In the Land of Giants - Book 2 of the Acropolis series

Chapter 18

  Everett felt like he was back at Chitter Central.

The world had exploded into dust, fire, screaming, and chaos. Everett had sprinted forward immediately upon hearing the word, perhaps too fast. Over his head came a howling blast, and things in front of him began to explode. Gunfire filled the area, his own amongst it as he scrambled for cover, waiting for the smoke to clear.

He found his way to one of the odd dome buildings and crouched behind it, trying to peer through the dust to see where all the shooting was coming from. While Spalding and his people had let loose a hail of rockets, most of the gunfire now was coming from the Chitters. The humans were pouring down the main path past Everett, straight into the dusty chaos. Some raised their rifles to fire, but most were simply trying to find cover, somewhere to avoid the hail around them. People were dropping fast, uncountable fishhooks embedded in their flesh.

Everett clambered to his feet and joined them, trying to hold his rifle steady as he sprinted through and into the clear. His feet skidded through the dirt as he tried to slow down, Chitters becoming visible within his line of vision. He aimed and squeezed the trigger, sending a spray of bullets toward them before ducking behind another dome. He looked backward as his back fell against the smoothly carved rock, catching glimpses of the army that was now moving forward in short bursts, hiding behind buildings here and there the way Everett was. There were Ava and Jo Ronholm, standing almost back to back as they moved, covering one another from place to place. Behind them, a group of biohackers were forming a tight circle, and Everett could see that Maxwell was at the center of it, firing with surprising precision despite the bandages all over his face. Everett clenched his teeth and spun around to sprint forward again.

"Shit!" He shouted as he realized something was charging straight for him, and he dove out of the way. Whatever it was rolled straight up the hill past him, but he felt an intense weight on one of his ankles while it went by. He cried out and came to his feet, looking back at the thing that had assailed him.

It was one of the spiked, round creatures he had spied earlier. As he watched, its rolling slowed and it unfurled itself, its big club appendage swinging in a wide circle while it came to its feet. One man was struck across the ribs and went flying, letting out a pained cry before his back cracked against the surface of a dome building, and he tumbled to the floor, dead.

Everett turned and ran, limping slightly, his eyes focusing on the source of the light. The temple. It was perhaps two hundred yards away now – he had closed a third of the distance. Chitter fire pinned him down at one point, but he was getting very comfortable at finding their crescent-shaped heads in the iron sights of his rifle and putting them down. It was only when he was pinned down a second time and he was afraid to move on that a distinctive tubular-sounding howl ripped through the air above him.

The guardians were a horrific sight. Surprised to see they could stay in the air here, Everett initially only glimpsed their leathery mechanical wings as they swooped through the darkness above. However, two of them quickly moved in to attack, dipping low and crashing down to the ground behind him. Their four limbs were like tree trunks, thick and powerful enough to crush anything beneath them as they stomped toward the army. Their heads, similar in shape to the Chitters, moved about in a methodical, hunting manner as they searched for a target. Once found, one of the guardian's forward limbs would flash out, wielding an immense and deadly pincer that could tear human beings in half with ease.

"Charge!" A voice was screaming as a group soldiers surged toward the guardians. "Keep fuckin' moving, you maggots!" It was Spalding, and on his shoulder was a rocket launcher. With a flash, it went off and struck one of the guardians along the underside of its head. The creature reared back with a loud, pained howl, and Spalding ran straight toward it, letting loose maniacal laughter. "Come on, follow your fucking heroes!" He called, and drew a machete from his belt, slicing wildly at the guardian's legs. The soldiers passed him by as speedily as they could, and Everett began to run with them, seeing Spalding dive to dodge the creature's elephant-like leg as it stomped toward him.