by Kate Sander
Now they were facing potentially hundreds of Zoya and thousands of enemies. And she couldn't find the fucking entrance into the city.
Kicking out in frustration, she aimed at a rotten log at her feet. Breaking underneath her foot, the log made a wet crunch and her foot fell right through it, making a hollow thump on the ground underneath.
"What the-"
A crack sounded under her feet.
Shit.
Without another sound, Senka crashed through the rotten trap door into the tunnel. The drop wasn't as far as she remembered and she mistimed her landing, jarring her leg and falling onto the cold dirt in a heap.
"Senka!" Tory yelled from above her.
Dust settled around her, revealing the worried faces of her compatriots circled above her.
"You okay?" Akira called worriedly from above.
"Yeah," Senka said, doing an internal assessment. No broken bones, nothing really hurting, everything moving okay. Just her pride was damaged. And that, she could live with.
Kai leapt into the tunnel, landing gracefully, and stood next to her. Grateful, Senka used him to drag herself to her feet.
That was going to hurt in the morning.
"Get the torches set up," Senka said. "This is it. It's not that far if you actually fall properly."
A squeal from down the dark tunnel caught her attention. Kai snapped his head towards the darkness.
"I heard it too," Senka muttered, straining her eyes to see.
Nothing. Silence and darkness greeted her from the tunnel. No squeaks. No light.
Straining her eyes and ears she focused on the black-
Smash.
Senka jumped and turned with a snarl from Kai. Eris shot her a wide grin, brandishing a lit torch.
"It survived the jump," Eris said happily, completely oblivious to the fright she'd given Senka. "Ready for the rest of us?"
Senka shielded her eyes from the brightly burning wood.
"Sure. Let's get this over with."
Eris whistled. The other three jumped down into the tunnel gracefully. All of them were holding dark torches.
"Don't light those," Senka told Tory as she walked towards Eris. "The tunnel gets low and it's small. We don't need any more."
"What if that one blows out?" Akira piped up, a small tremble in her voice betraying her fear.
"We're all going to keep our left hand on the wall," Senka said. "Never lose touch of the wall, even with the torch lit. Then keep walking forward." The others nodded. Senka held her arm out and Eris begrudgingly handed over the fire. "Let's go."
Listening to her own advice, she let her finger tips drag over the wall as she strode forward. After a few feet, the tunnel took a hard left and thinned out, forcing them all to go single file.
"You take the lead," she whispered to Kai.
A squeal in the distance made his hackles raise.
"Yeah, I hear it too," she said. "Slowly and safely," she whispered.
"What's the hold up?" called Eris from behind her.
A light smack followed as Tory punched her arm.
"You can always take the lead, kid," Senka snapped. "But don't blame me if you die."
Eris huffed her disagreement. "I was only joking," she breathed. Then she fell silent.
Better.
Senka led them forward at a steady pace, focusing on the four sets of footsteps behind her and leaving Kai to focus on the tunnel ahead.
The torch allowed them to side step any holes in the ground, but other than that it was pretty useless. Twists and turns blocked the light, and soon they had to stoop at the waist to be able to move. Pretty soon they would be crawling.
Akira's breath was starting to come in gasps. Senka knew she was afraid of the darkness. Shit, Senka had seen the Queen scrambling around panicked down here. And the Queen had seen some shit beforehand. The kid had not.
"Let's break here," Senka said at a corner. "Kai will go ahead and clear the way."
Kai purred and loped away, keen eyes and smell all he needed in the dark.
They sat, backs against the wall, with Senka on the opposite wall. Tory gave her a quizzical look.
Not wanting to embarrass the kid, Senka merely glanced in her direction. Tory understood and leaned over to talk quietly in the white-faced girl's ear.
Squeak.
Tory stopped and looked in the direction where Kai had disappeared.
Squeak.
Squeak.
Squeak.
Rustling joined the squeaking.
"What the hell?"
A roar from Kai in the tunnel followed by hundreds of squeaks.
"Shit," Senka said. "Stay here."
Leaving the torch stuck in the ground, Senka unsheathed a tanto and, stooping, ran as fast as she could in the tunnel towards Kai's roars.
Blackness overtook her as she turned a corner.
Kai roared again.
Senka jumped as something brushed past her leg.
Something small and furry.
Focusing, she looked for auras in the tunnel.
A flood of red surrounded the purple aura of Kai twenty feet away. Small creatures squeaked and attacked him. As he swiped with a paw and killed an aura, two more would take its place. And they were all coming from the other end of the tunnel.
Rats. Kai was being attacked by hundreds of rats.
A small squeak at her feet. Senka stomped on the red aura. A sickly crack and squish of bone and flesh under her foot.
Kicking and stomping, Senka made her way towards the wave of red auras. After killing five or six, the rats let out a squeal and retreated towards the entrance of the tunnel. Fifty feet away, Senka could see a sliver of light. A massive wave of rats joined together underneath the open trap door.
A yellow light bounced up behind her as she ran to check out Kai.
"How you doing?" she asked him, checking him over. He had a bunch of small cuts, but nothing seemed too deep.
Tory and the rest joined them.
"What the hell," Tory breathed.
"Rats," Senka said, nodding towards the sliver of light in the ceiling of the tunnel. It expanded here, leaving them enough room to stand. The trap door was located about ten feet in the air.
Guarded by a wave of rats.
"There are no rats in Solias," Tory said.
The trap door opened with a bang and the group jumped and looked towards the flood of white light.
"I see you've made it here," a voice called from the door. "My masters were right to think you'd try to get in this way."
A figure dropped down into the mess of rats. Instead of killing him, they parted and formed a snarling, squeaking army around him.
"Of course," the man, dressed as an Ampulex General said, "I don't think you were expecting to meet me and my friends."
"I just... I just really hate Zoya," Senka whispered to Tory.
Tory snorted.
The man let out a yell and the rats attacked, swarming over one another to get at the group. Senka unsheathed her remaining tanto and yelled, running towards the rats. The others joined her and attacked. Tory used the torch to burn the rats, Senka was stomping and slashing, Akira used her katana, Eris her curved sword and Ujarak his warhammer. Rats squished and squealed. Blood flew and lined the walls.
Kai ran quickly through the swarm to the man in charge.
"Ah!" Senka said as rats crawled up her back and bit her ear. Flailing, she rammed her back into the wall, killing at least three that had crawled up her.
"Stop!" the man yelled.
Senka turned. Kai had him on his back and was baring his teeth over the General’s head. The General held up a hand and stared him in the eye. "Panther. You are weak. I am strong. I command you to stop." Kai held his teeth an inch away. "That's right," the General said. "You're mine. I own you."
Kai looked at Senka. Senka simply nodded.
Kai attacked. The General didn't have time to react, let alone scream. Kai ripped out his throat.
Kai licked his lips and padded over to the breathless Senka. Rubbing his head into her side, she scratched his ears. "I know, right? What a dumbass, thinking he could control you."
She turned to the rest of the group. "We made it. I'm going to need some help hoisting this fat ass up there."
Kai nipped at her hand playfully.
"Hey, you've gained a few," Senka said. "Don't blame me."
21
Carter
Bile rose in Carter's throat.
We're too late, he thought desperately, looking around at the shocked faces of the other ZTF agents around him. How can we be this late?
The trip to Manitoba from Toronto had been uneventful for all involved. They'd flown, driven and taken the train, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. A quick briefing in the hotel, and they were on their way here.
To find this.
"Boss?" Ramjeet piped up in his ear. They were using burner cell phones with headphones. A rudimentary communication system, but all they could put together in the short time they had to prepare.
A bunch of cell phones and a group phone call.
"Boss? I can't see what you're seeing."
"We're too late," Carter mumbled, staring at the hole in front of them.
How could they be this late?
"Sorry, we didn't catch that. These mic's aren't great. You're what?"
"Too late," Carter damn near yelled it.
They'd stumbled on the scene in the woods outside of the old milk barn as they were making their way to start their assault. Following Annabell, she'd led them here. A hole in the middle of the forest. Over ten feet across and ten feet deep, it was easy to see from a distance, the clear cut of forest a beacon of light. Dug by heavy machinery, the loose gravel was piled to a side, ready to fill it in and hide the atrocities inside.
Bodies filled the hole. Hundreds of them. Teenagers and young adults. That's all. They were thrown haphazardly into the mass grave, piled on top of each other, limbs and bodies intertwined. A mass grave in the woods of Manitoba, a few hundred meters from the nearest road.
So obvious, yet apparently so hidden.
"Carter," Leslie said from beside him. "Carter, we have to go."
Only Ram and Kevin were left off base. The handlers may not be great in battle. They may not be Zoya, but they were trained. And they were better than nothing.
A heavy hand landed on Carter's shoulder.
"We’ll get them," Igor said, readjusting his C9 light machine gun. "We will make them pay."
Carter nodded. They'd make them pay.
"Annabell, lead the way," Carter muttered, trusting the woman's tracking ability to get them through the forest unscathed.
After that, well...
With a last look at the mass grave of teenagers, and knowing how his own son barely avoided the same fate, Carter tore himself away and followed his team into the snow-covered forest.
It could be peaceful, the snow-covered trees with Christmas around the corner. Hell, it wasn't even that cold out. That's if you ignored the twelve creeping figures in snow camouflage, armed to the teeth with grenades, C8 assault rifles and a light machine gun. They were here for war.
And like hell they were going to do anything but win.
Annabell led them to the edge of the trees and held up her hand, signaling them to stop. Carter made his way beside her and lay down in the snow. The others fanned out, taking defensive positions along the edge of the forest.
They knew the plan.
Take the outside guards out as quietly as possibly. Matty would go in and blow a wall, then the rest follow, with Igor healing them as they were injured. Kill Freudman, Malin and Roald as fast as possible. Then maybe Senka would have a chance in The Other Place.
Black Eyes had returned to The Other Place. Their odds were much worse than that of the ZTF. So, they were alone versus an unknown number of well-trained, well-armed soldiers.
Carter held up the binoculars, focusing on the old milk barn in the middle of the field, fifty meters away from the tree line.
"Keep the drone back," Carter muttered to Ramjeet. "We don't want to blow our cover."
"Zoya Task Force," a voice boomed from somewhere in the clearing, so loud that they took cover and snow fell from the trees around them. Carter had to wipe his face with a cold glove to get the snow out of his eyes. "About time you joined us. I've been waiting for you."
"Shit, shit, shit," Carter said under his breath. Quickly, he switched the magazine of his C8 to the one containing all tracer bullets. Slowly, he popped his head over cover and scanned his binoculars over the building. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just an old, run down barn.
"I see that there are eleven of you," the voice boomed.
"Must be cameras in the trees," Ramjeet said in his ear.
Carter nodded and shot Annabell a look. Sniffing the air like a dog, she cocked her head and looked around. Meeting his eyes again, she gave her head a small shake.
Nothing in the trees.
The voice must be coming from speakers in the barn.
"Now, I thought we talked about that," the voice laughed. Carter shot Annabell another look and she frowned. "You're not the only Zoya around here."
With a snap, their entire world was shifted, like a veil removed from them. Annabell looked above her in fear as soldiers dressed in Ampulex black and purple launched themselves from the tree tops. Gunfire erupted in the trees around them.
Igor yelled.
Carter raised his gun and started shooting at anything in a black uniform. Tap tap, he pulled the trigger twice then dove behind a tree for cover. They were surrounded. The Zoya here could change reality and somehow Annabell didn't pick up their scent.
Chaos all around.
Screams reached him from the trees to his left.
Leslie.
Carter popped his head out from behind a tree, aimed the green light of his laser guide pack, and shot the nearest Ampulex in the chest.
He collapsed. Carter rushed forward, grabbed a cowering Annabell by the forearm and dragged her under the cover of the next tree. Snow flew around them as bullets chased them.
Half diving, half dragging, he got both of them to cover.
"What the hell?" he asked Annabell.
"I dunno," she said, laughing a little bit, nineteen-year-old face panicked but trying desperately to maintain her composure. "I didn't smell any of these guys, it's like something was blocking my pow-"
Her face exploded outward as a bullet passed through her head. Brains and blood flew into the white snow and she slumped sideways.
"IGOR!" Carter screamed into his mic, "IGOR! On my trace! We need you!"
The rat-ta-ta of light machine gun fire was Carter's answer. Pulling Annabell into the cover of the roots, Carter aimed and fired, striking the asshole in the head behind her.
Carter's hands shook as he pulled Annabell back by the chest armour and fumbled for his first aid kit. She wasn't breathing.
"IGOR, FUCK. GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" he screamed to no one in particular. Finally able to get his first aid kit out of his pants pocket, he tried desperately to open it with his bloody hands.
A crashing in the trees alerted him and he whipped around, green laser focused on the trees behind him.
Igor, the giant dressed in winter camouflage, emerged from the trees, hauling his machine gun with him. Matty, Cathy and John flanked him.
"Annabell," Carter grunted as they all crashed into the cover of the bushes and small hole.
"Annie!" Cathy gasped, eyes wide, as she saw her young partner.
Igor took a glove off his right hand and placed it gently on her chest, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.
"That was fucked," Matty gasped. "I lost track of the others. I'm not sure where they are. I heard Simone scream, we were headed her way when those b
astards jumped us."
Carter watched Igor desperately. After what felt like an eternity, he removed his hand and hung his head.
"No!" Cathy yelled, punching Igor in the shoulder. "You can heal anyone. This was her second time in the field." Igor turned and gathered Cathy into a bear hug, taking the punches in his chest, eyes watering. "She's only nineteen," Cathy sobbed into his shoulder. "She's only nineteen."
"Boss," Pierre's voice crackled in his ear, "I have Simone, Leslie, Lee, and Emily. They lost their communications but they're good."
Carter nodded. "Annabell is dead," he said, voice cracking. "Igor can't do anything. Bullet to the head."
Pierre relayed the message to the others.
An Ampulex ran by behind them. Matty and John both shot him and he crumpled into the snow. Their numbers seemed to be thinning. At least in the trees. Carter was trying desperately to shove the guilt somewhere right now. But he was in charge. He was in charge and his nineteen-year-old soldier was dead.
"Deal with it later," John said softly in his ear so no one else could hear. "I've been where you are. It sucks. But you have to deal with it later. Or all of us are goners."
Carter nodded and took a deep breath. John was right. He needed to get focused.
"Something was blocking her powers," Carter said. "A Zoya."
"Yeah I shot him," Matty said. "I killed some guy and when I did I could feel my fire come back."
"Good," Carter said. "Good." That was one problem out of the way.
"Boss, Kevin is sending the drone. I'll try to get positions for you," Ramjeet said in his ear.
"No. Send the drone with the firepower. Let's blow these fuckers to the sky. Pierre, where are you?"
"About fifteen meters from the edge of the forest. I saw your trace, we're north of you."
Carter nodded. "Alright. Form up, don't get separated. Lee can't miss. Matty," he said to the man in front of him. "Blow them all to hell."
Matty nodded and gave him a big smile.
The barn was quiet. Nothing had changed. Nothing showed the carnage of the forest around them. There was no way of knowing how many more Ampulex were in the trees or waiting for them in the barn. Carter didn't really care.
"Igor, watch our back," Carter said. "Pierre, tell Emily we need fog and lots of it. Ready to move?"