The Extinction Games by L.A. Qualls

Author:L.A. Qualls [Qualls, L.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mercurial Press

27

There’s light at the end of the tunnel. Or in our case, a one-hundred-metre waterfall cascading down a rocky canyon wall. This is where the river begins, but is it where our journey ends?

There’s still a distance to go. I have the Jeep revving in the red. Enough to keep us at speed, but hopefully not so much that I blow the engine. Yet still, our speed isn’t enough. Death stalks us like we’re in a Final Destination film. I’m just waiting for Tony Todd to appear in my comms and deliver a monologue about dying in the creepiest, deep voice he can muster. I look in my mirror and want to say ‘Candyman’ five times. I’ll take my chances with him and his mouthful of bees over the nine-metre-long Allosaurus from Hell.

Two rocks protrude from the trail. I avoid one but hit the other. The fat wheel absorbs the impact and the front of the Jeep lifts into the air. The back wheel hits the same rock, and the front hits the ground hard. Air escapes from a tyre.

‘We’ve got a flat!’ It must be the front tyre because the steering wheel becomes less responsive.

The Jeep is unsteady, wobbling around. I have to fight with the vehicle to keep it on course. I’m losing speed so I up the revs. It’s risky but I have no other choice. Death embraces us with a headbutt to the back of the Jeep, jolting us forward.

Zhen releases her seatbelt and wails as she forces herself onto her knees. She holds her bow horizontally and loads an arrow.

‘Remembers to keep calm!’ screams Hitman Pip, regurgitating Zhen’s own advice.

She says nothing, completely in her zone. The road is so bumpy now, I can’t keep looking in the mirror to see what happens. I hear the whoosh of an arrow and a low groan from Death. I swerve to avoid another rock. Another whoosh, and this time Zhen screams in defeat. Another whoosh, and a yelp from Death. I keep my eye on the trail. Death hasn’t laid a claw on us since Zhen started shooting her bow. Another whoosh, another groan from Death.

‘It won’t go down,’ says Zhen.

The trail clears and I check my mirror. Death face-on is so narrower than expected; Zhen hasn’t had much to aim at. He has two arrows sticking out from his chest and another in his neck. Yet still he keeps coming at us. He’s just too big to be put down without serious firepower.

‘My last arrow,’ says Zhen, and she slides it along and rests it on her finger.

‘Don’t waste it,’ says Takeshi. ‘We might need it later.’

‘There won’t be a later unless I finish him off.’

I try to keep the Jeep as steady possible but Zhen has more to ask of me.

‘Jersey, I’m going to need you to slow down.’ She emphasises the last two words so there’s no mistaking what she’s asking me to do. She wants me to close the distance between the patron and his four-course meal.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.