She is Fatal to Death (Standalone Story)

Chapter 25 (The New Incomer)

Tahoma

Tahoma exited the car despite Renata's pleas. She didn't quite realize how strong he was, and that some stragglers, despite them grouping together being strange, were nothing to him. The inside of the car shone with the bright light, reassuring him that she was safe from them in the meantime.

As he removed a weapon off his body, he surveyed their surroundings and realized there were far more than he had initially assumed—maybe ten or fifteen. He muttered a curse at this new development. He doubted even Nirvi had seen anything like this, and she was over eight hundred years old.

Were stragglers evolving?

He loosened up his muscles and focused his strength. He noted that the first one attacked him instead of displaying the usual docile behavior they possessed toward the undying—it's not like vampires had the fresh blood that stragglers sought. With a quick slice of his weapon, their head came clean off.

They still weren't especially quick, so he mowed through them. They didn't put up much fight, much to his relief. He didn't appreciate being exposed out here with Renata stationed like a sitting duck.

There were around five left when he paused to look back at the car. He honed in on Renata's horrified expression and knew he needed to speed things up. The last thing she needed was one more experience of trauma.

He refocused, but it was too late. The person was on him.

Tahoma twisted to meet them, whoever they were. They shouted in response to the speed of his movements. He caught the first hit with his blade. They too were quick. They were older than he thought they would be.

He grunted as the stragglers continued to close in while he fought off the assailant.

He could have easily killed them, but he needed to subdue them and question them on his own turf. Things were just too risky and unknown. He waited as they fought on. After only a few seconds of learning their movements, he found his opening. He spun and shot out his foot fueled by his mighty strength. There was a crunch, followed by a feminine scream that waned as the body flew across the road.

He removed a couple stragglers' heads along the way as he ran after the assailant who was clutching their face.

She was clutching her face, trying to stop the bleeding. "No," she whined as more blood dripped. The idiot didn't even bother to wear their armor during this mission. Tahoma was extremely insulted that he was seen as an easy target.

"You're good," Tahoma commented, "but you're still too young and too arrogant to bring your second skin. Whoever sent you has just signed their death warrant...and yours." He didn't waste anymore time and rendered her unconscious with another kick of his foot.

"Tahoma?" Renata shouted from the car. He appreciated the worry in her tone. He was also glad that she didn't step out of the car. His senses didn't pick up on any more threats nearby, but he preferred to be safe rather than sorry.

He put a hand up and walked in the line of the car's headlights. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "I'm gonna move the spikes. We'll wait for reinforcements and head back."

Her shoulders sagged. "Okay, Nirvi said she is out of town but is sending someone named Aharon?"

Tahoma smiled and only gave a thumb's up in return.

He turned away and jogged up the road. Once he was able to get the spikes out of the way, there was a familiar woosh of air that stirs the hairs around his head.

"I thought Nirvi was attempting to be funny when she said you and your friend were being attacked by multiple stragglers," a thick voice mused to his side.