Wisely, each decided to eat a handblaster before going into chains. They knew what happened to slaves during the dark and lonely nights.
“Death before dishonor,” the tall private muttered loudly, the words muffled through his heavy mask.
The loose ends of his wrappings lashing madly about, the corporal turned. “Huh? What was that?”
“Something my maw used to say every time she got ganged by the baron and his sons! Don’t know ‘xactly what it means, but she put a lot of stock in it as a curse!”
“Crap!” Tucholka yawned. “Rape is all sluts are good for! That, and cooking!”
The tall private bobbed his head. “My maw couldn’t cook worth shit!”
“Which is why she got rode so much! See?”
“You’re pretty smart, sir!” the second private said.
“Ain’t a sergeant for nothing!”
Suddenly, a figure rose amid the barbed wire of the gap and grabbed the nearest sec man by the chest, the taloned fingers cutting deep into the cloth, ripping away a fistful of flesh through the encrusted rags. Blood gushed from the hideous wound, and the lifeless sergeant fell as the figure stuffed the still beating heart into its drooling mouth.
“Rad me! Muties!” the tall private screamed, firing his blaster.
Surging into action, the others cut loose with their Kalashnikovs, but the stuttering weapons got off only four or five rounds before jamming. The huge invader staggered from the impact of the 7.62 mm rounds, but didn’t drop.
As they frantically struggled to clear the jams, the wind slowed for a second and the sec men got a clear glimpse of the mutie giant fangs protruded from a grotesque face with one nostril and three bulging eyes. Twice the size of a norm, its whole body was covered with mottled skin, and long claws sprouted from the knuckles of stubby hands.
Swinging his blaster like a club, the short private charged the mutie. It blocked the attack easily and grabbed him by the face, its claws sinking into the wrapping and ripping off most of his skin. Shrilly screaming, the man stood transfixed, naked eyeballs staring from a visage of raw flesh and bare teeth.
As the mutie wasted moments consuming the dripping gobbet, the other guards slashed the ropes holding them in place. Even as the dying private collapsed, the creature charged the remaining sec men and they desperately dived out of the way. The mutie slammed hard into the tank, its claws raising sparks as they raked along the predark armor.
Struggling with his longblaster, the tall private got off another shot, and the mutie screamed as fingers exploded off its hand. Hooting in pain, it kicked out a clawed foot. Backing up, the corporal cursed as the wrappings were ripped away, exposing his bare chest with three thin lines across his flesh oozing droplets of blood. Death had missed by the thickness of a shirt.
“Ass sucker!” he shouted, and insanely charged, slamming the butt of his rifle into the thing’s misshapen face. The wooden stock cracked from the force of the blow, fangs and yellow blood spraying into the storm.
The remaining private ducked low and slashed at its belly, but only scored a deep cut in the mutie’s hip. The creature stabbed for his throat, and he raised the rifle to block. The weapon was knocked from his grip by the powerful blow, and the corporal stabbed the creature in the back of the neck from behind. Instantly, the being tried to turn, but was barely able to move with its spinal column damaged.
The corporal roared in anger and twisted the knife hard.
The mutie jerked wildly as if being hit with bullets from a dozen different directions. A chance blow from a flailing arm took the corporal across the face, and there was a crunch as his nose shattered. Blood began to spread across the cloth wound around his head.
“Son of a bitch!” he mumbled, and shoved the knife in deeper, then jerked it loose to plunge it in again and again. “Dirty filthy mutie bastard!”
Shouting obscenities, the sec man slashed the creature across the belly, then upward. Writhing entrails slithered into view. As the dying creature fell to the ground, it weakly snapped at the nearest man, almost biting him in the groin.