by Christi Smit
“I am certain, Nathan. I would not leave unless I was compelled to.”
“You always were a sap for the ladies. Let’s go before I change my mind.” Nathan turned and broke into a sprint, heading for the windows overlooking the internal areas of the old medical facility.
Christian followed his brother, matching his speed as they rushed towards the largest window.
In a crash of broken glass they leapt through the window, sailing over a small gap between the administration building and an abandoned building which use to be a children’s ward. The Titan brothers landed without losing speed, and soon they disappeared into the darkness, moving as fast and as silent as they could. They were heading for the western perimeter, slipping through the gaps in the broken walls around the facility within a few seconds after jumping down to ground level.
Their departure had gone unnoticed. Christian breathed deep as he led the way to the beacon in his visor, it was still pinging back. As his muscles started to burn from excitement and the cocktail of stimulants pumped into his blood by the Nano machines, he silently hoped that he had not just doomed everyone.
The shadows of the dying Santor swallowed up the two Titans as they traversed broken barriers and abandoned cars at full sprint.
In a handful of moments Christian would know if he had made a mistake or not.
Little did everyone know, but his rash decision was a miracle just waiting to become reality.
If they believed in it enough that was.
The others did not believe it at first, but there was no time to really think on it. Xander had made a joke about going with, seeing as there were fewer monsters in the direction they were heading.
At least the spirits of the squad was still high, even though the laughter died almost instantly as battle instincts replaced humour.
The fight in front of the medical facility was relentless, neither side giving the other any room to gain the upper hand. One moment a swathe of beasts would be cut down, opening up a gap in the tide of mutant flesh washing over the human defenders, the next moment a Lancer would die horrifically, breaching the psychological defences of every defender nearby.
Another Lancer fell just as the laughter died, his mutilated body falling awkwardly into the blood soaked paving. Blood flowed out of the dead, mixing with the mud and stone beneath the battle’s feet.
The sound the ground underneath made was a sickening schlop schlop as boots and mutated appendages danced for survival.
Pyoter had sheathed his giant blade, its keen edge dulled on mutant flesh and bone. The Lancers around him fought with blind fury, using whatever weapon they had at their disposal to kill the monsters assailing their position. The larger than life Titan fought shoulder to shoulder with the Lancers, protecting as many as he could while he crushed heads and ripped limbs from bodies with his bare hands.
But it was not going to be enough; the tide was closing in around Pyoter and the Lancers at his side. They had already been pushed back from their original position, their backs now against one of the convoy’s vehicles. Pyoter saw the tide shift again as an explosion cleared a hole in front of him, blowing bodies to pieces, showering everything in the vicinity with filthy gore. He glanced over to Xander’s position, the explosive expert giving him a nod to accept his silent thanks. Xander resumed his vigil over the Lancers under his charge, using his pistol to blow the heads off anything that came near, and his free hand reaching for devices on the belts looping around his armoured form.
The short reprieve gave Pyoter an opportunity to try something. In one motion he jumped on the vehicle behind him, sidestepping the body of the recently deceased gunner of a heavy machine gun mounted on the armoured hull.
“Cover me!” Pyoter yelled at the Lancers and everyone else close enough to hear him. Pyoter gripped the heavy machine gun with both hands and lifted with all of his strength.
Godwaker announced itself again, turning flesh into pulp as a short stocky creature tried to climb onto the same vehicle Pyoter was on.
For a moment nothing happened, and only the straining sounds of Pyoter’s strength bubbling to the surface could be heard over the radio.
Pyoter groaned louder, veins in his body bulging as his armour leant him even more strength. The heavy machine gun came loose with the sound of ripping metal and breaking bolts. One moment the giant Titan was crouched, groaning as if he was taking a massive shit, the next moment he had planted his feet on the armoured hull and raised the massive machine gun in his armoured hands.
“Get down!” Pyoter yelled again, warning the Lancers and everyone in his firing arc to take cover.
Rivers and Locke who had been fighting back to back to the left of Pyoter’s positions heard Pyoter’s words only moments before the bullets crashed into everything unfriendly.
The other gunners still alive joined the chorus of unrelenting fire, led by the conductor Pyoter.
At first the other gunners fired conservatively, like they had been trained to do, saving bullets for their escape, but it was clear that they would need everything before they could even think of leaving the facility alive. Gunners who had fired around their own men were freed from their shackles as everyone that could took cover behind whatever was nearby, some just dropped to the ground where they stood, covering their heads with their hands.
Pyoter never took his finger off the trigger, unleashing everything the weapon possessed into the monstrous tide in front of them. Belts from inside the vehicle below him fed the weapon bullets as fast as the loading mechanism could, almost struggling to keep up with the unyielding hail of bullet-shaped fury.
The giant Titan screamed with his berserker rage, his ancient bloodline fuelling his very soul with anger and hate for the things intent on killing what he was trying to protect.
“Shit,” Xander breathed as he dared to peek around his cover, tossing two elongated devices blindly over the top of the barrier he was behind. There was no way he was going to let Pyoter have all of the fun. He threw three more devices as the string of bullets changed its path towards another group of monsters that dared to enter the facility’s gates.
Most of the monsters close enough to kill were all but dead, their bodies lifeless and mutilated in the bloody mud. Locke and Sabian yelled at the soldiers to fire their own weapons at the monsters, strengthening the hail of gunfire snuffing out the lives of everything that used to be human.
Locke stepped over his cover, followed by Rivers. Both Titans fired their weapons without pause at the few monsters that still remained. Pyoter was still firing, although he had reduced the count of targets from many to almost none. Bodies were scattered everywhere as the first Gunner in a vehicle to Pyoter’s right reported zero ammo count. Xander and the Lancers who were taking cover with him joined Locke and Rivers and the rest of the Lancers, advancing forward to meet what was left head on.
As they advanced a scream erupted from the darkness beyond the facility’s gate, echoing from the buildings. The scream was not that of hunger but one of retreat. Beasts turned as they heard the call, some craning their necks to listen closer, and one by one they tried to slip away. Some never had the chance to retreat, bullets cutting them down as they tried to climb over walls or sprint over barriers.
Pyoter’s heavy weapon ran out of ammo just as the scream ended, his body still shaking from the rage and the impossible recoil he had battled against to aim the weapon without killing any of his allies. He dropped the weapon on the ground next to the vehicle he had been standing on, its glowing red barrel hissing as it touched the blood soaked ground.
Locke held up a hand and soon the gunfire trailed off. Lancers advancing behind the Titans used their blades to remove the heads from monsters that were not completely dead, or those that looked ready to pounce once everyone’s guard was down.
Locke and Rivers reached the gate leading out into the avenue beyond the facility, weapons still shouldered in case there was still something lurking in the shadows.
&nb
sp; They stood watching and just listening to the silence for a few moments, but there was nothing to hear or see. The enemy had vanished and the sound of fighting from other parts of the city could be heard again.
Xander joined them at the gate, patting Rivers on his bloody shoulder, making jokes about trying that from the start next time instead of wasting time pussyfooting around with the enemy.
Locke silently agreed with the joke, turning to look at the devastation behind him. All he saw was death, broken bodies scattered everywhere. He watched as Sabian walked through the bloodbath, stopping at every dead Lancer he came across. Sabian was a sentimental old man but he felt every death as a father losing one of his beloved sons.
Locke kept his eyes on Sabian as the old veteran kneeled next to a Lancer lying face down in a pool of his own blood. At least five dead mutants encircled the dead Lancer.
Sabian touched his hand to the dead soldier’s head and spoke a few words. “You fought with honour my friend. May your soul find rest where the white fields embrace you,” he said softly.
“We will miss all of them,” Locke added as he stepped closer to where Sabian was kneeling.
Sabian said nothing to Locke, muttering a prayer under his breath instead.
Rivers was about to say something, but he was interrupted before he could open his mouth. Everyone’s eyes looked to the east as a red glow peeked through gaps in buildings and lit up the night.
“The sun is rising,” Sabian said softly.
“Our time here is up. We did what we could,” Locke replied.
There was nothing more left to say. The element of surprise they had landed with was long gone, and they could not risk fighting two groups of enemies with unknown numbers in broad daylight.
No, their time to make a difference had run out, and Locke felt the sting of disappointment as he realized that they had not done enough. Probably losing more lives than they had saved.
It was time to go, the third objective would have to be abandoned, and there was no hope of reaching it with so many dead and two of the convoy’s vehicles disabled.
Locke put in the call to Gunn, ordering them to secure the primary extraction point a few miles away to the west. It was a relatively low populated industrial area that had been chosen for the extraction point, but it would take what was left of the convoy longer to reach it. The civilians they had saved and Lemink’s men would ride in the two remaining vehicles, while the Lancers and the Wolves would run next to the convoy, hopefully not encountering too much resistance on the way.
Exhaustion was an ever present factor in war, and it had already taken root in most of them.
To the west Christian and Nathan was about to reach their destination, and there they would find what would become pivotal to everyone’s future survival.
Chapter Seven.One
Miracles
“Are the things you witness just coincidence or is it the hand of the divine shaping our destiny? Would you be able to recognize a true moment of pure destiny when it unfolds in front of your very eyes, or would you blink and miss the flash of something greater than yourself? Open your eyes my children and see the strands of time being pulled by our master, witness the birth of life by his heart and the reaping of the wicked by his hand. Fall to your knees and beg for salvation. Surrender yourself into his mercy and he will protect you against the monsters at our door. Feel his embrace shield you from the horrors out there in the darkness. Put your life in his hands and allow your faith to see you through the next few moments! He protects us all!”
-Battle Chaplain Keyes, Member of the now extinct Confessor’s Order, Moments before his position was overwhelmed during the battle for Daisheen’s capital, presumed KIA, 2570 - 61 ASD
Nathan held up a hand to halt their movement, crouching in a doorway’s shadow. Christian crouched beside him, scanning the streets leading to their destination. The sun had risen behind the Titan brothers, but its light struggled to pierce the veil of dust and smoke hanging over Santor. A thick fog had mingled with the aftermath of battles fought, blanketing the entire city as soon as the light broke over rooftops of abandoned homes and buildings.
Nathan listened to Locke’s message, relaying it to his brother once Locke had stopped speaking. “Time is up; the Maiden is clearing the primary extraction point as we speak. We have to move quickly or we are getting left behind.”
“I understand. The beacon is up ahead, on the other side of this junction,” Christian replied, pointing at the habitation block looming out of the thick fog.
The building looked completely empty, no light shining from windows and no movement could be seen outside. Its grey walls bearing witness to a recent gunfight between soldiers and beasts, dead bodies from both sides littered the paving and steps in front of the building the beacon was transmitting from.
Whatever happened was over quickly, some soldiers had not even raised their rifles before they had died, their bodies ripped apart as they had taken a moment to eat and drink. Cans of opened food and burned out cigarettes were dropped just as the monsters had appeared between them, their broken canteen’s contents mixing with their own congealed blood, lifeless eyes staring at the nothingness beyond their deaths.
Nathan signalled to Christian to stow his shield and rifle, suggesting they enter the building silently with only their blades. They did not want to draw any attention to themselves, and firing their weapons would definitely announce their position to anything that was hungry in the vicinity or inside the building.
Hopefully they could enter and exit without anything noticing them. Any unnecessary fighting or obstacles in their way would just waste time, time they did not have.
Nathan stepped over the dead bodies, making sure to not step on anything that could make any noise, Christian following behind him, stepping in his brother’s armoured footsteps.
The scene inside was worse than outside. Bodies had been torn to shreds, and it was clear that the monsters had won the fight. Half eaten parts of what use to be human were discarded at random by whatever had fed its bottomless hunger. Bloody mutated footprints led away from the dead, vanishing in the dark corridor leading deeper into the building.
Christian followed as Nathan led the way, covering all angles as their visor’s Dark sight lit up the gloom.
Nathan stopped at an intersection, straight ahead the bloody footprints still went one, to the right there was a utility door leading to what must have been the basement, and to the left a staircase of grey concrete stretched upwards, its construction obstructing any hope of seeing where the staircase led to.
Nathan turned his head to look at Christian, his body language asking his brother where they had to go to next.
Christian used his left hand to indicate up, adding that they needed to go up to level three.
Nathan nodded and took the first steps of the staircase slowly, his helmet raised as he watched if anything moved above them.
Christian was right behind him, grasping his combat blade in his right hand as he watched his brother’s back.
Slowly they ascended the stairs, their armoured boots making almost no sound on the concrete steps. Step by step they climbed, sticking to the outer walls of the staircase to give them enough room to see around corners.
Their Dark sight scanned for any movement as they passed the first door leading to the first floor of the habitation block. Its door was wide open and bloody hand prints were smudged on the sides of the door. Someone had tried to close it behind them to stop whatever was stalking the poor soul, but it had been futile and the thing the person had tried to stop had found its way in, doing hell knows what to the fleeing survivor.
Nathan and Christian did not hesitate; they moved further up, passing another door, this one was closed. Beyond, the sound of exposed electricity cables sparking against each other could be heard. Christian risked a glance through the door’s tiny window, seeing nothing but shredded cables hanging from broken ceilings, the floor beneath flooded with
filthy water. Nothing could have passed through this corridor and survived.
The Titan brothers reached the third level, its door ajar and the corridor beyond in complete darkness. A hint of smoke drifted along the hallway - somewhere something was burning.
Christian used hand signals to tell Nathan that they needed to go down and then make a left, door thirty-seven was their destination.
With every step Christian’s anticipation grew, his hope rising as well. He was so close and he needed to reach what he hoped was still an alive Jessica as quickly as possible.
Nathan was the first to round the corner leading to another hallway, freezing in place the instant he saw what was crouched against the very door they wanted to reach.
A small but muscular creature crouched with its nose close to the bottom of door thirty-seven, smelling at something inside. Its back was turned to Nathan, and had not noticed the Titan yet.
Christian stopped as Nathan halted him with a hand again, signalling to get up against the wall. Christian did as his brother ordered, glancing around the corner at the creature Nathan had seen.
The creature itself was no threat, its size was nothing to fear and the Titans could deal with it easily, the problem was the little bastard could alert whatever else was lurking in the shadows of the habitation building, and that would spell disaster for what they were trying to accomplish.
Nathan moved forward, his footsteps making no noise, his armour compensating for the slow movement, dampening the servo noise joining his suit together.
Step by step he took towards the inquisitive creature, its back still turned on the Titans.
Nathan stopped again as the creature raised its head from what it was sniffing, craning its neck into the air, almost as if it had smelt the Titan sneaking up on it.
But the smell emanating from the crack beneath the door was too tempting to ignore and the creature resumed its sniffing, pushing its flat and mucus filled nose right up against the door. It grunted and snorted as it tried to claw at the gap underneath the door.