Free The Tide: Breakwater (Tide Series Book 2) by Anthony J Melchiorri Page B

sight,” Dom yelled through his mic. “So keep your asses down and work quietly while we draw them away.”
    Three Skulls in ragged clothing broke away from the pack and came bounding at him. The growling bellows coming from their mouths made them sound like creatures two or three times their size. Dom gritted his teeth and fired. He was rewarded with the gratifying smack of bullets plunging through bone and flesh, and the monsters tumbled into the grass. He shot off another burst, praying his daughters would stay hidden under the fuselage windows of the chopper. The scene reminded him of the attack on Detrick: a seemingly endless stream of Skulls flooding them with no end in sight.
    When they’d left the base, Shepherd had only given Dom and his crew enough supplies to tide them over in case of an emergency. He had no idea how long they could last.
    He patted his tac vest to confirm what he already knew: one more magazine left. He squeezed his trigger, pumping lead into a Skull with its claws outstretched and its mouth open in a wail. A long mess of dark hair trailed behind it, and a leather belt was still wrapped around its waist, a lingering reminder of its former humanity. Dom’s rounds knocked the creature back, and its muscles rippled and writhed under spikes and bony plates as its life ebbed away. Still more creatures came at them.
    “How’s everybody holding up?” Dom asked.
    “Reloading,” Miguel said. “Last fucking mag.”
    “Same,” Hector said.
    Meredith and Renee continued to fire. When they paused, they confirmed their dwindling ammunition.
    “Frank, Adam, when’s liftoff?” Dom asked.
    “Chao’s telling me we’re close,” Adam said.
    A group of Skulls were running near the dark chopper. A six-foot-tall, skinny one still wearing cargo-pocketed hiking pants and a backpack scraped it as he ran. In the background, over Adam’s comm link, Dom heard Maggie’s frantic barking. The thin Skull paused. Its neck twisted and its mouth gaped as it let out a screeching roar. It tore at the chopper with its claws.
    Gunfire continued while the Hunters tried to hold off the Skulls still on the attack. But Dom’s attention was drawn to the monster trying to get into the chopper—trying to get at his daughters. Two more of the beasts climbed atop the AW109. Their spiked and mutated arms flailed. They pounded their fists against the fuselage in a rabid frenzy.
    Dom had the creatures lined up in his sights, but he hesitated. “How strong is that glass?” he asked Frank over the comm link.
    “Strong enough to keep out most small arms fire,” Frank said.
    Dom lowered the weapon. If his bullets strayed from their target, he risked not only damaging the chopper, but also its passengers. He couldn’t take a shot from here. Not with this vantage point. None of them could. He stepped from behind the overturned picnic table.
    Meredith grabbed his arm. “Don’t. You’re not going to be of much help to your girls if you end up dead.”
    Another two Skulls joined the assault on the chopper.
    Frank’s voice came over the comm link again. “We might be able to take some small arms fire, but if they damage the intake or the rotors, it won’t much matter. Even if we get the FADEC back on track, none of us will be going anywhere.”
    ***
    K ara had only known Frank for a couple of days, but she could hear the worry in his normally cool voice. Another creature climbed atop the chopper. Its wails resonated through the cabin. Maggie no longer let out her deep, throaty barks. Instead, she whimpered beside Sadie, who crouched in the corner and clung to the dog.
    Kara held the pistol in her hands. “We’ve got to do something.”
    “You’re not doing anything.” Adam spun in the copilot’s seat. “And I’m not going to let anything happen to you two.” He pointed to the gun. “You got another magazine for that?”
    Kara shook her head.
    Adam climbed over the seat and into the rear of the cabin. He dug through