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Rated: 18+ · Short Story · Action/Adventure · #1599491
Action/Adventure. This is only the first chapter...
He fired his handgun toward the chaos ensuing ahead of him without any strategy or accuracy. He didn't really care who it hit as long as most of the fatalities were the Garths; soul hunters. Smoke blinded his field of vision for a brief second and he could hear the shots being fired back at him. He turned away and kneeled behind the brick wall that supported the warehouse as if that would stop the bullets from plummeting into his flesh. He turned back, afraid to stick his head out into the line of fire that was the alleyway. But suddenly everything became silent, the smoke cleared, and others stood confused. Into the alleyway, he just saw darkness; no figures moving about. Not even a footstep to be heard. They could be hiding, he thought. He looked at Rebecca and mentally communicated to her. She shrugged. She was on the other side of the alleyway with Joey and Paul, armed and ready to fire again but they too felt there was no need to fire anymore. She looked at Rebecca one more time and ran to the other side again. The shooting started again. He felt a pang in his left arm and anxiously ripped away the sleeve to examine that it was only a graze. He sighed in relief.
"Those fuckers. They think they can be all stealthy." He said angrily. He breathe deeply to regain his calm and continued, "I think there's about 3 shooters down there. Don’t know how many in total." He informed the others. He took out his magazine and quickly reloaded his gun. He peered out again but stepped back as more shooting continued.
"Alright, the way I see it. There's four of us, 3 of them. If we were to show our selves at the same time, instantly pick a target, the likely chance of being shot is what? 1in 4. Good luck, Joey." Paul laughed and patted Joey on the back as he adjusted his rifle. Joey glared at him and shook his head.
"Shut the fuck up, Paul. This isn't funny. Lets get this over with so I can take a fucking shower." Rebecca muttered angrily at them as she sat on the cold, hard cement looking up at the others. She combed her hand through her hair and made a face as she wiped away the dirt and grease that had accumulated performing this job. "If you guys want to stay till the wee mornings, be my guest, but I sure as hell don't want to live here. Riley?"
"Alright, you guys ready?" Riley asked. Rebecca got up on her feet and nodded. She counted to three and on three, they spread out in a line across the alleyway and started firing at every angle hoping to catch them off guard. Luckily enough, the shooting began and ended consequently with cries and screams. Then everything stopped and grew silent.
"I don’t know. Do we risk it? Should we call it a day, walk away?" Paul asked.
"No, idiot. Let's see if we go them all or if they escaped. We can't let them loose or the world will be in chaos." Riley answered.
"News flash, the world is already in chaos because of them. Unless we all stop reproducing, there will always be Garths and there will always be us. The world will remain in chaos. This is a never-ending battle and I do not know why we even take part in it if all were going to be doing is reaching a stalemate every fucking time." Joey responded in fury. He picked an empty glass bottle and smashed it against the wall.
"Sh. Keep it down. He told us to do it so we're going to do it." Rebecca reconciled.
"We don't even know who he is." Joey muttered.
A constant beep interrupted their argument and Riley took out his cellular device from his back pocket. The screen revealed a video of an old man. His gray hair was disheveled on top of his head and the deepening wrinkles constituting his forehead led Riley to believe this wasn't good news. His smile was forcefully put on his face and his fidgeting hands didn’t help either.
"Good evening. What can you tell me about your latest interaction with the enemy?" He asked calmly, his thumbs playing with each other as he sat and stared back upon the others with careful brown eyes.
"Well, we haven't actually finished just yet. We're clearing the area." Riley paused as he tried to read his boss. "Mr. Redloe, is something wrong. Usually we call you…" He trailed off as if expecting an answer.
But before Redloe could respond, Rebecca stopped in her tracks. Riley looked up and followed her eyes. In a shaded area lay a girl on her back blending into the darkness with a black turtleneck and black jeans. She was covered in debris from the shooting. Blood was matted to her hair and dirt covered her face. Tears formed in her eyes but she didn’t cry.
On first instinct, Riley held up his gun and pointed it at her. Rebecca gasped and looked at Riley in surprise.
"What is going on?" Redloe interrupted.
Riley looked down and then at the girl and then down again as if not sure whether to answer or kill her first.
"We found someone alive. A girl."
Redloe sighed. He rubbed his forehead and muttered, "Just as I feared. Bring her back here."
"What? You have got to be kidding me? She's a fucking garth, are you serious?!" Riley cocked his gun and aimed.
"I agree with you. Just kill me now." She said under her breath. She lowered her head back down and closed her eyes as she continued to breathe heavily.
"It is pertinent that you keep her alive. You're going to need her, believe it or not. It is in your best interest. This is what I was trying to explain to you before. However I don't have much time. I'm going on a trip to New Zealand for a conference and wont be for another week. I won't completely abandon you but I won't be there when you need me. I'm sorry." He paused and he formulated what else he had to say. "Riley, I'm putting you in charge. You need to keep it in check and do what's right for the others not what you think is right. Rebecca, look after the boys. Paul and Joey, don't mess around while I'm gone or you'll regret it."
With that, the screen went blank and they were left with the situation of the girl abandoned by her team in the alleyway.
"You shouldn’t listen to that man. He doesn’t know what he's talking about. Just kill me and be done with it," She spread her arms out exposing her chest. "Shoot me."
Riley thought hard on that. He could just kill her now and not have to worry about her attacking or backstabbing him but then whatever information Redloe wanted to get out of her, he would be screwed. Riley groaned and lowered his weapon.
"Really, Riley, what happened to being a rebel," Paul joked. Rebecca smacked him on the head.
"Somebody lift her up and get her back to our place. Check her first. See if there's anything she could turn on us with." Riley said and walked off into the darkness of the alley.
"Is she just going to leave her with us?" Joey asked bewildered. Paul shrugged and started patting the girl's pockets. He lifted the girl and carried her on his shoulder. He started walking away and Joey started following.
"You guys go on. I'm going to see if there's anything they might have left behind." Rebecca called out. The others nodded and continued walking.
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