by B N Miles
“Yes,” Jared said, “but make it clean and fast. You had your fun already. No need to freak everyone out.”
She rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue, then kissed his cheek. “Yes, darling.”
Jared tossed a shield into the hallway and doubled it up using a second memgram. He grunted with the effort and looked over his shoulder.
Kerrin and Izzy rifled through the dead guards. Izzy looked like she might be sick, but Kerrin seemed to be enjoying herself. Penny stared down at the mangled corpses, her face pale white, and Jessalene held Cassie’s hand.
Jared turned back to the corridor and walked out behind the shield.
Gunfire erupted again. The bullets slammed into his shield and careened off into the hall, slamming up against the doors, the walls, the ceiling, the floor. A flood of chipped tile and plaster dust rained through the air.
Jared pushed his shield forward and walked along behind it, gaining ground on the guards. Lumi stepped out beside him with Nikki next to her, and he could feel their tension. The roar from the gunfire was unbelievable, drowning out the blaring alarm. Wood shrapnel bounced around in front of them, but Jared kept moving, one step at a time.
The guards kept blasting away, round after round slamming into his shield. When one shield layer began to give way and break, he replaced it with his second memgram, and recast the spell behind the front. Using his two memgrams, he swapped shields, getting closer and closer, swapping them faster and faster as the bullets hit with more force.
They made it within fifteen yards of the barricade, which was just a jumble of office desks, chairs, and riot shields stacked on top of each other, barely enough to stop a bunch of angry toddlers.
Jared could see the faces of the guards. He could see their fear, their wide eyes. For a second, he remembered what Penny said. These were just people doing their jobs, probably former military contractors or veterans hired to take on a job that most people wouldn’t touch.
Maybe they had no other choice and desperately needed the money, or maybe they really were just monsters and loved pushing around those who were weaker.
It didn’t matter, not really. Jared was going to kill them all.
He had his people to think about, all his girls. They got Cassie back, and now it was time to save as many more Metas as he could.
He pushed further, within ten yards. The guards began to drop back away from their barricade, but they kept the rate of fire steady. He guessed they really were professionals, just based on their tactics and movements, and that made it easier somehow.
“Can’t get much closer,” Jared said through a clenched jaw.
“That’s okay,” Lumi said. “I think we can take it from here.”
Jared flung his shields forward, smashing them into the barricade. Lumi followed up with a huge spouting wall of flame that washed over the hallway. Jared heard screams and some bullets were fired again, but he managed to pull up another shield just in front of them as Lumi cut her fire off just in time to avoid roasting them.
Jared dropped his shield again once the gunfire stopped and Nikki blurred forward, smashing through the barricade, wading into the fire.
More screams. Smoke billowed out. Jared marched ahead with Lumi by his side. He kicked over a desk, stomped over a chair. Guards were scattered about, some of them on fire, some of them bleeding from wounds.
Jared called on his ice memgram, shaping it into a long sword, and hacked at any guards he came across. He gutted one that staggered toward him, bleeding from his throat, and kicked the man to the ground. He stabbed another lying up against the wall, trying to stem a wound in his chest. Another came stumbling toward them, burning to death, the skin of his face melting and bubbling away. He killed them all, sliced through their bodies and kept moving, an angel of death, an angel of mercy.
They came to the far junction where the original cells were. Nikki had a small contingent of guards backed up to the set of original fused-shut double doors, now standing cracked open. She cackled at them, blurred forward, and snapped one’s neck. She was drenched in blood and beaming, an avenging god come to tear the very earth to pieces. She seemed to delight in killing, in her speed and strength and power. The guards screamed and tried to get away, but she moved so fast, snapping legs, kicking knees, jabbing her fingers like knives through skin.
Jared charged into their group and hacked at them, slicing a wrist off, snapping his shield memgram into place as another began to fire indiscriminately in Jared’s direction. Bullets splattered in all directions, some slamming into one guard that struggled to his feet as he cradled a broken arm. He fell back down, his body riddled and bloody.
Lumi crushed a guard’s skull with her own hardened air like he was nothing. She called more fire, burned the guard that kept shooting, burned another that tried to crawl away.
Nikki blurred, snapped another guard’s arm, and threw his flailing body through the double doors. She kicked them shut and jammed them closed with a rifle as Jared finished off the last two remaining guards, slicing through their body armor like he was cutting paper into shreds.
It was a slaughter. Jared breathed hard as he stared at the devastation around them. Corpses littered the ground, some intact but broken, some ripped to pieces.
Jared released his sword, letting it dissipate into the air. The smell of smoke and melting plastic filled the hall, somehow drowning out the scent of coppery blood.
And the alarm still blared, somehow just as loud.
“Go check on the others,” Jared said to Nikki. “Get any keycards you can find.”
She nodded and licked her lips as she sashayed down the hall back toward the group, back through the fire-damaged hallway. Most of the fire had gone out, though it still smoldered and smoked.
“Check these bodies,” Jared said to Lumi.
She nodded and moved gingerly. He put a hand on her shoulder and nodded to her. He could see how much she was suffering, but she didn’t complain.
Jared found a couple of cards that were still intact. One was on the body of a guard with several stars stitched on his chest and a blue helmet where all the others wore black. He held the card up and inspected it in the light.
“Captain James Jennings,” he said. “Well, Captain, let’s see how useful you are.”
Lumi continued looking for more keycards as Jared walked to the first cell. Inside, a small woman huddled against the back wall. She couldn’t have been taller than three feet at most, but she was wide and curvy with muscular arms and legs. Her hair was long and dark brown, and she looked up as Jared pressed his keycard against the reader set in the wall.
The reader’s LED turned green and beeped.
Jared pulled at the door and it slid open.
The girl turned to him, her green eyes wide. She was pretty, with small lips, a dainty nose, and sharp cheeks. She pushed herself to her feet and seemed unsteady. Her gray jumpsuit was torn at the knees, and the ankles and wrists were rolled several times.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What’s going on?”
“My name’s Jared,” he said. “And we’re breaking you out of here.”
She stepped toward him then stopped. “This is a trick. They do that sometimes. You’re tricking me.”
“I swear, I’m not,” he said, and took a step into her cell.
“No!” She threw her arms up. The walls seemed to vibrate and Jared stopped before she went any further.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I promise, I’m really here to take you out. We already freed Kerrin and you just heard us kill all the guards.” He held up a keycard. “Look, I took this from the Captain.”
The walls stopped shaking and she took a step closer, her face drawn into a mask of confusion and anger. “The Captain?” she asked.
“James Jennings,” he said with a shrug. “Very much dead now.”
She let out a strangled laugh. “James? He’s dead?”
“And so are the rest of the guards. We need to get you out of h
ere before more come.”
She laughed again, delighted this time, and walked forward. She barely came up to Jared’s waist, but she looked intense and muscular, like she could lift him over her head. She snatched at the keycard and caught it from him, holding it up to the light. She cackled, throwing her head back.
“He’s dead,” she said. “Oh god, that asshole, that piece of shit. He’s really dead.”
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said. “Come on, I swear, you’re going to be safe now.”
She laughed again and pushed past him into the hallway.
Her whole demeanor changed. A second ago, she was cowering in the back of the cell. But as soon as she stepped out into the hallway, she began to swagger like she was ten feet tall and strong as a mountain.
“Girls!” she shouted. “It’s a prison break!”
There were screams and banging from behind all the cell doors. He stood dumbfounded as Lumi joined him, leaning against his shoulder.
“I think they can handle it from here,” she said.
“I think you’re right.”
Nikki and the others joined them a minute later as the small brown-haired Dwarf went from cell to cell, unlocking the doors. Metas came out, some hesitant, some bold. But all of them were beaten, broken, or afraid, all of them looked like they’d been treated like animals. Their gray jump suits were crumbled, dirty, wrinkled, and torn.
Kerrin screamed in delight and let out a long, very filthy deluge of curses as she joined the group. She hugged several of the girls then began handing out keycards. “Take this,” she said. “We’ll need them.”
Jared counted twenty women in total. There were two Plethoaks, an Elf, three Dwarves, two Weres, a Shifter, a huge Troll woman, several Dryads, the Demon, and a few he didn’t recognize. They seemed to know each other and embraced in the hallway, some of them crying, some of them laughing.
The Dwarves went over to the dead guards and began looting guns and armor from the bodies. They also seemed to know each other and had a similar look, each of them dark haired, very small, and very muscular. They spoke quietly to each other, and as the other girls came over, they began to hand out rifles, ammunition, and body armor.
“What are you doing?” he asked the first Dwarf he released.
“We’re not the only girls in here,” she said, looking over a rifle with a keen eye. “I’ve seen the others. Cells all over this damned place.”
“You’re going to free them?”
The Dwarf girl nodded, checked the magazine of her rifle, slapped the bolt release with her palm to chamber a round, and grinned at him. “God damn right we are.”
He blinked in surprise and looked back at Lumi. She shook her head and laughed a little bit.
“Okay then,” Jared said. “What can we do?”
“Nothing,” she said, handing out more weapons. Plethoaks joined, as did the Elf, and they began to put on armor.
He could see the anger in their eyes, the determination.
They’d been through hell, he could see it written all over them. They’d been through hell, and now they were ready to return the favor.
“What’s your name?” Jared asked.
“Beatrice,” she said. “And don’t forget it.”
But not all of the girls joined the growing group of fighters. Jared counted eight women in total, loading and gearing up. The Dwarves were clearly in charge, and Jared got the sense that this wasn’t the first time they’d led a squad into battle.
Kerrin gathered the other women, most of them too battered and timid to do much. The Demon hung back near her cell, arms crossed over her chest, watching the whole time.
“We can’t stay here,” Jessalene said, tugging at Jared’s arm. “We need to go.”
“Penny,” Jared called. The scientist came to him, arms hugging herself tight. “Is there another way out of here?”
She shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
“So it’s back to the elevator.”
“But there are too many to take in one trip.”
Jared grunted and ran his eyes over the group. “Kerrin,” he called out.
The Fae came over. “Good fucking job, Jared,” she said. “Gotta be honest, I thought you’d fuck me over, but this is beautiful.”
“We need another exit,” he said. “We can’t all fit in that elevator.”
“Uh, well, I don’t think there’s another way,” she said. “I mean, there’s probably another elevator back the way we came, but I don’t know where that leads or if we can even find it.”
“Shit,” Jared said. “How many can we fit?”
“Everyone,” Kerrin said. “I don’t know what the weight limit is, but we’re not leaving anyone behind.” She narrowed her eyes at Jared and leaned toward him with a menacing glint.
“We’re not leaving anyone,” Jared said. “That’s not an option.”
He looked around at the group, running scenarios in his mind, when the Dwarves came over.
“We’re not going up,” Beatrice said. “So don’t worry about us.”
“We’ll make everyone fit then,” Jared said. “Use magic if we have to. Bolster the strength of the cables, or even push it up ourselves if it comes to that.”
Kerrin shrugged. “Whatever you gotta do.”
“Get your girls together,” he said to Kerrin then looked at Penny. “Go call the elevator.”
Penny nodded and hurried, keeping her eyes on the floor. She gave the girls a wide berth. The Metas all stared at her, some with open hostility, but nobody moved to stop her or say anything. She reached the call button, pressed her pass against it, and the LED lit up and beeped.
“We’re rolling out,” Beatrice said. “Good luck, ladies.”
“What’s your plan?” Jared asked.
“Kill as many guards as we can and release the other cells,” she said. “We all have keycards. Gonna get some of the guys out if we can.”
“How many more guards are there?” Jessalene asked.
“Who knows,” Beatrice said and shrugged, her eyes bright, her smile growing bigger. “I hope there’s plenty.” She turned to the other armed women and shouldered her weapon. “Lock and load, bitches. Time to move out.”
She marched down and headed toward the sputtering smoke, the other Dwarves and armed Meta girls falling into formation behind her, their weapons in a firing position.
“Damn,” Jessalene said. “She’s badass.”
“Some of these girls were fuckin’ former military,” Kerrin said. “I don’t know how they ended up here. We didn’t get to talk much. But I think those little Dwarf girls were in some kind of militia or some shit like that.”
Jared looked at the rest of the group. Cassie leaned against Izzy, the two of them talking quietly. Nikki stood near the double doors, listening for more guards, though none seemed to be coming. Lumi walked among the Meta girls, speaking quietly to them, while Penny hugged herself and crouched in the corner next to the elevator.
“Gather up, everyone,” Jared called out. “We’re shoving ourselves in that elevator. We got one trip, and I can promise you, they know we’re coming. So anyone that can fight, up front. Everyone else in the back.”
“You heard the fuckin’ guy,” Kerrin said, waving her hands. “Let’s listen to the asshole. He got us this far.”
Jared caught Cassie’s eye and smiled at her. She smiled back and nodded to him.
The elevator pinged, and the doors slid open, revealing a gleaming metal interior, empty and waiting.
He walked over and crouched next to Penny, putting a hand on her shoulder. “What’s the fastest way out of the facility?” he asked.
“Back the way we came,” she said. “I think, I mean, that’s how I’d do it. Back through the labs.”
“Okay then,” he said. “I’ll trust you. You’re doing great, just keep your head up and keep moving forward. You’re going to be okay, I promise.”
She stared into his eyes, bit her lip, and
looked away.
He stood up and faced the group again. The women looked back at him, broken, bruised, angry, but determined. He felt pride spread through him, pride for these women. After everything they’d been through, they still wanted to fight, they wanted to survive.
“Let’s go,” he said, steeling himself as the Meta girls began to pile inside, cramming as tight as they could.
The Plethoaks stayed up front along with the Demon, who gave him a smile and winked. Jared waited for Penny, Izzy, Jessalene, and Cassie to shove their way inside. He made sure Kerrin got in, who nestled deep in the group, before he got in with Lumi and Nikki.
It was a tight fit and the elevator creaked beneath their weight. Jared wasn’t sure the thing would even move, let alone close. But when Lumi hit the button for the first floor, the elevator beeped, which he hoped was a good sign.
They looked out the doors and down the hall, at the blood and the broken doors, the gutted, stripped guards, the devastation, smoke still rolling toward them.
He felt hands, elbows, knees, heard heavy breathing, tasted the fear and anxiety.
The doors slid shut, and the elevator began to rise.
49
“They’re going to be waiting for us,” Lumi said, her voice soft but strained. It sounded deafening in the otherwise silent elevator. “No doubt in my mind.”
“She’s right,” Kerrin said. “They’ll be right outside that fuckin’ door the second it opens, I bet.”
“Shields, then,” Jared said. “Push out like we did before, then unleash Nikki?”
“Always a lovely plan,” Nikki said, inspecting her nails and picking out a bit of drying blood.
Jared shut his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to clear his mind of the Need that threatened to shut him down. He reached out and took Lumi’s hand, squeezing it in his own. She squeezed back and he stood with her, shoulder to shoulder, crammed together in a tiny space with way too many other people, but somehow, they all seemed to disappear.
The elevator continued to rise, slower than they’d descended.
His world became Lumi and Nikki. Everything else had to be pushed aside. They were going to fight, and they might be killed. That was a possibility he’d accepted, and while it was far from ideal, he was willing to go down for a good cause.