down at the combatant with no concern. He recognized the dark black eyes of a host soldier-- one of his minions.
The hand was my hand. The rifle began to hum with a charge; I levelled it toward the behemoth bearing down on me.
I guess those few moments in the operating room with that Tenachai parasite’s blood mixing with mine mutated me enough to pass for one of their own. Stupid toads!
Seconds later the back of the alien monster’s head exploded, spraying a fine read mist and chunks of flesh over the combatants in the street.
Chapter 15 – Oh, Brother
I had fired a full power energy blast directly into the fleshy, groaning mouth of the creature leading the attack on me and my friends.
The lifeless mass of yellow flesh wobbled on its perch, and then slumped forward and oozed down the front of the tank, slamming into the ground at my feet. I just missed being crushed.
The Tenachai forces were startled, and then plunged into utter confusion.
I hoisted the energy rifle above my head in a whole-body signal of triumph, and then turned to face my friends.
They looked at me wide-eyed for a moment, shocked at how the battle dynamic had changed with one simple action. They watched me closely, as if waiting for a respected leader to give them the order, to call them into valiant battle. Yeah, right.
“Go! Run!” I yelled, as I broke into a full sprint.
I ran hard, away from the Tenachai soldiers. Taking out the Gamma commander had been lucky. The handful of us left could not expect to hold firm and take on a platoon of bloodthirsty ETs.
The rest of them clued in as they saw me bearing down on them.
The group scrambled, heading from the street to the cover of the nearby brush. When I reached it, Braden was staring at me and still holding Wendy.
“That…was amazing,” he said, struggling to speak and regain his breath at the same time.
“We can debate who the bigger hero is later,” I replied. “Right now we need to move toward that tree line over there and get back to the hospital.”
The group had been huddled around listening. They began to slowly work toward the cover and safety of the tree line, trying not to attract any more attention from the Tenachai, who were starting to regroup and form a new plan of attack.
I brought up the rear, and just as I was about to cross a small clearing that bordered the trees, there was a rustling from the yard behind us.
We all swirled to face the noise in unison with weapons drawn. (Tense? Who, us?)
Over the top of my alien energy rifle I stared into the frightened face of a young woman with the largest afro I’d ever seen. Her skin was as dark as the scowling expression she gave me. She was just tired and scared enough to be pissed off. The threat of being fired upon didn’t seem to faze her. Her eyes were normal though, so I knew she wasn’t a threat, at least not of the alien kind.
The sound of the energy rifle charging in my hands slowly rose and pushed away the silence. Startled, I lowered the rifle and removed my finger from the trigger mechanism, disengaging the charging process. The gun wound down, the charge lowering with a dull hum, dissipating until it was no longer audible.
“Sorry,” I said.
A goateed man with an olive complexion and a young boy stepped up next to her, smiling nervously. The man was slim, but his muscles were cut like steel cable. The boy was dirty, but had a bright light to his eyes. His hair was short and curled tightly, and his complexion was coffee-colored, the perfect mixture of his mother and father.
“It’s okay,” said the man nervously.
The man moved forward tentatively, putting himself between his woman and me.
“I’m Brian,” he said. “This is my wife Alex.” He gestured to the very irritated looking woman, and then nodded toward the boy, “And this is Levon, our son.
We all stared back at them, not
The hand was my hand. The rifle began to hum with a charge; I levelled it toward the behemoth bearing down on me.
I guess those few moments in the operating room with that Tenachai parasite’s blood mixing with mine mutated me enough to pass for one of their own. Stupid toads!
Seconds later the back of the alien monster’s head exploded, spraying a fine read mist and chunks of flesh over the combatants in the street.
Chapter 15 – Oh, Brother
I had fired a full power energy blast directly into the fleshy, groaning mouth of the creature leading the attack on me and my friends.
The lifeless mass of yellow flesh wobbled on its perch, and then slumped forward and oozed down the front of the tank, slamming into the ground at my feet. I just missed being crushed.
The Tenachai forces were startled, and then plunged into utter confusion.
I hoisted the energy rifle above my head in a whole-body signal of triumph, and then turned to face my friends.
They looked at me wide-eyed for a moment, shocked at how the battle dynamic had changed with one simple action. They watched me closely, as if waiting for a respected leader to give them the order, to call them into valiant battle. Yeah, right.
“Go! Run!” I yelled, as I broke into a full sprint.
I ran hard, away from the Tenachai soldiers. Taking out the Gamma commander had been lucky. The handful of us left could not expect to hold firm and take on a platoon of bloodthirsty ETs.
The rest of them clued in as they saw me bearing down on them.
The group scrambled, heading from the street to the cover of the nearby brush. When I reached it, Braden was staring at me and still holding Wendy.
“That…was amazing,” he said, struggling to speak and regain his breath at the same time.
“We can debate who the bigger hero is later,” I replied. “Right now we need to move toward that tree line over there and get back to the hospital.”
The group had been huddled around listening. They began to slowly work toward the cover and safety of the tree line, trying not to attract any more attention from the Tenachai, who were starting to regroup and form a new plan of attack.
I brought up the rear, and just as I was about to cross a small clearing that bordered the trees, there was a rustling from the yard behind us.
We all swirled to face the noise in unison with weapons drawn. (Tense? Who, us?)
Over the top of my alien energy rifle I stared into the frightened face of a young woman with the largest afro I’d ever seen. Her skin was as dark as the scowling expression she gave me. She was just tired and scared enough to be pissed off. The threat of being fired upon didn’t seem to faze her. Her eyes were normal though, so I knew she wasn’t a threat, at least not of the alien kind.
The sound of the energy rifle charging in my hands slowly rose and pushed away the silence. Startled, I lowered the rifle and removed my finger from the trigger mechanism, disengaging the charging process. The gun wound down, the charge lowering with a dull hum, dissipating until it was no longer audible.
“Sorry,” I said.
A goateed man with an olive complexion and a young boy stepped up next to her, smiling nervously. The man was slim, but his muscles were cut like steel cable. The boy was dirty, but had a bright light to his eyes. His hair was short and curled tightly, and his complexion was coffee-colored, the perfect mixture of his mother and father.
“It’s okay,” said the man nervously.
The man moved forward tentatively, putting himself between his woman and me.
“I’m Brian,” he said. “This is my wife Alex.” He gestured to the very irritated looking woman, and then nodded toward the boy, “And this is Levon, our son.
We all stared back at them, not
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