Page 8 of North
The monster leaped onto a table, then over an old slicing machine. I fired again, and it jumped to the floor, and skittered back into the center of the store.
I growled and followed. It wasnotgetting away.
I ran out near the aisles. “Do you see it?”
“No.” Jess was walking slowly, scanning around.
I moved down an aisle quickly, straining to hear anything.
Creak.
“Watch out!” she shouted.
The shelves to my left started tilting. I turned, sprinting back toward the end of the aisle.
Jess waved at me. “Hurry.”
I pushed for more speed, then jumped.
I landed flat on my front, just as the shelves crashed down behind me. They missed my boots by centimeters.
“That little fucker.” I rose, dusting myself off.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“North? Jess?” Sasha’s voice. “Are you two all right?”
I touched my ear. “Yeah. We have the damn monster cornered in a store.”
“Jameson and the others spotted something in the northeast quadrant. They’re checking it out, then they’ll head your way.”
A skitter of sound at the back of the store had Jess swiveling, whipping her carbine up.
Then I heard something crashing at the front of the store.
“Are there two of them?” she said.
“Maybe something just fell.” I looked at the front.
“I’ll check out the back.”
I frowned. “Jess, you don’t have full armor.”
“It’s fine. I won’t get close. Let’s nail this thing and get out of here. It’s creepy as hell.”
I didn’t like it, but I gave her a tight nod. “Be careful.”
“I always am.” She moved toward the back of the store, her ponytail swaying behind her.
Walking in the other direction, I came to a section of the store with smaller display cases. I took a few more steps, when something slammed into my knees.
Shit. The monster knocked me off my feet, making a squawking sound, its claws clicking on the tiles.
I rolled and got my carbine up.
The damn thing had been hiding under some shelves. I fired at it, and it jumped, its bulbous back glowing. It knocked into a display case and some leftover pairs of sunglasses tumbled onto the floor. The case crashed down and hit my legs.
