As he pried the hood open, the silence broke. Not a scream, but a wet, rhythmic slapping sound. Swarmer.
Deacon didn't look up. He felt the shift in the air, the smell of wet copper and rot. He yanked the pump free just as a shadow lunged. He rolled, the gravel tearing at his vest, and came up with his 9mm leveled. Days_Gone_v1.06-Razor1911.part09.rar
"Not today," Deacon muttered, kicking the kickstand up. He vanished into the treeline just as the rest of the pack emerged from the tunnel, leaving nothing behind but the smell of exhaust and the quiet ring of a spent casing. As he pried the hood open, the silence broke
He wasn't looking at the scenery. He was listening for the click-clack of claws on asphalt. Deacon didn't look up
Deacon St. John eased off the throttle, letting the drift of the Oregon highway carry him. To his left, the Cascades were jagged teeth against a bruised purple sky. To his right, the "Broken Road"—a graveyard of rusted sedans and abandoned SUVs.
The Freaker was pale, its skin stretched like parchment over a ribcage that shouldn't have been moving. It hissed, a sound like steam escaping a pipe. Deacon didn't waste words. One shot, muffled by the wind. The threat folded into the dirt.
He scrambled back to the bike, his hands shaking as he rigged the pump. The engine turned over on the third try, a guttural roar that felt like a heartbeat.
