G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 2) Shifters

by Bobby Brimmer

  The dark brown and the tan lycans stayed behind, keeping the girl prisoner while the other eight bounded over boxes towards us. They were fast and using the cover to their advantage. Vector fired a couple shots, wounding one, but failing to lessen their numbers. The distance between us was closing quickly and soon they’d have nowhere to hide. We stopped just before they got to us, finding a nice open patch of floor from which to make our stand. I heard the slide of Danny’s gun behind me as he chambered a round, ready to fight. Vector had a thin smile on his face; both of his guns were trained forward, their aim lined up with the logical path of our charging foes. In my right hand I held my katana, a shorter blade, just over two feet, coated with silver. In my left were a few silvered shuriken that I planned to introduce to the first wolf dumb enough to jump my way. We were poised, ready, and feeling pretty good about our odds. That, of course, was when things turned a bit crappy.

  I’d mentioned earlier that there were a few piles of crates and boxes stacked as high as the ceiling. Well, it turns out that those make a rather good distraction when they are pushed over towards you and your friends. The towers of wood came crashing down at us from both sides, Vector diving to safety to the left, me finding a clear path to the right, and Danny having to drop back. I heard him grunt and thanks to a partial view of him through the falling wood, I knew that several boxes had landed on top of his legs. Five more lycans, the ones responsible for the collapsing wood attack, charged in from the sides.

  At this point I knew things weren’t looking good. This wasn’t a bar fight. The lives of my brother and my teammate were at risk. Not to mention, that innocent young girl whom they still held in their grasp. Plus, I could see savageness in the wolves that I’d never seen before. They were out for blood. I keep trying to move on from my past, but in this situation, it was going to save lives.

  “Make ‘em count.”

  It was all I hollered before the charging wolves arrived. Most of them were up front, with my brother. I wasn’t a huge fan of leaving him up there alone, especially with lycans coming at him from all angles, but I knew he could take care of himself. He was partially obscured from my view, but his opening move resembled some kind of gun spasm. Vector twisted, turned, and bent his body every which way, while firing in all directions, including over his shoulders. I smiled as the sound of several wolves yelping reached my ears. I’d have loved to stand there and watch him tear them apart, but there were other lives at risk.

  The wolves wanted the girl alive, so I hoped we had enough time to thin the herd. Danny on the other hand, in addition to being fairly new to combat, was partially pinned down. I had to get there fast. There was a wolf bounding towards me from the front and two more coming from my right. Just to keep the difficulty level high, there was also a fourth wolf moving toward Danny.

  The two wolves attacking from my right and the one going for Danny were all tan and the safe money said they were exact copies of the tan wolf still standing with the girl. The third wolf, charging from the front, was one of the earlier grey and white quintuplets. I decided naming these guys was going to be a pain. So, since many of them looked alike; I fell back to the simplicity of the numbering system. That being settled, it seemed like the best way to get back to Danny was to allow GreyWhiteOne to help me.

  He was flying through the air in the ever-popular werewolf claws and jaws attack. As I said before, while it looks scary and makes for good horror movies, it’s far from a sound tactic. The timing was going to be close, but I thought I could pull it off. Shifting to my left, I just got out of the way of GWOne’s claws, but stayed close enough to follow with a kick. My sidekick found his ribs, the force hitting him before his feet touched the ground. He was heavy and moving fast, but I put everything I had into the kick, and it was enough to redirect him into the other two wolves. TanOne and TanTwo were too close to move out of the way in time. I didn’t take any time to admire the comedy of the wolf tangle, instead vaulting over the crate behind me towards Danny.

  TanThree was right on top of him, already slashing down with his claws. I hurled the shuriken in my left hand, hoping to get his attention. Unfortunately, he managed to slash Danny across the chest before my blades found their mark. The stars sunk deep into his back, the silver coating burning on contact. TanThree spun around, drool dripping from his gaping jaw as he snarled at me. See, silver shuriken are a great way to get a wolf’s attention.

  I knew the three wolves behind me wouldn’t be delayed for long, so I didn’t spend time messing around. TanThree swung his right claws at my head and I dipped underneath, my blade at the ready. I brought my sword up and through his arm, just in front of the elbow. The howl he made was ear-piercing and I didn’t allow it to last long. Bringing my sword back, I made sure his protruding jaw was in the way, my blade taking his face off. It wasn’t a pretty picture, but if I wanted to keep Danny and the little girl alive, I knew now wasn’t the time to play nice. I spun around, keeping my body between my injured teammate and the three charging wolves.

  TanOne and TanTwo had become the wingmen to GWOne, as the three of them flew through the air at us. I’d only managed a passing glance at Danny, but I could tell that the deep slash across his chest was not shallow. I heard him coughing and trying to speak, which I hoped was a good sign.

  “Move right,” he coughed.

  I shifted a bit to my right, preparing to meet GWOne, as I heard the gun go off. Danny fired several bullets at TanOne, catching the wolf in the shoulder, stomach, and thigh. The wolf yelped and crashed to the ground close by as his friends attacked. GWOne landed just in front of me and he immediately rushed forward. He was over seven feet of rage, claws, and muscle, and I didn’t like my chances of stopping his momentum. So, I used it.

  A short slice with my sword dug the blade into his right forearm and pushed his arms to the side and out of my way. Then I grabbed his right triceps with my left hand and kicked his foot with my own. The result was a wonderful summersault through the air, sending GWOne crashing into some wooden crates behind us. Spinning around, I shifted back, just before TanTwo could slice my chest open. It was way too close, his claws actually ruining yet another of my wonderful polo shirts.

  There was savageness to these wolves unlike our other fights. I’d seen wolves out of control before, but never quite like this. These were creatures of pure rage, no sign of humanity behind their eyes. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that they were all wolf.

  TanTwo slashed at my head with his right claws and I dipped out of the way. Stepping forward, I sliced the back of his arm and was rewarded with a yelp. He swung again and I used my sword to remove a few of his digits. The four fingers from his left hand fell toward the floor as he howled in pain. Before he could recover, I stepped forward and drove my sword up through his jaw and out of the top of his head. TanTwo went silent as blood poured down my blade.

  Shoving the wolf to the ground, I put my foot on his chest and pushed, helping to draw my sword out of his head. I heard Danny cough again, before he exhaled heavily, and fired three more shots. His bullets caught TanOne in the chest, shoulder, and head, ending that fight. I saw Danny’s body sag in relief a moment before GWOne was about to land on top of him. What I did next isn’t something that I recommend trying at home. But, it was what I had at the time. Shifting all of my weight into the throw, I hurled my sword at the wolf.

  I’m sure it goes without saying that a sword is not made for throwing. It’s not weighted or balanced properly. Heck, most of the sword wouldn’t even do much damage if it did hit. The flat of the blade, back of the blade, and handle are distractions at best. But, if you practice a lot and get a bit lucky, good things can happen. My sword hit blade first and bit deep into the wolf’s chest. Lycan muscle is tough and the force of my throw wasn’t enough to drive the metal clear through his body. But it was enough to stop the wolf in his tracks and buy me the two seconds I needed to get over there.

  Flying jump kicks are another thing that s
hould be used sparingly, if ever, in a fight. But, a sword in your opponent’s chest is often all the distraction you need to get away with it. Giving my best Bruce Lee impression, I flew through the air, my left foot connecting with GWOne’s jaw. He stumbled back, his flailing arms knocking my sword free from his chest and out of reach. I landed and continued forward, a strong front kick into his chest sending him back into a sturdy looking pile of wood. As my leg dropped back towards the ground, I grabbed the long silver dagger that I kept by my ankle. My other leg followed, kicking GWOne across the face, and providing me a chance to draw the other silver dagger.

  I spun the blade in my right hand up, pointing towards the ceiling, while the dagger in my left was pointed towards the ground. There are advantages and disadvantages to both positions, which is why I enjoy splitting the difference if I’m holding a pair. GWOne spun towards me, roaring as he did. I had no intention of letting up. A quick swipe with my right put a cut across his thigh. He immediately replied with a claw swipe, which I ducked under, my left blade slicing across his forearm. It was a game of inches, me taking little cuts where I could find them, waiting for him to give me a better target. He swung two more times and I gave him slashes across his chest, shoulder, and face. But then, luck was not on my side. He tried to grab hold of me, that huge hand reaching for my face. I was happy to have the easy target, driving the dagger in my right hand through his palm. Unfortunately, he pulled his arm away too fast for me to retrieve my blade.

  While losing a blade isn’t a huge deal, the fact that I held on a second too long was. He slashed across my forearm with his other claws and I barely managed to move in time to prevent serious damage. His cuts weren’t deep enough to cost me the use of my right hand, but they hurt like hell. I jumped back as he tried to press his advantage. Sadly for him, he didn’t have the advantage he thought he did. His right claws swung fast and sharp at my head. I rolled underneath the attack, feeling the claws just catch the back of my right shoulder. Spinning to my feet I drove the dagger in my left hand home, right into the center of his back. He instantly dropped to his knees, his arms reaching over his shoulders in an attempt to grab me. Because it was convenient, I snagged the handle to my dagger, which was still stuck through his hand, pulled it free, and introduced the blade to the back of his neck. His body stopped moving and fell lifeless to the ground.

  I retrieved my daggers and gave Danny a quick look before I took off. He was clearly in a lot of pain and I didn’t really know how bad his wounds were. There were four claw marks across his chest, ending up the side of his neck. If he lived, those cuts would probably turn into very nasty scars. But I could still hear Vector’s guns firing in the distance, and I needed to get over there. Danny’s breathing was shallow and I knew there wasn’t much I could do for him right now anyway. So, I hoped he was strong enough to hang in there, while I rushed over the fallen debris towards my brother.

  The scene was promising. Vector stood among seven wolf corpses, their bodies almost a perfect circle around him. He was pointing his guns in two different directions, and the sound of growling told me that there were two wolves left to deal with. They were using the debris for cover, and I was sure it was only a matter of time before Vector found the right angle. But, I didn’t know how much time Danny or the girl had, so I decided to speed things up.

  I moved silently across the crates, because ninjas can do that, and positioned myself above one of the wolves. He was one of the quintuplets, and thusly named GWTwo. Vector must have gotten him earlier because I could see the blood pouring out of a shoulder wound. The lack of an exit wound told me that the silver bullet was most likely burning inside of him. That didn’t seem like much fun. So, because I’m a humanitarian, I decided to end his misery. I dropped down on top of him, stabbing a blade into each side of his neck as I landed. There was a brief howl before the silence. I pulled my daggers free and stepped around the corner just in time to see Vector finish the last of the charging wolves.

  The wolf, light brown and white, LBOne, had a crate in each of his powerful hands and he was hurling them at Vector. My brother, clearly realizing that I took care of the other wolf, gave his full attention to his opponent. He never flinched or even seemed to react to the crates as they hurtled towards him. Keeping his gun pointed forward and his body steady and calm, he just moved forward. His step carried him barely out of the path of the first crate, the sound of splintering wood accompanying its crash to the ground. A calm step forward and to his left meant that the second crate enjoyed the same fate as the first, crashing to the ground in a pile of splinters and missing its intended target. Vector then fired once and caught the wolf in the heart. Before the creature even had time to hit the ground, Vector and I were on the move. As we raced forward to save the girl, I didn’t even bother to think about the fact that none of these wolves had reverted to human form in death. Mysteries later.

  “You all right?”

  Vector glanced at the claw slash across his left shoulder and nodded, “I’m fine. That shouldn’t have taken me so long, but they immediately scattered and I was trying to keep an eye on the girl at the same time,” Vector said.

  I could see the spot where she had been, and I noticed that she wasn’t there anymore. Neither were the two wolves.

  “I’ll forgive you if you know where they took her?”

  “They moved back into the corner, behind that pile of crates,” he pointed.

  Before I could even begin to discuss strategy, the wolves stepped out from their cover, DarkBrown holding the girl in front of his body by her throat while TanFour stood at his side. Vector and I continued moving forward, waiting for them to say something or make a demand. After a few more paces, DarkBrown simply squeezed a bit and the girl cried out. We stopped, and I thought about how much I was planning to make DarkBrown suffer. I wasn’t a fan of people hurting kids.

  The girl in his grip looked to be about eleven or twelve, with olive skin and dark black hair. She was wearing a red and white polka dot dress that had been torn in several places. Her white socks were dirty and she only had one black shoe on, the other probably lost. But, aside from the claw around her throat and the look of terror on her face, she didn’t appear injured. I’ll admit that I smiled a bit at the realization that we got here before they did whatever they were planning. Since the wolves had exceptional hearing, I knew they could hear my whisper to Vector.

  “Need one.”

  “Copy,” he said, his guns down at his sides.

  After sliding my daggers into the back of my belt, I threw my hands up in the air, “Whoa, whoa, we surrender. Don’t hurt the girl.”

  Vector stayed still as I made my way closer, keeping my hands open and clearly showing that I was unarmed. TanFour moved forward to greet me, and probably slit my throat with his claws. But once he was away from the girl and I knew Vector only had one wolf to deal with, we were ahead of the game. A few moments later when TanFour was close enough to touch, I acted. Vector fired as soon as he saw me move.

  I hammered my right fist down on TanFour’s nose, causing him to yelp, while my left hand retrieved one of the daggers from my back. TanFour wasn’t slowed much at all, slashing at me with both claws. I stepped in, blocking his left arm with my right, and drove the handle of the dagger up into his jaw. The silver sizzled against his skin and I watched his head rock back. A kick to the groin, an elbow to the face, and the dagger handle into the top of his head, rendered him unconscious. I looked up in time to see Vector’s shots finish DarkBrown, the girl collapsing to the ground in front of him.

  I dropped my sleeping wolf and rushed over to check on the girl. My brother had been careful with his shots, hitting the wolf in as many places as it took to prevent its dead body from falling on top of the young lady. I scooped her up in my arms and held her against my chest.

  “It’s okay. You’re okay now. You’re safe.”

  Her body shook as she sobbed and cried, huddling against me as if she were freezing and needed the
warmth. I looked up at Vector and gave him a nod, and he smiled in return. She was alive and unharmed. Assuming that Danny survived the day, we were calling this a win.

  CHAPTER 24

  Fortunately, while Danny was in a ton of pain, he was going to live. The claw slashes across his chest were severe enough to make things bloody, but not deep enough to hit anything vital. The cuts on his neck were even more shallow, most likely a result of him trying to lean back out of the way. It’s probably what saved his life. But, even with deep wounds and being pinned under a few boxes, he’d kept his cool and managed to kill one of the lycan. Not a horrible first time going into combat with me.

  “Not bad, kid.”

  “Thanks,” he replied, between coughs.

  As I stood over him, the sound of GHOST vehicles pulling into the lot reached my ears. Vector had notified them of our position as soon as we found the warehouse. The girl, Rose was her name, was still clinging to my chest as if her life depended on it. Luckily she was barely over four feet tall and maybe seventy pounds, so it was cumbersome but manageable. I kept an arm around her and did my best to make her feel safe. Vector was back over toward TanFour, securing the prisoner and looking over the rest of the warehouse. Once the GHOST paramedics got to Danny, I was planning to join him. A couple minutes later, a handful of people came through the rubber curtain.

  The first two were standard security personnel, a man and a woman, both dressed in the dark blue and black uniform. Two men in blue jumpsuits, red crosses on their arms, followed behind. The paramedics rushed over to Danny as soon as they saw him. The guards gave me a quick nod before scanning the perimeter. I really wanted to hand Rose over to one of them, but I found myself hesitating. I can’t explain it. I barely knew this kid, but I didn’t like the idea of handing her to someone I didn’t know. Luckily, two familiar faces walked through the rubber curtain a moment later.