Through the chaos, Sizwe and his crew could escape without much of a problem. They had taken down many of the lesser crocs along the way, but overall it was a smooth escape thanks to these abominations. Sizwe wanted to grab one and kiss them. Even though they could outsmart Nara, they couldn't escape a full force of an army. Numbers were no joke; that's why Cyprian and he took a safe route of escape even in this chaos.
The Citadel was powerful and cruel; no one knew this better than Cyprian. In this world, only power mattered, and peasant lives were worth nothing more than grass. The church was a ruler, and what ruler cared about the loss of a few weaklings?
They finally made it out of the town, but Sizwe's weapon preparations were less than half of what they were since most ammunition was used to take care of the winged crocs. They had a few bullets to spare, and they were headed into the belly of the beast; they were going into the wilderness where the monsters roamed free. Granted, the evolved monsters were rare, but just one encounter of misfortune could end their lives.
There was a reason why Sizwe was willing to take this risk: it was time for him to be independent and make his own force. Before the cataclysm, Sizwe knew a few hidden military bases that he could use for this purpose. He wanted to lay low in this base and prepare his army and begin to build his own kingdom that had ice cream.
Cyprian and Mandla followed Sizwe while he retrieved road supplies that were necessary for travel. He had hid these supplies not too far away from the stronghold. There were two bicycles and two backpacks.
"You and Cyprian will have to share the bicycle since I only prepared two," Sizwe said.
Cyprian didn't mind; there was plenty of room in the back of the bicycle. It was not a luxury seat, but he was not picky. The bicycle looked normal, Sizwe's very own design. Not that there were no bicycles in this world, but they were just not that safe, and it was usually one-seater and your whole body would be exposed. In wealthier cities or towns, bicycles were common with the rich. Villages and most towns couldn't afford this machine.
Before they could get on their bikes and leave, the ground shook as a behemoth graced the ground in front of them.
"Oh my God, there were three of them," Sizwe muttered, staring at the Winged Crocodile King in front of him. It was the size of a bear, its scales black and glittering. It looked mean and had a scar on its right eye. It stood looking at these humans.
"Spread out!" Sizwe shouted.
The three of them knew what was up and separated. Mandla went to the right where the creature had no vision. Sizwe became proud seeing this shameless act from Mandla. He smiled, backing away and drawing his gun, abandoning his bike. Although his heart ached abandoning his bike, his life mattered more than anything else. They were truly unlucky, and now the stronghold seemed safe. Earlier Sizwe wanted to kiss one of these creature and thank them for a smooth escape, now one wanted to kiss him with its jaws, it was the worst. "Be careful what you wish for."
Bang!
From the blind spot, Mandla fired at the face of the winged croc king, injuring it badly. The abomination turned to face Mandla; before it could pounce—
Bang!
Another wound appeared on its body. Sizwe drew the aggro to him.
Bang!
Cyprian blasted its eye to bits. The croc became blind and went berserk. It attacked air wherever it could. Cyprian frowned.
"Back to the city now!" he shouted. Sizwe and Mandla didn't ask why; they knew the rules of crisis. Rule No. 1: Don't ask stupid questions.
They ran as fast as they could, but the city was too far away, and the monster landed in front of them, blocking their way. Not a single injury could be seen on its body. This was terrible misfortune indeed.
The Winged Crocodile King roared, its maw wide and terrifying, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. Its wings flapped menacingly, stirring up dust and debris. The trio skidded to a halt, their hearts pounding with desperation.
Get ready," Sizwe muttered, his eyes never leaving the monstrous creature.
The croc king lunged, its massive form barreling towards them. Sizwe, Cyprian, and Mandla scattered, each diving in different directions to avoid the beast's deadly charge. The ground shook as the creature slammed into the spot where they had stood moments before, its claws digging deep furrows into the earth.
Mandla was the first to recover, his gun already raised. He fired a shot, aiming for the creature's vulnerable underbelly, injuring the monstrosity as it wailed in pain. but Mandla's face twisted seeing the wound as it began to heal.
"Damn it!" Mandla cursed, rolling to the side as the beast swung its tail towards him.
Cyprian took advantage of the distraction, aiming for the creature's head. His bullet struck true, hitting the croc king's good eye blinding it again. The creature roared in pain, shaking its head violently. Black blood oozed from the wound, but to their dismay, the flesh began to knit itself back together almost instantly.
"This is the worst," Cyprian muttered. "Regenerative abilities makes it seem like you are fighting a zombie. Damn it!."
Sizwe circled around, trying to find an opening. He fired his gun, aiming for the joints in the creature's wings. The bullets pierced the thin membrane, causing the croc king to shriek in agony and fold its wings closer to its body.
"We're running out of options!" Mandla shouted, reloading his weapon. "This thing won't go down!"
The croc king charged again, its jaws snapping shut with a bone-chilling crunch. Sizwe barely dodged in time, feeling the rush of air as the beast's teeth clicked together inches from his face. He stumbled back, his mind racing for a solution.
"We need to hit it where it can't heal," Sizwe said, his voice strained. ""Cyprian, you still have that dynamite?"
Cyprian, panting from exertion, nodded. "But we would need to get it inside of its mouth otherwise using dynamite on the open would be wasteful and it will still heal."
"I have an idea," Sizwe replied, pulling out the crossbow he had premade for hunting for food on the journey. He quickly wrapped the stick of dynamite around one of the arrows, securing it tightly with some spare wire.
Mandla fired another shot, this time aiming for the croc king's leg. The bullet struck true, causing the beast to stumble. It roared in frustration, its wings flaring out as it tried to regain its balance.
"We need to make it open its mouth wide enough," Sizwe said, positioning himself carefully. "Mandla, keep it distracted. Cyprian, get ready to light the fuse." He threw his pump action to Mandla since the double barrel would take him time to load and he needed to constantly fire to keep the beasts attention.
Mandla nodded, running to the side and shouting to draw the creature's attention. "Hey, you ugly bastard! Over here!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The croc king turned towards Mandla, its eyes blazing with fury. It lunged, jaws wide open, aiming to crush him in one bite. Mandla dived out of the way just in time, rolling to his feet and firing his gun to keep the beast's focus on him.
"Now, Cyprian!" Sizwe shouted.
Cyprian lit the fuse, the small flame hissing as it started to burn down. Sizwe took aim with the crossbow, his hands steady despite the chaos around him. He waited for the perfect moment, the creature's mouth wide and ready to snap shut.
With a deep breath, Sizwe fired. The arrow flew but the monster sudden shifted its head to the side, the arrow was embedded to the eye of croc king. The beast tried to scratch its eye with its claws, trying to dislodge it, but it was too late. The fuse burned down swiftly, and Sizwe's heart pounded in his chest as he watched the seconds tick by. This was their only stick of dynamite, he had made only two since they had neither time or resources.
"Get down!" Cyprian yelled, tackling Sizwe and Mandla to the ground.
The explosion was deafening, a massive blast that shook the ground and sent a shockwave through the air. The force of it blew half the Crocodile King's head apart, sending chunks of flesh and scales in all directions. The beast's body convulsed, its brain matter exposed. It was slowly pumping up and down like a beating heart.
The Crocodile King was still alive, although on its last legs. Sizwe and company could see it beginning to heal. But now the healing abilities must have been overwhelmed since it healed more slow than before. No words were needed anymore, the three men knew what needed to be done and rushed to the still healing body of the Crocodile king and let loose what remained of their ammunition. All three of the stood over the Croc King and blasted the brain.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At this point they were just letting out their frustration on the poor creature. Although it was fair game since it just put them through a lot and almost killed them.
Silence fell over the battlefield, the battlefield had lingering smell of gun power. The brain of the crocodile was mush, it was decimated beyond recognition, beyond healing. The behemoth was dead. Sizwe, Cyprian, and Mandla slowly sat on the ground next to the corpse of this beast, their ears ringing and their bodies aching from the fight.
"We did it," Sizwe breathed, disbelief and relief washing over him.
Cyprian nodded, a weary smile on his face. "Barely"
Mandla, still catching his breath, looked at the remains of the Crocodile King and then back the others. "Let's not do that again anytime soon."
They laughed, a sound of pure relief and triumph. Despite the odds, they had faced down a monster and survived. As they gathered their supplies and prepared to continue their journey, the weight of their victory settled in.
Seeing the biycles now just scrap metal. Sizwe's heart ached, he was looking forwaed to riding a bike, not to mention the transport system in the world sucked. They had to walk now and it was not safe, they had to find another town or even a village and make new bike and continue their journey to the hidden base.