E j deen, p.24
E. J. Deen, page 24
It was a long walk. Zach took it slow, alert to any noises around him. Subtropolis was a complex maze of roadways, parking areas, entrances, and storefronts. He didn’t want to fuck up and get a bullet in his back.
By the time he made it to the first group of storefronts, Zach was getting worried about Coon-ass.
Dammit, the man had Burgess with him. Why wasn’t he reporting?
Zach paused near a doorway that led down a narrow alley. Emergency lights ran the distance, barely lighting the way. But it was enough to see by, perfect for clandestine operations. In their black and gray fatigues, they should blend pretty well into the shadows the Pirates had created for them.
Damn, this place was big. It would take hours for his men to cover enough territory, and there would be huge gaps in between pairs. He felt like a sitting duck waiting to be picked off.
They were gonna need a whole hell of a lot of stamina to get through this ordeal.
“Leader One, Leader Four has popped the cherry,” Coon-ass said.
Zach breathed a sigh of relief and bolstered himself for what was ahead. Things were about to get very hairy. Once they were inside, they would observe radio silence. They would be isolated from one another. Zach wouldn’t know how many successes or failures he had achieved until all was said and done. The idea set his nerves on edge. They could all die in there, one by one, picked off by merciless men.
He didn’t even want to think about it.
He checked his fatigues to make sure all his equipment was there, then motioned for Tim to follow him inside. As silently as two snakes, they slithered along the paved street, separated by several yards, until they came to the first set of cubicles. Zach forced back the rising anxiety in the pit of his stomach and made a thorough assessment of what he was facing.
The interior was a limestone tomb of rooms buttressed by huge pillars thirty feet wide, spaced forty feet apart. Perfect for cover. With all that to hide behind, given a few hours, they might be able to do enough damage to make this a success.
Men were everywhere, scattered and separated by thick walls and dark alleyways. There seemed to be nothing afoot tonight. Nothing in progress that looked important. It was just a big hive of Pirates in various states of preoccupation. All cloaked in an eerie glow from the orange emergency lights that lit the high traffic areas, leaving half the rooms, alleys, roads, and hallways dark.
In the room nearest him, he could see a group of four men. They looked to be working on an engine, a big diesel or something.
He motioned for Tim to cover him and stepped into the open, glancing back to make sure there was nothing to the right of him that would leave his back open to bullets. A small storefront sat to his immediate right. The room was dark, hopefully empty. Using the darkness to cloak his movements, Zach stepped inside and reached for his bow. On the other side of the hall, to the left of him, Tim went down on one knee and lined up a shot with his own bow.
Zach took another look around. They could easily take these goons out without anyone knowing it, just as long as no one happened to come for a visit.
Tim glanced over and caught his eye. Zach gave him a nod. A few seconds later, two arrows found their separate targets. As the men slumped forward, two more arrows were notched and readied. The two remaining Pirates had jumped away from the engine they were working on and started for the opening.
They were dead before they’d gone two steps.
Zach peered around the corner, looking to make sure no one had seen or heard, then darted across the center hall and into the room where the Pirates lay dead. Tim crossed over a few seconds later, and together the two pulled the Pirates over into a darker room. They covered the bodies with some tarps they found near the engine and went back out to peer into the compound. So far, everything looked good.
Farther down the alley, Tim took out two more Pirates, while Zach caught a third trying to escape. He strangled the man with his bare hands. Not his method of choice, but effective in a pinch.
Seven down on his part. Worse case scenario, nine hundred left to go.
With a savage grin, Zach stepped out into the compound and lined up another nook. Two more down.
Tim slunk on ahead of him. A movement in his peripheral range caught Zach’s attention. He turned his head just in time to see a man coming down an adjoining hallway. When he saw Zach, his eyes
widened in alarm. Before the Pirate could react, Zach stepped forward and drew a blade across the man’s throat, ending the cry that had been in progress. He dragged him backwards into an empty cubicle and then darted back out to rejoin Tim.
Zach’s adrenaline was humming now, the heat of bloodlust heavy in his veins. He thanked the cosmos for the gift. It would get him through hours of strategy and bloodletting.
Tim and Zach moved methodically through the east wing, killing in fits and starts. The cool interior of the earth helped keep their stamina up, but after a few hours, Zach was fighting thirst and his arrows were depleted. Soon they would have to start using the guns and knives they’d filched off the dead men they left behind. They’d been careful to hide the bodies as best they could, but it was only a matter of time before some of them were found. He could only hope his comrades had been as successful.
Zach paused to take a tiny sip of water from the small canteen strapped to his belt. He rolled the liquid around in his mouth, savoring it, then clipped the canteen back into place and pushed ahead.
He and Tim were cautiously making their way through a group of buildings when Zach turned a corner and ran smack into a small, darkly dressed form. He reacted without thinking, jerking the Pirate around and locking an arm under the scumbag’s jaw. His knife was poised just inches from the slender throat, ready to make the killing slice when he realized he was holding a woman.
Burgess.
Feeling like a mule had kicked him in the chest, he released her abruptly and pushed her away from him so hard that she fell against the wall. She rounded on him and clubbed him in the cranium with her canteen. Zach winced and ducked his head, raising his arm to deflect a second blow. He caught it on the leading edge of his forearm, right on the bone, and the answering pain jerked a string of curses from him.
“Damn, that hurt,” he swore. “What the hell are you doing?”
Burgess stopped her attack and stared at him in shock. “Zach?”
“Burgess?”
“Shit, you scared me,” she hissed. “I thought you were…”
“Yeah, I figured as much,” he growled, testing the knot she’d put on his skull. “You got anything more lethal than that canteen?”
She pulled a dagger out of her belt and showed it to him. She’d changed into army fatigues, but her sidearm was missing and she had no bow.
“What the hell happened to your weapons?”
“I still have some.”
“Just knives?”
She nodded. “I can get pretty close sometimes. It’s easier than gigging frogs.”
“Where the hell is Coon-ass?” he whispered.
She jerked her chin toward the north wing. “Clandestine kills.”
“Why did he leave you?”
“He didn’t. I left him. I figured I could take out a few on my own.”
“You’re coming with me,” he grunted. He wanted to keep an eye on her. He didn’t like having her creeping around getting into danger. If it weren’t for her damn stubborn, pig-headedness, she wouldn’t be here now.
She didn’t argue, just followed as he turned and made his way down the hall.
He caught a glimpse of Tim on the other side of the passageway. The man grinned. Zach felt his hackles rise. Tim must have seen Burgess whack him with the canteen, which meant that if Zach lived through this battle, he could expect to receive his fair share of ribbing.
Zach heard an incoming crackle from his headset and then Coon-ass spoke into his ear. “Trouble.
We’ve been made.”
“Damn,” Zach swore. “What’s the score?”
“About forty or so.”
“Leader Three?”
“I stopped counting, Leader One,” came Leo’s voice.
“Quinn?”
“Maybe sixty or so. Got a whole damn room full of ‘em over here in the west wing,” Jordan Quinn said.
“Coon-ass, who made you?”
“Two guys found a couple of stiffs and scattered before we could take them out.”
“Okay, keep it silent and deadly for as long as you can. If anyone spots you, break out the heavies,”
Zach instructed.
“Affirmative, sir,” Coon-ass said.
Zach turned and glared at Burgess.
She glared back at him. “What has your dick in a knot?” she demanded.
“There’s trouble. I want you out of here.”
“No chance, cream puff. I’m staying.”
Zach was just about to argue when a herd of Pirates went hurtling past, out of step, out of sync, but all of them armed to the fucking teeth.
“Shit!” Zach hissed.
He shoved an M-16 at Burgess. “I hope you can figure this out. You’re gonna need it.”
“Just point and pull,” she mused.
He stepped out of his hiding place and opened fire on the backs of the retreating Pirates. Burgess came out behind him, facing the opposite direction, diligently offering him cover. When two goons came out of an adjoining hall, she let them have it in the chest, then rushed forward and pulled the spare clips out of their belts. Shoving them down into the pockets of her fatigues, she back-stepped over to where Zach was and followed him step for step, back to back, across the open arena of the compound.
“We got bullets flying,” Zach said into his headset.
“Roger,” Leo said. “Looks like you got a group heading your way. I’m gonna keep it quiet on this end.
Maybe they won’t realize how strong we are.”
“Good idea,” Zach said. “You got a mile marker on those incoming?”
“Coming up from the south roadway. About a dozen. More following. Lots of shouting over here.
You’re in deep, Leader One.”
“I figured that much,” Zach said.
He turned and glanced around the compound, looking for a better plan. There was a dark room on the far side. He pushed Burgess in that direction, speaking into his headset as he urged her ahead of him.
“My team will draw them with gunfire, and you boys can crawl up their ass and get them from behind.”
“Will do,” Leo replied.
“Copy,” Jordan echoed.
“Good luck, Leader One,” Coon-ass said.
“You guys do your part, and we’ll all make it out of this alive,” Zach told them. “Leader One to Unit One. Use whatever force is necessary. Alternating noise. Stay out of sight and keep your eyes peeled.
Don’t let us down, Coon-ass.”
“Not as long as I’m still standing, sir.”
“To hell with radio silence. I want to know where you guys are at all times. Keep me posted,” Zach said.
It didn’t take long before they ran into a group of Pirates. Zach opened fire without hesitation. As soon as the bullets stopped flying, he heard several answering shouts from the north end of the complex. The deep, resonating thump of a shrapnel grenade silenced the voices, but more soon followed, this time from the west wing. Jerking Burgess along with him, Zach headed straight for them.
Burgess took out two men who came out of an alley leading off the road they were following, and then caught up to Zach again. A group of Pirates emerged from the darkness ahead of them, effectively cutting them off. Zach and Burgess immediately changed directions, crossing the road and running down another alley heading south again, until they ducked into a dark corner. Unfortunately, they’d been spotted. Just moments after they disappeared into the dark, a group of Pirates stepped into the mouth of the alley and let loose with a hail of bullets. Zach heard lead hitting the wall behind him and felt a sharp stab in the back of his scalp. Flying debris. He shoved Burgess down so hard that she squealed, and then flung himself on top of her. He covered her head with one hand and pumped the trigger of his weapon with the other. A few seconds later the gunfire from the other end of the alley stopped. Zach looked up and saw one of his men silhouetted in the opening, a fallout of Pirate rubbish at his feet.
“Commander, you all right down there?” a voice crackled in his ear.
“Fine, soldier. Thanks for the help.”
“No problem, sir.”
As the figure disappeared around the corner, Zach got to his feet and hauled Burgess up with him. She didn’t argue as he led her out of the alley.
Deep into the cavernous interior of Subtropolis, Zach encountered another band of Pirates. They were in a small room, all of them busy loading themselves up with weapons. Zach reached for a shrapnel can, lit the fuse, counted slowly to five, and then tossed the grenade into the middle of the goons. He didn’t wait to see what happened next, just ducked behind a wall, pulling Burgess with him to avoid being hit. The explosion raised the hair on the back of his neck. Damn, but it was loud. They wouldn’t be safe in this place for long.
He waited a few beats and then cautiously peered around the corner. The scene he encountered was an ugly one. Two men had minced meat for faces. Most were fallen, in various stages of death, but one man had managed to escape the worst of the blast. He caught sight of Zach and started to raise his weapon. Zach shot him in the chest with his revolver just as a bullet was taking a chink out of the wall next to him.
As the bullet hit stone, Burgess cried out in alarm. Eager to get out of the area, Zach grabbed her hand and jerked her down another alley. He’d lost all sense of direction by now, lost in the labyrinth, but he hoped he was heading north.
He nearly shot Tim in the head when the man came around a corner too swiftly. They both pulled up short, lowered their weapons, and then grinned.
Zach shoved Burgess at him. “Get her somewhere safe, somewhere dark. Keep her out of the line of fire. And stay with her.”
“No,” Burgess protested. “I want to fight.”
“You’re starting to fatigue, soldier. You need a moment to rest. Orders from the Commander in Chief.”
Before she could reply, Zach left them to slink back into the darkness. He didn’t like leaving her behind. He felt like he was the best man to protect her. But he had no choice. War called.
Zach lost track of time. He killed until he got tired of counting and his body was exhausted, but he still kept moving. He dodged death for hours, and by the time the gunfire began to die down, he was spent.
There was still some sporadic gunfire from distant parts of the compound, but he’d gotten word from Jordan and Halstrom that they’d made headway. Unfortunately, they’d both lost some men.
“There’s still something going on in the north wing. Pierce has a group cornered,” Quinn told him.
“Get down there and help him. Then meet me in the center of the compound in an hour.”
“Tim? You still with me, man?” Zach queried into his headset.
“Go ahead, Commander,” Tim’s small voice replied.
“Bring Burgess down to the center of the compound with you. But go cautiously. There’s still some Pirates unaccounted for.”
“Negative, sir. Burgess is not with me.”
Zach nearly choked on a sudden rush of anxiety. “What the hell are you talking about? I told you to stay with her.”
“We saw a group of Pirates go by about thirty minutes ago. She thought maybe they were herding a bigwig. She wanted to follow them and see where they were going.”
“Did you go with her?”
“Affirmative, sir.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know, sir. I lost her in one of the alleys. I think she…ditched me on purpose, sir. I met up with a few others and we’ve been trying to find her.”
“Dammit! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know she was any more important than any other soldier, sir.”
Zach let that sink in for a moment. He didn’t even want to contemplate the depth of his fear or the knowledge that she had become important to him.
“Give me her last known location.”
“It’s a big place, sir. She could be anywhere.”
“Location,” Zach repeated.
“I lost her in the last alley leading off the south wing. Do you want us to proceed, sir?”
“Keep looking. I’ll come up there and help.”
“Yes, sir.”
Twenty minutes later Zach was combing the south wing, cautiously checking corners, cubicles, and alleys. Dead men were strewn in sporadic patches, the fallout of Zach’s victory. He stepped over them, sometimes gave them a kick to make sure they had no life left in them. But most of his attention was on the darkness around him. He wouldn’t feel victorious until he found Burgess, and so far that seemed unlikely. The place was chillingly quiet.
After scouring a group of shadowy storefronts, Zach paused in a particularly dark hallway to listen. His senses were on def-con four alert. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it, a warning thrumming through him like a pulse of electricity, but he had no idea which way to go to avoid the trouble.
As it turned out, the trouble found him sooner than he expected. There was a slight shifting of the atmosphere around him and then a gun came out of the darkness from the pitch-blackness to his right.
Zach didn’t bat an eye, didn’t move, just stood stock-still.
“Relinquish your weapons,” a voice softly demanded.
Zach agreeably chunked the M-16 a few feet away. It landed in the dark with a heavy clatter. He thought about reaching for one of his blades, but he had no idea how many men were surrounding him.
It might be a futile move.
The head dog must have sensed his wish because his next word was an unquestionable command.
“Don’t.”
Zach automatically placed his palms on his head. A few seconds later, hands roughly patted his fatigues, and every weapon he had hidden on him was removed.
