Aim for the brain

(Meghan)

Meghan put on her sports shoes after collecting the car keys and stashing them safely in her bag. She nodded once to Ray, indicating that she was all set.

The two of them slowly crept up to the main door, trying to make as little noise as possible. When they were within touching distance of the door, Ray inched his head towards the peephole and peered through. He drew his head back and looked at Meghan.

"She's right outside" he whispered to her.

Meghan heart immediately started beating hard against her chest. She could feel the blood rush through each of her veins. She gripped her spear tighter. How she used it in the next few minutes would determine whether she lived or died. The thought itself almost sent her into a frenzy.

"Ok listen, on my signal, I need you to fully open the door and take cover behind it. I'm going to hit her on the head as hard as I can. I don't think it will be enough to kill her but it should be enough to drop her to the ground. Once she's on the floor, I'll try to restrain her movement. You need to then come out and land the finishing blow. Can you do that?"

Meghan nodded.

"I'm counting on you." He said.

She wished he hadn't said that. She was under enough pressure as it is.

Meghan stepped in front of the door and slowly unlocked it. She then placed her hand over the doorknob and turned around to look at Ray.

The nerves seemed to be finally getting to him. She could see the tiny beads of sweat on his forehead. He clutched the pressure cooker tightly with both hands as if holding a war hammer. He positioned himself exactly in the middle of the doorway and assumed a warriorlike stance.

He then locked eyed with her and mouthed, "Three… Two… One."

Meghan turned the knob and swung the door open as quickly as she could. She then immediately ducked behind it and waited for her opening.

The sudden opening of the door seemed to confuse the woman for a spit second but the instant she laid eyes on Ray standing at the doorway, she let out a hungry growl and lunged at him.

This was exactly what he was waiting for. He took a step forward, putting all of his weight into his front leg. He then swung the pressure cooker in an upward arc, starting at his hip level, until the base collided with the woman's skull with a very audible crack.

CRACCKKKKK!

The woman's whole body twisted backwards from the impact as she fell awkwardly onto the floor. Ray quickly dropped the cooker, which clanged heavily as it hit the ground, and grabbed hold of his Javelin that was stuck in her chest. He stepped on her left arm and pushed down on the javelin with all his might, pinning her to the ground.

"Momo!" he called out.

That was her cue.

Meghan rushed out from behind the door and took a second to process everything. Her gaze found her target writhing on the floor, trying desperately to break free. She clutched her spear with both hands and pointed it at the woman.

'You can do this Meghan,' she thought to herself, 'You can do this! If you don't then both you and Ray are going to die. Oh god, don't think like that. Just do it. DO IT!'

With her inner thoughts spurring her on, Meghan drew the spear back and then propelled it forward. The spear went straight into the woman's eye socket as she let out an ugly screech. Meghan held the spear in place despite the woman frantically shaking her head in an attempt to dislodge the weapon.

"It's—It's not working" Meghan said.

"The brain!" Ray called out, "Aim for the brain."

Meghan tried pulling the spear out but it wouldn't budge. She had to step on the woman's shoulder and twist the weapon free. It came out dripping in dark red blood. Meghan instantly started feeling nauseous. She tried her best to not look at it. The woman's head was no better. A thick stream of blood started flowing out from her damaged eye. As she thrashed around wildly, the blood started spilling all over the place. It was almost too much for Meghan to handle.

But she had already prepared for this. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't falter. Not in this crucial moment. She had to step up for both their sakes.

Taking a deep breath, she dragged back the spear and drove it downward with all her strength. The knife part of her spear struck the woman's temple and pierce through the skin but didn't go in all the way.

Thinking fast, Meghan stepped on her face and with one final shove; managed to thrust the spear deep into her skull.

CHUNKKKK!

The woman instantly stopped moving. Her horrible screeches ceased abruptly as her entire body went limp. Almost as instant as switching off a light bulb, the spear ended her piteous excuse of an existence. She merely laid there, now nothing more than a lifeless corpse. A corpse of a monster that was once a human being.

Ray sighed a breath of relief as he let go off the javelin and dropped to his knees. He opened up his palms to reveal several blisters.

"Oh shit, are you okay?" Meghan asked.

"It stings a bit but I'll be fine." He replied and stood back up.

The two of them stopped and looked at the woman's corpse. They had done it. It took a lot out of them but they had actually succeeded in killing the thing.

Ray opened up his arms and Meghan fell into them as they embraced each other tightly.

"That was so damn scary," she gasped.

"I know, you did great. I'm proud of you." said Ray.

"Thanks," Meghan gushed.

They broke the hug after a while and stood back up. After a nasty look at the mutilated corpse on her doorstep, they each pulled out their weapons from the woman's lifeless body. Meghan made sure to keep the blood soaked end of her spear as far away from her as possible.

"What now?" she asked.

Ray looked down at his clothes. The woman's wild flailing had splattered even more blood all over his T-shirt.

"You were right. A change of clothes would be nice." He admitted, "If my floor is empty, we could stop by my flat real quick. I don't like wasting more time than we need to but this feels really gross…"

"I'm not even going to look at it. I have no idea what you're talking about…" Meghan said in denial.

"Ahh right, you don't like the sight of blood." Ray recalled and gave a weak laugh.

"That's putting it mildly. I don't know how I've not fainted yet. I think I'm just too freaked out to faint right now. My whole body is on high alert. Once we're in the car and make it out of Prime, I'm probably going to collapse."

"At that point I think I will too." Ray declared.

"Let's go to your flat fast before more Deathless show up."

"Before more what?" he asked confused.

"Ohh—uh, Deathless. It's what I'm calling them." Meghan answered him bashfully.

"Hmmm… Deathless, huh? I like it. Hopefully, this Deathless is actually dead though." He said, pointing to the woman.

"Yeah," Meghan replied, "I hope so too."