Project Maigo(25)

“And here I thought they were going to stay with you until the end.” He started toward her again. “Cowards.”

She pulled the trigger again, the noise of the gunshot rolling over the hillside. Gordon flinched as the round struck his cheek and bounced away. “Aiming for my eyes,” he said. He stopped, opened one eye widely, propping it open further with his thick finger. “There. Go ahead. See if it helps.”

Shit, she thought, Gordon would never expose himself to injury so willingly, unless it really didn’t matter. She fired anyway, hoping it would at least cause him some pain.

It did.

He howled as his head rocketed back. One of his armored hands clutched the wounded eye. When his head came back down, his remaining horrible eye glared at Collins. But he was still smiling. He took his hand away from his face. White, fluid gore oozed from his punctured eye. It was followed by something black and viscous. When it hit the ground, it made a ticking sound—metal on pavement. The bullet. When she looked back up, Gordon’s ruined eye was whole once again. And he was charging straight for her.

Collins fired her remaining bullets, none of them effective. She lunged to the side, hoping Gordon’s momentum would carry him into the brick wall at her back, but his reach was too wide. He caught her around the waist, clutching her with one hand. Her feet scraped against the pavement as she was pushed back. The scraping stopped when she was lifted up and slammed against the brick wall.

The air in her lungs coughed out. Her head struck the red brick, leaving a darker red stain. Her vision blacked for a moment before returning with spinning points of light. He could kill me, she thought, so easily. Why is he holding back?

Gordon leaned in close, his jaw dropping open. Impossibly wide. Sharp teeth just inches from her skin. The smell of rotting fish, carried by his warm breath, flowed over her.

Before his mouth reached her, a brick slammed into the side of Gordon’s head. The only effect it had was to gain his attention.

Watson stood twenty feet away, a brick clutched in each hand. “Leave her alone!”

Gordon released his grip on Collins. She slid down to the pavement, leaning against the wall. Somewhere deep in her mind, she shouted at her body to move, but there was a disconnect. Watson was on his own, armed only with bricks.

His patience gone, Gordon stomped toward Watson with deadly intent. Watson lobbed the bricks. One bounced off Gordon’s armor-plated shoulder. The next missed entirely.

Watson put his hands up in a defensive posture. Gordon raised his fists. He wasn’t holding back this time. As the fists came down, a loud boom filled the air. Gordon stumbled to the side as Cooper, holding a shotgun, ran to Watson’s side.

As Gordon recovered, Cooper pumped the shotgun and fired again. Gordon absorbed the shot, but took a step back. Cooper fired again, and again.

Collins tried to stand. Cooper would be out of ammunition in two more pulls of the trigger.

Boom.

One more.

Collins fought her shaking legs. She lifted herself a foot off the ground, but began sliding back down.

A hand caught her, holding her weight.

She looked up into the eyes of Katsu Endo.

The thunderous roar of Cooper’s shotgun filled the air once more. Not knowing the weapon held only six shells, the woman gave it another pump, raised the weapon and pulled the trigger.

The explosion that followed was unlike anything Collins had heard before. Light blossomed all around them. Trees cracked, as a mighty wind blew past. They were protected by the brick house, but she could feel the heat. The sound that followed shook her insides and sent her head spinning anew. She knew the explosion had come from the distant battle with the Kaiju, but she watched as Gordon reacted as though he’d been shot.

He fell to the side, stumbling until his head collided with the burning car. He dropped to the driveway, clutching his chest. But the effect was short lived. His eyes snapped open and turned skyward. She couldn’t see what he was looking at, but he wasn’t pleased.

As Gordon got back to his feet, Collins looked for Endo, but the man was gone. “What the...?” Had she hallucinated him? Was he a side-effect of a concussion?

Doesn’t matter, she decided. He was gone. And Gordon wasn’t. She dug into her pocket, searching for her last speed loader. As her fingers slid over the bullets, her mind cleared, and she realized she no longer held her gun. With blurred vision, she searched until movement caught her eye.

Gordon stood, one hand resting on the smoldering car. Whatever that explosion was, it had hurt him somehow. A series of nine more explosions reached her ears, though none compared to the first. But with each distant concussion, Gordon twitched.

It’s the Kaiju. He’s feeling what it feels.