~Chapter Twenty Three: Something New~

The husks surrounding the old pickup climbed over each other to get to Diane. Two of them even made it into the bed. Diane jumped down from the roof to join them and easily tossed them back to their mates. If she could hold out until Jamie reached her, they would stand a chance. With most of the offspring drawn away by the ninja, how hard could it be?

The crowd quieted and cleared for a scuffle near the tailgate, leaving the boy-husk she had just faced and an adult husk in a widening circle. Lying face down in the street, the larger tried feebly to crawl away, dragging his limp legs on the pavement. The apple-sized hole in his lower back would probably kill him too quickly for his nanites to help.

Boy-husk stepped over him to reach the truck and vaulted into the bed. A similar-looking, even smaller one moved out of the crowd and dropped the tailgate, drawing an eager, hungry noise from the onlookers.

Diane couldn't look away from the older boy's face. He looked so sweet, but those cold, reptilian eyes froze her soul. He held her gaze until the younger reached his side. Blood and dirt mingled on his chest where she'd kicked him, but he paid the wound no heed. Without looking away from her, he gestured to the younger, waving a hand toward the back of the cab as he circled around the other way.

They are communicating. And using tactics. Are these the children of two husks? They can't be more than a year old!

Intellectually, she knew that these were monsters with children's faces. And that they wanted to kill her. Moreover, they seemed quite capable of it. She steeled herself to fight these little boys, knowing that the battle would haunt her for the rest of her potentially very brief life.

Bracing to attack, the older boy's face went blank, and he collapsed on the rusty truck bed, followed a second later by the younger. Jamie's freckled, youthful face looked old and tired as he stepped into view by the tailgate.

"Once more my hero," Diane said with a gracious smile. By his vague expression, she guessed he couldn't hear anything over the ringing in his ears. She offered him a hand and pulled him up beside her as waves of husks rolled up to replace the fallen.

She refused the offer of his machete and held his face toward hers so he could read her lips.

"Can you still block?" she asked.

A tired, but determined nod answered.

"We have to kill it. Fast!" she said, pointing at the creature she figured was the host. "Save your strength for blocks, and stay beside me. If it gets through your defenses, we're done. Yeah?"

He nodded again, took a deep breath, and jumped with her to the next car. His batons were a blur, knocking husks back with wounds few would survive. Together, they fought off enough of the enemy to jump one car closer to the host. A few blocks to their left, a rocket propelled grenade screamed down from the roof and detonated in the crowd.

Working together, Diane and Jamie cut a swath through the hoard. They made it within twenty yards of the host before it turned its attention to them. Diane danced through the crowd, using just enough energy to keep the husks at bay. Jamie did the same with his batons, using the time to recover some of his strength.

Diane could only imagine Jamie's struggle fending off the host's attacks. She didn't know what it was doing, but she sensed the relentless assault as wave after wave of nanite energy crashed against his blocks. It slowed him down to a walk and brought on the redoubled efforts of the husks.

They could no longer see what was happening with the ninja and the offspring, but amazingly, the press of berserk husks parted in a chasm of blood and shrieks as the deadly blur of man and weapon fought to their side.

Diane assumed it was an ally, but she stood ready to fight the ninja, too, until it pulled its facemask down.

"Lee!" she said, still fighting to hold back the hoard. "I've never been so glad to see anyone, but you have to get back to the prison. They'll never hold without you!"

"Watch out!" Jamie yelled.

She didn't need the warning. She felt the sudden spike in energy, stronger by far than anything she'd ever experienced. The cars between them and the host slid aside like they were on ice.

Cracks spread across every piece of glass they could see, and large sections of the cars' metal bodies fell to dust. The pavement split, and a cloud of dust and debris rose in a churning whirlwind around the host, obscuring it from view. Amazingly, its energy continued to build.

"What's it doing?" Diane asked. "This can't be good!"

Jamie didn't answer. Concentration and strain twisted his face. He was clearly locked in an epic struggle.

Lee pulled his hood and shirt off, revealing a tapestry of small but bloody wounds on his chest and arms.

"Don't worry about that thing," he said, jerking a thumb toward the host. "I'll kill it in a second. First, Tina said for you to hurry home and meet your nephew. Let's finish up here and get back," he added. "Catch." He tossed Lanni's spear, and turned toward the spinning cloud of gravel, glass, and ugly orange license plates.

Diane caught the surprisingly light spear and spun to face an enormous charging offspring. She noticed another, smaller offspring bowling a path through the crowd behind the host. A strange buzz came from this one, and its color seemed a bit out of whack as it came closer.

Neither blocking nor scanning, Diane didn't feel the offspring's mental blast, but Jamie cried out and dropped to his knees. The assault must have been incredibly powerful. He wouldn't hold against another attack that strong. It was time to pull out the stops.

She imbued the spear with all the energy she could muster. The buzzing offspring leapt at her, all four claws extended and jaws open. Sidestepping the predictable attack, her slash left a deep wound just above its hind legs, and it landed beside her in a crumpled heap.

With that much power in her weapon, she expected to cleave the thing in half. This was a seriously tough offspring. As long as it stayed down, however, she wouldn't quibble.

She finished it with a stab between the shoulders. Strange tentacles dangled from its mouth, but it didn't dissolve as every other offspring she'd killed had done. If not dead, she had at least wounded it enough to keep it out of the fight.

Lee had already closed in for the kill. The rubble whipped up by the host's whirlwind gave him countless minor cuts and scratches. He pressed through like a weatherman filming a hurricane until, just a few feet from the host, the debris cloud exploded, spraying shrapnel in all directions. The blast hurled Lee backwards, dumping him on the ground.

Almost twenty feet away, some of the explosion reached Diane, though not nearly as much as hit Lee. She caught a few cuts and scrapes, as did the husks in the area. Those closest to the host didn't get back up, as bits of gravel and whatever else was in the cloud shredded their bodies. At a glance, Lee looked pretty bad, too.

Jamie struggled to his feet and moved closer to the fight, staggering like a drunk in the dark. Those battering waves of energy still crashed into his ever-weakening blocks. Diane was grateful, yet again, for the new kid's stamina and determination.

More spidery cracks appeared in the pavement around the host, and somehow, its strength seemed to grow instead of diminish.

Eager to stop the impending attack, Diane channeled her energy inward and the world slowed around her. She ran to the host and slashed with Lee's new spear. The blade arced toward the creature, only to falter just out of reach. The haft bashed into the whirlwind like the flat side of an oar hitting water, jarring her hands and arms with the impact.

The host's thin-fingered hand reached for her as she struggled to pull the spear free. She had to drop it to avoid the host's dreaded mind-wiping touch. In the street behind the host, a lone offspring charged in an odd, loping gait, and husks continued to rise or crawl away in slow motion.

Lee rejoined the fight, moving up and attacking the host from the flank. He was so mangled and bloody, Diane didn't know how he could stand, let alone fight. He looked like he'd fallen face-first down Cheese Grater Mountain. His fists fared much worse in the cloud than her spear. Not only did it slow him down, but it also shredded his gloves. His hands came out raw and bloody.

Husks moved up to replace those killed or wounded in the explosion, and the lone offspring charging toward them would soon be in range to blast.

I won't end like this! I need to see my nephew.

Hot rage pumped through her. She grabbed the still-falling spear, and tugged it free of the cloud. She met some resistance, but much less than when she tried to slash with it.

It's like water. Stab, don't slash!

Gunfire came from nearby, dropping a couple of the nearest husks. Lee switched from physical attacks to mental, but Diane knew they would be ineffective against the host's defenses, even without sensing his power.

A stab of energy came from Jamie, too, more powerful than Lee's but still not strong enough. Husks cried out as the offspring barreled through their ranks. It seemed to make an effort to trample or bash anything in its path.

Diane reversed directions with the spear and thrust at the host. The stab worked much better, as she suspected. Even with its dramatically reduced speed and power, it found its mark. The host tried to dodge, but the blade pierced its side through its ribs. It cut easily through its thin flesh and bone. She twisted the curved blade, snapping bones and tearing a wide hole in its side.

She expected more blood. The wound was a little red, but nothing flowed from the hole in the host's chest. She hadn't killed many hosts, certainly none as strong as this one, but they all bled. She knew her attack was effective when the waves of mental attacks ceased and the swirling cloud collapsed.

Two more husks fell to gunfire as they moved in on Jamie. It was a little like swatting a couple of mosquitoes in a swarm. The bulk of the first wave followed half a step behind. Lee and Diane ignored the wild men and women closing around them, focusing their attention on the host.

Diane pulled the spear free and stabbed again as the nearest husk reached them. It would hurt her, for sure. It might even injure or kill her. With the host, however, there was no question. Unless she killed it, her death was a certainty.

The husk moved faster than the others, and was thicker, too. It was a girl, young, but older than the two boy-husks. Her face struck a chord with Diane. It seemed impossible, but this wild child looked hauntingly familiar.

Despite the spear sticking in its chest, the host hit them with two back-to-back mental attacks. The first obliterated Jamie's tattered blocks, and the second stabbed into Diane's mind like a red-hot icepick.

Electric pain arced through her, overriding every thought. She couldn't move or even scream. She could only stand and watch as the host hurled Lee backward into the sea of hungrily grasping hands like it was swatting an insect. It reached for her again, and her senses all abandoned her. She was falling away from her body into infinite darkness.

#

Lanni moved through the endless ranks of husks with a tortuous lack of speed. When she finally put eyes on the host, Diane, Lee, and the new kid had already engaged it. She assumed the host was the one standing in a tornado. At first glance, the exterminators were holding their ground, but a clever host could turn things around in no time. The exterminators would have to be at their best, or their day could go very bad, very quickly.

If Lanni sprinted, she might be able to reach them in time to make a difference. That, of course was the problem. She needed to take the host by surprise, or it would simply mob her with husks until she couldn't move, send a dozen offspring to eat her, or even drop a car on her head.

Sprinting was out of the question. She had given her spear and clothes to Lee, and smeared mud, leaves, and anything that would stick, over her exposed skin. The husks hadn't attacked her yet, and with luck, the host wouldn't notice her until it was too late.

Just keep its attention, Diane. That's all I need. And maybe send Lee and Jamie home so they don't think I'm a mud-wrestling husk hooker.

Big Daddy and Junior had been shadowing her, killing and sometimes eating husks they could reach. During the brief mental connection she and the larger offspring shared, she discovered surprisingly human emotions and intellect. When they attacked the offspring surrounding Lee, she even let herself hope that they didn't intend to eat her.

The host whipped its army into a growling, slavering fury. Lanni mimicked their behavior, moving through the mob a little faster than most, but couldn't risk much more speed without triggering their instinct to chase. If even one of them decided to come for her, things could get ugly in a heartbeat.

She barely thought about being mostly naked in public. Some of her swimsuits showed more skin than her mud-suit. Of course, she had never been forced to sneak, fight, or kill at the swimming pool. The new public didn't seem to be encumbered by standards of modesty.

The mob thinned out around the ring of toppled cars, but the tide of battle had turned against the colonists. Lee was down. Jamie was on his knees, ignorant of, or unconcerned with the husks coming towards him. Diane was in hand-to-hand combat with the host, and it didn't look good.

Lanni burst through the ring of husks into the small, body-strewn clearing. None of the exterminators were in good fighting form except Diane. Breaking through their circle seemed to free them from whatever had been holding them back. Those nearest Jamie howled hungrily and charged. He sat on his knees with a frighteningly determined expression, but paid the husks no heed.

One of the beasts ran past Lanni and dove at him, but fell face down with his hands only inches from Jamie's leg. Gunshots rang out from across the street, where a group of colonists with pistols were fighting their way closer. Jamie seemed to be ignoring everything but the mental battle raging in the Con.

A husk beside Lanni took a bullet, but only faltered briefly and kept running. The exterminators were about to be overrun.

I'm out of time!

She abandoned her masquerade and sprinted toward the host. All it had to do was touch Diane to strip her of her identity and turn her into a husk.

Just a few more steps.

Some of the bodies littering the ground still moved as Lanni raced over them. An electric sensation crawled over her skin as waves of energy dissipated on her aura. She had no idea what the attack did, but it was too much for Jamie. He collapsed face-first in the street.

She fed her energy into her aura, expanding it as she had done in the Starbucks. With three paces to go, Diane stabbed the host with Lanni's spear, and the strange debris cloud surrounding it fell apart.

The host flung Lee aside like a sack of leaves, and Diane froze in place. Even impaled through the chest with her spear, this host was a formidable opponent.

Further back from the intersection, three more colonists fought their way closer, two firing pistols. The third was another exterminator, but unless he had a spectacular weapon he could use from that range, he wouldn't be much help other than cleaning up the aftermath. By then, Diane's mind would be wiped clean.

Lanni sprinted with everything she had. There was no coming back from a host's draining touch. Before she made physical contact, her expanded aura swept over the host, neutralizing all of its nanites. It collapsed beneath her in a bubbling puddle of powder blue sludge and bloody red bits of human flesh and bone. Lanni slid several feet across the partially dissolved street in the host's messy remains, letting her aura snap back into place.

It was done. Almost. The smaller offspring charged toward the intersection, leaping over vehicles or bashing them aside. It bowled through the remaining husks, stunning all in its path with mental blasts, and mangling any it could reach with its claws. Husks scattered from its path until the area around the intersection was pacified.

Without a host to control them, the rest of the husks and offspring did the same, scattering into buildings and dark corners like mice. Junior settled into a comfortable spot of disintegrated asphalt, buzzing contentedly. Every few seconds a tentacle snaked out of it chest through tiny holes, flicked back and forth, and vanished again.

Lanni kept a wary eye on it. It seemed to have latched onto her like a stray dog, but she wasn't ready to ignore it even for a moment with humans around. She positioned herself so she could see it over Diane's body and retracted her aura.

Diane was alive, even if she looked like raw hamburger in places. Lanni touched her face, and let her energy flow. She couldn't say how, but she sensed that Diane was still there, trapped in an illusion within her mind. The host must have had other ideas for Diane.

She groaned as bits of gravel pushed out of her closing wounds. She even opened her eyes and looked around in confusion as her mind found its way back to reality.

Jamie stirred, too, but Lee was in worse shape. His wounds were extensive, but most were fairly shallow. Once she started repairing his flesh, as she had Diane's, his own Con continued the process. She lingered with him for a moment to keep him as balanced as possible, until Jamie sat up and saw her.

She though he might attack her by the way he stared. Naked, covered in gore and mud, she looked more like a husk than most husks did. She stood up to reassure him, but the pop of handguns and bullets striking awfully close made her reconsider.

Jamie's jaw dropped and his determined expression turned to recognition. "You," he said. "Is it really you?"

She didn't have time to explain that she was a real person, not the ghost they all believed her to be. She wanted to make sure Tina's baby was healthy and safe, and if Alex returned, she had to be there. She released her aura and ran through the jumbled maze of cars with Junior close behind.