by P. T. Hylton
When they’d finished, Chuck brushed the dust off his hands and smiled at Alex. “Not bad. Now all we have to do is lure them inside.”
Alex chuckled. “Baiting a bunch of vampires into a fight? That, I can do.”
Jaden appeared in the doorway, his approaching footsteps making no sound on the ancient, creaky floor. “I found us a way out.”
“Do tell,” Alex said.
“Empty elevator shaft. If we have some ropes ready, we can drop down to the basement level and exit through the drainage system.”
“Ah, moving through the drainage system under a city with Jaden, and fighting for our lives,” Ed said wistfully. “Just like old times. If only Firefly were here.”
“Indeed,” Alex said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Of all the friends and brothers-in-arms she’d lost, she found herself thinking about Firefly the most. Partly because his death was the most recent, and partly because of the bond they’d shared. She admired the way he’d taken ownership of his mistakes and fought so damn hard to make things right.
With everything set up, the team headed upstairs. Owl would wait on the rooftop, acting as a lookout. Even Jaden admitted that Owl had the best eyesight among them. The rest of the team would wait on the top floor, sniper rifles at the ready. When the Twisted showed up, they would go to work.
They’d only been on the top level for a few minutes when Jaden’s eyes grew distant for a moment. He turned to Alex. “You were right. They’re coming. Quite a lot of them.”
Alex just nodded and hunched back over her sniper rifle, ready to take aim as soon as the enemy appeared.
They waited ten more minutes in uneasy silence. Then Owl spoke into Alex’s earpiece.
“I see them, Alex. They’re here.”
20
The shadow of the building stretched long across the ground. It was still a few hours before nightfall, and the sun was at the GMT’s backs. Alex hoped that its position would make it harder for the Twisted to pinpoint where the attack was coming from. This fight could get ugly fast, and she needed any advantage that she could get.
Chuck waited in a small room on the far right corner of the building. Alex crouched in the left corner, watching through her scope as ten Twisted sprinted down the road at full speed. She waited for Chuck to take the first shot. He fired, and one of the Twisted was knocked back off his feet. The group stopped for a moment, looking in Chuck’s direction. The injured Twisted stood back up, blood pouring from his abdomen. His head exploded as another report from Chuck’s rifle echoed through the abandoned city.
The remaining Twisted pinpointed Chuck’s location and took cover. Alex smiled; the plan was working. They’d protected themselves against Chuck’s position, but Alex could still see them from her vantage point. She looked through her scope and quickly checked for Maryana. The vampire woman was nowhere to be found, but Alex made note of the position of the Twisted. One of them fired a shot in Chuck’s direction. He didn’t get a chance to fire again.
Alex had experienced enough battles to control the adrenaline coursing through her body. Time slowed down so much that it almost seemed to stop. She let out a breath and squeezed the trigger, the crosshairs resting on the Twisted who’d fired at Chuck. She didn’t wait to see the spray of mist come from the back of his head before moving her barrel to her next target. She watched as another Twisted flinched from the report of her first shot as she squeezed the trigger again. Without hesitation, she moved the barrel to another Twisted. This one was behind a chunk of concrete. She spotted Alex and raised a rifle. Before she could get off a shot, Alex put her third round through her chest.
The remaining Twisted opened fire. Some shot in Alex’s direction; others shot at Chuck. They reacted faster than any human would have, but they were not battle tested. They were badges, not soldiers. Their shots were wild and without focus. Alex stayed low and backed away from the window. She heard a report echo from the top of the building as she moved. Owl must have taken a shot. Alex stayed low as she raced to the room adjacent to the corner. She crawled on her stomach through an inch of dust until she could see the Twisted. A few stray bullets punched holes in the floor-to-ceiling windows, but the fire was concentrated at her prior location.
Through her scope she could see that the five remaining Twisted had taken cover under the overpass. “Now, Chuck!”
A moment later, the charges exploded and the bridge collapsed in a cloud of fire and dust.
Alex hit the button on her radio as she watched the rubble through her scope. “Report in.”
“I’m still in one piece, no injuries,” Chuck responded.
“I’m good,” Owl said.
“I’ve got movement on my side of the building,” Ed said. He was positioned on the opposite side of the building to guard from a rear attack.
“Copy that. What can you see, Owl?”
After a brief pause Owl responded. “They are everywhere. I’d guess fifty, plus or minus a few.”
“Give them hell, and then meet us at the shaft,” Alex said. “Do you have our backs, Jaden?”
“No one will reach the top floor.” A chill ran down Alex’s spine at the hard tone of his voice.
Alex heard Ed fire from the other side of the building. She counted two shots from him before gunfire erupted from the ground. Alex moved closer to the window to get a better vantage point. She saw flashes of movement. The Twisted were sprinting from one area of cover to another, trying to get closer to the building. The movement was fast enough that she couldn’t get a shot off before they were gone. She heard more shots coming from the roof. She flinched in surprise as a Twisted jumped through the air, heading toward a window on a floor below her. She moved fast and shot at center mass. The bullet from her rifle stopped his momentum mid-air. It looked like the Twisted had hit an invisible wall, and he fell to the ground as blood poured from his body.
Suddenly, a window to Alex’s left exploded. She rolled backward toward the door, while a stream of bullets flowed past her. Most of the bullets hit the ceiling of the room, due to the angle of the shots. Alex was sure that they had the attention of the Twisted now.
“Get to the shaft!” Alex said, as she crawled out of the room toward the hallway on the tenth floor.
She stayed in a crouch as she went down the hall. The gunfire inside the building stopped, but the Twisted continued firing, the sound getting closer with each passing moment. She heard glass break on a lower floor, and the sound of more shattered glass quickly followed.
Alex moved toward the center of the building, where the elevator shafts waited. She heard high-pitched screams, and gunfire echoed in the building.
Ed and Chuck were already at the elevator by the time she got there. Chuck was already clipped into the rope hanging in the shaft. She gave him a quick nod and he descended. Ed clipped on as Owl ran toward them.
“They are coming in fast,” she said.
“Make sure Chuck is ready to blow this thing the moment we are all down,” Alex told Ed.
“Roger that.” There was a high-pitched squeal from the rope as Ed quickly descended.
Another scream came from below. The agony in the voice made it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman, but the words were clear. “My legs!”
Alex clipped onto the rope just as a Twisted charged around the corner. Owl was ready and took aim. At that moment, two more Twisted rounded the corner on the other end of the hallway. Alex had both hands on the rope. There was no way she’d get to her weapon before they fired. She heard a gunshot, followed by a blur of motion. Twisteds’ hair rustled as the phantom went by them. A small red necklace formed around each of their throats, and they went limp, falling to the ground. The smell of blood was thick in Alex’s nose as she watched the heads slide off their bodies.
She kicked off and descended through the shaft in a controlled freefall. Owl and Jaden shot past her in the tight space. Neither needed a rope or to slow their descent. Alex reached the basement a step behind her i
mmortal allies.
The grate to the drain had already been removed and Ed was climbing down. Owl aimed her rifle up the shaft, watching for anything that tried to follow them. Alex took her clip off the rope and hustled to the drainage opening. She hurried down the ladder, almost landing on Ed.
“Owl, time to go!” Alex shouted.
Jaden and Owl landed in the tunnel, one after the other. As their feet hit the water, Chuck pressed the second button. The tunnel shook around them and a wave of concussive force hit Owl, knocking her back against the wall. Dust and rubble came through the shaft just after the wall of energy.
The living members of the team coughed and covered their mouths as dust filled the air. Alex heard a loud thud come from above them. She wondered if something was trying to smash its way into the tunnel, but she quickly realized that it was chunks of the building, raining down from the explosion.
The dust dissipated as it drifted through the tunnel. Alex could see the team again as it cleared, and she did a quick check to make sure everyone was standing. Her ears rang from the blast. For a moment, she wasn’t sure that she could hear at all, but then she kicked at the water under her boot. The sound was there; it was just muffled by the ringing.
Ed patted Chuck on the back. “Goddamn, buddy, you know how to bring down the house.”
“What?” Chuck shook his head and rubbed at his ear.
Ed yelled, “Good job blowing the place up!”
Chuck smiled and gave a thumbs up. “I may not be the best shot, but you can’t miss when you blow up the battlefield.”
“Is anyone injured?” Alex asked.
“I feel like I just got punched in the brain,” Owl muttered. “That concussion wave feels extra intense with vampire senses. Other than the headache, I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry, Ed’s proof that you can still be a great warrior with almost no working brain cells.” Chuck smiled and gave Ed a light punch in the arm.
“Thanks, I always thought of myself as a great warrior.” Ed smiled back.
Alex turned to Jaden, who’d been silent during the battle. “Do you think we got all of them?”
He answered as he wiped blood from his blades. “I can still feel the Twisted. It may just be survivors buried in the rubble.”
“Thanks for saving my ass up there. I owe you one.”
“I’ve lost track of the amount you owe me. I might have to turn you, just so you live long enough to repay me.”
Alex paused. “Are you razzing me?”
“I’m part of the GMT, aren’t I?” he asked. “That’s kind of in the job description.” He paused and looked her in the eyes. “That was a good plan.”
“Thanks. Now let's get back to the transport and get the hell out of here.”
Owl led the way through the dusty haze of the tunnel as the team sloshed through the water behind her. Alex felt a sense of pride that the five of them had just killed a small army. There was a change in the way they carried themselves, even Jaden. All of a sudden, they had hope. It was disappointing that Maryana hadn’t been among the Twisted, but they would regroup and find her. When they faced her, they would be ready.
Owl turned the corner and jumped back as a gunshot rang out. Her hand went to her suddenly bloody shoulder. The bullet had missed her heart by inches.
The rest of the team drew their weapons and hugged the wall.
A voice echoed down the tunnel. “I hope you aren't all tuckered out. I’m really looking forward to playing with you.” Maryana let out a laugh that sent chills down Alex’s spine.
21
For a moment, the only sound was the sloshing of water as the Twisted moved through the tunnel up ahead. One positive about the three inches of water in the tunnel—even vampires couldn’t keep their footsteps silent.
Alex scanned her surroundings, bathing the walls of the tunnel with the light from her headlamp. They had a decent position. Maryana’s voice had come from around a corner twenty yards ahead. If they camped here, they could pick off whatever Twisted she sent at them. Even with the Twisted’s unnatural speed, the GMT would have time to take them out, unless Maryana had many more of the creatures than it sounded like she did. Alex breathed in deep through her nose, ignoring the musty stench of the tunnel, and slowly let the air out through her mouth. Her heart was racing, and she needed absolute calm, absolute clarity.
Maryana was here in this tunnel. They could end it, free New Haven, break her mastery over the Twisted, if Alex and the GMT executed perfectly for the next few minutes. What happened in this tunnel could change the world.
Alex signaled to her teammates, letting them know to stay quiet and hold position. She locked eyes with Jaden last. He hesitated before nodding, and even in the sickly glow of her headlamp, she saw the concern in his eyes. Alex had been right; Maryana had gotten into his head. He was worried, when he should be preparing for the most important battle of his long life.
“I’m sort of impressed with you,” Maryana called out from the protection of the blocked corridor. “Jaden, I thought you were much too proud to work with humans in any real way. Usually, you just make them think you consider them equals, until they are no longer useful. And then you disappear into the night and leave them to their fates. Assuming that you don’t rip them to shreds like you did with Project White Horse. But this time, you seem to be serious about working with these people. What’s different?”
She paused to let him answer. Jaden gritted his teeth and said nothing, so she continued.
“Maybe it’s because they’re the only allies you have left. All the rest of your buddies came down with something, didn’t they?” She paused again, letting that hang in the air. “And then, we have the Ground Mission Team. My Twisted have blabbed quite a bit about you. They genuinely respect you. I figured it was only because they hadn’t seen what real warriors could do, but I have to say, I’m impressed with this little ambush you set up. I wouldn’t have expected that of you. Luckily, I didn’t have to. I’ve got somebody on my side who’s very familiar with GMT tactics.” Her voice lowered, as if she was no longer talking to them. “Get out there.”
A Twisted stepped around the corner. As one, the GMT prepared to fire, but something about this Twisted gave them pause. His arms were outstretched, and he held no weapons. He stood as still as a statue.
Alex stared at the Twisted. The shape of his face under the mask was the same as that of any other Twisted, but something about the way he held himself felt uncannily familiar.
“Alex,” Jaden said, his voice urgent. “Don’t let her bait you. Remember what’s at stake.”
Alex heard, but she wasn’t listening. Her eyes were fixed on the Twisted.
Maryana called out from around the corner. “Take it off.”
The Twisted reached up with a mangled hand and grabbed his mask. He tugged on it, removing it slowly, revealing the face underneath inch by inch, as if everything within him was fighting the order he’d been given. Alex’s eyes widened in horror as the mask slid upward. Then it reached the top of his head and slipped off, leaving his entire face exposed. Even with the elongated jaw, the long teeth, and the misshapen ears, there was no mistaking that face. Not for Alex.
“CB,” she said, her voice hoarse.
“Alex,” he answered, weakly. Though his massive teeth affected his pronunciation, his voice sounded the same as it always had, and it rolled through Alex’s body like an electrical current. Joy and anger twisted together in a double-helix in her guts. CB was alive, but he belonged to Maryana.
“I guess you know Colonel Brickman,” Maryana said. “He commands my Twisted for me. Pretty easy to anticipate your moves when my commander is the guy who taught you everything you know.”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” CB said, his eyes filled with despair.
Alex saw movement out of the corner of her eye and whipped her head around just in time to see Jaden raising his rifle. “No!” she shouted, her body already in motion. She grabbed the barrel of his ri
fle and slammed it against the side of the tunnel.
“This is getting interesting,” Maryana said, with a laugh.
Jaden pulled his rifle free of Alex’s grasp. “You think he wants to live like this? We were agreed. Any Twisted under her control is the enemy.”
“Not him.” Tears stood in her eyes. Jaden was right; they had agreed that Maryana’s Twisted had to be killed. And CB, even more than most. He was a master tactician, and he knew the GMT better than anyone alive. Alex’s mind understood those things, but her heart was another matter. “I can’t lose him, too.”
“Fine,” Maryana said. “If you’re not going to shoot him, CB will do it himself. Colonel, put your gun to your temple.”
CB’s hand went to his holster and he drew a pistol. Though his eyes were wide with fear, he obeyed with no hesitation, pressing the barrel to his head.
“No!” Alex screamed again. Before she knew what she was doing, she was running down the tunnel, racing toward CB. She drew her sword, ready to remove CB’s arm rather than allowing him to kill himself. Her sword was half-drawn when something grabbed the back of her vest, yanking her to a sudden halt.
“Sorry, but I’m not letting you die just yet,” Jaden growled. He reached into his pack and pulled out a grenade. Letting go of Alex, he pulled the pin and threw it hard. The grenade ricocheted off the wall behind CB and bounced into the tunnel where Maryana and the other Twisted were waiting. “Let’s go, GMT!”
He turned and ran back the way they’d come, and the GMT followed. As Alex turned, the grenade exploded, and she heard shouts coming from the tunnel behind them.
“I’m starting to remember why I hate that guy,” Maryana said. “Play time’s over. Go after them. That’s an order, CB.”