Acharya led his pack into the west, toward where the flare had been fired. He didn’t know what he would be facing or how many.
Along the way they had picked up another pack led by the Alpha Enforcer Helios. They were a little older than him and his pack and only had one human born. It was ironic since his own pack had Asclepius as their sole wolf born.
He had spread the two packs out with everyone remaining in each other’s line of sight. They needed to cover as much ground as possible to spot whoever it was that had sent up the flare. But he didn’t want his small force to be picked off one at a time either. He was running across the rooftops while Helios and his pack spread out down below along the streets.
Mary raised her claw into the air in front of him. He immediately dropped to his stomach and slid along the top of the obsidian roof. Hopefully, the Shape shifters below saw her quick signal before she had dropped to cover.
He crawled to her, staying as low as possible. “What is it, Mary?”
The female Scout looked back at her Alpha. “There is a group of them, a large group.”
“How many?” Acharya asked.
“Thirty or so,” Mary replied.
“Ok, I’ll pull back and start working on a plan. You stay here and keep an eye on them. Don’t get careless. We can’t afford to lose anyone. If you see them move pull back to our position, ok,” Acharya said calmly. Mary nodded. Acharya slid himself back along the roof the way he had come.
He dropped off the rooftop and met with the rest of his pack and that of Helios. “We have a pretty big group of vampires right in front of us,” Acharya said in a hushed voice. “Mary saw about thirty of them, but they’re not moving. That’s the good news.” He looked back toward the center of the city and the Tower that was at its heart. If those vampires did decide to move what could the twelve of them do?
He looked around the buildings. “Helios, take your pack and spread them out along this divide. My pack with add to it. We will have to shoot and move backwards. We can’t afford to get pinned down. If there is shooting, a few of us with close on that position and give support to whoever’s in trouble. The outer flanks cannot bend inward too much. These vamps could encircle us with minimal effort if we aren’t fast enough. Any questions?”
“I suggest that Asteria help with scouting,” Helios offered. “If the group ahead of us is as large as your Scout says it is, then some may have already broken off from the main group, looking for us among the city while the main group plays dumb… as bait.”
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Acharya nodded. Helios made a signal to his Scout, Asteria. She nodded and scaled a nearby building disappearing from view.
As he watched her go, Acharya caught the scent of vampire seconds before Helios shoved him backwards off his feet into the nearest building. Before he could pick himself up, gun fire suddenly rang out in the street where he had stood a few seconds ago. He could see the sparks fly as ricocheting bullets bounced down the street past where he had been forced into cover.
He looked around him. Helios had brought three other Shape shifters with him that Acharya was not familiar with. Mary and Asteria were still up on the roof. “We have to get out of here,” Acharya said trying to keep his voice calm. He had never been in a situation like this. The Whyte Plain was a poor teacher for this kind of combat.
Outside the bullets were still raining down. They were trapped. He looked at the four veteran Shape Shifters. He might be younger than they were, but he was in charge. Helios stood up quietly trying to peer out and up at the buildings around them while trying not to attract any more gunfire from above.
“Helios, I’ll go.” Acharya stood up and walked to the Enforcer. “I’ll draw off as many as I can. You get them out of here and back to safety.”
Helios scoffed, “Alone? You’ll only get yourself killed.”
“If I don’t then we’ll all be killed! There is no other solution.” The bullets stopped flying giving the street an eerie quite. “Give me fifteen seconds, then get out of here and fall back deeper into the city.”
Without turning away from the street Helios’s claw shot out grabbing Acharya’s shoulder and squeezing tightly enough to draw blood.
“As long as we have blood left to fight, then I won’t let you throw your life away. If we fall back then what? We just give them the city?” For the first time Helios locked eyes with the younger Alpha, squeezing a little harder. “You’re not going out there without support and a plan.” He glanced across the street. “And I think I just got one.”
On the rooftops, Mary heard the gun fire behind her. Her first instinct was to move back and assist with the fire fight. But her job was to keep an eye on the group in front of her. If she went back now that would leave them blind to what this larger group was doing. Against her desperate want to help her pack and her friends, she made herself remain still, watching for any changes in the bigger group.
The gunfire poured out constantly for a good minute or so, then it went silent. She didn’t know what was worse, having the gun fire suddenly erupt behind her like that, or the now sudden silence. Her pack was still alive she could feel it through the pack bond. One was hurt though. Malikah, their Tracker, and she was hurt bad. She hoped that Helios’s pack Healer had survived and he was nearby and could heal her.
The group in front of her moved. It flowed as one cohesive unit. They were like a school of fish swimming through a pond. They flowed forward around the building and up onto the rooftops then down to street level again. She said a silent thank you as the vampires flowed down the street below her, seemingly ignoring her entirely, or they hadn’t seen her. She crouched low and started following them inward through the city.
As she followed them a Shape shifter exploded out from one of the buildings in front of her. He was gripping a machine gun and shooting east as another Shape shifter followed shooting west. They moved with speed across the street. The vampires answered with gunshots of their own. There was a vicious exchange, but miraculously, the Shape shifters evaded the cross fire and fled into one of the alley ways, disappearing from view.