AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The first to emerge spread beetlelike wings and floated to the ground.
Brianna had plenty of time to observe its gnashing mouth and its antennae, and to be utterly creeped out by eyes the color of rubies.
She could guess what they were. These were the things that Taylor had gotten all freaked out by. The things that had supposedly come out of Hunter’s guts. Only now they were right here and pouring down the wall from the second floor of town hall.
The instant the first bug landed it launched itself at Brianna. She sidestepped it like a matador with a bull.
“You’re quick, I’ll give you that,” Brianna said. “But you’re not the Breeze.”
As one the swarm raced toward her, scythe mandibles slashing and mouthparts gnashing and red eyes blazing.
This was more like it. She could just zoom far away, of course, but she was enjoying this game.
Until Edilio came at a run, unlimbering his automatic rifle and yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Oh, well,” Brianna said. “Time to end this, I guess.”
She unsheathed her big knife and sliced the antennae from the nearest bug. Then, just for show, just because it was a cool move, she somersaulted and landed almost astride another bug. She stabbed it, aiming for the space between its hard-looking wings. Her blade bit the wing instead and did not penetrate.
The bug twirled, fast, very fast. Not fast enough. Brianna stabbed straight for the bloodred eyes and the blade sank deep into one.
The bug stopped moving.
“That’s why you don’t bug the Breeze,” Brianna said.
Edilio had almost arrived and Brianna was pretty sure he would spoil her fun. So she awaited the charge of another bug, dropped low, swept her knife, and sliced through its two front legs. It crashed forward onto its horror-movie face.
BLAM! BLAM!
Edilio fired at one of the bugs that had evidently had enough and was running from the Breeze.
Brianna saw the bullets hit. And she saw them ricochet off the hard wings.
“Head shots!” she yelled to Edilio. “You have to get ’em in the he
ad!”
She had meant to point to the one she killed as an example. But the dead bug was moving.
So was the bug from whom she had subtracted the front legs.
With a frown she pulled out her shotgun. She caught up to the wounded bug, placed the muzzle right in its eerie eyes, and pulled the trigger.
The bug head blew most of the way off. Greenish-black brain goo sprayed.
The bug shook itself like a wet dog. Then kept moving.
“No, no, no,” Brianna said. “I may lose to Drake, but I do not lose to a bunch of bloodshot roaches.”
BLAM! BLAM!
Edilio shot his bug twice more. Then, seeing Brianna hesitate, he yelled, “Try to crush them!”
“With what?”
Edilio looked around helplessly. “I don’t know.”
“They’re getting away!”
