The Things We Bury - Part 2: No Big Apocalypse [Completed]

Chapter 8: Galveston (Parts 9 to 11 of 13)

The sound began in Maxwell's metal fillings as a vibration filling his mouth with the taste of iron and electricity, reminiscent of licking a battery. With all of the activity and engines roaring around him, the sound was never clearly audible. It lurked behind the other noises and presented itself more like an energy pulse, as though a jet had broken the sound barrier overhead in the upper atmosphere. But even though Maxwell couldn't say what it was he actually heard, there was no mistaking it. No pretending it was in his imagination. It twisted his guts and made the muscles in his legs go numb.

It affected the others too.

In his periphery, he saw R.J. and Nikki drop to the deck as though they were taking cover from a missile strike. Kendall grimaced, his features distorted with raw terror, a fear that hadn't been there when Emily put a knife to his throat. Maxwell couldn't see Emily's face but her whole body tensed.

Then Kendall did the unexpected: he bolted. Bursting from Emily's grip, he raced headlong down the dock toward the sea. He got about twenty feet before he stumbled to his hands and knees. Blood rushed down the front of his shirt from where the slit opened up his neck. Heedless of the wound, he continued clawing his way down the pier.

There was something fascinating about his raw determination to get away at all costs—no price was too high to pay, not even his own life. Maxwell could have stayed glued to the tragic scene, if bedlam wasn't erupting all around them. The Zodiacs were retreating, their engines blasted full throttle. Out on shore, the tactical teams were going berserk, abandoning their equipment and scrambling away. Most made a run for it but a few of them dove into the water only to be pulled under by their assault gear.

A body dropped straight down into the parking lot, as a helicopter gunman fell to his death. An Apache veered off sharply and went back the way it came. The second one lost control and altitude. It skidded slowly on its side falling through the air like it was bouncing down a staircase until it landed among the docked ships further down the quay and exploded in a massive ball of fire.

Maxwell had never experienced anything like it on the battlefield. Some horrific weapon must have been triggered. Whatever it was, the attacking forces were so scared of it they were willing to risk it all to get away. Should he flee too?

But why surround Amy so closely, then target her with such a doomsday device?

Amy.

Maxwell had seen something similar to this once before. Down in the bunker, the very first time they watched her transform. The beast had roared and people had crawled over each other to try and get out. They clawed at the locked metal door until their fingernails broke and bled. If not for years of mastering self-control, he would have been in the fray that day with only one thought in his mind: get away from that hellish thing. Get far away.

It wasn't the military that triggered the weapon—the beast was out.

But then in the distance, he spied her. Sixteen year-old Amy, small and bright compared to the large black clad men and not a wolf at all. She sprinted for the road, heading after her would-be captors.

***

Alicia half ran, half stumbled down the road. Her pistol hung loosely in her hand, forgotten. The feds were far ahead of her, their black body armor disappearing in the distance. She reached the car and practically collapsed on the hood. Her ears were still ringing from the propane tank explosion. A raw burning in her sinuses made it feel like her nose should be bleeding but it was dry.

The only thought she was able to hold onto was how grateful she was for being alive. The blast had blown her off her feet and when she came to, everybody was running away. Only a few of the government thugs were still about but the confusion was so great they seemed lost and aimless, more concerned about their panicked brethren than some sooty woman walking zombie-like through their warzone.