7 June 2012
"Nice, doggy..."
The animal was hunched on all fours, teeth bared.
Riley was in trouble. The mutant had heard his hurried steps - or maybe it was his scent - and had crawled out of the kitchen to investigate.
Its jaws were slick with blood; razor sharp teeth the size of shark's lined its gums. Sean's flesh stayed trapped within the beast's monstrous claws. They looked more like talons as they scraped along the tiled floor.
This mutant was strange. Riley had never seen anything like it. It's skin was some sort of shell. It looked like a disgustingly, mutated Armadillo, but twice the size. Riley was a tall man, but even then the beast still made it up to his chest.
Riley fired off a shot. The noise of the blast echoed for miles, there was no doubt Kenan and Michael heard it.
The mutant armadillo simply stood, unflinching. The bullet had ricocheted off its shell.
With a push of its powerful hind legs, the mutant leaped.
Riley ducked into a roll and dodged to the side. The monster landed with ease and turned on the spot, immediately facing Riley again. He fired off another shot that was aimed for the head and again it bounced off.
"Oh, c'mon!" Riley yelled in frustration, "Why the fuck is there a bulletproof armadillo in London?!"
His shouts seemed to aggravate the animal. It let out a low hissing sound and charged.
Riley sprinted. He felt cowardly for doing so, but he didn't care. He ran for his life. The armadillo leaped and Riley sidestepped. He ducked under a swiping claw that nearly took his head off, and ran for the exit.
He had a plan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The monster was on the hunt. It chased Riley relentlessly. The thing was built like a tank and as Riley dodged assault after assault, weaving in and out of cars, the mutant would just smash them aside, or crush them as it leaped.
He was almost at the bridge. Just a few more seconds and he'd make it. He'd be safe.
The armadillo rolled into a ball.
Riley's eyes went wide with terror. He turned and sprayed bullets at his pursuer. They all bounced off in random directions as the mutant picked up speed. Mid-roll, it uncurled itself from the ball and using its momentum, threw itself at Riley.
It landed on him with a crash. This brought a scream of pain from him; its claws were digging into his left arm.
The mutant leaned in close. Drool leaked from its blood-stenched maw, its breath rancid.
Riley's life flashed before his eyes. This was the end for him. Trapped underneath an oversized rodent, about to be made lunch.
A bullet ricocheted off the armadillo's back, followed by another, and another. The armadillo pounced off Riley and backed away, growling all the while.
"You boys sure took your sweet time," Riley yelled with joy. They had heard the gunshots.
"You seemed to be doing an alright job by yourself," Michael laughed.
Kenan looked about, first at Riley and then past the beast. "Where's the kid?"
Riley closed his eyes. "Dead."
"Ah, fuck."
"So, what the hell is this thing?" Michael asked, pointing his gun at the mutant.
Riley sat up, cradling his arm. "I have no idea, but it ain't friendly," he warned, "Must have escaped from a zoo or something."
"Well whatever it is, it's dead now."
"Michael, no!"
Michael ran at the mutant and emptied an entire magazine into its skull. Every single shot, every bullet, bounced off as expected. The bullets veered off at odd angles, sparking off the concrete ground and clanging off abandoned cars.
A single stray bullet passed through Michael. Blood sprayed from the exit hole. Michael collapsed to his knees, stunned. His comrades stared in horror.
The mutant, seeing its chance, pounced on him. It was over before either of them could react.
Kenan fired off a shot, screaming a war cry of rage. "Michael!"
Again, the mutant backed away, but not before it had torn the guts from Michael's stomach.
He lay there, blank eyes staring skyward. Kenan kneeled at his side. Riley pulled out his handgun and fired some more shots off at the mutant to keep it away from them.
"He's dead, Riley." Kenan stood back up. "Got a plan?"
"Yeah, run to the bridge," Riley instructed, "Now!"
The mutant chased. It didn't hesitate. It was faster than them. They zigzagged back and forth between the motionless cars to confuse it. This made it miss every leap and slowed it down as it prepared another.
They reached the bridge and kept running. Once they were about half way across, Riley came to a sudden stop.
"Riley, what the fuck are you doing?" Kenan screamed at him to move, but Riley didn't listen. The mutant was closing in.
"Don't worry about me, just go!"
He did as he was told, but then stopped when he was safely across to watch Riley's plan.
Riley had edged toward the side of the bridge. The armadillo stopped and paced back and forth in front of him. It was taking its time. Savouring the kill.
"C'mon!" Riley screamed at it, "Come get me, you son of a bitch!"
It growled in reply, a low, rumbling noise. If it could, Riley was sure it would be smiling at him. The mutant gave a final leap. Its claws extended, jaws opened wide, it dived straight for him... And missed.
Riley rolled to the side at the last second. The mutated abomination tumbled off the edge of the bridge. With a torrential splash, it smacked into the toxic sludge below.
It gave a horrifying roar. A wail of terror, as if it was crying in pain. Riley peered down at it from the safety of the bridge. The river water acted as an acid, eating through the animal's shell. The thick sludge dragged the monster under until its roars were nothing but gargling bubbles. Blood now tainted the already polluted river.
The beast at last, lay still.
_____________________
To be continued
Sort of.
Campfire Tales: The Hunt - Pt. 3 • Opuss № I