Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Courage
Both of them slammed into the stacked steel. Long Ming leaned against the metal, locked both hands around the Man-eater’s throat, drove his left foot into the ground, wrapped his right leg around its body, and used every ounce of strength to pin it as he shouted to Gu Yi: “Hurry!”
Gu Yi raised the gun and asked, nervous: “Where should I shoot?”
Long Ming gritted his teeth and barked: “The back!”
Gu Yi hesitated, voice shaky: “What if it goes through and hits you?”
Long Ming roared, veins bulging: “It won’t. Shoot now, I can’t hold it!”
Gu Yi forced himself to pull the trigger.
Bang! The Man-eater’s back burst open. A large patch was torn to shreds and black blood sprayed everywhere.
The Man-eater howled in pain.
Long Ming shoved the creature away, sprang to his feet at high speed, and ran to Gu Yi and Chen Wei. He panted hard and stared at the Man-eater ahead.
Only then did he see it clearly: a humanoid about 1.6 meters tall, skin hardened like keratin, hands turned to claws, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Wounded, the Man-eater struggled up and bared its teeth at the three of them with a harsh roar.
Chen Wei’s voice shook as he blurted: “What is this thing? Why won’t it die!”
Gu Yi snapped open the double-barreled handgun, tipped out two spent shells, and fumbled two fresh rounds into the chambers. [It’s only a game,] he told himself, [but it feels way too real.]
The Man-eater charged straight at them.
Chen Wei yelled, tight with panic: “It’s rushing us, take it down!”
Gu Yi raised the double-barreled handgun with trembling hands and aimed.
Long Ming frowned at how shaken Gu Yi was, snatched the pistol in one motion, lifted it with calm focus, leveled it at the charging Man-eater, and yanked the trigger.
Bang! The Man-eater’s head exploded. Thick fluid and bits of flesh splattered out as the body crashed to the floor.
Gu Yi and Chen Wei shouted with joy: “Awesome!”
Long Ming let out a long breath.
The very next second he shouted a warning: “Watch out, there’s another.”
Gu Yi and Chen Wei jumped and looked around in a panic.
Long Ming’s face darkened as he stared toward a pile of steel on the right.
A moment later, a two-meter-tall Man-eater with a stronger build stepped out from behind the stacked metal, grinning.
Gu Yi and Chen Wei stared and stammered: “No way, this one looks bigger and stronger.”
Long Ming kept his eyes on the Man-eater and held out his hand to Gu Yi, steady and direct: “Ammo.”
Gu Yi faltered: “N-no…”
Long Ming cut him off, voice cold: “No what, give me the bullets!”
Gu Yi swallowed hard and admitted: “None left.”
Long Ming’s face went even darker. He tossed the empty gun back to Gu Yi.
The Man-eater fixed its blood-red eyes on them and came forward step by step.
Chen Wei and Gu Yi edged back as fear rose: “Let’s run.”
Long Ming watched it approach, took a deep breath, and his gaze grew firm. He did not back away; instead he bent, grabbed a fallen axe, and faced the Man-eater.
Gu Yi and Chen Wei were stunned when they saw him lift the axe to meet the enemy. They asked in disbelief: “Bro, you’re not running?”
Long Ming kept his eyes locked on the Man-eater and said in a low voice: “Can we outrun it?” [Its leg muscles are no joke. We can’t beat it in a sprint. If we’re dead either way, then we fight. And this axe can still bite.]
Gu Yi clenched his jaw and said, forcing himself to be brave: “Forget it, let’s fight it.”
Chen Wei glanced around, then grabbed an iron hammer from the ground and nodded: “Yeah, fight.”
Gu Yi crouched to grab tools and came up with a screwdriver and a saw, grumbling: “Why is there nothing useful?”
Long Ming shot them a quick side glance. He was a little surprised they hadn’t run.
The Man-eater roared and burst forward. Long Ming didn’t hesitate. He charged with the axe.
At the instant they closed, the Man-eater slashed with a sharp claw toward Long Ming.
Long Ming held his breath and twisted his body. He slipped past the claw by a hair.
He swung with all his strength. The axe smashed into the Man-eater’s chest.
Crack! The blade bit partway in, but the massive rebound numbed Long Ming’s arms. It felt like chopping hard bone.
The Man-eater screamed from the hit.
Long Ming yanked the axe free and started to swing again, but the Man-eater lashed out with a furious kick to Long Ming’s stomach.
Bang! The blow sent Long Ming staggering backward. He fell hard.
He clutched his belly as sharp pain almost knocked him out, but he forced himself to rise.
The Man-eater lunged for him without slowing.
Chen Wei rushed in and swung the hammer at the creature: “Take my hammer!”
The Man-eater snapped its head toward Chen Wei and shot out a claw, catching the hammer.
Chen Wei’s eyes went wide.
Then the Man-eater yanked the hammer and flung it, tossing Chen Wei with it like a rag doll.
Thud! Chen Wei slammed into the stacked steel, then crashed to the floor and groaned: “Ah, that hurts!”
The Man-eater turned back to Long Ming and charged again.
Long Ming gripped the axe, stared down the rush, and rolled to the right, slipping past its pounce.
He popped to his feet and sprinted at its flank, chopping again.
The Man-eater spun and raked with its claw.
Clang! Axe met claw. A heavy force blasted through the axe into Long Ming’s body and drove him back several steps.
The Man-eater bared its teeth and was about to tear into him.
Gu Yi sprinted up from behind with a thick metal bucket and slammed it down over the creature’s head.
The Man-eater lost its sight and went wild, clawing at the bucket with its left hand.
Long Ming seized the moment and shouted: “Grab its left arm!”
Gu Yi wrapped both arms around the Man-eater’s left arm from behind and held on to stop it from ripping off the bucket.
The Man-eater raised its right claw.
Chen Wei, seeing this, charged in and grabbed the right arm with both hands.
The creature thrashed with brutal strength. Gu Yi and Chen Wei held on with all they had, faces turning red.
Long Ming barked: “Hold it!”
He rushed in and chopped at the neck with a full-force strike.
Crack! The axe sank halfway but didn’t cut through.
The Man-eater roared and whipped its body, flinging both Gu Yi and Chen Wei off.
Thud! They hit the floor and cried out: “Ow!”
Long Ming didn’t panic. He ripped the axe free, took a few quick steps back, lined up on the wound, gathered his strength, leaped, and brought the axe down with everything he had.
Crunch!
This time the Man-eater’s head came off clean.
Long Ming straightened, bent over again, and sucked in air, his chest heaving.
Holding their waists and hissing through their teeth, Gu Yi and Chen Wei got to their feet. Seeing the severed head, they looked at Long Ming with new eyes and threw him thumbs-up as they said: “Bro, you’re so brave!”
Long Ming steadied his breathing and said coolly: “This place isn’t safe. Spread out, search for anything useful, then pull out.”
Gu Yi and Chen Wei nodded fast: “Okay.”
They hurried out of the warehouse, leaving it to Long Ming.