by Alex Siegel
Smythe and Odelia were engaged in an all-out melee with more than a dozen adversaries. Everybody was wearing white camouflage, so it was hard to tell the sides apart, but Sheryl knew her friends by the way they fought.
Smythe had a knife in each hand, and he was wielding his weapons with the precision of a surgeon. Every slash or stab found a soft target. Men were grabbing at him and trying to pull him down, but he made them pay dearly whenever they laid a hand on him. When a knife wasn't convenient, he lashed out with a foot. His kicks hit like sledgehammers.
Odelia was using her man as a shield. She was holding a pistol, and she was picking off her enemies at close range. Every trigger pull resulted in an instant death. She was killing them even faster than Smythe.
Sheryl knew she needed to jump, but landing in the middle of that bloody fray seemed like suicide. She just wasn't a good enough fighter. She hesitated at the edge, unsure about how to proceed.
Without thinking, she took a breath. The pungent odor of gas made her shut her mouth immediately. She was starting to feel dizzy.
She remembered she was holding an assault rifle. She fired into the crowd using short bursts, taking care to avoid hitting her teammates. Her enemies looked up, grabbed their own weapons, and fired back. She barely dived out of the way in time to avoid a spray of bullets.
Her vision was starting to waver. It's the gas, she thought. I have to get out of here. She stumbled back towards the hole in the wall but collapsed before she made it. Using her hands, she dragged herself across the floor. Her lungs were burning from holding her breath. The strength in her muscles was fading quickly.
Just another few feet.
She passed out.
* * *
Tawni heard the sound of creaking wood. She turned and gave Sheryl a hostile glare. Clumsy cow, Tawni thought. She watched Sheryl do a much better job as she proceeded up the rest of the stairs.
"Come on," Norbert whispered.
Tawni followed him into the next room. Her hands were a little sweaty as she gripped her sword tightly. She was eager to put it to good use, but the way things were going tonight, she was afraid she wouldn't get the chance. The house was dead quiet. It looked like the occupants had run off.
They entered a kitchen. A simple, wooden table stood in the corner of the room. The counters were clean and bare. Tawni checked the fridge and found leftover Chinese food, cans of sparkling water, and a bag of grapes.
Norbert opened a cabinet. "Paper plates and plastic utensils," he whispered. "They were just visiting."
She checked under the sink. A garbage can contained dirty paper towels which smelled like gun oil.
A tiny noise got her attention. The kitchen had a window, but the curtain was drawn. She pulled it aside slightly and peeked through the crack. A line of soldiers wearing white camouflage was sneaking across the snow towards the house. There were at least twenty of them. She would get some action tonight after all.
"It's a fucking ambush," Tawni muttered. She grabbed her phone and called Smythe.
He answered quickly, "What?"
"Movement outside."
"Where?"
She peered through the window. "Everywhere."
A hissing sound made her turn around. She spotted a nozzle in the ceiling.
"Gas," Norbert said. "Hold your breath."
The kitchen had a back door, but when he grabbed the handle, it broke off in his hand. He tried the window. His great strength failed to open it.
"Glued shut," he said.
Tawni could smell the gas now even with her mouth closed. She pushed him out of the way and slashed the window with her sword. Sliced chunks of glass and wood fell out. Two more cuts made a hole big enough to duck through. She jumped down to the snowy ground outside.
Bright floodlights turned on, temporarily blinding her. She flipped up her now useless night vision goggles. She discovered she was surrounded by men in white camouflage, and they were trying to grab her.
That was a huge mistake.
She got busy with her sword. She chopped her enemies down two and three at a time with broad strokes. Severed body parts began to litter the snow. Blood sprayed onto her face, and she liked the flavor. Snickity snack, she thought. Beware the black.
A noise made her turn. She almost cut Norbert in half before she realized it was him. He was fighting with his fists and feet, and the blows sounded like a baseball bat striking meat. When he hit a man, that man went down hard and stayed down. Tawni was impressed. He may be a boob, but he's a hell of a fighter.
She focused on her own battle. Her opponents were obviously having second thoughts about engaging a human food processor with an infinitely sharp blade. They started to back away, and she chased after them. When they scattered, she drew a gun and shot a few in the back.
Tawni spotted Smythe and Odelia fighting with a different group of enemies.
"Come on!" Tawni yelled at Norbert.
They ran to join their comrades. A ring of dead bodies surrounded Smythe and Odelia, some stabbed and others shot. Seeing the bloody carnage gratified Tawni. Smythe was a doctor first and foremost, but he still knew how to kill.
"Where's Sheryl?" Tawni said.
Smythe looked up at a ragged hole in the side of the house. "Fuck! She didn't come out! What was she thinking?"
An amplified, male voice boomed across the snow. "That was extremely impressive," he said. "I've never seen anything like it, but the show is over. Drop your weapons and put your hands up."
Tawni squinted at the floodlights. A long line of men with assault rifles was just visible.
"I'm warning you," the voice boomed. "We were under orders to take you alive, but I'm prepared to ignore those orders. At this point, I'll be happy to see you dead. If I say the word, my men will fill you full of lead. There is no cover near you, and you can't go back in the house because of the gas."
"We're going to run towards the train tracks," Smythe murmured. "On my mark."
"What about Sheryl?" Tawni said.
"We'll come back for her after we get out of this mess. Ready. Go."
All four Spears took off like a shot. The enemy immediately responded with a storm of automatic gunfire. It sounded like an avalanche.
Bullets whizzed all around Tawni. One struck her helmet and made her stumble. More rounds thudded against her body. The impacts hurt like a bitch, but she had confidence in her armor. It would take a big bullet to punch through the special, tightly woven fibers. Overlapping plates protected internal organs. She would have nasty bruises in the morning but nothing worse.
It took only a few seconds for the team to reach the train tracks. They flew along at a dead run for about a hundred yards. The gunfire was far behind now. Smythe pointed into the woods, and everybody turned in that direction. The team instinctively found dark places to hide among the closely-spaced trees.
Tawni forced herself to breathe softly even though her lungs were burning. She tried to make her body as low and still as possible.
"Anybody hurt?" Smythe whispered.
"My left arm is broken," Odelia said. "A bullet hit my humerus. It hurts like crazy."
"I can't heal it while you're wearing armor, and now isn't a good time to strip down."
"I'll deal with it. My gun hand still works fine."
"What now?" Tawni whispered.
"We wait for the enemy to come looking for us," Smythe said. "They should be along any second. After we kill them, we'll go back for Sheryl."
She grinned.
Chapter Thirteen
Strong hands gripping her body roused Sheryl from her stupor. She looked up into the faces of four men wearing gasmasks. They grabbed her by the arms and legs and carried her away. She struggled feebly, but her limbs refused to respond properly. The world wobbled like a ship in a storm.
They went down the stairs, through a few rooms, and out the front door of the house. The bite of freezing cold air woke her up a little but not enough. The floodlights were still
on outside, making the snow glitter like a billion tiny diamonds.
She was placed on her feet. Two men held her up while the other two patted her down. All her weapons and equipment were efficiently stripped off, but they let her keep her armor for now. She squirmed helplessly.
The men took Sheryl's phone and put it into a copper box. The lid was closed, latched, and locked with a padlock. She furrowed her brow. I need that, she thought hazily.
The men dragged her over to a white and red armored truck. She was shoved into the rear compartment and forced to lie on the hard, metal floor. She could feel the vibration from the engine. Her hands were cuffed behind her back. The four men climbed in after her even though space was tight. She moaned when somebody stepped on her elbow.
The truck drove off.
She passed out again.
* * *
Smythe's phone buzzed. He checked the caller ID and saw it was Aaron. This can't be good news, Smythe thought.
He put the phone against his ear and whispered, "Sir?"
"We just lost the signal from Sheryl's phone," Aaron said. "What's going on?"
"We had a setback, but we're dealing with it. We'll rescue Sheryl in a minute."
"What kind of setback?"
Smythe saw movement on the train tracks. "I'll tell you later, sir." He hung up.
He counted ten men wearing winter camouflage cloaks. They carried KRISS Vector assault rifles which had very short barrels and folding stocks. The weapons were designed for urban operations. They fired .45 caliber ammunition which could ruin anybody's day.
"Odelia," Smythe whispered, "how good are you at being bait?"
"With a broken arm?" Odelia replied. "We'll see."
"Draw them into the woods."
She stood up and glided towards the enemy. The way she slipped from tree to tree was beautiful to watch. He was using his night vision goggles, and even with electronic assistance, his eyes had a hard time following her. Her left arm hung limply at her side, and the sight made him cringe.
She had lost her assault rifle at some point, but she still had a pistol with a suppressor. She began to shoot the enemy in the faces, one after another. Her shots were quick, precise, and quiet. She killed four men before they realized they were under attack. They sprayed the woods with long bursts from their Vectors. She hid behind a nice, stout tree while broken bark flew around her.
The enemy split into two groups of three and charged forward. They were clearly planning to flank Odelia on both sides.
"Tawni," Smythe whispered, "take the ones on the left."
Then he realized Tawni was missing.
"She already took off," Norbert whispered.
A black shape rose up from the deep shadows between the trees. A sword swept through the air, and three heads separated from their bodies.
"Come on," Smythe muttered.
He and Norbert hurried to kill the remaining group. Smythe thought about taking prisoners, but rescuing Sheryl quickly was more important. The team couldn't afford to waste time with wrestling guys to the ground and putting them to sleep. The opportunity to take prisoners would come later.
"I give up!" Odelia squeaked. She stepped into the moonlight and raised her hands. "You got me!"
The three soldiers focused their attention on her, and it was the last mistake they ever made. Smythe and Norbert blasted them with assault rifles.
"Tawni!" Smythe called. "Let's go! Sheryl is in trouble!"
He caught up with Odelia.
"Was I good bait?" she murmured.
"Yes, except bait usually doesn't kill four of them."
"I wanted to get their attention."
"You certainly did that," he said.
The team reached the train tracks and regrouped. Tawni had a smile on her face that was frightening even to Smythe. They started jogging back towards the house.
* * *
Squad leader Chopin grabbed his phone and called the commander of Unit K.
"Yes?" the commander said.
"We captured one prisoner, sir. She's on her way to you now. There were four others, but they escaped."
"How is that possible?"
Chopin looked at the remains of his men in the snow. An impressive amount of blood had been spilled tonight. "Let's just say our employer was right. We're dealing with creatures of darkness and death. The battle was extraordinary. They ripped through us like we were children. We suffered heavy casualties. I want to leave before the enemy comes back to finish us off."
"One captive is better than none, I suppose. But before you can leave, you have to erase our tracks. That's the rule."
"Already working on it, sir."
Chopin heard a groan from one of the men on the ground. The soldier's belly was cut open, and his intestines had spilled out, but miraculously, he was still alive. Chopin drew his gun and shot the injured man in the head.
"Return to the factory as soon as you can," the commander said. "The good news is the rest of us will get even bigger shares of gold when the mission is done."
"Yes, sir."
Chopin put his phone away. He administered the coup de grâce to another injured man. Unit K never left anybody behind, at least nobody alive.
* * *
Smythe crept through a cluster of trees just north of the house with the chocolate store. The floodlights were still turned on, and they illuminated the grisly battlefield. Blood had spattered over big areas. He saw at least thirty bodies lying in the snow, but none were moving. He frowned. We didn't kill all of them, he thought. At least a few should still be alive.
Smythe scanned for signs of the enemy. "Anybody see where they went?" he whispered.
Tawni, Norbert, and Odelia were right behind him. They were crouched in the deep snow between the trees.
"No," Odelia said. "Maybe they left. I think we gave them more of a fight than they expected."
Smythe grimaced. If the enemy was gone, then Sheryl was probably gone, too.
He heard sirens in the distance. With all the loud gunfire earlier, it was no surprise the police were on their way. Their arrival was very inconvenient though.
Norbert moved forward. "Let's go. We only have a couple of minutes to gather evidence."
"Wait." Smythe held him back. "There could be traps."
"We have to risk it."
"No. Rushing into a dangerous situation is suicide. We already lost one team member tonight. I won't let us lose another."
"What about Sheryl?" Norbert said in an urgent tone. "What if she's still in the house?"
"I doubt she was left behind."
"Then we need clues so we can find her. We can't just sit here on our asses."
"I know!" Smythe clenched his fists in frustration. "But we can't get tangled up with the police either. We'll hang back and wait for the right moment to move in."
"Odelia, talk to him, please."
"Smythe is right," Odelia said in a soft voice. "I know it's hard, but we have to be a little patient right now. Making a bad situation worse won't do Sheryl any good."
Two white and yellow cars with state police markings arrived. Two officers got out of each car. They immediately drew their guns.
"Be careful," Smythe whispered.
He desperately wanted to run over and warn the troopers, but he knew from experience they would take it the wrong way. His body was draped with illegal weapons. The assault rifle that Smythe carried was worth a couple of felonies by itself.
He began to disarm.
"What are you doing?" Odelia whispered.
"I have to warn the police to watch for traps," he said. "I can't do that if I look like a terrorist."
She shook her head. "No, don't."
"Why not?"
"You'll only get into an argument. God wants us to stay out of sight."
One of the officers went to the front door of the house and knocked. When nobody answered, he opened the door.
The concussion from the blast knocked Smythe onto his back. The
flash of light dazzled his eyes. Scorching hot air washed over his unprotected face. All he heard was a loud ringing.
Flaming debris began to rain down. He covered his head with his arms to protect himself. A chunk of wood struck his leg with enough force to make him grunt in pain.
After the danger passed, he sat up. The house and the garage were completely demolished. Smoldering wreckage was scattered in every direction. Smythe didn't see the state troopers, but they had to be dead.
"Help," Tawni said.
He looked over and saw her pinned underneath a wooden beam. He expected her pelvis was broken.
He immediately crawled over and shoved the beam off her. He unzipped her body armor. She was wearing a sweat suit underneath, and he yanked it out of the way. Her right hip was already swelling badly.
He put both hands into her pelvis and discovered three serious breaks. Severed arteries were gushing blood into her lower abdomen.
"Odelia!" Smythe said. "I need you."
"My arm is still broken," Odelia said, "but I'll do what I can."
She walked over on her knees and put her good hand on Tawni's belly. Odelia's skin lit up like a giant light bulb. Smythe could feel Tawni's body growing warmer as healing energy poured into it.
Smythe repaired the damage in a couple of minutes. Finally, he zipped up Tawni's armor before she grew cold.
"Thanks, guys," Tawni said as she flexed her hips. "You're the best."
Smythe turned his attention to Odelia's broken arm. Working around her tight-fitting armor took time, but eventually, he got his hand to where it needed to be. He molded her broken bone back together like pieces of clay.
He knew what his next task was, but he dreaded it. "Time to call the boss," he mumbled.
The rest of the team gave him anxious looks.
Smythe dialed Aaron's number.
"Now will you tell me what the hell is going on?" the commander said.
"The enemy fled," Smythe said softly. "Sheryl is gone. If she's still alive, we have no idea where they took her. The house is completely destroyed. There is very little evidence left aside from some dead bodies."