A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 59: Running up that Hill

Anastasia hastily pulls open Charlie's coat, looking for the bullet wound. She moves his hand, which is covering his ribs on his left side, just beneath his chest. He's bleeding, but only slightly. The body armor has done its job for the most part. It had stopped the bullet, but the indent in his armor was jagged enough to cut him. And the impact probably broke a rib as well. Charlie looks up at his wound. "Oh, that's not so bad," he remarks, before wincing in pain. "Probably a broken rib, though. Again. Goddamnit."

"How does this stop a sniper bullet but not a knife?" Anastasia asks, digging out the bullet from his armor.

"It's only a vest. Asswipe stabbed me in the shoulder."

"What's the point of only wearing a vest?"

"This coming from the woman not wearing any armor? How's that gut wound treating ya?"

Nox turns to them and says, "If you two are done, we do have a war going on." Charlie and Ana simultaneously roll their eyes, and smile slightly.

John grabs the nearest person to him. It happens to be Casey, the redhead. "How good are your eyes," John asks him.

"They're fine, why?" Casey responds, ignoring the fact that he wears glasses.

"I need you to spot for me," John says. "Have you ever done that before?"

"N-no."

"Alright, all I need you to do is use these," John says, handing him a pair of binoculars, "and tell me exactly where those snipers are. And be specific."

"Got it," Casey says, nodding his head. John takes his .50 cal off his back, carefully loading it to capacity. Then he turns his head to the rest of the group. "The rest of y'all had best start shootin' and movin'!" he shouts, his Kentucky accent particularly heavy. They all heed his command without hesitation. Except Charlie, who's still nursing his wounds, testing to see if he's combat ready or not.

"Ready," Casey says.

"Alright. Start high, then work your way down," John says, setting his sights for about 500 yards—their distance from the mansion. Not a hard shot, by any means. Quickly, Casey peeks his head out around the corner, scanning carefully. He spots his first one, then hovers on their spot for a second or two, taking in specific details. "On the roof, about five windows from the right," he says. John turns the corner, resting his left elbow on his knee like a makeshift stand, then quickly takes his shot. No challenge. Then he ducks back. "Good work, kid," he says to Casey, shouting over the chattering guns. "Now where's the next one?" Casey takes a deep breath, then peeks around the corner again. Again, Casey spots them, then lingers for a moment to take in the details.

"Third floo--" Bang! He never finishes his sentence. The bullet hits his head, killing him instantly. The body hits the ground behind him hard. The back of his head was blown out. From across the way, Amanda wails his name. She falls to her knees in shock. Ed hastily starts running off after the sniper, but Louis grabs him by the collar. "You run out there, you're going to get killed, too," he tells the hotspur. John too is staring at the body. His hands are shaking with shock. It wasn't the first kid he had seen die, but it never got any easier. What the Hell was I thinking? I should have used somebody more experienced. His thoughts wandered to Ben. Another spotter dead. More weight to the pile on his chest. Lost in thought, he thinks he hears someone calling his name. He listens to it for a moment. It is someone. Charlie.

Charlie has John by the shoulders, shouting his name over and over again. "Hey!" Charlie shouts at him. Quickly, John comes to. "He's dead," John says.

"I see that. Now, remember what you yelled at me about in Cydonia? We can't have you doing this right now, man. Whatever's going through your head needs to be gone. That's shit to deal with after the battle." John looks wearily back at the body. Charlie turns John's head back to him. "Whatever you're telling yourself, that wasn't your fault. You aren't responsible for any of our lives, man, and you're not responsible for any of our deaths, either." Then Charlie points around the corner at the sniper. "But you are responsible for that one, so go fuck their shit up. Got me?" John nods his head and gets his rifle ready. Charlie takes the binoculars and peers around the corner. "Third floor, second window from the left," he tells John. John turns the corner again, putting the last sniper down in a second and a half.

He's right, John thinks. I don't have time for a pity party. Freeze up like that again, and people will just keep dying. I'll deal with this after. "Is that all the snipers?" John asks. Charlie peers out again.

"We got 'em all," he says, tossing the binoculars back.

"Then what are we waiting for?" John shouts to the group. John, Charlie, Red, Ana, Will, Louis, and Nox head for the main doors. Carrie takes Ed, Amanda, and Bernard and heads for the back door to cover any escape attempt. The seven reach the front doors, stacking up three on each side. Louis, the seventh man, stands in front of the doors, ready to smash them in. He looks at them all, and nods his head. Full speed ahead, he charges forward and lowers his shoulder.