CHAPTER 29: Taking Cover
When the van stopped moving, Adam jumped out. Instead of running, he slowly walked. Arrows came at him faster than he could see, but there was a feeling inside that told him where he was about to be hit, allowing him to raise the curved shields and deflect the arrows away. A continuous pinging sounded out as he shifted the shield around faster than most people can move. When he had almost reached Lucas’s truck, the arrows began coming two at a time, aimed at both his head and legs. He chose to block the ones coming to his head and took three to his calves but kept walking.
“This situation looks bad,” Lucas said, manually rolling down the driver window on the old, rusted, pick-up truck.
“Yup,” Adam said.
Lucas looked down at Adam’s calves. “Painful?”
“Poisonous too. Don’t get hit,” Adam responded while handing him two shields. Your pickup is going to need big repairs after what we are about to do.” Lucas sagged hearing that.
“What are we about to do?”
“Cut the engine and drop into neutral. Prop a shield to block your head. I need you to steer while I push the car next to that police van. I can’t keep people in back safe out here.”
Lucas nodded and Adam kept low as he walked towards the truck bed.
“What’s the plan, darling?” Andrea asked as he arrived. Emily started to sit up but was quickly help down by Alissa. Struggling did not help as Alissa’s strength was high enough to hold Emily still.
“We have poisonous arrows coming from the flower shop. Everyone is pinned down. I’m going to push the truck to a safer zone. Everyone needs to stay low.” Adam slung his last shield into the bed. “I need you to cover my head with that while I push.”
“How do you know they are poisonous?” asked Alissa.
“I have three in my legs and took one in the forearm earlier. They’re nasty. Don’t pull them out if you get hit, since they’ll rip you open coming out. Go to Abbey or Ed first.”
Adam heard Emily gasp. “You’re poisoned? Are you going to be ok?”
“Yeah, I can manage the poison. Moving is painful but they won’t stop my mobility. It’ll be different for others so I’m doing what they can’t.” Then to Lucas he shouted, “Ready?”
“Ready.”
“Then going.”
Adam reached down to the wheel well and grabbed the truck body. He pushed the truck without difficulty, taking little steps so the tires would block any shots coming from down low. He was still cautious while the passenger side of the truck was bombarded by the arrows, shaking the truck with every impact. It took two minutes and dozens of arrows for him to cross the distance and get the truck to a place where the shop was not in line of sight, ending the barrage.
Everyone slowly got out of the pickup and onto the pavement. They huddled around the police cars concerned that the vans might get knocked over like the ambulance had been. Ed was setting up his drones and equipment, while Abbey, Brittney, and Randall were heading back from healing the fireman.
“Don’t bother with the drones. They will get shot down,” Adam told Ed.
“Fine. I’d rather not lose them. I’ll set up a few static cameras then. Less good for the action shots though,” Ed replied with disappointment.
“What about body cams that the police use?” Adam asked.
“Well, those are much lower quality, but better than nothing. We won’t be able to see the person wearing it but I guess seeing from your perspective might be cool.” Ed thought for a minute and then ordered one of the cops. “Hey, Officer Cooper, give your body cam vest to Adam.”
“What? Not a chance. Who are these kids, Baker?” Officer Cooper demanded.
Det. Baker sighed once more. “Cooper, these kids are specialists, better equipped to handle this situation. That girl, Abbey, already healed your poison. Apparently, they’ve leveled up to 14 and can fight the, um, elves, better than us. We’re just pinned down here so please give your body cam to this boy.”
Cooper scowled but swapped vests with Adam.
“Make sure you give us the footage from it,” insisted Ed.
“We will,” Det. Baker sighed.
“Can you talk without sighing, detective?” asked Adam sarcastically. “Anyway, what are the priorities?”
Cooper perked up at this question. “There are three immediate concerns. We need to get those people out of that building before the car catches fire. Officer Francs is dying under the hedges in front of the store, but I don’t know how we are going to get to him. Then we need to subdue the assailants.”
“Guys, there is an actual news camera man watching us. This is real and public, so we need to put on a good show,” Tom said jovially, not succumbing to everyone else’s foul moods. “We need to make the boss and our group look good.”
“And rescue people,” said Abbey, giving Tom a glare.
“Well, duh. That is how we look good,” stated Tom, smiling at everyone.
“What’s the plan,” asked Lucas.
“Brittney, Randall, and Joseph, pick up two shields each. Cover your upper and lower bodies. Lucas and I will pick up the car and carry it towards the middle of the street while it still blocks the doorway to evacuate the people, while Abbey escorts us in case we need poison cleanse. You guys with shields stay between us and the elves to block the arrows. Then you’ll escort the people one by one to the fire engine.”
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It was nerve wracking putting it all into action. Everyone walked slowly. Brittney’s skill, [Harden Shield], allowed her to completely deflect the arrows, pinging noises ringing out each time. The archers must have targeted her first since she looked the weakest, but soon changed to Randall and Joseph, who would occasionally curse as the arrows sometimes poked through the shields. Fortunately, they always aimed at vitals and the arrows could not quite make it through the shields, so the arrowheads never delivered poison to them.
When they arrived at the car, Adam had to direct everyone as he and Lucas physically lifted the car and carried it sideways. Lucas was heaving and sweating at the weight, while managing not to drop it, although he needed a heal on his hands when they set it down. Adam had no problem with it and wondered if he could have carried it all by himself if the metal could manage a single point of contact. He was also aware of the camera man recording them the whole time with a good angle from behind the fire truck.
Once the car was moved, and a direct path to the fire truck opened, Abbey and Brittney went into the building to check it. The fire was slowly spreading and was crackling across the narrow alley. Lucas and Adam were escorted back to the police group by one shield man each.
When he arrived behind the police car, all the officers, including Det. Baker were staring at him, looking amazed.
“To take pressure off the escorting group, I’m going after Francs. First, what do we have for projectiles?” Adam asked, ignoring the looks.
“We fired some bullets at them, but they always seemed to veer away. Aim didn’t seem to matter. No matter how many we shot, including with a shotgun, they never reached them. We also have six people inside as hostages. Guns are out,” Officer Cooper said, much more respectfully than earlier.
“Mages? Do you have more than [Mana Dart]?”
“We got new spells at level 5, darling. Honestly, this [System] seems stingy. Skill points are given at the other levels,” Andrea explained. “I chose [Fireball].”
“[Water Ball],” said Alissa.
“[Earth Shot],” answered Elias.
“I don’t suppose you can shape the earth?” he asked Elias, receiving a head shake in return.
“If I had a bow I could probably help. I got a skill [Steady Shot] that allows me to aim better, even predicting where I need to shoot,” said Lamar.
“Go with Randall to that store over there, third one down. It is a small sports store. See if you can grab a bow and arrows.”
Adam looked to Det. Baker, who shrugged, seeming to accept them taking gear without paying. Randall and Lamar then headed out.
“Ok, we’ll work with what we have. Andrea, I need you to shoot a fireball in front of the hedges. Try to set the hedges on fire. I’ll run in and grab Francs and pull him back. The rest of you shoot your spells at the elves just to see if they stop shooting those arrows, but make sure they can’t shoot back at you. Also, don’t waste too much mana.”
“Boss, can you use that teleport step to get there?” Tom asked.
Adam stood, holding a shield over his upper body, focused on the body of Francs, then squatted back down. “Nope, it seems like I need to be attacking to use it. Although…” Adam looked at Lucas.
“Damnit!” Lucas swore. “What are you thinking?”
“Tackle or punch?” Adam asked.
“Punch,” answered Lucas with a big sigh and his shoulders slumped. Adam picked up a shield and handed it to him.
“I’ll go for the gut, so block well.”
“This is going to suck,” said Lucas, shaking his head.
“For both of us,” responded Adam. “Ok, everyone get in position. Don’t stick your neck out, and Ed, be ready for heals and poisons.”
“Hey boss, should you remove your pants first?” asked Tom, smiling widely.
“Why would he need to remove his pants?” asked Det. Baker.
“He goes through a lot of clothes in fights,” answered Tom.
“Actually, I did think about it but since this is going to be on the news, I figured I should look more serious than running around in boxer shorts.”
“Unless you were trying to show just how super powered you are inside the pants,” Tom snickered, only to get slapped in the back of the head by Alissa.
“I guess only Abbey would know if levels affect down there too,” Tom laughed, getting slapped in the back of the head by Andrea.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you girls will find out soon.” Tom said before getting full on punched in the back of the head by Lucas, rebounding his head off the pavement, blood streaming down his face.
Tom then turned to Ed who reached up and healed him.
While Tom wiped the blood off his face, the wound gone, Ed muttered, “That’ll go on the blooper reel.” The police around were just shaking their heads at the antics.
Andrea started it off by shooting a fireball. It hit the ground and successfully ignited some of the hedges. They burned quickly in the autumn air, leaves already dry and dying, flaming and smoking in front of the shattered front window of the shop.
With a shield in his left arm, Adam walked forward, deflecting the arrows that still whizzed at him. He had not seen the elves directly, but he was able to block most of the arrows. They still aimed at his legs and upper body at the same time, so he walked very low, keeping as much of himself behind the shield. Twice he took an arrow, once in the front of the shin, and one at the edge of his shoulder. The arrows came less frequently than before as fire, water, and earth flew from behind him to force the elves to move around inside the shop.
After the slow walk, he arrived where the policeman Francs was. His breathing was extremely light, and the green had spread through most of his body. Two arrows had punctured him and blood was continuing to come out of the wounds. Being so close to the shop window, where the arrows were coming from, Adam squatted and held the shield to block both the policeman and his own head. He lifted Francs over his left shoulder, adjusting the shield, then he turned back to where Lucas had suddenly stood up.
Adam could feel that a certain amount of strength and intent were necessary, so he pulled back his right hand, made a fist, then pushed off his foot as the distance between him and Lucas disappeared. His fist slammed into the shield that Lucas was bracing against. Lucas went flying back with more force than Adam had expected, stopping as he slammed into the grill of one of the vans. A huge indentation was left as Lucas fell forward, bleeding from all over his back. The shield broke into pieces.
“Yup, that definitely sucked. This vest is toast too.” Lucas managed to get to his hands and knees, gasping for breath, as Tom and Elias dragged him to Ed for healing. Ed first had to focus on Francs though, as Adam set him down. It took three [Reduce Poison] casts and many more heals to get his breathing steady.
“That was impossible!” shouted Cooper, as the other policemen stared at them. “How are you guys doing this? Is it a trick?!”
“It’s why we are the specialists,” said Tom.
“This is what we all need to become to survive these invasions,” said Adam as he pulled out a machete and cut the barbs out of his skin, causing everyone to wince. “The [System] says it brought us this power to defend ourselves. Whether it did or not, the rules have changed, and everyone needs to catch up to the invaders.”
Lucas finished getting healed and Ed touched Adam’s wounds to heal them. Adam took a deep breath and spoke to Det. Baker.
“Subduing is off the table. These guys are going down.”
“Yes, I think you’re right. I doubt we could hold or interrogate creatures of this strength,” Det. Baker said, sounding defeated. “It’s better to get rid of the threat.”
“Threat?” Adam asked sarcastically. “There are only three, and that’s not enough for an invasion. These are just scouts either trying to feel us out or with some other purpose. Now, we’re doing things my way.”