Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📕

was still an army at the gates, one that Summers had no doubt would take full advantage of the chaos this thing had sowed. They couldn’t run. Not really.

Too many in the city had trusted them. Even if Rhodes had forced them into this, they’d seen how the people looked at them. They really thought they were their saviors. Maybe it was just their own desperation, but he wasn’t enough of an asshole to leave them to their fate.

Summers glanced to his side, receiving a nod from the others.

“Let us help you find it.”

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Summers moved through the streets, trying his best to follow the creature’s scent.

It wasn’t hard. Whatever it was, it had left destruction in its wake. The problem was that it was much, much faster than them. The damn thing could have left the city, for all they knew.

Nisha spoke to a guard at her side, and he split off from the group, heading toward the wall.

“I’m sending for more,” Nisha explained. “But we can’t leave the wall undefended.”

“Where are we?” Logan asked.

“Warehouse district.” Nisha glanced at the towering buildings that lined the street. “Can you sense it?”

Summers slowed for a moment, taking in the air. He could still smell the creature, but it was almost masked now.

Something was rotting. Summers wrinkled his nose at the smell. A lot of somethings. Then it occurred to him.

“Nisha, how do you handle your dead?”

Before the woman could answer, they came upon it: a mass grave, one made for the refugees and soldiers who had died during the attack.

It was black, the entire mound of rotting flesh shifting, squirming as if it were one beating heart.

“Oh, fuck,” Nisha blurted.

A thin, black arm shot out from the pile of corpses, grabbing a guard by the head and sucking him into the mound of flesh.

They ran.

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Commander Haldor was a decorated veteran of several campaigns. He was a man who had traveled the world, and he thought he’d seen everything.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The men around him screamed in fear, abandoning their posts and running as if their lives depended on it.

In all likelihood, they did.

His invasion of the city had been something of a masterstroke on his part. They had marched through the Northern Tribe’s territory with hardly any resistance. And now, his army was in shambles. In a single fight, they’d lost so, so many.

Men were posted on the city walls with strange weapons, killing with impunity. But his men were disciplined—moreover, they were hungry. This city was the promise of a lifetime of riches. They did not break.

They’d seen monsters, a man of myth that tore through soldiers as if they were toys.

Still they held. Haldor was content in the knowledge that the city could be starved out. And though his men didn’t look forward to a lengthy siege, more than a few burned with the dishonor that came from the deaths of their friends and loved ones.

That was before they saw what loomed over the city.

His subcommanders tried to shout orders as more fled for the road behind them. They were ignored; he could see one man attempting to stop his men at spear point. He was killed a moment later.

The camp was in disarray.

The blackened creature towered over the city’s walls. Simply looking at it stirred a primal fear in him.

This land was cursed. He knew that now.

This entire campaign was a mistake.

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“How in the fuck are we supposed to kill that?” Summers yelled as the group ran. Summers scooped Asle over his shoulder. She’d refused to stay behind, and Summers mentally noted that he’d need to have a conversation with her about knowing your own limits.

The creature stood behind them, an amalgamation of thousands of bodies.

“Aim for the legs!” Nowak snapped. The group unloaded their guns. It didn’t seem affected until Cortez got the bright idea to use a grenade.

On the detonation, the creature fell to the ground. Arms shot out, scrabbling for purchase. More than a few guards were crushed, then dragged into its body as hands as large as their torsos tightened around them.

A building Summers dearly hoped was deserted flattened under the massive creature’s weight. It crawled now, pursuing them through the city’s alleys.

They’d only managed to get some distance because of its size. It was too big. The city itself made it difficult for the creature to move. But it didn’t slow it as much as Summers would have liked. He watched as its foot slammed through the roof of a warehouse, only for it to scramble forward, a mouth the size of a small home screaming in sheer fury.

The guards had scattered, yet somehow, it stayed laser-focused on their group. Whether that was luck, or it held some sort of grudge, Summers hadn’t a clue.

Cortez looked over to Nisha. “How far is the market?”

“What?” Nisha looked at Cortez in confusion.

“Where is it?”

“It’s . . . it’s close.” Nisha panted as they ran.

“Oh, fuck me.” Summers glanced over to Nisha, suddenly understanding what Cortez had planned. “Is it empty?”

“Of course!” Nisha answered.

“Good. Because it’s going to be a crater when we’re done.”

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Summers threw open the door to the building that housed the city’s supply of black powder.

“What’s your plan?” Summers looked to Cortez. The room was full of barrels. More than enough to blow them and a good chunk of the city into orbit.

Cortez grabbed the nearest barrel, dumping its contents on the ground while looking to Nisha. “We’re going to need somewhere to take cover. If you have any suggestions, now’s the fucking time.”

Nisha was almost entranced, but managed to answer. “There’s a canal nearby. Would that work?”

“How near?” Cortez looked at