As Alexander’s body dropped towards the scrambling creatures below him his would be rescuer was torn apart. The same claws that had torn the man from the seat of his motorcycle simply clenched, the massive mutant easily cracking bones and smashing organs. With a sickening noise the man’s life was squeezed from him, though the laugh that escaped from his throat burned the air.

The motorcycle he had been riding skidded out of control, its wheels careening and crushing more of the beasts and the metal began to twist and roll. All along its frame spikes and weapons had been welded turning the out of control vehicle into a ball of death. Shredded limbs and piercing cries filled the air as the mutants reacted instinctively. Most simply tore into the man’s corpse, or what they could reach of it, feasting and gorging themselves on whatever scraps the giant had dropped or ignored. But still others turned towards the other bobbing lights, the body of the boy at their feet ignored for a moment as they began to howl. The approaching engines and the men that rode them met the fierce cries with their own challenges, screaming madly as metal and flesh clashed on top of the rubble strewn street.

One four wheeled monstrosity toppled almost immediately upon hitting the field of rubble, sending the crew operating it and the people that rode on the hood tumbling into fierce creatures that surrounded them. Again fear had no place in these men, their eyes and voices filled with joy and energy that would have sickened the unconscious boy at their feet immensely. They fought the mutants with a fervor that few could match, blades glistening in headlights already damp with blood as they began to stab and slash at the bodies before them.

Their allies cared little for their safety as they joined the fray, vehicle after vehicle slamming into foe and friend alike, sending bodies careening into the sky. Despite the nature of the attack against them the mutants didn’t buckle. Beasts leapt into cockpits and vacant seats, tearing about all those inside in a moment and causing more than a few of the metal coffins to veer off and slam into walls or simply flip moments later. The battle surrounding the unconscious boy was chaotic and bloody, hundreds of bodies writhing and fighting merely for the sake of it. A small defensive formation quickly formed around Alexander’s body, protecting the boy with grins and serrated blades.

The giant mutant, which towered above all surrounding it, proved to be the center of attention. Crew after crew of crazed men and women did battle with the creature. Nimble metal fleas skirted around it, tumbling over uneven ground as their passengers fired shot after shot. Kicking and thrashing the massive creature lashed out at all that got near it, toppling a nearby wall as the mutant haphazardly threw one out of control vehicle away. Summoning its strength the beast crouched, huffing and taking in a deep breath before letting out a thunderous roar. It charged towards the vehicles still streaming into the street, slamming past its smaller brothers and sisters and stomping on all humans it passed.

One unlucky crew overestimated the frame they depended on and slammed into the beast head on. Metal curved around hardened flesh as both the crew and the vehicle itself compressed against the bony plates of the giant. And still it kept moving, a trail of destruction left in its massive wake. Every step it took made the ground about it shudder and crack, every huffing breath and vocalization nearly deafening those around it.

As the chaos reigned about Alexander, one delicate hand would tap at his chin, testing for a moment before roughly shoving it upwards. Grasping at his neck for a moment its owner sighed before dropping fully onto their knees. Tugging a bag off their back they drew out a small medical kit. Clawed fingers would tear open a bag as the creature got to work, its eyes focused on the child as it began to apply its craft.

A stray mutant eventually approached, madly slicing its way through the haphazard wall of people that had formed in between the two helpless non-combatants. Mouth filled with frothy gore it immediately focused on the other attending to Alexander, clawed hands tearing at all those around it. Pale muscles flexed with unholy strength as it howled, drawing the attention of all the other creatures surrounding it. The howl spread out amongst the sea of bodies, dozens of eyes immediately turning to the source immediately.

Swearing, the hooded figure tending to Alexander began to pack up, gesturing and growling out orders. Bloody fingers grabbed the boys stained and ruined shirt before the slight creature rolled, lifting the boy onto its back. Smaller than the young teen it struggled to shoulder the weight as its mad human allies began to slam into the hole now created by the enraged creature. Golden eyes gleamed beneath a dark hood as the creature tending to Alexander began to move.

When the giant slammed into the small defensive circle a moment later it carried with it the many wounds of its battles. Spikes from various vehicles it had claimed hung deep in its skin, poisonous blood pouring from fresh wounds as it forced itself through the throng. One ragged dressed woman screamed a challenge as she attempted to hold the line, her body a bloody pulp a moment later. The giant swung its massive arm in a clumsy arc, scattering human bodies and cracking bone as its beady eyes finally found the target of its wrath. Bellowing it began to slather incoherently, a long pink tongue dropping from its mouth and dripping saliva onto the damp ground below. Its breath rumbled its chest, steam puffing from its mouth as it gazed at the creature carrying the boy it had downed a few minutes before. Not only had another invaded the giant’s territory, it was attempting to steal its meal.

Sickening intelligence twisted in the giant’s black eyes as it regarded the pair, the bony armor covering its frame allowing it to ignore the rabid humans slamming blades against it. Two predators glared at each other, two apex creatures of different species meeting by chance in the night, one issuing a challenge it couldn’t ignore.

The creature carrying Alexander was terrified, its golden eyes regarding the creature before it with both awe and fear. Their hands clasped tightly into Alexander’s still bleeding frame as the stumbled a dozen step backwards, attempting to put distance between themselves and the beast before them. Its yellow eyes could see everything in the dim light surrounding them. It had seen the many humans the beast had torn to shreds. It had seen the bloody wrecks it had left in its wake. It knew it stood no chance against the giant, for it was just a fledgling. Its thralls had bought it time but it was quickly running out of that as well.

The smaller creature stumbled, the hood on its head slipping down to its neck, exposing a bat like face with its nostrils flaring as its lipped tightened. If Alexander had been awake he would have instantly recognized it as similar to the creature he had just met in the tunnels, but with a few marked differences. Namely this one seemed to be trying to rescue him, which he doubted had been the others goal.

Hissing the creature carrying the boy took another hesitating step back, its eyes searching the dark for anything that it could use. It chittered loudly, an inhuman voice sending out orders as it cast its eyes towards the humans that surrounded it. Mad eyes turned, watching the creature adoringly for a moment or two, before they acted. One by one humans began to abandon the perimeter, turning their back to the mutants that began to tear them apart with a vigor that had rivaled the earlier mad charge. Human after human began to fall, their bodies clogging the ground below, but they eventually achieved their goal.

Body after body began slamming into the giant. The first few were simply tossed away, massive limbs flexing and scattering the bodies that attempted to hamper it. But as time went on, and as more humans began to abandon the line, their goal became apparent. Clasping fingers began to tear at bony plates, scrambling for any sort of purchase.

As the first gripped at their holds others would soon join them, grabbing and hampering the massive creature’s movements to the best of their abilities. Still more began to slip thin knives into small cracks in the armor, while others clambered and climbed over the bodies of their comrades to reach higher and higher. All semblance of humanity began to drop from those that had received the order, the writhing mass of limbs resembling swarming ants as they fought to drive the beast to the ground below.

Where vehicle and weapon had failed, the massed bodies succeeded. The giant’s strength began to fail, the heavy weight of the humans hanging from its limbs making its movements sluggish and slow. As more and more weapons found cracks in its armor thousands of tiny cuts began to appear. Heated blood splashed and sprayed about it as it collapsed first to a single knee, and then to another as its body began to fail it. Still the damage had been done, the circle that had been protecting its inhabitants collapsed. Though the giant had been stopped its much smaller brethren had begun to break in. One by one the last humans began to be overwhelmed, their bodies falling only to be butchered a moment later by starving mouths and grasping fingers.

But the panic in the yellow eyes below Alexander’s limp form had lost the panic that had been forming within them. With one hand it lifted the hood once again over its face, hiding the elongated ears and flat nose once again. Taking a few steps it waited to finds its strength once again before letting out a piercing cry. One by one the surviving humans began to disengage from combat, finishing the mutants where they could or fighting on the retreat. Most headed for the discarded vehicles, though others travelled deeper in the ruins. They provided distractions that gave much needed time for their allies to pack themselves up once more onto the vehicles that had carried them there.

A small hard packed cadre fought to a larger four wheeled ball of spikes that had once been a truck. Placing Alexander carefully into the back seat the creature clambered in beside him, already taking out its medical kit once again. Still more humans died as the engines began to roar, the hundreds of bestial mutants surrounding them realizing their prey was about to escape. Glass windows were smashed as wheels began to turn, tonnes of metal once again powered and rolling the way they had come. Spinning tires spat up dust and gore in equal measure, as the convoy once again headed out in the night.

The carnage they had left behind them was immense. Hundreds of dead humans and mutants lay piled together. Still more fought and died even now as wounds began to drop those that had been left behind. Though they had felled the giant, the humungous creature still breathed, one shaking arm lifting its chest off the ground to gaze about it. It would find a feast surrounding it that it had not witnessed in years, a banquet of meat that would last it and the others for days. It was a glorious day for the creature, and even the shattered metal of the vehicles surrounding it didn’t taint the small grin that formed on its face.

Coughing and spluttering it fought its way to the choicest pile of meat and began to gorge itself. Soon its wounds were forgotten as it began to enjoy the meal in earnest. One by one its kin joined it, digging in as the last signs of fighting abated.

Alexander’s bouncing body had its wounds slowly tended too by steady hands. Clawed fingers delicately ran along ragged wounds, sealing them with twine and needles. Stitches were applied, blood was transfused, and life was once again forced into the boy. That was what the creature that now tended him had been ordered to do. As Alexander coughed and spluttered, a smile began to creep onto its face. Row after row of sharp teeth clicked and clattered as it began to laugh. The cold harsh noise filled the small cabin as the beast finished its work. It had definitely earned its pay that night.