Knight took off toward the mini-van. He screamed at the top of his lungs and opened fire on the beast. The massive head jerked toward him and a clawed hand fell from the sky.
He dived forward and rolled as the street behind him was obliterated. The creature raised its hand to its face and seemed confused to not see a bloody smear.
Knight reached the van and swung the door closed. The accelerator slammed to the floor, and the van jumped forward with the sound of squealing rubber.
The beast swiped down and clawed fissures into the pavement, barely missing the van. Knight sped away down the street, dodging debris. The monstrosity bellowed and took off after him in an awkward, loping gate.
Knight skidded around the corner and saw one of the van’s hubcaps rolling away in the passenger mirror. He took another immediate sharp left turn, trying to lose the creature.
The speedometer showed his speed increasing down the abandoned street. One eye remained on the rearview, expecting to see the giant appear behind him.
But then, he detected movement in a building coming up on his left. At first, he didn’t know what to make of it, but then he slammed the brakes to the floor.
The building came toppling over into the street. Glass, concrete and steel girders exploded everywhere as he twisted the wheel to the side. The giant rode the crumbling structure to the ground. Knight whipped the vehicle around in the opposite direction and punched the accelerator.
He watched the monster gain its feet in the rearview. Then, he jerked the wheel away as a massive arm slammed down into the street at his side.
He kept the gas pedal to the floor as he swerved from one side of the road to the other. The van bounced up and down and nearly tipped over as he launched over debris from the shattering road. The beast continued to slam its fists down around him.
His heart slammed against his rib cage, and he felt like passing out from exhaustion. His eardrums vibrated from the beast’s shrieking, and every muscle ached from fighting to maintain control of the vehicle amid the constant barrage of attacks and ground tremors. But he needed to keep the creature distracted long enough for the others to escape. He would have plenty of time to rest in a few minutes when the bomb went off.
The giant was right on top of him, stomping, slamming its arms down and trying to grind him into the concrete. Knowing that he couldn’t keep this up much longer, Knight whipped the mini-van down an alleyway.
The opening was too narrow for the beast, but that didn’t stop the thing from slamming its formidable bulk into the adjacent buildings and trying to squeeze through. It shrieked in rage and rammed a clawed fist into the opening. But Knight was just out of reach. The creature slammed into the buildings again, and a large chunk of the brick building on Knight’s left broke free and dropped into his path.
Caught between a rock and a giant reptilian monster, he goosed the engine of the mini-van and drove up the pile of debris as if it were a ramp. The van shot into the air and slammed against the building on the right, tearing off the passenger side mirror and sending out a fountain of sparks, before slamming back to the ground.
He glanced in the rearview, but the beast was gone. He didn’t like the implications at all.
The alley grew dark as a massive shadow passed overhead. He stuck his head out of the window and looked up. The shadow continued forward, and he realized that the creature must have figured out that if it couldn’t go through these buildings, then it could go over. Knight slammed on the brakes.
With monkey-like agility, the creature dropped to the ground in front of him and roared, blocking his exit from the alley.
35.
Knight could try to back up, but the creature would only come at him again from that direction. He had little choice. He stared straight into the beast’s bloodshot, red eyes and then pounded his foot down on the accelerator. The van rocketed forward, momentarily startling the creature. It reared back from the opening, and the van shot onto the street.
The monstrosity recovered quickly, however. Its arm shot down and caught hold of the back of the van.
Knight gunned the engine one last time, but it wasn’t enough to break the creature’s grasp.
It lifted the entire van from the ground. Knight’s breath caught in his throat, but his arms shot to the ceiling to brace himself. The world turned upside down as the creature spun the van in its enormous hands. It turned the vehicle over and over like a child studying a new toy.
Then it brought one of its reptilian eyes up to the window and shrieked again. The sound rattled the glass of the van and made Knight’s ears ring. He could smell the stench of the beast’s breath and the heat from its gaping mouth. The fangs inside the giant opening jutted out at odd angles, running down its throat and crossing over each other in a tangled mess.