Dystopian Girls 2

by Rodzil LaBraun

  Everyone was having a good time in the basement when returned. I was glad that there was no friction between the two groups. It wasn't that long since this other clan were our enemies. It was quite plausible for a minor disagreement to escalate into a fight in our violent new existence. Thus far, everything was peaceful.

  Overall, my job as leader was not that difficult. Like a manager that hired and maintained a good workforce, it was a pleasure to guide these women through our post-apocalyptic fresh start on life.

  Just when I decided that it would be nice to get to know Bianka and Nadia a little better, Corinne announced that it was time to go. Most of the girls were saddened by the announcement, like teenagers having their party busted by parents. It was actually good to see.

  We all said our goodbyes and headed to the front door to see them off. It was nice to have friends over and pretend that everything was okay with the world. Maybe one day it would be.

  The sun was beginning to set behind the trees on the hill as we watched them walk into the twilight in the other direction. At one point, Bianka turned back to face me, then blinked her eyes a few times. It must have been my imagination, but it looked like she had cat eyes for a second. But after she stopped blinking, I could clearly see that I was mistaken. There must have been something on her face that she managed to clear with her lashes.

  Only Riley and I remained outside once our guests were closer to their home than ours. There was an eerie feeling in the night air. Perhaps it was cooler than usual. Or quieter. I felt like I was being watched. The others had filed back in as they began recapping some of the funnier moments of the evening. The sound of their laughter carried outside through the open doorway. That is when we heard the gunshot ring out.

  I turned in the direction of the noise but could not see anyone in the front yard of John's house. Two more shots were then fired, one presumably by John himself. He had come out of their home with a rifle aimed toward the road. Corinne and Camilla had Nadia's arms around their shoulders as they attempted to run. The big girl had apparently been shot. Bianka was sprinting alongside Ling to reach the safety of the indoors.

  Three more shots were then fired, but I still couldn't see the shooters. John and his clan had all made it back inside without another injury from what I could tell. I relied on my deflection ability as I crouched by the entrance to our house. I urged Riley to go inside. She was reluctant until I converted the request into an order. Shortly thereafter was a sound I had not heard in a very long time.

  The harsh white noise of a megaphone projecting a voice boomed through the otherwise silent night. My best guess was that the speaker was close to the road in front of the property line between our residences.

  "We don't want to kill you," a man's voice announced. "But we need you to know that we will if we have to. Do the sensible thing and surrender. You'll be treated like one of us. We have plenty of food and water."

  During the pause Alexa and the rest of our group gathered just inside the doorway. "I can't pick anything up," Alexa told me quietly. "They must be too far away."

  I handed her the mobile phone that I carried with me constantly and told her to open the security camera app. She needed to monitor the area around the house while she focused on emotional activity of strangers. I kept one hand forward with the intention of deflecting any shots fired at me. I heard the crack of the top of the door frame about the same time as the pop of the rifle reached us. They were trying to snipe me.

  I didn't want to risk anyone inside our house getting shot, so I retreated with them. We barred the door but could still hear the megaphone well enough through the boarded-up windows.

  "I am speaking to both groups. Surrender now or we will kill you. Your houses will not stand against our arsenal. Throw something white out the front door if you want to live. Then walk out with your hands in the air."

  Seiko began screaming as two shots penetrated the plywood and glass in the front picture window. Our attackers were using a high-powered sniper rifle alright. That meant that we were not safe behind our walls. I was not confident in my ability to protect everyone at the same time. I assumed that Corinne and John were facing the same dilemma over at their place. Surrender, or be prepared to die protecting your clan.

  CHAPTER TWENTY:

  The first thing I did was turn out most of the interior lights. I did not know how well they were able to see into the house, but their view was expanding with every hole that they created. It was best to get our eyes adjusted to near darkness anyway.

  Riley retrieved what weapons that we didn't already have on us. I snatched up the assault rifle for myself. I planned to keep the Smith and Wesson forty-five as well. Jada took the Remington sniper rifle and handed her 'nine-milli-Glock' over to Stella. The young-looking woman accepted the weapon with the caution and facial expression associated with being handed the tail end of a viper.

  Riley held onto the Weatherby rifle and handed her pistol over to Alexa. Seiko begrudgingly received the old rifle that had been confiscated from John after the last battle. That now seemed like eons ago. She was not eager to shoot anyone, or likely to at a distance. But it was only fair that she had something to protect herself.

  "Stay away from the windows and exterior walls. I'm going up to the attic with Riley and Stella."

  "Me?" Stella squeaked in shock.

  "Yes, you! We need your accuracy now. Let's go!"

  Riley did not need to be told twice. She beat us to the ladder for the attic access and started up first. I held Stella's gun when she climbed, then handed all the weapons to Riley before ascending myself. The oven effect heat in the small contained space at the top of our house was not quite as bad as during the day. We had to ignore the discomfort for as long as it took to chase away these intruders.

  I motioned for Stella to join me at the section toward the front of the house. There were two openings large enough to aim through, about twelve feet apart. We could see a dozen bodies approaching in the twilight, cautiously moving from cover to cover. There wasn’t much to hide behind in the front yard, so we would get our opportunities.

  "I see three people circling around behind the house," Riley informed us from her position. "I hope Jamila and Hedy stay well hid. One of the attackers is leaning against the pool house now."

  "Go ahead and shoot him Riley, if you can. Stella? I need you to kill these guys out front."

  I heard a shot from Riley's rifle behind me. "One down," she told us.

  Stella put her pistol to the opening in the general direction of the attackers. Then she closed her eyes and turned her head before pulling the trigger four times. "Did I get them?" she cried, obviously uncomfortable with her new obligation.

  "No! You didn't hit anyone! Were you looking where you shot?"

  "No, I had my eyes closed," she replied. "Sorry."

  "They've all taken cover now. Next time you see one move, look at him while you shoot. Apparently, your gift is not a blind auto-aim. Okay?"

  "Okay," she cried again. "I'll try. It's different than shooting at a target, though."

  I felt bad for the girl. She was uncomfortable with guns but shooting accurately was her gift. She wasn’t officially part of our clan yet, but she’s here now. Our attackers had a lot of people and likely plenty of weapons. I had to push her if we were all going to have a chance at surviving this. I was lucky that she was following my instructions to the best of her ability.

  "I know. I'm sorry to have to put you through this. But this is a life or death situation here. Your friends need your help."

  Another pop from Riley's rifle. Then a woman's scream from the backyard. "I got one in the leg."

  "Stella, do you see the one hiding behind that fake well in the front yard?" I asked patiently. It was a concrete construction that was not fastened to the ground. It stayed in place due to its weight. At four feet tall it did not protect the guy well enough from us. Our higher altitude enabled us to see much more of the yard than we could have from
the front door.

  "Yes, I see him."

  "Please look at him when you pull the trigger. One shot per opponent. We don’t have endless ammo."

  I heard the single shot from her pistol as the man's head went flying back. He then laid motionless on the ground. She nailed the fucker between the eyes from eighty feet away.

  "Oh, shit!" Stella said, as if she had made a mistake. The reaction and sound of her cursing would have been cute if it were not for our treacherous situation.

  "Good job," I told her calmly. "Let's find you another one. Here comes one up the left side by the bushes. Do you see him?"

  Stella didn't bother to reply this time, except for the sharp crack sound from the short barrel of her handgun. Once again, the target went down immediately. I could then see that her most recent kill was a woman.

  Getting tired of attempting stealth, someone out there commanded a charge. About a dozen people stormed toward the front door. I fired about eight to ten shots myself, taking down two of them. Stella fired ten rounds, dropping three. She didn't miss though. Each of those three got shot in the head multiple times. It was literally overkill.

  The clicking sound meant that she needed to reload. I scrambled over to pop out the empty clip for her. As I slammed the new one into place, I could hear loud thumping at the front door. They must have been throwing their bodies against it in unison. But it sounded like a battering ram. The door would not hold forever.

  "Mason!" Jada yelled up from below the ladder opening. I could hear the sense of urgency in her voice. But there was no panic. Two women that I could always count on to keep their heads in a chaotic battle were Jada and Riley.

  "We're coming!" I screamed back. We needed to get downstairs quickly. Being caught out of position as the attacking force bursts through the door could spell catastrophe for us.

  Pop! Another shot from Riley. Then, "Fuck! I missed that one!"

  "Let's go!" I told both girls. "We need to get downstairs and take up positions before they get inside."

  I then heard roof tiles getting shot off near our sniping holes. After that, the sound of solar panel glass. They had figured out where we were and just started firing at the roof. I wondered how much ammo they must have to be able to do that much shooting. Or did we have them scrambling?

  I dropped down the ladder first and then assisted Stella. Riley then slid down the metal contraption like a firefighter with the rifle strapped to her back. It was funny to see. I mean, with Jada’s appearance you would expect a combat savvy individual. But Riley looked like a thin librarian angel. She floated naturally in her movements as if she were levitated. Thinking back to the chokehold that she put on Camilla, I was sure that my newest lover had plenty of surprises for us. In bed as well as the battlefield.

  Boom!

  Something big hit the front of the house. I paused briefly at the sound trying to determine its cause.

  Boom!

  It must be a powerful shotgun blasting away at the front door or window. There was no way that they could have a cannon. Right? One way or another, they were coming in. The megaphone man’s threat was legitimate. Our house would not stand against their arsenal.

  "Everybody to the basement!" I told my girls. As we were all running down the stairs, I realized that we were missing one. "Where's Seiko?"

  "I don't know," replied Jada. We all looked up to the top of the stairwell as if she might be right behind us. But she wasn’t.

  When I asked Alexa to find the girl with her gift, she answered, "There's too many people. I can't find her!"

  "Don't worry about her," Jada said. "She's got that super stealth. She'll be fine."

  Another boom, then the sound of people coming through the debris into the house. The distinct noise of glass breaking indicated that they had opted for the picture window instead of the barred door. We could hear them landing on the floor above us as they climbed through in quick succession.

  A rifle fired, then a man screamed out in pain. I could hear their confusion as they attempted to figure out where the shooter was. It must have been Seiko firing while cloaked. Then the rifle fired again. This time a body dropped to the floor.

  "She's over there by the refrigerator!" A woman yelled. "How can you not see her?"

  Then several gunshots before we heard another thump in the kitchen. I assumed that one was Seiko. Not wanting to be surprised again, a man instructed them to search the main floor with caution. We had sustained our first casualty. I was determined to make it our last. Our friend’s sacrifice at least delayed their progress.

  I used that time to help find positions for all of us. It took three of us to flip over the pool table. The slate surface would be the best cover that we could possibly have. We toppled the poker table, too. But I decided to leave it was a decoy. Despite an inch-thick tabletop, I wasn’t confident that it would stop all bullets.

  I sent Stella with Riley behind the strong green felt covered obstacle as Jada went behind the bar. That constructed area might be a much less reliable cover, but it provided decent concealment.

  I worried most about Alexa, so I kept her with me. My plan was to rely heavily on my deflection ability instead of taking shelter. If I could draw their fire, the others would shoot from safe locations. I asked her to crouch in the bathroom doorway just in case I was unable to block everything.

  "Be careful, Sean," I heard a woman say from the basement steps. There was a wall blocking the view of anyone descending to our level. Slow creaking noises gave them away. I decided not to send any bullets into the wall. Let them think that they are safe there. "They have to be down there."

  A healthy-looking blond male, roughly thirty years old rounded the corner with less caution that he should have. Presumably, this was Sean. He was wearing khaki cargo shorts and no shirt. His chest was shiny from sweat in the dim light of the stairwell. He quickly turned away from us with his shotgun, searching for a target. As he turned back, a sniper round blew a hole in his chest from just twenty-five feet away.

  Jada reloaded silently, keeping an eye on the only entrance to the basement. We had boarded up the exterior door permanently the day that we moved in, not wanting any surprises.

  A murmuring could be heard on the stairwell. No doubt the intruders were debating on who should be Jada's next victim. If they planned on dropping down one at a time, I would allow her to pick them off. Stella and Riley could support after that. I'd wait for a rush before I expend the precious assault rifle ammunition.

  The next person to enter the basement was also male. This one was bald, maybe in his twenties, wearing jean shorts and a wife-beater tank top. Most of his exposed skin was covered in tattoos. Unlike his predecessor, he preferred not to be shot. He ducked into a roll that sent him to the far wall before he popped back up to his feet. Jada's shot missed high. It was difficult to hit a moving target up close with a sniper rifle. Riley's shot was behind him. Fortunately, Stella had gotten over her shyness with the Glock. One shot fired from her and the man's head flew back. A bloody bullet hole visible as he dropped limp bodied to the floor.

  "Fuck!" a woman's voice exclaimed. There was some more murmuring on the stairs.

  "What are you waiting for!" a man yelled from upstairs. He sounded older than the others that we had encountered so far. Apparently, he was the leader. "Go kill them!"

  Two women then rounded the corner with guns a blazing. The first was a forty-year old white woman with cropped, jet black hair. She looked strong and wore green tactical cargo pants with a gray t-shirt. She dropped to one knee immediately as she fired her automatic rifle in a 'spray and pray' manner. I deflected everything coming my way to the ceiling and hoped that the girls didn't get hit.

  Jada's rifle fired once more, then she dropped behind the bar. Hopefully, she was taking cover and did not get hit. Her shot practically blew the woman's neck out from between her head and chest, as Stella's pistol sent an additional and unnecessary shot to her forehead. The woman fell violently backwards wit
h her finger still pressing the trigger on her automatic weapon. A stream of bullets went up the wall then into the ceiling before the clip emptied.

  The second women did a barrel roll across the floor toward the corpse of the tattooed guy. She was a young and slender brunette, her long hair draping down from under her army cap. The rest of her attire matched the other woman's like a military uniform. She squeezed off a dozen rounds from her pistol as she went.

  Riley aimed for her instead of the first woman, but only got her in the leg. After wasting a couple shots on the first woman I directed my stream of bullets toward this one and was rewarded with several spurts of blood. The second that she went limp with her pistol falling from her hand another shot fired. Stella's aim true once again. Right between the eyes. The woman was already dead, though.

  I couldn't complain about Stella wasting ammo. She was dead on accurate with every shot! She was just a second too late on occasion. I'll take that over her holding back any day. In the heat of the moment, with all our lives in danger, it was hard to think about saving bullets. If we did survive this ordeal, we'd be able to loot the corpses of our attackers, video game style. We might end up with more bullets than we'll ever need.

  No one else descended the stairs for the next few seconds, so I did a visual check on my clan mates. Only Jada was unaccounted for.

  "Jada," I shouted a whisper toward the bar. "Are you okay?"

  "Yep," she answered as she popped back up. "One shot grazed my arm. But I got some splinters from the bar as the bullets broke through. Also, there is a lot of broken glass back here."

  "We'll clean up later," Riley stated, straight faced as always. It was as funny as shit, if only we weren't still worried for our lives.

  "What do we do now?" Jada asked.

  "There are still several people upstairs," Alexa then informed us. "I don't think they'll be coming down anytime soon."