by J. N. Chaney
Before she could so much as duck, three bullets hit the ground at her feet.
The fourth took her down.
She fell to her knees, dropping both bags as she held her shoulder. Even from here, I could hear her moan with pain as she barely stifled a scream.
Hunter aimed the machine gun at them and opened fire. The two men ducked as he unloaded the last of his bullets into their window. The gunfire rattled the windows, shattering the wall and splintering siding.
After a few seconds, the machine gun went quiet, nothing but the soft whir of an empty chamber as it uselessly spun with nothing to fire.
“Siggy!” I shouted into the comm. “That’s your cue!”
“Right away, sir,” said the AI.
The Star hummed behind me, pivoting as Sigmond trained the quad cannons on the house yet again. He opened fire on the top row of the house—a risky move, but cover was better than nothing at all. Glass fell all around us, and I shielded my eyes as an explosion rocked the top floor.
I hoped to gods that Edwin wasn’t up there.
With the machine gun empty, Hunter grabbed two of the duffle bags from the hovercar and jumped out. He ran to where Ruby lay on the ground by the front door as gunfire thundered around them once again.
I was quickly closing the gap between us, and all I could do at this point was give them cover. As Siggy fired again at the top floor, aiming at whatever he could without hitting us, I let off three more rounds at a silhouette in one of the first-floor rooms.
As Sigmond kept his fire trained on the top floor, two bullets ricocheted off the ground to my left, too close for comfort. A third grazed my thigh, and I winced as I fired off four more shots from my rifle.
I only had ten meters left between me and the open hole that was once Colt’s front door.
Time to run for it.
I bolted as Sigmond opened up hell on the house. Glass and broken planks showered over my head, and I ducked to protect my face as I finally darted inside.
The moment I was in, I raised my rifle and trained it into the shadows. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but a moment was all it took to die in a situation like this.
Inside, I saw Hunter kneeling in front of Ruby in an empty hallway. She leaned against a wall in the long and narrow corridor, all four of their duffel bags at her feet. The hallway ran the length of the house, and a window at the far end showed the serene and distant mountains beyond our war zone.
Above us, men yelled muffled orders, and the gunfire ceased. I trained my rifle on the depths of the house, fully expecting soldiers to stream into view at any moment as Hunter tended to his sister.
Halfway between us and the far window, I caught glimpses of an open foyer and a curved stairwell to the upper floors. There were glimpses of a railing and a sliver of an open hallway above. It was a good vantage point, so there was a high chance people were waiting up there, ready to shoot at the first body to walk down below.
I took another look down the hall that stretched on in front of us. Shadows on the floor pinpointed other corridors that branched off from this one—one between me and the foyer, and a second on the other side of the curved stairwell. We would have to be careful. Soldiers could be around any corner, and if we gave away our position, they might even try to shoot us through the walls.
“Rubes, are you okay?” asked Hunter, more gently than I’d have thought him capable.
She winced, tugging aside the fabric covering her shoulder to reveal a deep wound that pulsed with blood. She grimaced and smacked the back of her head against the wall as she sucked in deep breaths to ride out the pain.
“I'm fine,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Tie off that wound,” I ordered, still keeping my eye trained on the depths of the house in case we got company.
Hunter ripped off a piece of his shirt and did his best to bandage her. She groaned again and closed her eyes as he tied the knot. Within seconds, the fabric was stained red.
The girl was losing blood quickly, and that meant she could pass out if we weren’t careful. A lightheaded assassin armed with a gun wouldn’t end well for anyone.
“We don't have long,” I told them. “Any second now, this place is going to be swarming with people who probably have orders to kill us on sight.”
“I thought Colt wanted us alive?” asked Hunter.
I nodded to the shattered front door behind me. “I doubt he still cares about that.”
“Ruby, can you move?” asked Hunter.
“I can try,” she said, grimacing as she leaned forward.
“Don’t,” I commanded, snapping my fingers at her to get her attention. “The more you move, the more blood you’ll lose. You stay here.”
Her jaw tensed, but she eventually nodded. “Fine. I can give you two cover.”
Hunter rummaged through one of the duffle bags and pulled out three rifles. He set them beside her as he scanned the foyer.
All three of us were waiting for the inevitable flood of soldiers.
Any second now.
A long table along the wall across from the stairwell caught my eye, and I inched toward the foyer to get it. On my way, I paused at the hallway intersecting the main corridor. As I peered cautiously around the corner, I lifted my rifle, ready to fire if I saw anything move.
Both directions were empty, but it wouldn’t be that way for long.
I continued toward the table, and as I reached the foyer, I angled my rifle up toward the railing. A shadow moved along the far wall, and boots thumped over the floor above. I paused mid-stride, my rifle trained on where I guessed the man would appear.
Seconds later, one of the soldiers peered over the railing. His eyes went wide the second he saw me, and he lifted his rifle.
“They’re in the house!” he shouted.
I fired three bullets at him before his finger could reach the trigger. Two landed hard in his chest, and the third hit the wall behind him. He stumbled backward, his gun clattering as his body thudded to the floor.
“We’ve got company,” I said as I grabbed the table and dragged it back to the kids. I kicked it over and knelt behind the makeshift cover I’d built for Ruby.
“How many?” asked Hunter as he cocked his rifle.
“I only saw one,” I admitted. “My best guess is there’s dozens on the upper floors. There’s no telling how many we killed on our way in, and I don’t like flying blind.”
“We’ll do what we have to do,” said Hunter as he aimed his rifle over the table.
“Ruby, you hold the front,” I commanded. “I want you to take out anyone who walks by. Try not to move. You’re going to lose a lot of blood before we can get you to a medic, and you need to conserve your energy.”
“Done,” she said, lifting one of the rifles Hunter had left for her.
This was Phase Three—find Edwin and try not to die in the process. It was the least fleshed out part of my plan and my least favorite phase. This one consisted primarily of winging it.
“How many soldiers do you think are still alive?” asked Hunter as he scanned the hallway.
“I don't have a clue,” I admitted.
Two figures appeared down the hall, nothing but shadows rounding a corner in the darkened house.
I started shooting, and they wasted no time returning it. Four bullets whizzed past us, and I ducked as one of them flew over my head. I paused as adrenaline burned through me and cursed under my breath.
That had been too close of a call.
I fired two more shots, and this time, one of the men went down. Beside me, Hunter opened fire as well, and the second man fell to the ground.
“Ruby, are you ready?” I asked.
She nodded and lifted her rifle. She nestled it in the crook of her good shoulder and aimed it over the table.
“Hunter, you take the upstairs,” I ordered. “Watch the open railing above you as you go. You’ll be vulnerable until you get to the second floor.”
“On it,”
he said. He jumped over the table and bolted toward the stairs, his rifle aimed at the upper railing.
“Ruby, when I—”
Before I could finish, Ruby fired off four shots as three silhouettes rounded the corner down the hallway. All three men fell to the ground, their bodies crumbling beside the soldiers Hunter and I had killed.
“Go!” she shouted.
“Alright, then,” I muttered.
I jumped over the table and stepped into the intersection of hallways, my rifle sweeping across both ends of the empty corridor as I scanned the world around me.
I briefly looked down both ends of the second hall, but there were more doors to the left. More doors meant more chances to find Edwin, so I took that end of the hallway.
My finger rested on the trigger as gunfire thundered through the house. Ruby fired off eight more shots, and I wondered how long she could hold the front.
As I reached the first door in the hall, I pressed my ear against it to listen for movement. Over the gunfire, I couldn’t hear a godsdamn thing, so I took a step back and kicked it open. I instantly lifted my rifle, ready to fire at whoever was on the other side.
It was empty, with only a few corpses on the ground and shattered glass littered along the carpet. A few tables had been overturned for cover, but they were splintered and barely recognizable.
Nothing in the room had survived our onslaught.
I continued, kicking each door open as I passed and scanning each room for clues about where they’d taken Edwin. Every time a door swung open, I raised my rifle, fully ready to take out anyone on the other side.
They were all empty, filled with nothing but shrapnel and corpses.
We’d done better in our initial attack than I’d even hoped. With this many bodies down, Colt had to be hurting for firepower.
Of course, we had also split up. Isolated and alone, the three of us were more vulnerable. For all I knew, I was playing right into his hands.
I needed a clue. I needed some hint that Edwin was still here.
The seventh door I tried revealed a narrow stairwell that led down into the rocky foundation beneath the house. The room below was dark, with only a single lightbulb somewhere out of sight to give any hint of what lay in wait.
I took the stairs slowly as the gunfire became muffled and distant, my rifle trained on the open room as I swept my gaze over the large, empty space. There wasn't much down here except for a single chair sitting beneath a light.
I recognized the place instantly. The lone lightbulb on a chain. The chair where Edwin had been shot.
This was where Colt had stood when he’d given me the ultimatum.
A puddle of dried blood below the chair was the only clue that Edwin had been here. I scanned the rest of the room, hoping for a clue as to where he’d gone.
Except for a holo on the far wall, there was nothing else here. No hallways or doors. Nothing at all. Just an empty chair and the stairwell back up into the main house.
If Colt had found a way to escape the fortress, I was going to personally skin the man alive when I finally found him. it was time to finish this life-and-death game of ours once and for all. I refused to let him hunt me forever.
“Siggy, have any ships surrendered?” I asked.
“Negative, sir,” said the AI calmly. “However, one has just arrived with what appear to be reinforcements.”
Not exactly the news I wanted to hear, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. “Keep them busy.”
“Yes, Captain.”
I scanned the basement yet again, more certain than ever that I’d missed something. Colt hadn’t left. No ships had taken off since the attack had begun.
He was here. This had to be part of his trap. We were still playing his game.
My finger coiled around the trigger, and I was eager to shoot. One way or another, this had to end.
And I’d end it today.
28
As I stood alone in the empty basement, I walked into the center of the room and slowly circled. The barrel of my rifle swept across the walls as I scanned every visible inch of the room.
Colt had to be here. With the warfare above us, it only made sense for him to take shelter in the house’s foundation. If he wasn’t in this room with me, hidden somewhere, then he had to be in the network of tunnels below the house.
I’d found the room where he’d held Edwin captive. Colt might’ve underestimated me, but I wasn’t stupid enough to do the same to him.
For all I knew, maybe I was standing in the middle of a trap. Maybe there was a bomb beneath my feet that would go off at any moment.
“Well, I've got to hand it to you,” said Colt, his voice booming.
My ear twitched, and I instantly shifted my full focus toward the sound of his voice. He laughed, and the sound crackled with the broken static of a bad connection.
At first, all I saw was a blank wall. It took a moment for me to notice the speaker box that had been nailed into the corner. A small camera pivoted beside it, tracking my movements.
“You managed to surprise me,” continued Cold. “That's not something many men can do at this point in my life.”
“Did I scare you off?” I asked, doing my best to keep my tone steady. “I didn't think you were a coward, Colt, but it looks like you scampered off to hide.”
To his credit, the Renegade laughed. Nothing I said got under his skin, and that was too damn bad.
“You're a real pain in my ass, Hughes,” he said. “You have been since this started, and it'll be good to get it over with.”
“The feeling's mutual,” I countered. With the butt of my rifle still firmly planted in my shoulder, I nodded briefly to the empty chair. “What's with the theatrics?”
“Oh, don't mind that,” said Colt dismissively. “I'm just having a bit of fun before I kill you. You cost me a lot of money, Hughes, so I might as well enjoy this.”
“Enjoy what, exactly?” I pressed, wondering if his ego would betray something I could use against him—maybe some indication as to what he had in store for me.
My mind raced with ideas. A bomb exploding. Hidden weaponry popping out of the walls and riddling me with bullets. I had no idea what would happen next, and I tensed as I waited for the other shoe to drop.
“You and me are going to end this, Hughes,” said Colt. “Right now.”
In close quarters, the rifle wasn't going to be my best bet. Despite the tension burning down my spine, I swung the gun over my shoulder and drew my pistol. “Come and get me then, you son of a bitch.”
“Soon,” assured Colt. “First, can you figure out what I did?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Come on, Hughes,” chided Colt. “Keep this fun for me. Where's the kid?”
Even though there was an active warzone in the house above us, this jackass was toying with me.
This was all a game to him, and if I wanted to get out of here alive, I had to play along.
My eyes darted again to the empty chair and to the crusty puddle of blood beneath it. I tried to piece together what he was asking and how I was supposed to know where Edwin had gone.
Maybe I’d just missed something.
Instead of scanning the walls this time, I surveyed the floor. It took a moment, but I finally caught sight of a droplet of blood not far from the chair. A short way off was another splatter, and then a third one. They painted a loose trail across the ground that led toward a wall.
“There you go,” said Colt, like he was watching a kid solve a puzzle.
Not taking his bait, I walked toward the wall and aimed my pistol at it, not entirely sure what I expected to happen when I got there. I knelt as I reached the end of the blood trail, and sure enough, a droplet of blood was cut off by the baseboard. Only half of the red splatter peeked out from the edge of the wall.
A secret door.
“I have to hand it to you, Hughes,” said Colt through the speaker. “As much as I hate to admit it, I'm actu
ally quite impressed. Almost anyone else would be dead by now, but somehow, you’re still here.”
“It’s what I do,” I said casually, wondering how I was going to get this door open.
I wasn't familiar with secret doors in houses like this one, but I did have enough experience with the hidden cargo space on the Star to have some idea of what to expect. When the door was closed, you couldn't see the seal. There wasn’t even a hint it was there. The only way I got it open was with Sigmond’s override.
The hidden compartment on my ship had no secret button or lever. It was all controlled by computers, and that left me at a disadvantage here in this basement. Colt was probably the only one who could open this door, and he’d led me to it just to taunt me.
“It's too bad really,” continued Colt. “Given your ability, I really think we could have partnered on a few jobs here and there. I could have even shown you the ropes. Taught you a thing or two about being a Renegade.”
“Pass,” I said.
“Obviously,” said Colt. “Out of principle, you have to die. You've caused too much trouble and cost me too much money. I can't back down now. Still, I never expected to face a real equal this late in my career. All I had was Fratley.”
“You two deserve each other,” I muttered, not surprised to hear him mention the name.
“Fratley was legendary.” Colt ignored me, a wistful hint to his tone. “A real challenger before he decided to move on to other endeavors. I bet you could give even him a run for his money, if push came to shove.”
“Hopefully, I'll never find out,” I answered, only half paying attention to Colt at this point while I hunted for a way to open the secret door.
“It really is a shame,” said Colt. “All your talent, wasted on a feud. You never should’ve taken that bounty gig, Hughes.”
“Can’t argue with that,” I said as I gently leaned against the wall, wondering if it was perhaps pressure-activated. I didn’t want him to know what I was doing, but he was clearly watching my every move.
“Let me get that for you,” said Colt.
The door slid open, revealing a long stretch of dark hallway. I caught myself from falling into the hall and tensed, one knee on the ground. I quickly aimed my pistol into the darkness as I waited for him to charge me.