2 months later, County Hillock, Victoria
~~~
*step*
*step*
*step*
The slow and distinct sounds of footsteps resounded throughout the hallway above her. Jane stops beating the butter and eggs at hand below so that she could hear what's happening above her clearly. She heard that the footsteps was a bit heavy, so she had a strong hunch that it was...
“Lee? Is that you?” Jane tiptoed towards the end of the lavishly decorated wooden staircase, before calling out his name. She leaned on the wooden railing as she waited for his response.
A small grunt responded afterwards, followed by the blonde sluggishly peeking from the corner. “Yeah, I was wondering where I put my...” he muttered a couple of indecipherable words before scratching his head.
Jane hid her giggle after seeing his expression. From the looks of it, he just got out of bed, since his now medium length dirty blonde hair was all over the place. He stretched his back and yawned, before coming down the stairs.
Jane smiled at him before offering a hand. “Good morning. Slept well?”
“Hm. Much better than before.” Lee answered while lightly patting his right leg.
“How are you feeling? Does your wounds still ache?”
Lee glanced at her, before tracing the scar he received on his cheek. “My face feels surprisingly great now, but my back and shoulders are still quite sore. Don't even get me started on my legs...” He added with a chuckle.
“I'm just glad that wandering doctor was here that time. I heard she came from Iberia.” Jane whispered.
The events that following day was hard for all of them, since Lee wasn't able to even wake up right instant. He was out for almost a week, before being helped by therapeutic massage either by Jane or Nino. Totally a normal massage.
“Well, I'm glad you guys are there for me.” Lee smiled at her, which made her blush. The two of them went towards the kitchen, and Lee sat down on one of the chairs.
The silence between them was comfortable. Comfortable in the sense that they enjoyed each other's company, without the need of talking. Jane continued batting the eggs she left a while ago while Lee made four cups of coffee.
Since it was a Saturday, the store was closed for the rest of the day. It might seem weird for a diner or food establishment to close when it's the weeknd, but they also need to rest and have time for themselves. Nothing is better than catching up with your friends and loved ones.
Who knows when death arrives at your doorstep.
“By the way...” Lee muttered, before glancing at Jane. “where's Nino? I'm surprised she's not using the ice cream machine and yelling.”
Jane puts the battered eggs on the frying pan and began frying it. “About that, she left earlier this morning for some reason. She told me to tell you not to go in the farm with your current state.”
“Hey, I'm not an old man you know?” Lee sighed in exasperation.
“Well, right now you need to recover. Just rest up in your room so that your body could heal faster.” Jane said and puts a plate full of food in front of him. She then sits across the table and takes her coffee.
“Thanks for the food.”
The two of them muttered, before eating. Lee would notice that Jane kept stealing glances at him, before averting eye contact once he reciprocates. This continued on up until they finished their meal.
Jane took both their plates and went to the sink, before washing them. Looking at her, he noticed that she was surprisingly more attractive today. She certainly is attractive, but there's something to her today that made him stare.
And so he finally takes the initiative. After all, he didn't want the atmosphere to be awkward, and he also didn't want this opportunity to slip by.
“So Jane...”
“Yes?” the Vouivre answers expectantly.
“I was wondering if I... If I can take you somewhere...” Lee clears his throat as she faced him, her expression surprised.
“You know, like out of town or even out of the country. Just the two of us.” he adds a smile at the end of his rather bold statement.
A simple twirl of her finger at a long strand of hair gave off her answer.
“That would be lovely, Lee.”
Lee smiled, and she smiled back. No, they were both grinning happily, which gave of a sense of breakable tension between them. He could have stared at her all day, just admiring the beauty from his seat.
But he should have known reprise doesn't last long, especially in this type of world.
“Ahem.”
A simple yet intrusive cough came from the kitchen doorway, sending both of them to look at the source. Lee's facial expression soured after seeing Alpha standing there, an arm holding on her stomach.
“Sorry to bother your sweet and cringe talk, but there's something you guys might want to see.” Her voice, though strained due to her having cramps, conveyed that it was urgent.
Lee eyed the sheathed katana she was gripping in her hands. He inhaled sharply, before standing up.
“Fuck. Don't tell me...”
“Yes. Two vans outside, and a dozen men or so, maybe more.” Alpha said and tossed him his guns. He caught it like a toy. “I think it's those guys again, from Babel.”
“What, you think they're here for a chat?” Alpha added mockingly, seeing the bewildered expression on Lee's face. He was silent, contemplating his options at hand.
“Heck no. I'm just wondering if I can fight them off again.” He answers back.
“Are they armed?”
“Yes, to the teeth. They brought guns, which is a surprise.” Alpha responded. She seemed excited for some reason, which made Lee cringe.
“So, only one option it is.”
The swordswoman shrugged her shoulders, before glancing at Jane. “Hey, I know you're a soldier too, so help us out, will you?”
Lee glanced at the Vouivre and thought that she would be offended by Alpha's tone. However, there was no hint of malice on her face as she took out a medium length rapier on the wall.
“I'll do what I can.”
‘Man, she's a 11/10.’ Lee simped to himself.
Though limping from the wounds he suffered months before, he was the first one to reach the main door. He glanced back behind him and saw the two ladies disappear into the shadows of the kitchen.
He then sighed to himself .
“Why can't I have a normal life.”
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======
Adelaide Schaefer stood beside an armored truck, busily minding her own business. The gear she wore was lightweight, hardly suitable for the current mission in hand. She flexed her arm and reached out for her sidearm, which was a specially crafted gun from the organization she belonged.
How it was made, well, it's a state secret. Though not as powerful as originium etched bullets like how the Sanktas want it, it could still kill a man with a well placed shot in the head or chest. She checks the magazine, cocks the slide a bit to eye the loaded bullet inside, before putting it back to her holster.
She puts on her protective headgear and removes the current one, which masked her nose and mouth. In an instant, the smell of freshly baked bread invaded her nostrils.
It brought a fleeting memory back to the surface of her mind, before she shook her head. Adelaide eyed what was in front of her. The house, in her eyes was huge, to say the least. She could tell that the extended building was way modern than the main house.
It looked like one of those modern designs from Bolivar or Columbia, yet it retains the same vibe of the way houses in County Hillock are built.
Walking behind the vehicle, she opened one aluminum case and took the weapon resting on the foam inside. She racks the bolt of a custom Armatek F55-K submachine gun, before inserting a fresh magazine. She grabs four more extra ammunition and puts them on her vest just below the chest plate.
Her thoughts wandered about the meeting held at the main office in Columbia two days ago. It was a rare event, one that consists of all top members of the organization. She and other official agents were also called to participate in the meeting.
The details were quite clear. Something happened in Victoria about 2 months ago that caught the higher-up's attention. Their technological rival and competition, Babel, ran into trouble.
It was supposed to be a routine recruitment of mercenaries for their needs in the civil war in Kazdel. However, one of her organization's pavement artist; people with basic skills of espionage, saw first hand what happened near the old church of County Hillock.
It was unheard of for one of Babel's elite team of operators to run into trouble, yet that was what exactly took place in a skirmish in the old city. If the reports were true, one squad got incapacitated, though not killed, but still sent to the infirmary.
The individuals responsible for the ruckus escaped, and judging by their profound fighting skills, they could be a great asset for their organization. That's why the Manager, the head of their organization, released an order to retrieve those said individuals.
And retrieval means that they should do it at all costs. And it appears that those said individuals are hiding in plain sight after all.
“Boss, the road block is set.” A thickset male feline said as he approached from behind, shaking her thoughts away. He had the same gray colored gear she wore, and had the same insignia of a Hannya in his left shoulder.
“We have two tier 4 killteams on the west and east side of the perimeter. They'll call in once they see any signs of Babel operators in the area.”
“Hmm. You think they can hold them back if they get compromised?” She asked in a tone of voice that she sounds like she couldn't care less. But the man beside her knew her for a long, long time now.
He knew it was a genuine question.
“They are tier 4 Adel, tier fucking 4. This is a retrieval op, and the higher ups sure fucked it up. I don't wanna shade them the wrong way, but they won't stand a chance if that gal shows up along with an elite team up her shebs and decides to crash the show.”
She raised an eyebrow at his statement.
“Intel said Elizabeth was spotted in Sarkaz three days ago, wiping out two newly placed recon teams near the village of Dachau...” her eyes landed on the door of the house, which seemed to move an inch to the side.
“...and if she does appear here, well, I'm here, eh Drew?” Adelaide raised both arms to her side and gave him a smirk.
The feline, now known as Drew, just shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “Well, intel is shit sometimes boss. If she does come, don't forget she very nearly sank her knife in your chest 9 months ago.”
It was a friendly warning, and with that, he left her, giving orders to the two other tier 2 teams positioned on both ends of the lot. She gave a slight sigh and checked the now fully healed wound on the left side of her chest, just an inch below her collarbone.
“Yes... I would love to have a rematch.” She muttered to herself.
Ten minutes passed, and the value of LmD is still the same worldwide, the usually jolly street was filled with gray armored personnel. One team made it's way to the back of the house, led by Drew, and the other one went to the front door, which was the shop.
Adelaide knew it was the most likely place to set up a trap, so she gestured one of the men in her 6 man unit to scale the second floor. He gave her a quick nod and stepped out of line, before firing a grapple hook from a small device in his waist. Seconds later, he was opening the window to the house.
“Victor-3, talk to me.” she spoke quietly on the radio strapped on her shoulder.
“Victor-3 copying, over. Detonating the device in five...four...three...”
She saw him exit the window, before hurling something inside.
“Two...”
“...one.”
He was now halfway on the ground when a moderate ‘bang’ resounded inside. Adelaide, being the one in front, immediately kicked hard at the door. It flew inwards, glass and wood shattering as it fell on the floor. She tossed two flashbangs inside, saw the consecutive blast outside before going in.
She found herself inside, main gun raised at shoulder level as she scanned for possible threats. The smoke from the device detonated above them misted on the stairs. It was a specially made device that coats individuals with tracking dust, especially hostile ones.
Her headgear was comprised of multiple highly advanced devices not known to other countries, especially the heads-up-display developed by her organization. It immediately painted three red dots inside the house, separating them from the 7 blue ones, which was her and the team.
Suddenly, the man in front of her screamed as her field of view erupted in bright blue colors. The sounds of projectile came too late, and some already hit its intended target. In her HUD, Victor-5's heartbeat ceased to exist mere seconds after the fight started.
“Fuck! Find cover!” Victor-4, who was somewhere on her left, screamed at the top of his lungs before firing a hail of bullets towards the tight corridor where the blue fire came from. Vases where shattered, and the walls were ripped to shreds.
Adelaide had seen much strange things in her life, since it was chockfull of unexplainable scenarios. This was no stranger to her, and she had underwent worse missions in her lifetime.
But not learning the names of those under her was what she hated the most, and she now lost the chance to get to know her team, even though it was probably their first and only mission alongside her.
The same blue energy bullets passed overhead as she crawled towards the still body of Victor-5. She pulled him by the vest, felt the burnt hole on one of the many wounds he got on his body as her hand sunk on his flesh. She ignored the sickly visage and kept pulling him towards the front door.
Victor-1 and a combat medic, classified only by the tag on her chest as Halifax-6, was the one who greeted her as she got out of the tight kill zone. The rest of her team was still inside, fanning out on the large living room to avoid the same fate as their dead teammate.
Adelaide stared at the corpse on her feet as Halifax-6 removed his gear. He was a Perro, and his face was charred from the result of the fire fight inside. He received, at most, seven plasma burns on his torso. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, but she couldn't do anything.
So she gave Victor-1 a shoulder tap, before heading inside. The voices of her team filled her ears, and she saw in her Hud that Victor-3, the one who detonated the device, was wounded and is propped beside the wall. He must have saw her looking at him, since he gave her a thumbs up.
Adelaide nodded at him, and motioned for the rest to move out in two's. Victor-2 and 4 headed to the kitchen, while she was with 6 as they ascended to the stairs.
Drew's team, Foxtrot, was out the back, and she was now worried about their status since they weren't giving any updates. The problem with their chain of command was that every team had to be manually connected to each other by their supervisors, and she wanted to give whoever was supervising her team a bullet to the head right now.
Just as she reached the top of the stairs, she saw something out of her peripheral vision which made her turn and fire, before dropping low on the uneven floor. A plasma bullet grazed the topside of her helmet, and she felt the knock back of the projectile as it burned through the wall behind her.
Victor-6 rushed ahead and caught the silhouette of the man off guard, tackling him off balance. Both of them were now locked in a one on one fistfight on the floor. She was about to help him restrain the man when something sharp knocked her rifle from her hand.
The gun clattered on the floor, making her reach for the tactical blade sheathed in her chest. It was a six-inch, three sided blade, a perfect tool to maim and kill anyone that was unlucky to challenge her.
“You... I won't let you hurt Lee again!” The blonde Vouivre shouted at her and swiped her rapier straight at her.
‘Oh, so that's his name’ was what Adelaide thought.
Her eyes were like a raging inferno, keen on making her pay for whatever she had done.
Adelaide was at the disadvantage, since her weapon had shorter reach. But in the tight space of the second floor, she could use the walls at her own self gain. She kept blocking and dodging the strikes of her attacker, and she was impressed by the speed of her attacks.
One or two strikes injured her in the arm, which made her cringe at the sting of the wound. She puts a well placed foot on the wall behind her, gave a strong kick that propelled her towards the Vouivre, before parrying the rapier coming at her.
The two of them lunged at each other.
*CLANG!*
The blow resounded on the tight hallway, but it was replaced by a cry of pain. Adelaide realized that it was from Victor-6, who was stabbed in the thigh by the blonde male he was fighting. She focused her attention at the girl she was fighting, and figured that these two could be lovers, so she had to use it somehow...
With a twist of her wrist, she strikes the Vouivre 's hand, wounding her in the process. Bright red blood seeped out of the wound, pooling on the wooden floor beneath. The girl lets out a cry, and Adelaide wasted no time and gave her a not-so-nice headbutt.
She staggered backwards, before collapsing on the floor.
“Jane!”
Lee shouted, and he attempted to go after her attacker. His wounds from the past skirmish was throbbing like crazy, and he suddenly wanted to chug a whole canister of painkillers.
But the male soldier, agent, or operator behind him was stubborn, since he still had the will to fight even after having his artery severed by his own knife. He suddenly grabbed Lee by the legs, which hindered his movements.
A sudden, searing numbness spread on Lee's body just as he turned to look at the operator lying on the ground. He held a plastic gun in his trembling hand, and Lee looked down to see a tranquilizer dart sticking just below his floating ribcage.
He could feel something entering his system, which spelled bad news.
“You fucking...” was all he could say before collapsing on his knees, and his vision became blurry. The world around him spun as his mind lost track of reality.
Lee could hear the muffled screams of Jane, but even then, it was starting to make no sense for him. He collapsed on his back a second later, and his eyes rolled back and forth as he tried very hard to fight whatever drug entered his system.
Soon, a figure loomed ahead of him. He could tell it was a female, since her hair fell down on her battered, sweating face as she removed her protective headgear.
A gloved hand reached down on his face, patting his cheeks repeatedly before being shined in the eyes by a bright flashlight. The girl activated a radio of sorts, since he heard her mutter gibberish military words at the black device.
Just before he blanked out, the last words he heard were—
“...Sorry, Lee.”
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======
Every step Alpha took, she felt something sick and wet on her feet. She later learned that it was her own blood, pooling on the sole of the single boot she wore. She found a spot across the street of their house, her supposed safe place, and sat on the pavement with bated breaths.
The street behind the house was abandoned, with civilians running away moments after the first gunshots rang in the air. She stared at the disembodied corpses of the soldiers that attempted to enter the house via the backyard.
The fight was intense, not like how it appeared in the movies back in Earth. It was fast, quick and brutal, with every millisecond that passes means either life or death. Alpha had a solid grasp on death, so that's why she just distributed it to these poor men lying in their own pool of blood.
They fought decent, these guys. The gear was impressive at stopping blunt force trauma, yet it wasn't that helpful at all when you were being cut down by a mysterious looking sword made from who knows what.
Even without the Punishing Virus boosting her attack, her ability to kill and dismember humans was still there. Almost all of them; six, to be precise, was either beheaded or cut in half, their meaty body parts scattered across the asphalt.
Only one guy survived the onslaught she made, which made her commend his fighting spirit. He was a male feline, standing at most 6'3 and had a muscular and fit body. Typical of someone with a long military service.
He was poised nearly across her, gasping for air as he bled from a nasty gash on his abdomen. The ballistic plate on his vest was entirely ruined, since it failed to stop the blow from Alpha's sword.
The only reason Alpha was bleeding in the first place was when one of the soldiers attempted to take her with him, via a hand grenade. It detonated in his hand, blowing his arm and half of his head away in the process. She was just caught unluckily with stray shrapnel.
“...Shit, Lee and Jane...” Alpha muttered, suddenly remembering that her friends was still inside.
In the distance, she could make out the faint sounds of sirens, probably from the local police station in the area. However, there was someone ahead of the local authorities. This one, similar to the ones that tried to invade their house.
A white van skidded at the end of the block, speeding by and startling residents that seemed to be brave enough to check what's the aftermath of the gunfight. The vehicle stopped abruptly, and the doors on each side of the van slid open.
Alpha glanced at the exiting operators, before glancing at the men she just killed minutes ago. That's when she realized that their uniforms were different, and the ones in black and blue are the ones from Babel.
“Pfft, haha... Fuck!” Alpha chuckled as the operators stopped 10 feet away from her, while some checked the dead bodies nearby.
That's when she saw a familiar figure. At first she thought she was mistaken, but it was the same female assassin that nearly killed Lee two months ago.
“Hello there.” Elizabeth said towards Alpha, who was giving her a glare so feisty that it could weaken a normal person's will to live.
“... You're lucky I'm wounded. You guys are fucking vultures, y'know that?” Alpha wheezed, gesturing towards the corpses. They were being put into body bags, which was still humane.
“Well, they're from a different organization. Seeing how they ended up, well, let's just say they are the more violent one's.” The feline said, while another masked operator handed her something.
It was a gun, but a bit different. With no warning whatsoever, Alpha tried a lunge towards the feline, raising the sharpened tip of her blade to stab her in the neck. However, Elizabeth's reflexes was faster than her, probably due to the injuries she suffered from that grenade blast. She just side stepped her attempted strike, letting the blade pass a hairs length from her face.
The tranquilizer dart embedded itself on Alpha's neck, it's contents pumped directly in her bloodstream. Elizabeth fired two more shots, since Alpha managed to stand up, walk a couple of steps like a drunkard, before attempting to raise her sword.
“I'll....fucking kill...”
*Thud*
Alpha fell unceremoniously on the ground, and an operator caught her at the right moment so that her head wouldn't get injured from the impact. Elizabeth then knelt on the ground, before patting her in the cheek.
“Lights out, sleepyhead.”
In about thirty minutes, the street was deserted again, leaving six bloodied body bags like discarded trash. The bloodstained pavement would need to be bleached a couple of times before leaving no trace of the shootout whatsoever.
As for the unlucky Drew, he was later found by another backup killteam inside an abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of town, drowned in his own pool of blood.
«‹⟨ TO BE CONTINUED ⟩›»
Published: Aug. 7, 2022
Words: 4242
(A/n: Here's the latest chapter folks! Lee and the gang returned but got cucked. Anyway, stay tuned for the next one!)