Flashf0rward

Chapter 40: Primal Instinct

Wren

The battle wasn't going as bad as I thought it would. We were taking out a good chunk of Matthias's forces, pushing them back over the hill, while also managing to keep our casualty level to a minimum. After watching Sparrow and Angelo deal with the snipers at the top of the hill, I was able to turn my attention back to the battle.

Shooting a couple of horseback riders, I thought about Ivy, wondering if she was alright. She would be getting into position soon, but she had to wait until the right moment to charge, otherwise she'd get slaughtered along with the rest of them. I knew we couldn't let that happen. Reloading my rifle, I kept firing.

"Wren!" I heard Jude shout next to me, and I ducked down to look at him. "How's your ammo?" He asked me, and I checked my belt. "I've got about 4 mags left. You?" He motioned to his belt. "3. We're running low. Same for everyone else." I nodded. "When we run out, switch to our alternate ammo!"

Then, I saw a pair of bright lights come over the hill, and my eyes widened. The second Hummer truck revved its engine as it crested the hill, knocking both Matthias's and our people aside. The gunner cocked the .50cal and started peppering the hill with bullets, clearly not caring if it hit any of its own men. People started dropping like flies.

I shouted to the men on the wall. "Heads down!" We ducked just in time to avoid another barrage of bullets. I cursed out loud. "I forgot about the damn second one!" Jude looked up at me. "What's the plan?" I bit my lower lip. It was risky, but we were out of options. "Stay here, I'll take it out."

Jude grabbed my shoulder and made me look at him. "Good luck. I'll cover you." Nodding, I slung my rifle over my shoulders and jumped down off the wall, rolling onto the grass. "Covering fire!" I heard from over my head as Jude and the remaining soldiers fired at anyone who got close to me.

Holding my rifle in a combat stance, I began to make my way through the battlefield. I shot down as many horseback riders as I could, hopefully saving some lives in the process. Then, one of Matthias's men rushed me, knocking the rifle out of my hands and attempting to shoot me with their pistol. I quickly reacted by kicking the gun out of their hands.

He lunged forwards and kneed me in the stomach, making me drop slightly until he pulled me back up by wrapping his forearms around my neck. I could feel my neck start to close as he choked me. Knowing I only had one way out of this, I quickly reached up and grabbed his arms. Focusing, I felt my stomach clench as a smell of grilling hair and meat reached my nose as he screamed.

Pulling his arms off of me, I could see the red-hot imprints my fingers had left on his skin, and I shot a blast of plasma at him, knocking him back and making him skid slightly across the grass. I only had a short amount of time to relax before I felt myself being covered by the headlights of the Hummer, which was driving across the hill towards me.

My eyes widened, and I quickly dove out of the way as the large truck almost ran me down, bullets flying by as the gunner just barely missed me. Shooting a few balls of plasma at it, it managed to deflect all of them, the armour being too strong to be affected. The gunner himself, however, was still very visible.

As I tried to think up a plan, I heard something in the distance that made my blood run cold. It was a roar so loud, that everyone on the battlefield stopped and looked towards the source of the noise. After the roar ended, everything was deathly quiet for a fraction of a second, and then that roar was echoed by what seemed like a million more. It made me want to plug my ears, but I knew what was coming. We'd just attracted a swarm.

I'd prayed this wouldn't happen, but I knew my luck was never that good. Looking to the hill where the forest was, I saw a large stampede of hypermorphs charging towards us, no doubt attracted by the noise and explosions. We had nowhere to go, so we only had one option: stand and fight.

Everyone turned their weapons towards the horde, firing into the large crowd as the beasts got closer. They shrieked and some fell as they felt the bullets pierce their skin, making them collapse. But there was far too many to make a difference. They leaped an inhuman distance, covering almost 50 feet in a single stride, and pounced on good and bad guys alike.

The shouting that had filled the battlefield moments ago was replaced by screaming as those people were attacked by the mutated creatures. Knowing I had to act fast, I spoke into my radio. "All units, turn your attention to the hypermorphs! Do not let them get near Sanctuary! If they get in, we'll have a much bigger problem on our hands!"

Turning around, I saw the gunner on top of the Hummer was firing into the crowd of people that were being attacked by hypermorphs. Knowing he was doing more harm than good, I sprung into action. Leaping up the back of the truck, I slammed the gunners head into the machine gun, then tossed him out of the small turret.

Crouching inside, I aimed a ball of plasma at the driver, who turned to me with wide eyes. "Get out." I said in as much of an aggressive voice as I could muster. The driver nodded quickly and dove out of the car, running presumably back towards the safety of his camp. I closed the door and got into the driver's seat.

I tuned my radio and contacted Jude. "Jude, I've got control of the Hummer! I'm gonna try and draw some of them away!" Jude responded. "Are you sure that's a good idea? You could get yourself killed!" I shook my head. "They'll respond to me more. When I get clear, you bring the rain, got it?" There was a moment of silence, then Jude answered. "I copy."

Sighing, I gripped the steering wheel. The last time I'd driven a car was over 10 years ago for my driving test. I hoped I hadn't forgotten anything. Pressing down on the accelerator, the truck leaped forwards as I started my drive across the battlefield. Honking my horn, I flashed the lights as much as I could to attract attention. "Hey! Morphies! Over here!"

I could see that some members of the swarm were starting to follow me, as well as some of Matthias's men who were still alive. I felt a few bullets ping off the side of the truck, but I was comfortable knowing that the armour was thick enough to keep me safe. Swerving through the valley, I saw I had a whole mob of hypermorphs behind me now.

As I was about to make another pass, I felt the back right of my truck jerk, and looking in one of the side mirrors, I saw that the one of the hypermorphs had taken out my back tire, which was now making me skid across the slick grass that made up the valley. I felt the car begin to skid sideways, until something made me flip over, turning the entire truck upside down and making me fly out from my seat towards the roof. That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.