[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Huntsmen? She glanced out again.In the moment before she pulled her face out of sight of their guns she saw what looked like a woman, being pulled along by something on a leash –#Dreggo had caught the Huntsman outside in St.Cannerwells Park.Blind, it had been stumbling about like a drunk down near the old pond, not far from a group of tramps drinking homebrewed spirits around a pile of burning benches and old chairs.Using the metal lid of a trashcan until she was close enough to use her knives, she’d battered the creature, finally sending it into some form of unconsciousness by smashing its head against the low wall that edged the pond.A piece of old rope made a suitable leash.The buzzing in her head had told her all she needed to know, and she’d slipped back to St.Cannerwells and staked out the DCA units laying siege themselves.She knew from the transmissions that the other Huntsmen had been called in and restrained.The signal had been faint, but she’d realised the fifth was still alive and getting closer, its receivers damaged but still following the mission.She didn’t know what had happened to it, but captured, it was a weapon unlike any other.She’d failed to track the Tube Riders; their scent had been too faint.The Huntsman, however, had a stronger smell, one she knew well.She’d taken it by surprise; it hadn’t been hunting for her.Its face was caked with blood and both its eyes were useless but its sense of smell was as good as ever.Among her personal armoury was a police-issued stun-shocker, and tied to a piece of old railing it kept the newly conscious Huntsman squirming at the end of the rope.It was damaged goods, but it was still far more dangerous than a gun.The two men at the foot of the stairs didn’t even see it coming.They were focused on keeping the Tube Riders trapped, and the Huntsman had slashed the throat of one and torn the arm off the other almost before they knew it was there.One of them got a shot off, puncturing the Huntsman’s shoulder.The creature screamed in rage as its claws and teeth finished the man off.‘Come out, Tube Riders,’ Dreggo shouted.She jabbed the Huntsman with her stun-shocker.‘Come out, it’s safe.I’m on your side now.’#Marta saw Dreggo descend the stairs, saw the captured Huntsman maul the two DCA agents and leave their bodies on the ground, writhing in its own pain from a bullet wound.She also heard what Dreggo said and realised they might have no choice but to trust her.‘There’s another one!’ she shouted, and glanced back towards Vincent.The leader of the DCA was crawling towards them, gasping in pain as he dragged his injured leg.A trail of blood followed him, as dark as shadow under the emergency lights.‘What the bloody hell is going on here?’ Paul muttered.‘Just keep down and wait for a chance,’ Simon answered.‘This is like a computer game,’ was Owen’s contribution, while Jess stayed silent.‘Hey you! Drop your gun or I loose this thing on you!’ Dreggo shouted at Vincent.Marta glanced out to see Vincent lifting his gun.He aimed in Dreggo’s general direction and pulled the trigger, but instead of a gunshot there was just an empty click.‘Ah, fuck,’ he muttered, and tossed the gun away.‘Come out, Tube Riders,’ Dreggo repeated.‘She doesn’t have a gun by the look of things,’ Paul said.‘She has a whole lot worse,’ Jess said.‘Let’s go.’ Marta stepped out into view.‘What’s this about, Dreggo?’The leader of the Cross Jumpers approached them with the Huntsman still ahead of her, crouched low to the ground.Marta thought it seemed more feral than the one that had chased her and Switch.That one, with the way it ran and operated its weapon, had more closely resembled a man.‘I think we can help each other,’ Dreggo said.‘I want a way out of this city, and in exchange I can protect you.’The others came up beside Marta.‘Who says we need protection?’ Paul said.‘You’d be dead if it wasn’t for me,’ Dreggo replied.‘Or you would have been as soon as you tried to run.’ She came closer, prodding the Huntsman along in front of her.‘That’s the one Paul got,’ Owen said, eyes filled with awe.‘Man, you smashed it up bad!’ By way of response Paul put a protective arm around his brother.Dreggo moved past the Tube Riders, who backed off away from the Huntsman.Ten feet from Vincent, she stopped.‘Looks like your plan didn’t quite work out,’ she said.‘Who the fuck are you?’Dreggo smiled.‘Don’t you remember me? I’m the one that got away.Give my regards to your witch-doctor friends.We’ll be seeing you.’‘Fuck you.Release that thing and get it over with.’‘You really want me to?’ She let out a little slack and the Huntsman jerked forwards, jaws snapping, making Vincent flinch.Dreggo turned away.To the others she said, ‘Together we’ll be safer.I have a.history with these people.I can use it to help –’Marta gasped as a hand snaked up from below the platform edge and gripped Dreggo’s ankle, pulling hard.She cried out in surprise and fell backwards on to the ground, the leash and the pole slipping out of her hands.For a moment everything seemed to freeze: Vincent, lying on the ground, wide-eyed; the Huntsman, crouched at Dreggo’s feet; Switch, climbing up off the tracks; Marta and the others, caught in the middle.Everyone was staring at the Huntsman.It hesitated just a second, as if deciding where the pain it remembered clearest had come from.Then it leapt at Dreggo, its claws and maw ripping and tearing.Dreggo screamed and tried to throw it off her.They rolled away across the platform, Dreggo, despite her strength no match for the ripping, tearing claws of the incensed Huntsman.‘Quick,’ Switch shouted.‘We have to move now.’‘What about him?’ Marta said.‘Fuck him.’‘We’ll catch you!’ Vincent shouted.‘We’ll hunt you down –’Owen stepped forward and kicked Vincent in the face.The DCA agent slumped back against the ground.‘Just shut up, man.’Switch grinned.‘Nice footwork, little bro!’‘Guys, this isn’t over!’Marta pointed.The Huntsman had won the fight.Dreggo’s bloody, mutilated body lay limply on the dusty tiles.The beast pulled something out of the ruins of her clothes and turned back towards them, clawed hands gripping a silver crossbow.Switch said, ‘Its mission!’The Huntsman’s blind head swung back and forth, nose twitching at the air.An awkward moment passed.Then it stopped still, frozen.Slowly, its lips curled back in a snarl.‘I have an idea!’ Simon shouted.‘Get across the tracks now!’Paul pushed Owen in front of him.Simon grabbed Jess’s hand and pulled her behind him, though at first the girl seemed to want to stand and fight.‘What about him?’ Marta shouted to Switch, who was already across.She pointed at Vincent’s still body.‘Forget him,’ Switch replied.‘They’re not after him, and if it wants dessert, too bad.’Marta was the last to jump.As she crossed over the tracks and landed heavily on the other side, she heard a whirring sound behind her, and looked back to see the Huntsman loading the crossbow.‘There’s a train coming,’ Simon shouted, pointing at the tunnel where the faint glow of headlights had come on amid the growing roar of an engine.‘Come on, you bastard, jump!’ He picked up a loose tile and threw it at the Huntsman.The tile struck the creature in the chest, and it jerked in Simon’s direction, teeth bared, the crossbow lifting.Simon took another step forward.‘Come on!’ he shouted again.‘It’s fucking Pancake Day, you bastard!’‘Watch out!’ Marta said.‘Don’t make it jump too soon!’Jess and Switch had joined him in goading the Huntsman.It snarled again then bounded forward, the crossbow going off with a zipping sound as it leapt out over the tracks.Simon’s body jerked.He screamed and staggered a few steps, then dropped to his knees [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]