“No,” Fitz said. Team Ghost had enough firepower to get out of here, but not without taking casualties. It would require trusting the beast. If he fought it and won, then they would all get out of here alive. If he didn’t accept the challenge, and fought with his team, then several members of Ghost would die. He couldn’t let that happen.
“If I go down, you fight,” Fitz whispered. He reached out toward Tanaka. “Give me your Katana.”
“Sir…”
“That’s an order,” Fitz said as he set his rifles on the ground.
Tanaka unsheathed the blade and reluctantly handed it to Fitz.
The beast’s grin widened, and it twirled the spear and took a step backward. It motioned for the creatures on the balcony to lower their weapons, and Fitz nodded at his team to do the same.
Taking another step, Fitz gripped the Katana in both hands. It felt light, but he knew the blade could cut through Juvenile armor. He had seen Tanaka do it back in France.
“Be careful, Fitzie,” Rico whispered.
“Good luck, sir,” Tanaka said.
Dohi let out a grunt and then said, “Kill this bastard.”
Fitz took a deep breath, doing his best to suppress his fear. He was used to fighting with his rifle, not a sword, but with the lives of his team on the line, he had no other choice.
All it takes is all you got!
With the blade out in front, Fitz lunged at the beast. The creature parried the attack with its shield, deflecting the sword. Then it swung the spear at Fitz, the shaft smacking him in the shoulder before he could duck. He screamed out in pain, the stiches in his shoulder tearing.
Stumbling backward, Fitz regained his balance and then swung the blade wide. This time the tip sliced the creature in the leg. It roared in pain, and went down on one knee. Fitz raised the blade above his head, bringing it down as hard as he could like a hammer.
The creature lifted the shield and once again deflected the sword. The clank echoed through the room. That got the monsters above excited.
Animalistic panting sounded from the balcony above as Fitz stumbled backward again, his fingers numb from the vibration. The Juvenile torso was strong, but the Katana blade was stronger. It had chipped a groove into the shield.
The beast pushed to its feet and twirled the shaft above its head, blood dripping from the slash in its thigh. In a quick movement it swiped at Fitz, but this time he ducked beneath the spear. He went down on one knee and lunged with his sword again, striking the monster in the armpit.
He yanked the blade out, a guttural scream reverberating through the room. Fitz struck the shaft of the spear, splintering the wood as the beast struck him in the face with the shield.
Pain lanced up his nose and stars broke across his vision. He slashed with his blade to keep the creature back while he blinked away the fuzz. Bringing a hand up to his face, he felt the warm sticky blood pouring from his nose. It was broken, no doubt about that.
Something hard hit him hard in the chest a moment later, and he crashed to the ground, gasping for air. He blinked again and saw the creature toss the shield away. It used its knee to break through the middle of the spear like a toothpick. Holding the two pieces in each hand, it strode toward Fitz.
“Get up, Fitz!” Rico shouted.
“Come on, sir!” Tanaka said.
Grunting and shouts sounded from the balcony.
Fitz winced and pushed himself up. He sliced through the air with the sword as soon as he was on both of his blades. The sword hit one of the shafts, sticking into the wood, but the beast used the other to smack Fitz in his helmet. The rattle shook his brain, and he backed up, blinking away another flurry of stars and fuzz.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” the creature said. It let out a bellowing laugh. In that moment everything froze, and although Fitz couldn’t see he could hear the creature preparing to strike.
Blind and desperate, Fitz ducked just as the blade whooshed above his head. Then, with all of his strength, he lunged. The blade cracked through armor, and then sunk into flesh.
Warm liquid peppered his arms, and a scream so loud it hurt his ears followed.
Part human, part monster.
Blinking rapidly, Fitz’s vision finally cleared. He had impaled the beast right through the heart.
The other creatures and Team Ghost fell into silence.
Nothing stirred in the massive room.
Fitz winced again, the blood rushing in his ears. He stood and pulled the sword from the beast’s chest, a crunching sound echoing. The hybrid man dropped to both armored knees, staring at Fitz with one monster eye and one human. A grin still on its face, the creature crashed to the ground. Blood pooled around the body, spreading toward Fitz’s blades. He took a step back and glanced up at the monsters on the balcony.
They continued to glare at their fallen leader as if they expected him to get back up. Rico, Tanaka, and Dohi waited with their weapons at the ready.
A tense moment passed that was shattered by the squawk from a frail female. She let out a pained roar at the team.
Had this creature been the mate of the beast Fitz had killed?
Team Ghost gripped their weapons, ready to raise them and open fire, but Fitz ordered them to stand down as the beasts slowly withdrew through the open doorways, disappearing into the ancient Nazi facility.
“Holy shit, sir,” Rico said. “Are you okay?” She lowered her gun and ran over to Fitz with Apollo trotting along.
“I… I think so,” Fitz said. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he crouched. “Hurry, get Stevenson and those other men down.”
Keep your head above your heart, man. Don’t…
Fitz closed his eyes and felt the second rush of blood in his ears. His skull pounded like someone was hitting him with a hammer.
He was going to crash. He couldn’t get enough air, and his vision was failing.
Something warm brushed his right hand.
Apollo glanced up, his amber eyes stricken with worry.
“Fitzie!” Rico exclaimed as he collapsed. He fell on his stomach; his arms limp at his sides. He tried to talk, tried to move, but he couldn’t fight the darkness. The last thing he saw was the listless yellow slitted and blue eye of the monster he had killed staring back at him.
Fitz woke up on a vibrating floor. His brain felt like applesauce sloshing inside his skull. Ringing echoed in his ears, but there was another noise beyond that, some sort of chopping. And voices. He could hear faint voices.
He struggled to move, wiggling his fingers first, and then his hands. The shades of red and orange framing his vision slowly retreated. All at once, the ringing stopped like the final suck of a vacuum and he heard a soft voice.
“Fitzie. Fitzie, you’re back.”
He put his hand on his head, but where his helmet should have been he felt soft padding.
“Where am I?”
The whoosh-whoosh of helicopter blades answered his question.
The bright colors vanished, and in their place, he saw a dead face. Everything came crashing back, and he remembered the beast back at the facility.
But this was no monster.
It was Mapes. His eyelids were closed, and the ice on his five o’clock shadow was already melting. Team Ghost had retrieved his body. Fitz had kept his promise to the man after all.
A few feet behind Mapes lay Stevenson. Dohi and Tanaka hovered over him and applied bandages to wounds that Fitz couldn’t see. Two other bodies, both covered by white sheets were resting near the open door.
“Hang on, Ghost,” said Tito over the comms. “I’m getting you the hell out of this frozen shit hole!”
Fitz struggled to sit, but Rico pushed back on his chest. Apollo wedged up to his side, resting his head on Fitz’s vest.