“Ma’am, we’re the advance unit. Deployment is on schedule and will commence in approximately twenty minutes.” A deep voice reported.
“Excellent. Please open the Witness’ cell door first and then mine. She’s rather tense so be prepared for resistance.” The Ancillary instructed.
“As you wish, ma’am.”
Heavy boots stepped closer and Melissa readied herself for combat. She saw the burly figure of a Reborn soldier step into view, barely noticing the weapon held in his hand until it fired a shower of confetti followed by some kind of projectiles that pierced her jeans and became attached to her leg. And then she felt the pain. The stun gun electrocuted her and she dropped to the ground, writhing in agony and letting a short scream of pain escape her lips as she twitched involuntarily. A second Reborn soldier opened the cell door and stepped inside. The electrocution ceased and in the haze it left behind she felt her hands being secured behind her back. The barbs from the stun gun were removed from her legs and she was hoisted up and practically carried out of the cell, unable to walk on her own. Melissa felt groggy, but was able to observe another Reborn releasing the Ancillary. She smiled as she glanced at Melissa, and then led the way out of the holding area. Melissa was dragged out of the side door, getting back on her feet as the effects of the electrocution subsided. She ground her teeth and tried to struggle.
“Don’t, or I’ll shock you again.” The Reborn on her left warned.
Melissa responded with an angry curse and felt a fresh surge of pain flood her body. He hadn’t shocked her again as he threatened, and instead had punched her in the kidney. Melissa stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet.
“Is that it?” Melissa goaded. She might be their prisoner, but she wasn’t going to let them have any sense of victory.
Ignoring her and following the Ancillary, the Reborn roughly dragged Melissa out of the building, through the gate and onto the street. The front of the police station had an array of Reborn soldiers at each end, with a squad of five standing roughly in line with the front doors. Melissa was led towards these, stopping about a half dozen feet from where they were positioned.
“Ancillary.” One of the Reborn greeted.
“Commander Simm. This is the Witness.”
“Yeah, I’m familiar with her. She’s killed a good number of my men.” He commented, looking aggressively at Melissa. He had a thin amount of short white hair, an angry scar over his left eye that was partially obscured by a black eye patch, leaving his remaining blue eye to convey his disdain for Melissa.
“It seems I’ve a few more to go.” Melissa retorted.
He quickly moved across the distance between them and struck Melissa with a hard, backhanded blow that brought a coppery, bloody taste to Melissa’s mouth.
“Commander!” The Ancillary hissed. She shot him a withering look that Simm wasn’t deterred by.
“Enough of this!” Simm declared aggressively. He gestured with his hand, causing his squad to raise their weapons and point them at Melissa.
“Just what do you think you’re doing, Commander?” The Ancillary demanded coldly.
“All this pseudo-religious nonsense has to end. Your ‘Teacher’ hired us to do a job, and that job is to kill people. He’s paying my men and me very well, but we’re not buying into this new world view you people have. She’s obviously not buying your crap any more than I am, so why don’t we just put a bullet in her brain and find someone else to be this ‘Witness’ if it's so important to you?”
Melissa was confused at the dissention amongst the Reborn ranks. Surreptitiously, she did her best to look around the street. The Reborn arrayed ahead of her seemed to be directly under Simm’s command and were holding their weapons in a half-ready position. Twisting to look over her shoulder, she saw the far smaller number of Reborn behind her had their weapons aimed at Simm and his men. The two restraining Melissa seemed slightly bewildered at this unexpected turn of events and were looking to the Ancillary to defuse the confrontational situation which was rapidly developing between the two groups.
“You’ll stand down and follow my instructions, Commander. I am the voice of the Teacher and it is his will that the Witness be shown all of our work first hand.”
“And just who the hell is this Teacher of yours? Have you even met him?” Simm shot back.
“Of course.” The Ancillary replied calmly.
“Well, I sure as hell haven’t.”
“And you won’t if you continue your current course of action. The Witness is vital to the Teacher’s plan, which should be sufficient for someone who is being paid to do a job.”
“You see, that’s where we reach an impasse.” Simm said, strutting confidently back to his team before rounding on the Ancillary again. “You’ve proven your point; you’ve brought most of the Western world to its knees within a week of exposure. Take that, use it as leverage and you could get whatever you want.”
“And what if what we want is to continue the attack and sweep the old world away?” The Ancillary questioned.
“Then that’s a problem, because what’s the point in being rich if there’s nothing to spend it on?”
“The economy of the world will recover, it’ll just be fairer, Commander.”
Melissa wasn’t sure what was happening. It appeared there was some kind of division in the Reborn, something that she hadn’t considered being possible before now. She guessed it made sense; the Reborn were a vast organization made up of groups with different backgrounds. Not everyone was going to be on the same page. Melissa wondered how she could turn this to her advantage, but also acknowledged the situation was now infinitely more volatile. Simm and his group definitely wanted to kill her, which meant the Ancillary was her only ally - if she could consider her that.
Rochelle appeared from somewhere out of view, off to Melissa’s right. She quickly moved towards Simm and whispered something to him, then turned to look angrily at the Ancillary.
“Rochelle, what do you think you’re doing?” The Ancillary questioned, her voice icy.
“It’s like the Witness said; whether we live or die is up to us. I want to live and after this is all over, I want to live well. I’m seizing that opportunity right now.” Rochelle declared pompously.
“Here’s the truth of the situation, Ancillary. A group of likeminded individuals, such as myself, have secured a sizable amount of the active Reborn forces and we want to renegotiate the terms of our contract. No more end of the world crap; there’s got to be a hard and fast line where we stop and use our advantage to secure reasonable endgame goals.” Simm decreed.
“You’re vastly overstepping your boundary, Commander Simm. One more step and it’ll be your last.” The Ancillary returned coldly.
“I’m in control here. I’ve got the power. Now, I’m willing to let you walk away and send this message back to your Teacher alive, but I want your ‘Witness’. Leave her with me and you can live. Deny me, and I’ll use you to send the message to the Teacher anyway, it’ll just be nailed to your severed head.”
Melissa looked at Simm and then at the Ancillary. She didn’t like feeling helpless, and worst of all, she didn’t like relying on the Ancillary to help keep her alive. She twisted and looked over her shoulder at the gates. Roy was standing there with a single guard at his side - a guard who was plainly more interested in what was going on in the street rather than his current charge. She doubted she could rely on Roy to start a fight, knowing he was solely focused on saving his wife, but she hoped if she made a move he would back her up. If he didn’t, she would have to fight her way out alone. She looked back at Simm. He was glowering at the Ancillary, but neither he nor she had made a move. Looking at the number of soldiers who seemed to be on his side, Melissa was certain the Ancillary knew she was at a disadvantage. Would she give in to Simm to save her life? Melissa didn’t know. At any moment, the situation would explode into violence, so Melissa did her best to prepare herself.
Chapter Eleven
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nbsp; “You’re playing a very dangerous game, Commander Simm. This is your last chance to stand down or I’ll have you fed to the infected.” The Ancillary threatened. Her voice was calm, unafraid and filled with ice.
“I tried to warn you.” Simm returned contemptuously.
Melissa held her breath as she waited for one side or the other to make the first move. Simm acted first, drawing his pistol and aiming it at Melissa. The guard on Melissa’s right let go of her arm and, taking a sideways step, leveled his weapon at the Ancillary – obviously having decided to change sides - only for a distant gunshot to cut through the air and a bullet to blast through his head, splattering Melissa in his blood. Melissa twisted sharply and forced the remaining guard to release his grasp on her arm. Quickly, she ducked down and shifted awkwardly, getting her hands under her rear so they were in front of her. It took precious seconds to accomplish that and retrieve the knife from the fallen Reborn’s vest - seconds she didn’t have as the opposing Reborn forces began killing each other all around her. Nearly cutting herself, Melissa was able to twist the blade and cut through the plastic tie binding her wrist. She discarded the knife and retrieved the dead guard’s weapon, rising and starting to run as gunfire continued to blare all around her. Their assault rifles were silenced, causing only a snappy sound rather than the more usual explosive. Melissa didn’t imagine it would stop the infected at close range from homing in on it, but it was unlikely to draw those further away towards the conflict.
Melissa stayed as low as she could, hoping against hope that a stray shot wouldn’t kill her outright or slam into her limbs and bring her down. She sprinted as fast as she could towards the gates. To her surprise, after recent events, Roy spurred into action. Elbowing the guard at his side in the throat, Roy took his weapon and executed him in one smooth movement. Melissa pushed herself even harder and was nearing the gates when she heard a scream from behind. Her footsteps faltered and she half turned to discover the Ancillary had been running with her, but was now on the ground, her white robes turning red near one of her legs. Melissa looked wildly around the street. The smaller number of what she could best describe as loyal Reborn were being overwhelmed; killed where they stood or as they tried to find cover behind a vehicle or in a doorway. They were, however, suppressing the rebellious Reborn and stopping them from focusing on Melissa.
“Come on!” Roy yelled. Melissa glanced back at him and saw that he had one of the gates open and was waiting for her. She looked back at the Ancillary just as a bullet pinged off the concrete near her legs. It spurred Melissa into action. Grabbing the Ancillary under one arm, she dragged her to her feet then moved as fast as she could towards the gate with the hobbling woman.
“I didn’t think you cared, Witness.” The Ancillary issued through gritted teeth, clearly in pain.
“I don’t, but I’m sure I’ll need you alive for something.” Melissa snapped back. She managed to get the two of them through the gateway, nearly tripping over the Reborn Roy had killed, just as a salvo of bullets slammed into the concrete floor where they had been standing barely moments before. She dove down, shoving the Ancillary down with her, while Roy heaved the gate shut. Melissa lifted her head and scanned the area for anything they could use to secure it. She spotted the spool of heavy metal chain off to the side. Scrambling to her feet, leaving the Ancillary moaning in pain, she ran over to it, slinging the strap of her weapon over her head as she moved. With Roy’s help she threaded the chain round and round through the two end bars to lash the gates together, and then thrust the padlock, which had been conveniently hooked onto the end link at one end, through both end links to secure it. It wouldn’t hold up against a severe assault, but it would buy them more time - and even a little might save their lives.
“I still can’t trust you.” Melissa told Roy as they worked.
“I know. I don’t blame you.”
“I think that’s the best we can do.” Melissa said, ending their personal conversation as she gave the chain one final tug, ensuring it was as secure as they could make it.
“What’s the plan?”
“Well, in lieu of another way out, we’ve only got one choice: kill them all and go out the front.”
“There’s got to be thirty or forty of them out there.” Roy cautioned.
“I didn’t say it was going to be easy.”
Melissa moved away, grabbed the Ancillary and pulled her, none too gently, to her feet. They went in through the side door, Roy having either retained the keycard or looted it from the corpse when she wasn’t looking. They slammed the door behind them as the suppressed gunfire was dying down outside, leading Melissa to believe that nearly all the loyal Reborn were dead and, as she didn’t think Simm would leave either her or the Ancillary alive that could only mean they didn’t have much time before the rebels launched an attack on the station.
Melissa lifted up the Ancillary’s robe and inserting her index fingers in the hole of the pants she was wearing underneath, tugged on it to make it bigger so she could get a look at the wound. She’d been hit on her upper calf; a painful injury, but unlikely to be life-threatening in Melissa’s opinion as the bullet had barely nicked the outer edge of her flesh - a wound similar to one Melissa herself had received in the Seraph, she considered. She ripped away some of the Ancillary’s bloodied and grimy robe and began to bind the wound tightly to staunch the flow of blood.
“Weapons!” Melissa instructed Roy, who quickly disappeared into an interrogation room.
“Let me help, Witness.” The Ancillary stated.
“There’s no way I’m giving you a gun.” Melissa responded in an incredulous tone of voice.
“If you don’t then you’ll certainly die, and me along with you. The Teacher warned me there might be divisions in the ranks as we drew closer to victory, but he hoped it wouldn’t be until much later. It seems... perhaps, he overestimated the power of his money.”
“I’m sure he’d love to hear you say that.”
“The Teacher is brilliant, but hardly infallible. He says we must strive for perfection but be prepared for failure, because true strength is born from how we deal with setbacks.”
Melissa yanked tightly on the material she was using as a bandage, causing the Ancillary to yelp in pain.
“Fantastic, but that doesn’t change anything. I wouldn’t trust you with a potato peeler let alone a firearm.”
Roy returned, offering Melissa a pistol for her leg holster and a knife for the sheathe on her vest. He also tossed her a bandolier of ammunition and a new radio as well as an assault rifle.
“The odds are good we’re all going to die here.” The Ancillary announced without any hint of emotion in her voice. “But if we work together then maybe, just maybe, we can live long enough for you to ask me to take you to the Teacher. I know I tried to kill you in the Seraph, but I was misguided by my emotions. It is my duty to keep you alive long enough to fulfill the destiny the Teacher has envisioned for you. Let me help!” She implored, her eyes locking onto Melissa’s.
Dead silence was coming from outside the police station; no screams of pain, no sounds of impact or hushed gunfire, leading Melissa to believe the battle was definitely over and the traitorous Reborn would be coming for them soon. Melissa’s mind raced as she weighed up the risk of giving the Ancillary a weapon versus the benefit of having another person to aid in their defense.
“I want you to be in front of me at all times. If you point that gun in a direction I don’t like, I’ll kill you. If you don’t give it back when this is over, I’ll kill you. Do what I say when I say it or I’ll kill you.” Melissa threatened.
“I understand, Witness.”
Melissa looked at Roy, shooting him a dark look that signified she hadn’t been speaking solely to the Ancillary. Roy nodded, reached into the bag and retrieved a pistol and some spare magazines, handing them off to the Ancillary. He gave Melissa the bag, which she slung on her shoulder. It seemed to contain extra weapons and ammunition, includin
g a shotgun that would be handy if she was forced to fight at close quarters.
“Come on.” Melissa said, gesturing quickly to the door that led to the main area of the floor. “Roy, keep the cell side of the station secure; we’ll head to the offices on other side of the main entrance and hold them off there. If anyone makes it inside, call out.”
“If we get overwhelmed, fall back to the main avenue. I set up some kill zones there, and we can use the staircase at the end to go up to the next floor.” Roy responded.
“Good luck.” Melissa told him as she yanked the Ancillary to her feet and shoved her ahead.
The Ancillary shoved the magazines into the pocket of her robe, opened the door and led the way at a painful hobble. Melissa was close behind, holding her assault rifle at a half ready position and looking through the doorways she passed for any indication that the Simm’s soldiers had made it into the building, but it didn’t appear they had - yet. They clambered over the barricades Roy had erected in the corridor as quickly as they could, until they reached the main avenue. She saw at once that Roy had secured doors with a heavy looking desk. Melissa briefly took stock of their surroundings: the cells, interrogation rooms and briefing room were behind her, while facing her was the corridor that would eventually lead to the lift, staircase and armory. In order to stay together, however, it would be easier for them to meet up at the main avenue and access the second floor from the staircase there so, as Roy had said, that was where they would retreat to should they need to.
A World Reborn (Book 2): Global Outbreak Page 19
