At first Dean thought the monkeys were humpbacked. A moment later he saw that the abnormality on the creatures’ backs was folded wings.
Louis stepped forward, dropping his rifle into position. “Monkeys or not, fuckers might be dangerous. Wouldn’t put it past the people running this show to infect them with rabies.” He burned a blast a couple feet in front of the advancing wave of monkeys.
Instead of retreating or coming to a stop, the monkeys instantly went on the attack. Some of them leaped into the air like ungainly birds, the wings flapping hard enough to crack the air.
“Shit!” Moxen cried out, “Chill them!” His weapon was already up and firing.
Dean joined in, trying to pick his targets to make sure of the kill. The monkeys were too densely packed to miss, but a wound would probably serve only to make them angrier than they obviously were.
The attempt to hold the line was over in seconds. The monkeys came on too fiercely, none of them appearing to be frightened by the gunfire exploding around them.
Dean backed away, the Browning’s slide blowing back empty. He changed magazines, ducking under the gliding attack of one of the creatures. The fierce jaws snapped closed only inches from his left eye, hot drool splashing against his cheek.
“Run!” Louis yelled. “Break off and try to find a place to hole up!”
Slamming the fresh magazine home, Dean fought his way free of the clutches of three monkeys who’d seized his legs. To his right he saw Moxen go down under at least a half-dozen of them. Moxen screamed shrilly.
Dean started forward, wondering how he was going to help the other boy.
Abruptly Moxen stopped screaming. His body quivered, then relaxed. When it started to move again, it was due to the monkeys piled on top of him stripping the flesh from his bones in bloody gobbets.
Dean turned and ran, finding he was nearly the last of them to move out.
The monkeys continued to scream shrilly and raced after them, at a disadvantage because of their shorter legs. But the disadvantage wasn’t much.
“Outside!” Handley yelled ahead of Dean. “We’d stand a better chance outside, Louis!”
“No way!” the youth called back. “We get outside in the open, these bastards would chew us to bits in no time!”
Without warning, something clipped Dean’s shoulder and nearly toppled him from his feet. He managed to maintain his balance and watched in horror as a group of the winged monkeys flew into the boys.
Four of them landed on Handley, knocking the boy forward and to the ground, blood covering his features immediately. The monkeys clawed his back and buttocks, tearing through the clothing to get at his flesh.
“No!” Dean cried out hoarsely. He turned and brought up his blaster, so scared he had to fight to stay alive, fight to keep moving.
“Forget him!” Louis ordered, suddenly coming up hard against Dean. His momentum was enough to propel them both into a hallway splitting off the main corridor. “This hallway’s smaller!” Louis helped Dean stay on his feet, kept him moving. “Mebbe we can cut down the number that come at us!”
More boys screamed out in the main corridor. Dean couldn’t even recognize the voices. He got himself organized and started to match Louis’s pace, not wanting to slow the boy and get them both chilled.
The hallway ended abruptly. Dean stared at the wooden door ahead of them. The plaque, its white letters barely visible against the black in the shadows, read Gentlemen.
“Bathroom,” Dean said.
“Go through it,” Louis ordered, looking over his shoulder. “We got no choice.”
Looking back, Dean saw the monkeys approaching them, some of the mutie animals unfurling their wings to launch into a glide. He fumbled for the door and got it open. Louis followed him inside.
The only light falling into the room came from the weak illumination reflected from the hallway. Once Louis shut and bolted the door, even that went away.
Dean heard the monkeys’ claws scratching against the door. The sound grew steadily louder, coming quicker and quicker.
“WE’VE GOT INTRUDERS inside the pit,” Wallis Thoroughgood said as soon as he entered the room.