The obscurant's shriek split the morning stillness, raw and jagged, rattling inside Paolo's skull. He flinched hard, pressing his back to the steering wheel as if the metal could shield him. Eli didn't flinch—he stepped in, arnis snapping across its temple. The blow landed, wood ringing like a cracked bell, but the creature barely faltered. It twisted, low and feral, before slashing upward. Eli blocked, but one claw raked his chest—fabric tearing, skin stinging.
He gritted his teeth, shoved forward, and kicked hard at its knee. The joint bent with a crunch, but the obscurant hardly slowed. Instead, it surged closer, both claws slamming into his chest. The impact hurled him back against the Hummer's fender with a metallic clang. Bottles rattled inside the cooler, a reminder of the fragile normalcy they'd just fought for.
Eli jammed the stick beneath its jaw to keep snapping teeth away from his throat. The obscurant writhed, saliva dripping onto his cheek, black eyes unblinking. Its strength pressed down inexorably, forcing him lower against the hood. Veins bulged at his neck as his muscles trembled under the pressure.
With a growl, he twisted sideways, wrenching the stick free. The knife darted upward, sinking deep into its shoulder. Black ichor sprayed hot against his hand, thick and metallic. The creature shrieked, jerking back. For a heartbeat it staggered—head twitching, limbs spasming—but then it steadied, gaze narrowing on him again.
Eli knew he had to break its momentum. He shoved forward, driving his shoulder into its chest, forcing it back a few steps. The obscurant snarled and answered with a swipe that glanced across his ribs, hot pain blooming in his side. He staggered but kept pressing, forcing the fight away from the Hummer, out onto the open strip of cracked pavement.
The thing followed, circling, claws scraping against cement with a nails-on-glass screech.
Inside the driver's seat, Paolo's heart hammered. For the first time, Eli wasn't right against the car. The monster had been pulled a few meters off, enough space for headlights to frame them both. Paolo's hands gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles whitened. He could almost feel the weight of the machine beneath him, humming, waiting. His stomach twisted.
Do it. You could just drive. You could crush it. But what if you miss? What if you hit him instead?
His breathing quickened, shallow. Sweat rolled cold down the back of his neck. The thought of touching the ignition clawed at him. He barely knew how to drive—the last time was months ago, a hesitant lesson in some parking lot where he stalled three times in a row. He'd never really driven. Not in real traffic. Not in a machine this massive.
And now he was supposed to floor it into a monster while Eli danced on the edge of its claws?
His throat burned with the words he couldn't say aloud. I can't. I'll kill him. I'll mess this up. I always mess it up.
Through the windshield, Eli staggered under another blow. The arnis trembled, his arm shaking from the strain. The obscurant pressed harder, pinning him back step by step.
Paolo's chest tightened. His reflection in the glass stared back at him: pale, wide-eyed, jaw clenched. He hated that face. Hated how much of the outbreak had been spent like this—watching Eli fight, while he hid behind doors, behind walls, behind excuses.
He pounded a fist weakly against the wheel. "Why do you always have to save me? Why do I never save you?"
His gaze dropped to the key in the ignition. The wheel under his hands. His leg ached where it was splinted, but he could feel the strength in his arms, the weight of possibility humming through the steel frame around him.
If I try, I might fail. But if I don't… he dies right there.
His stomach lurched. He swallowed hard, eyes burning. "God, I don't even know if I can… but I have to. I have to try."
Outside, Eli faltered again, a claw carving fresh lines of red across his arm. Paolo's hand shook as it twisted toward the key.
And for the first time since the outbreak began, he wasn't thinking about hiding.
The obscurant lunged again, claws raking sparks against Eli's arnis as he blocked. The impact sent a jolt through his arms, nearly knocking the stick from his grip. He twisted, knife slashing, scoring a shallow cut across the thing's neck. Black fluid spattered the ground, but it wasn't enough. The creature shrieked, grabbed the stick with unnatural strength, and shoved forward.
Eli's boots scraped back across the concrete. His shoulder slammed against a light post, ribs screaming from the pressure. His grip on the knife faltered for a second as claws pressed closer, closer—
Inside the Hummer, Paolo's whole body was shaking. His palms slipped against the wheel, slick with sweat. His chest heaved like he couldn't pull in enough air. The ignition key gleamed, waiting.
If I wait any longer, he's dead.
He turned it. The Hummer roared awake, the sound tearing across the quiet street like thunder. Both Eli and the obscurant snapped their heads toward it. The creature's head jerked unnaturally, eyes fixing on the noise, but Eli's gaze caught Paolo's instead—wide, shocked.
Paolo's throat tightened. He whispered to himself, "Please, don't let me screw this up…" His foot hovered over the pedal, trembling. He had no training for this. No muscle memory. Just fear and raw desperation.
The obscurant hissed and started forward, away from Eli, toward the growl of the engine.
Paolo's heart pounded so hard it felt like it was rattling his ribs apart. He gripped the wheel with both hands, knuckles white, breath ragged. It's just a straight line. Just point and go. Don't think. Don't miss.
He slammed his foot down.
The Hummer lurched forward with a guttural roar, tires squealing against damp pavement. Paolo's head snapped back from the sudden surge, vision tunneling. The world blurred, narrowing into one terrifying focus: the pale, twisted shape dead center in the hood's path.
The obscurant shrieked and bounded sideways, claws scraping concrete as it tried to evade. Eli dove in the opposite direction, rolling hard across the asphalt.
For a split second, Paolo thought he'd missed. His chest seized—
No, no, no—
The front bumper caught the obscurant mid-turn. The impact was a sickening thud, followed by the crunch of bone. Its body lifted, sprawled across the hood, then was hurled violently aside as the Hummer plowed on. It slammed against a wall with a meaty crack, ichor streaking across the concrete like spilled ink.
Paolo's hands shook as he yanked the wheel to a halt, the vehicle shuddering to a stop a few feet ahead. He couldn't breathe. His ears rang from the engine's roar and the pounding of his pulse.
For a long heartbeat, he sat frozen, eyes wide, every nerve screaming. He had actually done it. He'd driven. He'd hit the thing.
But when his gaze darted to the rearview mirror, his stomach sank.
The obscurant was moving.
Its body writhed against the wall, limbs twitching, one arm hanging at a grotesque angle. It dragged itself up, ichor dripping from its mouth, its face caved in on one side but still alive, still furious.
"Shit," Paolo whispered, fear clawing up his throat.
Outside, Eli scrambled to his feet, ribs aching, arm bleeding. He turned toward the sound of Paolo's voice, then saw the creature stirring, pulling itself upright with a guttural snarl.
Eli's hand closed tighter around the knife at his belt. His jaw set, eyes narrowing. "It's not dead."
He limped forward, determination burning sharper than the pain. The arnis stick was gone, somewhere on the pavement, but his knife remained. His grip tightened around the hilt.
The fight wasn't over.