Satisfied she knew where she was and what they were going to do should they believe they were about to be overrun, Melissa continued on with the Ancillary, ducking into an office which had windows that offered a view of the area in front of the police station. Melissa shifted to a crouched position, dropped the bag from her shoulder and moved to cover the left side of the window. The Ancillary also crouched down, although a pained sigh escaped her lips as she did, and moved to cover the right. The Ancillary peeked out, as did Melissa, and what she saw didn’t encourage her. The rebel Reborn were setting up a position in front of the building, with two dozen men lining up near the low wall. There were more moving around the street to the far left and right, but staying low so they couldn’t easily be picked off.
“If we kill Simm, will that stop this... uprising?” Melissa asked quietly.
“I’d wager not. His ilk are purely mercenary. Personally, I never cared for Simm, but we needed people like him in order to bulk up our forces. He accepted our offer solely because he was offered a sizable amount of money for his loyalty. I guess he’s not the kind of person we want in the new world: dishonorable and greedy.”
“Tell me, was the Teacher really going to allow mercenaries like Simm in his new world?” Melissa asked incredulously. The Ancillary smiled.
“Those who proved their devotion to the cause would be allowed to enjoy the Reborn world, Witness. Those who clung to the old systems, who didn’t overcome their own test... Well, they too would need to be swept away.”
Melissa didn’t respond. She simply looked out and wondered just how many there were out there. It seemed Simm was well prepared. Melissa barely heard a barked order before her world was overwhelmed by gunfire. She flung herself to the floor, as did the Ancillary, as round after round of ammunition slammed into the facade of the building. The windows shattered, scattering glass fragments over their prone figures. Bullets flew across the room to blow chunks of plaster free; both from the opposite wall and - through the open door - from the wall in the corridor beyond. Melissa couldn’t even think of returning fire under such a devastating salvo; she simply hunkered down and covered her head... for what little good it would do to protect her. Shards of sharp glass continued to rain down on her, nicking her hands and her forearms and inflicting pinpricks of pain. The gunfire droned on and on, a seemingly unending barrage that fortunately hadn’t penetrated the strong exterior walls of the police station. If it had been of cheaper material or a less sturdy structure, Melissa had no doubt she’d already be dead.
As suddenly as the gunfire started, it abated. Gripping her weapon tightly, she swung up onto her knees and looked out through the broken window. Five traitor Reborn had hopped over the low wall and were advancing towards the building with their weapons raised. Melissa took a deep breath and shifted out of cover just enough to raise her weapon; she fired, her shots slamming into the advancing soldiers. One was hit in the shoulder, another the hip, while two more took rounds straight into their body armor and stumbled. One emerged unscathed and darted directly behind a police vehicle. The Ancillary peeked out, squeezing off a series of perfectly precise shots that executed two of the wounded traitors, while the other two scrambled into cover behind the same vehicle as their comrade. Having discovered their bombardment of bullets had failed to eliminate their targets, the soldiers behind the wall now began taking pot shots at the police station, either single shots or tightly grouped bursts, which missed Melissa and the Ancillary by mere inches. Melissa risked exposing herself, firing a long stream of shots along the wall before ducking back to reload her weapon. She heard gunshots echoing through the police station and knew, thankfully, that Roy was still alive and fighting. Melissa slammed home a fresh magazine and leaned out, taking quick, careful aim and firing a lucky headshot that dropped one of Simm’s men behind the wall before she was forced to duck back as a retaliatory salvo was launched in her direction. As their attention was focused on Melissa, the Ancillary quickly leaned out and fired. A yelp of pain indicated she’d hit her target, but as to whether it was a fatal shot or not, Melissa couldn’t be certain. She took a few seconds, waiting for the gunfire to die down, and then she began to lean out, just as a fresh salvo tore into the building. She cursed loudly as she was pushed back.
“Advance!” Simm called out, and Melissa knew she needed to do something desperate. At great risk, she lifted her weapon and held it side on, exposing a fraction of her arms to fire blindly, squeezing the trigger as she manipulated it, hoping to push back any attempt at an advance on the front entrance. The Ancillary fired too, sending shot after shot at her rebellious former comrades until her weapon ran dry and she was forced to retreat and reload.
“I need something bigger!” The Ancillary called out, looking at the bag.
Melissa didn’t hesitate. Her back was against the wall and she didn’t have any choice but to work with the Ancillary. She grabbed the bag and dragged it closer; reaching in with one hand, her fingers clasped around the barrel of the shotgun. She wrenched it free and tossed it across to the Ancillary, who caught it easily. Melissa slid a box of shells across the floor to her, and then reloaded her own weapon. She couldn’t tell if the magazine was empty, but she needed a full magazine to ensure she could keep firing without running out of ammunition - perhaps at a crucial moment.
Melissa heard an angry roar, and as she leaned out saw a Reborn soldier about half a dozen feet from the window, with two more just a little behind him. She began to take aim, but the Ancillary devastated him with a headshot, dropping his bloody, ragged corpse to the ground. Melissa aimed at the head of the next in sequence - who was already preparing to fire at her. They squeezed their triggers simultaneously. Her shot slammed into his forehead, and his nipped her upper right shoulder, causing her to wince in pain. She fought through it however, and fired at the other advancing Reborn, slamming several shots into his armored vest before finally landing the kill shot that dropped him. The Reborn at the wall were flanking around, hoping to advance into a blind spot and proceed towards their position. Melissa fired at them, emptying her magazine and forcing them into cover.
“The doorway!” The Ancillary called out, firing her weapon through the window at an angle, which would send her shots towards the front entrance. Melissa risked a quick look and saw a trio of Reborn rushing towards the door with heavy, metal assault shields. The Ancillary’s shots hit the latter and barely scratched the surface. A loud explosion rang out through the building and a fraction of a second later, her radio crackled to life.
“Melissa!” Roy called over the radio.
“Damn it!” Melissa hissed as she started to leave. “Can you hold them here?” She asked the Ancillary, scarcely believing she was about to entrust part of their defense solely to her nemesis.
“Of course, Witness. It’s my duty to punish those who stray from the Teacher’s path.” The Ancillary replied with a frightening calm, emptying her weapon before ducking back into cover and reloading. “Though I wonder how I can remain completely in your line of sight when you leave the room.” She added with a smirk. Shaking her head, Melissa left the room and darted into the hallway, sprinting as quickly as she could to Roy’s position; though going over the barricades caused some difficulty.
Melissa burst through the doorway to the cells; the formerly keycard secured door defeated by some heavy-duty tape that prevented the locking mechanism from working. As soon as she was through, she saw Roy grappling with a Reborn soldier. The side door was open, apparently having been blown inwards by some external explosive, strewing the area with debris. Their firearms were scattered on the floor and the soldier was holding a knife, blade down, and doing his damndest to drive it into Roy’s face. Melissa took aim but wasn’t able to get a clear shot as the two men struggled, twisting this way and that, with Roy holding deathly tight to the man’s wrist. Melissa saw another soldier entering through the side door; she aimed and fired quickly, slamming a shot straight through his head. As his body slumped
back, she saw a fragment of the figure of another rebel Reborn taking a position beside the doorway and prepared to fire on him, but Roy suddenly passed in front of her, stumbling and falling heavily. The enemy he’d been grappling with lunged at Melissa with his blade raised; he was so close she couldn’t aim precisely so she quickly leveled her weapon at his chest. Her weight on her back foot, she fired as many shots as she could into his body armor, causing him to drop to his knees in pain. Mercilessly, she kicked his chest, knocking him onto his back and then executed him, twisting just in time to deal with the Reborn attempting to enter through the side door.
“Come on!” Melissa barked to Roy, who snatched up his weapon, pushed open the door and hobbled into the corridor. Melissa followed him, ejecting her spent magazine and taking cover around the edge of doorway just before a salvo of fire started taking chunks out of the wall. She reloaded and looked at Roy. He’d readied himself and nodded at her, both waiting for a break in the gunfire. When it came, they twisted out into the doorway together, Melissa ducking low and Roy remaining standing. They suppressed the enemies attempting enter and, judging by a late yelp of pain after they ceased firing, someone was hit by a stray ricochet. Roy retreated to reload while Melissa stayed in place, waiting with her weapon ready and her attention resolutely focused on the doorway. A Reborn from the right shifted out and attempted to push into the room; Melissa ended him with a single shot to the face. She retreated back around the corner and looked at Roy.
“You good? I need to keep an eye on that treacherous bitch.” She questioned with a scowl.
“I’ll be fine... I think.” Roy responded.
Melissa got to her feet and started back towards the Ancillary. As she clambered over the barricades she hoped she would find the Ancillary where she’d left her rather than her having made a bid for freedom through a broken window while the Reborn were focused on the side door. A moment later she heard the shotgun firing and this made her feel a little more optimistic, so that she no longer anticipated finding the Ancillary had escaped or betrayed them in some capacity - not that it seemed the Reborn outside were on her side, but, she was so mistrustful of her erstwhile nemesis, Melissa wouldn’t rule anything out. As she neared the heavy wooden doors behind the reception desk they unexpectedly exploded inwards, the force of the blast sending her flying back to land hard against the wall, while the heavy desk Roy had wedged behind them clattered around the space. She dropped to one knee, her ears ringing after the sudden, explosive sound. Melissa looked up and saw a shielded Reborn advancing inward. Instantly, she raised her weapon and fired, hoping to buy herself enough time to get into the cover of the briefing room. Her shots slammed harmlessly into the steel shield however, and as she began to retreat the Reborn carrying it leveled a pistol over the top and started to return fire. Melissa hurled herself sideways, and shot through the open doorway. She clambered to her feet, stumbling as she moved back to the doorway - still disoriented by the unexpected detonation. Melissa shook her head and attempted to focus. As she prepared to lean out and fire she heard a dull thud near her. Glancing down she saw a grenade on the floor just outside the door. Immediately she threw herself backwards, putting as much distance between herself and the imminent blast as possible. The grenade exploded, taking out the section of the wall she had previously been sheltering behind and sending plaster chunks, dust and shards of the wooden framework both down on her and flying into the air. Though further disoriented, Melissa coughed and spat, then got to her hands and knees and turned to face the doorway. She scrambled up onto one foot and prepared her weapon. The shield-bearer was approaching but Melissa couldn’t see any cover to use through the heavy cloud of dust. She had only one hope and that was the shield would make it more difficult for him to aim, so she half rose and moved cautiously around to his right side as he surged into the room. His pistol angled above the shield, he fired. Now rising to her full height, Melissa sprinted across the space between them. He fired again and again as she drew nearer; each shot narrowly missing her. Her luck ran out as she was concluding her approach; she felt a searing pain in her upper left arm and squeaked, but managed to flick the switch and change the rate of fire to automatic on her rifle.
Raising her weapon high and over the top of the shield, she squeezed the trigger and let a stream of shots burst out that tore apart the upper body of the shield bearer. He slumped forward and, as Melissa braced herself against the shield, a flicker of movement in the hall drew her attention. She groaned at the sight of two more shield bearers encroaching on her position. Glancing down, Melissa saw a grenade hanging from the side of the combat vest on the dead Reborn at her feet. Ignoring the wetness running down her arm and the pain it caused her to reach for it, she snatched up the grenade, ripped the pin free and launched the projectile into the hall. It landed just behind the front shield bearer, causing the pair to attempt to quickly scurry away. Melissa, meanwhile, ducked down behind the shield braced against her and held it with one hand. The explosion blasted out, followed immediately by agonized screams. Melissa stood up, leveling her assault rifle in anticipation. She saw a shield laying in the corridor with a bloody arm holding it and a one-armed corpse a few paces away, but wasn’t able to see the second shield-bearer from her current position.
Melissa briefly glanced at her arm and saw it had been yet another lucky flesh wound; blood leaked freely but it wasn’t going to impair her too much. She stood and let the shield she was using for cover fall back onto the body of its former owner; a single shot to his head ensuring he didn’t return, and then she set out into the corridor, similarly firing a shot into the one armed corpse. There was no sign of the third shield-bearer, so she quickly glanced towards the position she had last seen Roy and saw he had returned into the room between the cells and the interrogation rooms and appeared to be peering out of the side door; though he was barely visible from her current position, which was likely why the shield-bearers hadn’t engaged him. She started moving cautiously towards the wrecked reception area looking for the third shield-bearer, when someone lunged around the corner from the main avenue. He had a pistol leveled at her head and she had a split second to move out of the way. The sound of the gunshot was sudden, and loud enough to cause a debilitating, painful ringing in her right ear, but she was alive. Melissa, instead of succumbing to the pain and disorientation, yelled an outraged roar and fired her weapon - the shot hitting the traitorous Reborn in the thigh. He stumbled, but quickly attempted to adjust his aim. Melissa, however, was already moving; she let her rifle fall from her hands so it hung from the fabric over her shoulder and lunged at him. One hand wrapped around his wrist and the other formed a fist that she slammed into his face. He attempted to strike her with his other hand, but Melissa swiftly stepped back, initially staying out of his reach, but then swiftly brought her knee up hard against his injured thigh. Momentarily stunned by the fresh pain, it gave Melissa the brief moment she needed to grapple him and, shifting to the wall, to slam his hand as hard as she could against it: repeating the attack as she snarled in fury until he dropped his weapon. It wasn’t over though. An instant later, through the open doors behind the reception desk, she saw a pair of soldiers sweep in through the gap where the front entrance doors had been. With just a second to react, she twisted the soldier she was struggling with so that he was in front of her - just as they raised their weapons to unleash a salvo in her direction. Barely moments before they hit, she had tucked her smaller frame behind him; the bullets brutally slammed into his body, and while he trembled with each impact, blood erupted from his unarmored sections. She reached for her sidearm and pulled it free, firing several shots over her improvised shield in the direction of the attacking soldiers. Louder blasts suddenly cut through the air; Melissa glanced over her shoulder and saw the Ancillary standing in the corridor, shotgun in hand, near the headless remains of the two Reborn soldiers.
“They’re coming en masse, Witness. We’re almost out of time.” The Ancillary reported calmly.
Melissa dropped her improvised shield to the ground, holstered her pistol and retrieved her assault rifle. She reloaded it while keeping an eye on the Ancillary - something that wasn’t unnoticed.
“What?” The Ancillary questioned.
“I don’t get you.”
“What’s not to get?”
“You’re helping me.”
“Because my job is to accompany you until you’re ready to see the Teacher.”
“We’re probably going to die here.”
“It seems likely. But I will die performing my duty to the Teacher.”
Melissa scoffed.
“I never saw it ending this way.”
“There’s still a chance. Tell me you’re ready to join me at the Teacher’s side and perhaps there’s something that can still be done.”
Melissa wondered what she meant, but a stream of gunfire outside drew her attention. There weren’t any recognizably sounds of impact against the building, and accompanying the gunfire was a distant roaring and rumbling, which sounded like an engine. With a shared curious look the Ancillary and Melissa moved quickly to the window of the nearest office. Looking out, they saw a group of about twenty Reborn firing on a bus that was speeding around the corner. It slammed into them, crushing a number who had been unable to get clear under its heavy frame, while the others flanked it and continued firing. Then Melissa saw what the bus had attracted: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of infected were surging around the corner. Some had probably been attracted by the gunfire, but it seemed the majority had been following the bus and now, shuffling as quickly as their stiff limbs would allow them, they were descending on the traitorous Reborn. Melissa looked up the street to the right and saw another horde of infected approaching, causing Simm’s soldiers to split their fire. There was no sign of their commander, who had perhaps retreated or was taking cover somewhere out of sight, but that was immaterial. The overwhelming number of Reborn they had faced, which had seemed an insurmountable obstacle to their survival only moments ago, were now being threatened by the vast horde of infected which were fast closing in. It was they who were now running out of options.
A World Reborn (Book 2): Global Outbreak Page 20
