by Jan Stryvant
Sean didn't miss the fact that it jingled a little bit.
"What's that?" he asked sitting up.
"Magic items!" Peg smiled.
Taking hold of the bag, Sean looked inside. There were several rings, bracelets, and other pieces of jewelry inside.
"I figured you could use that spell of yours to copy them, and then give Jo and I each a set."
"Should I ask where you got these?" Sean sighed.
"Probably not," Peg replied with a smirk.
Reaching into the bag, Sean pulled out the necklace first. Calling up his enchanter's framework he examined it, eyes getting wide.
"This is a battery with a shield and healing spells!"
"Well, you don't think I'd be wasting your time with just garbage, do you?" Peg laughed.
"Can I see that?" Jolene asked.
Sean nodded, and tarring it quickly he passed it over to her. The rest of the assortment, and it was quite an assortment, were all equally high level and expensive kinds of items. The two wristbands were multipliers, something he'd heard mentioned in his texts, but had never seen before. He tarred those immediately as well. Anything that improved your ability to cast was a must have item for any magic user; he'd even be able to use them.
He was pondering one of the earrings in the bag when the whole building shook and there was a sudden loud explosion!
"What the hell!" Roxy yelled, jumping out of the bed.
"Dammit, I thought we were done with this shit!" Daelyn swore.
Leaping out of bed himself, Sean ran for the window to see what was going on outside as the fire alarm went off and the sounds of suppressed gunfire filled the air.
"Everyone, get dressed, grab your things!" Jolene yelled as Sean looked down into the street below.
There was a tanker-truck, and it was crashed into the building, and fuel was pouring out of it. There were also over a dozen men now encircling the building with weapons and firing into it.
As Sean watched one of them lit a flare and threw it over the truck into the pool of quickly expanding gasoline. Stepping back from the window, Sean grabbed his pants and put them on as a loud WOOSH was heard outside and flames were suddenly up past the windows.
"What's going on out there?" Roxy asked.
"Someone crashed a fuel truck into the building and just set it on fire. I guess the explosion we felt was them blowing a hole in the building to drive it into. Right now, I think they're planning on shooting anyone who tries to escape."
Roxy nodded. "Dae, evacuate as many as you can through the tunnel to Steve's place, before the way is blocked by the fire, then seal it behind you. Then take them to the bunker. Jo, help her."
Roxy then pulled out her phone and started dialing.
"Who are you calling?" Sean asked as Daelyn and Jolene ran out of the room, half dressed with whatever stuff of theirs they could grab.
"Claudia first. We may need her helicopters to get out of here. My dad next. This is going to attract the police pretty damn quickly."
Sean nodded and calling up his combat framework, he strapped on his pistol and shifted into his hybrid form, then ran out of the room and downstairs to find out just what was going on.
When he got to the ground floor, it was quickly turning into an inferno. Burning gas was pouring into the building and lighting everything on fire as it did. To make matters worse, the sprinkler system was going full bore, so what wasn't on fire was wet and slippery, and steam was starting to mix with the smoke.
Oak and a dozen other werewolves where doing what they could to try and slow the flow of the burning liquid, but the heat and smoke coming off of the fire was relentlessly driving them back. Meanwhile the people outside were firing into the building, at the defenders.
"Oak, tell one of the teams on the second floor to return fire!" Sean yelled at him.
"What about the civilians?" Oak yelled back.
"Fuck that! Just do it!"
Sean saw Oak key his radio and give the orders. He noticed that the shields on the wolves being shot were hardening, which meant the attackers where using silver bullets. However, the wolves realized that their shields were now repelling almost everything, so linking up hands they quickly formed a wall in front of the gasoline, slowing it considerably.
Targeting one of the shooters, Sean hit him with a fireball and smiled when the man suddenly ignited as a human torch. A second man moved to douse the burning man with a fire extinguisher, so Sean lit him up as well, and then pulling out his pistol he started to return fire until he ran out of bullets.
By now the fire was halfway into the building, and the gasoline was starting to pour into the basement through a hole that had burned through the floor.
"Oak! How's the evacuation going?" Sean yelled. Between the fire alarm, the flames, and gunfire, and the sounds of sirens outside, he could barely hear himself now.
"It's blocked now; we got out the women, children, and about half of the men."
"Pull back!" Sean yelled at the wolves who had been trying to stop the flames advances, just as one of them had his shield collapse and was suddenly overwhelmed by flames as the burning gasoline, no longer held back by anything, rolled forward.
Screaming, the werewolf ran away from the fire and dropped to the ground rolling around as several others tried to put him out.
"Everyone upstairs!" Roxy yelled from the foot of the stairway.
"You heard her! Upstairs!" Sean yelled.
Two more wolves suddenly went down, from the amount of blood coming out of both of them, Sean could only guess that the gunmen were now concentrating their fire. Sean was able to grab one of them and drag them away from the burning gas, but the other one was quickly engulfed in flames and started to burn to death.
Casting a heal spell into the one he was dragging, Sean followed the other's up the stairs.
"I can't believe they'd attack us like this in the middle of town!" Oak said, surprised.
"So much for their 'code of silence' I guess," Sean growled and looked around. "How long until the helicopters get here?" he asked Roxy.
"Ten minutes. Can you do anything to buy us more time?"
Sean shook his head and looked at Peg, who was standing there in her fox hybrid form. Sean would have to congratulate her later on finally achieving it.
"Any ideas, Peg?"
"Ice spells, wind spells. Come on!" she said and took off back down the stairs with Sean following.
Running back down into the stifling heat, Sean started to cast what few ice spells he knew into the center of the fire.
"Hit the ceiling!" Peg yelled.
Sean nodded and changed his aim, using up almost all of his remaining mana on cooling off the ceiling. It appeared to be working, in that the ceiling was still holding up. He noticed that Peg was casting some sort of wind or force spell, trying to slow the gasoline still pouring into the building and forcing it back towards the street.
He also noticed that she was wearing most of the items that had been in the bag.
"I'm out!" He yelled.
"Back upstairs!" she yelled back, and Sean turned and followed, taking time to note that the red, black, and white tipped foxtail really did compliment her butt. He shook his head as they circled the staircase and started up for the third floor. Here he was, running for his life, again, and he's taking the time to admire one of his wives' butts.
Obviously he was getting too used to this, which wasn't a good thing.
"Go up to the roof, I'll be there shortly!" He told Peg, and then ducked back into the bedroom. He grabbed his laptop, cellphones, shirt, the box of necklaces and tags from earlier today that were sitting there, and tossed them on the bed.
Grabbing a few more clothes, a couple of boxes of ammo, and anything else that looked important, he added them to the pile, then wrapped them up in the blanket and picking it all up he ran up to the roof.
Up on the rooftop he could see Hunter's and Oak's men lined up around the roof, shooting down into the stree
t below. Roxy was set up with something that looked like a sniper's rifle, while Sheila was scanning the area with a pair of binoculars looking for targets. Sean was a bit surprised to see Deidre, Cali, and the two twins there as well. They had blankets wrapped around them and were shivering in the cold night air. Then again, Daelyn had said that moving them to the bunker might not be a good idea.
"They're lycans," Oak called from over where he was returning fire with the others.
Sean swore, "So the bullets aren't working?"
"Oh, they're working, we switched to silver," Oak growled nastily.
"Ha!" Roxy called out, "Headshot! Try to get up from that one, sucker!"
"I think that was one of their mages," Sheila said, "he's not moving."
"Great! Let's see if we can find another one!" Roxy laughed.
"They're pulling out!" Hunter yelled suddenly, and looking over the edge of the roof, Sean could see that they were running off towards what looked like a truck the next block over.
"Fire department's almost here," Oak said.
"How far out are Claudia's helicopters?" Sean turned to Roxy.
Peg was pointing off to the east, "I see them!"
Sean squinted and looked off the way she was pointing. Sure enough, they were out there, and coming fast.
"How many we got up here?" Sean asked looking around.
"Thirty-one."
"I don't think we're all gonna fit," Sean said looking around.
"If you all shift back to your human forms, you'll fit," Roxy told him. "Now, everybody!" She yelled, "Clear a space for the first one to land! Then form a line. Load as many as they'll let you!"
Everyone quickly moved to comply with Roxy's instructions, breaking down the tents and tossing them to the sides.
"Do you know if Dae and Jo got away?" Sean asked her, as they moved to the side of the roof.
Roxy nodded, "They're hiding in Steve's place. They're not going to head out until they're sure that there aren't any people watching for them."
Sean nodded and watched as the first helicopter came in and lightly touched its skids to the roof, blowing all of the tents off of it and down into the streets below. A man in the back opened up the door and started waving people onboard.
Once it was packed full, he closed the door and they took off, the second one landing as soon as it was clear.
Shifting back to his human form, Sean joined the others as they climbed into the back of the second one, and then took off. Looking out the window, he could see the fire trucks below had already gotten to work on the fire, and were pouring water into the building, as more fire trucks and police cars raced to the scene.
"Well, so much for that place," Sean sighed. He could see flames were now coming out of the second story windows on the west side.
"Any idea who did it?" Peg asked.
"Take your pick," Roxy growled.
"I'm betting on the Vesti's," Sean said looking out at the burning building.
"We don't know that for sure," Roxy said.
"They're the only ones in town with any lycans left."
"You're assuming that these folks were local."
"Too bad we couldn't grab any of them, to make them talk."
"Excuse me, Sir?" The man who had opened the door was looking at Sean.
"Yes?"
"Where do you want us to take you?"
Sean looked at Roxy who shrugged.
"Might as well take us back to your base. Wherever that is."
"Okay, Sir. Will you be wishing to talk to Claudia?"
Sean nodded, "Yeah, sure, that sounds like a good idea."
Ten minutes later, they landed at a small field that was on the other side of the hills to the east of Reno. This was the first time Sean had seen their actual base of operations, having been picked up just prior to the assault the last time he'd been in one of the helicopters.
Getting out, they all moved clear of the helicopters as the pilots shut them down. There were several large pole barns on the edge of the small field, which was were Sean suspected they parked the machines when not in use.
"Sean!"
Looking up, Sean saw Claudia striding over towards where he was standing with the others, as he tried to decide what their next move was.
"Claudia," Sean said greeting her.
"What happened?"
"We were attacked, they set our building on fire, and tried to kill us," Sean shrugged, "Or as I like to call it, 'Tuesday.'"
Claudia smiled, "Well, at least your sense of humor is intact."
"Oh trust me, I'm only being glib because I have no clue as to just who I'm going to murder over all of this," Sean growled. "I saw some of my people burn to death. Trust me when I say that."
Claudia grimaced, "I better warn everybody that things are heating up. So, what are your plans now? And where is everyone else?" she asked, looking over the small group of people, clearly worried. "I thought you were over a hundred people now?"
"Most of them got away through one of the tunnels I had the dwarves dig us. Unfortunately we all couldn't go that way," Sean sighed.
"Where are they now?"
"Heading someplace safe, and undoubtedly crowded. As for what I'm going to do next?" Sean shook his head, "I don't even know where I'm going to put these folks," Sean gestured to the rest of his people, "much less what I'm going to do once the sun comes up."
"Well, one thing we've got around here is room," Claudia said. "I can put you up for a few days."
Sean nodded, "Thanks. Did you get the tags and collars we sent out yesterday?"
Claudia nodded.
"I have a few more," Sean hefted the blanket that was being used now as a sack, "to thank you for coming to get us."
"Oh, you don't need to do that," Claudia said.
Sean smiled, "I know. But I'm going to do it anyway. Now if you could show us to someplace to bed down for the rest of the night, I'd be grateful."
"So, now what?" Silver asked Daelyn as they all waited out of sight in Steve's garage. One of the advantages to having the security contract was that the guards had the keys to the building.
"How many do we have with us?"
"One hundred and thirty-four," Jolene sighed, "I counted them twice, to be sure, and we've got what? One van we can use here?"
"That many? Wow, I had no idea! We have two actually, plus my car. But I don't think Steve will mind if we borrow the shop car we used last time," Daelyn said considering her options.
"We're going to the bunker, right?" Roy, the leader of what had been beta team three asked.
Daelyn nodded, "That's the plan."
"All six of us on my team have been there; we can each lead a group there, in wolf form."
Jolene snorted, "Don't you think that people will notice a hundred wolves running through town?"
Roy shook his head, "No, Ma'am. Not if we split up and stagger our leaving from here. It's still dark out, and sunrise isn't for several hours."
"Several of the women know where it's at as well," Silver piped up. "They could each lead a group to help keep the size of the groups down."
Daelyn nodded, "Fine. Roy, make it happen. You're in charge. Get them moving out as soon as possible and use your best judgment."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Roy nodded and trotted off to gather up his team.
"I better get the women organized," Silver said, and walked off as well.
Jolene gave Daelyn a hug then, surprising her.
"What was that for?" Daelyn said, looking at Jolene in surprise.
"For figuring out what to do! I would have had no idea of how to handle this many people."
"Um, Daelyn?" one of the wolves came up, looking a little unsure.
"Yes?"
"What about those of us on guard duty here at the shop?"
"Stay, we have an obligation to Steve. I'll have someone come back later with one of the vans and pick you all up. Make sure you tell Steve everything that happened, when he shows up in the morning."
> He nodded, "Okay, thanks!"
"Now, let's see how many we're left with, and how many trips with the vans we're going to have to make."
"I'll call Rox," Jolene said, "and let her know how many we've got with us, so they can do a head count."
"Thanks, Jo. I just wonder what we're going to do when we get to the bunker. That place is full with fifty, and we're bringing almost three times that many."
"Sean will figure out something," Jolene smiled, "he always does!"
Daelyn nodded, "Thank the earth and stone for that!"
An Unexpected Turn of Events
"What do you want me to do with the bodies?" Jace asked Stewart, who was just standing there, looking stunned.
"Stewart," Jace said again, a little louder this time, the sound of the sirens starting to echo off the other buildings as the fire trucks drew near, "what do you want me to do with the bodies?"
"Bu... bodies?" Stewart asked looking up from Allen's body. Allen had been shot in the head; actually he'd been shot in the right eye. Somebody who was a very good shot had taken him out, and he'd been a block away from the actual firefight.
"Yes, Steward. The bodies. While I am sure that Misters Matt and Stan will wish to take Allen's body home, I doubt they want to take the ten dead from my team back, especially not Clem or Jocko, who both burned to death and now smell rather strongly."
"Wh... what do you normally do with the bodies?"
Jace shrugged, "Most of the time we just strip 'em and dump 'em. They don't have any records, so they're just logged as homeless, that is if they're even found. But with the way Clem and Jocko burned to death, I don't know if it's wise for us to leave them to the police. So we probably should bury them somewhere."
"Where are the others?" Stewart said looking around in obvious shock, "Where did Matt and Stan go?"
"Matt and Stan ran back to their car and drove off someplace. The rest of my team, living and dead are in the back of the truck, ready to leave. I think we should clean up Mr. Allen, put him back there as well, and leave before the police find us here."
Stewart suddenly became aware of the sounds of the sirens on the next block over. The wolves must have pulled back as fire department showed up.