Go For Stories

Milly rushed forward and slammed her welder into the monster’s face while Nigel lowered Anne to the floor. The albinoid backed away and Milly stood over the two. Both Jacob and Bec moved to stay on the outside of the prone couple and the creatures hovered, incensed by the smell of fresh blood.

“Anne, it’s going to be okay.” Nigel pressed his hands against the open wounds on her side. In an instant, his fingers were slick with blood. Her face was white and her eyes unfocused. She blinked hard and slow. “Bec, your coat. Now.”

Without looking, he reached back and clicked his fingers at Bec, she removed her white coat and dropped it in his hand. He pressed it into Anne’s side and leaned into her.

“Anne, I need your help,” he said as quiet as he could manage with all the chittering noises around them. “We are going to get you away from here, but we can’t do it if I’m down here with you. I need you to hold this here. Hold it tight.” She fumbled for the coat he held against her, “That’s good,” he said, “now keep it there and press hard. Can you do that?”

She nodded, her head on a very loose swivel. Nigel looked at Milly. She faced the creatures with a steely resolve. The creatures gathered, moving back and forth, waiting to see how their prey would react to losing one of their own.

Nigel tapped Milly on the side of the leg. She turned to him. He pointed to her and then to Anne on the floor. Milly nodded and squatted down, keeping her gaze fixed outwards.

“You know what you’re doing,” he said to her. “Keep Anne alive. We’re going to drive those things back so we can get out of here.”

Milly didn’t say a word, she simply handed her welder to Nigel and leaned over Anne. Nigel stood, retrieving his welder from where he dropped it, and faced the creatures with two weapons raised. He sparked them both and stepped forward. The creatures lowered their heads and bunched up their rippling muscles.

“Jacob, Bec, we need to clear a path.”

“Path is almost clear back to the workshop,” said Jacob.

“Stairs are closest,” said Bec over her shoulder.

Nigel looked back at the corridor leading to the workshop and then at the stairwell. The workshop way only had one or two of the albinoids, whereas the way to the stairs had at least five guarding the way.

“We’ve got to get to the stairs.” No matter how safe the way to the workshop, they would be trapped oncer there. The stairs opened up possibilities. “Fight hard, guys.”

Milly helped Anne to her feet as Nigel and Bec took the lead. Jacob took up the rear and they moved forward. The albinoids took their cue and rushed forward, screaming that oh-so-terrible scream. Two struck at Nigel at once and he dashed to the side, striking his welders into the back of one, causing it to stumble forward. The other missed its mark and turned to collect Bec. She was prepared for it and a bright flash came from her hand as it buried itself in the albinoids white face. It half-whimpered, half-roared and dropped back, unprepared for the pain; possibly even feeling pain for the first time.

Nigel looked back to see Jacob clambering on a creature’s back. He sparked it in multiple places before planting the welder in its eye. It threw him to the floor and fell back. Jacob rushed to catch up. They were close to the doors now.

Meanwhile, Anne had fallen to the ground again and Milly was tugging under her arms to get her back to her feet. Nigel bent down to aid her, two sharp clawed hands swishing over his head as he did so. He got Anne to her feet and turned back to the action.

An albinoid was so close to him that he could smell its breath in his face. It smelled like burnt out electrics. He thrust both hands forward in an attempt to scare it away, but it grabbed his wrists and twisted them, causing him to lose his grip on the welders. They clattered to the floor as the monster’s two free hands wrapped around his back. Pain lanced through his body and he arched back, letting out a scream of pain. The creature buried its fingers into his back and slowly tore at the muscles and flesh as it lifted him high. The pain clouded his vision and his mind filled with thoughts of sweet death. He grappled at the monster, but to no avail.

Fresh pain brought his mind back to the present and his vision cleared enough for him to see something that forced all hope from his mind. White bodies dropped from the balconies, bolstering the ranks of their foes. Dozens and dozens descended to join in the fight, like a house full of spiders who had, all at once, spotted the same juicy bug. The plaza overflowed with them and they fought amongst themselves to reach their prey. Nigel watched them crawl over each other like a rampant wave and despaired. He was caught.

The albinoid roared in his face, its claws sunk deeper for a moment, opening a fresh wave of pain, before it dropped him to the floor. As Nigel’s knees buckled under him and he hit the floor, he saw Bec with her welder thrust into the beast’s side. It swiped at her with two arms and she ducked under the attack before leaping up and planting the arc right into the albinoid’s eye. It screeched and flailed and Bec dropped back, leaving the weapon embedded into the horrible yellow eye. It fizzled and popped while Bec scooped Nigel up and they ran for the stairwell.

The others had reached the door by now and they swung it open. Milly led an exhausted, pale Anne through the door before Jacob dashed through. Nigel pushed Bec ahead and she threw herself into the stairwell, turning to beckon Nigel forward. He spun around and backed through the door, assessing the situation one last time.

In the one second before he slammed the door shut he saw close to a hundred of the creatures writhing and surging towards them. The one Bec had injured had fallen to the floor and was consumed by the tsunami of white flesh. But, behind it all, Nigel saw something else: The black cloaked spectre from the corridor. It stood at the back of the raging mass and watched him with its shrouded face as the door clicked shut between them.