Chapter 38
The air was calm, the clouds loomed over head and distant thunder claps could be heard, it was deadly quiet that even death himself could be heard taking light steps across the urban landscape, the tower loomed over the small courtyard as if its waiting for it all to kick off, the sound of flapping wings could heard and the sound of radio equipment could be heard, shallow footsteps were being made by men in full combat gear, each one wore a black trench coat with a black flak jacket underneath, black shin guards and heavy duty combat boots, each one wore a pair of leather gloves, a black scarf covering around there lower half of the face wearing a black beret with a silver pin of two crossed handguns in front of a shield.
The road had blockades with sandbags and concrete blocks, some had machine gun turrets with small vans, jeeps and trucks, each one black with the same symbol as the badges, the place was in lockdown with mercenaries, commander Ginseng was walking around inspecting his troops, his eyes narrowed so he look down the long road, at the end was a large roundabout, he took up a pair of binoculars and looked up, he could make out two navy APCs come from either side heading towards his position, six wheeled like daemons bore down on his men, both had two large dozer scoops attached to the front while the two .50 cal machine guns fired blindly into their directions, Ginseng could see that they showed no signs of stopping, he picked up his radio and called for his men to fall back and prep the stingers.
Marcus, Luna and Ruby sat in one APC, Marcus had checked his gun and placed it back into the holster, he was handed a small submachine gun with a collapsible stock and a red dot sight, he was then handed four clips as one of the troopers said “leave it on semi for now”
Marcus nodded, Ruby checked her guns again while another trooper gave Luna a combat shotgun she looked at it with disgust as she said “i don’t do guns”
The trooper looked at her and said “You sure? You may need it?”
Luna smiled and said “I’m quite sure, the last time i used a gun was France 1942, since then i had no need”
Ruby looked at Luna and said “You were in France then? What happened?”
Luna had a big cheeky smile on her face “well lets just say we resistance members get lonely and the Germans as well”
Ruby giggled as two of the troopers looked at each other and shrugged, overhead the machine gun could be heard firing, the team leader said “Ok you bitches and suckers, we have thirty seconds i want everybody prepped, the APCs will lay down cover fire, we move up to the barricades and lay down fire, we move up then the two vans behind us will unload behind us, we do it fast and quick and for god sakes pick your targets and don’t die”
Luna looked at the guy with disbelief as she looked at Ruby and said “who the hell is this guy?”
Ruby shrugged as Marcus said “He is ex military, been in it for years”
Caleb, Lucan and Ana were sitting in the next APC, the mood in there was quiet as Lucan looked at Ana and said “Listen, how long have you know Marcus?”
Ana smiled as looked over her gun and loaded a clip “Well Lucan let’s just say long enough”
Caleb looked on and asked “How did you meet?”
Ana smiled “let’s just say we were at the same place with different interests”
Lucan raised a eyebrow “And what was the interests?”
Ana made a gesture tapping the tip of her nose as to indicate that she is not telling, the machine guns could be heard firing as Lucan said out loud “right then, lock, load and embrace for impact, this train is on a one way ticket”
The mercenaries in black could be seen running back down the line behind, the stinger missiles fired as both rockets hit the APC’s dozers at the front, like a raging bull they carried on till they hit the first barricade simultaneously, the impact caused the occupants to jolt and jump, they reached the second and third as two more missiles hit the front, this time both APCS came to a holt, as it did both teams jumped out firing onto the enemy before them, some took direct hits as if they were taken by surprise, the SAS troops took cover as they fired, while the mercs in black fired back, all was going to plan.
Gabe could see the chaos unfold from the top of her tower as she sat and watched, powerless to do anything she sat back and sipped a glass of wine, in her mind she smiled, Kiren walked in behind her, outside they could hear the nose of bangs and gun fire, kiren walked next to Gabe and stood watching over gaining a bird’s eye view, he said to her “want me down there, i could gut the lot of them”
Gabe took another sip and replied “no need, eventually they will come, but we need you here, did you let Anderson know about our vulnerable spot?”
Kiren nodded “yes i did but i don’t understand why you won’t let me gut him and those useless mercs of his?”
Gabe smiled “if you did the others would get suspicious and come down hard on us, even if you could kill them, one stray bullet is all it takes”
Kiren turned around and started his way out of the door saying “you wound me, you know i can dodge them as well”
Gabe smiled “I know, just get ready”
Gwen was a good few feet away from the the underground entrance to the underground roundabout, she noticed that it was guarded by SAS troops not allowing anyone in, she watched them for a while trying to work out a plan to get by them, she thought about it for a while, if she told them who she was they will still send her away, if she asked for anyone inperticuler that person could get in trouble, she sighed and cursed slightly that was until she looked up and noticed a hotel showing that it had parking underground, she smiled as she rushed across the road jumping the metal barriers that separated the road from the pavement, she jumped over them with one hand with ease but she stopped to look back at them a smiled thinking i didn’t know i could do that, her thoughts stopped as she could hear gunfire in the distance, she knew now that she needed to pick up the pace, she waited outside the hotel front door looking in, it was a large reception room with a large desk, most of it was marble with modern lightings, paintings and sculptures, to the left of the desk was a lift where staff members were coming and going out of, the desk was occupied by a tall slender man with gray hair and moustache, he was behind the desk while in front of him was a small rounded and quiet cubby American man, he wore cowboy boots, a white suite and a white hat, he spoke with a southern accent which could be heard even from outside, next to him Gwen thought could be either his wife or mistress, she was tall then him, skinny wearing a red one piece dress that could easily showed of her curves and her chest, she had blond hair and was dulled up in fine jewellery, she too spoke with a southern accent, as one of the staff members exited from the front door Gwen went in just behind him and zipped behind a large tree plant, she kept low and moved quietly while both parties were distracting each other Gwen could hear the conversation “For god’s sake man my Car is down there and we need to go for dinner why can’t we leave with it?”
The tall receptionist said “i am very sorry but i have stated that the SAS have taken over the underground section outside and as our car park is connected to it we cannot do a thing our hands are tied”
The man slammed his hands on the table flat which made the receptionist jump and Gwen froze, the American man shouted “Did you tell them who i am?”
The receptionist nodded and said “Yes i did several times but they said you have to wait, look why I don’t offer a full refund on the house”
The American man thought about it as he twisted his moustache, he liked free things especially when he throws his status around, his mistress looked on board, she said with a whiny accent “come on dear lets go”
The American man said “in a bit dear i want it in writing that its free, ok?”
Both sides looked down at the receptionist painstakely write out that it was for free, Gwen took this chance a moved with haste, the bell on the lift rang as she hid around the corner, behind another plant, as the lift doors opened another servant walked out past Gwen and the plant, Gwen took this chance to slip in and press the down button for the car park.
She waited to one side away from the doors so when they open nobody could see her, that and to make a quick escape, as the lift hit the ground floor the doors opened, as Gwen step out a young man walked in, they literally bumped into each other with a start Gwen jumped as the young man stepped back, he was young yet handsome looking wearing his black and white staffing attire he said to her “oh i am really sorry miss i didn’t mean to frighten you”
Gwen looked at him “that’s ok I’m sorry too”
The young man looked at her with a quizzical look and said “could i ask what you’re doing down here?”
Gwen could feel her heart pace and skip a beat as she said “i have come down here to check on my car and turn it over otherwise the oil settles, but i would rather be out of here”
The young man smiled as he said “we understand and are truly sorry about this if there is anything i could to make the rest of your stay better then don’t hesitate to ask for Widget”
The young man made a slight bow as he headed to the elevator and made his way up Gwen smiled as she thought what a charming young man, handsome as well, she shook her head and said to herself “what i am saying, stay on course”
As she looked up at the car park entrance she noticed a couple of SAS troopers walk by casually chatting, Gwen kept close to the cars but hanged down low until she got to the main exit, as she looked around she noticed the place was crawling with troopers and medics, from a distance she could make out the old Dr Dawson talking to a small team of field medics, they were ordinary troopers either Vampire, werewolf or human wearing the traditional SAS gear but each one had a medic band around there arm, to the left of her was a couple of trucks and more troopers, Gwen could make that they were being briefed on the next course of action, but her eyes lit up when she noticed to the right of her was a series of small trucks, jeeps and metal crates, as gwen watched she noticed one of the troopers open one up, it was a sniper rifle of some sort she thought, she smiled and said “Perfect”
The trooper had taken his sniper rifle, he took it out with care like he was holding a new born, it was a long sleek black rifle with a bipod attached to the front a tele photo scope attached to the top, he began to look down the scope, the rifle, he made slight adjustments, pulled the bolt back to fire position then fired it, it made a hollow click as the magazine hadn’t been loaded, he smiled as he sat down and started to polish the barrel, two of his squad mates came up to him and said “Listen mate of carry on polishing that did you know white stuff comes out”
As the two cracked up laughing he looked up and said “do you want to know why wolfs and vamps make useless snipers?, Vampires can’t learn to control their breathing and the wolfs tiny brains become too impatient”
The Two SAS troopers looked at him harshly as the sniper looked back and they began all to laugh so hard, the vampire said through his voice box “we know you can do better than that, look why don’t you put that pea shooter down and have a couple of drinks with us?”
The sniper looked up and with a sarcastic look said “Pea shooter? This is a Accuracy International AWM – F or known as the G22”
One of the troopers nudged his mate and said “Here we go”
The sniper stood up, and faced the two troopers and carried on “made in the UK, 1996 – present day weighing only 6.5 KG using a .300 Winchester Magnum round, Bolt action with over 1,000 meter effective range, 5 rounds per magazine box and the scope can be detached for iron sights and even the scope itself has two modes of day and night”
The vampire looked behind the sniper and said “And its gone”
The sniper said “and its gone...gone what do you mean gone its right...”
As he turned around he saw that the rifle was gone and so was the magazine boxes for the gun, Gwen quickly sneaked behind the truck filled with different guns, she looked back at the sniper who was looking around all over the place looking frantically while his two colleges laughed hard at his misfortune, Gwen was about to make a dash inside when two Troopers walked by talking until one of them stopped and said “wait, i can smell something or someone?”
The other trooper looked at him and said “Come on Lilith, there is nothing there, this place is locked up tighter then a rats asshole”
The she wolf came close to Gwen’s position, but the sniper came walking over and distracted the two as he said “Look i like to report stolen bit of equipment, my sniper rifle has gone missing”
The Lilith looked surprised as she said “you sure about that? I thought you were married to that gun?”
The sniper put his hand behind his head looking awkward as Lilith said “ok I’ll tell you what, i’ll keep a eye out for it, ok?”
The sniper smiled as Lilith went back to where Gwen was only to find out she had gone, she sniffed around and the sniffed the air, her partner said “You ok?”
She looked puzzled as she placed her hand on her cheek and said “i could have sworn there was someone here and yet a gun goes missing?”
The man shrugged “look not much we can but keep our eyes, ears and in your case nose out for anything, can you trace the smell?”
Lilith shock her head “no there is also the smell of every person in here, plus the vans, plus the cooking and so many others it’s hard to trace”
Gwen ducked behind some small crates just in front of a large black lorry, outside the main doors was two more troopers both had clip boards, both human, Gwen assumed they were quarter masters, she had to think of something fast then it came to her, she drew out one of her knifes and threw it at the very front of the lorry, it was a good shot, impossible in fact as the speed, throwing power not to mention the distance but she still pulled it off to her own surprise, the knife lodged itself within the tire causing it to blow and the truck to lean to one side, this made the knife fling off into a different direction, but the bang was loud enough to cause the two quarter masters to take flight to find out what had happened.
Gwen waited as more troops made their way to the front of the truck all looking confused, Gwen saw her chance and fled to the back of the lorry, quickly but quietly she opened the back door with her sniper rifle on her back as she peeked inside it was filled to the brim with guns, ammo and even outfits, she helped herself to a large rucksack and began oiling in the guns, ammo and even a few grenades before departing making her way out of the area towards the battlefield.
Lilith was at the scene and again she could smell that same scent, as she followed it she came to the back of the lorry only to discover it opened, she drew her hand gun and shouted for the two quartermasters who too in turn drew their guns, the quarter masters both took a door each and waited for Lilith’s signal, as she nodded they flung the doors open, Lilith took aim while the other two moved round facing the inside of the truck, Lilith looked in and noticed that there were empty slots where guns, ammo and grenades were meant to be, she looked round shaking her head saying “What the fuck is going on here, weapons go missing, strange smells blown out tires it’s like were fucking cursed or something”
Marcus kept his head low behind the sand bag barricade with Luna beside him, shots were heard whizzing above them while explosions could be heard in front of them and a long distance ahead of them, the team leader was on his radio, he was well built, with a muscley face and his hair was a dark steel colour but shaved almost square, Marcus could hear him “What do you mean no air support all we need is choppers providing air it’s not like I’m asking for a air strike....well what the fuck can you do....dame it”
The squad leader looked at him and said “were on our own son”
Marcus nodded as he said “so it would seem, What is the plan?”
The squad leader looked around and sighed “i don’t know, but we need it fast, weve been stuck here for 30 minutes now when we should be storming that place”
Luna looked up and said “Best laid plans”
Luna shrieked as a bullet hit the sandbag above her, Ruby smiled as she loaded her hand gun, Marcus looked around working out where to go or what to do then as he looked up he noticed a fire exit sign, he thought about it and said “where does that go?”
The squad leader fired a couple of shots as he looked at the exit and said “Proberly downstairs to the underground car park”
Marcus nodded “Right get onto Lucan we need team Charlie with us, we’ll take them from underneath, once we have Gabe theyll have to stop but until then keep holding on”
The team leader looked at him and said “How do you know if it’ll work?”
Marcus said back “what other choice do we have?”
Gwen wasn’t far from the combat zone, the gun shots were getting noisier and the explosions closer, she stopped short, to catch her breath, she unslung her rifle and looked down the sight, to her left she could see Lucan and Caleb but no Ana to the right was Marcus, Luna and Ruby, she smiled know they were safe, but Gwen looked up and noticed a sniper on the roof above them, she crouched on one knee, she flexed her fingers and started to slow her breath down, she could see the sniper take aim, Gwen fired and took the shot.
By the time Lucan and Caleb came with Charlie squad they were surprised when a body fell beside them, Lucan was happy that this guy was dead and not one of theres, through his radio he said “ok lads and lasses anyone going to claim this kill from the top of that building near our position”
As the team hurried to the fire exit Lucan’s face slowly dropped as all the responses came back negative, Caleb ask him what was wrong in which he replied “either we have a guardian angel looking over us or we got lucky”
Gwen was breathing hard, a small drop of sweat drop from her brow but was quickly wiped away by the cool breeze, her heart was pounding as she took a gulp, all this happened in seconds, a second to pull a trigger to end one’s life, many questions went through her mind who was he? Did he have family? How can the others put up with ending a life? How does Marcus feel?, her mind snapped back to here and now as she pulled the bolt back to eject the shell casing, she didn’t give the casing a chance to hit the ground before she caught it, she pocketed it and said “well it’s a souvenir now, first kill, got to try and stay focused, they are out to kill us, its me or them”
Gwen held her gun in both hands and took the scope off so that all she could use was the iron sights, Gwen looked over and saw Marcus get to the underground door exit, Gwen got up and made a dash, as she made a dash Marcus looked up and he saw a figure dart in front of him from a distance, he recognised the features, young, enegergeitc, sexy but she had a large back pack on her back with a rifle in her hand he could see Gwen but he blinked and rubbed his eyes as Luna said to him “You ok hun?”
Marcus looked again and said “Yeah for a minute i thought i saw Gwen”
Luna rolled her eyes and said “Now is not the time to think about her, you should be thinking about here and now....and me”
Marcus looked at her and said “Yeah your right, it could have been Ana then”
Lucan shook his head “Nope i saw that girl haling ass saying she has other work to do, right now of all times”
Marcus didn’t seem surprised by that statement, but the more he thought about it the more he thought he saw her, Charlie team got entrance to the door as one of them shot the lock with a shotgun, Lucan went first along with Caleb, Charlie team, Luna and Ruby, Marcus waited to see if the figure would appear again but it didn’t, Marcus sighed as he too headed inside and down stairs.