X-Squad Pawn City

by Hannibal Adofo

  “No shit,” Quato said. “Where is she?”

  X-1 pointed to the building surrounded by a trio of tanks.

  “You sure?” asked Little Lister.

  “The dress she’s wearing is Lionheart Executive Clothing.”

  Big Lister said, “So?”

  “It’s embedded with personal trackers,” X-1 said. “It is ideal for keeping track of executive assets in case of abduction.”

  “Bishop in there too?” Little Lister asked.

  “That’s the assumption. So it’s possible she succeeded.”

  “Can’t you communicate through the suits?”

  “Of course, but he’s ignoring his coms,” X-1 said.

  “You think all this with the tanks is about her and Bishop?” Little Lister asked.

  “Could be a number of reasons.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Get in and find Seven.”

  “How?”

  “Which one of you is the fastest?” X-1 asked.

  “Not me, at least not anymore,” Quato said.

  “I am,” the twins said at the same time.

  X-1 looked at Quato, who shrugged. “Hell if I know. It’s a toss-up.”

  “I guess we’ll find out,” X-1 said. “Double-time it back to the plane, grab a multi-firearm and an ammunition belt, and hurry back.”

  As the twins ran, Quato leaned against the wall and asked, “Those guns of yours are badass, but can they take out a tank?”

  “I don’t know. Probably not,” X-1 replied.

  Skip’s voice came through X-1’s sleeve. “Corvan’s speed has picked up considerably. Something’s up. I don’t know if they know we’re here or not, but you need to pick up the pace.”

  “We going to have time to pull this off?” Quato asked.

  “The odds don’t look good,” X-1 said.

  “But you’re doing it anyway?”

  “Absolutely.”

  27

  Darlene had gotten about a block or two away, when she stopped to for a second to send Whistler a quick message. She kept the message brief and moved on—as long as she was on the street, she was vulnerable.

  She looked for an open door, but either the people who’d abandoned this Inferno City locked up before they left, or Grieves had the surrounding buildings sealed. She leaned toward the latter.

  For her it was about more than just hiding, though hiding was a big part of it. Grieves had had his people tap into the dome’s grid to power his camp. From inside somewhere, she could tap into the grid herself and, using the cube she had stolen, actually go on the offensive, using the general’s own weapons against him.

  She kept going and saw what appeared to have once been a shopping center. At some point, someone had blown a good-sized hole in the east side wall.

  As she reached it, she saw it wasn’t so viable. While from the outside the hole looked like an unobstructed opening, debris and rubble on the inside blocked it off at the end of the passage. However, there was an opening at the top, but Darlene didn’t think she could reach it, and, even if she could, it looked too narrow.

  She found some possible footholds on the side of the wall and pushed herself up, saying her prayers along the way.

  She held on with one hand and once she reached the top she used the butt of the machine gun to clear out as much debris as she could. She placed the gun on a ledge. Then she used both hands to pull herself up, but the chunk of cement she was holding cracked, shifted, and then it gave way. She fell several feet onto her back.

  She lost her breath from the fall, but no damage had been done. She lay there until she recovered, dusted off, and got up to try again.

  When she did she heard a terrible noise behind her.

  Running at full clip was the general’s pet predator. She considered trying to shoot it, but her aim and angle was off, so decided she had a better chance of escaping into the building.

  She jumped and grabbed at a foothold. Again, as she pulled herself up, the rubble shifted. She kept scrambling, though, and took care to not fall this time. She wanted to hurry, but if she fell this time, she would die.

  Darlene pushed herself to climb to the point where she could almost get a look through the hole. She could hear the sound of King’s claws skittering on the pavement behind her.

  Darlene pushed off with her feet as she pulled herself forward and slid into the abandoned shopping center. She was nearly inside when something sharp struck her foot. She was halted. A sharp pain shot up her leg as King pulled her backwards.

  She twisted around to see what she already knew—the beast had sunk a claw into her leg and was pulling her back to where it could clamp down with its teeth and then rip her flesh into ribbons.

  Darlene put her free foot against the top on the opening and pushed herself back into the building. The move had prevented the beast from getting a hold with his teeth, but it still had a claw in her leg, and King was still attempting to pull her back to where he was on the ground.

  She drew the gun, aimed almost blindly, and double-tapped the beast in its open mouth. It moved its head and let out a shrill roar but didn’t let go of her leg. She aimed at the massive paw holding her ankle, taking an extra half-second to line up her shot so she didn’t shoot her own foot. The bullet struck home and the lion-bear backed away. Pulling it’s claws out of her flesh.

  She twisted away as the roars of pain just on the other side of the wall turned to primal cries of rage. She saw the machine gun still on the ledge. Darlene grabbed it and pulled it toward her just before King came down on her again.

  Though the animal could not possibly fit it’s body through the opening, it had wedged its head in as far as it could and was gnashing its razor-sharp teeth at Darlene hopping it could get close enough bite her and rip her to pieces

  Her leg was a mess, but she could move. Before she got up to leave, she raised the machine gun in her hands and secured against her shoulder knowing she had to before she pulled the trigger. She aimed it King looking to place a bullet between his eyes. As he scratched and clawed she would end his life and the hunt all at the same time.

  There was an explosion from the end of the shopping center. She turned to see a hole had been blown in the wall. It shook the building, shifted and opened a fissure in the ground.

  When she turned back she saw King was striding toward her.

  28

  Using his shades and the missile system in the multi-firearm, Bishop could see Ferris and his men taking up position. Ferris and his people had narrowed the rooms Bishop and VP-23 had taken shelter in down to two, and one of them was correct.

  “I think they are using the same gear I had in my army days,” Bishop said to VP-23.

  “So?”

  “So I think I have an idea.”

  Bishop gave a quick set of instructions to Switch and then commanded his weapon to go to armor-piercing rounds. He turned to VP-23. “Get ready to open the door.”

  The lights went out and the doors unlocked themselves. When the lights came back on, VP-23 did as he was instructed.

  Just as Bishop had hoped, the soldier in front of the door stood there half-blind. The helmet on his armor switched to night vision automatically, but was a beat too slow, giving Bishop a short window to do some damage.

  The heavy armor-piercing rounds were one of the few types of ammunition not capable of going full auto on the multi-firearm, but Bishop only needed one round if he got it right. He dropped the lead man with a bullet between his eyes. A second man, preparing to set a charge to blow the door, lost the top of his head to one of Bishop’s bullets. The third man getting ready to assault the room regained his sight just in time to see Bishop shoot him in the face.

  VP-23 slammed the door shut as the other trio of soldiers, who hadn’t been in front of their door, began to return fire. The walls and doors were not designed to stop bullets. Bishop hit the floor as hot lead filled the room, but VP-23 didn’t quite make it. Even his suit couldn’
t deflect the barrage coming into the room. He fell in front of Bishop, and it was clear the retired nameless wasn’t getting back up.

  Bishop picked a big bullet hole in the door and switched to grenade mode. He put a round through the hole and then rolled and put another grenade into the wall adjacent to the next room.

  He hoped his first grenade took out many, but he didn’t count on it. More importantly, he needed the blast to mask the second shot, so the enemy wouldn’t know he had switched to the room next door, giving him the opportunity to flank whoever was left alive in the hallway.

  Bishop burst into the hallway while the soldiers were still unloading their weapons. He went with the automatic shotgun and emptied his last clip of shotgun rounds into the men. Two soldiers went down, but one escaped Bishop’s barrage by diving back into the lobby.

  Bishop switched back to the armor-piercing rounds and made sure the two he had previously knocked down would not be getting back up. He hoped to see Ferris among the dead, but as before, he had been unable to take down the one man he really wanted to see bleeding out on the carpet.

  Apparently, Ferris’ thoughts were the same, as he entered the hallway, two machine guns in hand. Both pulled their triggers and started to fire.

  Bishop went down first as his single shots missed, while Ferris was on full auto, firing multiple shots into Bishop’s chest. The suit kept him alive, but the barrage was too painful to bear. Taking rounds knocked the breath out of him. He tried to get back to his feet, but it was useless.

  “You’re not the only one with armor-piercing rounds, asshole,” Ferris said as he put down one machine gun and put a high-caliber bullet in the chamber of the one he still had. “I doubt that suit of yours will stop this.”

  “And I don’t think your helmet will stop this at close range. Drop it or we find out just how right I am. Pretty sure you’ll have to learn how to breathe through your brain.”

  Ferris shifted his eyes to Seven standing behind him with a very large handgun pointed at his head. For a moment he considered testing her and spinning to aim, but something about the look in her eyes and the gun in her hand gave him pause.

  “You need to drop your weapon,” Seven said.

  “Why haven’t you fired yet?” he asked, with a grin on his face.

  “Takes the fun out of letting Bishop kill you.”

  “How disappointing.”

  “You prefer I kill you? Is that it? The lesser of two evils?”

  “No,” Bishop said. “I figured you were holding your fire because you were smart enough to realize my tanks outside are under orders to level the building if I go down. Standard operating procedure in a mission like this. I figured you’d know that.”

  Bishop slowly rose to his feet. “Fuck if you get out of this alive, Ferris.”

  “That may be so, but if I go down, we all go down. So you can show your hand, because I’m all in with mine.”

  29

  “Why did you bring two?” X-1 asked Big Lister as he ran up holding two multi-firearms and wearing a pair of shades that went with them.

  Little Lister arrived carrying the twin machine guns Quato favored before losing his leg. Fizz came next armed with a pair of LH-17s, which, along with the suit, made him look like the nameless, even if he didn’t reach the height requirement.

  “No way we let you do this alone,” Fizz said.

  X-1 nodded and looked back at Big Lister.

  “Bishop took one, and the only other one was damaged when you rescued us from the vault,” Big Lister said.

  “No, I meant why did you bring two? I only asked for one.”

  “So we can help,” Big Lister said as he handed X-1 a multi-firearm.

  “You’re not qualified to use that weapon,” X-1 said.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let me take it,” Quato said.

  “You’re not—” X-1 started.

  “Qualified. Yep, I know. I heard you the last time. Pretty sure I made it clear that I could handle my shit in the vault.”

  X-1 appeared like he was going to continue to argue, but instead said, “I suppose since you are down a leg, you will want to take the closest tank.”

  “You really going to let me use it?”

  X-1 gave him a wary look. “Yes.”

  A big smile grew on Quato’s face. “Then yeah, I’ll take the closest one.”

  “Set the weapon to ‘max mass destruct’ and, when you hear the signal, open fire.”

  “The signal?”

  “Max mass destruct,” X-1 said, and four thick barrels slid out of the front of his multi-firearm. “You’ll know it when you hear it.”

  “What about the rest of us?” Fizz asked.

  “I would suggest going back to plane,” X-1 said. “They have heavy armor, superior firepower, and superior training.”

  “Not happening,” Fizz said as the twins nodded in agreement.

  “If you insist on staying, take position opposite the men they have outside. When we fire on the tanks, do the same on the men.”

  “Aren’t there three tanks?” Little Lister asked.

  “Yes,” X-1 replied.

  “Then what are we going to do about the last one?”

  “Improvise. Seems to be what we do best.”

  30

  Darlene lunged and grabbed her gun as King leapt from the floor and seemed to hang in the air for minutes. She rolled, gun in hand, and opened fire on the beast, stitching him with a few shots, but King kept coming, roaring in anger. She would freeze in her tracks if it wasn’t for the surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins.

  She took aim again with a nervous hand.

  King was coming at her, undeterred by her stance and her weapon.

  She fired as he leapt high enough to clear her head.

  She squeezed the trigger again and again until the clip was empty and King fell out of the air, landing on top of her.

  Darlene braced herself to be ripped apart at the seams, feeling King’s claws and fangs piercing her skin. She even opened her mouth in preparation to scream.

  After a long few seconds under the furry monstrosity, she realized no claws had raked her skin and no teeth had penetrated her flesh. The general’s pet was dead and extremely bloody. Only then did Darlene allow herself to breathe. Thanking God she possessed the ability.

  It took some effort, but she managed to crawl out from under the beast. Her machine gun was almost done, nearly out of bullets, and she knew there was at least one person outside, so she decided she needed to come up with a ruse.

  “Help, please don’t eat me, please don—” she screamed.

  It didn’t feel very convincing to her, but the two men she had beaten entered the room through the hole in the wall. They were armed with rifles and were not in much of a hurry. They figured she was in the midst of being eaten, so why should they?

  “King isn’t moving,” Evans said, as he shook King’s body just before he noticed the blood and Darlene rising to place a bullet in his head.

  Hollister raised his weapon, but she put two rounds in his chest before he could fire. He caved in and fell to the floor without a sound.

  With both of them down, she moved as fast as she could to find a cyber-station in the old store. Once she found one, she powered it up and tapped in with the stolen cube. It was time she took her revenge on General Grieves.

  31

  “You may think killing me is worth dying for, but I doubt anyone else would believe that’s a fair trade,” Ferris said. “I would wager Benji doesn’t think my death is worth the loss of his place. Isn’t that right, Benji?”

  Benji, followed by Whistler, emerged from the room they had been hiding in.

  “I don’t like to be bullied,” Benji said

  A sly smile crawled up the side of Ferris’ face. “Then let your new friend pull the trigger.”

  “Maybe I should,” Benji said. “Chances are you’re full of shit.”

  “I co
uld be. Or maybe I have come to the realization that this world is beyond saving and needs to be cleansed with a holy flame. Either way, the world must pay for its sins in the burning wave. Whether it starts now or later is entirely up to you.”

  “You want to burn too?” Whistler asked.

  Ferris laughed. “I will not burn as would any mortal man. I will be cleansed in the holy fire then rise like a mighty phoenix. Then, and only then, will I be given my eternal reward as it was promised.”

  Whistler looked at Bishop. “He serious?”

  “As a fucking heart attack.”

  “If we let you walk, will you quit threatening to kill my customers and blowing my bar to smithereens?” Benji asked.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “Mason comes with me.”

  “Not an option,” Seven told him.

  “It’s the only option,” Ferris said. “But you are welcome to put down your weapon and join us if he means that much to you.”

  “You shouldn’t be so sure of yourself,” Bishop told him as he picked up his multi-firearm and aimed it at Ferris.

  “Why not? If you were going to shoot me, you would have done it already. Save us all some time and drop your weapon. Don’t bother stalling.”

  “If you let me walk, no one else gets hurt?”

  “I make no guarantees, but I’ll do my best.”

  Bishop pointed his weapon at Ferris and put his finger on the trigger. He didn’t squeeze the trigger, though, despite his strong desire to see Ferris dead. Instead, after holding it there for a long few seconds, Bishop put down the multi-firearm. He took off the ammunition belt and pulled the gun from underneath his jacket.

  “Don’t do it,” Seven said.

  Bishop heard something in her voice he couldn’t identify. And it worried him.

  “Gemma still needs you,” Bishop told her. “And my revenge isn’t worth sacrificing your life. I have enough deaths on my head as it is.”