Shadows Will Fall by Trey Garrison Page B

millions of difference calculations per second. The sum total of these constituted the brain functions of Colonel Uhrwerk. While a small amount of his human body remained encased in the metal form her wore, all that he once was been had long ago been replaced by one of Übel’s more ingenious inventions. He was a clockwork man through and through, with so little human material remaining that the undead did not sense his presence.
    In a confused rage, and before Uhrwerk could react, the draugr grabbed Uhrwerk’s right arm and ripped it from its socket. A green mechanical fluid and puff of steam erupted from the stump. The arm clattered on the cobblestones, clicking and whirring.
    â€œYou did this to us,” the draugr rasped. “And you’re not even human?”
    In a primitive rage, it roared. Behind it, more of the creatures were approaching. Uhrwerk knew he wouldn’t last against so many of these monstrosities. He backhanded the draugr before him, sent it sprawling into the cluster of undead. Then he ran for the archer’s door—a small, hidden doorway that opened to a stairwell within the castle wall, once allowing bowmen to take up position on top of the wall in a siege. Barring it behind him, Uhrwerk climbed the narrow stairway.
    The hatchway opened to the walkway and battlements atop the wall. Below in the outer courtyard, he saw the mass of undead. They were making their way toward the inner courtyard. Outside the wall it was a forty-foot drop to the solid stone ground beyond the castle. Without hesitation, Uhrwerk climbed the battlement and stepped off. As he fell he extended his left arm and dug his metal hand into the stone wall. Sparks showered around as it slowed his descent, enough that the servos and pumps in his legs were able to absorb the impact of landing.
    After hitting the ground he set out for Piteşti, with only a slight limp and not a single look back.
    S korzeny and Terah stood with their backs to the inner courtyard gate, watching the carnage in the outer courtyard. The melee between the undead and the nachtmenn was over. Many of the undead wandered about listlessly. Those closer, who sensed the gathering of the living in the inner courtyard, were coming their way. The flesh on the creatures was more drawn than it had been, exposing their teeth. Their gums had receded, making their maws all the more animalistic. Their fingernails were longer and more clawlike. Their complexion was more of a green-hued gray, where it had been ashen before. Most alarming, they were moving with more agility. They were getting faster.
    They swarmed over Übel’s machine. Clusters were hunting in different directions, mainly toward the inner courtyard. When one of the creatures was within twenty feet, Skorzeny shot it in the face.
    â€œThey’re changing,” Terah said. “Mutating.”
    Skorzeny agreed. “And they’re moving with a more predatory gait. Übel said that shouldn’t be happening. If anything, they should be slowing.”
    â€œThis isn’t what Übel planned, that’s for sure,” she said.
    â€œThat’s everyone,” Skorzeny noted as the last trooper passed through the gateway. “And the outer gate is secure. Get inside.”
    Field cars had been wedged into the gateway. The wall itself was twenty feet high and made of thick stone and mortar with rock infill. Heavy wooden crates, lumber, and anything else not nailed down was piled atop the field cars, leaving only a small gap at the top. Then heavy-duty cargo netting had been thrown over the barricade and tightened.
    Now, the engineers among the survivors set to work shoring up the hasty defense, putting their skills to a job they could not have imagined. The inner courtyard was their last redoubt. They could retreat into the castle, but in the narrow corridors and great rooms there would be no way to erect another barricade. They would be overrun in no time.
    When