Condemned (Death Planet Book 1) (36 page)

“Give up, boy,” Moses muttered. “Before it’s too late.”

The crashing noise among the trees grew louder, and was followed by a hiss. The slaves yelled, and rattled their chains as they tried to get out of the creature’s path. It slid to a stop, claws scrabbling, and stared at the spreading flames.

Daniel swung his elbows behind him. His balls would burst if Moses squeezed any harder.

Another drone buzzed around his head. It circled three times, then its light clicked on, and it zipped away to the left. Then it turned and raced back. It accelerated, and smacked into Moses’ face. As it floated away, spinning and tilting to regain stable flight, Moses’ grip relaxed, and he raised a hand to try to knock the drone aside.

Daniel twisted, pulled Moses’ hand away, and slammed his elbow back until it thumped against bone with an impact that sent pain racing up his arm. He swung again, and it smacked into Moses jaw with a crunch. Moses rolled backwards.

And landed in the nearby flames.

He sat up.

“Fuck,” he yelled, and slapped his hands against his head, as he tried to put out the fire in his hair. Smoke rose above him, and he rolled in the dirt, rubbing his smouldering head against the ground.

Daniel grabbed the rifle, and raised it to his shoulder. He aimed carefully at the creature. More carefully than he ever had in a VR game, where the only penalty was some fake pain and a restart, not a death. The sights wobbled, the creature twisted from side to side as it peered out from the woods, and the light from the flames flickered too much to see it clearly.

He pulled the trigger. The hammer clicked down, and the gunpowder hissed. Then nothing happened.

Was it broken? Or did he do something wrong?

The creature took a step toward them.

The gun boomed, jerked in Daniel's hands, and kicked against his shoulder. He closed his eyes against a blinding flash of light that obliterated his view, but his vision was still dull and hazy when he opened them again.

He blinked hard, and shaded his face with his hand as he stared toward the creature. Blood oozed from a hole in its head, and dripped down its face, past the third eye. It turned toward Daniel, and its jaw opened wide. It raised its clawed hand, rubbed its face, and hissed at him.

Then it tore through the branches in front of the slaves, grabbed one of the men, and lifted him high. He screamed, smashed his hands against the creature’s arm, and kicked his feet against its chest. Blood oozed from his belly as the creature’s claws dug into his flesh. The screams grew louder as the creature opened its mouth wide, then wider still. The other slaves pulled against the chains as they tried to get away, those at each end of the chain pulling against those on the other end, so they just dragged themselves closer together.

The creature shoved the slave’s head into its mouth, and bit down hard. Blood spurted across its face from the slave’s severed neck. The weight of the chains rattling against the dead slave’s wrists and ankles tugged the bleeding body from the creature’s fingers as the others tried to escape. Bones crunched as the creature chewed.

Daniel suddenly wanted to pee more than he’d ever peed before. Real or VR, he didn’t want that thing to eat his head. He dropped the gun, and ran into the woods, leaving the screams behind. They soon faded as the sound of his gasping breath, his feet crunching over the twigs, and body crashing through bushes overpowered them.

The drone circled him again. Then hovered over his head. The lights played over the ground, showing a faint path for him to follow.

Was that?

He followed the drone. The light shone on a familiar face among the trees, then it clicked off, and the drone buzzed up into the sky above them.

“Hey, kid,” Guy said.

Daniel slumped down against a tree, beside him. He just couldn't run a step further. His legs felt like lead, his knees ached every time he bent them. His balls pounded as the blood flowed back into them. His head was light from lack of air. He gasped, and the world began to stabilize around him.

His ears were no longer filled by the slap of his feet on the ground, and the cracks and swishes of his body crashing through the plants. Guy’s drone buzzed high above them, and faint shouts and the clanging of metal against metal and wood against wood floated through the air. Daniel glanced toward them. In the distance, faint light glowed between the trees.

He climbed to his feet, and stepped forward on wobbly legs as his quivering muscles clenched and relaxed. He took a few steps through the trees, and the drone buzzed down to follow him. He leaned on a trunk as he stared into the night.

The lights flickered and wobbled in the distance, vanishing when they passed behind one of the many trees and bushes between him and them. Dozens of lights, carried by dozens of men, and they were moving slowly toward him.

Daniel slowed his breathing, trying to make himself as quiet as possible as the horde approached. The closer they came, the more intelligible the words became.

“Come out, you beauties,” someone yelled.

“I got my barbecue sauce,” another yelled.

Feet crunched among the plants behind Daniel. Guy’s drone buzzed up into the air, and floated toward the noise. Guy stepped up beside him, and stared at the lights.

“Who are they?” Daniel whispered.

The drone’s buzzing increased, then faded, as it flew toward the men. A cloud of smoke and steam rose into the light.

“Where’s that fucking bitch?” the King yelled. “My cock is ready to burst.”

“Holy fuck,” Guy said.

T
he King stomped along the riverbank. This was taking far too fucking long. Chasing the fuckers around the woods all night wasn’t his plan. He should burn the fucking forest to the ground, and wait for the rats to come scuttling out. Show them what the King’s wrath really looked like. Not skulk around in the fucking trees like a girl scared of her fucking shadow.

“Isn’t there a man here who can find a fucking boy and a blonde fucking bimbo in this fucking forest?”

At the least, he should kill a few of the useless shits he’d brought with him, to encourage the others. An army of dimwits was no use at all. They just slowed him down.

Screams came from up ahead. Maybe they had finally found one of the bastards. About fucking time. The hounds hissed and bared their teeth. The King stomped ahead, and the army spread out around him. Whatever was going on, at least it would relieve the monotony of stomping through this place. He was going to have to do something about it, when this was all over. Tear it down, maybe. Build a fucking park, where his girls could come and play. Maybe fill it with slaves they could hunt for fun. They’d like that.

People were moving, and torches swinging, just past the trees up ahead. The gap was too narrow for his exoskeleton, so he slammed his shoulder into the trunk. It creaked as it bent.

He pushed harder. A cloud of smoke and steam pumped out of the steam engine’s chimney. The trunk creaked louder, and wood tore below him. He leaned back, and twisted his body, turning his shoulder as he smashed it into the tree again.

It creaked one last time, then the top began to move. The men beside him yelled as they dodged aside, and the tree crashed to the ground. Its roots tore out of the dirt and knocked one of the hounds aside as they smacked into the creature’s back. It whimpered briefly, then lunged forward, clamping its jaws around one of the twisted roots. It heaved on them until the root broke free, chewed it for a second, then spat out the broken remains.

Swords and axes swung ahead of the King, and the men holding them yelled at a dim shape in the firelight. The three-eyed face of a bear stared across a narrow clearing. Body parts and blood were scattered across the dirt, and fires burned in the undergrowth. The bear was taller than the King, and its arms thicker than the King’s exoskeleton. Big fucker, this one.

A blade slashed across the bear’s forearm, before it grabbed the Guard who held it, and tossed him aside. The Guard screamed as his back smashed into a nearby tree, then he slid down the trunk like a sack of mouldy old rags.

The other men stepped back, out of range of the swinging arms. The bear lowered its head, spread its arms wide with claws out, and hissed at them. It turned its head, scanning the semi-circle of men from left to right. The men who hadn’t run away feinted toward the bear, swinging their swords its way, and backed up whenever it looked ready to lunge at them.

This was more like it. The King stretched out his own arms as far as his damaged exoskeleton would let him, then flexed his fingers. Time for a good fucking fight.

He hadn’t seen a bear so big in a long time, since they’d killed most of them in the first few years after landing on this crappy planet. They must be growing back. Or maybe it came over the mountains somehow. Good news, either way.

The hounds hissed at his side, and pulled against their chains. The bear stared at them, and hissed back.

One of the men took advantage of the distraction, and swung his sword at the bear. It stomped back, and dodged the blow. Its claws raked across the man's back as the sword swung past, and he tumbled to the ground, moaning. Blood oozed out of the gashes in his leather jerkin.

“Stand aside,” the King yelled. “The King is here.”

He released the hounds’ chains. They hissed, then raced ahead, the chains rattling as the hounds dragged them across the ground. The bear stepped back, and raised its arms to protect itself. The biggest hound jumped, trying to grab the bear’s wrist, but the arm swung and knocked it aside. The hound tumbled to the ground, and hissed as it pushed itself to its feet.

The King stomped forward as the hounds distracted the bear. It swung again, and the hounds dodged back, trying to stay out of range of the claws that swished through the air around them. Then it glanced toward him. Steam hissed from his back as the engine boosted its pressure, ready to fight.

One of the hounds lunged for the bear, jaws wide open and claws aiming for the bear’s face. The bear stepped back, and raised its own arms. Its paws clamped together around the hound’s neck. The hound twisted in the bear’s grip, and slashed the bear’s arms with its claws. The other hound lunged for it, but the bear swung around. The first hound smacked into the second, sending it tumbling across the dirt until its back smashed into a tree. It slumped down and whined.

The hound the bear held swung desperately, and snapped its jaws as the bear's paws pressed harder on its neck. The bear swung the hound in its grip, and smashed it into a tree. The hound’s tail flicked around as the bear swung it the other way, and bones crunched against the tree trunk on the other side.

The King grabbed the bear’s arm. The blades on his fingers dug into the bear’s furry skin. Its head flicked around, and its jaws opened wide. Sharp teeth snapped toward the King, and its tongue flicked in and out of its lips. It twisted its arm, trying to pull away. The King pressed harder, and the blades dug deeper, but steam hissed out of the pipes by his ear, and his metal hand froze. The bear twisted its furry wrist clear.

It backed up, and stared at him. The King shifted his weight from side to side on his feet as they sized each other up. If the exoskeleton was working properly, the bear would have been dead in seconds. With the damage it had taken, this would be more of a fair fight.

And he so hated fair fights.

He raised his arm until his hand was in front of his face, about level with the bear’s chest. Then he motioned the bear toward him. It leaned forward, hissed, and sniffed the air. It glanced toward the men in the trees, and they stepped back. It took a step forward, then toward the King’s flank, looking for an opening. It bared its long teeth and hissed, and clouds of dust rose around it as it slammed its feet into the ground. Then it raced toward the King, arms outstretched, claws ready to strike.

The King lunged forward. He grabbed the bear’s wrists, and pushed its arms apart. The bear’s chest smashed into his, and his feet fought for grip as the momentum pushed him back. He pushed hard with his feet, and the spiked metal toes dug into the dirt. The bear continued to push, but the toes dug deeper, and his arms shoved the bear away from his body. He pushed his hands apart, trying to force the bear’s limbs wider until they dislocated or broke. The steam engine whistled, and the gauges in the helmet moved toward the red. The bear pulled against him, and they struggled to a stalemate.

He stared into the bear’s furry face as it stared back at him. There was a dark, red hole in the beast’s forehead. Someone had shot it there, and the fucker still didn’t die. That could explain why it didn’t seem at all scared of the overwhelming odds. A normal bear might risk taking on the King, but it would have crept back into the woods at the sight of his army. One man might be supper, but a few dozen, and the hounds they brought with them, would wear it down soon enough.

A bear with a bullet in its brain might not think so clearly.

Or, maybe, whoever shot it just pissed it off.

Then the steam pressure needle hit the red zone, and a loud whistle filled the woods as the steam engine’s relief valve opened. A cloud of steam spread around him, and the bear howled and tried to pull back as the hot steam blasted its furry skin. The King’s arms froze as the steam pressure dropped and the power faded. The bear pushed against them, trying to force its way closer to him, jaws snapping as it tried to eat his face.

The steam engine hissed as the King threw his helmeted head forward. The metal forehead smashed into the bear’s skull. It whined as it pulled its head back, Then its jaws opened wider, and it threw its full weight against the King’s arms. His tendons strained as the bear pushed his elbows apart, struggling against the resistance from the exoskeleton's pistons.

The bear's chest smashed into his again, pushing him back. Then its jaws opened like a red-rimmed cave, and bone smacked against metal as it wrapped them around his neck.

The men yelled, and moved forward among the trees, bows and guns ready.

“Get back,” the King hissed. “The King will handle this.”