Beastars: A Symphony of Life

Chapter 96: A Monster Memory Lapse

"I'm out!" Shoji shouted over the gunfire.

Razor took a clip from his belt and tossed it to Shoji. The wild dog slipped out his empty cartridge and clicked the full on in. He spun up and aimed the barrel over the subway control board, where all four of them were hunkered down. He fired on the guard through the shattered windshield and ducked down when they opened fire back. There was returning fire from the buildings in The Drusk. They had them surrounded, in a way.

"Is this the plan?" Shoji shouted over the gunfire. "Just sit here and shoot?"

"The plan is to clear a path back home," Razor shouted back.

"At this rate they'll surround us," the wild dog retorted.

"Agh!" Benjiro shouted, falling back against the control panel next to Shoji. He had gotten hit clean through the arm.

"You good?" Razor asked.

"I'm still breathing aren't I?" he retorted.

Razor reached into his bag and tossed a bandage roll towards him. The tiger wrapped the bandage around his arm and flexed his arm and hand a few times before going back to firing. It was like a light show in the city-wide blackout. Every little explosion when a gun fired off lit up a small space for a short period of time. Shoji could make out the scent of blood from the soldiers they had shot down. It was making its way closer as the liquid pooled. Their numbers were dwindling, but they weren't giving up.

"They're backing away!" Benjiro called.

"Advance!" Razor shouted. He jumped up over the controls and fired the rifle in an endless stream of bullets mowing down the soldiers who started to direct their fire towards him. He jumped behind a military vehicle parked in the road. He motioned for the others to join him.

Shoji jumped out, followed by Benjiro and the alligator. Shoji tucked and rolled out of the bullet fire and the tiger just got lucky. The alligator was shot down.

"Shit!" Razor shouted.

They sat there, hunkered behind the vehicle. They couldn't aim out over the top and would have to duck around the sides to shoot. Being small enough, Shoji took a full clip and crawled under the truck, taking aim from under the truck.

"Ben!" Razor called. "Give me your rifle!"

"Why?" the tiger asked.

"Just do it!" he ordered.

The feline struggled to pull the rifle from his shoulder and the hybrid took a karambit, cutting the strap and pulling it from him. He pulled out the semi-empty clip and put in a filled one. He then started hyperventilating, building the adrenaline.

"If I go down," he said to the striped carnivore between breaths. "Take care of him."

"Wait what?!" Shoji asked, turning to the two behind him. But it was too late. The hybrid pulled something from his bag and dropped the pin. He threw it towards the soldiers and Shoji watched the feet start running around the truck at the guards. There was a resulting explosion as the flashbang went off, blinding anyone that looked at it, including Shoji. There were shouts and screams from the soldiers and the hybrid advanced, emptying the magazines towards the heavily guarded roadblock. They emptied at the same time and he dropped them both, taking the backpack off and pulling a string from the strap. He threw the bag towards them and it exploded, sending the soldiers sprawling. He pulled out two karambits and ran into the fray. Shoji listened as flesh was cleaved into and screamed were literally cut off. He smelled the intoxicating scent of acid and blood, with a tinge of sweat mixed in.

There was a sound and Shoji twisted under the truck to look behind him. A parade of police cruisers and national guard vehicles were coming in and the sirens were growing along with headlights becoming more blinding. Benjiro joined Shoji under the truck for more cover. Shoji glanced back towards the barricade and almost gasped. Razor had taken off his mask to breathe easier. Shoon was completely soaked in red, coated with thick blood and in the center with a crazed look in his eye. His back was hunched with his fur and quills standing on end. He was breathing heavily in and out through both nose and mouth at the same time, creating a growling, howling, huffing sound that echoed out of the hybrid's throat and mouth, reverberating in the wild dog's ears with a noise he had never heard. His mouth still oozed and dripped a mix of blood, venom and saliva. His feline claws were extended and his tail was flicking back and forth like a cat ready to pounce. Every part of his hybrid biology stood out. Even his gills stood separated from his fur as they waved in the wind, engorged with blood to increase the input of oxygen. The porcupine quills had grown back in full, piercing through the back of his jacket and sticking out like a crest off the back of his head in a defensive shell. His karambits were still in his hands and his multicolored eyes snapped to look at the cars as they illuminated him. His scaled underside was slick with the blood which, in the dark, looked black and glistened with his heaving chest. It made it hard to distinguish between his leather outfit, and his actual body.