Genomorph

Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46

“Brandi, please wake up!”

It was not the persistent shaking or the two slaps Melissa delivered that brought Brandi back to consciousness, it was the fearful tone of her voice. Never before had anyone been able to wake her from Zen sleep but Melissa’s frightened voice had cut through to her like a knife. For a moment she was very disoriented, just like any other person awakened suddenly from a fitful sleep.

“What’s wrong?” she managed to get out. She vaguely noticed that she was completely naked; her armor had reabsorbed automatically once she had settled into her restorative sleep.

“Someone is moving around outside,” Melissa said. “A lot of them.”

Brandi’s armor returned, forming about her body as she rose from the bed. She quickly donned her combat harness and weapons and moved to the window, carefully looking outside. She could clearly see several men taking positions up in front of the house, and no doubt they were all around it.

“Did you do anything that might have tipped them off that you saw them?”

Melissa shook her head, “I had all the lights off already. I can’t believe I actually saw them as dark as it is.”

Brandi looked at Melissa sharply and asked, “Can you see me now?”

Melissa nodded, “It’s kind of weird though; everything is different shades of grey.”

Brandi nodded her understanding; it was the almost the same thing she saw. The interior of the house was pitch black; Melissa was seeing in the thermal spectrum. The only difference was Brandi's night vision was multi-spectrum, allowing her to see in full color.

“How long was I out?”

“Almost five hours.”

Brandi ran the tactical situation through in her mind; the house was surrounded and no doubt the drive way was barricaded. The Hummer could probably smash through or over whatever they had blocking the road but it was not armored and they would take a lot of gunfire in the process. When the mercenaries were ready they would enter the house at multiple points, both upstairs and downstairs. They would leave enough outside to cover the perimeter and probably precede their entry with flash bang grenades.

“Grab everything and get to the garage,” Brandi said. As unattractive as it was, their only option was to make a break in the Hummer as the mercenaries launched their assault.

There was not much to grab, and in minutes they were sitting in the Hummer.

“Are you ok?” Brandi asked as they waited.

Melissa turned and looked at her as she said, “I feel better than I have in my life. I’m also a little pissed at you. You went way beyond your limits to heal me didn’t you?”

“I had to,” Brandi said. “Even after the Bonding it would have taken time for you to heal enough to move. But once the Bonding was done, I found I could push it and flood your body with nano-cyborgs and use my own regenerative powers to speed your healing.”

“You almost went too far,” Melissa said.

Brandi nodded, “I know. I’m still learning remember. Besides, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you.”

Melissa leaned across the Hummer and kissed Brandi.

“Just remember that I feel the same way,” she said. “I couldn’t bear to lose you either, and we both know you’re not invincible.”

Brandi was about to speak when they both detected the sound of glass shattering in the house, followed by several loud explosions. The garage door began slowly raising and Brandi started the Hummer and threw it into gear as she stepped hard on the gas. The four ton vehicle exploded forward and smashed through the garage door, sending the mercenaries outside flying.

Brandi kept the headlights off and cut the wheel hard to the right, guiding the Hummer down the narrow drive. Gunfire erupted around them and the vehicle was struck several times but none of the rounds hit either of the girls. As they neared the highway, they could see that the drive was indeed blocked by a pair of vans.

“Buckle up and hang on!” Brandi shouted as she aimed the Hummer directly for the spot where the bumpers of the two vans met.

Melissa managed to get her seat belt fashioned and brace herself just as the bumper of the Hummer connected with the two vans. Sparks showered as metal ground metal and the two vans were sent careening away from the barreling behemoth.

Melissa let out a yell, not of fear but of unbridled excitement as they crashed through the barricade. Brandi spared her a quick grin and said, “You’re getting way too into this stuff love.”

Melissa smiled back and could not deny that she had felt more alive in the past twelve hours than she had her entire life.

The highway was just ahead as more gunfire sought the speeding Hummer. Just before the front wheels hit the black top Brandi detected a squat, dark shape by the side of the drive.

“Shit!” she cursed as she cut the wheel hard to the right.

It was too late. The roadside mine detonated with a thunderous blast that slammed into the right side of the Hummer and sent it flying. Brandi had never fastened her own restraints and after the first flip she found herself airborne, flung from the vehicle as it tumbled across the highway. She hit the pavement hard and rolled twenty feet before coming to rest. The Hummer also ceased its tumbling and came to rest upright, fifty feet from where Brandi lay and on the opposite shoulder.

Brandi tried to push herself upright but pain shot through her left arm and forced a scream from her lips. Her legs were in agony and she was afraid to look down at them; afraid if she did she would see them bloody and mangled, see the right leg barely attached. For an instant she was back in the Iraqi desert, bloody and dying after being blown from another Hummer. She could taste the gritty sand in her mouth and heard the gunfire of the approaching Iraqis.

~ It was all a dream, just a dying dream. ~

There had been times when Brandi wanted it to be a dream; wanted desperately to wake up and find that she was still Brandon. For a moment it was almost a comfort to know that death was near; that all the months of pain and therapy were not to be; that the horror of waking up in a body so strange and alien would never come to pass.

But as she lay there she saw Melissa’s face, and more. Despite all that had happened, in the last few weeks she had been happier than she ever had in her life, and not just because of Melissa, though she was a large part of it. But more than that, she had come to like who she was, even if there were aspects of her new life that made her uncomfortable. She fought against the blackness that threatened to engulf her.

~ No! I want it to be real! I want to be Brandi! ~

Gunfire smashed into the asphalt near her head and snapped her back into reality. Despite the pain she forced herself upright, reaching for the MP-7 that was miraculously still hanging from her right shoulder. She flicked the safety off and snapped the trigger back, emptying the magazine towards the mercenaries in one long burst. When the weapon ran dry she let it drop and reached across her body for its twin. It had not fared as well as the other, having been torn free when she was thrown from the Hummer. Her pistol was still there however and she snatched it free. As she swung it on line to fire she heard automatic fire behind her and turned to see Melissa, her face bloody, firing the M-4 out the window of the wrecked Hummer.

~ Damn I love that girl! ~

As Melissa provided cover Brandi struggled to her feet. Her right leg was battered and sore and her left hip felt as though a white hot spike had been driven into it, but neither appeared broken like her arm. Her armor had shielded her from abrasion as she tumbled across the asphalt but she ached in a dozen different places and was certain she had several broken ribs. Slowly and painfully she limped towards the Hummer and cover, practically dragging her left leg which refused to move properly.

Brandi lurched to cover behind the Hummer and then opened fire on the mercenaries to allow Melissa to get out of the wrecked vehicle. She had to kick the passenger side door several times to finally get it open, and then she joined Brandi behind the vehicle.

“How many times do I have to tell you to wear your seat belt?” Melissa asked.

“Yes, Mom,” Brandi said. “Are you ok?”

“Well I kind of threw up after I finally stopped tumbling,” Melissa said.

“It’s ok love, I don’t think the owner will notice,” Brandi said.

“What are we going to do?”

Brandi holstered her pistol and awkwardly reloaded the MP-7, and then popped up over the Hummer and fired three bursts towards the mercenaries. She saw one go down before she was forced to duck as they returned fire.

“I was kinda hoping Jack Bauer would show up and save us,” Brandi said.

“It does feel like we’re in an episode of 24,” Melissa admitted. “I’m afraid though, sweetie, that in this episode Jack is a girl.”

“They’re trying to flank us,” Brandi said as several of the mercenaries broke cover and sprinted into the trees on either side of the road. The rest split into two elements, one firing to keep the girls pinned down as the other advanced.

“Well they had to get a clue sooner or later,” Brandi said as the bullets slammed into the Hummer relentlessly. “They’re gonna keep us pinned while the others flank us and then it will be over. When I break cover I want you to run down the road as fast as you can and don’t stop.”

“Brandi, I won’t leave you,” Melissa said.

“You have to,” Brandi pleaded. “Remember what I told you; if they have you, they have me. I can barely move, Melissa. But I can keep them busy while you get away. I escaped once, I’ll do it again.”

Reluctantly Melissa nodded her head and prepared to move. Brandi rolled out from behind the Hummer and began firing. Melissa was just rising to run when gunfire erupted from the tree line on both sides of the road. The mercenaries were caught exposed by three overlapping fields of fire and the few survivors hastily retreated back up the road.

Melissa stopped and looked at Brandi, who appeared to be listening intently. Then the sound came to Melissa’s ears as well; stealthy footfalls from the woods to either side of them.

“Hold your fire,” a voice called out from the darkness. “We’re coming out.”

A dozen shapes clad in midnight blue emerged from the woods, their weapons lowered. One of the figures slowly approached Brandi and offered a hand to help her up as he stopped.

“United States Navy SEALs,” Lieutenant Matt Branch said. “We’re here to get you ladies someplace safe.”

Brandi hesitated, unable to believe what she was hearing and seeing.

“It’s ok, Skipper,” Chief Charlie Wright said, approaching from the opposite side of the road. “The Hammer sent us to get you out.”

Brandi accepted Branch’s hand and allowed him to help her up. He grinned sheepishly at her, and Brandi started crying like a baby.

*****

“Thank you Michael.” Amanda Breton said, and then hung up the phone. She turned to Susan and smiled.

“We got them.”