Tankbread 02 Immortal by Paul Mannering

he barked, black saliva spitting from his mouth.
    Else ripped a foot-long chunk of wood from the shattered cupboard door. Spinning it in her hand, she held it like a stake and stabbed down. The shard of wood plunged into Clay’s shoulder. It caught on his collarbone and Else twisted it with one hand. With the other she punched Clay in the jaw, snapping his teeth together with a loud crack.
    Howling, Clay grabbed Else by the throat and threw her back across the room. She hit the empty bed and tumbled over it on to the floor.
    “Adrenaline is limited. Human endurance is finite. We are the superior species,” Clay said and almost stumbled as he advanced.
    “What’s the matter, Doctor?” Else sneered. “Can’t walk and talk at the same time?”
    “I’m gonna eat your fucking tits!” Clay shouted, shards of broken teeth spraying out of his mouth in hard crumbs.
    The doctor swung a fast, hard punch. Else blocked it with her right arm and smashed her fist into his face. They traded blows, nearly every strike being knocked aside and countered with another punch. Clay lashed out with a booted foot, kicking Else hard in the side and throwing her back against a metal table that collapsed under her weight. She lay there, feeling her strength draining through the freshly opened wounds in her back. Clay’s face was set with a grim focus. He would never stop. The flesh could tear from his fists and he would beat her down with the cold bones of his dead knuckles. She thought she could hear the baby screaming somewhere in the dark. Alone and afraid, he cried out for her to come and save him.
    Clay staggered over her. His face was a pulped mess of shattered teeth and grey flesh, oozing black ichor. He paused a moment, assessing how best to start feeding on her prone form. Else reached out and snatched up a metal leg from the broken table. Kicking upwards, she shattered Clay’s knee and swept his feet from under him. Springing up into a sitting position, she rammed the jagged end of the aluminum pipe under his chin as Clay collapsed forward. The pipe pierced the doctor’s jaw and his falling weight drove it up through his brain. Doctor Clay finally died as he slid down to be at eye level with Else.
    “I’ve never counted how many of you motherfuckers I’ve destroyed,” she whispered into his face. “Because you don’t matter to me. Not a fucking damn.”
    Pushing the corpse aside, she crawled over to the bed and pulled herself up.
    There were no other clothes in the clinic that Else could see. The homemade cotton shift she wore was soaked with blood, sweat, and black gore.
    Pulling the aluminum pole out of Clay’s skull, she cracked open the door and peeked. A young soldier type stood guard at the end of a narrow hallway. He carried an automatic rifle and wore black pants, boots, and shirt. Else watched him for a long moment. He did not move and didn’t appear to breathe.
    Satisfied that he was an evol, Else opened the door wider and slipped out of the clinic. They shouldn’t be like this , she thought to herself. Adam was destroyed. The evols lost their minds. Here though, on this ship, they managed to keep it together. They had survived the destruction of the Adam organism and were still walking and talking.
    Else moved quickly on silent feet. The guard turned at the last moment. She swung the metal pole up, like a golf swing. The sharp tip tore his body open from navel to chin. A belly full of stinking guts and grey slime spilled out on the floor. The soldier grunted. Raising his weapon, he fumbled to drag the slide back. Else twirled the pole and stabbed him through the eye, pinning his head to the wall. His legs kicked, arms jerking and slapping against the wall. Else grabbed the rifle as it fell from his dead hands.
    “What the fuck is going on here?” Else said to the dead soldier as he shuddered and went still. With practiced ease Else checked the weapon. It was well maintained, and the magazine was full. The