“Holy mother of God.” John whispered as his eyes came to rest upon the tail end of a giant, scaly beast.

“What’s going on?” Chris got up from the back seat and turned himself around to gaze out of the same window as John. “… Oh fuck.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jared hopped off of the metallic roof and landed beside the vehicle. With one hand grabbing onto the bottom of the bus, he crouched down to his knees and crawled to the edge of the broken off concrete. As his head peeked over the edge of the separated road his eyes grew wide as he found himself staring down at a massive form covered in dust and gravel. Slowly starting to turn his head, Jared’s eyes scanned the scaly body beneath him. His eyes crossed over the two forelegs and led him to a short, fat neck which held a massive cranium, one the size of the bus it carried, if not larger.

The beast below spoke in a deep growl that echoed throughout the air and began to move slowly. Jared pushed himself to his feet and pressed flat against the bus as the platform he stood on shook suddenly. Looking around him, he could see that the town was passing by rather slowly.

As the beast drew further away from the spot it emerged from, Jared realized that it was slowly moving towards the town hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark sat himself down on the lowest step of the concrete walkway leading up to the town hall. The cold concrete provided little comfort for his aching body, but, at the moment, it felt much better than standing. With a crack of his back, Mark let out a slight sigh of pleasure, a sound which he had thought he would never hear again.

Sitting alone, Mark gazed around at the violated town, a place he had once considered his home. A recently paved road (which was a rare commodity in Rocky Point) lay in shambles, chunks of concrete having been torn from the ground during a previous battle. His eyes following the road, Mark came to the walkway of a small barbershop, the same place he had his hair cut for the eighteen years of his life. The perfect white concrete that made up the outside of the building was painted with specks of red blood, which still dripped down the picture window that allowed a view into the shop. The body of the hapless shop owner was pinned against the wall by an invisible force, his stomach doused in blood where the object pierced his body.

Mark peeled his eyes away from the gruesome scene and focused them on the figure walking towards him. The curvaceous Alyssa Drakeford would have been an object of the young teen’s affection before the war, but amidst the death and destruction, she was the last thing to cross his mind. As she neared him, Mark moved himself onto a broken piece of the concrete stair, allowing Alyssa to enjoy the least bit of comfort she could. Even in war, Mark was able to retain his gentlemanly nature.

Taking Mark’s offer, Alyssa sat next to him, her hand brushing his shoulder softly as she sat.

“God Damn, this feels good.” Mark sighed as he shifted in his place, reacting to Alyssa’s seemingly accidental touch.

“There’s nobody for at least a mile.”

Mark grunted, confusion growing on his face as he pondered the meaning behind Alyssa’s comment.

“I guess Romeo and Dennis found some survivors.” Alyssa added, seeing the look of confusion on Mark.

“Either that, or they’re not going to come back until they do.”

Nodding, Alyssa turned herself towards Mark. “How are you holding up?”

“Confused, for the most part.”

“What’s there to be confused about? You’ve come to accept what you are, you know what you’re purpose is, and…”

“How do we know that we’re not just delaying the inevitable?”

“Even if we are just delaying it, we will still be here when it happens again. We’ll always be here to guard Earth.”

Mark chuckled. “You make us sound like guardian angels.”

“That’s what we are.” Alyssa paused and smiled to herself. “We’re a supernatural INS.”

Alyssa moved herself closer to Mark, draping her harm over his shoulder. “We’ve come this far, Mark. Let’s make sure it all wasn’t a waste.”

Mark was about to respond when he heard the noise. A reoccurring pounding that vibrated the ground just enough that Mark could feel it. The noise started to grow louder and closer, and as it did so, the vibrations also grew.

“Mark?”

“Definitely… something big.” Mark stood up from the step and planted himself firmly on the ground. “And unfriendly.”

Mark turned his head back to Alyssa, the handle of his blade forming in the palm of his hand. “Jared’s with it.”

“Is he alive?” Alyssa drew her shotgun from its invisible holster, the barrel shining in the daylight.

“As far as I can…” Mark’s voice trailed off and his eyes grew wide.

Coming into view from behind a thick mesh of trees was the source of the pounding vibrations. A quadruped beast, scaly from head to tail, pounded its way around the forest and started its way towards the safe house. The eyes of the beast shined a bright red and its mouth salivated as the two hybrids guarding the safe-house caught its attention. The beast let out a bellowing roar and quickened its pace to a slow run, the massive weight of the creature causing the road beneath to crack and crumble with each step.

“Mark…” Alyssa nudged her partner’s shoulder gently, lifting her hand up towards the beast.

Mark strained his eyes until he could just barely make out the yellow shape sitting atop the large creature. After a few more seconds, a black silhouette of a person clinging to the side of the bus appeared, and Mark was sure of who it was.

“I guess it’s quicker than driving.” Mark spoke dryly.

“What do we do? It’s fucking huge.”

Mark hesitated, staring at the oncoming monstrosity. “We have to take out its legs.”

“Good luck with that.” Alyssa sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Behemoth tore down the streets as fast as its muscular legs would take it. Underneath its massive form, the streets crumbled knocked small bits of concrete against its four scaly limbs. As it headed straight for its target, Behemoth paid no mind to the small bit of weight that lay on its back; the hitchhiker felt no different than the parasitic ghouls that would suck the souls of the living through the large beast’s stomach. No pain, no nuisance.

The prey standing in front of the small building grew closer, their scent suddenly hitting Behemoth’s nasal. Having a poor olfactory sense left the creature to rely on its perfect eyesight, which would normally not pose a problem, since, in hell, no scent could be picked up over the stench of death; but here, in the mortal realm, the ability to smell was almost a vital part in survival.

From where the beast had just come from, a vast city which held the title Las Vegas, Behemoth’s inability to pick up scent at a long range left the beast vulnerable in many instance. Being a city full of buildings, the Holy Army had many places to hide in order to not be picked up by Behemoth’s supernatural eyesight.

The beast let out a bellowing roar and bowed its head, its massive jaw cracking as it lowered. With its mouth wide open, the beast was giving its prey a first rate view of the fiery pit they were to be devoured to.

A burning pain struck Behemoth’s back where the nuisance was, bringing the beast’s mouth to clamp shut as it stopped and shook its body, hoping to quickly rid itself of the pain that started to course through it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jared stared ahead of him, watching as the beast’s gaping mouth grew closer and closer to Mark and Alyssa. Pushing himself away from the bus, he moved to the edge of the concrete slab and clambered down onto the creature’s rough and scaly back. Kneeling down against the beast’s skin, Jared pressed his hand firm against the creature, the tips of his fingers pressing hard. Jared closed his eyes. Instead of seeing an endless darkness, Jared was treated to a bright aura, which he could feel coursing through his body. For a moment, there was complete silence until the high pitch shrill of the beast broke the stillness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It stopped.” Mark pulled gently on Alyssa’s arm as he made a run for the beast.

Alyssa followed Mark. Although unsure of his plan, she knew he had to have one. The teen hadn’t been the type of person to just run into a battle blind so far, and Alyssa felt he wasn’t going to start now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the sudden stop of the beast, the slab of concrete jerked forward and started to slide down the creature. As the concrete slowly descended, the bus full of passengers jerked to one side, causing it to lift off of one set of wheels.

“Holy shit!” As the bus tipped, John felt himself falling towards the bus’ door. He gripped the steering wheel and pulled against his weight, trying to keep himself in his seat.

“Shift your weight. Try to stay on the other side!” Chris could be heard over the various screams of the other passengers. He gripped one of the passenger seats and pulled himself up, pressing himself against a window. Peering outside of the bus, Chris was treated to a first rate view of the sky, and nothing else. “Do it! Shift!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feeling that the beast had stopped, Jared removed his hand from the monster’s back, the white aura that surrounded it fading slowly. Above the various growls of the beast, Jared could hear faint screams coming from behind him.

“The bus!” Jared turned where he was standing to see that the bus had started to slowly tip over.

Franticly, Jared pushed off of the creatures back and took flight, his wings spreading the moment he hit the air. Soaring against the slight wind that blew, Jared glided towards the roof of the bus. Drawing one of his short swords, Jared jabbed the tip of the blade through the metallic roof and pulled horizontally, the metal slicing easily under the hybrid’s strength. Turning the blade, Jared sliced the roof vertically to give himself enough slack to pull the metal back. Tossing his blade to the side, Jared gripped the frayed metal and pulled back as hard as he could, the jagged edges digging deep into his hand. Ignoring the pain, Jared pulled harder until there was enough room for several people to fit through.

“Jared! What’s your plan?” Jon came running to the new opening, staring up at the hybrid.

“Carry you guys out in twos.” Jared dropped inside of the bus. “Women and children first.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark stopped in his tracks as he stared up at the creature’s massive form. Bringing his blade in front of him, Mark turned his head to Alyssa.

“Go help Jared. I’ll take care of this.”

“Are you insane?” Alyssa protested, although she was already set to take flight.

“Yes, now go!” Mark snapped, turning himself back towards the beast. “Behemoth!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Behemoth stopped moving instantly, its dark eyes staring down at the tiny prey that stood before it. The creature let out a low growl and snapped its jaw, saliva dripping down its chin. Eyeing up its prey, Behemoth let out what seemed to be a laugh – a low, maniacal laugh.

“Such high hopes for such a puny being.” The creature spoke, its voice emanating from thin air. “I will kill you, just like all the others.”

The hybrid snickered, swinging its weapon in front of him. “Are you so sure about that?”