บท 173: Vol. III Chapter 45 Alpha
Chapter 45 Alpha
Rosie moved quickly, finding Matt crouched over a footprint in the mud. Far too big to be human. She followed Matt as he darted from track to broken branch. Trying to see the things he saw. Everyone always said Matt stood as the best tracker they'd ever seen. Watching him work at speed in the fading light showed Rosie just how good he was.
"They can wander for days." Matt stooped to look as the soft earth shifted to rock. Rosie noticed how the tracks didn't make sense at times. "Not a lot of cover. Any ideas?" Matt asked, eager to continue the hunt.
"I've been working on something." Rosie's last encounter with a mutant had left an impression. "I'm going to increase the frequency of the mapping and modulate the signal…" She got a blank stare from Matt and kept working quietly. The higher rate of pulses began to add detail, Rosie subtracted it from the data. "Movement, thirty metres." Rosie pointed over the ridge and they headed for it.
The last light of the day cast long shadows on the ground. Rosie set up her rifle on the ridge, peering through the scope. She saw the mutant, trudging around in no particular direction. "WHERE YOU GO?!" It whined, frustrated and saddened, yet angry. Seeing this shambling dim witted creature only made her thoughts of Jones worse. He'd moved with purpose, intent. The eight foot green skinned brute appeared lost and without the sense to find its way.
The mutant stopped, catching sight of something. Rosie panned the scope and saw it. About half the size of the mutant. Pale tan hide, a snub snout and nubs for horns. It's arms nearly the full length of its body, ending in lethal looking claws.
"Juvenile." Matt whispered from behind his binoculars.
"Got it." Rosie clicked the safety off.
She watched as the mutant flew into a rage, hurtling towards the much smaller creature. The juvenile Deathclaw responded with a growling hiss, throwing its arms out.
Suddenly something darted from the forest of dead trees. The blur zipped behind the advancing mutant, slashing at its legs from behind before it vanished again. A scream of pain only seemed to enrage the brute further. The first juvenile turned and ran, luring the mutant closer.
More shapes darted from cover. Slashing at the putrid green flesh, making the mutant chase them while the others struck. Until a bulbous fist landed a blow, sending the juvenile flying. A swift kick took care of another. Then the mutant got hold of one. It tore the creature in two at the waist while screaming a demented laugh.
Emboldened and enraged, the mutant advanced on the two remaining juveniles. Rosie's motion sensor pinged, the signal larger than before. She shifted to get a better view, catching sight of what the mutant couldn't see.
Black hide, curved horns, eyes that burnt like coals. Claws that lived up to the name. "The Alpha." Matt whispered, struck with fear and awe in equal measure.
The Alpha Deathclaw bounded on all fours. Moving fast enough to close the distance before the mutant even noticed. It straightened its arched back, looming over the mutant for the briefest of moments. Claws pierced the mutant's chest from behind, shredding its lungs and lifting the brute a foot off the ground. The mutant thrashed, tearing more of its own flesh. Slathering jaws unhinged, and the Deathclaw bit the mutant's head clean off.
Rosie watched as the Alpha forced the head down its gullet. It hissed with disapproval as the juveniles approached, meek and servile. The Alpha sunk one of its claws into the mutilated carcass and slunk away with its prize.
"We need to follow it." Matt began to shift down the ridge. Careful not to draw the attention of the pair of juveniles feeding on their dead sibling.
Rosie followed Matt down. Her thoughts got away from her, thinking of the beast. She'd helped prepare the bones and hide. Even held the severed head without flinching. Seeing the primal cunning and lethality terrified her. And that moment of distraction proved costly.
Her poorly placed foot disturbed a patch of loose rocks, knocking into more rocks. The tumbling scree drew the attention of one of the juveniles. Rosie pressed herself against the ground, trying to hide. She peered down, seeing the creature drawing closer.
Rosie readied her rifle, slowly getting into position to shoot. She brought the crosshairs of her scope onto the snout of the creature. Only to realise she'd lost track of the other one.
Rosie tore her gaze from the scope, frantically looking for the second juvenile. "Move!" Matt yelled, standing over her. In an instant he loosed an arrow, piercing the soft belly of the second Juvenile as it leapt from above them. The creature hit the ground and tumbled down the scree. Its sibling let rip half a panicked, shrill cry before Rosie put two bullets in it.
Matt froze, she did the same. No sound apart from the settling of rock and the wind. Until a far deeper growl sounded beyond the ridge line. "Run." Matt's eyes went wide with fear.
Rosie hurled herself down the scree after Matt and they broke into a sprint. As they reached the road Rosie couldn't help but look back. Loping after them on all fours, she saw the Alpha. It had their scent.
A ten minute run brought them a moment of respite. "It's flanking us." Rosie struggled to accept what the motion sensor showed her. Matt pulled a pair of compact submachine guns from his pack and handed her one. She could have kissed him.
"Aim for the pale skin on the belly and tendons on the legs, we need to slow it down." Matt glanced over her shoulder. "Contact!" He shoved her aside and let rip a burst of rapid fire. Rosie caught sight of his target, a juvenile, a chunk of its head tore off.
The Alpha roared, the fear pulled Rosie into the dreamlike state. She saw it lurch from cover, still moving fast in the slowed time. Rosie did the only thing she could think of. She pulled the pin on the flashbang and held it. The handle pinged free, priming the stun grenade, still she held it. A long half a second passed before she threw it in a precise arc, watching until it began to detonate. A few feet from the Alpha's head.
Time snapped back as the night lit up for a fraction of a second. Followed by multiple, ear splitting bangs. The Alpha screeched, then recoiled. "We head for the trees then south." Rosie made sure Matt heard and understood, then took off running.
"This is Tornado, request immediate backup." She got a two word response that made her feel unreasonably confident.
"Ronin inbound."
Rosie darted back and forth, feinting to draw the beast. All the while dipping in and out of the dreamlike state. Like a stone skipping over water, the momentum carried forward. "Contact right!" Her rapidly pinging motion sensor gave her a glimpse of the Alpha. She and Matt fired, bullets skipping off the black hide as the beast withdrew, momentarily at least.
Rosie and Matt took cover behind a tree. The strain of zipping in and out of the dreamlike state made her legs burn. She stayed still, relying on her sensor. It sent out pings and showed no movement.
"Last mag." Matt half whispered as he reloaded. Rosie looked through the trees, trying to spot the black hide in the dark. She saw nothing, which didn't make things better.
They kept to the trees that lined the road, bounding over roots and uneven ground. Turning, ready to fire every few feet. Rosie broke from cover and started running as Matt covered her. Suddenly the motion sensor pinged rapidly. Fractions of a second before the Alpha lurched into view ahead. It had gotten around them.
Rosie moved from tree to tree, each time hearing the wood splinter as the Alpha struck. She felt her strength slipping away. Matt fired from her right, annoying the beast more than injuring it. Rosie found herself the sole focus of the apex predator. She didn't know what to do, and that brought fear with it.
She used the dreamlike state to run into the road. The slowed time gave her a chance to get a rifle shot off, puncturing the pale underbelly. Time snapped back as the Alpha shifted into a low crawl, padding around her in the dark. She fired again, and again. The rounds almost shrugged off by the black hide. Then it went for her.
Rosie sparked the flare. Blinding light drove the beast back a few feet. The dropped flare lit up the Alpha. Snarling and drooling, it's ember like eyes fixed on her. It began to pace round, Rosie matched the movement.
She kept the flare between them, knowing it would burn out soon. Rosie forced herself to think, the fear screaming at her to run. Instead she waited, eyes locked with the beast. The flare started to dim and splutter out. The Alpha stood tall, trying to intimidate her. It stared down, Rosie made sure it could see her, and engaged the stealth field.
The Alpha hissed in confusion, swiping at where she'd been. Rosie span under the arm in the dreamlike state. She drove her cutglass blade into the tendon on the hind leg, using both hands to pull it through. The Deathclaw screeched, flailing as it turned on her. Rosie bolted, the stealth field shattering like a dropped glass.
She could feel the ground shake as the Alpha chased her. Rosie knew she had to keep running. Her heart pounded, her limbs burned. And her fear became all consuming. Until she saw John. Armoured, standing on the container carried by the Vertibird. Instantly she understood, and the fear vanished.
Rosie summoned one last burst of speed. It earned her time to aim the rifle at the beast trying to run her down. She watched the Vertibird turn, John hanging from the container to counter the weight. She fired recklessly, all six rounds gone in seconds It didn't matter. John yanked the release free from the winch, detaching the container in mid air.
He rode the container down for a second before leaping. His warhammer held above his head with both hands. The container slammed onto the Alpha's tail, marking it arch and screech. John swung his warhammer, using the speed and gravity to devastating effect. The Deathclaw went limp and silent, it's head cracked open. John drove it into the ground.
The bird touched down behind them and Matt caught up to her. She stood staring at John, still pounding his mechanised fists into the pulped matter that used to be the head of a Deathclaw. "John." She tried him over the comm and got no response. "Ronin!" She barked, getting him to stop. She could feel his rage through the armour.
"Matthew, light." Brandon glared at Matt. Rosie didn't know if he wanted to hit him or hug him.
"This was my fault, I blew our position." Rosie didn't hesitate to own her mistake. Brandon puffed on his cigar, his ire aimed at them both.
"Boss, we put down half a dozen juvies. That's what's left of the Alpha male. It killed the greenskin and took it for food." Matt looked Brandon right in the eye. "There's a nest and a Matriarch close by. She'll never be more vulnerable than she is right now." Brandon stayed silent.
"The military school, that's where the egg was." John picked up his warhammer, swinging it to get the blood and matter off. "I'll go, I know the layout."
"I'll go too." Rosie wasn't going to let him go alone, not even into a Deathclaw nest. The three of them looked to Brandon, still puffing away on his cigar.
"You find it, we hit it from the air." Brandon gave them a nod, showing his confidence in them.
Brandon took the fifty calibre sniper rifle he'd been using from the Vertibird. He handed it to Matt. "Good hunting." They set off into the night. Matt stopped at the corpse of the alpha, reaching his hand down the ragged throat. Rosie could see his hand move under the hide as he fished about for something. He pulled his hand free with a squelching tear, holding a fleshy orb. He put it in his pocket and kept walking.
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