Angel of the Damned

AotD - 21

Drake shifted uncomfortably in the seat of Leneath’s rover. He took down her settings for the rover before they left since he slid the seat back and changed the mirrors.  He looked to Gabriel in the passenger seat, thumbing through the bible.

“You can stare at the bible all you want, it won’t bring her back,” Drake said.

“I am trying to figure out why she wouldn’t let me get her a new one,” Gabriel said. “I mean, its not like it wouldn’t be a nice bible.  Leather bound, acid resistant paper, in any language she wanted.  Angelic, English, hell I’d probably be able to find one in Vampiric for her if she wanted it.  She never even let me send this one to a binder to get fixed.”

“You’ve had twenty years to send it away to get fixed,” Drake said.  He drummed his thumb against the wheel and a notice on the GPS caught his attention.  A proximity alert to a known AP. “Damn it, Leneath, you reprogrammed preprogrammed abbreviations the names.  What the hell is an AP?”

“Advanced placement, a pony, apple parfait,” Gabriel started to list.

"Yes, I am getting a proximity alert to yogurt, granola and apples,” Drake scoffed.  He flipped through the screens, finding the settings and searching for the terminology dictionary. “Damn it the last time I went through one of these it was in Vampiric.”

“You watch the road, I will try to find whatever AP means,” Gabriel said.

Drake sat up, content to allow Gabriel to fumble around with the onboard computer for a while.  Something flew out of a bush on the side of the road, rolling to a stop ahead.  Drake squinted at it when it exploded, a flash of light blinded Drake and the rover’s engine shut off, bringing them to a jerking halt.

“Fuck,” Drake hissed.  He shook his head out trying to recover his sight.

Gabriel jolted up with a shock look on his face. “What the hell was that?” he asked.

“Best guess, EMP,” Drake said. He reached behind him and fumbled through the pack.  He removed a pistol and handed it to Gabriel, “Know how to use one of those?” he asked, still shaking his head.

“I refuse to use that killing machine you mortals call a gun,” Gabriel scoffed.

Drake put it in the center console and grabbed his rifle.  “I get shot and live.  I had better find the hell out that you picked that thing up and slaughtered all of them.”

His vision, finally recovered, revealed for a half dozen figures slinking through the undergrowth.  He looked to Gabriel. “Remember what I told you about the nanosuit’s air filtration system?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel said.

“Put it up, if they’re using standard ammunitions you’ll be protected,” Drake instructed.

Gabriel reached down to the belt and clicked the activation button.  The suit began to spread across his body. “And if they’re not?” Gabriel asked, the suit sliding up over his face.

“Don’t get hit.” Drake shrugged. “Oh, and by the way,” Drake said as the helmet slid up over his face, “this is gonna hurt.”

“What’s gonna hurt?” Gabriel asked.

“This,” Drake said.  The doors were ripped open and rough hands ripped them both from the vehicle.  Drake breathed out as he was thrown to the ground and pinned, frisked and his hands restrained. He was sat up on his knees and they placed some form of disc beside his ear.  The helmets screen became untinted and they sat him up.  Gabriel dropped into place beside him.

“What have we here, boys?” a surprisingly female voice asked.  She stood in front of them and put her hands on her hips.

“Look like two Hunter,” a man said going through Drake’s pack, dumping first aid, ammo, and food into the dirt.