Sholto let out a long, low growl.
“Sorry,” Christa whispered, “I’m just trying to help. I know you’ve seen me shoot a million times but I don’t know what you remember from before—”
Sholto growled again.
“Yeah, right, sorry,” Christa said.
She was seated in the dirt with her leg stumps spread wide for balance. The huge rifle was socked tight to her shoulder and the barrel was propped up on a charred log.
Sholto was behind her, pressed tightly against Christa’s back with her furry head over her shoulder. She was leaning forward with one eye closed and the other looking through the rifle’s scope. They were cheek to cheek and Christa could feel her dog’s breathing, and smell her singed fur.
Hovering in the trees near the compound, Semion flicked wildly through the video feeds from his teams at the ranch house. The images were filled with stomping hooves and swaying black horns. He watched helplessly as they were being overrun by the seemingly endless tides of buffalo.
Semion brought up a tactical overview and saw his soldiers were out of ammo and scattered throughout the moving herd, their small green dots mixed in with shifting masses of large yellow ones. His green dots were starting to flash, and then turn gray as his soldiers’ vital signs went critical. One by one they also started to turn black.
He toggled through the video feeds and saw it wasn’t just the buffalo taking them out. Out of the dust and smoke he saw other dogs and humans appearing in flashes. As soon as one of his team found an opening in the herd and got to their feet the feed from their cameras shook and bounced as they were attacked.
He shouted for Lobb and the rest of his teams to respond and regroup but heard only the thunder of hooves, intermittent pops of gunfire, and a constant barrage of singing barks that didn’t come from his dogs. One soldier spun his weapon towards a running muscular black dog. Semion saw it was the Hogan’s female dog, the accelerated one named Smudge. It was the dog he’d had in his hands at the black site, and the one that had unleashed the twins on his daughter and Harley. The soldier’s targeting system circled Smudge in flashing red, but before he could fire he was wrapped into a quick choke hold by a tall woman. She had appeared in a flash when a painted dog opened a gap between two huge buffalo. Semion heard the man gasp, and watched the lethal woman limping away as quickly as she had appeared before his soldier’s camera hit the ground and his vitals went black.
The scenes of coordinated attacking humans and dogs went on and on as Semion frantically jumped through his soldiers’ video feeds. A wild painted dog with a black plastic collar led two other dogs over a buffalo’s back. Semion watched as they attacked one of his human soldiers. In the blink of an eye the man’s feet were taken out, and then one dog clamped down on his face as another dog clawed its way under the waist of his tac vest. Semion quickly flicked away to another feed.
He paused when one of them showed another target outlined in flashing red. He recognized the elderly Walker woman as she appeared from behind a flipped over, burning truck. She was holding a massive automatic pistol with both hands and she was laying down a stream of fire. Each flash of the huge gun’s muzzle lit up her lined face. She walked the gun over a row of his running soldiers as the spent shells spat out. Semion noticed something odd and zoomed in. He wondered why the big gun had a carved silver dragon on its barrel. It looked like the same dragons engraved on Harley’s crazy double barreled pistol.
The dog soldier he had been monitoring took a bullet right through its yellow eyepiece. The camera tipped, tilting the image of the shooting grandmother before it filled with a red smear.
Semion found the feed from his team leader. Lobb had lost his weapon and was cowering in the back of his chopper behind a pair of dog soldiers. The big shepherds were standing at each of the helo’s open doors and Semion could see on his display they were out of ammo. The dogs were impotently barking and nipping at the shifting mass of buffalo buffeting the rocking helo.
Semion clicked his mic and yelled, “What are you doing! Your gunship has ammo left! Get to the cockpit, use the side guns!”
Lobb didn’t move. He just continued to steady himself and stare at the backs of the two barking shepherds as the helo’s cabin bounced wildly.
“Move man!” Semion screamed, “I’ll have those dogs turn around and bite your zhopa if you don’t fucking move!”
Lobb made it two steps forward before he screamed and was hit by a dark flash.
Semion heard the barks of his canine soldiers change to yelps. He flicked through all three of the soldiers’ feeds but only saw flashes of movement, and black fur.
Berluti tapped his shoulder and pointed at the camera mounted above their heads. Semion cursed, and switched feeds. He thumbed his joystick and moved Lobb’s cockpit camera around to view the rear cabin of the chopper.
The Hogan father and his muscular black dog were standing over Lobb’s crumpled body and the two dead canine soldiers. Smudge barked, and even through his headset it was still loud enough for Semion to flinch. He saw the buffalo were moving away and the chopper stopped rocking.
“Fucking…khuyesos!” Semion yelled.
Berluti turned to tell Semion the English word he was hunting for was cocksucker. She looked over briefly at Semion’s display and saw the formidable looking Hogan man and his dog, and the bodies at their feet. Berluti said, “I thought that chap was supposed to be an accountant?”
Semion shot her a look. He smashed his big fist on his side window and yelled, “We’re going to burn this whole fucking place to the ground!” He brought up his missile targeting as he waved for Berluti to move the chopper forward.
On the nearby ridge Sholto watched through the scope as Semion’s chopper rose from the trees. In her head she recited her newly adopted shooting mantra, Hamish’s last meal, Hamish’s last fart, Hamish’s last jobby, Hamish’s last…
Christa felt Sholto exhale slowly, and then her paw tapped lightly on her shoulder. Christa squeezed the trigger and the huge cannon chugged and shoved back against them as the muzzle flashed.
Half a second later sparks jumped from the pilot’s console of Semion’s chopper and Berluti grabbed her upper arm. Warning chimes sounded and the helo canted violently. Semion reached for the controls and fought to keep the chopper upright as it spun down in tight circles towards the compound.
Chapter 102
Harley sucked from his oxygen mask as he hid behind his helo’s landing strut. He had been watching Tian and the traitor canine soldier, Major Tereshkova. Several times they had braved the hail of bullets to race out from the protection of the chopper to pick up weapons and ammunition. They had been coordinating with Hamish Walker and that fucking Hogan kid who kept peeking out from the rubble of one of the buildings. With their help Tian and the dog had been effectively keeping the attacking soldiers pinned down along the tree line until they were forced back into the helo when they ran out of ammo.
His double barreled dragon pistol had tumbled under the chopper when he fell. It was a couple of meters away, but Harley thought it might as well be a kilometer. He had felt something important snap inside him when Tian yanked him to the ground. He was being stabbed in the chest every time he took a breath, and he couldn’t feel his legs.
A blast of dirt and gravel covered him as a chopper fell out of the sky and crashed landed right next to him. It slammed into the gravel and bounced hard on its belly before scraping to a stop. As the dust cleared Harley saw Semion staring back at him from the copilot’s seat. His red face was a sea of disbelief, relief, and rage.
Tian and Tera also saw him.
Semion noticed them, and the holes in the windshield of Harley’s chopper. He and his pilot exchanged a look, and then dove into the back of their chopper an instant before a pair of sniper rifle shots ripped through the windshield. The larger of the two tore the entire headrest off the top of Semion’s seat.
Hamish tapped Ben on the helmet when he noticed the boy’s sho
ulders had slumped. “No need to fret lad,” Hamish said, “t’was still a fine shot, and that big oaf isn’t flying either of those birds outta here.”
Spot nodded his agreement.
Hamish looked up at the burning ridge and smiled. He had feared the worst after Christa’s position had been hit and he hadn’t been able to raise her on the radio. Nothing leaves a hole like a fifty cal so it must have been her shot, but he was a little surprised she’d missed Semion. As he rose up to give her a wave Spot crashed into him. He knocked Hamish to the ground just as the little berm of rubble they’d been using for cover erupted in sparks. Renewed fire was coming from the soldiers spread out along the tree line. Without Tian and Tera’s crossfire keeping them pinned down the soldiers had started to advance across the parking area.
Semion slid open the side door of the chopper just as Tian and Tera closed on him at a dead run.
They dove for the open door, and as Semion jumped back into the cabin he called out “Tuman, Graf, ATAKA!”
Two huge Caucasian shepherds shot out from the back of the chopper.
Tian narrowly avoided Tuman’s lunge for his neck as the massive dog slammed into him. Tuman’s jaws immediately snapped down hard on Tian’s shoulder and then drew back for a face bite. Tian jerked away, slid his knees up, and in a flash tied up the beast with the gogoplata shin choke he had used on Smudge. A panting, frustrated Tuman shook his head violently and kicked wildly as his bulk covered Tian. He impotently lunged and snapped as he fought to get a breath and escape Tian’s strong leg lock. Tian tightened his core and arched his back to counter the dog’s twisting and thrashing as he worked to fend off Tuman’s clawing paws. All of a sudden the behemoth stopped struggling. Tuman’s basketball sized head turned to face Tian and he calmly looked down at him with his dark, deeply set, smart eyes. He dug his claws into Tian’s legs and started to pry them away from his neck.
Graf ignored Tera’s hard bite to his throat. Tera was a big shepherd, with big teeth and a strong bite, but the huge Caucasian shepherd was more than twice her size and had so much neck fur he barely felt it. Graf simply sat his bulk down on Tera and pinned her head to the dirt with one huge paw. He stared down at her, and the corners of his jowls curled into a derisive smile as he lowered his head and her whole face disappeared into his mouth.
Berluti was laying on the deck of the chopper behind the cockpit. She let go of her badly bleeding arm to reach out as Semion knelt down by her side. He shoved her hand away and rolled her onto her side so he could yank her sidearm from its holster. As he got to his feet he flicked off the safety and aimed it at Tian, ignoring the fact that Tuman was directly in his line of fire.
A freight train hit the opposite side of the chopper. It knocked Semion off his feet and slammed him against the far wall.
He and Berluti shared a bewildered look before a meter long horn tore through the metal skin of the chopper and impaled Semion through the back.
Semion dropped the gun and wrapped his huge hands around the long point sticking out of his gut. The female rhino huffed and lifted her head, tearing a larger hole in the metal as Semion slid further onto her horn. The rhino shook, twisting her head vigorously and rattling her horn against the hole until the kicking Semion slumped. After a few final head nods she slowly backed away from the chopper, scraping Semion off her bloody horn as the big Russian collapsed onto the helo deck.
The advancing dog and human soldiers stopped when they saw the rhino dart from the forest and slam into the side of Semion’s chopper. They stood frozen as she withdrew her dripping, gore-streaked horn. Some of them turned to fire at her just as another, larger rhino tore through their ranks from the opposite direction. The huge trotting male scooped up soldiers on his horn as he ran. Those not run through were trampled under his three tons of thundering muscle. Any remaining soldiers who aimed for either rhino were immediately cut down by sniper fire.
Harley rolled under the chopper. He kicked and squirmed his ruined body until he was close enough to reach out and snatch up his double barreled pistol.
The gun boomed, and twin flames shot from the dragons’ mouths as he blew the top of Tuman’s head off. Harley twisted, fired again, and double holes ripped through Graf’s neck.
Tera kicked and backpedaled to pull her bleeding head from Graf’s jaws as she twisted out from under his limp body. She sprung from the ground and dove into Semion’s crumpled chopper.
Tian shoved Tuman aside and scrambled to Harley’s side. He took the pistol and tenderly held what remained of his cousin’s gnarled, black tipped hand.
Harley gripped Tian’s hand tightly as his one eye roamed over his handsome face. His gaze dropped to Tian’s tattoo before moving up to hold his cousin’s stare again.
Harley’s deformed lip and stretched cheeks curled up, and Tian saw his unmistakable, bright, silly, irreverent smile come through before his cousin’s eye closed and his head dropped to the ground.
Tera landed on the chopper deck and came face to face with Berluti who was pointing her sidearm at Tera’s face.
They stared at each other for a moment, and then Berluti spun the gun in her hand and lowered it. She slid it across the chopper deck and Tera stopped it with her paw.
“Okay Major,” Berluti said as she held her bleeding arm and nodded towards the cockpit, “stop this.”
Tera hopped onto the center console and pawed at Semion’s master control panel, removing the lockout on her headset. She barked and yapped, and the system sent out a stand down order to all of the surviving soldiers. She disabled their targeting and tactical displays, and shut down all of the dogs’ rotary cannons.
The few soldiers that remained stopped in their tracks when they read their flashing eyepiece. The dog’s sat down as the side panels of their vests snapped closed, and the human soldiers put down their rifles and raised their hands.
At the ranch Dan turned in a slow circle in the middle of the driveway with an assault rifle resting on his hip. He saw Smudge addressing the small circle of sitting dog soldiers as Vuur and Rook helped the wild dogs drive the rest of the buffalo back into the bush. Theo was covering the surrendering soldiers as his rangers collected their weapons and tended to the wounded. Mimi, Faith, and Aila were helping Nikki slide carefully onto the tailgate of a truck.
Seamus jumped up next to his partner and stared down at her red-smeared hip.
As the women undid her vest and slowly peeled down her pants to get a look at the wound Nikki drew a sharp breath, and caught her dog looking away. She said, “What? So all of a sudden you’re squeamish at the sight of a little blood. Don’t worry pal, it looks worse than it is.”
Her dog looked at her, and then at her exposed groin, and then looked away again.
The ring of women around her laughed.
“Really?” Nikki said to her dog, “You’ve seen me getting out of the shower a million times, and have your forgotten your thing’s just hanging out there for everyone to see?” She looked at the grinning women and snorted, “Friggin’ men.”
Smudge left the dog soldiers, said goodbye to Fenn, and trotted over to the truck with the boerboels in tow.
She hopped up onto the tailgate next to Seamus, and Nikki caught her concerned look.
“I’m fine,” the big cop said. She held out a fist for Smudge to bump with a paw as she added, “and I must say that was a pretty slick maneuver, pup.” She looked around at the rest of the dogs and said, “All of you furry fuckers were amazing. Seriously, job well done, team.”
The boerboels raised their black cheeks into that crazy smile, and Faith did a pretty good job of hiding her reaction. “Yebo,” she said as she smoothed their jowls back down and looked at Smudge, “you wonderful dogs saved us…and I had no doubts you would.”
Smudge and the police dogs wagged and bowed their heads slightly, in unison.
“It was dead brilliant,” Mimi said as she slid her arms around Smudge’s neck. Smudge raised a paw and pulled the grandmother to her as
she dropped her chin onto her shoulder. After a long moment of pressing their sooty cheeks together Mimi touched her forehead to Smudge’s black face and whispered, “You are the best, most cunning wee girl, you know that?” She tenderly held Smudge’s blood streaked chin and looked into her big, smart brown eyes and added, “I’m so very proud of you, and your brother, again.”
Smudge dragged her tongue up Mimi’s face from her chin to her eyebrows.
At the compound Kelcy carefully lifted Tian’s fingers away from his shoulder to get a look at the dog bite. “That’s barely a scratch, you big sissy,” she said as she smiled up at the Chinese assassin. She quickly cleaned and bandaged the puncture wounds on his legs and shoulder before they joined Hamish and Ben at the side of the chopper.
Kelcy knelt to check on the pilot’s arm. Berluti was sitting in the gravel with her back to the crushed landing strut, and had used her belt as a tourniquet.
“You’ll live, too,” Kelcy said with a smile as she wrapped up her arm and slipped the belt back on, “Just keep it tight until we can properly close and dress it.”
Berluti nodded, and sat quietly as she watched the strange family. The Hogan girl stood and waved at the pair of massive rhinos who were helping a big ranger to corral the remaining soldiers. The huge beasts snorted and nodded back at her.
When the girl put her arm around her younger brother Berluti noticed he was wearing her team’s tactical armor. The large and very customized sniper rifle he held was almost as big as he was. She watched him flick on the rifle’s safety and sling it over his shoulder before he took her sidearm from Major Tereshkova. He patted the big shepherd, and then proceeded to check the gun’s chamber and engage the safety like a pro while he and the huge gray-bearded man spoke into a radio, and smiled, and laughed.
Berluti noticed the boy’s medium-sized black dog was staring at her, and conversing with the major. The deep cuts on Tereshkova’s snout had already stopped bleeding and were starting to close.
Let Slip the Pups of War: Spot and Smudge - Book Three Page 47