“Binky spoke to me.”
“He what?”
“He spoke to me.”
“What did he say?”
Warner did a quick impression of how the creature at pointed at him. “You. Next.” He lowered his arm. “A bit like ET. Only with teeth.” Warner sniffed. “That kinda surprised me, sir.”
Colby nodded. “It kinda surprises me too, Terry.” Colby scowled. “Right now, I’m not intending to debate with the bugger, just kill it. Shall we?” He pointed at the open door, and Warner nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
The two men jogged out of the room and into the corridor, Colby leading with the Glock 17 held straight out, and Warner bringing up the rear…
“I have never been so damn happy to see your ugly face, Micky! And Gary. Good-o. Where’s Dan and Sean?” Colby hopped down the last two steps and into the open space of the stairwell. Warner followed and stood quietly, waiting to be introduced to the legends that were Alpha Unit.
“Covering the exits with Bravo team. Good to see your flabby arse in one piece too, boss.” Micky grinned and clapped his friend on the shoulder.
Colby jerked a thumb back at his silent partner. “Mick, this is Terry Warner. Give him a gun. A big, honking gun with a shit-load of ammo. He’s coming with. And he gets first shot at Binky, okay?”
“Oh, so now you’re calling him Binky?”
Gary Parks, a huge, hulking, ebony-skinned man with a passion for killing Taints and blowing things up, frowned. “Who’s Binky?”
“The Taint.” Colby shook his head and pointed at Micky Cox. “Mate, don’t ask me. Ask that daft bastard.”
Gary grinned. “Hey, you can call it whatever the hell you want. All I know is we’ve got a live one. The guv’nor is scanning the CCTV from the control room. If she picks anything up, she’ll shout.” He handed Warner an adapted C8 carbine. “Live jackets. Make ‘em count.” He put a huge hand on the lad’s shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look. “Sorry about your oppo, mate”
“Thanks. And it’s a real honour to meet you, sir.” Warner slung the C8 over his shoulder and held out a hand. Gary Parks gave him a firm, brief handshake and then grinned again.
“Save the fanboy stuff for later, kiddo.” He looked at Colby. “Boss?”
“Hold up.” He pressed his radio. “Yol, we’re ready. Anything?”
“Movement on level two. Looks like it’s making for the central stairwell and the main exit. No other heat signatures, so you’re right, you’ve got a solo.”
“Copy that.” Colby turned back to Mick and Gary. “Okay lads, let’s tag-team this one. He’s just eaten,” Colby threw an apologetic look at Warner and then immediately carried on, “Sorry, fella — so he’ll be slow. These second-gen Taints have a metabolism issue, so after feeding they slow down for about half an hour.”
“I’m like that after a NAFFI steak and kidney pie. Takes me a good hour to digest it.” Micky sniffed.
“Mick, for Christ’s sake, show a bit of respect!” Colby smacked Micky around the ear. “Oh, and one other thing. Apparently, this one can talk.”
“You’re shitting me!” Gary raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
“According to Warner here, yep.”
“Okay then. Let’s see if we can get the fucker to say ‘please don’t shoot me in the face’ before you blow it to pieces, how about that?”
“Sounds good to me.” Warner nodded and then looked to Colby for orders. “Sir?”
Colby grinned. “Lead on, Warner. You’re on point. Gary, bring up the rear. Eyes on.”
The four men threaded their way out of the stairwell and into the main corridor that ran from the North Wing to the central section of the house. Warner knew that he had three of the best Taint hunters in the country behind him. And that made him feel a whole lot better about his chances of surviving his first live hunt.
Terry Warner held up a fist and the four-man team stopped dead. He turned back to Colby, pointed at his eyes and then flicked his fingers forward. He then held the flat of his hand back at Flynn, and Colby — grim-faced and serious for a change — nodded and adjusted the grip on the Glock.
Alone, but knowing the team were just inches behind him and ready to back him up if things got serious, Warner stalked into the centre of the main entrance hall. To his right a grand staircase flowed up towards a landing, where it split into two. Carved balustrades that once formed the perfect backdrop to the grand entrances of debutantes in swirling taffeta dresses now stood peeling and battered by time. Through the huge glass windows the moonlight shone in, turning the whole world into a monochrome checkerboard of stark black shadows and illuminated silver-grey patches.
Warner stood in the middle of the house’s once-grand entrance hall and scanned the shadows. He rotated three-sixty degrees, the C8 pushed hard into his shoulder and the safety most definitely off this time. His finger lay alongside the trigger housing, ready to slide effortlessly onto the curved steel and squeeze as soon as he saw Binky’s snarling face. He stared along the barrel and muttered. “C’mon, c’mon, where are you, you ugly bastard?” He sang softly, “Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
A voice called out softly and Warner glanced back at the team. “Stairs!” Colby pointed up to the staircase’s landing.
Bathed in moonlight and looking like a ghastly silver wraith, the Taint slowly raised its head and stared straight at Warner. On either side the stairs curled gracefully away into black shadows. But the landing, which faced the huge windows of the entrance, was drenched in a soft, silvery glow. The Taint gave Warner that poisonous, vicious smile once again and raised a sinewy arm. A single talon pointed straight at Warner and the Taint hissed. “You. Die. Now.”
“Oh, ya think, motherfucker?” Warner smiled back. It wasn’t a nice smile. Visions of his friend’s violated body crashed into his mind and he felt that white-hot anger boiling back up again. Focus. Use the anger. Focus… He aimed the snout of the C8 straight at the creature, which let out a gurgling, rasping laugh.
“Broken!” It pointed at the gun. “You. Die. Now.”
The Taint let out a howl and leapt, clearing the stairs in one bound and hitting the slippery, black and white floor at a flat run. It hurtled towards Warner, a murderous look on its face and venom-laden talons outstretched.
“Boss!” Gary and Micky threw Colby frantic looks. “Col, the kid’s a candidate! He’s not trained for this!”
“Wait out. This one’s his.” Colby watched, but the Glock was trained on the Taint, just in case. He wanted Warner to take this bastard down, but if the damn thing got too close…
In the centre of the hallway, Warner held his ground, legs slightly apart and knees bent. He watched the Taint get closer… closer… closer…
Warner slid his index finger into the curl of the trigger. “Broken, huh? Well, guess what, arsehole? Wrong gun!”
The C8 let out two shouts as Warner squeezed the trigger twice for a double tap. Both bullets, laden with organophosphur, slammed into the Taint’s chest, sending it flying backwards, its grotesquely muscled arms flung outwards and its head back. The mouth was still open and the damn thing was still screaming blue bloody murder.
Warner slowly lowered the C8 and watched the fireworks, his mouth set in a grim smirk.
The Taint hit the bottom stair and spasmed. The organophosphur sent spiders of fire crawling up underneath his skin, a vivid gold that looked even brighter in the muted, silver half-light of the hallway. The Taint squirmed and thrashed as the liquid fire reached its neck and face. Its back arched so hard that the creature’s heels almost touched the back of its head. It writhed and thrashed in agony as its skin started to bubble. Finally, the spiders-web of fire underneath its skin filled every vein and artery, and it went into a violent, bone-breaking, heel-drumming fit. With a last ear-splitting howl, the creature exploded. Grey ash filled the hallway, coating every surface with a thick blanket of dust.