Page 8 of North

The monster leaped onto a table, then over an old slicing machine. I fired again, and it jumped to the floor, and skittered back into the center of the store.

I growled and followed. It wasnotgetting away.

I ran out near the aisles. “Do you see it?”

“No.” Jess was walking slowly, scanning around.

I moved down an aisle quickly, straining to hear anything.

Creak.

“Watch out!” she shouted.

The shelves to my left started tilting. I turned, sprinting back toward the end of the aisle.

Jess waved at me. “Hurry.”

I pushed for more speed, then jumped.

I landed flat on my front, just as the shelves crashed down behind me. They missed my boots by centimeters.

“That little fucker.” I rose, dusting myself off.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“North? Jess?” Sasha’s voice. “Are you two all right?”

I touched my ear. “Yeah. We have the damn monster cornered in a store.”

“Jameson and the others spotted something in the northeast quadrant. They’re checking it out, then they’ll head your way.”

A skitter of sound at the back of the store had Jess swiveling, whipping her carbine up.

Then I heard something crashing at the front of the store.

“Are there two of them?” she said.

“Maybe something just fell.” I looked at the front.

“I’ll check out the back.”

I frowned. “Jess, you don’t have full armor.”

“It’s fine. I won’t get close. Let’s nail this thing and get out of here. It’s creepy as hell.”

I didn’t like it, but I gave her a tight nod. “Be careful.”

“I always am.” She moved toward the back of the store, her ponytail swaying behind her.

Walking in the other direction, I came to a section of the store with smaller display cases. I took a few more steps, when something slammed into my knees.

Shit. The monster knocked me off my feet, making a squawking sound, its claws clicking on the tiles.

I rolled and got my carbine up.

The damn thing had been hiding under some shelves. I fired at it, and it jumped, its bulbous back glowing. It knocked into a display case and some leftover pairs of sunglasses tumbled onto the floor. The case crashed down and hit my legs.