Annihilation - Book Three

Chapter 9

Verando backs towards Tonic, who puts his back on him as Tomas wheels around to face their attackers. The triangle would protect them from all sides if they remained tight, but that would mean trusting the bounty hunter.

 "Now what?" Tonic asks through his teeth, ears flat against his skull. 

"We fight. I don't know about you lot, but I'm not fer dyin' today." Tomas responds shortly, pulling a second ax off his back.

"You'll get two swipes in with those axes, and then what?" Verando asks him quietly, readying his bow and arrow. "There is an open entrance at the back of the castle; we need to lure them there. It's a few miles, but surely we can run there?"

"Plenty of motivation." Tonic breathes, though he doesn't sound as nervous as one would expect from him. "We're surrounded; it'll be a miracle if we make it; you both know that, right?"

"We are going to take out the wolves to the north, and then we run. Understood?" The wolves snarl as if they can comprehend the plan, making his throat tighten, and he mutters a quiet apology to the beasts. The warlord turns on his heel, rapid-firing three arrows, clearing a path for Tonic, the most exposed in his wolf state. 

"Stay in front, Tonic, don't get bit," Verando tells him as he fires one more and breaks off in a sprint after the gray wolf. 

Tomas swings his ax as he runs alongside, surrounded by the roars of angry, infected beasts echoing off the trees. 

"Your plan? It sucks!" Tomas pants, surprising him by how well he can keep up. "We should stay an' fight! Runnin' is for cowards, tuckin' yer tail between ya legs. "

Verando throws a knife over the red-haired man's shoulder, aiming between the eyes of a nearing infected beast. It plummets, hitting the cold ground with force, sending the wolves behind it toppling. "I want to live, thank you."

What a novelty to wish to survive. His heart pounds in his chest; his lungs burn for air; how long has it been since he ran like this? Even longer since he had run for his life and truly felt he might face the end should they catch him. 

Tomas grabs his coat and yanks him down. He pushes off the gray-haired man's back to hit an airborne creature through the skull. Kicking off its chest, he gracefully lands on his feet and is right back with them, shocking considering the man's lumbering size and lack of grace simply walking through the woods. 

 Verando jumps to grab a tree branch, using the downward impact to land his boot on the back of one as Tomas takes off its head.

"Not bad for an old man!"

"It's a coat color, asshole." But Verando's grinning like a schoolboy. The feelings of age, the ache in his body, and the weakness all vanish the faster he runs, and he can't help himself as he starts to laugh.

"Are ya mad?" Tomas stares at him in disbelief.

"I think this is the most fun I've had in years. So.. yes? Maybe?" Verando says as he chuckles.

 Tomas grins and laughs as well, shaking his head at the audacity of their circumstances. "Aye, madness breeds company, ya know." Weaving through the trees, they hardly escape the snapping jaws as they dive and bob through the tangle of limbs and frosted vines. Surrounded by the chorus of ragged panting and vicious barks, the sound of the impending invasion overwhelmed all else. 

 The dense fir branches grab and pull like claws; it's hard to know what has a hold of each limb in the fading light. The thunder of paws around them bellows like an incoming storm; the rabid creatures are gaining on them. Verando grabs Tonic's tail mid-run, yanking him out of the path of a side attack, and Tomas quickly dispatches the beast.