Chapter Thirty-Three
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XATHAN’S RESTLESSNESS had grown stronger and he knew he needed to blow off some steam.
Creel Lawson got on his nerves every time he had a meeting with Governor Giamano, Rahab and Xathan.
The ginger-haired prepper glared at him with loathing written all over his face.
Their feud was increasing and it would end in violence sooner or later.
Speaking of violence, Xathan had always thought of himself as being above his fellow Soldiers of Chaos.
He was finding out that maybe he was just as savage as they were deep down.
The constant inactivity was getting to him.
Their infrequent skirmishes with unruly survivors were few and far between.
The militia took care of most of the threats.
Xathan was usually stuck in his office when Rahab sent his troops out to assist the humans with any problems they couldn’t handle.
“I need to breathe fresh air,” Xathan muttered, sitting behind his desk as usual. “I need to get out and do something other than dealing with bureaucracy for once.”
It was late in the afternoon and the staff would be heading to their homes soon. Ivy Roche had visited his office an hour ago. He’d used her body for pleasure, but not even sex was enough to quell his need for action.
Getting up to pace, Xathan saw the streetlights come on at dusk. He waited for night to fall before leaving his office. His two guards fell in behind him as he left the Empire State Building.
“Where are we going?” one of the males asked when they walked past their base and Rahab’s gym.
“Not much further,” Xathan replied. He spotted Lachial and Vetis standing near the apartment building where Jazmine Sedaka was living. The two blond warriors were chatting quietly when he approached them. “Is something wrong with your youngling?” Xathan asked.
“You mean apart from her being utterly insane?” Lachial asked wryly. “Jazmine’s the same as always. She just sits there, staring at the stupid painting I gave her.”
“That’s when she isn’t sneaking out at night to slaughter people,” Vetis said slyly.
Lachial scowled at him. “You can’t prove it was my offspring that killed all those mercs.”
Vetis rolled his eyes, as if they’d had this argument many times already.
“I thought I might take a trip to New Jersey,” Xathan said in a casual tone. “Do you want to accompany me?”
“New Jersey?” Lachial asked with one pale eyebrow quirked in surprise. “Rahab hasn’t ordered us to search for our progeny there yet.”
“All three of us have already either found or lost our offspring,” Xathan pointed out. “Vetis’ and my cambions are with our enemies at their base and Jazmine is right here,” he added, sweeping his hand at the apartment building. “I thought you might like to have some fun just for tonight.”
Vetis and his slightly taller companion shared a doubtful look. “Do you even know what we consider to be fun?” Vetis asked skeptically.
“I imagine it involves dismembering humans and violating helpless females,” Xathan said wryly. He wasn’t into forcing women against their will, but his colleagues would no doubt leap at the chance.
“I’m in,” Lachial said with a bloodthirsty gleam in his red-tinged pale blue eyes.
“The mercenaries will notify Creel Lawson if they spot us leaving Manhattan,” Vetis predicted. “They’ll probably try to ambush us.”
“Then we’ll have to move too quickly for them to see us,” Xathan said with a grin that disconcerted them.
Their ten guards had overheard their conversation, of course. It was too dangerous for the three males to leave the city without backup. Rahab would no doubt learn of their adventure, but he could hardly punish them for it. Not after he’d lost control so many times during the past ten months.
“I’ve already chosen an area where some survivors have been spotted,” Xathan said as he took the lead. “There are supposedly hundreds of humans living together in a community. Why don’t we have a competition and see who can kill the most targets?”
“Who are you and what have you done with the real Xathan?” Vetis demanded, then snickered. Lachial laughed along with him, eager to best his comrades.
All thirteen aliens sprinted across the interstate bridge rather than using the Lincoln Tunnel. The humans standing guard felt a gust of wind as the soldiers rushed past them, but that was all.
Xathan headed north towards where he’d heard survivors were gathered together.
He sensed someone and angled towards the house.
More humans showed up on his radar, scattered throughout the area.
“It seems the rumors are true,” he said when he came to a halt.
“There’s an entire community of survivors hiding out not far from Manhattan. ”
“Don’t they realize we would have found them sooner or later?” Vetis said incredulously. “The militants are already spreading out past the five boroughs. They would have ended up here in a few more weeks or months to search for supplies and conscripts.”
“Who cares why they chose to hide here?” Lachial said with a scowl. “Let’s split up and kill them all.”
Xathan contained his sigh of derision. “I have a plan,” he said before his colleagues could race off and begin their carnage.
“Of course you do,” Vetis said with a sneer.
Ignoring the sarcasm, Xathan continued. “I suggest we split up as Lachial wants, but we should come at the humans from three different directions. We can wipe out our targets as we move inwards towards where the bulk of them are clustered.”
“None of them will get the chance to flee, so we won’t have to chase them down afterwards,” Lachial said with an approving smirk. “Where do you want us?”
“I’ll approach from the north,” Xathan said, pulling a map out of his pocket to show them the area he’d circled. “You two can approach from the southeast and the southwest.” The spots he pointed to were equidistant from the center of the community.
“Can we get started already?” Vetis asked. He was getting antsy and he just wanted to kill someone.
“Give us one minute to reach our position,” Xathan said.
“You mean we can all get in on the action?” a guard asked skeptically.
“I doubt the three of us can slaughter several hundred armed humans without being decimated,” Xathan said wryly.
Their guards immediately became invested in the contest that was about to unfold.
Xathan and his two soldiers sprinted to the north, sensing just how many targets were currently inside the houses. Some windows had candlelight or lamplight shining through the curtains. None of them had power or running water.
At the one-minute mark, the thirteen Soldiers of Chaos began moving.
Doors were kicked in and screams of rage, pain and terror began to sound.
Humans boiled out of the buildings as mayhem ensued.
The dark sky lit up with flashlights and gunfire.
Xathan released the tight rein he held over his savage side.
For once, he allowed himself to live in the moment.
Lachial giggled insanely as he chased after three men. Slicing their legs off, he reveled in the carnage as blood spurted from the stumps. He skewered them through their hearts before entering a house where he sensed some people were cowering.
Vetis’ green eyes were alight with joy as he smashed his way through a flimsy door.
Three women who looked related fired their guns at him while screaming shrilly.
He avoided the bullets and punched the oldest female in the face, knocking her to the floor.
He would have taken his time to torture the younger women if he hadn’t been embroiled in a kill count contest. “What a waste,” he said regretfully as he sliced their heads off, then stomped on their relative’s chest to finish her off.
Working their way inwards just as Xathan had planned, the warriors corralled the survivors in a small park. There was no cover for them to hide behind. They were surrounded and had nowhere to run. Worst of all, they were running out of bullets.
Some of the soldiers had received wounds, but none of them had died so far. There were still two hundred humans left. The aliens were badly outnumbered, but their battle prowess far outweighed their opponents’ pitiful experience at meting out death.
“Kill them all!” Lachial shouted, then cackled with mad delight.
Xathan was caught up in the rush of adrenalin they all felt as they waded into the fray with their swords held ready. They could have used their guns, but it was more of a challenge to use their traditional weapons.
The cacophony of the murder spree was deafening as limbs were hacked off and heads were severed.
The humans screamed in rage, fear and pain as they fought back.
Xathan was shot in the stomach and the bullet exited from his back.
He stoically ignored the agony as he lopped off the offender’s hand.
His next slice removed the man’s head from his neck.
Spinning in a tight circle, the normally civilized male took down five humans who were trying to hack him to death with knives.
Lachial’s insane laughter continued to peal throughout the area as he used his formidable skills to defeat his foes. Vetis giggled along with him as he sliced and diced everyone within his reach. Their guards were just as covered in gore when the last survivor finally fell.
Breathing harder than usual from the agony of the wounds in his stomach and back, Xathan took stock. He counted twelve soldiers still standing and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He wouldn’t have to face Rahab’s wrath as he’d feared, since they’d all survived the battle.
“That was fun!” Vetis said as his dull silver sword with rubies adorning the hilt vanished. “When can we do that again?”
“Damn it!” Lachial said with a sudden scowl. “I lost count of how many humans I slaughtered.”
“So did I,” Xathan said ruefully.
The others murmured in agreement. “It doesn’t matter,” Vetis said with a sunny grin. “We’re all winners and they’re a bunch of pathetic losers,” he said, gesturing at the pile of bloody bodies.
“Does anyone need a medic to dig bullets out of their flesh?” Xathan asked.
Three soldiers nodded. “Let’s head back to Manhattan and you can visit the clinic,” he said.
They would use mind control on the prepper to make him forget about treating their injuries.
Normal humans wouldn’t still be walking around with slugs stuck inside them.
Lachial frowned when he thought he sensed someone on the edge of his radar, but they vanished before he could make out who it was.