Franks levered the Glock up and fired, causing the monster to jerk. The hammerhead only grazed the side of Franks’ skull, ripping off a chunk of scalp in the process. The monster used his other hand to grasp the Glock and push it away. It possessed fearsome strength. Franks got ahold of the monster’s wrist and they struggled, with the hammer waving back and forth in front of Franks’ eyes. His own blood and hair was stuck to the metal head.

This thing was starting to piss Franks off.

Franks bit the monster’s hand. But he didn’t just bite. He latched on. Franks chomped clear to the bone. Hot blood flooded his mouth. The monster tried to pull it away, but Franks held on tight. More importantly, with that hand and its weapon immobilized, it freed one of Franks’ hands to pull a folding knife from his waistband. He snapped the Emerson open and drove it deep into the monster’s side. He didn’t know if the thing had kidneys, but it had one less now. He jerked the blade up until he hit ribs, then he dragged it around the front, spilling its guts. Franks sliced through everything. Desperate, the monster let go of the pistol, so Franks shoved the muzzle against its chest and fired. The contact shots were so tight that even the expanding gasses of the muzzle blast did extra soft tissue damage. The overpressure sprayed more blood out the gaping knife wound. He levered the Glock’s muzzle to bisect the eyeless man’s heart and lungs and cranked off several rounds.

That hurt it.

The monster fell off him, gasping and moaning, blood pumping all over the tarps. Franks rolled over and got up as quickly as he could. He used the back of his hand to smear some of the blood from his eyes so he could see. From the crashing and breaking, Biggest was coming fast, but Franks didn’t want to have to fight this fucker again, so he lifted one boot and stomped the eyeless man’s skull flat.

The big thing was closing too fast to escape. Franks listened to the noise, judged the most likely path, and walked calmly to the side. He did not know exactly what he was dealing with, but there were certain irrevocable rules when you were fighting something huge. Number one was to stay the hell out of its way. He took the opportunity to perform a tactical reload, stowing his partially expended magazine and inserting a new one. The oncoming monster’s roar shook the subway. Franks looked at the 10mm pistol in his hand. He would need a bigger gun.

Two-by-fours broke and the hanging lights went swinging wildly as Biggest burst in. The thick grey hide, long black hair, generally humanoid shape, and the fact that it was over eight feet tall told Franks he was dealing with an ogre. Its momentum carried it through the area, destroying everything in its path. Franks let it go crashing by.