Jake Morrison's Arc

Chapter 7 of 54

The creature crouched in the office doorway, teeth wet, yellow eyes darting. Jake still needed to get everyone to the sporting goods store. The connecting hall lay open and exposed, and if he ran now, the thing would chase them into it and pick them off. He needed to lock the danger down first. "Marisol, Sofia, get back by the shelves," he said. "Don't move until I say." Marisol pulled Sofia behind a rack of canned goods. She still clutched the radio like it might break. Sofia gripped her crowbar but stayed put. Jake turned to Marcus. The mechanic had already drawn the wrench from his belt, jaw tight, black hair damp with sweat. Since they'd met at gunpoint, Marcus had watched Jake like a rival. Now he just nodded once. "We lure them into the office," Jake said. "Small room. One door. We trap them, then finish them." Marcus didn't argue. He banged the wrench on a shelf. "Hey! In here!" The creature lunged toward the sound. A second one dropped from the broken vent behind it, snarling. Both scrambled into the narrow office. Jake and Marcus slammed the door and wedged it with a shelf. Claws raked the wood. Jake grabbed his hunting knife. "On three, we go in. Head shots only. Nothing else stops them." Marcus flipped his grip on the wrench. "Three," he said, and kicked the shelf loose. They burst in together. The first creature spun. Jake ducked under its arms and drove the knife up through its eye into the brain. It dropped, twitching. The second clawed at Marcus. He cracked the wrench across its skull, then again, until bone caved and it went still. The room fell quiet. Only their breathing filled it. Jake wiped the blade on his pants. He looked at Marcus, then at the wrench dripping in his hand. "Why the wrench?" Jake asked. "You've had that pistol on your hip the whole time." Marcus glanced down at the holster. His mouth twisted. "It never had bullets," he said. "Found it empty in the stockroom. Sofia doesn't know. Made her feel safer." Jake stared at him. Every threat Marcus had made, every standoff, had been a bluff. Something loosened in Jake's chest. He almost laughed. "You held me at gunpoint with an empty gun." Marcus shrugged, but the corner of his mouth lifted. For the first time, Jake trusted him. "Now," Jake called. "It's safe. Come on." Marisol and Sofia hurried forward, stepping around the bodies. Jake led them into the connecting hall, knife ready, Marcus at the rear with his wrench. The path was clear. They moved fast and reached the sporting goods store together. Jake shut the door behind them and braced it. They were all inside now, in one fortified room. But the vents still ran through the ceiling above them, and the creatures knew the way.