~~~
The helicopter landed in late evening, just outside the main entrance to the camp. The need for covertness was gone, as it was still twelve hours before the attacks began the first time. There was no telling if the attacks would happen at the same time, as the Malefics would have been well-aware of the time shift as well. The best they could do was to be ready for anything.
Charlotte was waiting for them at the main gate. Upon sight of them exiting the helicopter, she unlocked the chains that secured the opening in the fence, which had curled barbed wire lining both the top and bottom.
Her blond hair was pulled back in a smooth ponytail, and she had already armored up, daggers and guns strapped to every moving part of her body. She spoke over a walkie-talkie as Aiden, Skye, and Triaten approached.
She clipped the walkie to her belt, and aside from ushering them in through the fencing, she didn’t acknowledge them until she re-secured the gate and told them to follow her deeper into the camp. It was easy to see why. For miles out, the gate was the only thing vertical on this flat piece of land. It was necessity. Any refugee staggering in could easily find the entrance to the camp, but in this situation, it also made for easy pickings for anyone standing at or near the gate.
It wasn’t until they were past the first row of make-shift housing, and out of immediate sight of the gate, that Charlotte turned back to the three.
Without a word, her arms flew around Triaten. The bag he carried slid from his shoulder as Charlotte buried her face into his neck. The shake in her shoulders was evident. His arms clamped around her, and his hand gripped the back of her head, holding her tight into his body.
Even though Triaten knew she was fine, he hadn’t fully believed she was physically unharmed until that moment. His hand ran up and down her back, verifying that she really was alive and healthy in his arms.
Aiden and Skye scanned their surroundings, averting their eyes from this obviously intimate moment between Triaten and Charlotte. The camp was empty as far as they could see. Quiet, just as it had been before, except this time without the thousands of bodies strewn in the dirt.
Aiden let moments tick by, and then finally broke the embrace with a question. “Where is everyone?”
It took a second, and Charlotte didn’t look like she was going to pull away from Triaten, but finally, she took a step away and turned to Aiden and Skye.
She leaned over and grabbed both Aiden and Skye in a dual quick hug. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come to your wedding.”
She stepped back, but Skye wasn’t letting her go so quickly, and yanked her into another hug. “You were missed, my friend. And you scared the crap out of us. I’m just happy you’re okay.”
Over their heads, Aiden gave Triaten a pointed look that said things were obviously far from over between him and Charlotte. Triaten ignored the look and picked up the bag he had dropped.
“Thank god you went back to when you did, Skye,” Charlotte said. “We’ve had plenty of time to move everyone to the east wing of the camp.” She pointed past the two-story hospital they had found her almost dead in.
Charlotte started walking at a crisp,no-nonsense pace as she continued. “As the camp grew, it v-ed and widened from the hospital on this side, spreading out. But behind the hospital there is a large swath of land that we used when we started the camp. It has concrete wall surrounding it on three sides, and the jungle has grown so thick behind those walls, that a monkey would have a hard time travelling through.”
They arrived at the front of the hospital and Charlotte stopped, scanning the not-too-wide lanes running along either side of the hospital. It was at this point the chain-link fencing turned into the cement walls Charlotte had explained. There were only six feet on both sides, from the hospital corners to the wall.
“And the hospital is the natural barrier from this side. So we actually have a well-suited bottleneck here that they’ll have to go through to get to the women and children.”
“How much space is back there? How long can they hole-up?” Aiden asked.
“The lot of them should be fine for a few days. But they could spend weeks back there if needed. We have enough supplies. I’m more worried about the critical ones. The ones who just came in and need the most care. We have them as close as possible to the hospital, without being inside. But there are a couple of kids that we may need to operate on sooner rather than later. Doc Saima is overseeing them behind the building, with the rest of the staff.”
Triaten looked over at Charlotte’s profile. This was the Charlotte he was used to. The one who had clear purpose, and could easily take charge of an operation as large as moving ten-thousand people within hours. And in an orderly fashion. He smiled.
“What?” she asked when she caught his grin.
“I think you’ve taken care of it all. I don’t think we have anything left to prep.”
Charlotte glanced around them, assessing. “Hmmm. Probably not. I didn’t leave much for you guys, did I?”
“Nope.”
“But you brought plenty of firepower, I hope?”
Triaten and Aiden both tapped the large black bags they were carrying.
“Good.”She nodded. “I think the only thing to do now is to wait. I have to be honest — and believe me when I say I need you here and helping — but I, frankly, can’t wait for these guys to show up so I can kill as many as possible. They...” Her voice trailed off.
“They what, Charlotte?” Triaten asked.
She shook her head, clearing whatever image had invaded her mind. “They are the worst kind of vile. And they killed hundreds of our babies.” Her eyes glazed over as her hand went to the dagger at her waist, her fingers gripping the hilt so tightly, her knuckles turned white. “They are going to pay.”
“How many attacked?” Aiden asked.
“I’m not sure. By the time we knew what was happening, they had worked their way inward toward the hospital from at least three directions.” Her hand relaxed and dropped from her steel. “Maybe thirty. Maybe fifty. I counted at least five Malefics in the bunch.”
The four of them walked into the hospital, and Doctor Saima stood just inside the door, waiting to greet them.
“Triaten, Aiden. Good, good.” She said in her thick English accent, as she grasped each of their arms. Although her age should have put her in the frail category, her grip on them was an iron clamp. It had been more than thirty years since she had seen Triaten or Aiden, but she showed no hesitation in her welcome or her memory of the two of them. She turned to Skye. “And this is your wife, Aiden?”
“It is.” Aiden put his arm behind the small of Skye’s back. “This is Skye.”
Doc Saima grasped her hand, her dark plump hands enveloping Skye’s. “It is good to meet you. Aiden is a fine man. So you must be a fine woman. Welcome.”
Charlotte waited, finger tapping her thigh. She acknowledged the need for pleasantries, but was still slightly impatient about them. She didn’t want to take any chances on not being ready. “I’ve scoped out the sight lines, and there are three rooms on the second level where we’ll have good overview of them coming. We only have another hour of light, and if they hit at the same time as they did before, they’ll be coming shortly after dawn in the morning. So we’ll need to set up now.”
Skye looked over at the doctor in surprise.
Charlotte saw the question in her eyes. “Doctor Saima knows all about us. And your ability to shift time. We can talk openly in front of her.” She looked at the rest of the group. “Shall we go up?”
It took an anxious night-long wait before there was any movement in through the west end of the camp.
Triaten saw them first. He was in the north-west room, Aiden and Skye were in the west-facing room, and Charlotte watched from the south-west room. It was only a half-hour after dawn broke, and the terrorists had already made it halfway through the camp. Not having anyone to kill along the way had sped their descent on the epicenter of the camp, the hospital.
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“Closing in band of ten. Five trailing.” Triaten said over his headset.
“Negative here. Char?” Aiden replied.
“Negative. Wait. Here they come. I’ve got twelve. No, twenty. They’re spread down in front of you, Aiden. You got them now?”
“I do. And a trailing band directly out. Another twenty, maybe. They’re ducking in and out of the shacks.”
“Full automatics on each of mine.” Charlotte reported.
“Mine too. Everyone ready to start picking?” Triaten asked.
“I’m a go.” Charlotte replied. Even over the headsets, the venom in her words was obvious.
Aiden motioned Skye up to the window next to his. She hadn’t had much firearm practice, so she didn’t have much hope of hitting any of them, but it was good practice, if nothing else. She readied herself behind the rifle, checked the scope, and gave Aiden a thumb up.
“We’re set. Call it, Charlotte.” Aiden commanded.
“Fire ‘em up, guys.”
In a flurry of bullets, rows of the militants fell, before the smart ones could duck into the lean-tos and tin houses. The first slew of firepower easily took out half the contingent.
For the next half hour, Triaten, Aiden, Charlotte, and Skye whittled down the line of assailants, the slightest movement in the labyrinth of shacks was rewarded with a bullet.
It wasn’t until a small group appeared, creeping alongside a row of lean-tos right in front of Aiden’s window, that the Malefics in the bunch became evident. Aiden sent a spray of bullets down on them. But all remained standing. And all had a sword or machete strapped to their waists. They moved closer to the hospital, shooting back at the windows on the second story.
A break in the firing allowed Aiden to pop his head out the window and look at the door directly below him. “We’ve got six coming in the building. All were shot and are moving. That means Malefics.”
“I’m on it.” Charlotte barked. The distinctive swoosh of a sword pulled free, crackled over the earpieces.
“I’m with you.” Triaten shot out.
Skye looked at Aiden. His hand paused over his shoulder, antsy on his own sword. “Go. I’ll stay up here to make sure there are no more approaching. I must have hit one or two. So I’ll probably hit a few more. And if you hear a shot, you know there’s more out there.”
“I don’t like having you out of sight.”
Skye shook her head. “They’re not going to make it past you up the stairs. The best use of me, is to have me up here watching to make sure no more are coming. Go.”
Aiden nodded and ran out of the room, closing the door behind him. Skye turned, hand on the trigger of her weapon, and trained her eyes on the rows of houses, the tin on them reflecting the hot morning sun. Dust still swirled where bodies had hit the ground, some of their limbs still twitching, but beyond that, all remained still.
Outside Skye’s door, Charlotte and Triaten had already converged at the staircase and were flying down the two flights. Aiden was close behind.
They hit the landing just as the six Malefics clamored in through the door. Two of them were burly — big pieces of meat; two were tall and skinny; one stout; and the last one was small and frail-looking. His size was deceiving, as he was the one to watch out for. Charlotte, Aiden and Triaten all recognized him as the leader, the one that had almost killed Charlotte the first time around.
Upon seeing the three Panthenites rush at them from the stairs, the leader broke from the group and ran down one long hallway. A second Malefic peeled off down the opposite hallway.
Before the remaining four in the wide entryway could attack, Charlotte yelled out, “He’s mine,” and darted to the side, slipping off in pursuit of the leader down the hallway.
“You got the other one Tri?” Aiden confirmed, just as his blade hit the machete that was aimed at his head.
“You good with these four?”
Aiden was already fully engaged with two of them, forcing them back toward the door. “No problem,” he grunted as he lunged.
Triaten took off in the opposite direction of Charlotte, just as one of the four Aiden fought snuck off to the side. He followed Charlotte and the leader down the hall.
Charlotte was already in one of the hospital rooms, staring down the scrawny Malefic. Her knees had a slight bend in them as she circled him in the sparse room. A limp mattress lying on a rusty bed was the only thing between her and the leader.
It was uncharacteristic of Charlotte to engage an opponent verbally, but she had been waiting two days for this moment. Two very angry days. Her eyes narrowed. “I am not only going to kick your ass, I’m going to make you wish you were dead a hundred times over before I kill you.”
He sneered. “Doubt it, bitch. But let’s see what you’ve got.” He scurried like a rat around the room, keeping the distance.
Aiden’s voice came through her ear piece. “Char, one more on your way.”
With that piece of knowledge, Charlotte moved around the room so her back stood right in front of the door.
A taunting smile crept across the Malefic’s face. He stood straight and the sword he gripped in his hand went lazily to his side. “A dumb bitch, ain’t you. Thought you’d be better than this after that first round we had with you.”
Charlotte trained her ears on the air behind her. The moment the second Malefic turned the corner into the room, she spun, her steel flashing in a fluid spiral. He didn’t see it coming. And he didn’t stand a chance. His head flew off of Charlotte’s blade, rolling to a stop half under the bed.
The leader chuckled. “Not bad. But you ain’t gonna be quick enough for me.”
Charlotte blinked, and in the millisecond that passed, she found herself in sudden pain. She looked down at her thigh. Blood oozed from a shallow slice in her leg, soaking into the black fabric of her pants.
A speed Malefic. He’d been in and sliced her without her even seeing it. Charlotte hadn’t figured that out in their first encounter, when he had almost killed her. That’s what being half-dead did to her senses.
She swore under her breath. Speed Malefics were conniving warriors, using their speed to dart in and away from opponents. She always hated when she ran across one. They were speedy rats until you could corner them. And it was really hard to corner them.
He crouched across the room, snickering at her.
A floor above them, Skye saw movement in the sea of silver shacks. She ignored the sound of blades clashing in her ear piece, and tilted her head down to the mic on her shirt — she wasn’t used to the contraption. “Shit. Aiden. There’s another band of them coming. Another ten — no, hell — twenty-five. Straight down the middle. Right at this window.”
Bullets sprayed into the building, just outside of Skye’s window, sending bits of concrete flying. Skye ducked behind the wall next to the opening. Silence. She peeked her head around. They were getting closer.
Her voice became more frantic. “Aiden — anyone catch that?”
“Got it.” Aiden’s voice came in through her ear piece. The crash of metal and a gurgling sound followed. Skye’s heart stopped.
“Aiden!”
“You got any shots?” Aiden asked calmly, even as the sound of steel continued to clang violently.
Skye glanced out the window again. “I do. I’ll work on it.”
She positioned herself low, her head just above the bottom of the window sill. She fired off a couple rounds, and after minor adjustments to her aim, she zeroed in and took down at least seven of them. But her shots also sent them scurrying like cockroaches, and they spread themselves wide throughout the little boxes.
Skye stood up to get a better vantage point on where to shoot next, and a bullet ripped through her shoulder, blasting her down to the ground. She lay for a second, staring at a plaster crack in the dingy white ceiling above her, trying to get her wits back.
“Oh, fuck.” She exhaled, after feeling her right shoulder and realizing what had sent her onto her back.
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“Skye!” Aiden’s yell was louder coming up the stairs than in the sound-limiting ear piece.
Skye sat up. “I’m okay.” She crawled over to the window and looked out.
“Guys. They’re coming in two spots. One at the main door and the other off to my left. What’s over there?”
“Charlotte.” Triaten’s voice jabbed in. “How many, Skye?”
Skye assessed. “Five off to the side. The rest fifty feet off the main door. Ten — fifteen of them.”
“You got that Charlotte?” Triaten asked.
“Yes. And I’ve got a speeder in here.” Charlotte answered, out of breath.
“I’m coming.” Triaten replied.
Skye watched the Malefics charge the building and she did the math in her head. Triaten and Charlotte had six, and one was a speeder, whatever that was. Aiden had ten, maybe more coming at him. She stood up, stretching her hand over her bullet-ridden shoulder and grabbed the handle to her sword, pulling it free. The movement sent a jab of pain down the side of her body, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it.
“I’m coming down.”
“Skye, you’re staying upstairs.”
The earpiece did nothing to hide Aiden’s growl. She didn’t answer him.
“Skye. Stay put.” Aiden’s voice thundered, dangerously low.
She was already out the door and running along the hallway when she heard the expanded clashes of steel below her. Halfway down the bottom set of stairs, she froze.
Aiden was directly in front of her. He was already engaged with four of them, half-circled in front of him. More Malefics piled in the through the doorway behind the first four. The entry was wide, and they fanned out, their half-circle three deep in every direction. There were already three Malefic bodies littering the ground in front of him.
Aiden parried the two closest to him, just as the Malefic group circled him. “Get the hell back up the stairs, Skye,” he said low, knowing her ear piece was still in.
“Hell, no,” she whispered back. “You’re forgetting that I saw what they did to those babies. They’re not getting to them again.” Aiden was now blocked from her view. And the Malefics on the ground level still hadn’t noticed her midway up the stairs, so intent they were on Aiden. When the group swelled inward at her husband, Skye broke through her last shreds of restraint.
Triple Infinity Page 17
