Alex gagged as the large hand compressed. He used both his own hands to tear at the huge fingers, but he had never felt such power from another human being in his life. As the fingers started to close together, the thing sat up, its expression as slack and indifferent as if it were waking up, simply rising from bed.

Sam and Jon-Pierre rushed forward, grabbing at the hand, then forearm, without any effect.

“Feels—like—iron—get back!” Sam let go of the thing’s arm as it started to rise up. He then raised one huge boot, intending to use the MECH assisted framework to stomp down on it with pile-driver force.

In one rapid movement, the being swung Alex’s body like a baseball bat into Sam and Jon-Pierre, knocking them both to the ground, and then flung Alex into a far wall with enough force that some of the bricks shifted in their mortar.

Alex looked broken, and the French pilot and Sam lay still.

*

The thing then rose to its full height, and towered over all of them, its face slack. As it went to step from the crate, Casey braced her legs.

“Fuck you – fire!”

Casey, Adira, Eli, and Moshe opened up, dozens of silenced rounds smacking into the dead flesh with a sound more like that of a paddle on a side of beef.

Where the flesh was exposed, they could see holes puncturing the flesh, but no blood flowed. The being reached down to grab the ten-foot crate it had risen from and flung it at Casey, who had to dive fast to avoid the massive projectile.

“Do not let it leave,” Adira shouted, holding a handgun in each hand, and firing up into its face. Holes opened in the skull and chips of bone were blasted away, but if the thing registered pain, it gave no sign.

The patchwork being then moved fast, grabbing a reloading Moshe Levy, who managed to yell a curse before it took him in both hands and lifted. Moshe pulled free a dark blade and slashed at the hands and wrists of the thing, but he might as well have been trying to cut steel cables. In one quick movement, the huge thing’s hands came together, twisting and screwing Moshe’s body like an old rag. Gurgled pain was now overlaid with the sound of bones crunching and flesh and tendons popping as the Mossad agent was mangled together.

“No-ooo!” Adira yelled, running in and side kicking the thing. But she bounced off as ineffectively as if she had kicked a wall.

“Form up,” Casey screamed. “Concentrate firepower on …”

The thing opened its mouth but no words came. Its totally white orbs seemed to fix on her, and she sensed it tense, coiling for an attack. She knew what was coming. Bullets were useless and she dropped her gun. She then pulled out two of her longest blades, holding one in each hand.