Feathers of hardened light cupped sky as the A.P.E. circled the clearing. It had returned periodically in the past few days but the bunker had been sealed each time. Now, however, the door gaped wide, creating a patch of darkness framed by concrete. Sketching long, lazy loops through the sky, the A.P.E. searched but found none of its primary targets outside and no signs they had left their shelter. Landing in a silent rush, it peered into the depths of the bunker before stalking forward in an awkward crawl, all this shape could manage on the ground. It passed cautiously into the dark before pausing at the top of the stairs.

The form it wore was optimal for swift, silent strikes from the skies, less so for stalking in the uncertain dark. Calculations flickered, and as it reverted to base programing rather than simulated instinct its shape wavered, becoming an indistinct fog of light and shadow.

Gael didn’t shout for his friends to attack; he simply hurled his weapon, the crude spear they’d fashioned from scrap launching from his hand like lightning. Tyver’s passed him in a rush of wind a second later, hurtling toward their target. A chance shift brought the A.P.E. up just enough that the weapons glanced off the orb’s surface, scattering sparks but only doing minor damage. The sphere rose, buzzing furiously as Gael saw the ghosts of several creatures appear. They overlaid the orb like reflections on clear water and reared back in eerie unison, mouths and beaks and hideous, grasping mandibles all spreading wide in a static-laced, warbling howl.

“Shut it!” Tyver howled back, hurling his spare knife. The orb skirted to one side, the projected beasts moving in tandem with it as the scream stopped. The specters faded, swirling around the sphere into a familiar shape: that of the writhing, blade-faced horror. It surged down the stairs in eerie silence, the fanning, razored petals that formed its head quivering.

“Back-back-back!”

Fast as Tyver and Gael were the A.P.E. was faster. It began to close on them just as they cleared the stairs.

The moment it passed into the hallway Wynn lunged from the shadow of the wall, their whole body aligning in a thrust almost too graceful to be an attack. The blade met leathery, pliant flesh before finding too-brief purchase on metal. The A.P.E. reared back without a visible sign of damage, then came lashing forward. Chitinous blades met Wynn’s arm for a heart-stopping second before Naomi was on the thing. There was nothing graceful about her strike: she’d found a clawhammer in the bunker and the raw savagery of her blow with it drove the creature’s head into the ground with a sickening crack. She pulled back to hit it again and found the hammer’s head had snapped off. Cursing, she jumped forward and nearly knocked Wynn down as the looping coils of the A.P.E. came boiling into the hallway, leaving shallow cuts on her calf but thankfully not moving fast enough to bring either of them down.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

There was a pause as the four of them backed further down the hall, watching the ape. It coiled in on itself, seeming to watch them right back. Gael had a moment to consider rushing the thing before it flickered again, shimmering lengths of slick skin resolving into a massive shape. In fact, it looked like a… Gael blinked.

“That’s a crab,” he said stupidly.

He paid for his moment of shock as the A.P.E., now all hooked carapace and heavy, bladed claws, came at him in a scuttling rush. He thrust his knife at the thing’s face by reflex and one of the claws snapped forward. There was a tug and his blade broke about an inch from the shearing guard.

“CRAB!”

The others grabbed him and hauled him back, thrusting him behind them before he could protest. The crab, its back at chest height to them, swayed back and forth, almost too big to maneuver in the hallway.

Too big for them to get past, as well. It advanced slowly, claws snapping almost idly at them. The four of them backed away until Gael’s shoulder blades bumped against something. He sidestepped, gently guiding his friends from behind past the sudden narrowing of the passage. Too wide to simply continue forward, the crab thrust a claw through the gap and they all leapt back. The crab rotated, legs pumping, and pressed into the cleared space in an awkward sidestep.

That’s when Kaya killed it.

Everything in the bunker had been built to last and the bunk frames were no exception. Solid enough use as building foundations, it had been half a day’s work between the five of them just to haul the things into place, let alone to stack them in an arch filling most of the corridor. Kaya was perched at the top, hidden behind a blanket and sharing the space with a stack of shield plate. It had taken another day to peel the plates from the bunker’s reactor housing, and all five of them had been needed to set the monstrously heavy things into carefully balanced place. She chose her moment well, levering the plates forward in a single, massive block. There was an indescribable crash of noise as the A.P.E. shattered beneath them, leaving only the plates and a freshly cracked floor.

Tyver blinked at the plates and then up at Kaya. “Nice timin’. That’s two f’you.”

“Naomi got the first one,” she said with a grin to match his. “But thanks.”

“First spoils t’last t‘touch, fair.” Tyver said with the air of one quoting scripture. “Street law.”

“You’re the only one from the street, Tyver,” Wynn said with a laugh as Naomi shook her head. “I agree though. We all had our shot, and all took them well.”

“I am sorry for freezing.” Gael said sheepishly. “I used to tease crabs back home. Mother told me it would get me in trouble one day. At least we didn’t need the disruptor. Father said saving for later was always smart.”

“He wasn’t wrong,” Kaya agreed. “And neither were you. All jokes aside, this is thanks to you, Gael. Using the plates was your idea.”

He shook his head. “It’s no different than what we did on the waves. Father-“

Kaya put a hand to his mouth, still grinning but now with a touch of sadness. “Gael, I’m not going to let you keep pushing credit to your parents. This worked because of you. Own it.”

Gael glanced around at his friends, took in their pride in him, and felt his protests die. “I… Yes. Thank you all.”

Tyver, grinning maliciously, shouted “Crab!” and collapsed in a giggling mess. The rest of them, elated with victory, followed suit.