by M. O. McLeod
It was time for the Raptors reign to begin; it was only the beginning of the Blue K dynasty.
Chapter 22:
Elimination
Kurma and the BlueK Raptors, Chelsea, O’bellaDonna, Rimselda, and Jackie left the Tower of K every day to battle the Phantoms following the mayor’s speech. They had to take out all of the major Phantoms gangs of the city. Kurma started off with the Renegades, a gang from the lower side of town who were in the midst of a territory gang war with the P 1’s.
***
The blizzard rushed in from the Esmondic Sea over the east and in a few days crippled the entire city of Alexandria. What little activity occurred was due to the Phantoms and the BlueK’s who tracked their movement.
Territories of the streets were vital to the gangs because the more streets the gangs had the more people they controlled. With this in mind, Kurma tracked the P1’s first. She knew that they were in the midst of a territory war with the Renegades. Kurma planned to set them against themselves and let them finish each other off. She just needed a little bait to coax the Phantoms out into one another's territory.
Kurma rolled the blankets over and over until they formed a huge bundle that she tied with a cord. It was hard to do much with her blue gloves on and the blizzard made for an even more miserable setting but she had her trap set.
“Place the blankets and food in the middle of the street,” said Chelsea.
“What if a car comes and runs it over, who will want it still?” asked Jackie.
“There are no cars out; nobody is going to be out in this snow storm,” Rimy butted in.
The girls stood with their backs against the wind in their human form. The alley that they hid in was parallel to a row of condos. The girls could tell that there were people still living in the houses; they were just waiting for the storm to blow over so that they could replenish their food and supplies. Kurma knew that there had to be one person or family that needed extra blankets and food since most of Alexandria was without power and electricity.
“Now Donna, are you sure that this is the border line for the Renegade Phantoms?” asked Kurma.
O’bellaDonna responded, “Yes, St Croix’s is the borderline street between the P1’s and the Renegades.” She stepped out a bit into the cold and showed the girls with her arms where the street divided. “Place the package in the middle of the street. Somebody comes out to get it and watch the P1’s show up.”
“Then we chase both the Phantoms and the humans onto the other side of the borderline into the Renegades territory,” finished Jackie. “Boom, we have ourselves a little war on our hands.”
“But how do we know if the P1’s are even out right now or if they are even going to catch the humans?” Chelsea questioned the group.
Kurma sniffed and rubbed the skin on her human nose. It felt so cold that it burned. She couldn’t wait to transform into her Raptor state so the scales on her face would protect her from the weather. “We have plenty of blankets at the Tower of K and winter has just started, if this doesn’t work then we can try again.” She poked her head out of the alley and peered at the windows that covered up houses and the gates that lined the apartments and condos on St. Croix. Somebody would come out, rather it was one person or a family, Kurma knew that somebody would have to be the bait in order for her plan to work –the sooner the better. “I’m going to go put this out, and we wait and watch.”
The rest of the girls nodded quietly and watched as their leader stalked the snow covered sidewalks. They saw the wind rip through her light jacket and pummel her with gust of snowfall. Kurma kicked through the snow the best she could and made her way to the designated drop off spot. She glanced around and could have sworn she saw something off in the distance. Kurma Raptored her eyes to get a better look but the image was gone and she quickly dropped the blankets, food, and bottled waters onto the snow-white road and dashed back to her friends.
Rimselda blew in her hands and shivered. “Now we wait.”
“Won’t be long now,” O’bellaDonna reassured everyone. She listened and focused on the noises inside the buildings next to her. She could hear the quiet stirring of people inside the walls and the scurrying of mice. She heard the cry of a baby and a mother instantly shushing it. O’bellaDonna heard the scraping of forks and knives on a plate some stories up. People were living but barely surviving the Phantoms and the storm at the same time.
Kurma held her hand up and her eyes became wide. She heard the slight creak of a gate open. There were the muffled footsteps in the snow. She signaled for the girls to move with her as she rounded the corner. Then she saw them, a man and a woman struggling to move through the waist deep snow. As quick as she saw the couple Kurma saw five huge figures dropped from the rooftops.
“We don’t have much time!” she screamed to the girls. Kurma needed to get to the couple before the Phantoms did. She Raptored mid-run and felt the scales and hairs coat her body and she stretched her wings as they came from her arms and lifted her body off of the ground.
The Phantoms attention immediately shifted from the humans to the BlueK’s but Kurma had quickly covered the half block distance and had reached the couple who had begun to run, their eyes white with fear. The Raptored girls chased the couple over the borderline and the P1 Phantoms chased the BlueK’s right into the Renegaded territory. The couple stumbled and fell and clung to each other as they looked up to the flying Raptors overhead.
“I’m not seeing the Renegade Phantoms!” shouted Rimselda over the blaring winds. “Where are they?”
“There!” Chelsea screamed as she pointed to the left of the group. Sure enough, over a dozen shirtless Phantoms stormed out of a rundown townhouse, with teeth bared and veins the color of tar.
Kurma looked behind her and smiled as the P1’s continued to chase the scent of the Raptors deeper into the Renegades territory. “Save the couple!”
Chelsea sped up, swooped down and plucked the struggling woman from the snow. Kurma watched as Chelsea flew off with the women screaming her head off. O’bellaDonna grabbed the man by the collar and flew after Chelsea back towards the P1’s blocks. Kurma signaled to Rimselda and Jackie and the girls flew straight up at the exact time that the P1’s and the Renegades collided in the streets.
Jackie yelled to the girls, “Meet you back at the Tower,” over the howling of the wind and flew north.
Kurma and Rimselda flew back down below and both girls perched on the side of the townhouse and watched as the gangs went at one another. The sound of bones and the uproar of shouts were heard over the storm. As the fight carried on more Phantoms came out from both sides and intensified the battle. Silver blood and skin spewed on to the snow as the Phantoms tore at one another. Kurma and Rimselda clung to the building and watched silently as one by one, the Phantoms killed each other off. As the last Phantom struck its deadly blow to his opponent Kurma silently detached her claws from the building and glided down to the street level. She could feel the heat emanating off the victors back as he breathed in heavy, covered in silver blood. The Phantom slowed its breathing as he felt something at his back and balled his fist as Kurma slid her dagger into the soft flesh of the Phantom, piercing his heart from behind. She bit down into his flesh and feasted on the kill as he took his last breath.
“Bring some back for the girls?” Rimselda asked as she flew down to the ground.
Kurma chewed at the meat and wiped her mouth and said, “Take the biggest ones back to the Tower of K.”
***
The lights were dim as the girls sat in one of the spacious conference rooms of the Tower. The snow outside was seen but the cold wasn’t felt and the wind wasn’t heard as the girls planned their next move against the Phantom gangs.
“It looks like the Flesh Hound Gang of the East is up next,” said Kurma as she ran her fingers against a huge map of Alexandria that lay in the middle of the table.
“That’s your neck of the woods isn’t it, Jackie?” asked Rimselda.
“Yeah it is,” responded Jackie. She peered closer to the map and nodded her head. “I know this area like the back of my hand. I used to stay over on Eastland Way when I was younger, right next to the Terra shopping center. That’s where most of the gangs hang out now a days, regardless if you are a Phantom or a human,” Jackie explained. “It’s prime opportunity at that shopping center. Few security guards… right next to the expressway…a lot of traffic and a lot of openings.”
“What do you suggest?”
Jackie snapped her fingers and shouted, “Eureka!”
“Dork,” snorted O’bellaDonna.
Jackie ignored the remark and came around the table to Kurma. “We kidnap one of the Flesh Hounds.”
“And do what with it?” Rimselda chimed in.
“This area has too many places for a Phantom to hide,” Jackie tried to explain. “We won’t be able to get to the root of the problem if we only chip away at the few Phantoms that we find in this area. We need to hit them hard.”
“Kidnapping one is better than killing them all?” Chelsea asked still confused.
Jackie ran her hands through her tight curls in frustration. “No,” she hurried over to Chelsea who didn’t back away in time. “We kidnap one of their Phantoms and squeeze him for all the information.” Jackie gripped Chelsea’s arms and squeezed tight until Chelsea shouted. Jackie let her go and turned to the other girls. “We get the scoop on the leader, his movement, all that good stuff, and then we move in.”
“Okay,” said Kurma. “This sounds simple enough. Who wants to infiltrate the Flesh Hound Gang?”
Jackie had already raised her hand with a smile on her face. “Leave it up to me ladies,” she said as she clapped her palms together. “Watch me do work,” Jackie left the room without a moment’s notice or a goodbye.
O’bellaDonna rolled her eyes and mumbled underneath her breath, “Show off.”
***
On the lower east side, in between the loading docks of the Alexandria produce market, Jackie stood tall against the ice sheets of rain. She wrapped her moss colored wings against her lean body and looked down at the bag of clothes she had brought with her once she transformed back into her human state. Quickly, she transformed back and donned her warm boots and jacket without leaving any traces.
“Dock nine, dock nine…” she whispered out loud. Her eyes Raptored for a second and pierced through the elements and zoomed in on a loading dock that gleamed in the rain. The dock was brightly lit against the dusk and there were several workers who unloaded trucks that were filled with crates and containers. It seemed that the rest of the produce market had been shut down and activity had stopped once the Phantoms had hit the city. Only one dock remained open for business and Jackie wondered how long that one in particular would stay open for. She silently made her way up to the loading dock area and noticed men working fast to unload the shipments.
“The quicker you do it the faster you get to leave the city, huh boys?” Jackie said as she slipped in unison with the loading line. She kept her head down and her scarf up against her face as she moved cartons back and forth from the truck to the dock.
“Ten minutes everybody!” yelled someone from the front of the truck. “We push off in ten minutes.”
A supervisor with a clip board walked by Jackie and didn’t give her the slightest glance. The supervisor counted the crates, checked off the bungalows, and cleared the drivers to depart.
“I’m so ready for this payday,” a voice came from Jackie’s left.
Jackie jerked her head around and thought she was caught.
“First thing I’m going to do is go up to Seniors, get a big thing of chicken broth and make some hot soup for me and the misses,” the guy continued. “What are you going to do with the pay?”
Jackie heart slowed down a bit when she realized that he was more of the friendly type. She repositioned her scarf and coat and said, “I’m going grocery shopping too, but I’m going to get me some beef, potatoes, and carrots.”
“Jason,” the guy held his gloved hand out to Jackie who shook it quickly. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“Yeah, I needed the cash and I know the storm shut things down a bit. I figured I could be some extra help.”
“Yeah, we have been pretty light,” Jason said and looked around. “Nobody comes to work anymore, but hey, more money for us.”
Jackie replied, “Money still buys food and water so I’m still going to show up.” She had no idea what she was talking about. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had bought a meal since Raptors didn’t eat human food.
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t had any beef in a couple of weeks, that stuff is like gold now-a-days,” he joked.
“Alright, everybody line up and get your cut,” yelled the supervisor as he cut their conversation short. “Meet back here next Wednesday, same time.”
Jason nudged Jackie in the arm and headed up to the supervisors line. Jackie looked around and saw that the workers were all by themselves and out in the open. She saw the shopping center across the boulevard looking deserted, but she knew that there were eyes inside, hungry eyes waiting and watching in the cold of the night.
Jackie kept a steady pace behind the workers as they all left the produce market’s loading dock in a group. There were at least ten humans, not including Jackie; she was a Raptor, an entirely different species. Still, she played along and moved with everybody as they walked to their cars and trucks that were grouped together. She figured the group stayed together for safety measures, but to her it was pointless. Ten humans could not take down a hunting party of Phantoms, especially not a gang of Phantoms.
Jackie sniffed the air and smelled something thick on the wind. She glanced around the empty streets of the lower east side. There were abandoned cars on the road, decrepit storefronts, looted buildings, factories that had somehow caught fire that stood half gutted, and the shopping center. She sniffed the air again. There it was… the thick smell of men and sweat. Jackie was sure that the Phantoms saw them but that she would be the last to see the Phantoms.
“Jason,” Jackie quickly called up towards the group.
Jason heard his name and looked up but didn’t stop his brisk walk to the group of cars some yards away. The group was bundled up together against the rain as Jason stepped aside and turned to face Jackie. His eyes shone bright and his mouth opened in fear as he pointed to something behind her.
She didn’t need to see it to know that a Phantom was on her tail. “Get out of here!” she screamed to the group who were already in a full run, some just barely making it to their car doors.
Jackie felt the hands of a Phantom grab for her but she turned and dodged his death grip. What she saw made her heart stop. The Flesh Hound Gang of the East rained down upon the little group, some twenty or thirty men, all gargantuan, with teeth the shape of piranhas and all of them were headed for Jackie and the dock workers.
Two Phantoms reached the group of cars first and tried to stop the cars from leaving. One Phantom was run over but got up unscathed and the other Phantom went head to head with a truck…the truck lost. Glass and metal shattered around the Phantom as he went in for the kill. Jackie heard the screams of people as they floored there vehicles and hydroplaned in the rain as they spun out of control from fear. Jackie wanted to help but there were too many Phantoms and not enough BlueK’s. So she did what she came to do originally.
Jackie transmuted back into her Raptor state in a matter of second. A Phantom immediately tried to pick her off but she was too quick and high-kicked him in the face, causing him to stumble back. She felt the rough hands of two Phantoms on her back as she jumped in the air and shook them loose. Jackie flew back in the mess as she brought her metal daggers forth and stabbed at whatever came her way. Phantoms ran at her but she diverted their hits and kept the fight going until she saw a Phantom the same size as her, which in retrospect was small. The rest of the Pha
ntoms were either bulky, muscular, or tall, but the one she saw, the Phantom that needed help dragging a man out of his car, was weak and skinny and only about six feet.
As fast as she saw him was as fast as she plucked him from the crowd. Rising into the air with a full grown Phantom weighed Jackie down but she made it out of the chaos. She saw the look of aggravation from up high on the Phantoms faces. They wanted her; the Phantoms wanted the Raptors more than they did the humans, but the Raptors could fly out of harm’s way so they weren’t an easy prey. The Phantom struggled against Jackie’s grip as she flew him along the skyline of Alexandria.
“I’m going to kill you!” the Phantom screamed up high.
“Oh, yeah?” asked Jackie. “How are you going to do that?”
The Phantom clawed at Jackie’s skin and tried to gauge her eyes out. She felt his nails dig into her scales but the scales on her face protected her against him and when she dropped him a few feet in the air, catching him only inches away from the roof of a building, he quieted down and hung limp.
“We’re off to the Tower, you and I,” she said out loud to him over the rain. “Let’s see who gets who then.”
Jackie could have sworn she heard a whimper come from him, but maybe it was the rain.
***
“I can’t wait for this rain to stop. I hate winters in Alexandria,” Chelsea said as she wiped the sweat from her upper lip. “We will see all the cherry blossoms when spring comes. It’s gonna be so pretty.” Chelsea had crooked teeth and didn’t like to smile much, but at the thought of spring she smiled big and wide.
“There won’t be a parade though,” said Rimselda. She would miss all the festivities the city celebrated when spring came. The meaning of spring would change, summer would definitely be different…it would never would be the same. The Phantoms had made sure of that.
“I’m going to miss the parade,” O’bellaDonna whined. “Seeing everybody all dressed up and all the crazy floats. No festival food ever again…”
Kurma said, “Never again.”
