Psychological Damage (Gray Spear Society) Page 27

  Yvonne faced him with a frown. "You didn't have to do that."

  "They were about to kill you," he replied.

  "I was fine."

  "Not at all. That entire engagement was poorly planned and reckless."

  "Maybe I'm a little rusty." She kicked one of the bodies, rolling it over. "It's been five years. Let me have a mulligan on this one. I'll do a better job on the next bunch."

  He shook his head. "It's my turn next."

  "Please?" She smiled at him, showing a mouth full of perfect teeth. "I need the practice."

  "I guess so."

  Aaron checked his MP9's. Both were out of ammunition, and he didn't have any more magazines. In frustration he dropped them on the ground.

  He took a Vz. 58 from one of the dead bodies. The classic assault rifle had been designed during the Cold War for the Czechoslovak army, but it was still a good weapon. At 800 rounds per minute, the rate of fire was certainly acceptable. He scooped up all the ammunition in sight.

  "Let's go find more practice dummies for you," he said. "Good thing there are plenty wandering around."

  * * *

  Norbert paced back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the Chapel of Eternal Salvation and Hope. He needed to anticipate the enemy's next move. What was Aaron trying to accomplish? He wanted to escape, of course. No, Norbert realized, Wesley's security is Aaron's top priority. A permanent solution to that problem required the complete destruction of the Brotherhood. Norbert's chest tightened as he realized Aaron had no interest in escaping. In fact the street barricades were a pointless diversion of resources. The Gray Spear Society would stick around until the job was done.

  Norbert grabbed his radio. "All squads, report your status!"

  One by one, the squads responded. Nobody had seen any sign of the enemy. However, two of the six-man search parties failed to report.

  "Are you there?" Norbert said. "Talk to me!"

  The only answer was the hiss of static. Twelve more dead.

  A moment later, he heard, "Sir, this is squad one. We found our truck!"

  "Where?" Norbert said.

  "Just one block east. They didn't get far."

  "Investigate, but be careful! I want another report in two minutes. Do you hear me? Two minutes."

  "Yes, sir."

  Norbert's bad feeling was turning into terror. God, where are you? I need you now!

  * * *

  Aaron peeked around a corner. Six men with rifles were moving towards the white truck he had stolen earlier. It was parked in front of a small grocery store.

  "You want these?" Aaron whispered.

  "Absolutely," Yvonne said.

  "Careful. They look a little twitchy."

  "I like 'em twitchy." She smiled. "Give me some room."

  Aaron moved back several paces. He readied his Vz. 58 just in case.

  "Help!" she squeaked out in a high, feminine voice. "Help me, please!"

  She pressed her back against the building. A moment later one man came around the corner. She grabbed his arm and swung him into the wall so hard bricks were knocked out of place. As he slid down, a smear of blood and brains was left behind.

  A second man arrived. She wrapped her arm around his neck and twisted. Aaron heard the loud pop as his neck broke.

  She kicked a third man in the chest so violently a pink mist sprayed out of his mouth. She grabbed his rifle by the barrel and swung it at his head like a baseball bat. The force of the impact broke the stock and left a dent in his skull.

  She stood, obviously waiting for the final three to make their appearance. When they didn't, she frowned. She used a window sill to climb onto the building. She ran across the roof and disappeared from Aaron's sight.

  He heard a rapid series of thumps.

  "All clear," Yvonne said.

  He walked around the corner. One man had a horribly broken back. Another's face had been smashed completely flat against the pavement. She was squeezing the neck of the last of them.

  "You're eating again?" Aaron said.

  "Just topping off," she replied.

  He grimaced. "What does that feel like?"

  "It's pure pleasure. My roots dig deep and find all the tasty tidbits. I can feel my strength growing as the juices flow into me. My heart beats faster. My reflexes sharpen. I wish you could experience it."

  It seemed impossible but her muscles swelled even more. Every vein and artery in her skin pulsed visibly, and she looked like a living road map. Even her eyeballs were red with excess blood.

  "That's OK. Sounds a little creepy, actually. How strong are you now? Could you take Ethel?"

  "Sure," Yvonne said. "She's very fast but old and soft. All I'd need is one good hit to finish her."

  "What about Atalanta?"

  "Definitely a tougher customer. Her body is as hard as iron, and her technique is absolutely flawless. It's like fighting a robot. I'd want a long range weapon."

  "A sniper rifle?" Aaron said.

  "I was thinking an RPG." She raised her eyebrows. "Maybe a 25 millimeter autocannon. That would work."

  "Yeah. I'd hope so."

  He had to admit he was intimidated by Yvonne. Even by the standards of the Gray Spear Society, she was an extreme freak. And she's afraid of Atalanta, he thought, who is just number seven in the world. There were at least six more extreme freaks out there.

  "Are you done?" Aaron said.

  Yvonne stood up. "Yes. I'm finally at maximum strength. It feels fantastic. It's been so long."

  "Let's see, we have twenty confirmed kills so far. We probably tagged a few in the chapel. I don't know how many men the Brotherhood brought, but they must be getting scared. Maybe we can convince them to do something really stupid."

  "They've been pretty stupid so far."

  He winked. "But that's the great thing about stupidity. There is always more. Let's go."

  They quickly jogged away.

  * * *

  More than two minutes had passed.

  Norbert spoke into his radio. "Squad one! Are you there? I'm waiting for your report. Hello?"

  The hiss of static was like a funeral march. He had promised Father he would fight to the end, but Norbert realized he couldn't do it. He cared about his men too much. He wanted at least some of them to see the dawn.

  "Brotherhood," he said, "come back to me immediately. Tonight's mission is over. Form ranks in front of the chapel. That includes my snipers and the men on the barricades. I want everybody here now! No exceptions."

  He paced back and forth as he waited for his monks to arrive. He tried not to speculate how many would show up. His heart was already aching in anticipation.

  Something made a scraping noise behind him. He stopped and listened carefully. He heard soft footsteps approaching. He reflexively drew his gun from a hostler on his hip, turned, and fired.

  Dmitry Pavlova stood there in a bathrobe. He was holding a chunk of steel pipe over his head in an attack position. Blood trickled from a bullet hole in his stomach. His expression showed shock and anxiety.

  He dropped the pipe.

  "Were you trying to kill me?" Norbert said. "Why? You don't even know me."

  Dmitry fell to his knees.

  "Were you with the Child?" Norbert looked around. "Where is he?"

  Dmitry just stared ahead.

  Norbert ran over and shook him. "Talk to me!"

  "I'm going to burn in Hell," Dmitry mumbled, "and I deserve it. I'll go there now."

  "Of course! You're protecting the Antichrist."

  "No." Dmitry looked up, and his skin color wasn't good. He was probably bleeding internally. "That's not who he is."

  "Then who is he?" Norbert demanded. "What are we fighting?"

  "The truth. I know what I must do."

  Dmitry suddenly grabbed Norbert's gun out of his hand. Instead of shooting at Norbert, Dmitry turned the gun around, stuck it in his own mouth, and pulled the trigger. The back of his head exploded.

  * * *

&
nbsp; Aaron peeked over the top of a garbage can. The Brotherhood was gathering on the street near the chapel.

  "What are they doing?" he said. "I thought we were having a battle. They can't call a timeout in the middle."

  "They're scared shitless," Yvonne said.

  The monks were holding their guns awkwardly. Their eyes darted back and forth. They stood very close together like frightened sheep.

  "This isn't good," Aaron said. "We need to move them away from Wesley. Scared or not, they still have rifles."

  He spotted Dmitry's corpse on the ground. Suddenly concerned, Aaron took out his phone and called Marina. Her phone was set to vibrate. She could choose not to answer if she felt talking to him was too dangerous.

  "Aaron?" she said in a whisper. "What's going on?"

  He sighed with relief. "Are you and Wesley OK?"

  "We're fine. Still hiding and waiting for you to rescue us."

  "Great! By the way, Dmitry is dead."

  "I'm glad to hear that." She sounded very cheerful. "What else is going on?"

  "Yvonne and I killed about half the Brotherhood," he said. "The rest are camped in front of the building. Stay put while we clear them out. I love you."

  "I love you too, a lot." She made a kissing noise and hung up.

  Aaron smiled. She's in a good mood.

  Yvonne nudged him and said, "I could run over there and start smashing bodies."

  "No." He shook his head. "You'd be a duck in a shooting gallery."

  "I can take a lot of damage. As long as I keep eating, I'll heal."

  He frowned. "I don't want stray bullets flying around so close to Wesley and Marina. God knows what might happen in that chaos. Let's call that plan B."

  "Then what's plan A?"

  He studied the Brotherhood for a moment. "I'm going to talk to them. Maybe I can convince them to leave in a quiet, orderly manner."

  "And then I can smash them?"

  "Once Wesley and Marina are safe, go crazy. I think I saw radios on some of the bodies we left behind. Would you mind getting one for me?"

  "OK. I'm dying to hear what you're going say to these jokers." She grinned. "Quiet and orderly? In your dreams!"

  He shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

  * * *

  Marina stood in the darkness with Wesley. She was still feeling the warm glow from her triumph earlier. The brief conversation with Aaron had brightened her mood even more. It had been the best day of her life.

  "We have to talk about something," Wesley said. His musical voice seemed to come from the heavens.

  "What?"

  "You're my friend, and I don't want you to die."

  "Why would I die?" She furrowed her brow.

  "You're in the Gray Spear Society, and your job is to kill people. If you don't do your job, you know what will happen."

  "But I hate being a monster. I want to be a normal woman with a husband and kids and a house in the suburbs."

  He took her hand. "That's not what God wants. If you think about it really hard, you'll see you don't want it either. You love your work."

  "Thanks to Dmitry."

  "Sometimes the road we travel isn't much fun, but it gets us to the right place. The world needs guardians and you're one the best because of what Dmitry did to you. I'll feel safer knowing you're on duty. And you have Aaron. He's a great man. Who would want normal when you can have all that?"

  The truth in his words washed the doubt from her mind. Of course he was right.

  She kissed him on the forehead. "Thank you. I'll do my job from now on, but not out of anger. I'll do it because it's my choice."

  "You're welcome. Now get ready. You're about to go back to work."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Twenty-six men, Norbert thought. That's all I have left.

  Just a couple of weeks ago, he had arrived in Chicago with a mighty force of one hundred and fifty warriors. They had been prepared to fight evil. They had come to save humanity from its greatest threat. It had seemed eight years of tireless effort and sacrifice would finally yield fruit.

  Now only one out of five was still alive, and they were terrified. Norbert couldn't blame them. He shared the feeling.

  His radio crackled. "Hello?" a strange voice said. "Can you hear me?"

  Norbert grabbed the handset. "Who is this? How did you get our frequency?"

  "I want to negotiate a truce."

  "Is this Aaron?"

  The stranger paused. "How do you know my name?"

  "Edward told me," Norbert said.

  "What else did he tell you?"

  "Everything. You're the Gray Spear Society."

  Aaron was silent for a moment. "That's depressing news. Edward was a very good friend. Are you in charge here?"

  "I'm the field commander of the Brotherhood. Yes, I'm in charge."

  "You're not doing a good job. Your men keep dying."

  Norbert clenched the radio tightly. That statement was hard to refute under the circumstances. "We'll still win. God will grant us the power to defeat evil and destroy the Luciferian Child."

  "Every single part of that statement was incorrect. Wesley is not the Antichrist, for one thing. How did you get so confused?"

  "Father Wulfram had a vision."

  "Let me guess," Aaron said. "A beautiful, glowing ball of light. It floated in the air like a big balloon. Lots of fancy special effects. What color was it?"

  Norbert furrowed his brow. "Blue."

  "We call those things messengers. They're intrusions into our universe, and I've seen a few. Sometimes, they're not from God."

  "That's a lie!"

  Aaron made a loud breathing noise. "You're an idiot."

  "Did you contact me just so you could insult me?" Norbert said.

  "No. I'm offering you a chance to walk away. Pack your things and get out of here. There's no good reason for us to fight. We claim to work for the same boss after all."

  "I don't understand how a man who commits mass murder so effortlessly can say he serves God."

  "Didn't Edward explain this to you?" Aaron said. "Being Supreme Lord and Master of the universe isn't always white doves and cute little cherubs. God also needs people who can take out the trash. Right now, you're the trash. If I were you, I'd start running and never stop. Maybe, if you're lucky, we won't bother to hunt you down.

  "I'll stay where I am," Norbert said. "There is open space all around. You can't ambush us."

  "Your dead friends had the same idea before we killed them."

  The monks were looking at Norbert curiously. He showed them a reassuring smile.

  He didn't believe for a second that Aaron intended to let the Brotherhood just walk away. Wesley's life was at stake, and Aaron also had to protect the secrets of the Gray Spear Society. This was a fight to the death.

  However, Norbert didn't understand one thing. Why was Aaron holding back? The Gray Spear Society had never shown any restraint before. Yet, Aaron seemed genuine about his desire for the Brotherhood to leave peacefully.

  Norbert had a sudden insight. Wesley is here, he thought. He must still be in the building. The reason Aaron didn't want to fight in this location was because Wesley might get hurt.

  Norbert walked over to the chapel and looked in a dusty window. It was dark inside. There was no sign of movement.

  The rest of the battle now made sense. From the beginning Aaron had tried to draw the Brotherhood away. The plan had been working until Norbert unexpectedly ordered his men to return.

  "I'm running out of patience," Aaron said. "If you don't get moving, I'll go to plan B. You won't enjoy that option."

  "Why are you trying so hard to protect Wesley?" Norbert said. "What is the boy to you?"

  "If you met him, you'd understand."

  "I'm sure the Child is very charismatic. Lucifer can appear as an angel of light if he chooses."

  "Every time you open your mouth, you sound even stupider," Aaron said. "It's impressive actually. How did you become a commander?
By the way, you're in my gun sights right now. I could put a bullet through your eye socket."

  Norbert scanned the buildings around him but didn't see anything. He tried not to appear afraid.

  "I'm not stupid. I have faith."

  "Actually," Aaron said, "you have denial. You won't admit you made a mistake because that would make you responsible for this whole damned mess."

  Norbert needed more time to think. Ironically, this conversation with Aaron was the best thing for Norbert. While they were talking, he might glean some information.

  "Is your girlfriend Marina with you?" Norbert said.

  "Jeez," Aaron said. "Edward really was a blabbermouth. How did you break him?"

  "We hired a brain washing specialist. Expensive, but the results speak for themselves."

  "And you call us evil."

  That comment stung Norbert. "We had no choice."

  "All's fair in love and war, right? For your information, Edward was a great man. A true hero. He did more good for the world than your precious Father Wulfram by a factor of ten."

  "So you say. But you didn't answer my question. Where are Marina and Yvonne?" Norbert watched the shadows for any hint of movement.

  Aaron paused. "Do you want to meet Yvonne? She's a very sweet lady. If you promise not to shoot her, I'll send her over as a gesture of good faith, completely unarmed of course."

  "You're giving me a prisoner?" Norbert frowned.

  "She's not much use to me. I'm sure Edward told you she's a timid little thing. A good cook, but that's all. You can use her as a hostage while you escape. That should prove I'm sincere."

  In fact Edward had made a statement like that. The risks seemed minimal to Norbert, but he was still deeply suspicious. Aaron hadn't made any mistakes so far, and he probably wasn't making one now.

  "She'll just walk over to me? No tricks?"

  "Exactly," Aaron said. "She'll have no weapons at all. But you have to swear you won't shoot her on sight. I want her back alive eventually. I kind of like her."

  Norbert shifted his weight as he tried to figure out what game Aaron was playing. "Assuming everything is as you say, I promise I will allow her to approach unharmed. You have my word. But if she draws a gun..."

  "Don't worry. She doesn't even like guns. Never bothers to use them. I'll send her right now."