Apocalyptic pirates 4, p.7
Apocalyptic Pirates 4, page 7
Its head snapped up as it smelled me.
I froze.
The dragon lifted its upper lip to reveal rows of curved, ugly fangs. It hissed, and its tail beat even louder against the cockpit.
“Okay,” I murmured as I quietly raised the rifle to my shoulder. “Keep still now…”
The dragon lunged forward.
I staggered back and almost fell down the hatch steps. I collided with Shannon and nearly sent her flying, but we both grabbed hold of the ladder and righted ourselves.
There was a furious bellow from the deck, and Shannon and I slammed the hatch door closed again.
In the silence that followed, the only sound was my own ragged breathing, and above that, the terrible snorting sound of the dragon sniffing at the outside of the hatch door.
I pressed my finger to my lips to indicate to everybody that we needed to stay quiet.
“Babies?” Shannon mouthed.
I shook my head and pulled my hands apart with my eyebrows raised to give an idea how huge the fucking thing on deck was.
Shannon went to the storage closet on the other side of the lounge where we were keeping the weapons and carefully opened the door. As quietly as possible, she handed out rifles and spare magazines to all of us.
Ray shook his head and patted the huge Bowie knife at his belt.
The yacht rocked as the dragon’s bulk moved across the boat. There was another thwack of its tail hitting the cockpit.
Then the dragon let out a weird, high-pitched cry that wasn’t like any of the other noises we’d heard the creatures make so far. It was an eerie wail, and it seemed to echo all around us as though it was on a frequency that could only be heard inside a person’s head.
I didn’t have too much time to wonder what that could mean, because just then, the yacht groaned, and then the left side suddenly dipped under the dragon’s weight and sent us stumbling across the lounge.
I managed to grab onto the ladder just in time to keep my place, but Shannon was chucked off her feet as she scrambled to grab the base of the ladder.
Valerie drew in a sharp breath somewhere behind us, and when I quickly looked around, I saw that her face was very pale, and she had her hand pressed against her side. She must have knocked her bruised ribs against something.
The sight filled me with angry determination to get us the hell out of here, and I carefully eased open the hatch door the tiniest bit.
The yacht was still listing on its side with the left part of the boat forced low in the water. The hatch was at the rear of the boat, about ten feet away from the back of the cockpit, and from the way the yacht was tilted, I reckoned that the dragon was at the edge near the guard rail and not near the hatch.
I took a deep breath and pulled the hatch door open a bit further.
The yacht suddenly bucked in the water as the dragon moved. The motion almost threw me off the ladder, and I tightened my hold of the rail as the hatch door snapped open.
With a snarl that would live forever in my nightmares, the dragon forced its huge head in through the hatch.
I threw my weight against the door, but the dragon was too strong, and its huge jaws snapped and roared as a few screams echoed out from the group behind me.
The scaly bastard’s huge head was too big to fit inside the hatch, but it managed to force half of its muzzle inside, and then it sank its enormous top fangs into the hatch frame and tried to wrestle it free by shaking it like a dog with a bone.
My eyes bulged at the sight, but so far, the framing was holding strong.
Meanwhile, the yacht lurched and rocked like we were battling a storm on the high seas. Mugs and glassware flew out of the cupboards and smashed on the floor while drawers pinged open and sent plates, buckets, and cleaning supplies spilling everywhere.
I just managed to cling onto the ladder with one hand, but my other arm banged into the wall, and I dropped my rifle with a clatter.
“Drew!” Shannon yelled. “Duck!”
The Indian woman was flat on the floor with her legs wrapped around the bottom of the ladder to steady herself. Her rifle was jammed into her shoulder.
I let go of the ladder and leaped free.
Shannon fired.
Her bullets ripped into the dragon’s snout and tore a bloody hole in its upper jaw like a disgusting third nostril. The blue scaly hide was ripped open to show the pulsing red flesh underneath, and another bullet shattered one of its fangs and sent blood-stained splinters of dragon tooth pinging all over the cabin.
The dragon shrieked. It shook its head and tried to detach its fangs from the wood and metal frame.
Shannon fired again, and the other women rushed forward with their guns up. I grabbed my rifle, too, and together we managed to get in a round of shots that sent blood spattering out of the dragon’s nose and mouth before the fucking thing gave one final shake and pulled itself back out of the hatch.
I ran up the ladder and followed it out onto the deck to finish it off, and the women leaped out after me.
The dragon was staggering back against the rear guard rail with blood dripping from the holes we’d opened in its face. It let out another one of those bizarre cries, and this time, dread and fear sank its claws into my stomach as answering squeals came from the dock.
Baby dragons.
This huge bastard must be one of the parents. Maybe they’d come onboard to see what had happened to the flock of babies we’d just dispatched.
Summoned by their wounded parent’s call, a pale blue flock of the little shits came whizzing out of the trees and headed right for the yacht.
“Ally!” I yelled as I swung up my gun. “Get us out of here!”
“On it!” Ally shouted.
The rest of us opened fire as the redhead scrambled back from the hatch and threw herself into the cockpit. The anchor was already being dragged up before the yacht’s engine even roared into life, and we pulled away from the dock.
But we weren’t quick enough to avoid at least some of the crowd of creatures that descended on us like a horde of fucking locusts.
I couldn’t even count how many of them there were, I was too busy firing at every one of the brats I could see.
They were everywhere at once. Some of them lunged at the mast as the reeled-in sail clanked and snapped against it. The canvas was too tightly wound for their jaws to get any purchase, but it wouldn’t be long before they started using their claws instead. Others were fluttering around their parent’s head chittering in concern, and even more were dive-bombing us with fangs and claws bared.
The huge dragon reared up on its hind legs, and this sent the rear of the yacht down in the waves so that ocean water slopped onto the deck. The engine gave a complaining groan, and I heard Ally shout something very unladylike from where she was wrestling with the ship’s wheel in the cockpit.
“Shannon, cover me!” I yelled.
Shannon swung her gun around to give me protective fire, and I ducked under one of the attacking babies and fired into the dragon’s exposed throat. It screamed and clawed at the air, and when it came down on all fours, it was with a thud that shook the deck and sent us stumbling on the slick deck.
I skidded and landed flat on my back. The dragon’s claw swept through the air where my head had been only a moment before, and I fired into the exposed underside of the dragon’s foot.
It stumbled backward unsteadily with only three feet able to take its huge weight, and I rolled up onto my knees to fire again at the enormous blue creature.
Dia was suddenly there by my side, and our bullets tore through the tough, scaly hide of the dragon’s head.
There was a gaping hole in the dragon’s cheek now, and another in its ear, but worse was the ragged wound in the creature’s neck where several of our bullets had blasted holes along its throat.
It gave a coughing, gargling roar of agony. The sound was deafening, and it sent blood and dragon spit splattering all over the deck. Blood pumped out of the holes in its throat, and through the wound in its cheek, I could see the mess of its bloody teeth and shredded gums.
The babies wailed in unison and darted furiously around the deck like a Biblical plague of locusts.
I whirled around as I tried to keep my footing on the deck’s slippery skin of ocean water and dragon blood. I winged one of the little fucks in the shoulder, and it spiraled down into the deck where it was easy to smash the butt of my gun through its skull.
The big dragon lurched backward and collapsed down against the guard rail, which sent the back of the yacht splashing up and down in the water. It tried to raise its head, but red-tinted foam was coating its jaws and frothing out of the ragged, bloody wound in its neck, and it was losing too much blood for it to move quickly.
Then something cannoned into my back and sent me sprawling and skidding across the deck’s slick surface. But when the big dragon managed to raise its head again and try to take a step, the sway of the yacht sent me tumbling head over heels toward the front of the boat.
“Shiiiiit!” I yelped as my body rolled out of control, and it was only blind chance that stopped me from smashing my head open against the cockpit.
My flailing hand caught hold of the guard rail seconds before I would have ended up falling over the side, and I landed with a thud on my back at the front of the boat. I didn’t even manage to get my legs under me again before the baby dragon that had smashed into me followed up its attack.
Acting on pure instinct, I threw up my rifle to protect my face. At the same time I snapped my feet up and connected solidly with the little brat’s stomach. It let out a choking squeal, and I kicked up and back. With a startled wheeze, the baby was thrown over the side of the boat and splashed into the water, where it choked and flailed for a few seconds before sinking down beneath the surface.
I jackknifed onto my feet and whirled around just in time to fire a shot at another of the babies that had followed me. My bullet took it in the shoulder, and it squealed and tumbled into a lopsided spiral that sent it splashing into the ocean like its sibling had just done.
I fired again, but the other babies were alert to my presence now. They ducked and wheeled out of the path of my shots before pivoting and diving right at me.
Dia and Letty were there with their guns up, and we fired again and again at the little fuckers.
“Just die,” I gritted out between my teeth. “Just fucking die!”
I caught one square between the eyes, and its entire skull seemed to explode from the impact. Its body flopped to the deck, and the parent dragon let out a roar that chilled the very marrow in my bones.
With a huge effort, it began to clamber over the top of the cockpit. Blood smeared all over the roof and dribbled down the white metal, but its jaws were wide open, and it was furiously ready to defend its demon spawn.
I fired right at it, and the shot took out another chunk of its jaw. The red, raw flesh and gleaming white bones showed through for a second before the dragon screeched. Its cry was so loud that a small black lump flew through the air and smacked against the sail.
I could only spare it a glance, but I realized it was a part of the dragon’s tongue that I must have shot off.
I fired again and again, but the parental fury was fueling this dragon’s movements more than any pain could stop them.
Fuck this bitch.
“Drew, look out!” Letty yelled.
I ducked as another baby swooped down low over my head. It was so close that I felt the wind of its claws almost reaching the back of my neck. I whirled around and let loose another salvo after it, and I managed to send it cascading to the water below.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the bigger dragon still dragging itself over the cockpit roof. But then another figure appeared.
Shannon leaped onto the little walkway that ran along the side of the cockpit. She was dangerously close to the dragon’s enormous claws, and one movement from its huge legs could have ripped her head from her shoulders.
Still, she lunged forward, and as the dragon slid off the cockpit roof, she leaped in and emptied her entire magazine into the creature’s skull.
The dragon’s ice-blue eyes turned garnet red as its brain filled with blood.
It collapsed with a thud onto the deck that made the yacht groan and the front dip so low in the waves that salt water sprayed over the deck and soaked all of us.
I grabbed hold of the guard rail to stop myself falling on my ass for a second time, and a baby dragon whizzed past just a few inches away from my face.
“Fuck off!” I scoffed as I swung my gun around to follow its flight. Then I squeezed the trigger, and it dropped to the deck like a stone. “Asshole.”
“Letty!” Shannon shouted.
I whirled around to see another baby hurtling toward the Southern woman.
I was on it in a split second as I pulled the trigger.
The baby squealed and dipped in the air with one of its wings crumpled and useless. Letty fired again, and it crashed into the deck in a dead heap.
There were still more babies clinging to the mast, but it looked like they’d left the sail alone. Their attention was now focused entirely on us.
Shannon threw away her empty magazine and shoved in a fresh one from her pocket as she joined Letty and Dia in trying to take them down.
Then a scream came from the cockpit.
Ally.
I threw myself along the walkway and hurtled into the cockpit, where I came face to face with another baby dragon.
Ally was backed into the furthest corner of the cockpit and desperately trying to fend off the little shit with the butt of her gun. In an instant I realized the problem: these fuckers were too quick for an inexperienced shot like Ally, and in these close quarters, a stray bullet could end up damaging the ship’s controls.
I whirled my rifle around and slammed the butt with all my might into the back of the tiny blue bastard’s head.
The dragon squealed and hissed. It had ducked away at the last second, so it didn’t get the full force of my blow, but it was enough to knock it sideways.
I swung again, but it was too quick.
Then suddenly Ray was there. He had pulled out the long, wicked Bowie knife from his belt, and he swiped through the air at the baby. The blade opened up a red knick on the little shit’s side, and it screamed in pain.
Ray made another slash, and as the baby dodged to avoid the knife, it flew right into the path of my gun. It didn’t even have time to cry out as I bludgeoned it down onto the deck.
Ray dove in with a surprising amount of agility and buried his knife up to the hilt in the back of the little bastard’s neck.
“Yes,” he hissed in triumph.
It was somehow comforting to know that even this gentle old man hated these fucking little devils as much as I did.
A few more gunshots came from outside the cockpit, and then everything fell silent.
My heart leaped into my throat. I ran out onto the deck.
Letty and Shannon and Dia were high-fiving each other over the bodies of the last two babies lying on the deck.
“You guys alright?” I yelled.
“Yep!” Shannon called.
“We took ’em all out!” Dia whooped and leaped into the air in triumph.
I started to grin, but it froze on my face as something moved at the very top of the mast overhead.
There was another baby dragon creeping forward in the rigging.
I swung up my gun to take aim, but before my finger even touched the trigger, the tiny demon had hurled itself from the mast and down toward the unsuspecting women.
“No!” I yelled.
Everything happened at once.
My bullet cracked through the air right as the women sprang out of the way. Dia stumbled back and tripped, and the baby screamed as my bullet tore a hole through its wing.
It landed on Dia, but before I could move, Shannon and Letty charged in. Letty dragged Dia out of the way, and Shannon emptied three bullets into the tiny bastard’s skull.
Then there was nothing but the sound of us all panting with exhaustion and adrenaline.
I spun around to take stock of everything and to make sure that there were no more babies waiting to surprise us.
“Is everyone okay?” I demanded.
“We’re good,” Ray’s rather shaky voice came from inside the cockpit.
“Valerie?” My heart skipped a beat, and I ran to the hatch.
Valerie was positioned on the ladder with a rifle poking out of the hatch. There was a blood stain on the deck, and a few drops had spattered down the front of her shirt.
“Got at least one of those little shits,” she told me with satisfaction.
“You and Ray both,” I said in admiration, and I held out my hand to help her out of the hatch.
“That’s how we do it.” The elderly woman climbed on deck and pressed her hand against the small of her back. “My lord, what a mess.”
It certainly was a sight to see.
The huge dragon’s corpse was slumped at the front of the boat. The impact of its fall had sent its head jammed up against the guard rail, and it looked almost comically folded up on itself, like a broken accordion. The rest of the deck was covered in the bodies of the baby dragons. I didn’t think I’d ever seen this much dragon blood– the yacht looked like a slaughterhouse.
But we were alive. We’d triumphed, we’d defeated the monster and its babies, and we were alive.
That was, as Sammy might have said, wicked cool.
“Let’s get these little bastards over the side,” I called. “Then we can get cleaned up and take stock of where we are.”
Valerie and I went back to the front of the boat where the others were gathered.
“God, there are so many of them,” Letty said as she looked around with wide eyes at the carnage. “I didn’t realize there were so many.”
“It’s not easy to keep track of them all when you’re in the middle of shooting them,” Shannon agreed.
I bent down and hoisted one of the small corpses in my arms, and with a grunt, I tossed it over the side.
