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The screams of the crowd faded into the background. Dub’s chest tightened with fear, but he’d signed up for this when he put on the uniform. It’s what the badge meant, and he had to protect Rose Valley from this hairy agent of chaos. Having Cam at his side would not have gone unappreciated, though.
“Stop! Put your hands up or I’ll shoot!”
He had never fired his weapon at a person before, but then, this sinewy creature barely qualified as a person.
The football team retreated across the field, trying to put as much distance between them and the beast as possible. The cheerleaders tripped over themselves as they crowded into the stands. There were still too many people in the bleachers, standing like zombies, even though he was distracting the beast. They were paralyzed.
Or they were idiots.
The crowd had quietened a little now, but murmurs could still be heard, as some tried to verbalize what they were witnessing. At least everyone on the field had been smart enough to give him room, but now he felt vulnerable and alone, facing off one-on-one against a force that he couldn’t possibly hope to stop.
Marie’s voice pierced through the crowd noise. The fear in her screams broke his heart. He wanted to go to her, hug her, assure her that he would be fine, but this would not end easily. The standoff had begun.
“Stand down,” he shouted again. “Now!”
The beast paused briefly, and slowly turned towards him. Its eyes followed him, full of hunger and rage. Instantly Dub regretted the attention. Suddenly even his gun felt powerless.
The beast emitted a low growl. It moved towards him, as Dub shouted and warned and cussed, trying desperately to persuade it to disengage. His finger tensed on the trigger. He was the last line of defense between this... thing... this man? It had to be a man, right? Dammit. Where the hell was Cam? Dub needed backup.
He dropped one hand from his gun and glanced over the crowd. There was no way Cam would have run in a situation like this. Perhaps he hadn’t brought his sidearm. Though police frequently ignored the rule, the school purported to be a gun-free zone.
As he turned back to the beast, he realized that his focus had drifted for too long. The beast rushed towards him faster than he could react and latched on the hand holding the gun, sending a blinding pain up his arm. The metal of the gun dug deep into the palm of his hand, as it crushed into his skin. He gazed down his arm, trying to stay on his feet, his eyes transitioning from his wrist to the huge monstrous hand wrapped around his own. He struggled to break free, flexing his arm and bending his elbow, but that just led to more pain. There would be no escaping this grip.
The pain coursed through his arm and down his legs and he had no choice but slump to the ground. His shoulder wrenched as it struggled to support his weight. The beast squeezed harder. Dub’s fingers cracked as blood started seeping out of the beast’s fist, causing Dub’s vision to blur. He fought to stay conscious, trying to fight the feelings of hopelessness.
Marie’s screams jolted him back. He stared at the beast and tried to gain his footing; to push through the pain and get back on his feet. He needed to save Rose Valley. He needed to save Marie. He thought of the adoption papers they would submit soon. Of the baby that Marie had wanted for so long. He would not deny her that. The beast could go to hell.
He stood again, which caused the beast to double down on its grip, and Dub to scream in pain. He reeled back his good hand and punched the beast as hard as he could, but it stood firm. He imagined pain in his left hand now but couldn’t feel it through the agony of his mangled right hand. Though it had gained him no ground, Dub reared back and punched again, but the creature’s face barely moved from the blow.
A shot rang out. Then another. And another. The beast blinked, as if in surprise, and let go of Dub’s hand. Had Cam not scored any hits? Dub tried to stay standing but fell to his knees, using his good hand to support his weight. His gun dropped to the ground, crushed and useless. He tried to ignore the gushing blood.
Two more shots flew wildly past their target. Cam took a step towards the beast with every shot, each one causing the beast to retreat even as they appeared to miss. Cam passed Dub now and drove the creature back to the other end of the field, though the creature hadn’t weakened.
Dub felt warm hands embrace him. He could smell Marie’s perfume. He fell back into her arms and she struggled to keep him upright. He outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds, and he knew that her slight frame wouldn’t be able to support his weight. His strength sapped away, though, and he allowed himself to melt into her, struggling to keep his eyes open. He didn’t want to lose sight of the beast.
Almost impossibly through the crowd, Dub heard Macy Donner: “No, daddy! Run!”
Cam’s gun clicked in vain. If anyone else had a gun, none of them were brave enough to brandish it now, leaving Cam alone without a weapon. Cam holstered his and backed slowly towards Dub, unwilling to turn his back on the beast. He looked down for Dub’s gun, grunted and kicked at it. The action caused Dub to really look at the mangled remains of his hand. It didn’t resemble a hand at all anymore, only a bloody mass of meat and bones.
The beast growled again and sprinted toward Cam. The speed of its bounding gait exceeded that of any person.
Dub looked in Macy’s direction. Shandi held her tight, her face buried in her chest. Good.
Cam saw the beast coming in time to pull his gun back up. There were no more bullets, but he turned the gun around in his hand to use it as a club. Under the stadium lights, tensed for a fight, Cam looked heroic and powerful.
Yet it was obvious Cam stood no chance.
When it seemed Cam would be imminently ripped limb from limb, the creature stopped only a few feet from him, and stopped impossibly quickly, with little to no inertia. Cam stepped back.
The beast glanced skyward. If it were a dog, Dub would have said that it smelled something it didn’t like. It let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the stadium, then ran off in the opposite direction. The beast kept running until it disappeared from view.
Silence filled the stadium. Cam remained tense. Adrenaline continued surging through Dub’s body, his consciousness pulsing in and out.
Before passing out, Dub saw Cam nod toward Macy. Dub recognized the sentiment, the defiance in Cam’s face. A father’s desire to show his baby that fear could not triumph in Rose Valley.
Yet fear was all Dub felt as darkness overcame him.
