Fall of the Cities

by Vance Huxley

  “We have to get closeenough for blades, or they’ll just use our people as human shields.” Doll looked in the direction of the captives. “How long have we got?”

  Patty glanced the same way. “A few minutes yet. We can’t hear motors.”

  “We’ll move out that way, towards the GOFS border.” Doll waved to include her squad and pointed. “If we cycle down a road the other side of those ruins, we can dismount and form up once we’re past. We’llset up the shield line across their retreat. Get ready to give them a volley when I click the radio. With luck, they’ll run into us.Then even if they’ve got hostages we’ll be close enough to use steel.”

  “Take five of mine, make sure you’ve got enough to do the job.” Patty pointed to five who, despite complaining, gave up their crossbows. The recipients promised not to waste the bolts.

  One had a valid concern. “What if they click before Doll does?”

  “They start dying earlier.” Everyone who heard seemed happy with that.

  Bethany still hesitated. “What if the cars arrive first?”

  Patty called Logan over. “We’ll be shooting at long range, so give Doll the Mad Max .50.” She turned and looked over Doll’s people.”Harold said they might stop an engine so let’s find out. They’ve got a hell of a kick, but Henry for one has the wrists for it.” Quick words followed while weapons were moved across to Doll’s squad, including four morepistols and several spears. The shooters would be relying on long range this time,but had Rambos if it got messy.

  As Doll’s squad raced away on their bikes, Patty andfifteen shootersfiltered into the ruins overlooking the open ground. One by one they found aconcealed position with a clear view of the targets.Patty inspected the clump of dejected prisoners and their laughing, joking captors, then crawleddown the line givingeach shooter their target. Every enemyalready holding a rifle or shotgunhad to go down in the first volley. There were nine targetsso Patty chose one for each of the eight with rifles. She chose a primary target for the five crossbows, to double up for the least accurate firearms,telling them to use their second crossbow on anyone with a long gun who didn’t go down. That wouldn’t include her target, the ninth man, nor Emmy’s and Ru’s at this range.

  Ninety yards was borderline for real accuracy with a crossbow, but these women practiced relentlessly and were very good. The heavy, cranked crossbows could throw a bolt much further, but it took dedicated practice to hit a man at this range. Conversely,the same range meant point blank for the rifles, or at least for a chest shot. Patty took aim at the man with a double barrelled shotgun, just below his neck. She hoped to hithis spine so he didn’t get off a reflex shot. Emmy and Ru would do the same.

  Patty heard the motors approaching, but very faintly andshe hesitated. Doll might want to let them into the trap. Not too bad if each vehicle only had one driver, but still a risky increase in the enemy numbers. A click sounded on her radio. Patty breathed, called “Shoot” without moving her eye, and stroked the trigger. The man dropped without a twitch as Patty jacked another round into the Winchester, swinging the barrel across to find someone aiming this way.

  More men produced firearms but only the three rifles with magazines and the spare crossbows could respond.One’s head exploded so Emmy had noticed him, and another went down with three feathered shafts in him. The big 303 roared again, throwing a kneeling gangster into the wall behind him. Patty dropped a man with a half-drawn pistol, a chest shot that knocked him over backwards. Some of the men who’d fallen were now trying to get into cover, only wounded. “Get down Johan, everyone!” Patty put another man down but ducked as return fire spat out.She fired twice at a man who had gone down, but recovered enough to pick up his rifle. He fell, and this time stayed still. Emmy would have emptied her clip by now but some of the single-shot rifles cracked a second time. More men staggered, wounded, or fell while others were scrambling into cover. Logan pinned those gangsters with a hail of heavy rounds from the 303, sacrificing accuracy for volume as he worked through the spare clips.

  Pattythumbed in fresh rounds, her mouth curving into a smile as two loud cracks echoed from behind the kidnappers. A man raised his head to look backwards. Either Patty’s shot or someone else made sure he never raised it again. Voices among the gangsterswere shouting back and forth now, arguing, and some were definitely panicking.Those shootingat Patty’s squad faltered as the crackle of pistol fire rang outbehind them. Engines were gunned, suddenly and shockingly loudbefore one of the Mad Maxes sounded a second time, followed quickly by the other.

  Shouting and screaming masked some of the engine noise now as a second volley of crossbow bolts lashed out.Patty’s shooters tried to kill anyone with a firearm, but some were using the prisoners as cover. Then the engine noises started to move away! As their transport retreatedmost of the gangsters facing Patty panicked, breaking contact to chase them. Easy targets but the shooters had to deal with those still shooting back. The gunfire overtowards the carsslowed, then stopped as the drivers pulled out of pistol range.

  “Come on, Demons!” As the last of the men facing this way crumpled, Patty came to her feet and startedrunning. She wanted to catch up with thefleeing gangsters because some still had crossbows or had snatched up firearms. Either would go through Doll’s shields, especially at close range. Patty could see three still cranking crossbows, butmost of the shooters came with her.There wasn’t time to wait. A wounded man reared up from the ground as she ran closer, pistol raised. Patty fired from the hip, slamming him back down. Ahead, gunfire sounded briefly, followed by the clash of steel asthe screaming and shouting started. Patty swerved to avoid a melee, seven or eight people with their hands tied were kicking or stamping on someone on a stretcher.

  A bullet plucked at her jacket, clipping the metal plates. Patty staggered, fired again from the hip and kept going. Accuracy wasn’t great like that, but it didn’t matter at these ranges. The man doubled up, eyes wide in pain and shock but still aliveso Patty shot him again and he spun away. She kept running, thumbing in rounds because she wasn’t sure how many she’d fired. Ahead Patty saw a melee she daren’t shoot into, spreading out across the road. One manlooked back, saw the Demons coming, broke away from the crowd and ran. Patty stopped, slowed her breathing and nailed him. The man went to his hands and knees so she put a round through his chest, side to side, and he collapsed.

  The gunfire from behind panicked the gangsters trying to break the shield wall. They faltered and tried to disengage, Dolls’ fighters charged, and suddenly it was all over. Even as Patty thumbed more rounds into her rifle the last few gangsters scattered. They didn’t get far as those with a crossbow bolt or round up the spout targeted them, ably assisted by any of Doll’s squad who still had ammo in their pistol. Patty stopped where she was, reloading the Winchester, because her legs had gone. They felt like jelly and her arms were jumping and shaking. Cripes, she’d just shot at and maybe killed half a dozen people! Patty’s stomach roiled and settled, and her head cleared.

  It had been like that last time, all hell and damnation and then reaction to survival, but she’d recovered faster this time. Patty straightened, looking around. Three were being sick and a couple were dancing in a circle, arm in arm. Others just looked shocked, were crying, or were staring around a bit vacantly. Doll lookedpale but raised a hand in greeting and managed a smile. Patty wasn’t sure what her return attempt looked like. She felt her smile strengthen because they’d done it!

  Victory wasn’t without its cost.A cry of distress rang out behind, because not all of the erstwhile prisoners were getting up. Further back what had to be one of her Demons lay in a crumpled heap. Another sprawled nearby with a crossbow bolt right through her throat. Patty looked over at the Riot Squad again. Some of the still figures weren’t gangsters. Bethanysat holding her bloody head, her helmet gone, while others were nursing wounds or hunched in pain.

  Her radio clicked. Cripes, she’d forgotten! “Patty here. We got them, but we’ve taken casualties.”
r />   “We’ll send help.” Harold had answered personally, he’d probably heard the shots and would be having a kitten.

  At least that thought made her smile a little. “No, it’s not too bad.” Patty looked around again. “There’s nobody left to bother us.” Tillywaved, pointing, anda car engine started. “We’ve captured transport for the badly wounded.”

  “Keep us notified. We’ll have a squad ready.” A pause followed before Harold continued, andPatty could imagine him bracing himself for the bad news. “Badly wounded? Are you all okay?” He had to mean alive.

  Patty remembered the radios were very public. “Near enough. Tell you all about it in private.”

  “Good enough. Hurry home and thank everyone, please.”

  Everyone swung round as a rattle of gunfire sounded from the direction the cars had gone. Some pistols, but with four spaced rifle shots. Patty relaxed. “Roy, or maybe the GOFS sentries by the water.”

  “I might even kiss him, bloke or not, if he got one.” Fergie didn’t look at all kissable just now, spattered in blood with a big bruise coming up on her cheek, but at least she raised a couple of smiles.

  “Celine will sort that out.” This laughter seemed a bit less forced. Tilly whistled from the cars, beckoning for more drivers. Two of the stopped cars were leaking fluids, the front one and one that had started to move up alongside. The front door hung open on the second, witha hole through it and a body sprawled behind.

  Doll gestured as Patty came closer. “Hiding behind the car door looks good in the films. The Mad Max went straight through.” The five cars behind had broken headlights, starred windshields and one driverlay sprawled out of an open door. “The cars only had drivers, but I didn’t want to risk letting them in. I didn’t want them used as cover.” Doll gave a short mirthless laugh. “Or not as it happens.”

  A quick glance round and Patty agreed. “Good call, it kept our casualties down.Any idea who it was? I don’t think we took any prisoners back there.”

  “No, still no idea.” Doll glanced back at the cluster of bodies. “I don’t think anyone here will be answering questions. Some of thissquad were a bit hesitant to start with, and then a few went the other way. Some of that is overkill.” Her wan smile held a bit of embarrassment. “I went a bit Mad Max, never mind the gun, and then realised what I’d done.” Patty noticed the amount of blood spatter on Doll’s sabre and arm.

  Emmy limped up, a rough bandage around her calf. She gestured to it. “The scroat was faking, only wounded. He tried to hamstring me. Terri is back there. She looks bad and Martha is dead with a crossbow bolt through her throat. One of the prisoners, Isla, is dead as well, and two are wounded. The wounded might be friendly fire but Isla had to be deliberate, she was laid down. At least we got whoever did it, because I can’t see any survivors.” Emmy’s hands were trembling slightly as she wiped her machete on a gangster’s jacket. “A few were killed several times, because I for one didn’t take any chances after my leg. It’s myfirst time hand to hand like this, with machetes instead of clubs. I’d like to get someplace to sit down.”

  “The same applies tomost of us.” Patty held up the radio. “Harold says to get home and then we can all talk. That might be a good idea. Nobody looks good.” At least half were sitting down now, while others werewandering around in some sort of daze. Some were tending the wounded, but the rest needed something constructive to stop them dwelling on what they’d just done. “Is Ru all right?”

  Emmy finally smiled properly. “Rusays she only had a knife the last time. A rifle makes killing the banchodmucheasier. She sent five people back with Logan to bring up our cycles but right now she’s helping to bandage wounds.” She glanced behind her, her grim expression back. “Johan reckons Karl died when the rest were captured. He wouldn’t surrender. We’ll pick him up on the way back, and the lookouts because they had to have been killed as well.”

  Doll grimaced, then pointed up the road. “Tilly has taken some of ours to check the motors and throw bodies out of those that still run. She’s hurting from a slashed arm, but says work will take her mind off the pain.” More engines started up, before two cars moved towards them. One stopped again until Henry’s mace smashed the starred windscreen. Another windscreen shattered outwards as a third car started forward, leaving a body sprawled in the road.”Let’s load up our people, and the weapons, and get home.”

  *

  The rescued and rescuers drove, walked and cycled slowly home, with a detour to collect the dead lookouts and Karl’s body. One of the leaky motors, one hit by aMad Max rifle round,only managed to get halfway before it seized up. The wounded were moved across to the other three vehicles, an estate car and two hatchbacks, which made it all the way to Orchard Close. The nineOrchard Close dead were laid across the roofs.Thatwasn’t respectful but nobody wanted to leave them until later. The badly wounded needed the insidesof the cars,while some with lesser woundshad to be pushed along on bikes.

  Patty lost one Demon, Martha,and two of her wounded were serious.Three of Doll’s squad were dead.The three scavenger squad sentries had been found with four crossbow bolts in each of them.Karl had been killed because he was a gunslinger. When the attackers appeared he’d reacted with a quick-draw, shooting three men before going down.He’d killed one, and another had been carried by the prisoners. The prisoners kicked their burden to death when they got the chance. Isla had been shot out of sheer bloody nastiness, or maybe because she’d been shouting for everyone to get down.

  Patty and Doll walked by Emmy, pushing her on a bike because of the slash in her calf. Before long Patty stopped pushing, walking hunched over where the bullet had glanced from her vest and torn off two washers. There wasn’t any blood, but the pain promised she’d have a hell of a bruise. The three of them chewed everything over on the slow hike home, mainly to keep themselves functioning. Patty’s shooters had ruthlessly targeted any kidnapper with a gun or crossbow. The Gunslingers in Doll’s squad had done the same with pistols, before the running gangsters could reply accurately. Despite that, all the dead and three out of four of Patty’s wounded had been hit by either bullets or crossbow bolts. Doll’s squad had nine wounded, but only four by blades or maces because nobody was counting bruises or even small cuts.

  The Riot Squad shield line were hit by a hail of bullets,luckily an inaccurate hail as the drivers were more interested in escaping. The Gunslingers had emptied their guns at the cars and had to reload and retarget in a hurry when the rest arrived. Despite their inexperience, the formation had proved to be murderously efficient once metal met metal.The gangsters finally hitting the shieldshad bounced, more or less. Doll conceded the gangsters were panicking by then, and outnumbered.

  Once the returning fighters came into sight of Orchard Close, a score of armed figures drove towards them, headed by Casper. They left their vehicles for the wounded, switching for cycles before setting off for the fight scene. Casper had explicit orders from Harold,to strip every corpse naked and slit its throat. Any fuel from the broken vehicles would be salvaged beforetorching them. Everything useful would come back to Orchard Close, the rest would go on the blaze. Harold wanted nothingleft but dead meat, and they’d get round to burning that in time. Casper had a cameraphone to take pictures, because Harold would be asking questions and sending a message to the neighbours.

  When Casper came back, his party, many of them women, had cutthe nuts and ears off the dead gangstersto send a better message.At least none of them had started a necklace. Casper reported that the rifle fire had been Roy and his men. They’d seen the shot-up vehicles fleeing towards the Barbies and opened up.Roy managed to shoot two driversso they’d captured the cars, while the other menthought they’d hit cars at least. Unless Harold objected, Roy would keep one car as their taxi for weekends, at least until its fuel ran out. A few of the GOFS lookouts had taken pot-shots according to Roy, and he’d heard more shooting a bit later.

  Patty, Doll and Emmy were quickly debriefed in the big house, befo
reHarold, Tessa and Sharyn went to the canteen with them to talk to the rest of the fighters. Some of the fighters needed to talk more, some needed beer, and some needed a sleeping pill for a night or two. The worst affected of the women went to the Girl Club for serious sympathy and chocolate, while Harold dealt with the men. Casper complained nobody wanted a man-hug, which finally raised some smiles.Penny didn’t smile, she blamed herself for Isla dying.

  *

  Harold couldn’t work out who to blame. He’d like to pick on the Hot Rods, or Geeks, or the two combined. Within days the pictures Casper took were transferred to the neighbours’ phones, using Bluetooth. Harold even offered a reward for identification, but none of the faces were recognised. Between that and the direction the cars retreated, towards the Barbies, Harold had to keep an open mind.That or he had to cross Barbies and Pink Panther territory to get at the General, not exactly practical.

  Whoever it was had lost forty-one fighters or drivers and their weapons, including the two Roy killed, a serious setback to most gangs, but no rumours surfaced. The GOFS were pissed off because the cheeky sods had driven through back roads on their territory. Gofannon sent a message that he’d be talking to the Barbies to try and stop any repeats. He also thanked Roy, because his shooting diverted the escapees just far enough for the GOFS to nail three more. A message from Malibu let Harold know the Barbies were interested in the trespassers as well, lethally interested.

  Those in the fight had a rough time but seemed to move on and past, helped in part by being successful. The wounded fighters were spoiled by the relieved ex-prisoners. Big Johan,in particular, cheered people up with juggling and awful jokes, the same ones he told the children. Penny had a bad time over Isla dying, but her friends had all made it and were very grateful. The smaller wounds soon healed, and Lenny confirmed the deeper ones would heal eventually.