Exterminators Infected (The Exterminators Book 1) (36 page)

Nick laid there feeling nothing. The pain was so bad he felt numb. He couldn't hear anything, he couldn't breathe. He felt like this might have been it. That he tried his best but slipped up and got caught by one of them. This Unknown would be able to kill him. This was all part of the game, right? Someone is always the prey. Sometimes the predator becomes the prey.

Then he coughed a loud, heavy cough. He could finally breathe again. With the breathing came the terrible, sharp pain in his chest. He grabbed his chest and cried out. It was the worst pain he'd ever felt. It was as if a truck just hit him head on. He let out another breath. It hurt just as much. He took a deep breath. That also hurt. He moved his body and that hurt the most. He opened his eyes to see the Cyclops ripping the last of the vines off his feet.
“Get up quick. This thing is gonna tear you into two!”
he told himself, yet his body was in too much pain to move.

Marshall was getting ready to fire another blast. He knew he only had another shot or two in him. He was using up his energy fast with each shot. That meant he couldn't miss again. He took steady aim as the Cyclops began to lift itself up from the ground. He had a perfect shot of its back.

“Wait! Not yet!” Peter shouted.

It was too late. This time a red fire wave shot from the blaster. It flew towards the Cyclops at amazing speed. The force behind it ignited the grass as it slid above the ground. It was going to hit the beast right in the back. Marshall tightened his grip as he fell to the grass, feeling the little energy he had left keeping him up slowly slipping away.

The blast was nearly to its target when the Cyclops turned. It lifted its right hand and brought it down. The blast was caught under the beast's mighty hand, slamming into the ground it turned to smoke. Besides some blood dripping from the creatures palm it wasn't hurt at all. It roared, this time in victory. It had stopped the best sneak attack they had.

Marshall laid his free hand on the ground watching as the Cyclops slammed his fist on its chest. “It's too strong...” he muttered under his breath. The Cyclops wasn't even fazed by it.

Peter threw an ice ball at the creature’s leg. It quickly froze all the way up to its groin area. The beast roared as it turned its head towards Peter. He threw another ball, this time at the creatures other leg, freezing that one too. It tried to move but without luck. Another ball came flying at him. It hit its chest freezing almost its entire torso. Another one hit its back, freezing up just about everything else. There were two more for the arms. The creature reached out towards Peter but was too slow. The ice stopped all movements in place. Peter threw one last blast at its eye, freezing the entire head of the Cyclops. The Cyclops stood there, reaching out towards Peter only a few feet away, frozen solid.

“No way...” Marshall took a deep breath, watching in amazement.

Peter fell to his knees. The energy consumption was huge. He never threw that many elemental balls so quickly. Two or three at a time was one thing. The amount he just used nearly made him faint on the spot. He tightly grabbed the grass below his hands and pulled it free. “Yes!” he exclaimed so loudly, it made both Marshall and Nick look at him. “I did it! Damn it, I freaking did it!” he screamed in victory.

Marshall threw his non-blaster hand up in the air. “Hell to the yeah! You go man! That was freaking awesome!”

Nick was slowly getting back to his feet. He still felt a terrible pain thrumming in his chest. He, however, felt a relief. The beast was down. “That was sick!” He tried shouting but even that hurt. He laughed and held his chest. Happiness couldn't be stopped no matter how much the pain.

Peter got back to his feet and began walking towards Marshall. Nick grabbed his Rod and did the same. Marshall sat on his behind, looking up at the sky. “I can't believe we did it. That thing was so damn huge. I swore we were all gonna die today,” he said laughing.

Peter sat down next to him. “That was amazing. The thing nearly killed us all. At thirty feet tall, it easily had unstoppable strength. Yet we did it. We stopped it. Just us kids. We were able to stop it.” Peter smiled. He felt the power in him. He never felt so happy in his life. If it was as if he had just completed one of the major goals in his life.

Nick sat down and rubbed his chest. He was beginning to feel slightly better. “Damn thing knocked the crap out of me. I feel like I've been hit with a really big car.” He winced in pain.

“That was amazing, Pete. I can't believe you did it.” Marshall smiled at his friend.

“Yeah, Pete, that was amazing. Great job,” Nick added in.

Peter shook his head. He loved the feeling of being complimented on his strength. He was a true person, though. “Nah, it was us. All of us defeated this thing. Without you guys it would of never fell. Without hurting it that bad, it could never have worked. It only worked ‘cause we beat it together. As a team.” Peter looked up the sky. “We are the Exterminators.”

“That we are,” Nick said falling back into the grass.

The door burst opened from the cabin. All three boys looked towards it. They saw Fred step out of the cabin, looking amazed at the Cyclops in front of him, frozen. “Over here, bro!” Marshall called loudly. Fred was startled then made his way towards them. The whole time walking over he kept his eyes on the Cyclops, amazed at its size.

“Guess I missed the party,” he said wryly, now facing the boys.

“Yeah, that thing wasn't a party. More like the swat unit who shuts down the party,” Marshall said chuckling.

“Why are you out of the containment?” Peter asked.

“Yeah about that...” Fred started.

“Dude, we saved your ass yesterday. Now you broke out? You know they’re gonna have your neck for this one.” Nick shook his head.

“I know. I was released suddenly though. I don't know what happened. One second I'm standing in the room doing nothing and the next the door opens. They gave me this.” He passed the note to Nick to let him read. “I couldn't just ignore it. What if you guys were in trouble?”

“We had it handled,” Peter answered, slightly annoyed.

“I couldn't take that chance.”

“You really should have stayed in that room,” Nick said looking up from the note.

Marshall stood up. He had his blaster back into Rod form. He put the Rod on his hip and looked at his friends still on the ground. “Hey, this is our teammate here. He came to help us out. We can't get mad at him for that.”

“What if they put him back on trial?” Peter asked. “Then that whole thing yesterday was all for nothing.”

“So, let's get him back to the Station. Back into the room. They'll never know,” Marshall said happily.

Nick rubbed his chest some more before he stood up. He let out a tired sigh. “Let's hurry. Hopefully, no one got back yet.” He began walking towards the house. Peter got up and followed closely behind.

Fred turned to Marshall. “Are they really pissed at me?”

“Who cares? Big babies. You'll be fine. Let's get you back, man. I'll tell ya all about one eye ugly over there.”

Crack
Nick turned his head to the side. He looked at the frozen beast. Its ugly face was looking at him. Its big eye moving around beneath the ice. “Oh...no...” he said. He side stepped and grabbed Peter. “Get back!” he roared. Marshall and Fred looked up. The ice shattered suddenly into a dozen pieces followed by a roar so loud and frightening that everyone cowered.

“No way,” Peter said in disbelief. He was sure that would have killed it.

“How the hell?!” Marshall said, wide-eyed watching the creature shake itself off.

It looked at each boy before grunting and then it turned to walk away. It began walking towards where it had come from. The boys looked at it, confused and scared.

“Is it running away?” Marshall asked.

“Not a chance. This thing is a brute force,” Nick responded.
“Where the heck is it going, then?” Marshall watched as the beast stopped near the forest.

“The club,” Peter said simply. The Cyclops bent down and grabbed his weapon. He studied it then slammed it on the ground. The ice cracked and began sliding off the club. It slammed the weapon again on the ground, causing the rest of the ice to slide off easily.

“Awesome. Not only is it pissed but now it has a car-sized weapon to kill us. Wonderful.” Marshall formed his hand back into the elemental blaster. He was in a weakened state with only one more shot at best.

The Cyclops looked at the boys. Its breathing was slow and heavy. They could see its breath in the cold, rising to the sky. It was angry yet it didn't charge this time. Instead it was studying its prey, acknowledging them as a formidable opposing force. It stepped to the side and watched them closely waiting for them to strike.

“Okay, so it's ready for round two,” Marshall sighed. He was panting. “Yet, I don't even think I can make it half way through this round. I'm exhausted. So I'm open to any plans. Preferably ones where we don't die.”

“We have a fourth player now,” Peter said looking at Fred.

“Yeah, just tell me what to do, Nick.” Fred looked down to grab his Rod, only just then realizing he didn't have one. “Oh crap...”

“Just stay back! We can't afford you to get hurt. Riven might take over again.” Nick was angry. He didn't know why or how Fred got out but it ruined everything. He couldn't put his friend at risk.

“I could distract him!” Fred pleaded.

“I said stay the hell back!” Nick was screaming now. “You have no Rod. You're basically useless right now. So shut up and stay back!” Nick commanded. Fred wanted to argue but saw his face. His mind was made up.

“All right...” Fred walked up the stairs to the cabin. He watched closely as the boys began to shift to the left, trying to figure out a plan of attack.

“So leader,” Marshall said looking at the gigantic beast waiting for them. “What's the plan? Down a man, we're all damaged or weak, and this thing still looks at full strength.”

“The odds are against us.” Peter flexed his fingers. He could feel his energy fading quickly.

“Same plan as before. This time don't miss Marshall. Peter distracts it for just long enough. No more games, I'm going for its eye.”

“Eye? Dude that's like right in its face. He's gonna kill you!” Marshall was surprised at Nick. Nick always wanted a safe plan, but this was the most dangerous so far.

“I agree with Marshall. You get that close you take a very big risk of dying. You sure that's our best plan?”

“Get this damn thing on its knees. It's time to finish this,” Nick said plainly. He had enough of this Unknown beating them down. He stepped forward. The beast shifted, getting ready for attack. Nick walked slowly towards it.

“This damn plan is horrible. Leader my ass!” Marshall jetted to the right. He had to get far enough to be safe but close enough to make sure he didn't miss. This was his final shot; he could feel it in his body. He wouldn't have another chance.

Peter formed a yellow ball. The one he hadn't had much practice with. It was his final trump card. He was hoping that it would work. If not they were in big trouble, their plans were coming to a full stop soon enough.

Nick broke into a sprint, screaming at the top of his lungs while charging. He could feel the sharp pain in his chest but he ignored it as best he could, with the spear tucked to his side. He couldn't be afraid anymore. He had to be reckless if he wanted to kill this Unknown. It was too powerful to hit and nip.

“Nick, eyes shut!” Peter screamed. He threw the yellow ball as far in the air as he could. Nick looked up at it, seeing it shine in the sky as it came falling down a few yards ahead of him. He covered his face. The ball dropped near the Cyclops’ feet. It roared and went to step on the ball. Peter closed his fist, and the ball exploded. A bright light went off and the Cyclops yelled as he became temporarily blinded. The explosion caused such a bright light that it made even Nick stop fully for a moment. He hid behind his arms, waiting for the light to die down.

Marshall uncovered his eyes and aimed at the beast. He needed to take the beast down so he aimed low. He shot the half charged blast right at the Cyclops, hitting it on the right knee cap, and exploding on impact. The Cyclops cried out so loudly it made Fred jump back. As it collapsed to the ground it dropped the club.

Nick pulled the spear back and drove it into the eyelid of the Cyclops. It cried the loudest cry, so far. Nick dug it in further, pushing it in with all his body weight. He went deeper, blood spurting out. He pushed even deeper, the Cyclops continuing to bellow in pain as it slammed its hands on the ground. Nick gave one final push, blood splashing all over him.

The Cyclops was shuffling around his hand along the grass. It grabbed the club and swept his whole front. Nick wasn't prepared and was hit by it with full force. It made him slam into the ground and roll all the way to a nearby tree which he slammed up against. He groaned, feeling the original pain now amplified. Yet, it wasn't a full strength sweep. The beast wasn't fully ready to strike. It was still crying, trying to rip the spear out of its eye.

“Nick!” Fred screamed from the cabin. He ignored his leader’s instructions and ran towards him. Marshall was on the ground breathing heavily. He had used about all the energy he had left. He let his elemental blaster turn back to a Rod and attached it back to his belt. He watched as Fred ran across the field to Nick. “Careful! Thing is still active!” he screamed. Yet he couldn't stand up to follow Fred in pursuit. He was just too tired from the last shot.