A small band of stragglers crawled on the ground or hobbled as fast as they could away from the heart of the crossfire. A few were wounded. Others helped each other along as they limped away. An explosion to their right startled them and several people in the middle screamed. They broke into a frenzied sprint.
Virgil came running in from their left and whistled for their attention.
"This way!" He motioned them onward with his hand. "Get off the streets and follow me."
His commanding voice stunned them momentarily. A few started to object.
"You want to die here?!" He halted briefly to level his gun and fired. Two bolts cut through the air and smashed into a pair of soldiers dashing in from a side street. They dropped dead in a heap. "Move!"
The group needed no further coaxing. The band streamed past him as he turned and joined them. As they neared a bend, he directed them toward an alleyway. The group clustered together while he planted himself at the opening.
"Fii, where are you?" he transmitted. "I'm pinned down in—"
Her voice was bright and clear through the link.
He barely caught a flicker of motion streaking across the skyline before the ground shuddered and exploded under an incoming mortar shell. The blast struck the mouth of the alley and threw debris and burning chunks of brickwork everywhere. The impact threw several people off their feet.
Virgil gritted his teeth and stood his ground to protect them.
Another salvo descended in his direction—only to divert upwards at the last second and detonate high in the air. He cast a glance at Fii's position. She gestured as she leapt and bounded toward him.
"I'm here! I'll hold 'em off," she called as she landed nearby. "Get them out of here!"
He spared her a nod and ushered the frightened stragglers away. Fii sent another few pieces of rubble in their pursuers' direction before sliding into place beside him. She immediately threw up a protective field to deflect more incoming gunfire.
"Thanks." He peeked over his shoulder and noted the people's progress. They were almost past the barricades and into the next street.
One of Edith's drones appeared and circled around the fleeing civilians. They'd managed to reach the end of the alley and disappear from sight.
Helix reported over the commlink.
The Humvee, which had remained idle during the brief intermission, roared back to life and began creeping forward again. Two armored soldiers brandishing large caliber rifles opened fire from its roof. A third, standing nearby, flung a grenade at them.
Before Virgil could shoot the grenade out of the air, Fii altered its trajectory back to its thrower. The explosion ripped the soldier apart and damaged the Humvee's side. The second man lost his balance and fell off the roof.
Virgil dispatched him with a well-placed shot to the chest.
The vehicle tried to swerve around a nearby barrier and ran straight into a chunk of debris.
"Alright, move!" Virgil surged forward and dashed toward the Humvee. He spun and fanned the hammer. Each pull unleashed a phantom bullet that found its mark in the skull of one soldier or another. One by one they dropped and soon lay sprawled all over the vehicle's hood and deck.
Another drone zipped overhead and hovered beside him.
Fii approached to join him. "What's our play?" she asked.
"We split up and keep clearing each area," Virgil replied. "We'll manage more ground if we split up. Besides, you're better at getting people out of tight spots." He shifted his gaze to the drone. "Helix. I want you to tag each individual for Fii's HUD and send her to whoever needs help the most."
Virgil clapped her shoulder. "You go high and I'll take the streets. Get as many people to safety as you can. That's the priority. If you can manage a few Adrenomancers, great. If not, leave them to me." He jerked his chin toward the north. "Head that way first. I'll make my way around from the east. Watch your six."
Fii nodded. "And what about the gangs? Should we help them too?"
"Let them fight if they want to." He adjusted his hat and fired a charged shot to finish off the final soldier trying to flee. "The only people we save are the ones who want to be saved."
"All right." She darted ahead and launched into the air with a vaulting leap. Her gravitational field carried her forward and sent her spinning into a graceful ascent. "See you in a bit."
Virgil nodded and lowered his gaze back to the street.
He still couldn't figure out why Salvatore had thrown everything he had at the slums all of a sudden. It didn't make any sense. If this was some sort of retaliation for ruining his Shiver operations, then it seemed excessive and way overkill. Something else must have been going on. Salvatore wouldn't waste so many lives and resources just to avenge some cash losses.
Or would he?
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Helix," Virgil grunted. "Let me talk to Edith."
Helix's usual politeness disappeared in a mechanical monotone.
He clenched his teeth. "What do you mean?"
What the hell was she doing right now? She should be helping coordinate their efforts. Granted, she had her own way of doing things, but even she wasn't this detached.
"That's not good enough. Where is she?"
Virgil bared his teeth in a grimace. He could push for answers but he doubted the A.I. would talk. Either way, this wasn't the time to go looking for Edith. There were lives on the line and they needed his full attention. The last thing he wanted was for his anger to cause someone else to get hurt or killed. For now, he'd just have to deal with it.
----------------------------------------
Fii sailed through the sky as she reached for the nearest ledge. Her roller skates dug into the side of the building and pushed her over the edge. Her body spiraled forward as she twisted in midair to land gracefully on the opposite roof.
She repeated this a few times and alternated her route from left to right to quickly navigate around several buildings. All the while, Helix sent her fresh updates about areas in distress. Red icons lit up like small bonfires along the topographic map of the slums. Even with her speed, she worried about getting to everyone in time. There were just too many places to be and not enough of her to go around.
Just as she began to feel overwhelmed, Fii saw Kenzo on the ground below. He managed to fight off a handful of Adrenomancers by himself. A few bodies already littered the area and three more lay bleeding nearby. Several Reaper Posse members were trying to limp away behind him. One dragged another wounded gangster with an arm slung over his shoulder.
The biggest Adrenomancer sported a ragged gash across his stomach. Blood leaked from the wound and stained his already crimson clothing. Still, he lunged at Kenzo and attempted to cleave him in two with his giant chainsaw blade.
Kenzo gracefully sidestepped and the blade screeched past him with a shower of sparks. He ducked underneath the following swipe and pivoted his weight forward to deliver a swift thrust to the man's chest.
"共鳴刃 (Kyōmei Ha)!" Kenzo yelled. His katana resonated in a sonic hum as its blade glowed.
His opponent tried to sidestep but failed. The weapon's edge bit into his ribs and ripped him open like an overripe fruit. His innards spilled to the ground.
A second Adrenomancer closed in from Kenzo's blindside with a flurry of metal projectiles. He whipped his arm around to generate a curved crescent-shaped shield of high-frequency sound. Each disc harmlessly ricocheted off its surface and clattered to the ground. With a smooth stroke, Kenzo slid his blade from its sheath and spun into a killing arc.
The Adrenomancer erupted in a shower of blood. Two halves of the body crashed against the pavement.
Fii steered herself into a wide descent and angled toward them. "Kenzo!"
He pivoted his head at her voice and waited. She landed lightly beside him, turning away from the gore. Even now she still had trouble getting used to the sight of these gruesome deaths. Nausea hit her but she fought back the urge to retch.
"You good?" she gasped. Her roller skates trembled and wobbled beneath her as she fought to keep steady. "Oh boy...that was rough."
Kenzo wiped the blood off his blade with a spare rag and slid it back into his sheath. "I'm good. How about you? What's the situation?"
"They're swarming everywhere," Fii replied. "Virgil and I are trying to clear the streets. Any help you can give would be great." She glanced around. "What about the gangs? Are they helping out too?"
Kenzo pursed his lips and adjusted his headphones. "Not sure. They're more focused on securing their turf right now. That's how things usually go here. The Ironclad Legion is probably the only one actively helping people get out." He cracked his neck. "Let me know if you need me to cover anything."
"Gotcha." She activated her commlink. "Helix, can you give me an updated report on each section? I need to know where the bad guys are now."
Fii watched the tags begin to light up and change color as they winked in and out across the map of the slums. While several areas were still marked red for active combat, a handful had been cleared.
"Okay. Looks like I'll head to these sectors. Are you good here?"
"Yeah," Kenzo replied. "I'll get these guys out of here and then join you."
Fii nodded and surged ahead with a final wave. "I'll see you there."
As she soared away, she prayed the gangs would do their part and help those in need. Hopefully, at least some of them cared more about saving lives than securing territory. Slumshines didn't always get along with each other, but when the stakes were this high, surely they could set aside their differences to help one another? They had to.
She vaulted and pulled herself across several more buildings before sailing down to street level again. The closer she got to the red dots on her map, the louder the sounds of chaos became. Explosions, gunfire, screaming...it was everywhere.
As Fii turned a corner to follow the first route, she caught sight of the Carnage Collective gang fighting off a small group of Adrenomancers and their soldier escorts. The soldiers kept their distance while the Adrenomancers attempted to close in and crush the gangsters.
In the middle of the street, their sub-leader—"Hammer" Kareem—struggled to hold his own against one giant hulk of an Adrenomancer. His opponent swung a heavy two-handed axe that he wielded with both hands. Each strike sliced and smashed the concrete apart.
Fii bounded off the walls and over parked cars as she raced toward them. Once close enough, she sent the Adrenomancers and soldiers sailing into the air with a single surge of gravitational force.
They slammed against walls, each other, and the ground before they could get a shot off. Their crumpled forms thudded heavily on the pavement and lay there twitching. She repeated the move twice more until they stopped moving altogether.
The nausea came back again but she fought it down.
With the immediate threat neutralized, she landed lightly on the hood of a nearby car and rolled to a stop in front of the gangsters. "Are you guys okay?"
Kareem glanced at her briefly and scoffed. "We had that."
"Sure," Fii replied, unsure how else to respond. "But you're welcome anyway."
"Don't think we owe you nothin'," Kareem added. "The slums ain't gonna come together like some dream team. It's every man for himself." He shouldered his pipe rifle and thumbed his nose at her. "So don't get any ideas."
Fii blinked. "But you're fighting those guys now, right? Why don't we just—"
Kareem ignored her and turned to the rest of his gang. "Collect their weapons and ammo. Don't leave anythin' behind." The other gang members snapped to and began scavenging the dead bodies. He briefly glanced at Fii. "See? We're fine. Now get outta here, Super. You got other lives to save."
With a confused nod, she shrugged and skated away. Behind her, Kareem shouted for the gang to move on.
As Fii picked up speed and shot across the rooftops again, she tried not to dwell too much on Kareem's reaction. He'd made it clear where he and his gang stood. At least they were willing to fight back and put their lives on the line, but she couldn't help but think there was a better way. They didn't have to be alone or choose to go at it solo. In the end, it was only going to cost them more lives.