Chapter 6
Outside the mall, through the entrance where the glass doors were, Elias stared at the colossal spike structure.
Near its terrifying base, a human-sized gap yawned darkly between two leaning, obsidian-black spikes. The unnatural twilight made the opening look like a festering wound in the world.
Movement stirred within the darkness of the gap. Elias squinted, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.
Shapes detached themselves from the deeper shadows, resolving into forms as they stepped onto the fractured asphalt of the ruined parking lot.
He looked closer, and a sudden cold dread washed over him. The creature was roughly the size of a large mastiff but utterly alien. Its skin was oily black which seemed to absorb the weak light.
Its head was vaguely canine, but the mouth was a nightmare – unnaturally wide, like a miniature crocodile's, lined with rows of needle-sharp teeth glistening with saliva.
Most horrifying was the single, lidless eye burning with a sickly yellow light in the center of its forehead.
It sniffed the air with wet, snuffling sounds.
The creature turned its head, the single eye scanning the carnage of the parking lot – the impaled cars, the buckled ground.
Then it fixed its gaze squarely on the brightly lit, chaotic entrance of the mall, filled with panicking people. A low, guttural growl rumbled in its chest, vibrating the air.
It threw its head back and unleashed a howl – a sound that was part tortured dog, part rending metal.
The howl cut off abruptly. The creature bunched its powerful haunches and exploded into motion. It charged towards the mall entrance, moving with terrifying and unnatural speed.
Its claws scrabbled frantically on the broken pavement, kicking up sparks and chips of concrete.
Panic, cold and sharp, seized Elias. He tore his gaze from the charging horror and frantically scanned the chaotic scene near the entrance.
His eyes locked onto the security guard, Ben. Strapped to Ben's hip, gleaming dully in the mall's harsh emergency lights, was a holstered pistol.
The mall owner had authorized firearms for extreme emergencies. Usually, the guards relied on batons and tasers, but the heavy pistol was there, a stark symbol of the world ending.
Elias didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, shoving past a screaming woman. Before Ben could react, Elias's hand closed around the cool, hard polymer grip of the gun.
He yanked it free from the holster.
"Hey, what are you—" Ben was startled, widening his eyes.
Elias ignored him. His fingers, slick with sweat, fumbled with the unfamiliar weight. He found the safety lever, his thumb snapping it down with a decisive click. He raised the weapon, the barrel wavering wildly.
The creature was closing the distance fast, its single yellow eye fixed on the entrance, its wide mouth gaping.
BANG!
The first shot roared, the recoil jolting Elias's arm painfully. The bullet whined harmlessly off a spike fragment.
BANG!
The second shot went wide, kicking up the ground near the creature's flank. It didn't flinch. It was ten yards away, five… its claws scrabbling for purchase on the tile threshold.
Elias squeezed the trigger a third time, pouring all his terror into the shot.
BANG!
The bullet struck the single eye. A spray of viscous, tar-black liquid erupted as the heavy round punched directly into the creature's single, blazing yellow eye and burrowed deep.
The creature's charge faltered mid-leap. It crashed onto the tile just inside the shattered entrance, skidding forward in a grotesque sprawl. Its limbs twitched violently once, twice, then fell still.
Dark, steaming liquid oozed from the ruined socket.
Silence fell for a second, broken only by the distant screams and the mall's groans. People stared, frozen, at the dead monster lying just inside the mall.
Elias lowered the gun, his arm trembling violently, the metallic tang of gunpowder flowed in his mouth and nose, and his ears were ringing.
But at the gap in the distant, spiky dome, where the first creature had emerged, the darkness stirred again. More shapes – many more – detached themselves from the darkness.
Silhouettes of similar canine horrors, their single eyes glowing like malevolent stars in the twilight, began pouring out onto the ruined ground.