32. August 25–26, 2024 #3
“You really know how to pick your hellholes, you know that?” TB joked. “Just once, I want to haul your ass out of a five-star joint. This is some fucked-up shit in here.”
“Well, you know me. I had some vacation days to burn, and this was the closest place that accepted my hotel points.” Waters immediately started coughing violently, and bile and water came back up. Then he passed out again.
“Sounds like pneumonia. He’s never going to hold anything down. I need to IV him, stat. We gotta get him to the truck.”
TB hoisted Waters over his shoulders with barely a grunt, and Demon quickly repacked what he’d pulled from his bag. He double-checked his handgun, handed it to Ka-Bar, then proceeded down the passage back toward the crypt with his rifle in hand.
Grabbing Daleyza’s hand, Steel pulled her along with him and said, “Stay between me and Demon at all times, sí? TB’s going to have his hands full. If I have to drop back, Ka-Bar will stay with you, and the two of you keep going.”
They pushed through the crypts, through the baptism antechamber, and out into the church proper.
TB tried reaching out to Midas on the comms. “Midas, you copy?”
“Where the fuck have you been?”
“No time to chitchat. We’ve got two new bodies, both injured, one immobile. We’re pinned inside the church.”
“Well, we’ve all got our little problems, then, don’t we? We’re still pulling fire at the main entrance. You’re going to need to go back the way Steel and Daleyza came. Meet Medusa on the beach and head to the rendezvous point. She has new coordinates.”
The line of men and Daleyza made their way up the aisle and toward the door. When they arrived, they could hear people outside the doors.
“Sounds like we have immediate gunfire just outside,” Steel told him.
“Shit! Nemo! Gem! Any way you can draw those asshats away from the front of the church?”
“We’re trying, but they’re well covered, and they won’t move. It’s like they’re making their last stand, and these fuckers must be shitting ammo because they never run out.”
“How many are there?” Demon asked.
“Fourteen was my last count.”
TB looked at Steel. “We’re trapped in here if they can’t pick these guys off. And if we open this door, we’ll either be flooded with soldiers, picked off, or both.”
“Where’s everybody else?” Steel shouted over the gunfire.
“Loki and Gilgamesh are picking off security one by one from the main entrance towers, but they’re finally running low on ammo.
God disappeared into the third tower, and we haven’t heard from him since.
Medusa’s been dealing with her own problem on the beach, but she’s your best bet at getting out of there.
When Cerberus’ party favors went off, it created a blockade up front, which is why they have a group keeping you hemmed in.
We’re either outside and can’t get in, or inside and can’t get out. ”
He racked his brain to come up with their best contingency option.
Daleyza called out, “Nemo! Gem! Where are the men positioned in front of the church?”
“They’re in a relatively straight line, north to south, behind the short walls under the overhang.”
He watched her roll her bottom lip between her teeth. He could almost hear her brain running a hundred miles an hour. “Where are you located?”
“We’re on the third floor of the residence. Closest window. Angle is shite, but the best there is without being in the wide open,” the pixie told her.
She whirled around on Demon. “Give me your rifle.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “What am I supposed to use to defend us? Questionable language?”
She offered him her gun. “Take mine. I need a long-range weapon.”
“Daleyza?” Steel asked.
Looking at him, she said, “The bell tower is one of the main hubs for the power lines. We can use it to draw their fire.”
Understanding came to him. “No.”
“We don’t have another choice if you want to get out of here. Your friends may be good, but I’m guessing you’re the best shot, right? And that means I’m your best cover. You taught me, Fanso. You know I’m right.”
Fuck. He hated when she was right. “Give her your rifle, Demon.”
Reluctantly, the medic handed it over. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“No, but she’s right. We don’t have time for other options right now.
Nemo, Gem, make your way to the main entrance of the residence, then come toward the church to the elevator under the covered walkway.
You’ll need to be there to help Demon, TB, Ka-Bar, and Waters get down to Medusa. Demon knows where to go.”
“What will you two be doing?”
Daleyza checked over the weapon. “Ildefanso and I will head up to the church bell tower. There’s an open space there with some reinforced cable lines.
Fanso will zip-line down the cable to the guards’ quarters and draw their fire.
That will allow Nemo and Gem to come up on our guards unaware, as well as allow him to have a better line to pick off a few of the men protected by the overhang.
Demon will lead you all down to the warehouse, then through the hallway to get to Medusa. ”
“How are you going to get out of here?”
“We’ll follow. If we’re not there five minutes after you, take off. We’ll find another route.”
“Knew I wasn’t going to like this plan,” Demon mumbled.
“Just go. Waters can’t stay here, and we’re sitting ducks if we do nothing.”
Daleyza took off for the stairs to the second floor of the church, and Steel followed her. He didn’t like this plan either, but the fact remained that they had to do something. Splitting up so they could cover the other men’s escape was their best option.
He followed her up the circular stairs into the bell tower, where they were now four stories over the quadrangle.
Below them, they could now see the entire mission from their vantage point.
While the three security towers had been destroyed, the debris well and truly blocked the main gate.
Isolated soldiers could be seen firing through the debris at the attacking Mythos members, but it was a slow exchange since there seemed to be only two of them.
He shed his pack and pulled out a hand trolley.
This wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to use the handheld system, but it wasn’t his favorite mode of transportation.
In fact, he refused to use it unless absolutely necessary.
Today, they needed to distract the soldiers keeping them inside the church.
Hopefully, this worked, because if it didn’t, the group would be even further divided and weakened, and he wasn’t sure what they would do next.
“Are you ready, belleza?”
She nodded, her eyes wide. “Be careful.”
He ran a hand along the side of her face, cupping her cheek, and while he didn’t really have time to do so, he kissed her softly. “See you soon.”
He hopped up onto the bell tower ledge, then slung the trolley over the line.
He made sure his rifle was secure across his body, then grasped both handles on the mechanism and propelled himself down the cable.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Most likely, the soldiers were too surprised to take action.
He’d almost made it to the roof of the guards’ quarters when they finally opened fire on him.
Immediately, he dropped from the trolley onto the roof and scuttled behind a small exhaust chimney for cover.
While they fired, he cleared his rifle and waited for them to stop.
When they finally did, he popped out from the side, taking several shots at the closest guard.
He was too far away for them to hit with any accuracy, but he was too tantalizing a target to avoid shooting at, so several men ventured out from beneath their cover to get closer.
Their mistake. Just as he was too far out of their range, they were too far out of his.
But not Daleyza’s.
He gave her credit. She was patient. She waited until the line of men had advanced. Eight of them. They were halfway between the church and his position when she began firing—picking them off, one by one.
After the first three went down, the other men caught on that someone was attacking them from behind, but by then, it was too late.
The ones she hadn’t dropped from her perch in the bell tower, he took care of from his vantage point.
Nemo and Gem made short work of the men who’d remained behind and were soon leading the others to the elevators.
“Come down, Daleyza. We need to go.”
Seeing the path cleared, he easily slid down to the edge of the roof, then dropped himself down the low height to the ground. But when he got to the elevator entrance, Daleyza wasn’t waiting for him.
All the hair on his body stood on end.
He slung his rifle over his shoulder and reached for his sidearm, then slowly, silently approached the open church doors. When he cleared them, his gun in cover position in front of him, it was to see his worst nightmare come to life.
Daleyza stood in the middle of the church’s foyer, but she wasn’t alone. His father had an arm around her throat, pushing tight against it, depriving her of air so she couldn’t struggle. His other arm held the gun that was pointed at her temple.
Adding insult to injury? Her brother, Rodrigo, stood at Hector’s side.
“Let her go,” Steel ordered.
“I don’t think so. I really expected better from you, Ildefanso. How disappointing.”
“Disappointing you was never an issue,” Steel replied. “Nor was it something that mattered to me.”
From various points in the church, men with rifles appeared. A mix of Rodrigo’s men and his father’s, all aiming at him, he was sure.
“Where’s your puppet master? He’s not here to ensure you finish the job of murdering Daleyza?”
A glint of anger flickered in Hector’s eyes as he stared down his bastard son. “No one pulls my strings, Ildefanso.”
“Really? Her life was the price, wasn’t it?
You wouldn’t have bothered to come after us because you thought I was dead until he or his minions informed you otherwise.
There would be no reason to involve her at all except that her family needed her gone.
And the man who demanded that wants to bring down me and my friends.
What better way to achieve all your hopes than to threaten her to draw me out, which in turn draws out Tribe Corporation. ”
“You don’t know anything. Always thought you knew better than everyone else. Held yourself above everyone else.”
“You’re being used, Hector.” He refused to call him “father.” He’d never held true loyalty to the man, and he’d never been a father figure except in name.
“If you’re lucky, you’ll serve him until the end of your days, never knowing.
If you’re unlucky, once you’re no longer of use to him, he’ll cut you loose with a bullet to the brain, then take over your operations. ”
“You don’t know anything about the brotherhood.”
“I know more than you.” He took another step toward them. “Let her go.”
A sneer crossed the man’s face. “You won’t risk her. You’ve been watching over her for too long to dare let something hurt her now. Put your weapon down, Ildefanso.”
Mierda! With Tribe slowly gaining the advantage, Daleyza might be his father’s only ticket to save his measly life. Leverage. What they’d always feared loved ones would be.
For years, they’d hidden as ghosts. Held themselves separate. Then they’d become complacent. Allowed innocent women and children into their lives. And as soon as the last among them had the barest grasps of happiness, the universe pulled the carpet out from under them.
Fate had to be laughing now.
He knew this man had no intention of letting Daleyza go, nor himself. They’d merely traded two prisoners for two prisoners. At least, he hoped that’s all they’d done. Demon should have led everyone else to safety and be speeding away across the bay to meet up with the others.
Steel took another step forward, his aim still trained on the man who held Daleyza.
“You’re not going to let either of us go.”
“Of course I’m not,” Hector concurred. “I have nearly fulfilled my obligation, with the exception of bringing the Salieri its most coveted prize. You took him away. You are an inadequate substitute, but in time, I’ll make an example of you both.
The bonus is that it will hurt your friends, which will give me a small amount of pleasure, and then I’ll fade away, only to strike again when they least expect it. ”
“All this for what? To serve a man who promises greatness yet rarely delivers. What do you believe you will get out of it? Did he promise you a place among the Worthy? Oh, he’ll say that you can work your way into the fold, but it will never happen.
You’re not a direct descendant of the original seven continental overlords.
You work your way toward a goal of nothingness.
The best you can hope to do is increase the cartel’s reach, but even that will not be your gain. It will be your master’s.”
Steel watched as Hector increased his hold on Daleyza, her face beginning to turn a dark red.
He heard several clicking sounds behind him, indicating that he’d allowed at least three men to get behind him without his knowledge.
“Bastardo, put down the gun. She will die, regardless. But if you return and work for us, your life will be spared.”
Guillermo. Of course it would be.
His mind skipped from option to option, assessing scenarios, calculating risks, and tossing them aside when they all led to the inevitable.
He did not want to do this, but he didn’t feel like he had another option.
His eyes found Daleyza’s, and while the expression would appear blank to anyone else, he prayed she would see his message.
Their eyes held.
Even in this final moment, he couldn’t say the words out loud to her.
It wasn’t pride. He’d never said them, even though he often should have.
But now, he refused to give those words to her while her captor held her.
His family could never know just how much she meant to him.
She’d just have to know it in her heart.
She slumped into unconsciousness as the arm crushing her throat was able to close the final centimeters.
Good. It was better this way. Unconscious, she wouldn’t feel it. Wouldn’t see it when he was struck down.
He heard the gunfire before he felt it. When he did, pain unlike any he’d ever known before ripped through him as the bullets from the men above and behind slammed into him.
In his last conscious act, he fired wildly at his father and Rodrigo, hoping to take at least a couple of his assailants down with him when he fell.
Just before he lost consciousness, he rejoiced as he witnessed his father and Rodrigo fall.