto the dirt field right towards them.

Shannon picked up her gun.
"We got company."