Arc 3 - Chapter 37: Train Holdout I

(Reverence 4, 59 / 7:31PM)

Nothing but bullets grazed the air.

The sun settling into the horizon, all they were left with was the unholy gunfire that boxed them in. No way to peek, or to move out of cover, the hill of charcoal was their holdout. His clothes smeared black, Luke tightened his grip on his uzis.

—I have to distract them. They’re going to gun us down if we make our escape right now.

Luke knew that they were trying to surround them. From his right and left, bits of ember metal ricocheted the air. But squinting his eyes through the booming noise, he noticed Luna’s glare.

—Unless we thin out some of the herd.

Feeling a pair of eyes pin on her, she quickly looked at Luke who nudged his head over the hill. Knowing what he was implying, she tried to—

She didn’t have her batons. Lost in her fight with Vivy, it meant she was weaponless. Yet even so, her real strength lies in her…

‘Guess I’m up.’

Crouching down, she began to scale the mountain of charcoal with creased palms. Meanwhile, Luke knew that he had to buy some time. Having his knees bruised on the same material she climbed, he and she rose to a height where they wouldn’t get shot.

Glancing toward each other, the two locked eyes for a split second. And upon giving each other a nod, Luke sprinted first, and then stood on the edge of the—

—Here goes!

“Wait what is he…”

Feeling his whole body be on the edge, most of the guards that burned their barrels red aimed at Luke. Redirecting their line of fire, lead began to travel toward the standing man.

But instead of shooting, Luke narrowed his eyes. His body enacting like a feather, he side-stepped with only his luck in tow.

—Come on Luna… I can’t gamble my luck like this. I ain’t that lucky.

The reverb service bell blaring into his soul, screaming at his own heart, he tightened all of his gums down. Locking them shut, he strained all of his scleras, and pushed them to see red.

Closing his eyes, he allowed his ears to do the heavy work. But even so… he felt heat graze the outline of his body.

Until the gunfire began to loosen.

“What the—”

Opening his eyes, Luke tumbled down into the hill of charcoal by force. Feeling Hope’s hand tug at his jacket, he obeyed her command, and peeked over the commotion.

Seeing plopped guards, they looked to be punched. Red swelling their cheeks, and especially their noses, blood gushed from the broken structures of their jaws. Giving them a fight they might forget, who brought them to their knees was—

“She’s a moving target! How hard can she be!?”

Doug exclaimed through a dry throat, as she laid out two to four guards flat. Her knuckles growing red, her bones aching from the pain, she nonetheless continued with her relentless beatdown.

Moving and weaving, she avoided several attacks that grazed her cheeks. Her face stone cold, she side-stepped, and sprung out fists that they couldn’t avoid. Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Repeating that same line over and over again…

‘Just got to line up the shot.’

Having the barrel line up, and with the scope encapsulating her right eye, she had her finger on the trigger. The stock pressed into her shoulder, she held her breath—

A sniper round rang through the air. Smoke fuming from the barrel, it burned a sultry red. Having his finger on the trigger, and a smirk to his face, he gave Luke a solid nod.

“I’ll handle the sniper! You guys do what you can to thin them out!”

“So we’re fighting our way out!?” Yelled Hope.

“Seems like it!” Yelled Miles.

Hearing more of the air whistle, booms and roars echoed through the tusk evening. But they couldn’t allow their window to close.

Luke quickly stood on top of the mountain of charcoal, his whole body vulnerable for a lineup shot. But using his blessing, along with his super luck, any shot that was fired narrowly missed. Grazing the outline of his clothes, he took cover near Sean.

“Get your own cover!”

“We’re in this mess because of you! We didn’t need to help you, you know!?”

“I didn’t ask for your help! And besides, I was doing fine before you all got here! So why should I listen to a word you say!?”

Growling, he shook his head before peeping out through cover. Continuing to hear the bullets howl, the lead that grazed their ears worsened. While Jack kept his eyes on the female sniper, Luna kept some of the guards busy. It paved a small window.

Rattling his bones, the roar of Benn’s machine gun burdened everyone’s ears. Taking aim at their right, he had his eyes all narrowed, all glared. Being one of the few to have medium-range weaponry, he continued to light up the barrel.

While glancing in back of him.

“Christian! Hope! Take the other side, I’m counting on you two!”

“Already doing it!”

Stepping into the open, and having his boots on the edge of the steps, he let the barrel burn red. Feeling the recoil, his knuckles swelled numb. Since most of the guards were out in the open, some of them took position near bushes.

Failing to give them the same cover as metal, yelps pierced the air, combined with the glory of burning lead.

‘It hurts doesn’t it?’

Mowing down the guards, they couldn’t land a hit on him. His eyes took count of each guard that tried to flank. Doing their absolute best, they failed to conceive of such a counterattack.

‘Tough to be the little guy, it really does.’

No smile, no happiness, he had a face that reeked of frustration. His shoulder rocking with the recoil, it was clear that he had no intention to go back into cover. But from the way he held down his side, it was clear no guard was willing to shoot him.

Miles and Pacifica were in the center, their ears taking in the bullets. The whistling, the booming, it crashed into their ears like freight trains. His hands gripping the helm of his sawed-off shotguns, he and Pacifica were close.

‘Can’t really do much. If I try to rush forward, I’ll be shredded like string cheese.’

Pacifica shook beyond belief. Her hands to her sides, and her fingers curled into her palms, her dark-complected turn pale.

Meanwhile, Luke and Sean laid covering fire for Luna, whose life rested on the two’s coordination. More or less Luke.

“Sean! Can’t you direct some of their attention from Luna!?”

“How about you do it!? You care for her! You like her!”

“Oh not now! I’m not getting Luna killed because of your grudge!”

Growling through trembled vocals, Luke shook his head, before running toward another metallic crate. Hearing the lead strike close, his hair rose as he felt the metal graze his clothes. But it didn’t take long before he took solace behind the crate.

His back and head resting on the metal, he narrowed his eyes.

—Got to think of something… think of anything…

Glancing to his left, he saw Sean take out a couple of guards. Using his Thompson, the difference in skill between the groups was clearly visible. Being trained to take down targets, Luke knew out of anyone what they were getting into.

Yet it took them by surprise. They all were.

Straining his cheeks, he felt his skin wrinkle. Hitting the back of his head, feeling his skin grow purple…

—Wait a minute… the nitroglycerin.

Pushing one of his uzis into his holster, he used that same hand to thrust into his pocket. Feeling all that he stored, bits of glass and metal rubbed against his fingers. One or two bullets striking on top of him, he flinched, but he took out a simple glass bottle.

The color painted yellowish brown, he wouldn’t dare shake it. Peeping his eyes overhead, he took note of the many guards Luna struck down.

But there was one man, that single man who tried to hunt her down. Knowing he was etching close, he noticed Luna’s slow response to each teleportation.

“Mr. Zirardge!”

Without thinking, he threw the bottle like he was pitching a baseball.

“Here’s a little gift for you!”

His attention diverted, Doug allowed his own men to handle Luna. Having his pupils directed toward Luke’s voice, he saw a blur of black—

—A fire engulfed him.—

Like a grenade had detonated, the shockwave was small, but it packed a great punch. For a split second, everyone stopped firing, as many of the guards had decreased in numbers. With the remaining left, they all took note of the smoke cloud in the center…

“R-Retreat!”

Tucking their tails, they fell back toward the second train cart. Thrusting themselves into safety, they couldn’t even help their own leader. The smoke began to clear.

And sprawled on the ground, was a man missing a few limbs. Both of his arms separated from his body, his legs still held on. Blood oozing from his body, most of his jacket and pants were torn to ribbons. But his heart… his heart looked to be intact.

—That should do it.

Luke popped himself out of cover, and so did Sean. Luna began her run toward Luke, her hands clustered in blood that wasn’t hers. Even though it should’ve been a moment of relaxation…

Luke’s blessing rang high.

“There’s still more enemies lurking! Everyone! Keep your eyes peeled!”

Keeping watch for anything, Christian held his breath… and then closed his eyes. His ears perked.

Widening his eyes, he hunched his body forward and stared at everyone. What he heard was boots, a thump that trickled through metal. Trying to find the culprit, he held his breath.

“Someone is—”

He heard it again, another thump.

Quickly looking up, a shadow emerged from on top of him. Quickly raising the barrel up, it was a blur…

As a wave of water crashed onto them. Coming from the center of the floor, the sudden gust of water toppled them down. Falling on the metal floor, they quickly looked up, and noticed the shadow that looked down on them.

“Long time no see pigs.”

She had turquoise-colored hair, and she wielded a javelin within her right hand. Having a shield in her left, her glare worsened when she laid eyes on a single man.

Benn didn’t waste any time pulling the trigger. But with her shield, she deflected the bullets away with her bleach-shield.

“Here ya go!”

Throwing another javelin, some of them toppled out of the train cart. Crashing onto the ground, some of their clothes were tainted in mud. Benn and Hope were on a field of grass, while Christian and Pacifica were on the other side.

Quickly grabbing his light machine gun, Benn pushed himself from the ground. Reloading ammo into the chamber, he didn’t have time to help Hope up.

“I’m going to—”

Bullets grazed in back of her.

Using her bleach-shield, she deflected the lead that tried to strike. Pushing them upward, she quickly got off the roof, and landed right on the center. While Miles was sprawled on the mountain of coal, trying to get up, Vivy wasn’t gunning for him.

She had her eyes glared at Christian, whose barrel emitted gunsmoke.

“That’s it. You’re mine now.”

“Unfortunately for you, fighting isn’t what we want. So see ya!”

Pulling the trigger once more, Christian and Pacifica ran toward the van. Feeling his bones rattle the more he fired, he bit down the inside of his cheeks.

As for Benn, he perked his nose. Smelling the scent of someone new, he moved the barrel toward a walking woman. Looking like she stepped out of the train, her walk was elegant, and her hips moved back and forth.

‘What…’

Still having that ammo sitting in the chamber, he had his finger already on the trigger. Wearing a black dress, one flustered in silk, she housed herself as pure elegance. Benn didn’t fire, but he had her in the crosshairs of his machine gun.

“Oh great…”

Hope quickly got up, as she barely held her pistol. Numbing fingers, shaking knuckles, she tried her best to stare forward. But with a dimmed vision, she could barely stand.

“You have made my Dougy mad.”

Her nails were rusted yellow, and her skin looked to house no paleness. As if she was somewhat sickly, she was skinny, and her bones somewhat stuck out from her skin.

“No one makes him mad. No one.”

Miles got over the mountain of charcoal, and then toppled onto the metallic ground. Almost crashing hard, he adjusted his feet and calves, before straightening his back.

Walking toward Luke, he and Luna already ran toward Miles. His grip on his sawed-offs still tightened, Luke furrowed his brow.

“What are you doing Miles?”

“I could be asking the same thing with you. Aren’t we going to leave?”

“Yeah. But we just need to get…”

Turning his head toward Sean’s last position, he noticed that a familiar presence wasn’t there.

For a split second, his mind flashed in denial. Shaking his head, and then biting the inside of his cheeks, Luke’s right eye twitched.

“Damn it! Sean! Where are—”

His blessing roared.

Widening his eyes, he grabbed both Miles and Luna’s shoulders, and hunkered them down. The two were taken aback, and their bodies instinctively followed Luke’s dragging gravity. Just as they did—

The air above them roared.

Hearing it numb their ears, the three of them squeezed their eyes and clenched their breaths. Opening their eyes, they kept their heads ducked down, as the metal crate was glazed in lead.

“You think I’m going to let you escape!?”

His right hand gripping the bottom, while his left strained the slide handle, the butt stock was pressed into his shoulder. Sliding more ammo into the chamber, a chank blessed his ears, like he had earned hard cold money.

“You’re on my train now! I ain’t going to let you, or any other degenerate criminal be bowed down to!”

The doors to the second train cart opened once more.

Even though they thinned out most of the guards, they didn’t take an ambush stance. Instead, they piled straight out of those doors, and grappled their stocks with constrained palms.

Luke realized he was in the same spot. All three of them. Instead of the mountain of charcoal protecting them … it was a weaselly small metallic crate.