Chapter 97: Use Your Fist

“You’re lucky I saw its shadow on the wall early,” Prince said, dropping the stone and breathing heavily.

Leon’s anger vanished and was replaced by a cold wash of shame while he kept his gaze locked on the ichor splayed at the side of the smashed claw.

Before he could form a word, the comms unit flared to life again after twitching for a while.

Mr. Lee’s hologram appeared, shattering the lingering dread. “New Objective,” it glitched, then stabilized.

“A critical supply drop for forward operation is scheduled. The only viable landing zone is Pass Sigma-Nine.”

’Pass Sigma-Nine, what place is that?’ Leon thought as he turned a sharp gaze at Lieutenant Prince, then back at the hologram.

“Satellite scans indicate it is currently occupied by a Howler nest. You have six hours to clear the zone to secure the drop. The coordinates have been transmitted to your wristbands.”

The hologram vanished, leaving the new coordinates burning on their wristbands and the echo of the unspoken words hanging in the air: Failure is not an option.

’Maybe this will be straightforward.’ Leon’s expression shifted from weary to focused as he stared at the coordinates glowing on his wristband.

As they stepped out of the bunker, a wet, clinging air slammed into them and soaked through their suits.

Lieutenant Prince inhaled it deeply, as if it were a favorable perfume, then broke into a sprint without a word. His form quickly turned into a dark blur against the gray rock.

Leon groaned inwardly and pushed forward, his boots slipping slightly on the damp stone.

After every ten minutes, Leon’s lungs burned, forcing him to stop. He bent over, his hands on his knees, and gasped for air before shoving himself forward again.

The landscape remained like a nightmare of jagged rock and deep fissures.

By the time they reached the mouth of Pass Sigma-Nine, the very air turned hostile. A subsonic hum vibrated up from the ground, through the soles of his boots, and into his bones, making his teeth ache.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

A loud roar echoed as the first Howler emerged.

It peeled itself from a shadowed crevice. The howler was a grotesque parody bat whose size was like that of a large dog. Its rubbery wings were fused to a bloated, pulsating sac that took up most of its torso.

The sac glowed with a sickly internal light that dissolved the world when it opened its maw.

A wave of concussive force hit Leon like a physical blow that caused his vision to fracture into double images.

He stumbled sideways, boots scraping for purchase. He clutched his head, fingers digging into his temples.

Leon’s foot kicked a loose stone forward. The stone streaked past the creature, crashed against the canyon wall, and created a shower of sparks.

“STOP!”

Lieutenant Prince screamed when he saw the howler’s vocal sac glowing and pulsing. He raised one arm and cut the air in a swift downward arc.

The Howler’s scream choked into a gurgling silence. It spasmed violently, its wings flapping uselessly, and then crashed to the canyon floor, twitching.

“Control your actions!” Prince snapped. “They are converters, not targets for brute force!”

There, more howlers stirred. At first, it was a dozen, then hundreds, then thousands peeled out of the blasted rock.

Their vocal sacs glowed like malevolent lanterns. The collective subsonic hum rose to a deafening roar as they descended.

Leon’s heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird.

Lieutenant Prince threw precise strikes against the swarm. Leon stood there, panic flooding him and making him feel useless.

When the faces of his mother, his sisters, Zoe, Mr. Lee, and his final message, and the words he saw in the black book: Use your fist struck his mind, he lowered his gaze to his fists.

He closed his eyes, picturing himself training with his father when he was little.

“Watch out!” Prince shouted as a howler dove for him. Even as the warning cut through the air, Leon remained still, eyes shut.

The beast threw its claws at Leon’s head. The moment the claw reached Leon, he clenched his knuckles and slammed his fist into the beast’s shoulder with a brutal punch.

CRUNCH.

A shockwave traveled through his fist and into the beast’s body. The howler’s vocal sac ruptured violently and collapsed in on itself with a wet final gasp.

The creature fell silent and was broken instantly. Leon weaved through the chaotic screams like a whirlwind of controlled violence.

Each punch he threw was a precise, concussive detonation that ruptured the howler’s vocal sacs without a hint of wasted energy.

Lieutenant Prince, who had been preparing to create a wide-area destruction, paused. His head tilted in analytical surprise as he watched Leon’s brutal movements.

As the last howler fell from the sky, a heavy, ringing silence descended upon the canyon.

Leon stood there panting, his knuckles smeared with ichor, and his body thrumming from exhausted depletion.

The distant hum of the automated supply drone above grew louder as it flew through the now-clear pass. As they watched the supply drone, a soft chime from their wristbands confirmed their success.

[OBJECTIVE: CLEAR CANYON PASS – COMPLETED]

[RATION CREDITS: +50]

Leon let out a breath he had held tightly. ’Fifty credits.’ He became so excited as his mind flashed a picture of his mother and sister.

Then he caught sight of the last howler, which had been wounded and half-crushed under a fallen rock, its vocal sac deflated.

Leon grabbed a stone and threw it at the creature. A wave shot past the twitching howler, striking the unstable cliff face directly above the creature’s body.

For a fleeting second, nothing happened. Then a deep, groaning crack echoed through the canyon, louder than any howler’s scream.

A web of fractures spiderwebbed across the rock face with terrifying speed.

Lieutenant Prince’s head snapped up from checking his wristband. His eyes widened as his clinical composure shattered into alarm.

He froze, staring at the crumbling wall of stone now poised directly above them.

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