The Anomaly Project

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

NOAH

The trembling ground is what wakes me up. Not the sound of everyone running around, not Autumn yelling in my ear or tapping my shoulder. The shaking shocks me awake, and the reason for the shaking makes me spring to my feet and grab my weapons.

"Banniks?" I ask Autumn. She nods in confirmation, gripping her knife. I pull my gun across my back and the two of us run out of the dormitory. "They've never come at night before," I say.

She shrugs, her face serious and hard in the moonlight. "Well, they're here now." We join Todd and Tessa at the edge of the forest. I pull out my sword and prepare myself for a fight.

The rumbling begins, deep, loud, and terrifying. It's much louder than usual and growing in volume. The trees start to shake violently in front of us, and Autumn shifts her weight next to me. I can feel her fear. Or am I just feeling my own?

I glance back at the cabins, considering going back there and using my sniper rifle instead of fighting hand-to-hand, but before I can do anything, the Banniks burst through the forest and we're thrown into combat.

Brooke takes down four Banniks in about three seconds, firing bullets and dropping them before they even know what hit them. Autumn is holding her own beside me, slicing and stabbing with her knife, and Todd battles two Banniks at once next to her. I take on a few with my sword before deciding to retreat to the roof of the dormitory to use my sniper rifle.

Once I'm on top of the dorm, I have a much clearer view of the battlefield. There are a lot more Banniks than usual and it's nighttime, but things are actually looking pretty good.

I kill a few monsters of my own with my rifle. I'm feeling optimistic. Although I can see there are more Banniks coming, it's nothing we can't handle. This'll be over in a few minutes.

I almost sense the roar coming before I actually hear it. The hair stands up on the back of my neck as the familiar growl fills the air. But this time, it's coming from behind us. All the others whip around to see what's going on. The trees begin to shake again and Banniks emerge from them. Now they're coming from both sides, and our camp is in the middle of everything.

I spin around and start shooting at the new Banniks instead. A few of the others start to run in my direction to help me take them down, but I wave them back. "Stay there! I can handle these. Just keep them from getting to the camp!" I yell, and they obey. All of them except Autumn, that is. She doesn't even hesitate or slow down; she just sprints toward me and swings herself up onto the roof beside me. She's got her crossbow locked and loaded and is aiming at the fast-approaching Banniks.

"I should have known you wouldn't listen," I mutter, looking through the sights on my rifle and taking aim.

"I wasn't going to leave you up here by yourself," she answers, and lets a bolt fly. It thuds into a Bannik's chest. The creature squeals and collapses.

"Nice shot," I remark, hitting another Bannik in the top of the head.

She gives me a half-smile. "You're not the only good marksman around here, you know."

"You got that right," says a voice below us. Brooke teleports up onto the roof on my other side, blue eyes blazing with adrenaline. "No offence, but you two are going to need all the help you can get for this." She shoots three times and three Banniks go down almost simultaneously.

"I'd be stupid to refuse you right now," I say honestly, and we start shooting. The others seem to be doing fine – everyone is alive and fighting. Dead Banniks are strewn across the grass, but more and more are coming. I turn my attention back to the creatures still coming at us.