Page 14 of The General's Captive
Brad’s voice called over the radio after thirty seconds.
“I’m in stores but can’t find the Goat Bombs. Over.”
I groaned as I pulled my radio off the clip, pushed the button, and with as much patience as I could muster, said, “They literally say ‘Goat’ on them, dumbass. Over.”
I grabbed the weapon I needed and sprinted out of the dorm, making my way to the south wall. Soldiers and trained civilians circled the Chimera, fighting against it. If I hadn’t known, for a fact, that I had killed that one in the store, I would swear this was the exact same one. It looked identical, even down to the swirling blackness, the crimson eyes, and the smell of decay I had tried my best to ignore last time.
The soldiers fired their guns, but of course, the bullets had no effect. In fact, they hardly ever did, at least not on Myths this big and strong. I hadn’t known at the time, but it turned out they were pretty high on the ‘shit, that’s hard to kill’ list.
Fun fact… one of the reasons I had been welcomed into the base was thanks to my kill list. Something I had proved was useful, time and time again.
A hard voice from Jacob, who was on the other side of the circle, called out to cease fire. Ammo was precious and not something to be wasted. Though with the amount of bullet shells littering the floor, it seemed the officer in charge of the kill had hoped that, eventually, a bullet would do some damage. When in reality, all it would do was slow it down.
Maybe, after this, people would actually start listening to me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t given lessons on this shit, and I thought the fact that we were using a school would have helped.
Because the base wasn’t military or anything, we just called it that because we had turned it into one. And most of our actual soldiers were either those that had been accidently left behind, those who refused to leave people and decided to stay and help, or those that had left the forces for one reason or another but were back to putting those skills to good use.
The actual soldiers all wore complete army uniforms, while the trained civilians, who also held guns, wore camouflage pants and black shirts. All new civilians wore their own clothes, and those who were still going through training were given plain black cargo pants and black shirts. Helpful when coming across looted gun shops, only to find the clothing was always the stuff left behind. Although yes, the guns and ammo would have been significantly more helpful. Bullets might not work against a class three, but they could put down the easier to kill target of a class five. Or if we had enough fire power, even a class four.
Because that was how we ranked the Myths. For example, the Gryphon who had killed my uncle that day, that was a class two. As for the General, no surprises, he was considered as a class one. Because there were plenty who had tried to take him down, but there didn’t seem to be a weapon out there thatcould accomplish the task. And once it got out that he was commanding the Myths, then it was believed that if we killed him, then that would be the war won.
As for those that tried…
They were never seen again.
Hatred burned brighter in me, and I gritted my teeth as I thought about him again. Then when I was done chastising myself, I got my head out my ass and back in the fight. Which meant the second I saw a new civilian also fighting the beast, my stomach dropped.
“Hey, civilian! What the hell do you think you are doing!?!” I shouted out as I joined the circle. “Get your ass to safety. You are going to get yourself killed!” I added, trying to reach him.
“I can fight it!” the civilian called back.
Jesus Christ, he still looked like a kid! A skinny teenager who’d probably had a rough time getting to the base, so malnutrition was most likely the cause, because he looked way too thin. But as if to prove himself, he ran toward the Chimera, machete in hand.
“No!” I bellowed, sprinting toward the beast as it swiped angrily at the kid, barely missing him. The goat bleated and opened its mouth wide, fire burning within it. From my peripheral, I could see Brad heading toward me from the storeroom, an array of items in his hand.
“I’m not sure which is the Goat Bomb!” he shouted over the roar as the Chimera took another swipe at the kid.
I growled in frustration.
“It says fucking goat on it, for fuck sake! Can’t you read? G. O. A. T!” I shouted back as I ran toward the civilian and away from Brad, pushing the young man out of the way just in time. The ground muffling his cry as he landed hard.
The goat raised its head, ready to breathe out the fire that had been building up inside of it. It would have a devastatingeffect, but everyone was ready for it, leaping out of the way before they were burnt to a crisp.
“Alex, watch out!” Brad shouted, and I turned to see him hurl what I hoped to be a Goat Bomb at the Chimera as it began to inhale again, flame brightening inside.
My heart sank further as the bomb fell short, rolling back toward us. The skinny teen grabbed it and went to throw the bomb, once more trying to prove himself. Any other time, I might have been impressed with his bravery. But right now, I was just pissed that, once again, he was putting himself in danger.
The lion swiped at him, causing him to drop the bomb in panic, and I ran over, picking it up to launch it at the Chimera. This time, it hit its target and exploded. The sound of the goat choking on the air before sneezing was a welcomed sound. And as expected, the chemical smell filled the air.
Both of its counterparts turned their heads to look at the goat just like when I had encountered one in the general store. I called back to Brad to throw more goat bombs, and as they landed, they thankfully hit their mark, making the goat sneeze uncontrollably. The lion and snake panicked further, which was what I had been waiting for, because it caused the distraction that we needed.
The second I saw the goat head flopping down to take a nap, I picked up my secret weapon and ran straight up to the Chimera. I barely took note of all the shocked faces from the other soldiers who looked on in awe, no doubt expecting me to be a goner after this.
No one sane would purposely get this close to a class three Myth.
I waited for the lion to open its mouth to roar in my face, readying itself to bite into me… Not that I would give it the chance, because as soon as it moved, I rammed the nozzle of thefire extinguisher into its mouth. Then I squeezed the handle and released the foam straight down its throat, the shock paralyzing it almost instantly.
The goat and snake were pretty much useless at this point, and all the snake could do was watch as the lion choked on the foam. The goat still uselessly unconscious. It then let out a quiet whimper before the body just gave up and landed with a thud on the ground.
