Holier Than Thou (The Tome of Bill) (40 page)

“We just need to be patient...” Derek replied when another voice drowned his out.

“I see it!”

Danni was tempted to reply, “Told ya so!” but she knew it would be childish. Besides, if the creature really was approaching, she knew it would be wise to free up the radio from unnecessary banter.

“Can you get a shot, Frank?” Derek’s voice blared out again.

“No good,” came the answer. “Still too far away and the goddamned wind is picking up.”

“They don’t call them Thunderbirds for nothing,” Danni said under her breath. She pushed an errant strand of blonde hair from her face, then lifted her rifle and squinted through the scope, scanning the sky. She didn’t see anything.

“Danni...” Derek’s voice warned.

“Where is it?” she asked. She lowered the rifle just as the oncoming clouds blotted out the sunlight. The dazzling brightness was immediately replaced by a shape much darker than the clouds above it.

The creature had been using the sun to mask its approach. With its cover gone, Danni could see it in its fullness. It was huge, with a nearly eighteen foot wingspan and a curved beak that looked like it could shatter bone with ease. Worse, though, it was coming at her fast...too fast.

There wasn’t time to line up a shot. Her training taking over, Danni threw herself into a hard dive to the left, losing her grip on the gun in the process. Fortunately for her, as big as the creature was, it was incapable of making a quick enough turn to compensate for her movement.

She had just enough time to think,
Where the hell are
..., when she heard the whine of the bullets as they passed just feet above her. Moments later, the reports from the rifle shots reached her ears.

Danni hit the ground and rolled on her back, hoping for the best. She saw a splay of feathers fall from one of the creature’s massive wings, but the monstrous bird remained airborne.

Fuck!
It had been Derek’s idea to split the team up at multiple bait sites so as to cover more ground. Normally it would have been a good idea. The team was spread out, but still near enough to provide cover fire for each other - a useful strategy considering their airborne target. Unfortunately the storm was moving in faster than expected and the erratic wind gusts were playing havoc with their ability to hit a moving target.
Even one as big as a Cessna
, mused Danni, getting back to her feet in time to see the creature banking for another pass at her.

Not afraid of people
, she thought.
That’s gonna cost you, you ugly son of a bitch
. Despite the danger, she let a small smile play out across her lips. She had been hanging out with Francis a little too much. His attitude was obviously starting to rub off on her. It probably wasn’t the healthiest mindset for living a good long life, but still, it was better than running scared.

Speaking of running, though... “Danni, lead it towards me, so I can get a head on shot.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Despite its size, the bird was more maneuverable than she would have given it credit for. It was already positioned and building up speed for another approach. She spotted her discarded rifle, immediately determined there wasn’t time to retrieve it, then turned and ran in the toward Derek’s position.

* * *

Thunder crashed overhead and at once the storm was upon them. The wind picked up and Danni could feel pinpricks of frozen rain begin to pelt her.

“Just a little more...” Derek’s voice came over the headset.

A shriek behind her, though, told her that she didn’t have a little more.

Screw this
, she thought with a grimace. Still running, she reached into her jacket and drew twin semi-automatic pistols. Throwing herself into a dive, she spun and landed hard on her back, the guns facing upward. There was no chance of missing, the bird took up her entire field of vision.

She squeezed both triggers and unleashed a small volley of hellfire upon the beast. The bullets hit home, but Danni immediately saw she had a new problem: regardless of whether they killed it, the small caliber bullets weren’t going to stop the monster bird’s momentum. Alive or dead, it was going to slam into her. Between its massive beak and outstretched talons, she knew she was about to be impaled.

* * *

Devil Hunters

Coming 2013!