Not a short man by any definition, Roy guessed the mutant had a clear four feet on him. Corded muscles strained the creature's tanned skin, twisting like ropes in forearms almost as wide around as the engineer's thigh. Amber eyes burned bright beneath a kerbstone brow. Huge, simmian fangs jutted from blood-stained lips that straing to hold the yellowed tusks. Its massive chest swelled with each breath. Thick plumes of white erupted from snout-like, mucus-coated nostrils. A third arm, the flesh studded with calcified barbs, sprouted from between the beast's shoulders. The extra appendage twitched and stabbed with the ferocity of a scorpion's tail. The unnatural limb terminated in a twisted scythe of naked bone.
"Get in the van," the engineer barked.
Bracing himself, Roy jerked the crossbow to his shoulder. He drew a bead on the creature's massive chest, saw thick plates of muscle twitch and jerk. An old tattoo, faded by time long before the virus had twisted its owner's flesh into a parody of humanity, grabbed Roy's attention. Its dull lines and pink shading pulled memories of cold beers, drunken conversation and the drilling hum of a Malaysian tattoo gun from the depths of his mind. His throat suddenly dry, shock slackened his muscles. The bow dropped a fraction. His finger slipped back around the trigger guard.
"Bart?"
He searched the mutant's yellow-orange eyes and caricatured gorilla face. No hint of his friend remained in the slab-like facial features. Only the skin art remained, the rose so big he'd once joked it was a red cabbage.
"Bart, you in there?"
The mutant's eyes flickered. Its long, pointed tongue caressed the length of its left canine. Rearing up to its full height, all three arms reached for the sky. Its booming cry filled the valley, a harsh roar that sprayed saliva and hate into the air. Bart lurched forward, slamming massive fists into snowy tarmac. Its third arm slashed with brutal speed. Snorting respiratory clouds, the thing that had been Bart pawed the ground with its right fist. A blood-curdling yell signalled its charge.
Adrenaline spiking, pulse drumming in his ears, Roy braced himself and leveled the crossbow. Focussed cool washed over him, left him calm despite the tremor in his fingers. He watched the creature's gait, noticed the extra arm gave its stride a stuttering rhythm. Counting down, he slowed his breathing, slipped his finger back onto the trigger.
"Sorry, old pal."
Cables sang. Metal bow staves unloaded kinetic energy into the quarrel's shaft. Black fletching pulled the bolt in a tight spin, driving the gleaming tip toward Bart's throat. Carbon steel met skin, punched into the flesh where Bart's neck met his chest. Hot blood gushed from the wound, left the snow sizzling as it landed. The creature grunted, staggered but did not stop.
Backpeddaling, Roy braced the weapon against his hip. He gripped the string, yanked hard on the twisted steel strands. Muscles burned in his back and shoulders. Flesh peeled from his calloused hands.
"Damn you," he roared, tossing the useless weapon onto the verge.
Bart came on, bony halbard still slashing. Pounding fists and feet sent shockwaves through the earth, made the ground rumble under Roy's boots. The raging Collosus splayed its limbs, dropping its weight to better aim its deadly lance. The angle of its head adjusted, its house-brick brow obscured gleaming eyes.
Roy narrowed his stance. Hands snaking to his waist, he slid a hunting knife from the sheath on his belt and a fresh bolt from his hip quiver. Eyes fixed on the charging monstrosity, he switched the bolt to an ice-pick grip. Bart kept coming. Roy resumed his count.
"Last chance, Bart."
The mutant's snort drowned out Roy's words. Chest parralel to the ground, third arm stabbing wildly, the beast's muscles bunched. Sinuous tendons whipped taught beneath its filthy bronze skin. Massive limbs thrust Bart into the air. Boulder-sized fist lashed out to pummel as the blade hacked air with insane ferocity.
A flick of his wrist sent the bolt arching toward the airborne monstrosity. Two quick steps carried Roy toward it. The engineer dropped, throwing his moment into a slide that carried him under the raging giant. The stink of mutation and sweat clogged his throat for the scant seconds he drifted beneath the monster's bulk. Jeans damp with melted snow, he rolled to his feet in a crouch.
Bart's blade arm scythed a lethal arch. Driven by the malformed lump of gristle between his shoulders, the blade hacked inches from Roy's face. Natural arms shot high, fingers entwined in a lethal hammer. Huge, taloned feet clawed the earth. The mutant turned, slamming his fists down hard enough to crack tarmac.
Blade now jutting from the bottom of his fist, Roy darted toward the giant. Ducking the mutant's thrashing blade, he planted a boot on Bart's inhuman forearm. Pushing off, he leapt. Bare fingers encircled Bart's tusk. Pitted enamel bit into his hand. Ignoring the pain, he lashed out with his knife, cutting deep into Bart's neck.
He felt Bart's roar travel through the giant's massive chest. Sonic vibration rattled through the knife hilt and into his body. His world flipped as the creature jerked. Massive hands pumelled his body. Heavy impacts knocked air from his lungs, rattled his teeth in his skull. Fresh blood sprayed his fist and arm, threatening his grip on the dagger. The beast shook its head left-to-right. Serrated enamel cut into Roy's left hand.
Heart slamming into his ribs, Roy lost his grip on Bart's tusk. Chest fit to burst with terror, he scanned the ground with fear-rounded eyes. Air whistled past his cheek. Impact from Bart's third elbow rocked his jaw. World spinning, coppery blood filling his throat, the engineer reached out, grabbing the knife hilt with both hands. Feet flailing with the power of Bart's thrashing madness, numbness spreading through his body from the barrage of blows, he sank his weight. Darkness crowding his vision, the stink of sweat, gore and mutation in his lungs, he felt his razor-edged knife rip through the mutant's throat.
Finally dislodged, Roy hit the ground with a thud. Nearby, an engine backfired, pulling a smile from the engineer's mouth. Heat and pressure followed. Bart's giant arm pinned him to the frozen ground.
"At least they got away," he rasped, his last words before blackness consumed him.
-TBC-
