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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 20:33:49 GMT -5
Sid turned his head, glancing over his shoulder at the priest as he flicked off the safety on his gun. "Well, Padre--"
He was interrupted by the clang of the truck's loading ramp as it dropped to the pavement, disgorging half a dozen heavily armed figures. One of them shouted to the driver and his companion in the passenger seat, who were already in the act of leaping down to the asphalt.
"Targets--three o'clock!"
None of the resistance fighters had anticipated that among their opponents, there might be a mutant who could sense the presence of other beings nearby.
The eight guards, armed with assault weapons and mutant powers, plowed into the woods--heading straight toward the resistance.
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 20:47:45 GMT -5
Father Rick bit back on the kind of curse he'd stopped using twenty years earlier, and pulled his own gun from the waistband of his pants.
"Now's the time, people!" He bellowed, "Like we discussed it -- first rank forward, second rank fall back! Find some cover -- move!"
As the small knot of resistance fighters broke into two groups and scrambled to comply, Padre gestured to Ana and the ghostly-pale mutant beside her.
"Timothy, move in -- if that truck's got a radio we need it taken out yesterday. Ana, you cover him -- keep 'em from calling in reinforcements!"
The two nodded and bolted forward, blue lightning flashing from the woman's hands as Timothy extended his arms, palms outward, toward the truck.
Here's hoping his power'll work at this distance, Padre thought grimly.
He had no further time to watch the pair, however -- Tiernan's men were firing their first shots . . . .
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 21:03:30 GMT -5
Sid let out a wordless snarl and dove behind the cover of a fallen tree, dragging with him the nearest of his companions within reach. He thought it was Alex--but as he raised his head, he saw that it was Henry.
"Okay, Henry," Sid rumbled. "You an' me... the two humans. We cover each other's backs 'til it's over."
"Deal," Henry replied hoarsely, raising his gun, and turned to aim at Tiernan's guards.
Across the river, Vance had turned on his heel at the first shot from the opposite bank. "Blizzard!" he bellowed at his team.
A mutant with blue-white skin sprang forward, extending his hand as he bounded toward the water. The mutants who had come with Daws and the Padre watched in amazement as a trail of ice crackled across the surface, blazing a trail toward the far bank and their comrades' fight.
Vance cast a glance at Daws. "All the way, detective," he murmured, and sprinted out onto the ice, followed by his men.
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 21:14:01 GMT -5
Daws yanked Sweetie from its holster and snapped "Veeru, Joey, c'mon!" The detective sprinted out onto the icy river without a backward glance, concern for her friends on the other side spurring her forward.
Veeru glanced briefly at the red-haired teenager before following Daws out onto the ice, his limp causing him to move quickly but clumsily. He hadn't gotten very far before his bad leg his a slick patch and he fell, his rifle skittering away across the ice.
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 21:26:43 GMT -5
Joey skidded on the ice, making a clumsy but successful grab for Veeru's rifle. He tossed it back to the other mutant, flashing him a brief grin--then slipped again and went down. Having already shifted into his elastic state, he bounced up again like a rubber ball, collected himself, and kept running.
Alex was pretty sure he had nicked one of the enemy mutants... if the enraged bellow and blast of wind that knocked him off his feet was any indication. He squirmed forward on his belly and bumped into someone, who flinched.
"Miriam!"
The young woman was curled into a fetal position, clutching her upper arm, and Alex could see the glint of blood in the patchy moonlight filtering through the trees. He reached out to examine her wound, but she tensed and pulled away from him.
"We lost someone," she whispered, and slowly lowered her hand, revealing a wound that was already being healed by the energy she had absorbed from that death.
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 21:44:03 GMT -5
Daws scrambled up the opposite bank of the river just behind Vance, then turned and extended her hand to help Veeru up the slope. The dark-haired man flashed her a brief smile.
"There is never a dull moment with you!"
Daws shook her head. "Less chattin', more takin' cover, V!" She replied shortly. She turned to find that Joey had bounced up onshore just downstream of them, and gestured at the boy.
"Stick with me, kid!" She scrambled forward into the fray, firing her revolver as she went . . .
Padre hastily reloaded his automatic pistol and leveled it at one of the largest of Tiernan's men, a shaggy white-furred brute who was barreling dangerously closer. Padre took aim and fired, and the big mutant fell in his tracks. Padre realized, with a bizarre mixture of elation and horror, that the shot had hit near the heart . . .
Oh, God of all soldiers, forgive me; for I am mortal, and afraid to die . . .
There wasn't time for self-recrimination; Padre scrambled behind the rusting hulk of an abandoned car and kept firing.
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 21:59:55 GMT -5
Vance charged up the riverbank, seemingly defying the enemy bullets to strike him. Blue-white light flared in his palms, and he raised his hands, hurling a pair of kinetic grenades toward the advancing guards. One went down, another cried out from injury, and a third deflected the blast with a force bubble.
"Get everyone back!" Vance bellowed at Daws. "--I still got a target to take out!"
With that, he plunged forward, unslinging the assault rifle over his shoulder to blast his way through to the truck.
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 22:19:54 GMT -5
"Stupid, crazy, son of a . . ." Daws wheeled and gestured frantically at Veeru.
"V, get back across the river -- take whoever ya find! Joey, you go that way," She flung out her arm "Tell everyone to fall back!"
She dashed away from the pair without waiting for a reply, dodging shots and returning them, shouting "Get back across the river!" to whoever she saw, and scanning for a familiar figure . . .
Daws finally caught sight of what she was looking for -- a thatch of unruly straw-blonde hair that stuck out at all angles. The woman to whom the hair belonged was crouched with Padre and several others behind a rusting old vehicle.
Daws dashed for them, felt the slicing burn as a bullet grazed her hip, and half-fell, half-slid behind the car.
"Scold!"
The blonde woman fired another shot before turning to Daws. "Whattaya need, Daws?"
"Tell everyone to fall back across the river, and do it now. We got no time before that truck goes up!"
The blonde woman nodded vigorously and suddenly leapt into the air, shouldering her rifle and cupping her hands to her mouth. "Resistance, fall back across the river!" The sound of her voice, amplified with a clarity and power no sound system could have duplicated, rang across the battlefield; Daws could see the resistance members scrambling to comply.
Scold dropped back to earth and was off running herself; Daws felt a solid hand on her shoulder.
"C'mon, my girl, I think we've had enough battling for one night." Padre murmured, hauling her to her feet.
Daws searched the battlefield frantically. "Sid - Alex - Miriam, they're --"
"Going to be all right," the priest interjected gruffly, "And so're we -- but only if we move it."
Daws nodded, and the two of them ran for the frozen river . . .
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 22:50:55 GMT -5
When the fall-back order came, Sid looked over at Henry. "You move. I'll cover."
"Who's going to cover you, you dolt?" Henry retorted, and grasped Sid's arm, hauling him up and away before he could protest. Dodging bullets, the two men scrambled toward the ice bridge, neither questioning how it had appeared.
Alex instinctively dropped flat to the ground at the sound of the booming voice, but when its message sank in, he drew a sharp breath and caught Miriam's wrist. "Come on!"
Stifling a gasp of pain, Miriam lurched up from the ground and almost fell into his arms. He half-guided, half-dragged her toward the riverbank. He didn't know how many of Tiernan's guards were left, but no bullets seemed to be coming in their direction, so he plunged forward.
The ice bridge gleamed in the light of the still-raging inferno atop the true bridge above. Alex winced at the slushy crunch of the ice beneath them; it was already melting.
They took another step, and it gave way altogether, sending them with a splash into the river's currents.
Alex never lost his grip on Miriam's arm, although he heard her gasp in pain from her wound. Years of aquatic horseplay with Sid's children had made him a strong swimmer, and he swam with one arm holding Miriam, whose small frame was in more danger of being carried away by the current. As it was, they were being steadily pushed downstream.
After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the other side. Alex helped the coughing and spluttering Miriam up onto the bank, then clambered up himself and sat beside her, bedraggled and exhausted.
They both started as another massive explosion roared into the sky on the other side of the river, from which they had just come. Someone had evidently succeeded in blowing up the second truck--but they had no way of knowing who had done it, or whether that person had survived.
"We've got to get to the others," Miriam mumbled breathlessly, attempting to rise.
Alex caught her hand. "Just rest a minute," he said softly, and pulled her back down beside him, putting his arm around her to stave off the night chill.
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 23:08:29 GMT -5
The minute Daws set foot on the ice bridge she hesitated, drawing Padre up short. The priest frowned, and Daws gestured at the crumbling path to safety.
"Go. I'll wait for the others."
"The devil you will," Padre growled. "What's gotten into you?"
The detective flinched at a brief burst of gunfire behind them. "We can't leave anybody behind."
"We need to get out of here, Daws!" He reached for her wrist, but she pulled out of his grasp and scowled.
"Padre," she snapped, "That thing's meltin' and I can't swim."
He stared at her for a moment, then held out his hand. "Then you'll have to run."
"Or you could fly." Scold's voice came from above at the same time her hands slipped under Daws' arms. "Run, Padre." The blonde mutant instructed, rising with some difficulty into the air, "We'll manage."
The priest nodded and bolted across the crumbling, unstable ice: halfway through he caught up with Ana and Timothy, the latter struggling to support the white-haired woman's greater weight. Padre wordlessly took one of Ana's arms over his shoulder and the trio scrambled the rest of the way across the river.
Scold set Daws gingerly down on the bank next to them, and turned in midair. "Did we leave --"
She was interrupted by a thunderous noise and a flash of searing light; the other truck had gone up in a flare of brilliance and the chattering of exploding ammunition. Scold winced and sank to earth.
Padre helped Timothy lower the unconscious Ana to the ground and glanced up at Daws -- but the detective was already heading away from them into the night.
"Daws?"
She didn't turn. "I gotta find the kid. I told him I'd watch out for 'im."
The priest started to call her back -- then sighed, nodded, and turned to tending Ana's unconscious form.
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 23:18:47 GMT -5
His ears ringing from the explosion, Joey wandered in a daze among the ragged resistance fighters. He was too stunned to even begin thinking about everything that had just happened.
He passed by Sid and Henry, who were sitting side by side in bleak silence. Grace was hovering near them, in a daze that was easily the equal of Joey's, but the boy realized their friends the doctor and the actor were not with them. He hoped they were okay.
Looking around vacantly, he at last spotted a familiar, furred figure walking away from the Padre, and ran toward her. "Daws!"
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 23:24:39 GMT -5
"Joey!" Daws let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and grasped the kid's hand in a relieved handshake. "You okay, kid?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 23:31:00 GMT -5
"I... I don't have any holes in me," Joey replied, in a nervous half-laugh that quivered with tension. He swallowed hard and looked anxiously into Daws' face. "What about you, and your other friends?"
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Post by skybright on May 31, 2006 23:39:16 GMT -5
"I'm all right -- got scratched, but nothin' some gauze won't fix. The others . . . " Daws glanced around at the shaken, ragtag group clustered together in the darkness. "Hard to say. Looks like we got just about everyone from Our Lady . . ." She didn't mention the people who were notably missing. "Ana's out cold, but it'd take a bull elephant and a lot more gunfire than we just saw to do away with her. And Veeru's . . . ."
"Here." The Indian mutant limped up behind them, leaning on his rifle as a makeshift crutch. "I think I may have injured my ankle -- it won't hold my weight very well."
Daws frowned; with Veeru's inabilty to feel pain, that could mean anything from a mild sprain to a severe break or a gunshot wound. "Maybe the Doc can take a look at . . ." She frowned and scanned the crowd again, her heart sinking. Oh, Boss, don't . . .
"Where's Alex and the Doc?"
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Post by Jordanna on May 31, 2006 23:54:59 GMT -5
Miriam's shock seemed to be setting in; Alex could feel her shivering against him. He leaned over and looked at the exposed wound on her arm, which was already all but vanished, and tried not to think of how many lives had been lost for her to heal so rapidly. He was afraid the energy she'd absorbed would not allow her to sleep now, either, and that was something she surely needed desperately.
At least thinking about her kept him from facing his own reactions.
Neither one of them had performed very admirably, he felt. He couldn't blame Miriam; she was probably lucky she hadn't been blown away when a vision paralyzed her. For himself, he was sorry that he hadn't tried harder--fought harder. He had never been more afraid.
Gently he touched her shoulder. "Can you get up?"
Miriam raised her head slightly and nodded, squeezing his arm. He unsteadily clambered to his own feet, then helped her up, and with a supportive arm around her, he guided her along the riverbank toward the site they had started from.
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Post by skybright on Jun 1, 2006 0:15:49 GMT -5
Daws left Veeru and Joey standing near the others and slipped back to where she'd left Scold, Timothy, Padre and the unconscious Ana.
She found them more or less as she'd left them; Timothy chafing worriedly at Ana's hands, Scold gazing outward at the smoldering remains of the two trucks. Padre's eyes -- both sets -- seemed to be focused on nothing at all, and Daws glanced down at him with some concern. "Padre? How's Ana?"
No response.
"Padre."
The priest jolted out of a reverie and blinked up at Daws, startled. "Yes?"
The detective frowned worriedly. "I asked, how is she?"
"Ana?" The priest stood. "She'll live. I think she has a concussion." He shook his head and surveyed both the burning wreckage in front of him and the ragtag survivors behind. "You know, Daws, tonight . . ." He shook his head. "Tonight I became a person I thought I buried in Da Nang, a long time ago."
"Hey." The detective laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't care who you are, Padre, so long as you stay with us for another couple hours. We gotta get these people moved out."
That brought the priest back to the present, and he nodded. "Sorry. You're right." He knelt and began lifting Ana. "We'd best go back to the Hop Mart -- best to return to the staging ground."
Daws nodded and stepped over to Scold. "Got one more shout in you tonight, Jess?"
Scold nodded. " 'Course."
"Send everyone back to the convenience store, willya?" Everyone who made it, she didn't add.
"Sure." The blonde woman rose into the air, cupped her hands to her mouth once more, and called -- at a much lower volume this time -- "Resistance, back to the rondevous!"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 1, 2006 0:37:18 GMT -5
Miriam didn't respond to the distant call for the resistance to regroup, but Alex heard it, and quickened their pace a little. Miriam let out a soft whimper of protest, and he drew her a little closer. "They're calling everyone back to the parking lot of the gas station. We better get outta here before the real cops show up."
Miriam took a breath and drew herself up slightly, lengthening her stride. She was making an effort, at least.
"How many people..." Alex couldn't finish the thought.
Her voice quivered. "Four of ours... all of theirs."
Alex winced and said nothing.
On their march to the Hop-Mart parking lot, they caught up with stragglers from the group, whose suspicious glances quickly turned to looks of relief. Ahead, Alex saw Henry bandaging the arm of a young woman. Sid stood beside him, with folded arms and a vacant expression. It was all Alex could do not to run to him.
He saw them first, and a tremendous grin lit up his face. "Foxy! Doc!"
Henry's head snapped up, and he abandoned his patient, rushing forward to take Miriam in his arms. "Miriam! Are you alright?"
"I will be," Miriam replied faintly.
Still holding Miriam close, Henry looked over her shoulder to Alex. The young entertainer's lips thinned, and he shook his head slightly, a silent message that the psychic blow to Miriam had been severe.
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Post by skybright on Jun 1, 2006 0:47:16 GMT -5
They limped, straggled, and drifted their way back to the parking lot, some leaning heavily on each other while others merely clustered in groups.
Daws and Joey supported Veeru between them, and Padre and Timothy did the same with Ana; the six of them arrived among the last stragglers.
Daws scanned the crowd -- and saw with a feeling of sad horror that Georgi Petrov was cradling the lifeless body of his brother Karel.
How many didn't make it? She thought glumly.
The distant sound of Sid Rosenstein shouting her name distracted her; she looked in his direction and was suddenly elated to see the familiar figures of Alex and Miriam with him.
Thanking heaven for small favors, Daws guided Veeru and Joey over to join their friends.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 1, 2006 0:53:13 GMT -5
Heedless of Daws' allergens or his own drenched clothing, Alex threw his arms around Daws in a hug when she approached. "I'm awfully glad you're safe."
The presence of those she cared about seemed to be drawing Miriam out of her daze. She pulled away from Henry and shook herself slightly, running her hands across her face and through her wet hair. At last she looked up at Daws, with a faint, haggard smile.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, a weak and helpless apology for the fact that she had not done more.
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Post by skybright on Jun 1, 2006 1:00:49 GMT -5
Daws shook her head and reached out to grasp the other woman's hands. "Don't, Doc. Don't. You're safe, we're out, and that's enough."
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