Read Online The Tide: Deadrise by Anthony J Melchiorri - Free Book Online Page B

shot at any Skulls that dared to take a passing swipe.
    They would be back to safety soon, she told herself. Back where they could better defend themselves. Back by Dom’s side.
    A resonating bellow quenched those thoughts. Dom’s voice broke through the comm link, but Meredith didn’t need him to tell her the source of the roar. She spun on her heels and sighted up the humungous monster bursting through the edge of the woods.
    It was a Goliath.
    The creature ripped a tree from the ground. Soil sprayed from its roots. The Goliath tossed the uprooted tree with ease, and the trunk whistled through the air. Meredith dove, scraping her arms and knees against the asphalt. The others scattered as the trunk flew at them. Branches struck Glenn, and the man went down hard. The tree hit a parked car, and the vehicle skidded sideways, slamming against another. Metal screeched against metal.
    This was supposed to have been an easy mission. Take a boat and use it as bait. See if the Joint Force Base was actively monitoring the river. If they were, abandon the boat. Check. Get back to Dom and then traverse south quietly through the night. That second part hadn’t quite worked out. The Goliath was an enormous wrench in that plan.
    The Hunters sent a volley of fierce gunfire at the behemoth. Bone chipped off as bullets slammed into it or glanced off its horns and spikes and plates. Although its armor cracked and splintered, the beast didn’t even slow down. Its feet dug into the ground with each galloping step, sending clods of dirt and plants flying.
    Soon enough its raucous bellowing attracted other Skulls. The beasts careened toward the gunfire and the hunting cries of their fellow creatures. There would be no easy way out of this mess.
    “Keep falling back,” Dom said over the comm link. A loud whoosh sounded overhead, and then an explosion rocked the Goliath. Dom had used one of the group’s last grenade cases for their barrel-mounted launchers. Fire rolled in a billowing cloud from the Goliath. The giant Skull grabbed its chest and let out a moan of agony that shook the treetops. Its plates had been split open, and its ribs were exposed.
    Meredith fired volley after volley into the unprotected meat of the Goliath’s chest. The beast stumbled then crashed forward. Momentum carried its body into another couple of trees, and the falling trunks smashed several of the nearby Skulls. One of the trapped creatures managed to free itself. It left behind a shredded leg caught under the tree in the process. It hobbled, tripped, and then crawled, relentless in the pursuit of its prey. She lit it up with a salvo of gunfire before retreating across the parking lot toward Dom’s position.
    “Hunters, gather at the west entrance,” Dom said.
    Meredith frowned in confusion. Dom had initially ordered them to reconvene in the office building, where they could hold out. This change of plans worried her, but she trusted that from his vantage point he could see how the battle was unfolding. Her job wasn’t to second-guess his orders, but to follow them to the best of her abilities.
    The other Hunters were blurs in Meredith’s peripheral vision. Miguel’s rifle flashed. Glenn took a knee and sighted up a Skull running on all fours. Jenna waved a hand to goad them all on, while Renee changed mags and Andris sprinted for cover. All hell had truly broken loose.
    Another loud bellow sounded behind them. Meredith first looked at the downed Goliath, but it hadn’t miraculously recovered. Smoke still drifted from its singed skin, and its tusked mouth hung open under its glassy, lifeless eyes. Then she saw a second Goliath punch through the wreckage of vehicles. Its hammering fists knocked the cars aside as if they were toys.
    Then another noise caught Meredith’s ears. It was the thump of chopper blades. She spotted several helicopters zooming above the river and circling near the shore. Their side doors lay open, and door gunners sprayed gunfire