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.When the creature finally howled from the shadowsatop the roof, and Leon snapped the shotgun up, whathe saw actually made him freeze.In the second it tookhim to really see it, his vengeful fury blew away like somuch dust, replaced by an absolute bone-chilling awe.Holy shit.The thing was still shrieking, its head thrown back,the brutal, gurgling scream like the voice of hell in themoving dark.It had been a man, once - arms and legs, shreds of clothing still hanging from its hulkingbody - but everything human about it had changed,was still changing as it bellowed its rage into the coldblack, and Leon could only stare.Its body was swollen and rippling with strangemuscles, the bare chest puffed and bloated with itsendless scream.Its right arm was six inches longerthan the left, the stained bone claws jutting from thepulsing hand.And the bulbous moving tumor in itsright bicep looked like nothing so much as an eyeballthe size of a dinner plate, jerking wetly from side toside as if searching.and the scream was changing, too, getting deep-er, rougher, the shaggy face falling forward andmelting into its chest.Like hot wax, like a movieeffect, the creature's head flowed into its upper body,disappearing smoothly into the inflamed and greedyskin.and at the same time, another face was forming,growing, rising up from the back of its neck with ahorrible snapping sound, like fingers being broken.Slitted eyes cracked open, a bony red hole of a mouthforming, taking up the furious cry with a new voice.and Leon squeezed the trigger in denial, a denialof the monster's unholy existence.Boom!The shot hit its chest, and a thick, purplish bloodsprayed out, cutting off the creature's scream, butthat was all it did.The monster's new face angledtoward Leon, the domed head tilting.and it hopped down onto the platform, landingin a half-crouch on legs as big around as Leon's chest.It took one jumping, crooked step forward and wasclose enough for Leon to smell the strange, chemicalmusk that poured from its glistening skin and seethat the wound on its chest had stopped bleeding, thatthe strange flesh was eating the tiny holes.The creature raised its mighty claw and Leonstumbled backwards, pumping another round andfiring as the talons came down.shhink!.and sparks flew up from the metal rail as the shotblasted into the creature's stomach, more purplishfluid spattering from its body.The almost point-blankrange of the heavy round barely fazed the toweringmonster.It took another step, and Leon backed away,pumping another roun.and he tripped on the steps that led up to thetransport room, tripped and fell on his ass, the roundgoing high over the creature's bullet-shaped head.One more step and it would be on him - - I'm dead -- except it didn't take the step.Instead, it turnedtoward the railing, its bizarre head tilting, the pits ofits rudimentary nostrils flaring.and silently, almost gracefully, it leapt over theedge of the platform, out into the passing darkness.For a moment, Leon didn't move.He couldn't, hewas too busy trying to understand that the monsterhadn't killed him.It had smelled or sensed some-thing, it had broken off the attack that it mostcertainly would have won and had jumped off themoving transport.I'm not dead.It's gone, and I'm not dead.Why, he didn't know, and couldn't begin to guess.Accepting that he was alive was enough and a shorttime later, maybe no more than a few seconds, hisknotted thoughts and senses told him that the trans-port was slowing down, that the shaft was gettinglighter, the blackness washing to gray.Leon crawled to his feet and went to check on Ada.Sherry had heard the monster from far away, fromsomewhere deep in the giant hole, and felt even morescared than she had when the giant - Mr.X, Clairecalled him - had come into the train station.Clairehad said it probably wasn't even the monster, that itwas most likely some machine problem, but Sherrywasn't convinced.The sound was so distant andstrange that it could have been something else.but what if it isn't? What if Claire's wrong?They stood outside a warehouse in the chill of thedark, stood over the big hole in the ground and waitedfor the mechanical noises to stop.The almost-fullmoon was low in the sky, and Sherry could tell by thedeep blue light of the horizon that it was very early inthe morning; she didn't feel tired, though.She feltscared and anxious, and even with Claire holding herhand she didn't want to go down into the black holewhere the monster could be.After what seemed like a long time, the hummingnoise of the machinery stopped, and Claire steppedback from the hole - The transport shaft, she saidand turned back toward the warehouse."Let's go see if we can recall the.Sherry?"Sherry hadn't moved to follow her.She stareddown into the hole, holding her charm and wishingthat she was brave like Claire, but she wasn't, sheknew she wasn't, and she didn't want to go down intothe dark.I can't, I can't go down there, I'm NOT like Claireand I don't care if that's where my mom went, I don'tcare at all. Sherry felt warmth across her back and looked up,startled, to see that Claire had taken off her vest andwas slipping it over her shoulders."I want you to have this," Claire said, and in spiteof her fear, Sherry felt a sudden rush of confusedhappiness."But.why? It's yours, and you'll get cold."Claire ignored her for a minute, helping her put iton.It was too big for her and it had some dirt on it,but it was the coolest thing Sherry thought she'd everworn.For me.She wants me to have it.Claire knelt in front of her, now wearing only a thinblack T-shirt and shorts.She looked at her veryseriously, pulling the vest closed over Sherry's chest."I want you to have it because I can tell that you'rescared," she said firmly, "and I've had it for a longtime, and when I wear it, I feel like I can kick ass.Likenothing can stop me.My brother has a leather jacketwith the same design on the back, and he kicks ass,but he got the idea from me."She smiled suddenly, a tired, warm smile that madeSherry forget about the monster, just for a minute."So now it's yours, and every time you wear it, Iwant you to remember that I think you are the besttwelve-year-old who ever walked."Sherry smiled back, hugging the faded pink denimto her body."And it's a bribe, huh?"Claire nodded without hesitation."Yes.And it's abribe.So what do you say?"Sighing, Sherry reached for her hand, and theywalked back into the warehouse to find the controlsfor the elevator.Ada woke up as Leon set her gently on a creakingcot, woke up with a pounding headache and a pain inher side.Her first thought was that she'd been shot,but as she opened her eyes, and Leon's worried, paleface swam into focus, she remembered.He was going to kiss me, I think.and then."What happened?"Leon reached down and brushed her hair off of herforehead, smiling a little."A monster happened.Thesame one that got Bertolucci, I think.It put its handthrough the wall of the transport and knocked youover.You hit your head, after it clawed you."Virus!Ada struggled to sit up, to look at the wound, butthe headache knocked her back
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