Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town (12 page)

It
would not have killed the bastard, but the force of the gun knocked
the monster from the train. Gunfire erupted into the air. I could
hear footsteps on the roof and from the walls. A clawed hand stabbed
up through the floor and slashed around like a cat’s tail.
Fiona sprayed acid into the face of the monsters. The result was
sickening. Flesh and bone were instantly dissolved. The spray was
hitting the side of the carriage. It took only a mere second to melt
through the metal. I stood in the middle of the carriage. I fired off
aimed shots to conserve ammo. The monsters were relentless. I shot
one and two more appeared. I spun like a spinning top. I shot at the
ones in the window, the ones on the roof, and the ones trying to get
through the floor. I dropped to one knee and flicked open both guns.
Empty shells dropped down onto the floor. I had to place down one gun
to reload. I grabbed the round case from my belt and pushed six
bullets into the chambers. I quickly changed gun and reloaded. The
whole process took much longer than I desired. Several of the
creatures were coming in through the windows on both sides of the
carriage.

The
Librarian was firing like an amateur.

He
was firing bullets off at a high rate with very little result.

The
red head and the desert combats guy were doing the same.

‘
3-57!’
I could just about hear Fiona’s voice through the gunfire.

I
turned to face her. She pointed towards carriage six. I could feel
something drop down into the pit of my stomach. The room was filled
with the creatures. They were ripping apart the people that had been
holding that carriage. The fight had only just begun and already we
had lost one of the six carriages.

‘
No!’

I
spun around, quickly.

The
red head was on the floor. One of the monsters was on top of him. Its
teeth ripped chunks out of the young man’s throat. He was
spitting up blood and rolling around in pain. Suddenly, a clawed hand
grabbed my shoulder. The demon known as fear gripped its fingers
around my heart, as I was yanked towards the window. I grabbed hold
of the metal frame of a bench and held on for dear life. I was going
to be dragged out of the train. Fiona was on me in a second. She
placed the barrel of the shotgun beside my head and fired. A sharp
pain filled my head. I instantly lost all sense of hearing in my
right ear. And that is when I smelt it. Something was burning. It
took a moment for me to realise that the thing that was burning was
me. Fiona was already pulling off parts of my body armour and had
unclipped the silver shoulder guards. I unzipped my black lightweight
armour shirt. My fingers fumbled with the zipper and buttons. Fiona
was ripping my armour off me frantically. Finally, we remove my top
and tossed it to one side. I looked back, whilst still wearing my
helmet, to see that my armour was covered in acid. The suit was
already melting through the carriage floor.

‘
We’ve
got to go!’ The Librarian bellowed.

The
creature that had taken down the red head was now on the back of the
guy in the desert combats. He was clawing away at his back. The man
screamed, as it ripped out his spine with a sickening sucking sound.
I grabbed Fiona’s hand and pulled her towards carriage four.
The Librarian was already ahead of us. The monsters were starting to
pour in through all the holes they had carved up. The red head
thrashed around, wildly, as the transformation into one of those
things took place. I could hear his skin ripping, as we sprinted by.

We
went into carriage three.

I
plucked two grenades from my belt and handed one to Fiona.

She
pulled the pin, gave me a nod, and we tossed them back into the
carriage.

We
slammed the doors linking the carriages shut.

The
explosion rocked the entire train. For a brief moment I thought it
was going to knock us off the rails. The sound of metal grinding
filled the air. I dared to look through the window at the carriage
behind us. It was gone. All that remained were the first three foot
of the carriage. Sparks danced off the track, illuminating the
darkness. It revealed thousands of skinless faces in the darkness.

‘
A
little help,’ yelled Lena.

I
turned to face our new threat.

In
carriage three was Lena, Arthur, Robbie, Alisha and a guy in police
riot gear.

I
checked the x-com. We still had four minutes until we arrived at
Central City and already we were two carriages down. I was losing all
hope of us surviving this battle. It felt like the world was against
us.

Chapter Six: Mercy
Shot

The
noise was deafening.

Bullets
flew, monsters screamed and the battle went on.

I
shot one zombie through the chest, as it attempted to get through the
window. There was no pain on its face, even as the bolt drilled
through its solar plexus. I looked up and put three rounds into a
second zombie that was trying to come down through the roof. One of
its legs was completely removed and it bounced away into the
darkness. I spun around and squeezed off two more rounds. The
computer in my helmet highlighted enemy targets by covering them with
a small red diamond, which made it easier to see them in the
darkness. I pointed my guns off to the side and fired. Two more
zombies were dealt with. The remaining bolts were fired up through
the hole in the roof.

I
stepped back and dropped down onto one knee.

It
was time to reload the revolvers for the last time.

I
looked up at the battle, as I pushed bullets into their chambers. The
internal train lights were out. The only light came from the muzzle
flashes of the various guns and the fire raging in carriage three.
Hot flames were being sprayed out of flame throwers. Smoke was
pouring into our carriage. Those without space suits and helmets were
coughing and spluttering. I could see Robbie rubbing his eyes, as he
tried to fight off the monsters. All my friends were giving
everything they had to survive. We were starting to get overrun. It
was impossible to win. They just overwhelmed us with numbers. It
didn’t matter how many we killed they just had ten more appear.

‘
NO!’
screamed Lena.

I
turned towards Jane’s daughter.

She
was ruthlessly stabbing at the back of one of the skinless monsters.
It had sunk its teeth into Arthur’s shoulder. A big lump of
flesh was ripped away, as blood sprayed up into the air. Arthur gave
out an agonising scream. The Librarian pushed Lena to one side,
grabbed the blood demon with his frying pan sized hands and tossed it
out the window like some kind of nightclub bouncer.

I
looked at Arthur.

His
eyes were wide with fear and pain.

Time
seemed to stop for a moment.

We
both shared a knowing look. We knew what was going to happen.

He
stepped forward, grabbed one of my bolt revolvers and pressed the
barrel against his forehead.

‘
I’m
sorry,’ I told him.

Blood
splattered over my helmet and chest. The bolt practically removed his
head. Arthur’s decapitated body dropped down onto the floor.
Suddenly, the carriage door was ripped away and several of the
monsters filled the doorway. Two of them grabbed The Librarian and
began to chomp away on his arms, chest, face and neck. The muscular
giant roared like a lion, but refused to go down. Flesh was being
ripped away with razor sharp claws. His face was completely red. The
Librarian charged forward and suicide dived out the train door. I saw
him bounce head first off the tunnel wall. A second later and he
disappeared into the darkness.

‘
Keep
firing!’ yelled Robbie.

Fiona
screamed out.

I
could feel my heart stop.

Not
Fiona!

I
spun around to see her being lifted up into the air. An arm had
reached down through the ceiling and stabbed four claws straight
through her shoulder. She spat blood and screamed at the top of her
lungs. I ducked down behind some of the seats, as Fiona fired off a
round of her acid shotgun. It was an unconscious knee-jerk reaction.
Alisha took the full force of the acid to her face. The mahogany
skinned beauty stumbled backwards, as the acid ate away at her flesh,
burned away her hair and melted her eyes. A monster reached through
the window, grabbed Alisha and dragged her into the darkness.

I
got to my feet and acted on pure instinct.

I
fired without aiming.

I
could have easily shot Fiona, but it wasn’t like I had time to
think.

The
bolt severed the alien arm at the elbow. Fiona dropped down onto the
carriage floor. I sprinted over to her, flipped her onto her front
and grabbed the severed arm. The thing was still attempting to dig
through her back and cut up her body. I grabbed the bloody limb and
yanked it out with every last bit of strength I had. I tossed it out
the window.

‘
Fiona,
can you hear me?’

‘
Yes,’
she smiled a bloody smile.

‘
I’m
going to turn?’ she asked.

‘
No.’
I replied. I knew she wouldn’t. It was only bites. Clay had
been slashed across the eyes and he hadn’t turned. ‘We
got to get you out of here.’ I holstered one of my bolt
revolvers. It wasn’t going to be comfortable, but I lifted
Fiona up off the floor. Her dead weight was surprisingly heavy. I
threw her over my shoulder and headed for the next carriage.

‘
Move
out,’ I ordered.

Lena
fell back towards the door, firing as she went.

Robbie
backed up beside her, as did the guy in the police riot gear.

Lena
opened the door to carriage three. The heat of the flames that
engulfed the next carriage was frightening. Hesitation filled my
heart. My legs were protected by the armour, but my chest was
completely exposed. This was going to hurt, but what option did I
have? Fiona was protected by her suit, as was Lena and the guy in the
riot gear.

‘
I
can’t do this,’ said Robbie.

He
was wearing shirt and trousers.

‘
No
choice,’ said Lena, ‘this is the only way.’

I
glanced back. The monsters were already into our carriage.   

I
made my choice.

I
ran into the flames.

Pain
screamed through every single fibre of my body. I released a powerful
war cry, as I charged through the flames. In the middle of the
carriage was Levi. The seven foot man of armour was alone. He had a
flame thrower on each arm. His laughter reached my ears, as he rained
hot death down on the aliens. I could hear Robbie’s painful
howls behind me. Had he stayed in the carriage, or was he running
through the fire? It didn’t matter. I had to focus on getting
Fiona out of here.

I
reached the far end and threw open the door.

I
burst through into carriage two.

My
body felt like it was burning.

‘
Christopher!’
said a shocked Rose.

She
ran towards me and without any warning stabbed a syringe into my
chest. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. The pain
in my body was so immense, what was one more bit of pain? Oddly, the
pain in my body instantly disappeared. It was gone. I could feel
nothing. It was like someone had just flicked a switch. What had she
just given me? It didn’t matter. I would worry about my body
later. At least I could continue to fight now. Lena, the riot gear
guy and Robbie came through the door behind me. Robbie was covered in
shocking burns. His trousers and shirt were on fire. Lena was
slapping out the flames, trying to save him, Rose joined in.

I
regarded my x-com.

We
still had two minutes until we arrived at Central City.

Chapter Seven: Last
Stand

‘
Their
coming in through the left hand side,’ screamed Jane.

Barrels
turned, bullets flew, and carnage ensued.

‘
Behind
you,’ yelled the woman that Skull had raped.