Free Earthfall: Retribution by Mark Walden Page A

back.’
    Sam nodded and climbed carefully up on to the window sill before turning and lowering himself backwards out of the window, dropping the last metre or so to the ground. He raised his pistol, straining to spot any sign of movement in the dark shadows of the surrounding garden before setting off across the snowy lawn at a sprint. Mag dropped down behind him and hit the ground running, catching up with him effortlessly.
    ‘Faster,’ she whispered. She was picking up the scent of more Vore nearby, lots of them.
    Sam tried to increase his pace, but his battered, exhausted body had nearly reached its limits, even with the adrenalin pumping through his veins. They reached the road a few seconds later, pounding through the snow as a series of blood-curdling screeching howls filled the night air.
    Suddenly, a bush to Sam’s right seemed to explode as a Vore burst from it, claws outstretched. The monstrous creature hit him hard, slamming him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. Sam struggled desperately, trying to push the creature off him, gasping in pain as he felt its razor-sharp claws stabbing into his shoulder. The Vore’s mouth opened wide. It was too strong and Sam felt a moment of pure mortal terror as its fetid breath washed over his face.
    Mag fell on the Vore like an animal, her own claws raking across the charcoal-coloured skin of the creature’s back, leaving long, gaping wounds. The wounded Vore turned on her with a pained howl, releasing Sam and staggering to its feet as Mag sprang towards it again. She knocked the creature to the ground, flat on its back, her razor-sharp teeth snapping closed on its exposed throat with a grisly crunch. The creature thrashed helplessly for a moment and then lay still. Sam backed away from Mag as she turned towards him with a feral hiss, the creature’s black blood covering her face. He heard another roar from behind him and turned to see at least a dozen Vore galloping on all fours down the moonlit street towards him.
    ‘Run!’ Mag growled. Sam did not need to be told twice. He turned and sprinted down the road, nothing in his head now other than the animal instinct to survive. He felt a moment of pure dread as the road fifty metres ahead of them was suddenly filled with more charging Vore. There was nowhere left to go. Sam raised his pistol and fired at the nearest creature, the impact of the bullets barely seeming to slow it. He kept firing and eventually the creature staggered and fell as the hammer of his pistol hit an empty chamber with a final click. Mag rounded on the advancing creatures, a low guttural growl coming from her throat. Strong as she was, Sam knew there was no way she could ever hope to keep them all at bay.
    Suddenly, the advancing Vore at one end of the street were simply gone, swallowed in an enormous ball of fire. The light of the explosion was impossibly bright, the concussion wave that accompanied the thunderous noise knocking both Sam and Mag clean off their feet. A few seconds later all that was left was a smouldering crater and the twisted burning wreckage of long-abandoned cars.
    Sam’s head spun, his ears ringing as he vainly tried to force himself back to his feet. The Vore at the other end of the street had stopped, momentarily stunned by the brightness. They began to advance more cautiously, hissing and growling as they closed the distance to Sam and Mag. A sudden thunder of heavy gunfire shredded the front rank of advancing creatures in a hail of bullets. Sam flattened himself to the ground as the air filled with the angry buzz of bullets flying just above his head. He tried to look back over his shoulder and saw the silhouettes of a dozen heavily armed men, picking their way through the burning debris of the explosion, weapons firing constantly. The Vore tried, at first, to continue their advance under the withering barrage of fire, but it was futile. Only a few seconds later the handful of surviving creatures scattered and