Page 12 of Wrong Squad, Right Mess

The youngest let out a single, soft whimper but otherwise remained silent. Brave kids.

Yun had her arm around the youngest, but she put on a good front. I knew her well enough to glimpse the fear beneath her exterior, the desire to run herself, to escape the last thing she wanted to face. No matter how strong that desire was, though, she remained still, for them.

I withdrew my own gun, the one strapped to the pack we’d gotten from the esper. Yun did the same, though we both kept them to our sides, out of sight of the kids. They didn’t need to see the weapons, didn’t need to think about the possibility that we might use them.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long before that tense silence broke as the first monster sailed in, using wings that allowed it some height, maneuvering through the trees. The first gave way to more, the beat of those wings so loud that I felt is as much as heard it.

Shear targeted groups of them, causing them to crash to the ground, to break their own necks, but it seemed as though there was no shortage of replacements. Ingram took them one at a time, slipping into the shadows then out to deliver a killing blow, then back again to repeat the process. Carter, though, he was always a show-off even if he didn’t intend to be. He liked to call as many as he could toward him, then take them on in a group, moving like an ocean wave, unrelenting and impossible to stand against.

“It’s okay,” I said to Rebecca. “This is nothing for them.”

Which wasn’t entirely true. It was nothing for them to survive, but keeping civilians alive was always the trickier job.

One monster swept up and over Ingram, then dove toward us, clawed feet outstretched in a lethal reach.

I wasn’t a fighter, but I could handle a pistol. I lifted it and unloaded a shot, hitting the thing between the eyes. It hit the ground and skidded forward, not dead but not moving much, either. It thrashed, feet searching for purchase, jaws opening and closing, but the wound had seemed to scramble its brain enough that it couldn’t focus on us too closely.

Still, it didn’t need to have a thought in its head to land an accidental hit, so I got the kids up and moved us back a few paces. They came with me, probably deciding that I was now far less scary than the thing I’d just shot down.

Yun helped press the kids between us, my attention split between watching for danger and also keeping an eye on the health of my squad.

Another monster broke through the fray, but this time, Carter interceded just before it got close enough for me to take a shot. He grabbed it by the nape as though it were an unruly pup and tossed it away. He offered a quick wink toward the kids, as though to reassure them, before returning to the fight.

No matter how many they took down, though, there seemed no end to the monsters that rushed forward. Why? Usually they were drawn toward the portal, but these seemed to have a focus on us.

Maybe it was the noise? Maybe the distance from the portal meant they were drawn by the energy inside of us as espers instead?

Maybe they were just dicks who really wanted to eat children?

The answer didn’t matter, and I wasn’t exactly a scientist, so I focused instead only on keeping the kids from harm, on trying to save them.

A rumble shook the ground in individual blasts, like the quick waves of an earthquake. It wasn’t the sensation of a hundred monsters, but one really big one.

Trees cracked, the shaking worsening, until a moment later something that could have crept right out of a horror film appeared, knocking two trees down to make way. It was black, with moving purple streaks that ran over its shoulders, its back, with bright purple eyes. It looked more like a tiger than the others, on four legs with claws that didn’t seem to retract, leaving gouges in the soil beneath it. It was easily as tall as a house, with a long, whip-like tail covered in spikes.

We rarely saw things this big, and sure hadn’t spotted one the last time we were here. Dungeons could produce new monsters with time, as though it could change plans and offer up better enemies when needed. Still, this thing seemed even more outside of the realm of reasonable, like it wanted to make a point to us.

I clutched the gun, thinking that a bullet was going to do much to that thing. Not that I wouldn’t try it if I had to—even the impossible was better than nothing.

“Well, fuck.” Ingram’s voice floated to me even though I couldn’t see him. It suggested he’d slid into the shadows somewhere right around where I stood, and he appeared again just beside and above the monster, falling to its back, gripping a patch of fur over its shoulder blade.

The entire battle grew louder as the three espers tried to counter this huge monster while also keeping back the waves of smaller beasts. A gunshot to my left had me turning to see that Yun had taken down a smaller beast, and the girl was handling it well. Her vitals showed she was stressed, of course, but she was holding on just fine.

At least until the huge monster swiped, taking Shear and throwing him. A quick check told me he had a broken rib, but he’d last long enough for me to heal him once this was over. Still, it took him out of the fight.

With him down, we had no area-of-effect help so the smaller beasts he’d kept at bay swarmed closer like enraged hornets.

More than I could count rushed us, and I lifted my gun, Yun doing the same. I pulled the trigger, unsure how many times, until it clicked instead of firing.

Empty.

I dropped the gun and shoved the kids down, then covered them as best I could with my own body, ready for agony to explode through my back when the first monster took a chunk.

It wasn’t like I could truly protect any of them, but it was better than nothing. Sometimes a few minutes was all a person could offer, but it might just prove enough. Any edge could make the difference between survival and failure.

Rebecca shoved, struggling until she broke free of my grasp. Covering three kids wasn’t easy, and she slipped out, getting to her feet, staring around.

“Get down,” I snapped, just as a monster leapt at her from behind.