16: The Four Musketeers -John-

Broken elbow or not, I wasn't going to just let this thing kill us that easy. As it lumbered toward me, I glanced to my left and spotted a car. Grabbing Jay, I dragged him over to the car as fast as I could and pushed him beneath it.

No sooner had I gotten him under, when I was slammed to the side by the moth’s flaming arm. I hit the ground rolling, trying to ignore the pain in my arm while putting out any fire. Exhaustion and pain made it hard for me to move, but I rolled to my feet and tried to lead the moth away from Jay. The ground shook as it got closer and I couldn't run anymore. I quickly spun around and ducked under the moth’s belly.

Running beneath it I felt the heat from its charred, flaming skin. I shoved the knife up in to the charred and burning areas, cutting them wide open. As I cleared the back of it, I could hear the creature’s screams of pain as fluid and some innards spilled from the cuts. I didn't look. I just kept running.

That's when I heard the buzzing above. Glancing up, I saw one of the smaller moths flying toward me. Why do things have to keep getting worse? I dived behind a trash can as a dart hit where I'd been running. The larger moth had turned around and was making its way toward me. I heard several loud popping noises coming from somewhere.

To the left Robby came running from an alleyway, his gun in his hands, firing away at the massive thing. He saw me and ran over as fast as he could, avoiding darts from the smaller moth.

"Are you alright?"

"I'll live. Jay's underneath a car behind that thing."

"Is he?"

"He's knocked out. Robby, I've thrown everything that I could at this thing, it won't go down."

"John, cockroaches can live a week with out their head. Bugs are known to live through extreme things."

The large moth roared and began running toward us.

"Robby, Jay tried blowing it up. I shot out its eye and sliced it up a bit. It's just not stopping."

The smaller moth flew around so that it could hit us and took aim.

"We have to move."

"Yeah."

At that moment a small plane flew in from the side, blasting away with small guns on its side. The small moth turned toward it and shot three darts. The plane dipped and weaved to avoid the attack and then turned off to the side.

"Stupid moth! John, why'd you have to go and get yourself in over your head?", Tim's voice came from the small craft.

Something about that guy just gets me angry, "Couldn't have gotten here sooner you little prick?!"

Robby pulled up his gun and began to fire at the gargantuan moth, "Now's not the time to argue."

I pulled myself to my feet and raised my fist at the small plane, "When I get back . . .!"

"I'm expecting it!" The small plane flew off to resume its battle with the little moth.

Robby's bullets weren't stopping the moth; only slowing it down. I lifted my gun with my good arm and just as I was about to fire, I felt a pain on the back of my head.

"Nice way to save my life!", Jay stepped next to Robby and began firing as well, "You could have just said duck."

"My way was funner." I lifted my gun the best I could and began firing.

15: Enter The Fray -Tim-

My fingers flew over the keyboard as fast I could get them. The satellite images showed the situation going from bad to worse. I needed to find some way to help and fast. I tried my best to ignore Patrick leaning over my shoulder.

He'd gotten his composure back, but you could see that he was still very angry. This girl, Saba's death, had been an unexpected development and anything Patrick didn't expect was a pleasant thought.

"So, after your done helping them, then you'll get me as much as you can on that damned Ben?"

"Shut up." I could find nothing I could do. These computers weren't sophisticated enough to get me what I needed.

"DAMN!", I slammed my hand on the keyboard, "I can't do anything to help them from here."

"If I could get you access to a remote controlled military plane, would that help?"

"You can do that?"

"Get up." I moved as Patrick sat down and began accessing the deeper files, the ones I didn't even know existed. Moving through the system with ease, he opened a program labeled, 'Emergency Exposure Procedure' and suddenly the screen was flooded with a first person view of a runway.

Patrick stood up, "It's just like a video game. The plane is not very large, almost the size of a hawk, but it has two weapons. Side mounted automatic rifles and as a last resort, the entire thing explodes on impact. Also, you can speak through it using a sophisticated radio system."

I sat down and clicked, 'Start Engine'.

Even as I worked my fastest, I knew I wasn't going to make it in time. Even if I didn't get there to save John and Jay, I'd make that thing wish it'd never hurt them.

14: Repay -John-

Up ahead, I spotted an abandoned gas station and sped toward it as fast as I could; not fast enough. My feet were knocked out from under me, lifting me head over heels and depositing me to the ground. My broken elbow slammed into the ground and as I yelped in pain, the moth’s head descended toward me, mouth open wide.

I was thrown off my feet as an explosion rocked the ground. I looked toward the beast to see Jay running toward me, away from the flaming wreckage of a convertible as it exploded. The fireball flew out toward us as I pulled myself to my feet and began running with Jay.

We leaped to the ground to avoid burning hot pieces of metal and moth as they flew all around us. Roars of agony could be heard through the flames and smoke as another explosion shook the ground. Soon all we heard was the crackling of the flames.

Jay sat up and turned to the fire, a smile on his face.

"Thanks." I sat up and looked at my elbow. It was clearly broken.

"I turned the corner, saw that thing about to chomp on you, and thought, 'Hey, that thing needs a hole in its side.' ", Jay laughed a bit.

A low whistling noise, and suddenly there was a large dart at my feet. One of the smaller moths had finally spotted us. Jay got to his feet and was just about to start running when a loud roar was heard from the fire. One of the giant moth’s limbs reached up and snatched the smaller moth right out of the sky. What was left of the car was hurled at us as the moth-beast pulled itself to its feet.

Thinking quick, I grabbed Jay’s feet and yanked them out from under him. He fell back as the flaming car flew over his head.

With a loud thump Jay hit the ground and stopped moving.

The huge moth-beast lumbered toward us, half its body on fire from the explosion and the other partially crushed by its own weight. I grabbed Jay and started to drag him. One glance told me he was breathing, but I didn't know how bad he hit his head. The moth was gaining on us quickly. With my elbow, I couldn't carry him any faster.

I glanced back at the abandoned building. We weren't gonna make it. I turned around and grabbed Jay's knife off his belt.

As I stood there watching a creature much larger than me rushing toward me, I got an image of the Snake Goddess (UC case2) in my head. Jay had risked his life to save me twice, and now it was time to repay the favor. I flipped the knife over in my hand and prepared for its arrival.

I was pretty sure I would die.

13:Keeping Ground -John-

The giant moth leaned its massive bulk to look me in the face with its huge multi-faceted eyes. There was nowhere to hide and I wouldn't get very far running. I stared at the creature. Was I scared?

Terrified.

My brother always told me that when you have your back against the wall, and your enemy is bigger than you; the best thing to do is show no fear, don't lose any ground, and make a big show.

Moth-beast opened its great maw, and roared like I've never heard a moth roar before. Bits of vomit flew out splattering on the ground and my chest, powered by the force of its rotten breath. By the time it closed its mouth I'd brought my fist back.

I swung my fist as hard as I could, slamming it into the moth’s beak. Caught by surprise, it pulled back its face with a small roar. I'm sure I didn't hurt it, but it was enough to give me time. I lifted up my gun and aimed for its eye.

Pulling the trigger, I fought the recoil as I tried to keep the gun trained on its eye. My ears began to ring as I watched the creature’s eye shatter. I was so busy keeping my self on target that I didn't see its limb come flying from the side.

The air was forced from my chest as it collided with me, sending me flying into a wall. Razor sharp jolts of pain flooded my mind as I landed on the ground. The cries of pain from the moth-thing were getting closer as I lifted myself to my feet. I looked up to see another limb swing forward.

Fighting the pain, I dived to the ground as the limb smashed the wall behind me. Dust flew through the air as the wall collapsed, leaving someone’s bedroom exposed. The moth turned to look at me with its good eye and roared again.

I pulled myself to my feet and started running. I didn't get far when I was hit in the back and sent sprawling. I rolled on my back, lifting the gun and pulling the trigger. Lead hit its paw as it came down to stop my movement. The recoil slammed my elbow into the ground with a loud crack. The moth-thing pulled back its arm in pain and roared loudly again.

I spun up in a run, looking for any place to hide from the certain doom that followed me. I'd already emptied enough ammunition in the thing to take down ten men and it was still coming.

I'd need something bigger than bullets.

12: Ah, Vomit. -John-

No one ever likes the feeling of being crushed, especially when it's because of a large moth creature who has a fondness for human flesh. The last thing I remember is Robby yelling for me to look out, and then I wake up halfway down the gullet of our friendly neighborhood moth man.

Maybe I was too big, or maybe it had other plans. For what ever reason, I wasn't about to just sit here. I still had my gun and a small knife so I could probably get it to let me go, but I also could get it to swallow me the rest of the way.

Thinking fast, I pulled my gun so it was facing down its throat and unleashed a horde of bullets. The sound was deafening but I didn't need to hear anyway. I felt the muscles loosen and I started to fall the way I didn't want to go, so I quickly yanked out my knife and slammed it into the side of the creature’s esophagus.

Down below me I heard a faint sound of hissing, then a sudden silence. The smell below reminded me of bad eggs and raw bacon, and it was getting worse. A blast of air lifted me from my perch and I was shot from the mouth.

Pain enveloped me as I smashed into the ground. I moaned and rolled to look up at the creature, and watched as the contents of its stomach fell through the air toward me.

The damn thing was puking on me.

11: The Sad Anger Of Patrick -Tim-

By the time I'd hacked into a satellite capable of showing me what was going on in Europe, things had gotten a little crazy. A huge moth-thing was searching for something near where everyone had been dropped, and a lone red convertible was making its way through the streets, closely followed by two smaller moth-things. John and Robby were nowhere to be seen, but I figured that was what the massive moth was searching for.

I had no communications with them and Patrick had decided that he had to keep a closer eye on me, so he lounged in a nearby seat. The pressure was phenomenal for me to do my best.

"It's not gonna help if you're looking over my shoulder."

Patrick laughed a little, "I'm your boss. I'm just doing my job."

"Could you do your job somewhere else?", I asked, my voice full of hopeful sarcasm.

"My trus-", Patrick was interrupted by the ringing of the phone.

"I hope someone died.", and I meant it.

"Hello.", Patrick answered. Then he was silent for a few moments.

The expression on his face changed from his normal to sadness in an instant. The phone dropped from his hand and he sat there staring into space.

"No. No. No." He fell to his knees, tears flooding his eyes. His body began to shake as sobs found their way from his open mouth.

"No, she can't be. She can't be gone! They took her from me! She was mine and they ripped her from my hands!"

I was completely surprised by his reaction to the phone call and the only thing I could think of doing was getting up, and putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Big mistake.

He slapped my hand away and pushed me so hard that I slammed into the opposite wall. The air left my lungs and as I gasped he slammed into me.

"YOU! You and your little friends killed her! That stupid bear and retarded-idiot! I’ll tear all of you limb from limb! None of you will survive my wrath! I'll kill your families one by one, and then go to your friends! Then once they are all DEAD, I will take my time torturing each and everyone of you until you scream for death!"

His strength was something I'd never felt. I'd been punched by many people but never have I felt this kind of power. It was as if I could feel his hatred flooding through me and picking at my soul with tweezers.

"I didn't do anything to you." Speaking was much easier after I'd caught my breath.

He loosened a little, "Ben, Ben Ashford . . . He did it. He's the reason she's gone. If he hadn't come in to the picture, then they all wouldn't be together."

He let me go and pointed to the computer, "Everything you can find about Ben or anyone that stays with him I need to know, RIGHT NOW! I want you to destroy his bank accounts and trash his life anyway you can."

"Who did he kill?"

"Saba, my Saba.", Patrick was near tears again, "They hit her with a car."

"Oh wow." It sounded like there was more to it, but to avoid anymore attacks I just let the suspicion pass, "Okay, but first I have to take care of that."

On the screen behind Patrick, the giant moth-thing had stopped searching and was now holding something in its mouth; something very human.