A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 24: Seek and Destroy

"Yeah. Anyway, we've got a long ways till The Brig. Rest, or do whatever you need." Louis leaned his head back against the wall and fell asleep almost immediately. Charlie hadn't looked up from his Galil. Red's eyes were closed, but she was awake.

     It was hours before they landed. They hopped out of the doors, and were immediately greeted by a completely different change of scenery. Whereas Arizona was desert cut up by rocks and crags, this new environment was... flat. Hardly even hills. You could truly see everything for miles out. The ground itself was different, too. This wasn't the coarse, scorched sand of the southwest. This was... dust. The rotors were kicking up the dust into a storm which cycloned off for several meters before finally dissipating. The air was much cooler, too. Probably only in the 60s, Farenheit. Charlie was happy he brought his coat. John shot a quick salute to the pilot before they started walking to rendezvous with Damion and the rest of the assault element. "Was that Simmons again?" Charlie shouted, trying to be heard over the noise of the rotors. Damion and his team were waiting there, along with another woman in her mid-30's. She had short, sandy blonde hair. She was wearing a duster similar to Charlie's but shorter and lighter, as well as a tan cowboy hat. Her face was weathered, yet still feminine. "You must be Carrie Barlow," John said, extending his hand outward. She took it with a firm handshake. "I am indeed. And you must be Will's team." She had a thick Texan accent.

"John Reed. And these are my associates. Charlie, Louis, and Red." He motioned to Damion's team. "These are our shadows for the day. Don't mind 'em none."

"I won't. Now," she started walking to the front gates. Several personnel carriers were being unloaded outside the gates. There was probably about four dozen armed Barlow soldiers gearing up for combat. "Beyond those gates are anywhere up to about 100 vicious, bloodthirsty bandits."

"Any idea what kinda heat they packin'?"

"Couldn't tell ya. Nobody made it out to report."

"Do you know what tribe they are for certain?" Louis asked.

"Painted Men, I think."

"Shit... I feared as much."

"Sounds like that's bad," John said.

"We're gonna assume they're well-armed. And probably holed up in there," she said, pointing to the large, wide building in the center of the compound. "That right there's the main cell block." John peered at the building. He could see blood smearing the windows from this distance.

"Ya know if it's rigged or not?"

"I'd venture to say so." Charlie rolled his eyes with displeasure behind his aviators. "Love traps," he muttered.

"Now these boys here are going to secure the adjacent buildings in the complex. I want you eight to take care of that big fucker in the middle. The main entrance is on the west side of the building. From there, it'll split into two corridors. One going north, one going south. I'd advise you to split up this squad into fire teams and cover both these hallways so nothing gets by you."

"That was the plan."

"Be watching for tripwires, anti-personnel mines, and of course, the bandits. And meet back here once it's all cleared. Sound good?"

"Yes'm!" he shouted, turning to his team. "Alright, y'all heard the lady, move out!" They all shuffled to the central building. "Damion, your team wanna breach first?"

"With pleasure," Damion said with a smile. Charlie tapped Louis on the shoulder, noticing him begin to tense up. "Not right now, man," he whispered to his giant. Louis shook his head, regaining control over himself. Both teams took opposite sides of the door, lining up single file parallel to—but not touching—the wall. Then Seo quickly ran up to the door and, with a leap, kicked open the doors. Damion immediately followed, then John crossed his path taking the other side of the hallway. Then GLOK, Red, Gael, Charlie, Seo, and finally Louis. John raised his left hand, fist clenched, but thumb and pinkie extended. The four immediately took a quick diamond formation, with John leading, Louis taking rear guard with the machine gun, and Charlie and Red on either side. They started moving forward, slowly and smoothly, taking care to peek into every room. It was virtually empty until they got about halfway down the hall. Red opened the door to one otherwise nondescript room. She takes one quick shot with her SMG, drawing first blood. "Oh Hell!" Red shouts, retreating out of a room, recoiling at the sight and the stench of the room's contents. They all stop. Louis keeps watch behind them, while Charlie takes John's spot up at the front of the hall. John peers into the room, unable to comprehend the sight. The walls are stark white, save for the crimson splatters everywhere. From the ceiling hang several hooks suspended from iron chains. But from the hooks hangs... Meat. It was once human, but now completely unrecognizable. Dismembered limbs scatter the floor. In the middle of the room is a table. The man Red shot was busy hacking up some poor man's leg. He shakes his head, gagging. "Sick fucks... Don't look in there."  He takes Charlie's place at the side. "Now you see why I was worried about the Painted Men," Louis said, eyes not moving from the rear guard. They cleared out the rest of the hall without much more problem, reuniting with Damion's team on the other side.

"The perimeter is cleared," Damion muttered.

"Well, almost," Charlie said, holding his hand up to stop the group from going any farther. He was about 10 meters ahead of the group, peering around the corner to the next hallway in. "Looks like they left us a present here." He looked up at the ceiling, gazing at a massive cluster of fragmentation grenades hanging like a chandelier.

"What'd they leave us?" John asked.

"A nice little bouquet of grenades. Now personally, I prefer roses, but to each their own..."

"Do you see the tripwire?"

"Uhh..." he looked down, noticing it about a meter ahead of him. "Yep, right here. Can anybody here cut a tripwire?" GLOK begins stepping forward, making a mechanical whirring sound with each step. It stops in front of the wire, lowering its arms to the wire's level. A small circular saw flips out from its wrist. It hums to life, slowly slicing through the thin line. Charlie holds his breath. One slight malfunction could spell his end. The wire snaps, and the grenades hold still. Charlie exhaled. Then the doors inside the hall fling open, several bandits—wearing nothing but body paint—leap out from behind them, screaming and spraying bullets everywhere. "Oh shit!" he shouts. Several bullets ricochet off GLOK's chasse. It lifts its arm, flipping the circular saw back. Then it holds its arm out. Two machine guns pop out of the arm, spraying automatic fire. Several red lights begin flashing on GLOK's face. It has that hall covered. Charlie takes cover on the opposite wall, guarding GLOK's rear. Four or five bandits run down the hall, holding some crude club made from a femur. Charlie shoots a few rounds down the hall with no particular direction. One strikes someone in the unmentionables. The others scatter. Undisciplined, like Damion said they would be. Charlie looks back at the others, smiling. "This is too easy!" He laughs, chasing the bandits down the hall.