Fragments by Dan Wells Page B

side, cracking it loudly; still,
     though, it held, and Kira braced herself tightly against it as the thing came back
     for another hit.
    She looked around wildly, aiming the rifle awkwardly with one hand to shine its light
     on the room, and saw a large wood desk. Claws scraped across the other side of the
     door—it was pawing at the barrier now, not smashing it, and she took the risk, jumping
     over the desk and heaving against it, pushing it back to block the door. The scratching
     turned to thumping; the door shook, and suddenly Kira was deafened by a massive roar.
     She lost her footing, dropped her rifle, and threw herself against the desk again,
     slamming it up against the door just as the thing on the other side slammed it again,
     shaking the room. The desk held. Kira fell back, reaching for the rifle’s light, and
     brought it up to illuminate the top half of the door, riven with cracks and splintered
     away from the frame. Something moved beyond it, nearly as tall as the ceiling; the
     light reflected against a huge amber eye, narrowing to a slit as the light blinded
     it. Kira reeled at the sheer size of it, scooting away almost involuntarily. A massive
     paw clawed at the gap in the door, giant claws gleaming silver in the halogen beam,
     and Kira fired a burst from her rifle, clipping it in the toe. The creature roared
     again, but this time Kira roared back, cornered and furious. She climbed on the desk,
     sighted straight through the broken doorway, and fired at the wall of fur and muscle
     before her. It howled in rage and pain, thrashing wildly at the door, and Kira ejected
     the spent clip, slapped in another one, and fired again. The creature turned and fled,
     disappearing into the darkness.
    Kira stood frozen in the doorway, her knuckles white as bone as they clutched the
     rifle. A second became a minute; a minute became two. The monster didn’t return. The
     adrenaline rush wore off and Kira began to shake, subtly at first and then harder,
     faster, shaking uncontrollably. She climbed down from the desk, nearly falling to
     the floor, and collapsed in the corner, sobbing.
    The dawn light didn’t reach through the maze of walls and doorways, but Kira could
     hear the sounds of morning: birds singing to greet the sun, bees buzzing through the
     flowers in the asphalt, and yes, even the distant trumpet of an elephant. Kira stood
     up slowly, peering through the cracked doorway. Her light was still on, though the
     batteries were failing; the room beyond was covered in sprays and smears of blood,
     but the creature itself was gone. She pulled back the desk, carefully opening the
     door; it was lighter out here, and she saw a beam of sunlight on the cluttered floor
     of the mall. Red-brown footprints led out to the street and into the plaza, but Kira
     didn’t bother following them. She took a drink from her canteen, sloshing the cold
     water on her face. It had been stupid to go out at night, she knew, and she promised
     herself she would never do it again.
    She shook her head, working out the kinks in her back and arms and fingers. The men
     she was chasing were probably too far away to have heard the gunfire last night, but
     if she was unlucky with the echoes, who was to say what could have happened? It didn’t
     change her plan—she had already been in a rush to find their building, and it was
     only more urgent now. She pulled her map from her backpack, locating herself and her
     quarry and planning out the best route to take. With a sigh and another sip of water,
     she set off through the city.
    Kira traveled cautiously, wary now not only of Partial patrols but of giant hairy
     claw monsters; she saw movement in every shadow, and had to force herself to stay
     calm and levelheaded. When she arrived at the right neighborhood, it took her a few
     hours to positively identify the building with the antenna, though most of that was
     her fear of being seen. She ended up climbing another