INFESTATION: Agent of S.P.E.A.R. #1

IV. ROUS

As I turned towards Doyle, I saw two dog-size creature covered in black and gray fur approached us in blurring speed. One of them rammed him in the midsection, knocking the wind out of him. The impact hurled him to the wooden crates a couple of meters away from us. The crash splintered wood and spilt the crates contents and the arbutus fell in the muck in front of me.

"Look out!" St. Clair shouted.

I tried to turn again, raising the gun towards the opposite direction but failed, St. Clair shoved me down the muddy ground. Another leaping beast missed me by a couple of inches as it tried to do to me what its friend did to Doyle.

The muck gave me a soft landing. I pushed the agent away from me, I was still a bit disoriented by the fall, as I raised the gun. Again the thing moved like a blur, far faster than expected.

I aimed my gun at the abhuman as it followed the other two. Lying prone, I exhaled and squeezed the trigger. Bang, bang, bang. I fired five shots in succession. Each shot gave a violent recoil, teeth gritted I kept on squeezing the trigger. The first one struck the creature near its tail. The second one missed. The third one hit its right hind leg. It didn't even pause to consider its wounds. The other two missed the mark again. The damn recoil of the gun made it hard to be precise.

I aimed again but got distracted when St. Clair shrieked. The imp started attacking him, mauling him like an angry wolverine. He fell on his back, ferocious imp on top of him.

"Oh shit!" I said when I realised what was happening. His bone rings were not glowing anymore. I quickly went over to help him. But a punch from him here and there made no effect to the ferocious hell spawn. I cursed when it snapped its teeth-filled jaw and finally struck home.

St. Clair cried in agony as the imp's teeth bit through his forearm. I struggled to my feet and snatched the arbutus, petals crumbling on my hand. The imp turned its thorny bald head at me, and I took the chance. I shoved what's left of the crumbling flowers on the its open jaw.

It swallowed all of it whole and began running blindly. I could've laugh at it and maybe I did. 'It' deserved the pain after what he did to those folks. Mouth smoking like a chimney, it crashed on one of the vehicle's side. With a loud bang, and the imp collapsed into a thick purple mist and disappeared– back to where it should be.

I turned and saw Doyle's situation. The creatures were hauling the unconscious agent by his left leg towards the dark mouth of the tunnel. I looked back at St. Clair as he tried to stand, his arm was bleeding so bad.

"Go...go follow them!" he croaked."He needs you more, agent! I promise I'll follow you."

I ran but hesitated when I saw the spilt contents of the crates. I pocketed some of the contents and bolted towards the tunnel, flashlight and gun in my hands. Whether it was by luck or better judgement I was glad I did it.

I entered the tunnel mine and began to jog. The damn things were fast. I pointed the light at the floor and saw the blood trail left by the one I shot. I descended down the shaft as I followed the fresh trail, careful not to slip down the damp tunnel.

The oppressing darkness in the shaft made my efforts that much harder. But I persisted on, I needed to do this, I said to myself. The blood led me to a hole of crumbling stone at the tunnel's wall. I entered it and pressed on, heart beating in overdrive. Surprisingly it was cooler here, but the bad side was the ripe smell of guano was almost overpowering my nose.

I almost slipped down the wet ground as I hastened my progress. And I had to pause a couple of times to correct my bearings. Worse was, the blood trails began fading in the crisscrossing stalagmites. I tried to lean on it but the rock formations were sharp enough to draw blood. Did the giant fuckers heal that fast? I really hope not, but you could never know a cryptid's biology.

"Doyle!" I shouted and my voice wavered a bit. I heard scratching sounds beyond the reach of my light. Shit, bad idea... I said to myself. It was one of them or probably all of them. The beam from my flashlight created misshapen shadows that danced inside the cavern's wall.

I tried my best to focus on the task at hand to ease my senses. But my parched throat began to itch. So, my cold and clammy hand held the gun tighter. It wasn't as reassuring as I once thought. I raised the gun as the creature moved and shifted in the darkness. Dammit!

It was smart, trying to catch me off guard. I calmed myself down and slowed my breathing. "Don't panic Cath." I shook my head. Don't you get killed here, I thought. I gulped enough air to fill my lungs and slowly exhaled. I have to be two steps ahead of these things if I want to come up on top. Scratching and skittering sounds moved from one place to the other. But then things suddenly quieted down.

I strained my ear and pointed the light on the last source of sound I heard when the silence grew more unsettling. But I quickly sighed when I saw what it was. Just a small boulder. Maybe a part of the stalactite that fell down the cave floor when the mining started.

I walked over the boulder but halted mid stride. I cursed myself. Very smart, mimicking a boulder with its fine black and gray fur. It just showed how cunning an abhuman could be. I jerked away from it. But it took advantage of my moment's pause to attack. Holy shit, just great! I thought as the wily predator leaped at me with its full weight. Its taloned paw struck my flashlight away. The split second was the most horrific moment in my entire life. The sudden absence of light lit the fire of my primal fears. I swallowed a curse as I fell back 

I raised the pistol, trying to fight the paralysing fright that bathed my body. But I fell back again as I tried to collect myself. The thing must've whipped its tail at my mid-section.

Teeth gritted, I readied for the much painful fall. Bit I was no slouch as I began shooting at the final direction where I thought it was, not even bothering to aim properly. Only the gun-flash lit my view as I fell down the cave floor and hitting the back of my head. The world around me exploded in pain...