Chapter 14

chapter fourteen A dozen skeletal arms and hands push the RV upward and then, finally, hurl it aside! Instantly, a swarm of bony figures crawls from out of the crater. Nearby, I see scattered, disconnected bones. They rattle and shiver—then also begin to rise. "Thrull's skeleton soldiers..." I gasp. "It's the bombs!" Quint says. "Each one is a tightly wrapped sphere of bone and vine." "And when the bomb blows," Dirk says, "the bones scatter." "And the scattered bones join together, forming skeleton soldiers," June realizes. "So... bone bombs, yeah?" I say. "Can we call them bone bombs?"

The vines seek out other vines. They snap out, lashing around bones, connecting them. They form skeletons. Skeletons that are now on the move... Some rise fully formed; others are still piecing themselves together as they start toward us. They are malformed monstrosities, with legs where arms should be, skulls turned the wrong way, spinal cords trailing like nightmarish tails. And just our luck—these malformed monstrosities still manage to wield weapons. One flashes a hatchet with a monster-scale blade. Another swings a bone club covered in spiky teeth.

"Oh, my word!" a voice cries out. It's Johnny Steve, ducked behind the base of the dinosaur. A few other monsters join him. But that cover won't keep them safe for long. More Mortar Monsters appear, all approaching the Mallusk. Bone bombs continue to explode, scattering bone and vine and forming new skeletons. All along the length of the Mallusk, the monstrosities are rising and marching. "We've gotta get back inside!" June shouts. "The enemy is blocking our only path," Quint says, pointing to the skeletons climbing over the RV. "Then we go through them," June says. Dirk smiles. "That's my kinda plan." And with that, we charge forward, barreling into the monstrous mob! I swing the Slicer wildly, crack after crack ringing out as baseball bat meets bone. A long, swiping arm—protruding from the place where the skeleton's head should be—is severed.

But all around us, the bony figures roar—twisting and fusing and rising higher to engulf us in a chaotic, close- quarters brawl...

The only way to take these guys out for good is drer and we don't have him. Thanks for the reminder. Really appreciate it.

We're able to split the skeleton horde into two groups, allowing us to fight our way through the middle. I feel a sharp breeze as one final ax swing just misses me, then— "See ya around!" June shouts as we push through, leaving them in the dust. "But there's bad news ahead, friends," Quint says, pointing to the stucco dinosaur. A skeleton pack has descended upon it, swarming Johnny Steve and a group of Mallusk City monsters. Johnny Steve slashes his walking sword at the skeletons, keeping them at bay. The monsters move back and forth along the dinosaur's tail, ducking beneath it as one skeleton attacks, then hopping back over it as more approach. "Get them back to the Mallusk!" I shout at Johnny Steve. "Go now! You have a clear—" BOOM! The bone bomb explodes in the open space between the gangplank and the dinosaur. The rising skeleton monstrosities have cut the only path back to the Mallusk. Terrified screams fill the air as our monster friends realize they're trapped...