Chapter 12: A strong boy
Henrick crashes into a light pole and lays sprawled on the ground, his vision spinning at the impact. He pushes himself off the ground and rolls away, narrowly dodging a vicious chomp that easily snaps the light pole in half. "David! Are you alright?!" he shouts, grabbing the top half of the pole, and swinging it into the reptilian-like creature’s head with a meaty thud.
The reptile, dazed, is unable to dodge a searing bolt of electricity straight into its eye. "GRAAAAAHHHH!" it screams in pain and swiftly spins, catching Henrick with its tail. An audible CRACK can be heard as Henrick’s ribs fracture from the force of the blow, sending him flying once more.
Henrick stifles a shout of pain as he flips in the air and lands on a car. He leaps out of the way as the reptile slices into the car with its claws, its speed vastly outstripping any foe he’s faced thus far. He dodges another attack and swings his body low for a bone shattering, electricity enhanced, hook onto the monster’s side.
The blow pushes the monster over on its side onto a truck, but it quickly recovers and throws the vehicle at Henrick. The soldier leaps into the air, the truck being too wide to dodge sideways, and widens his eyes when the monsters slams its head into him. A shockwave blasts out as Henrick is sent flying.
Suddenly, a tongue catches him in mid-air, constricting with bone crushing force as it flings him towards a building. The soldier slams into the wall and is embedded into the stone, the air completely knocked out of his lungs as he helplessly watches the creature charge at him.
Father David stirs and grabs his neck in pain, shakily pushing himself into a sitting position as he looks around. The pain is forgotten as soon as he sees the reptilian creature galloping towards an incapacitated Henrick. With a forceful shove of his hands, a concussive wave of force slams into the monster’s face, sending it careening to the side and missing its target.
It goes through the building, easily crushing concrete as if it was wet paper, and continues for an undetermined length. The sound of the creature gets further away as it thrashes in pain, madness taking over it in its blinded state.
The priest, having nothing to brace on, gets pushed away by his own concussive blast. He skips and rolls across the floor, finally stopping once he smashes into rubble. "Ow..." he groans as he stands up as fast as he can and rushes towards Henrick.
Henrick dislodges himself from the wall and lands harshly on all fours, giving David a grateful nod. Looking at the massive hole where the monster bulldozed through, he shudders imperceptibly at the sight but shakes his head free of those thoughts. Spitting out a glob of blood, he stands up clutching his side. "How about Selene? Is she dead?"
The question makes David snap his head towards the ruins of a car, on which lies Selene’s broken body. "I...I don’t know." says the priest, hesitantly making his way to her body. Henrick follows soon after and almost scoffs at the shallow movements of her chest rising up and down. David, meanwhile does the sign of the cross and mutters his thanks to the Lord, as he then picks her up from the wreckage.