Involuntary Victim - Book 3 in Jessie's Story

Chapter 27: Monsters

The hissing is now behind us and under us. Jason nudges Bucky on the shoulder and we start to run. Minho pulling me along. Trouble is, we had planned to descend to a lower level, but that's out now, we won't go down a level into the waiting claws and teeth if whatever the monstrosity awaits us. When we come to the steps leading down, Thomas and Bucky and Sonya are scanning for a possible alternative on the Holo when I start shacking, my head starts thrashing.

"Jess? Are you okay?" Minho asks.

I'm trembling, I can hear the difference voices now. I can hear the screaming in my head.

"YOU DID THIS!"
"YOU KILLED ME!"
"I WAS ONLY FOUR!"
"WHO WOULD EVER LOVE SOMEONE LIKE YOU?"
"MURDER! MONSTER! KILLER?"

I ripped my hand from Minho and covered my ears, trying to block the screaming.

"Stop stop stop!" I scream, I hunch over, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

I get up and stagger away from the sound, or try to, but the screaming is in my head, and stumble right out onto the Transfer. Smooth, pastel-colored tiled streets, just like the ones above, but bordered by white brick walls instead of homes. I'm running blind at this point, desperately trying to get away from the screaming. The things are closer now, I can now hear the long legs slicing into the ground and walls and they storm closer.

Someone behind me throws an explosive, which kills the nest of flesh-eating rats inside. Then I sprint for the next intersection, where I know one false step will cause the ground beneath our feet to disintegrate, feeding us into something labeled Meat Grinder. Someone yells a warning and I'm grabbed, my backpack is grabbed, making me stumble backwards, arms are wrapped around me, and I'm head tight, despite my screaming and fighting.

The screams are so loud, my head feels like splitting open. My chest hurts from it all, from running from panicking from stress, from hyperventilating.

"Jess! Please!" The person pleads with me. "Please come back. Come back!"

"We need to get out!"

"Quickest way?"

"Give me a minute!"

"We don't have a minute!"

A spray of gunfire brings down a shower of plaster. I jerk my head up and away from Minho who has me squished to his chest, I swing my head from side to side, looking for the pod, before I turn and see the squad of WICKED Soilders pounding down the Transfer toward us. With the Meat Grinder pod blocking our way, there's nothing to do but fire back. They outnumber us two to one, but we've still got four members of the Wolf Pack, Gally, Sonya and Minho all sharp shooters who aren't trying to run and shoot at the same time. I yank myself away, pulling my gun as I do.

Fish in a barrel, I think, as blossoms of red stain their uniforms. Three-quarters of them are down and dead when something huge and monsters come pouring in from the side of the tunnel, the same one I flung myself through to get away from the screaming.

The Grievers found us. And they aren't just regular Grievers. These have the eyes of everyone I've been responsible for killing. And their screams and pleads of mercy rip into my skull. Leading the charge is the one that haunted my nightmares, Minho's Griever a teaming all the horrible things at me.

Apparently, having a WICKED pedigree is useless here. It seems to take only seconds before the soldiers are decapitated. The mutated Grievers fall to their bellies and skitter toward us on all fours.

"This way!" Bucky shouts, hugging the wall and making a sharp right turn to avoid the pod. Minho is pushing me along, but he doesn't need to, I'd do just about anything to get away from those things. When everyone's on the other side, Teresa fires into the intersection, and the Meat Grinder activates. Huge mechanical teeth burst through the street and chew the tile to dust. That should make it impossible for the Grievers to follow us, but I don't know.