The swings began to bob up and down. Queen held on tight, vowing to find the man who was running this crazy amusement park and castrate him. Behind her, one of the oborots lost its grip and fell to the spiked deck. Queen grimaced at the sight, pleased that one more pursuer was down, but fully aware that a single misstep could doom her to the same fate.
When she could climb no farther, she looked down at the pavement that was flying by at a dizzying rate. Could she make that jump without breaking her neck? The ride continued to spin, and she found herself facing a dense clump of trees. That was it! She waited, ready to launch herself into the trees on the next go-round, hoping the oborots wouldn’t get to her before the ride made it back around again. Her perch was so precarious that she didn’t dare draw her pistol.
A hairy form moved closer to her, its incredible strength compensating for its lack of climbing ability. Queen’s eyes darted from the patch of trees to the oborot and back again to the trees. The deadly ride now felt as if it were turning in slow motion, the trees miles away and the oborot a hair’s breadth from dragging her down to her death. The rusted metal cut into her palms as she held on for all she was worth, and the muscles in her back and legs screamed from the pressure of the hunched position she maintained.
The dark outline of the trees came closer.
The oborot reached for her.
And Queen jumped.
Branches tore her skin and clothing as she crashed into the trees. A limb smacked her across the face, and she felt blood pour from her nose. She tumbled down, bouncing like a pinball off every branch, and caught hold of a limb just before she crashed to the ground. The oborots were leaping down off the ride, eager to continue the pursuit. Muttering a curse, Queen dropped to the ground and ran.
The Ferris wheel stood directly in front of her, silently spinning in the darkness. The oborots were almost upon her, so there was no time to wonder what nasty surprise might await her there. She sprang into the closest gondola. Her Mark 23 was in her hand in a flash and she trained it on the closest oborot as it paused, tensing to spring. Two bullets to the head and it was down.
As the gondola rose higher, the oborots were circling the base of the ride, waiting for her to descend. Three of the beasts remained. Queen knew she didn’t have the luxury of going round and round, picking them off as she circled. The open gondola would afford her no protection from the beasts. She had to take care of them before she hit the ground.
She considered dropping a grenade on them, but dared not risk it considering the age and condition of the ride. Manifold had obviously made some…improvements to these attractions, but the Ferris wheel supports were clearly old and rusted. She’d have to do this the old-fashioned way.
She leaned out of the gondola, holding on with her left hand and emptied her clip at the first oborot she saw. The beast let out a cry of pain that was so human it gave her a chill, and then it fell in a heap. The gondola descended. Queen slapped in a new clip and chose a new target. The oborot scaled one of the support beams, fully exposing its back to Queen, who took full advantage. Three shots and the beast fell dead to the ground.
One more to go.
Queen looked around, but could not see the last remaining oborot. Where had it gone? The Ferris wheel carried her ever closer to the ground as it completed its revolution. Had the oborot fled? Something smashed into the side of the gondola, knocking her sideways. She fell hard into one of the seats and found herself staring into the oborot’s grotesque face. The gondola shook from the beast’s weight, and Queen’s first shot went wide. The second caught it in the shoulder, and it slipped out of sight. The gondola was now on its way up again, and as it rose, she looked out over the edge, seeking to finish off the last remaining beast.
Her eyes pored over the moonlit amusement park for any sign of it, but she saw nothing. Perhaps this one was smarter than the others, and was hiding, waiting to spring when next she made her descent. She watched the world grow smaller as she rose, and as she reached the apex, something grabbed her ankle and yanked her down. She scarcely had time to cry out in surprise before finding herself dangling far above the ground, her weapon gone, clutching the bottom edge of the gondola, inches from the oborot. The thing had caught hold of the gondola as it fell, and now hung by its uninjured left arm, and grabbed for her with its right. Its claw-like fingernails gleamed in the moonlight as it went for her throat.