Chapter 23
Riptide
With the last woman through the fence, I pivoted on the ball of my foot and brought my rifle up.
A calmness settled over me. How quickly the old training came back.
The gun was a comforting weight tucked up against my shoulder.
With Lockout to my left, and Hush, Butcher, and Toxic behind me, we started moving toward the altar.
They formed up in a ‘V’ behind me, a wedge moving through the alley ways.
This allowed us to move together, but not have to worry about accidentally shooting each other in the back.
About one hundred meters from the fence I threw my left arm up with a fist. Silently, they stopped behind me, waiting for my cue to move again.
Keith was one of the guards still on patrol and he was walking along the fence, looking bored.
Too bad the sorry fucker was about to die without knowing what hit him.
Even with all the men at the altar, I knew there would be a few perimeter guards.
It was important to take them out so that there wasn’t anyone running in behind us once we got to the middle of town.
If we could neutralize him and any others without being given away, we could trap all the men at once. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. It was the best case scenario for us considering the men outnumbered us three to one.
I motioned for Lockout to come closer. Without words, I indicated he needed to sling his rifle and draw his knife.
My president gave me a feral grin when he caught on to what we were about to do.
He didn’t mind following my lead since I was the one who knew the layout and the people.
That’s what made Lockout such a great leader.
Unlike Ethan, he trusted his people and did whatever was best for our safety and success, even if it meant putting one of us temporarily in charge.
It wasn’t a danger to his pride to follow for a change.
We crept up on Keith, slinking alongside the houses.
I waited until he turned his back, then leapt from the shadows.
My arms wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air before he could scream.
Lockout's knife was in his gut before he knew he was under attack. His hands clawed at my arms even as blood dripped down his body. Holding him immobile, I waited until his body went limp in my arms. I dragged him back toward the shadows, hoping to leave him somewhere he wouldn’t be discovered.
We were only halfway to the safety the houses provided when everything went to hell.
“Hey! You there! Stop!” The man's shouts were followed by gun fire. We’d been spotted by another guard, and he decided shooting us was best. Stupid fucker.
The fact that he didn’t stop to think who else might be in the line of fire—he didn’t know the women and children were gone—was a clear indicator that he wasn’t well trained.
Not to mention the fact that he was spraying rounds everywhere, rather than making any direct hits.
The last one was lucky for us because it meant he was more likely to miss us.
I dropped the body and dove for cover as bullets whizzed past my head.
Even bad shots could get lucky and I didn’t feel like adding a bullet wound to the list of injuries I’d sustained while here.
Butcher, Toxic, and Hush answered with gunfire of their own, dropping the guard in his tracks.
I came up with my rifle at the ready. “Let's go. They’ll be heading for the armory.” We’d lost the element of surprise, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have a job to do.
I picked up the pace, rifle still butted up against my shoulder, ready to use if I needed it.
We were closing in on the center of town and I had no clue how many men would be waiting for us.
The altar would come into view any minute.
With our cover blown, thanks to the guard, I knew we’d be outnumbered.
It played into our favor that most of the men who’d lived on the compound weren’t trained like we were.
They were good at beating on women, but that was about it.
That’s why I wasn’t going to feel an ounce of guilt when we killed them.
A few men ran towards us, they were unarmed and cut down with ease. “The armory is on the other side.” I pointed toward the building where they kept their weapons. We ran toward it, hoping to get there before they had a chance to load up. That hope was quickly decimated.
Three men came around the end of the stage and opened fire.
I dropped behind the bleachers and let three rounds rip off, suppressing fire to give my guys a chance to find cover.
Wood splintered next to my face as their bullets once again zipped past me.
I snapped off three more. We had each other pinned.
That was okay, my guys would be maneuvering to flank them.
It was my job to keep them distracted. I was damn good at my job.
Popping up again, I fired, then ducked back down.
Hearing the bullets scream by overhead, I waited them out as they returned fire.
More gunfire split the night air, followed by a shout of pain.
I stood up, glad when I wasn’t shot at again.
Lockout and Toxic were jogging up on my left, Butcher and Hush came in low to my right.
“Well, which way now, lover boy?” Butcher asked with a smirk.
We heard more gunfire from the north. Priest, Hellfire and Ricochet had started their attack.
I ran forward, the four of them falling into our original wedge formation.
“Come on!” I yelled. It was too late to cut them off from the armory, but we might be able to pin them there. Meet up with the others.
Trap them in an armory. I shook my head at the thought. It was a terrible tactic and would make for a nasty standoff. Wasn’t much we could do about it at this point, though. Other than kill them as quickly as we could.
I peeked around the last corner to the armory just in time to see men taking up positions in the street around it.
“Fuck,” I muttered. I motioned to Hush for another magazine.
Dropping the empty one from my rifle, I slammed the fresh magazine into place.
Looking up at the four of them, I relayed the plan.
They were all watching me, waiting for instruction.
I’d be doing the same if any of them had been placed in charge.
That was what I loved about my brothers.
We all set egos aside and worked together.
“Hush, Butcher, Toxic, you three pin them down here. These houses are empty and should give you good cover. Lock and I will slip around to the right and come out the window of that house,” I motioned over my shoulder, “and hit them from the side. Roll them up real quick.” They nodded, and we headed for our positions.
Speed and stealth were the only things on our side for now and we needed to use them to our advantage.
They had the numbers to overwhelm us if we let them.
This was our battle to lose, but only if we were stupid enough to fuck up.
We weren’t stupid and we wouldn’t lose. I’d make sure of that.
Ethan and his piece of shit minions were dying tonight.
Jury was out on whether they knew it yet or not.
Ethan was arrogant enough to think they’d be able to take us out. I knew he was wrong.
Lockout on my heels, I kicked in the front door and ran through the house. When I came to the bedroom window I raised my rifle to smash it and paused. I could see Jacob and Bruce ushering Ethan out of the armory.
“Fuck! The bastard is getting away.” I looked at Lockout desperately, I couldn’t leave them hanging, but the urge to go after Ethan was overwhelming.
He gave me a nod of confirmation. He would have my back no matter what I chose to do.
Relief clogged my throat as I leapt through the window, rolling up onto my feet and firing as I stood.
I charged the guards in the street. Despite the dark I could see their eyes turn into giant white saucers as Lockout and I busted right through them, causing them to scatter in fear.
I watched them run off into the night, choosing life rather than pitting themselves against us.
We’d deviated from the plan, but the others rolled with it. We met up at the side of the house we’d just come from.
“Ethan is getting away, you four keep going until that armory is cleared out.” Before Lockout could say no I took off in the direction that Ethan was headed.
The last thing I was going to do was leave my brothers behind with less back up.
I’d go after Ethan myself. The other four were elite fucking killers.
They could handle an armory full of terrible shots and weak men.
Bullets kicked at my feet as the bastards tried to cut me down.
They were hoping to kill me before I could reach their leader.
Hopefully I was giving the guys a needed distraction to move in.
The sound of gunfire fell away, more of a low echo as I moved away from the armory.
Jacob, Bruce, and Ethan would be heading for the trucks.
Had to be. It only made sense that they would take the precious Earth God away from the fight.
It wasn’t like any of the cowards would stay and fight themselves.
Certainly not Ethan. He would rather sacrifice all the men’s lives than put his own on the line.
For all he knew he was sacrificing the women and children as well.
I doubted they’d figured out in the middle of the fight that they were gone.
I turned towards the vehicles and picked up my pace.
My lungs heaved as I ran through the night.
I’d gotten out of shape living here the last couple months.
Working out everyday was something I was used to in my normal routine.
There hadn’t been a chance for that here, not without drawing attention.