Penelope Rose Alexander.™
Penny was a little too busy with checking her gear to even realize how late it had gotten. But once she followed Josiah out she finally got a good look at the sky. It was nearly pitch black from the last time that she'd checked it and her watch now read 7:15pm. What the fuck have we been doing all this time? She sighed heavily, tapping the barrel of her gun nervously against her cargo pants. She was pulling at the many strings in her head for a solution. These weren't vampires so the UV lamp in the van wouldn't help much. But her goggles would. With that she nodded her head and headed towards the van. Josiah had already positioned himself in the front seat and only Niles was waiting for her before he went inside the van. But she couldn't force herself to move any faster. The bags she carried were a little heavy. She made it though, just before she thought Josiah would go off his rocker, and handed a bag to Niles. She was glad he didn't argue and just took the bag like an obedient puppy. They had a pretty weird friendship, these two. Penny got to speak for and comfort him whenever arguments broke out. While Niles on the other hand allowed the girl to sleep with him whenever she had nightmares and cover her ass when she needed it most. The great white and the sea lion; both dangerous but one more so than the other.
Once she was safely inside the van, Penny automatically went to her post near the wall closest to the drivers seat. She checked her clip. Out of the twelve rounds that her small 9mm held, only three were left.“Fuck, I really need to control myself.” She looked up at Niles as she said it but he was already in position with his rifle resting on his shoulders and his eye looking through the view finder. The only sound he made at her comment was a small grunt which made her giggle slightly. She shook her head and reached inside her bag for a new clip. But instead of pulling out a clip, Penny lifted a pair of night vision goggles. She'd gotten them on one of her many solo raids throughout the city. Which had caused quite a fuss with the marine especially considering the fact that she'd gotten them from a military base. “Put these on,” she said tossing another pair of goggles to Niles. These were heat seeking. Although the bogeys were way past insane. They were anything but dead so she was pretty sure that those goggles would pick up on their body heat. She could already here a few screeches and calls not too far in the distance. They'd really made a stupid mistake about staying out this late. Penny could already hear it now. The marine would surely have a field day about their little excursion. But Penelope was sure that their designated group leader would step in. Especially considering the fact that if anyone would've been qualified to go on a field trip, it would've been Penelope. Her knowledge of weapons and ability to stay calm by all means had earned her that right.
By now Josiah had already hit the road and already Penelope had her hands tied with a few bogeys. Jo's driving wasn't helping either. But she got a few good shots off before she went flying. ”Fuck!... Jojo!.... man!” At this rate she'd have to pray that Niles had everything covered. From what she could see he still had his eyes fixed on the road and seemed to be handling the crazy drive just fine. She really needed to get a grip on things and tighten up. But every time she moved to pick herself up Josiah would make another crazy swerve and she'd slip. She could hear him screaming for help where she was on the floor. But what assistance could she give if he kept swerving like that? Finally, after several determined tries, Penny got herself into a crouched position. She quickly changed the clip in her gun and aimed it at the ceiling. They couldn't have been too far from the apartments now. Scraping noises were coming from the roof loud enough that she could tell something was still holding on. But when she moved to fire into the roof again she was thrown back. This time she went flying through the van and nearly pushed the back door open before Niles grabbed her arm. Thankfully they had reached the apartments but she could tell that they weren't in the clear just yet. Something was in the garage with them.
“Switch to submachine.” That was all Penny had time to whisper before the back door to the van flew open and she was yanked right out of Niles' grip and onto the garage floor. All she could do was brace for the fall and raise her gun before she was thrown against a wall nearest the van. The impact of the back of her head hitting the wall caused her to see in spots through the goggles that she still had on. It was two quiet now and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of feet shuffling back and forth through the dark. Terrified, she looked from left to right while trying to get herself into a better position up against the wall. “Niles” she whispered glancing back at the open van door. Leaning to the right, she tried to see if she could peer into the van from where she was sitting. With her gun still pointed she called out his name one last time. “Niles.” Movement came from the far right of the van and that's when she realized that she'd made a mistake. They couldn't see in the dark but they could hear. It was like playing a game of Marco Polo. You only needed your ears to find a victim.
It pounced on her, taking Penelope completely by surprise and causing her to let out a small cry. With its hands the thing had managed to knock her glasses right off of her face. But just as it went to bite her Penny shot two bullets into its arm before she finally got enough room to turn and shoot it right at the base of its neck. The thing cried out in pain but kept coming at her. But just as she went to shoot it in the head, her gun clicked empty. SHIT! She must have mistook the new clip for an older one. As big of a mistake as it was, Penny still had two options: Either try to choke the creature or let go of the thing and try and reach for a knife that she always kept tucked in the side of her boots. Think, think, think. She settled for reaching for her knife with one hand and trying to choke the thing with the other. But the more she reached for it, the closer the creature got to her face and the bigger a chance it was for her to become infected.
Frantically Penelope pulled at her cargo pants and prayed that this wouldn't be her last night alive. Warm liquid was dripping down the back of her neck and she was pretty sure that it wasn't her own blood. The creature was snapping its teeth just above her ear like a rabid dog who hadn't eaten for ages. One more inch and she finally got a good enough grip on the blade to pull it out. Now the hardest part of all would come. She had to move fast enough to get herself a little out from under the creature before she stabbed it in order to make sure that no fluids made their way into her eyes, ears, or mouth. Penny knew that if she died now, no one would be left to help aid the others. And she couldn't have that. The small girl pushed up against the creatures neck as hard as she could until her head was safely out of harms way. With that she raised her other hand and stabbed at the creatures head with all her might. The darkness in the garage didn't help her see whether or not she'd actually gotten it in at the right angle. But the stillness and silence of the creature as she drove the knife deeper into it let her know that she'd done right. With as much force as she had left to her, Penny pushed the thing off of her and scooted herself a little farther away from it before she finally forced herself to get up and try to reach the van. All she kept thinking was that Niles was dead and probably Josiah was stuck inside the van from the sounds coming from the front of the van. As she stood, Penny was a little wobbly on her feet and the world swam beneath her. She could feel that sooner or later she was going to pass out. “Not yet,” she told herself, “Not yet.”
Grasping blindly in the dark for anything to steady herself, Penelope finally grabbed hold of the van door. She expected to see the limp body of Niles but was greeted with only an empty van. Her eyes grew a little wide at the sudden sound of a scream and scratching coming from the front of the van. Her instincts told her to move cautiously. But the feeling of loss that she felt from not finding her friend was so strong that she reached for one of his shot guns and headed straight for the front of the van. She didn't even care about the fact that there could have been two waiting to take her on. This means war. Squinting in the dark she cocked the forestock back hard against the magazine and whirled to shoot at the creature. But just as she was about to shoot it, the sound of a silencer was heard and the scratching sounds ceased. Staring back at her was Niles with his gun still held at attention. Penelope lowered her gun at the sight of her friend and let the tension in her shoulders ease a bit. She stared blankly at him for a few seconds and then turned her attention back to Josiah. Opening the drivers door she leaned in, unable to support herself any longer. “Why is it that I always end up saving your ass?” That was the last thing she said before the world went completely black and she collapsed against his legs.
- - -
I suppose, if your heart were granite too,
it'd be there peacefully rotting, a thunderous de-composition,
instead of inspiring my off-season spring cleaning
and plucking for de-evolution.
- - -
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