The Knightly Estate Chp. 6

“Alright, this is going to sting,” said Stray, his tweezers deep in my leg.

“Just, hurry up…” I said, drenched in sweat.

“You got it,” said Stray, as he yanked on the bullet lodged in my leg.

Earlier the pain had numbed, that was two hours ago, in the dark, now the lights were on, and I was sitting on a medical bed, with a man in pinstripes pouring over the half inch wide hole in my leg. The yank is probably strong enough to pull a tooth out of someone's jaw, and the dull throbbing from before is reinvigorated into the burning pain that I had experienced after stupidly forgetting to reload my gun. It had me screaming two hours ago, and it has me screaming now.

“Calm down you wuss,” said Stray as he dropped the chunk of lead into a dish of saline solution.

“Easy for you to say,” I cry out through gritted teeth.

Stray bandages me up, and says to stay off of it for a couple of days.

To which I reply, “We gotta rescue Emi,” and leave the infirmary.

“Follow me,” says Zephyr as he leads us through a hallway.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“You'll see soon enough,” he nonchalantly replied.

Someone called out from behind us, we all turned around to see Spencer rushing after us.

“Hey!” He cried out, “wait up!”

We all stop and wait for him to reach us, and when he finally does, and catch his breath, he asks, “you guys are going to get Emi? Right?”

“Indeed,” said Zephyr.

“Do you guys even know where you're going?” said Spencer.

“We sure do Spencer-kun!” said Kazu, “I traced one of the guy's phones to a building not far from here!”

I turn to Kazu, “you traced?”

“I hacked his phone!~” he said.

“We’re here,” said Zephyr.

What we stood in front of was a old wooden door, it wasn't painted, nor had it looked liked it had seen any kind of maintenance over the last 10 years.

“What’s behind the door?” I asked.

“My baby,” said Zephyr.

He opened the door, revealing a large object covered by a tarp in the center of a vast garage.

He walked up to it, everyone else stood at the door, and pulled the tarp off.

“This, is a German Panzerkampfwagen five, known as the Panther, this one being the G model, it boasts a 75 millimeter gun, and 80 millimeters of effective armor on the front, as well as a decent 50 millimeters on the sides and back,” he said, pausing to catch his breath, “this is what we're going to use to retrieve Ms. Emi from the people that took her.”

“Damn, that is amazing,” said Kazu, “but does it actually work?”

“Yes it does,” said Zephyr, “you might want to stand back.”

We all backed up out of the room sticking our heads through the door to watch what happened next. Zephyr clambered in through the top hatch, and after a short pause the only thing we could hear was a small clank.

The next thing we heard could probably be heard all the way to the city centre. He fired the cannon. The blast was earth shattering, kicking up dust and blowing it through the door frame. The ringing in my ears lasted minutes after the shot.

Austin came rushing down the hall, bursting pass the three of us.

“Zephyr! What the hell are you doing?!” He cried out.

“Well giving a demonstration of how we're going to rescue Emi,” he said, as he poked his head out of the hatch.

“Well, I’m coming with you,” said Austin, as he clambered onto the tank hull.

“Alright, you're hull gunner, your seat is on the right,” said Zephyr, pointing to something out of view.

Austin opened a hatch and disappeared inside of it momentarily before popping his head out of the top.

Kazu was next, and he got the driver’s position, Spencer was given the loader and then there was me.

“Well, since I did choose you last, you do get to relive all those terrible moments in grade school where you were chosen last for a sport,” he said, “however you also get to live the possibility of shooting a 75 millimeter gun at some bad guys.”

I look at the long metal tube that extends from the front of the turret as I climb up to the top.

“Your seat is on the right of the turret,” said Zephyr as he got into the commander's seat, “ Kaz, let's rock and roll!”

The engine roared to life, and I hear a shout from Spencer. Looking down he gives me a thumbs up as he loads a shell into the breech.

The synthetic wood garage door that separates us from our quest is no match for the 44.8 ton beast and we roll right through it.

Zephyr sets a radio down onto the tank floor, and presses the play button. A smile creeps up on my face as AC/DC’s Thunderstruck plays.