Free Beyond Hades: The Prometheus Wars by Luke Romyn

choice. If they stayed on the sand, they would be easily picked off one at a time by whatever lurked beneath the sand.
    The sand erupted continually as they rushed across the beach toward the perceived safety of rocky ground. Whatever was hunting them seemed to sense their goal and was determined to stop them.
    Chuck gripped Talbot by his upper arm and zipped between the emerging claws, finally dragging a shaken Doctor Harrison onto the section of rock beside him. He spun back, assault rifle raised to his shoulder, only to see their attackers had disappeared once more.
    In the space of a hundred yards, perhaps half the crewmembers had been cut to shreds by the unseen assailants. Several weapons were lost in the attack, and as Chuck swiftly scanned the survivors he noticed fewer than sixty still carried guns. He prayed that would be enough.
    The sand sat unperturbed.
    Not a single grain moved.
    The entire group seemed scared to breathe, and not a sound rose as they waited for the attack they knew was coming -
    The entire beach suddenly exploded upward, and Chuck had to turn his head to avoid being blinded by the flying sand. Reflexively, he opened fire with his M-16A4 at an enemy he could not yet see.
    And then they emerged, and he wished they hadn't.
    Thickly armored, the rust-colored creatures clambered from the sand in a ceaseless wave. Hundreds upon hundreds of them.
    The creatures ran forward on two thick legs ending in spikes instead of feet, their upper bodies covered in shells so thick bullets seemed to simply bounce off. Four arms sprouted from each torso; the lower two stunted and feeble, the upper ones grotesquely muscled, ending in razor-sharp claws.
    Their heads were roughly humanoid, but warped and twisted into horrific parodies of men. Black eyes protruded from stalks above their beak-like mouths, clicking together while they ran, hungering for flesh.
    Chuck grabbed an M67 fragmentation grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, throwing it in the direction of the strange horde. It exploded in the midst of the crab men, and several were flung high, only to rise unperturbed and charge forward again.
    "Oh shit," muttered Chuck, seeing their deaths approaching in those mindless black orbs, clicking beaks slavering in anticipation.
    Suddenly, like an angel answering their prayers, a Harrier Jump-Jet shot overhead, from the cliff behind them. As it passed, something cylindrical dropped from its underside.
    "Hit the deck!" yelled Chuck, grabbing Doctor Harrison and hurling him against the rocky ground, protecting the doctor with his body. He had no time to wonder if the Russians had understood his warning.
    The Mark 77 bomb, successor to napalm, erupted.
    The scent of roasted crab wafted across the beach.
    And Captain Benedict was engulfed in flames.

CHAPTER 5

    Talbot gazed down at the charred features of Captain Benedict before covering his body once more and securing the black body bag. He shook his head sadly.
    He'd only known the captain for a little over twenty four hours, but the man had died to protect him. Who did something like that? How could a man he hardly knew sacrifice everything just to ensure he lived?
    Colonel Sam Wilson approached him, glancing quickly at the body bag and grimacing. The colonel had arrived with the rest of the troops who'd escaped the carnage of Base Alpha, and appeared ready to tear the pilot of the Harrier to pieces on glimpsing the destruction the Mark 77 bomb had wreaked, especially the remains of Captain Benedict.
    "Doctor Harrison," he began, his tone stiff, "I apologize for your treatment thus far. Exposure to the events you have witnessed was never part of our plan."
    Talbot shrugged, his mind blank, his heart uncertain, his gaze once more drawn to the body bag. Such a waste.
    His hands began to shake heavily, nausea rising swiftly from his stomach. Talbot bent over swiftly, retching across the sand. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes drawn back