Chapter 38
Colt slipped into the foyer, hoping to find the rest of Phantom Squad. There was more screaming as the bulbs flickered overhead like a series of cameras flashing. Sparks flared, ceiling tiles fell, and the lights went out.
It didn’t take long for his eyes to adjust, but Colt didn’t see anyone he recognized. “Testing,” he said. “Testing 1, 2, 3. Can anybody hear me?”
There was a long string of static followed by a disjointed message that popped in and out. “Some kind of . . . I don’t know . . . maybe a science lab.”
“That’s Danielle,” Colt said as he grabbed a kid wearing a letterman’s jacket. “Which way to the science labs?”
“Over there.” The kid pointed back over his shoulder before he broke free and ran off.
Colt took off, with Oz close behind. It was almost seven o’clock and the sun was long gone. So was the electricity. The only source of light came from the red glow of an Exit sign that hung near a set of double doors. As they pushed ahead, Colt realized that he had never felt more alive. He felt as though his senses had been unleashed to their full capacity for the first time. He could smell the residue from gunpowder, sense Oz’s anticipation, and suddenly he could see through the darkness as though it were fully lit.
“Which way?” Oz asked when they came to a juncture of hallways.
Colt strained to both listen and smell. He could hear a low growl emanating from the darkness up ahead, and then he saw something large moving through the shadows. Claws raked against the brick walls, sending sparks. The creature stopped to sniff the air, then cocked its head and reached for a doorknob. When the door didn’t open, the creature pounded on it and it quickly shattered.
“Hurry!” Danielle shouted.
Colt and Oz raced down the hall and into the room in time to see the Thule standing over Danielle, who cowered in the corner.
Oz rushed past Colt, and the Thule lashed out with its tail and caught him in the head. He crumpled and it attacked again, this time catching him across the chest.
The faint sound of explosions played in the background. The Thule growled and moved toward Colt, battering desks before it grabbed him by the jaw. A massive scar ran over its brow ridge, across a milky cataract, and down its muzzle. Its breath was rancid, like roadkill that had been left to decay in the sun.
Its eyes narrowed as it sniffed the air. “Yes,” it said. “You are the one Koenig has been searching for. You are the Betrayer.”
Colt’s chest heaved as adrenaline washed over him. Euphoria. Power. The crucial need to protect the people around him. He struck the Thule in its injured eye, and it staggered but didn’t fall. Its tail pounded the ground, breaking the floorboards.
The Thule picked up four chairs and hurled them at Colt, who covered his face with his arms. Wood shattered upon impact, and when it was over Colt stood there, dumbfounded. He should have felt pain. He should have been knocked over. It didn’t make sense.
A grotesque smile spread across the alien’s lips. “My name will be praised after I kill you.”
Faster than Colt could react, it reached out and took his throat with one hand while two others wrapped around his shoulders. Another tried to rake across his face, but Colt grabbed it by the wrist and twisted. There was a pop, and the Thule howled as its hand went limp.
Enraged, it hefted Colt off the ground, but Colt struck the nerve cluster under its arm, and it dropped him. It lashed out with its claws, but Colt sidestepped, grabbed a chair, and smashed it over the Thule’s head. Wood splintered, and Colt rammed what was left of the chair leg through the alien’s gullet. It cried out in pain as it fell.
Colt looked at Oz, lying still on the floor, and emotion washed over him. “Are you dead?” Colt asked.
Oz opened one eye. “What do you think, McAlister?”