Serenity bit her lower lip and forced herself not to glance at the fire team again. Three hours theyd been waiting, and her new Sig Sauers were as perfect as they were going to get. She missed her Glocks, but knew the longing was bullshit; the Sig Sauers were almost the exact sa size, and maybe just a little heavier in her hand. She wished shed had ti to fire so practice rounds, just to get a sense of the guns, feel the recoil, make them hers.
But sothing told her Mancini wouldnt take kindly to her shooting up cans in the back lot.
He was cute, though. But super serious. The kind of guy who had to be ordered by his superiors to chill the fuck out and have a beer, and then hed probably do it professionally. Singh was the sa. Not that she was complaining. The situation called for serious dudes.
Still, she wished there was soone here for her to shoot the shit with. Huffman, the army chick, was practically vibrating, so intent on proving herself a hard ass that she wouldn't know female solidarity if it bit her in the ass. Delvecchio? The machine gunner had promise. Big hands, broad shoulders, deceptively smart. Shed tried to get him to joke around, but hed been shut down by Mancini, fast.
Serenity sighed. No, she just missed having Jas around. His solid presence, those watchful eyes, that subtle humor. He could sling back as good as he got, and - well.
They were a team. Bonnie and Clyde, right? Hed just stumbled into her life, disarmingly clueless yet as solid as an oak. Those blue eyes of his. She loved when they got that faraway look in them, and then shed say sothing, a joke, so random shit, and hed blink and smile and really see her.
Serenity sighed again. Frustration warred with fear. Shed caught him checking out her ass. Not that she blad him. A couple of points of Strength had brought her old tight curves back like shed not spent half a decade drinking and scoring drugs. He was interested. She was sure. Then why wasnt he interested in hooking up?
It would be so right. So easy. Would confirm their connection. Make them a thing. Lock them together. Prevent life from tearing them apart so easily.
Serenity frowned. Shed never t a dude who wasnt down for so freaky fun, no strings attached. It vexed her, made her even more interested.
Would he be good in bed? Probably pretty boring, truth be told. He looked real vanilla. No need for the advanced techniques. And judging from how gun shy he was, hed probably not hooked up with anybody in years. Since this supposed family tragedy the CIA guy had ntioned.
But seven years was a hell of a long ti to go monastic.
Serenity straightened one of the ten loaded mags shed lined up before her station so that they were perfectly in formation. Theyd spent the first thirty minutes hauling pallets into place and making a waist high barrier that stretched in a curve around them. Delvecchio had the center, his saw as they called his machine gun propped on a dipod. Singh was ten feet to his left, and Mancini was the sa distance to Delvecchios right, and then was her spot. Huffman was watching the back door.
Mancini had told her to conserve her ammo, to wait for the Neses to get close enough for easy shots. As if hed forgotten how shed aced over a hundred of them last night and with her heightened Agility was probably the best shot here.
Whatever.
Arguing with dudes about guns was as fruitful as trying to convince herself that drinking wasnt the best way to handle problems.
Serenity sighed loudly, looked at Mancini. It had been twenty minutes since theyd heard from Jas, who, with predictable stubbornness, had refused to go back for the truck and insisted on crossing Queens on foot.
Mancinis jaw tightened, but he was clearly impatient as well. This shit was supposed to have gone down an hour and a half ago, and his bosses were constantly checking in for updates.
He lifted his radio thingy. Kelly, this is Mancini. Can you give a status update? Over
Imdiately the radio emitted shrieks, a wall of brutal sound that sounded just shy of static. Jas shouted sothing through it, but all Serenity could make out was: coming in hot -
The radio went silent.
About ti, said Huffman from the back. Shed been tasked with watching the rear exit, and even now she didnt take her gaze off the doorway.
Look sharp. Mancinis voice was stern, calm.
The sound of chittering ca from the distance, erging from the night sounds, that high pitched cry that the demons used to call each other. Serenity stiffened, reflexive fear filling her stomach with battery acid. She wanted to make a joke, but everyone was staring fixedly at the front doors a hundred and fifty yards away.
What she wouldnt do for a line.
The sounds got louder, demon chittering and screams, slowly, agonizingly slowly, drawing ever closer.
The fire team all shifted about, as if theyd waited for the last second to truly get in position. Serenity raised both Sig Sauers, feeling like a bad ass. Shed never have tried to fire both guns like this before. It was the kind of stupid stunt kids used to look cool even as they missed every shot.
But with Agility 16? She felt like she could actually pull it off.
The sounds echoed down the length of the cavernous warehouse, louder, louder, and then Jas appeared in the doorway and strode in.
Serenitys mouth went dry.
White fire wreathed his fra. He walked like a preacher entering a church full of irredeemable sinners. Chin lowered, broad shouldered, a total bad ass.
The living aura didnt hurt, either. It had grown. He must have leveled up. It hadnt been like this the night before. It was constant, as if hed doused himself with oil and dropped a match at his feet. It had to extend so three, four feet in every direction, making him look like so kind of superhero.
He strode to the right as agreed, and the demons flowed in after him.
Hundreds. They leaped and clawed at each other, pushed and surged, eager to get at Jas, their mouths wide, their fangs bared, their crimson eyes glowing.
Check that.
Thousands.
They ashed continuously upon him, dying by the dozens every second, and Jas just kept on keeping on, head bowed, skillet over his shoulder.
There were too many.
Serenity knew that with sudden and absolute certainty.
Far too many.
And thats when Delvecchio opened fire.
His machine gun was shockingly loud. He didnt just let it rip, but kept firing stuttering three round bursts, again and again, placing his shots with care. Demons fell, but more were flowing in, hundreds more, spreading out as they tracked Jas, and then, slowly, noticed the humans at the far end of the warehouse.
The front line screeched, turned, and began bounding forward.
Delvecchio went to full auto and the other two soldiers began shooting.
Level! shouted the machine gunner.
It was amazing. It was aweso. Their muzzles flared gold and white, and bullets hailed down upon the demons, tearing them apart, rank after rank.
But more kept flowing into the warehouse.
Serenity waited. She had a thousand rounds, but that would go fast, and she didnt want to run out of the warehouse without ammo.
Jas kept walking.
More and more of the demons ignored him now to just charge at them, leaping and springing forward like an avalanche of horrific fleas.
Level! shouted Mancini.
Huffman was still at the rear door, keeping vigil, but her expression was so pained at missing out youd think she was watching her CO bang her boyfriend.
Fuck, whispered Serenity as the enormity of what was taking place started to make itself obvious. The gremlins were pouring into the warehouse like that scene in The Shining where the elevator doors opened up and blood ca flooding out. Fucking taphors. But this was crazy. The fireteam was just letting it rip now, filling the air with lead, shouting level every few seconds, but for every hundred they killed another five hundred leaped over the corpses to keep coming.
The demons were already halfway toward them.
Huffman! Mancinis summons was barely audible over the rifle clatter and roar.
Halle-fucking-luja! Huffman darted to the pallets and opened fire.
Serenity shook herself awake. Blinked, raised her Sig Sauers, and joined in the fun.
It was like throwing pebbles into an oncoming wave. She didnt even need to aim. She unloaded both mags, ejected them, slipped in replacents, emptied those.
Jas kept coming, a lambent figure, steady and implacable, his aura raging, a haze of black ash in his wake.
Third set of mags.
The fireteam was doing the sa now.
There was a dull tokk sound and then an explosion rocked the center of the warehouse as Singhs grenade detonated, shredding the gremlins in a ten-yard radius and knocking hundreds to their knees.
Another grenade.
Another.
Delvecchio was shouting now, a wordless cry of exultation and fury, turning his machine gun slowly from side to side, just mowing down the demons. Mancini was a steady presence, targeting the neses on the flank opposite Jas, ensuring they didnt sweep down unstopped, and Serenity took his cue and focused her fire on them.
And still more demons entered the warehouse.
Jas was halfway toward them now; the flood of demons having washed right past him.
Thousands more were coming, a writhing, screeching, grasping flood of demons, undeterred by certain death, filling the warehouse from wall to wall, desperate to reach them.
And for all that they were inflicting countless deaths upon the Neses, they were still drawing closer, ever closer, like a tidal wave of death was poised to break and wash them away.
Jas saw their predicant and broke into a run. Straight down the length of the building, ashing everything he ca close to.
Mancini put up his gun. Huffman, Serenity, Singh, fall back to the Humvee! Delvecchio, ten seconds and draw back! Go!
The fireteam didnt argue, which surprised the fuck out of Serenity. From the way Huffmans face had lit up youd think shed mainlined a pound of coke.
But no, Singh and Huffman ran to the back door, then Singh crossed over, looking outside, followed imdiately by Huffman stepping outside. Serenity grabbed her case of mags, tucked it under her arm, but she didnt want to leave without Jas.
Who finally joined them.
Ill hold the door! he shouted.
Serenity drank in the sight of him. He was unhurt. No inch of him was damaged. No blood. A weight slipped off her chest, and when he looked her way, she flashed him a grin as if shed never doubted. He smiled back and her heart leaped.
Mancini ran out the door, Delvecchio right after him, lugging his SAW, and then Jas was there, the gremlins a screeching wall behind him, closing in on all sides.
Ti to go, he said, voice calm, certain.
She nodded and exited.
Jas stepped into the doorway, extended his arms slightly, and filled it completely with white light.
The fireteam was still shooting. Theyd taken positions around the Humvee and were picking demons off the warehouse roof, the street, atop the other cars.
Nothing compared to the flood that had filled the warehouse, but their volu was growing.
Serenity felt her gut clench. Had they made a mistake? She ran up to the humr and threw her case inside, turned and began picking off demons.
Text appeared before her:
Your rank is now ndicant 4
You have 5 unspent points.
Fucking finally! she shouted, went to dump the points in Agility, then grimaced and put them into Arete instead.
Jas! Mancinis bark carried over the firefight. Were pulling out!
Go ahead! Jas shout was deeper, rougher, but carried just as well. I cant leave this door till youre gone.
Mancini cursed, looked around the parking lot then nodded. Singh, take the wheel. Evac, now!
Both of Serenitys Sig Sauers ran out of bullets. So fast? Next ti she needed to ask for one of those rifles. Fuck that, she wanted a SAW. With grenades. 17 round mags were clearly not up to the task.
She jumped into the back of the humr as it rumbled to life. Delvecchio was in next, diving next to her, then Huffman, with Mancini getting into the passenger seat last, twisting about like so kind of chanical toy right up to the last second as he loosed off three round bursts up and down the street.
Then he was in and Singh slamd on the gas and the humr burst forward.
No ti to angle for the gate. Singh took the chain link fence full on, and as it rattled over the humr it scraped a good number of demons right off.
Serenitys heart was hamring, she didnt know if she wanted to laugh or scream or cry but looked out the rear over the tailgate to where a burning fla stood still in the warehouses back door, stationary and swamped on all sides by demons.
Her throat tightened. It felt wrong to leave him behind. She wanted to be right there by his side, guns firing, back to back.
Dont you go dying on , Jas Kelly, she whispered.
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