Free Body Shrine (Savage Erotica) by Amanda Close Page A

welded across the majority of her vehicle. Cassandra swerved to the left, putting as much of the armored car between her and the salvo as she brought the vehicle ever closer to the driver’s side of the truck cab. She pulled the safety catch on the over-sized crossbow mounted on the passenger side dashboard and took hold of the pistol grip she had fastened to the base of the bow. The ropes and pulleys she had anchored to the car kept the crossbow steady through the bumpy ride, and she aimed at the driver. Just as she pulled the trigger a lucky round sped through the venting in the window armor and slammed into her right shoulder, causing the twenty-four inch crossbow bolt to miss the driver and imbed itself in the door. Cassandra snarled in pain and put both hands back on the wheel, the adrenaline of the moment helping her push through the agony and keep the vehicle steady. Unable to re-load or fire the crossbow Cassandra resorted to using her vehicle itself as a weapon. She had welded large spikes at the center of each tire mount, which at these high speeds would be more than enough to shred an enemy’s tires if she was able to hit them just right.
     
    Cassandra gritted her teeth and drew upon her Power, expending what little energy remained to attend her wound while repeatedly ramming the side of her vehicle into the ghoul’s truck. The energy flowed from the base of her spine and coursed up her back, finding its way to her shoulder. The energy activated white blood cells that immediately began attacking the multitude of infections already invading her body as torn muscle fibers and tendons began knitting themselves back together. Within moments what had been a crippling injury had been healed to being little more than a minor wound that would heal on its own in due time. More rounds bounced off of the car’s armor, and two more slipped through the vents, though luckily they failed to hit Cassandra as she rammed her can into the truck once more. While the two vehicles sped down the dusty road, the metal of their competing frames grinding and shrieking, Cassandra looked at the driver for the first time. His ears were pointed; his skin had the pale yellow of the thirsters, and his eyes a piercing red. Their eye contact was only for a fleeting moment, before Cassandra broke away from his gaze and regained her senses, for even in those swift moments the thirster was already assaulting her mind. Cassandra downshifted suddenly, and slammed on her brakes while still grinding the side of her vehicle into the truck. The driver did not react and swerve away quickly enough and as the truck sped past the back tire was shredded upon impact with her back tire spike, then the spike from her front tire ripped into the axle and sent the truck spinning out of control. Cassandra yanked on the e-brake and twisted her wheel in the opposite direction, making her car screech to a horizontal halt as smoke from the burning rubber momentarily filled the air. The thirster tried to correct the path of the vehicle without success, and the truck tipped over on its side, kicking up sparks and asphalt as it ground to a slow stop.
     
    Cassandra leapt out of her car as soon as it stopped, leaving the engine running as she stalked towards the damaged truck. She could hear the thirster growling inside the cab, and from the way the crossbow bolt in the door was moving she realized that her bolt must have pierced his leg, and she smiled at that, knowing that the barbed tip would be difficult and painful to remove. She quickly scaled the underside of the truck and pulled herself onto the top of the vehicle. She looked down at the thirster as he thrashed about furiously, having been wretched by the crash into an awkward sideways and nearly upside down position. As she drew her revolver from its hip holster the thirster bellowed and ripped its leg off of the barbed bolt, falling down into the passenger’s seat. Cassandra coldly pointed the pistol down into