by Jay Posey
“What if they just keep covered up?” Swoop asked.
“Might draw more attention than we want. And questions.”
“I don’t see how we can escape that,” Mouse said. “And I don’t think any explanation is actually going to prepare anybody.”
“Fair enough,” Gamble said. “Miss Cass, what do you think?”
“I’d rather stay together if we can make it work,” Cass answered.
“Then we’ll make it work,” Gamble replied. “Tighten up a little, keep the weapons casual but in plain view. I want to look threatening without having to threaten. And Sky, I want you on overwatch anyway.”
“Yep, check,” Sky said.
In another ten minutes or so, they came to a wide intersection, and Sky broke off from the group and went to find a position. Nobody said anything, but Cass could almost feel the sharpening of focus. Nervous energy built. She drew closer to Wren, and tried to calm her breathing. It felt very much like they were walking into a fight.
When the enclave finally came into view, Cass quickly understood how it’d gotten its name. The tall building she’d seen before dominated the area, nine stories high. It was actually about fifty yards outside the wall of the enclave, just to the right of it from their direction, looming over it like a headstone.
“Main gate’s just around to the right,” Gamble said. “Swoop, Mouse, with me. We’ll take point. Wick, fall back and watch the rear. The rest of you stay about five meters behind me. If anybody starts popping off, just hit the ground until it’s quiet again. Or until I tell you otherwise.
“Sky,” she said, “you set…? No, we’re coming up on it now… alright. Well, stay put, we’ll check it out.”
“That’s weird,” Wick said.
“Maybe they’ve loosened up,” Gamble answered. “Still. Eyes up.”
Cass wanted to ask what the exchange was about, but thought better of it. Everyone else was switched on, no need to distract them. They approached the enclave, which was surrounded by a hexagonal concrete and metal wall, maybe fifteen feet high. The wall itself looked fairly well assembled; clean welds held the obviously scavenged parts together. It wasn’t the prettiest place she’d seen, but they’d constructed it with some skill. There were a few scattered watchtowers peeking over the top, though as they got closer she could tell the towers were actually constructed next to the wall on the inside, rather than on top of it. Maybe not ideal, but certainly functional. She got the feeling the place had been added on to over the years, rather than having been planned from the start.
Wren tensed up beside her.
“Mama,” he said quietly. “It’s not right.”
Cass slowed her pace. He stared straight ahead at the wall, eyes wide, shaking his head.
Gamble was just turning the corner around the wall and getting a view of where the gate was. She stopped short, and Swoop walked up right beside her.
“You gotta be kiddin’ me,” Swoop said. He readjusted his weapon on its sling and started towards the gate.
The rest of the group gathered behind Gamble. Wren called after Swoop. “Don’t go in,” he said. “It’s not safe.”
Now that Wren brought it to her attention, Cass could feel it too. There was a weird energy there. Ethereal, evasive. Wild. Angry. But something vaguely familiar that she couldn’t place.
“Not again,” Wick said.
The gate had two doors, opening inward, and at first it just looked like the people of Ninestory had left it open. It wasn’t that uncommon for towns to let people enter freely during the day. But as Cass drew nearer, it became clear something had gone wrong. Towards the center, the metal was bent inwards, as if it’d been struck by some great force. Near the top of both doors, the hinges had flexed and pulled away. Something had most definitely breached the gate.
“Mama, don’t,” Wren insisted. He was hanging back, away from the gate. Wick and Swoop moved into the enclave with cautious steps. Finn and Mouse followed after, and the four men began to fan out with their weapons lowered, but shouldered.
“Sky, bring it in,” Gamble said. She and Able remained outside the gate with Cass and the boys. “You boys be careful.”
“Wren, what is it? What are you feeling?” Cass asked.
“There’s something in there, Mama.”
There were a number of buildings visible from the main entrance, but they were all closed up, windows dark. For all intents and purposes, the place looked completely abandoned.
“I don’t think there’s anything in there, Governor,” Gamble said.
Think they all left? Able signed.
“Could be. Seems odd, though. Ninestory’s been around for years. Don’t see why they’d pull up and head out now.”
There was a noise behind them, and Cass turned to see Sky jogging up to join them.
“What’s the word?” he said as he drew near.
“Dunno yet,” Gamble answered. “Could be an attack. Could be they up and left.”
Sky let out an exasperated sigh. “Didn’t we just do this?”
“Pretty much.”
“Wasn’t that great the first time, you know.”
Inside the enclave, the four team members were approaching the nearest building. Wick led the way, with Finn right behind him, while Mouse and Swoop held off a few yards and covered their flanks.
“Yeah, Wick, I got you,” Gamble said. “…Check. Just be careful. You see something you don’t like, you come right back out.”
“Please,” Wren said, “please, let’s just go. Let’s go back.”
Cass went down on one knee and drew Wren to her. He was trembling.
“Gamble, I really think we should listen to Wren,” Cass said.
“I hear him,” Gamble said. “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna stay long.”
Wick eased open the front door and flowed in with Finn in support. They disappeared into the darkened building. Mouse and Swoop waited outside, weapons up, casually scanning.
“Check,” Gamble said, and then looking back at Cass and Wren, “Front room’s clear. They’re just gonna check the lower level.”
The words had barely left her mouth when the gunfire barked from inside the building. Gamble cursed, and immediately the whole team switched on, weapons up, closing in on the building. Wren clapped his hands over his ears.
The gunshots continued, and a few seconds later Finn appeared in the doorway, firing his weapon with one hand and dragging something backwards with the other. He was screaming for Mouse.
It took a moment for Cass to realize what Finn was dragging: Wick. He was on his back, and his legs were fishtailing along the ground, trying to help his brother propel him backwards away from the building. Wick still had his weapon up, firing.
Mouse and Swoop started advancing towards the door – right as the first of the Weir stumbled out into the daylight. They both opened up, and the Weir dropped, but it was quickly replaced by another, and then another. Cass’s mind couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing, as a stream of Weir came pouring out into the street.
“Back! Fall back!” Gamble shouted, and all guns were up and firing, cutting down the impossible wave that flowed out of the building. Finn went down hard, fighting to drag Wick further away, but no matter how many they killed, the tide of Weir kept gaining ground. Mouse ran forward and skidded to a knee beside Wick, firing into the advancing horde.
Swoop let out a howl of pure rage and walked forward, unleashing an unrelenting torrent of gunfire. Able sprinted towards his comrades. Sky remained at the gate, methodically firing shot after shot after shot, with barely a second in between to acquire a new target.
And just when Cass thought the team was sure to be overwhelmed, the tide broke and the last of the Weir toppled to the ground, mere feet from where Wick lay.
“Come on, get him up, get him up!” Finn shouted, but Mouse was already there, lifting Wick to his feet. Mouse wrapped one of Wick’s arms over his shoulder and hauled him up, jogging away from the building and the mass of
bodies that lay sprawled in the street. Even from where Cass knelt, she could see the dark stains soaking Wick’s chest, and the paleness of his face.
The others kept their weapons up as they backpedaled towards the gate. Cass was still trying to process what had just happened when the sounds started. It was muffled at first, an indistinct mass of white noise coming from somewhere within the enclave. But as it grew in intensity, it also sharpened, and Cass realized she wasn’t hearing a single sound, but rather some countless number of them blending together.
The whole enclave was full of Weir. And they were coming.
“Back, to the building!” Gamble ordered. “Get to the building!”
Cass didn’t hesitate. She swung Wren up in her arms and took off, sprinting for the tall building just over fifty yards away. The indistinct sounds became clearer, and she recognized the telltale cries of the Weir echoing behind her. But there was no sound of gunfire. Yet.
As she reached the door to the nine-story-tall building, Cass realized she had no idea what was on the other side of it. If there were Weir in the enclave, was there reason to think they wouldn’t also be inside the building?
She skidded to halt just in front. Gamble caught up and didn’t slow down. With a stomping kick, she slammed the double front doors open and entered aggressively with her weapon shouldered.
After a few moments she called from the inside, “Clear, let’s go!”
Painter was staring back at the gate, eyes wide, unmoving. Cass grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, and shoved him through the door ahead of her, following him in closely. The entryway was a small dusty front room that led to a narrow corridor. The corridor was lined with a number of doors on both sides, and there was a concrete stairwell at the far end.
“Come on, come on!” Gamble shouted.
Cass pushed into the corridor to make room for everyone else. Gamble waited by the door, motioning fiercely to the rest of the team, as if by waving them in she could propel them that much faster.
Mouse was the first one through, carrying Wick across his shoulders. Cass couldn’t believe he was able to carry both Wick and all their gear, and still walk, let alone run, but he managed to cover the ground with impressive speed. The others must’ve been holding back to cover Mouse, because as soon as he made it into the front room, the others piled in quickly behind. Swoop was the last one in.
He and Gamble slammed the doors shut behind them, and Able grabbed something off the side of Swoop’s pack. Cass’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the relative darkness of the room; the only light now came in from two narrow horizontal slot windows, placed high and covered over with steel grating on the inside. In two seconds Able was at work, running a wide band of what looked like some kind of thick grey putty down the center of the doors, overlapping both where the doors met in the middle. When it was in place, he made a flicking motion and stepped back, and seconds later the strip let off a shower of white-hot sparks, dazzling in the darkened room, fusing the doors together.
Everyone seemed to be moving all at once, but there was no chaos in the motion. Gamble was barking orders that the team seemed to be able to respond to faster than Cass could process. They put three guns on the door: Swoop, Able, and Finn.
Gamble sent Sky to check the stairwell, and he pushed past Cass with such intensity it seemed like he barely registered she was even there. Gamble started down the hall, checking the doors on either side.
Mouse had Wick sitting down on the floor, propped against the wall at the mouth of the corridor. Wick’s eyes were open and he seemed alert, but his breathing was labored. He had a hand pressed hard into the hollow where his neck met his left shoulder, just above the collarbone. Cass could see the blood burbling out around his fingers. After a moment she realized Mouse was calling her name.
“Cass, I need you!” he called. She snapped into the moment. Cass was still holding Wren, so she slid him to his feet and then went and crouched next to Mouse. “Help me get his pack off.”
Mouse leaned Wick gently forward while Cass worked on the buckles. They were gummed with blood and were hard to work.
“Steady your breathing, Wick,” he said. “Slow it down.”
“You first,” Wick said with a clenched jaw. He grimaced, and Cass saw blood on his teeth. They got the pack off his back and scooted him back against the wall.
“Hey,” Mouse said as they were helping him move, “you didn’t have to run all that way, haulin’ you.” He said it with a smile, but Cass could see the concern in his eyes. Mouse gave a quick tug to a pouch on his chest harness, and it fell open, revealing the neatly packed and secured contents of his trauma kit. He worked quickly to get Wick’s chest rig out of the way so he could assess the wound.
“Talk to me, Mouse!” Finn called.
“He’s busy!” Wick responded. “…And mind your business!” And then more quietly, he said, “Is it bad, man?”
Mouse moved Wick’s hand and blood pooled in the hollow of his clavicle, but Cass didn’t have time to see the wound before Mouse poured some kind of gritty powder over it and started packing it with gauze.
“Quit leaking everywhere,” Mouse said, “and it won’t be. Cass, put pressure right here, hard, even if he squeals.”
Cass did as she was instructed, and Wick locked eyes with her.
“You’re going to be fine,” she said.
“You’re just saying that.”
“It makes me feel better.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I know.”
Outside, the Weir continued to squall, but they sounded scattered and didn’t seem to be getting any louder or closer that Cass could tell. Gamble came back down the hall past them and grabbed Able’s shoulder. He turned his head to look at her, but kept his weapon up and pointed at the door.
“Go help Sky on the stairs,” she said. Able nodded and hustled down the hall and up the stairs. Gamble came and dropped to a knee alongside Wick. “Wick, how bad are you?”
“More scared than hurt,” he said.
“Mouse?” Gamble asked.
“Couple of punctures, just behind the clavicle, some tearing,” Mouse said. “Jugular and carotid are probably OK, but if it hit the subclavian, could be bad news.”
“Can we move him?” she asked.
“If we have to.”
“I want to get higher, rig the stairs.”
Mouse nodded. “Gimme a few, see if we can make sure this clots up.”
A sudden impact made the doors shudder, snapping everyone’s attention to the front. Except for Mouse. He was intent on Wick, calmly evaluating him.
“Might not have it,” Gamble whispered.
They waited in tense silence, waited for that next blow to fall. Ten seconds passed.
“What do you think those doors are rated?” Finn asked in a low voice.
“Nothin’ like that gate was,” Swoop answered quietly. Finn readjusted his grip on his rifle.
Thirty seconds. Sixty. But no more blows fell on the doors.
“Seal up the hinges, too,” Gamble said, her voice lowered. “And rig a charge on the center. If we have to get out that way, we’ll go out hard.”
Finn kept the door covered while Swoop cautiously approached. He produced another strip of the same putty-like substance Able had slapped on the middle of the door. This time, however, Swoop drew a large knife from its sheath on his chest rig and cut the strip into quarters. These he placed on the hinge-side of the doors, two on each, high and low. He ignited them in succession, and they each rained sparks to the floor. Once they’d finished, Swoop dropped his pack and dug out a few components that Cass didn’t recognize.
“When you say ‘go out hard’, how hard do you mean?” Swoop asked, as he started assembling pieces.
“Hard enough to kill everything on the other side,” Gamble answered.
Swoop nodded and grabbed another two components out his bag, and then started affixing the
m to the doors.
Wren was still standing in the hall where Cass had left him, with his hands over his ears, just watching those doors with wide eyes. Jaw clenched, lips white.
“Any chance they didn’t actually see us come in here?” Finn asked.
“It’s hard for them to track in the daylight,” Cass said. “Maybe they lost us.”
Mouse patted her on the arm and shifted position to take over putting pressure on Wick’s wound. Cass lifted her hands slowly while he slid his in underneath and piled more gauze on top of the wound. Cass’s hands were tacky where the blood had soaked through the first layers of the dressing.
“They know we’re here,” Wren said from the hall. Gamble looked at him, and then at Cass.
“If he says they know, they know,” Cass said.
Gamble nodded.
“Sky,” she said, “we need some elevation… Understood… Can you check for roof access…? I understand that. I’m not asking to clear the whole thing… Alright, check.” She shook her head. “Can we get Wick up nine flights?”
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Mouse said. “I don’t want him going into shock.”
“I’m not dead yet,” Wick said. “You don’t have to talk about me like I am.”
“Sorry, you lost a lot of blood,” Mouse replied.
“I didn’t really lose it, it’s all right outside.”
“Knock it off, Wick, this isn’t a joke,” Finn said.
“I can make it up some stairs,” Wick said. “If someone can carry my pack.”
“I’ll take it,” Cass said, before anyone else could respond.
Swoop finished rigging the charge on the door and dropped back. Outside the cries of the Weir had dropped off. Mouse had Wick hold the gauze in place and started winding a wide bandage over the wound and around under his armpit.
“What happened in there, Finn?” Swoop asked.
“I don’t really know,” he said. “We were clearing rooms, everything was fine. Come around a corner, and we’re staring at a crowd of Weir packed into a little dark room in the middle. Just standing there, all packed in together. Tried to back out, one of ’em pounced. Wick went down and it was on top of him, and the rest started coming after us. Like walking into the middle of a hornet’s nest.”