by Alex Siegel
Yvonne ran over. She smashed the man's skull with her fist, breaking it open like a melon. She pulled apart the bones and fished out a round, metal device the size of a peanut. She gave it to Marina.
Marina examined it in the poor light. "Must be a tracking device. That's how they found us. Clever." She threw it into the lake.
"Mind if I eat before the meat goes bad?" Yvonne said.
Marina grimaced. "Go ahead."
She walked away. She had seen Yvonne digest her victims before, and it wasn't something Marina wanted to see again. Wesley accompanied her.
"This is the information we came for," he said. "The enemy controls people with lies."
The female witness screamed in terror. Marina didn't turn around.
"Do you think the woman knows anything else?"
"No." Wesley shook his head. "We can go now."
Marina braced herself and returned to Yvonne. She had her hands on the man's neck, and she was sucking him dry with her roots. His entire body was shriveling like a giant raisin while her muscles swelled to an even more extreme degree. There was a nauseating odor like rotten fish.
The female witness continued to scream, and Marina shot her in the head.
"Yvonne, we're leaving," Marina said.
"Almost done," Yvonne said.
"Hurry."
Marina took out her phone and called Hanley.
"Ma'am?" he answered in a very quiet voice.
"We're done here. What's your status?"
"The forest is rotten with British SAS in full battle gear. We killed one team, and we're closing on another."
Marina furrowed her brow. Her mind groped for reasons why the SAS might be involved in this fight, but regardless, it was bad news. They were considered one of the best Special Forces units in the world.
"Yvonne," she said urgently, "get Wesley out of here now. Take the bus. You'll probably have to bust through a barricade."
"Not a problem for that beast." Yvonne nodded towards the giant gray bus. "It was built for war."
"Ipo and Katie, go with them. Protect the Voice of Truth at all costs. The rest of us will stay here and try to take some captives for interrogation."
"Yes, ma'am." Ipo and Katie said.
Yang had an anxious expression. Clearly, he would've preferred to be on the bus, but he didn't complain. Guthrum showed no reaction at all.
The bus was parked close by with the engine running. Yvonne, Wesley, Ipo, and Katie boarded the bus. The door closed, and it drove off.
"Dive!" Guthrum yelled.
He threw his body behind one of the parked cars. Marina and Yang were right behind him when automatic gunfire erupted from the woods. Bullets sprayed from many directions at once and filled the air where Marina had just stood.
His ability to see the future saved our lives, she thought.
Bullets were also pelting the fleeing bus, but she was confident the armor plate would stand up to the barrage. The huge engine in the bus roared as it drove out of sight.
* * *
Hanley heard a lot of guns firing at once.
"It's started!" he said.
"You don't need super-hearing to hear that," Atalanta replied.
She was leading Hanley and Charles through the dense woods. A team of soldiers was directly ahead, and Hanley had expected to approach cautiously, but Atalanta had other ideas. She dashed forward with her katana in hand.
There were four soldiers, all well-armed and armored, but she ran into the middle of the group without hesitation. Her sword was a silvery blur as she sliced throats and amputated limbs. The enemy died while they were still trying to figure out what was happening. All their training as Special Forces operators was worthless when facing a living food processor with a two and a half foot blade. The last soldier tried to fight back with a knife, but it glanced off Atalanta's skin harmlessly. She took his head with a single stroke.
"Wow," Hanley said.
He had never seen anything like it. Even Marina's deadly skill couldn't match Atalanta's gift for slaughter. She was the Lord's perfect killing machine.
Charles shoved Hanley to get him moving. "Go. There are a lot more where that came from."
* * *
Katie was holding an overhead railing with both hands as she looked out the front windshield. Yvonne was driving, and she had a crazy grin on her face. Ipo and Wesley were in the back of the bus somewhere, but the interior was dark, and Katie couldn't see them.
Yvonne navigated the tight turns easily even though the bus seemed too large to fit between the trees. The tires had unexpectedly good traction. It looked like they were going to escape in one piece.
She made another turn, and two black Humvees came into view. They blocked the narrow road completely. Four soldiers opened fire directly at the windshield of the bus, and Katie yelped in fear even though she knew the glass was bulletproof.
Yvonne accelerated to ramming speed. She pressed a red button on the dashboard, and four rockets shot out from the front of the bus. The Humvees exploded with impressive fireballs, and the soldiers seemed to just vaporize. Yvonne crashed through the wreckage as if it wasn't there.
"I've always wanted to do that!" she yelled.
Katie gulped and held on tighter.
* * *
The initial barrage ended, and Marina breathed a sigh of relief. She, Yang, and Guthrum were crouched behind a blue BMW. It was a sturdy vehicle, but it hadn't been built to stop bullets, and a great number of them had been fired in her direction.
"Ready to go?" Guthrum said in a whispery voice.
"We're leaving?" Marina said.
They were surrounded by flat, open ground. She trusted her body armor but not enough to expose herself recklessly. She planned to hide behind the car until a better option presented itself.
Somehow, the car's engine was still running despite the damage it had taken. Guthrum opened the door, reached inside, turned the steering wheel, and put the car in gear. It began to roll towards the woods. Marina and Yang were forced to keep pace with it.
Good idea, she thought.
"Stay behind me," she told him. "Just watch my back."
"I'm not going to let you do all the fighting, ma'am. I was a sergeant in the Marine Corps." He paused. "By the way, who is attacking us?"
"British SAS."
"Oh."
"Listen," Marina said, "this isn't an ordinary war, and we're not ordinary warriors. You have my permission to go easy on your first day."
She already liked Yang. He was adapting quickly to an unfamiliar situation under very difficult circumstances. That was a survival trait for a legionnaire. He also hadn't complained about being dropped into the middle of a firefight, another big plus. Somehow, Wesley had known Yang would make a fine addition to her team.
The woods were getting close, and they offered the cover and shadows Marina needed to do her job. Her heart was pounding in anticipation.
"I'll draw their fire," Guthrum said.
"You'll what?" Marina said.
He jumped out from behind the car and ran at an angle. The enemy immediately opened fire. He danced and dodged with incredible agility, and a few bullets struck the metal plates on his chest and shoulders, but none hit his flesh. His vision of the future told him what moves would save him from injury.
"If I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes..." Yang said.
"It's something special," Marina said, "even by our standards. Run!"
She dashed the last few yards to reach the safety of the woods. The night vision goggles allowed her to see despite the inky darkness, but it wasn't a decisive advantage. The enemy probably had similar equipment. She checked to make sure Yang was right behind her.
"Now we go hunting." She drew a knife. "But we can't kill them all. We need to save a few for interrogation."
* * *
"I need an update!" Vulture said. "What the hell is going on out there?"
"The reports are confusing, sir," one of the console operators replied in a frantic
voice. "Multiple engagements. Heavy fire. We've lost contact with several teams. It appears a bus escaped."
"A bus?"
"It broke through a barricade and killed the men guarding it."
"Do we at least have an estimate of the size of the enemy force?" Vulture said.
"No, sir. Everybody who meets them dies. There was even a report about a man who could dodge bullets."
He gritted his teeth. He was now certain they were fighting the Gray Spear Society. Nobody else could wipe out the SAS so readily. His finger hovered over the red button on the tactical communications console, but he didn't press it yet. There was still hope his men would kill a few of the bastards before the battle ended. The British Special Forces were supposed to be the best of the best after all, and one lucky bullet could kill anybody.
Chapter Six
"You take the next group," Atalanta said.
"Me?" Hanley replied in surprise.
"If Marina thinks you're fully trained, and you have a gift, you should have no trouble dispatching four ordinary men."
He furrowed his brow. They're not exactly ordinary, he thought. During his years as a Navy Seal, he had met SAS operators on several occasions. They were impressive soldiers, and he would have to kill four of them without getting shot.
Hanley focused on the task at hand. The sensation of God's breath burning in his gut gave him extra confidence and energy. The Big Man had Hanley's back.
His gift allowed him to know exactly where the enemy was. He could hear their movements despite their efforts to be quiet. The slightest sounds painted a picture in his mind.
He crept silently forward. Moving through dense brush without making any noise was a difficult trick, but he had practiced for countless hours in the hills above headquarters. Marina loved playing "hide and seek" up there, and the loser always suffered a memorable penalty.
Hanley approached the enemy until he could hear their heartbeats. A screen of leaves and branches prevented him from seeing them with his eyes, but his palms worked just as well in this case. He knew to within an inch where they were standing. He mentally rehearsed the next sequence.
He grabbed his assault rifle, turned off his gift, and fired a long burst. He sprayed the bullets in a pattern that would strike all four targets. The enemy had body armor, so a hit wasn't necessarily a kill, but it would certainly be unpleasant.
When the magazine was empty, he swapped it for a fresh one. He quickly moved sideways and stayed low in case the enemy returned fire. They couldn't see him through the brush, but they might get a lucky shot. He turned his gift back on and heard three surviving heartbeats. He got a precise fix on their locations.
He fired three short bursts. When he checked again, he found only one heartbeat was left.
He drew a pistol and crept forward. Through a gap in the leaves, he saw a man on the ground clutching his side. He was calling for help using his radio headset, and his accent was pure Scottish. Hanley shot him in the face.
Hanley heard a heartbeat behind him, and the corresponding footsteps were almost dead silent. Atalanta, he thought. He turned around.
"I'm not used to being heard," the Japanese warrior said in a sour tone. "Are you done?"
"Yes."
They walked over to four corpses in a small clearing. Hanley's gunfire had injured them in many places despite the protection of their body armor. His assault rifle was loaded with steel-core bullets which had excellent penetration capability. It hadn't been a fair fight, but he had long ago learned that war wasn't supposed to be fair.
"A little sloppy," Atalanta said, "but not bad."
"Is that your idea of a compliment?" Hanley said.
"Yes."
"Then thanks."
Charles stepped into the clearing. "I just talked to Yvonne, and she successfully escaped with Wesley in the bus. Ipo and Katie are with them. Marina, Guthrum, and Yang are in the woods with us, so be careful who you shoot. Let's focus on capturing instead of killing."
Hanley frowned. Taking live prisoners was a lot more difficult and dangerous than just shooting them, especially in the case of Special Forces operators. They would not surrender easily.
This is why I get paid the big money, he thought. Oh, wait, I'm not paid at all.
* * *
Marina opened her phone and activated the locator app. Little icons showed the directions and distances to all the members of the Society in the area. Hanley's icon was green, and Atalanta, Charles, and Guthrum were shown in white. The latter was off by himself, probably dodging bullets and killing at will. Marina's own icon was blue.
"Hanley is 103 yards in that direction." She pointed east. "We'll work towards him."
Yang nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"I don't see an icon for you. Did you get a phone?"
"No. Jia mentioned it..."
Marina rolled her eyes. "Make sure you pick one up when we get back to headquarters. Your phone is your lifeline. Carrying one is absolutely mandatory. Come on."
She crept through the woods with a knife in hand. She had a general idea of where the enemy was located because she had seen muzzle flashes earlier. They were arranged in a semi-circle in the forest surrounding the beach. Clearly, the original plan had been to attack from many directions at once, and it had almost worked.
She looked back at Yang to make sure he was keeping up. Despite being a raw recruit, he was doing a fair job of moving quietly. He carried his rifle like an expert. His head swiveled constantly as he scanned his surroundings, and he even glanced up occasionally. He showed all the signs of a man who had learned how to survive a real war.
Marina heard a twig snap. Somebody was ahead of her. She waved for Yang to get down, and he immediately dropped to the ground. She got on her hands and knees and crawled forward. She was glad her body armor was protecting her from the prickly bushes.
Her high-quality night vision goggles allowed her to see branches being rustled. She laid down on her back and buried herself in the weeds. She became very still.
Four men emerged from the foliage and moved cautiously past her position. She loved using her knife, but that weapon wouldn't get the job done this time. She drew a 9mm Beretta with a suppressor.
Aaron always preached that careful planning was the sign of a great marksman. She mentally rehearsed her firing pattern. The soldiers had good body armor and combat helmets, but her low angle meant she could shoot up through the soldiers' necks and hit their brains. She was aiming for a two-inch target just below the rim of the helmet.
Marina squeezed off four shots. The suppressor reduced the gunshots to a sound comparable to popcorn popping. Four men fell to the ground dead.
She stood up and whistled softly to get Yang's attention.
He came over and looked at the bodies. "That was spectacular, ma'am."
"Thanks. Let's keep moving."
They continued walking through the dense forest.
* * *
"What the hell is going on now?" Vulture said. "Nobody is telling me anything."
A console operator looked up at him. "It's chaos, sir. The enemy is in the woods, but we don't know where. We lost seven teams so far." He paused. "Who are we fighting? Demons and ghosts?"
Vulture clenched his jaw. The Pythagoreans never shared information about the Gray Spear Society outside their inner circle. Word might spread, and if the Society heard about it, they would relentlessly pursue the knowledge back to its source. They were as obsessed with secrecy as the Pythagoreans.
"Something like that," Vulture said.
The operator listened to his headset for a moment. "Sir, the SAS is withdrawing."
"What? I didn't order a retreat!"
"I think they've had enough," the operator said. "They're getting slaughtered."
"They were supposed to be fearless." Vulture pressed the big red button on the console. "I'm very disappointed."
* * *
Hanley looked up. "What was that?"
"What?" Atalanta sa
id.
"It sounded like lots of small explosions."
"Where?"
"All over. Come on." Hanley hurried through the forest.
Atalanta and Charles kept pace. Hanley held his palms out, but the only sounds he heard were from small animals. There wasn't the distinctive crunch of a foot on dry grass or the thudding of a human heartbeat.
He arrived at the location of the nearest explosions. Four corpses were on the ground, but they hadn't been killed by bullets. It appeared their radio headsets had detonated, driving their brains out the other sides of their heads.
"Ugg," Hanley said.
Charles sighed. "Somebody didn't want us to take any prisoners."
"Wiping out your own forces to prevent them from surrendering is a pretty extreme tactic."
"But effective. We have nobody to interrogate."
Hanley took out his phone and called Marina.
"I was about to call you," she said. "We have a problem."
"I know. We won, but not the way we wanted to. They're all dead."
"Meet back at the cars. I'll call Guthrum."
"Yes, ma'am." He hung up and faced Atalanta and Charles. "She wants us back at the cars."
Charles frowned. "There was a time when the idea of me taking an order from Marina would've made me laugh, but I suppose this is her territory."
The group headed back to the lake. The dense forest blocked their view, but the downward slope of the land guided them. A few minutes later, they emerged onto the grassy beach.
The blue BMW had crashed into a tree after being badly shot up. It wasn't going anywhere. The green Chevy also had a few bullet holes, but Hanley heard the engine running, and it appeared drivable. There wouldn't be enough room for everybody though.
Marina and Yang came out of the woods. Hanley was pleased to see Yang standing tall like a brave soldier after what had certainly been an intense experience. He hadn't expected to fight a war today.
Guthrum stepped out from a different location. The spiked gauntlets on his hands were dripping blood, and it probably wasn't his own. His weird armor was dented in several places.
"Min Ho is driving a van over here," Marina announced. "We'll load it up with bodies and any evidence that looks interesting. He's also bringing a signal detector, so we can scan everything properly for bugs. There won't be any more surprises hidden in sinus cavities. Then we'll all go back to headquarters and examine our haul. Wesley is already there, safe and sound. OK?"
