Cia's Stories: Wednesday Briefs: Mine! Part Two Chapter Twenty-six

The prompt for this week is: This is my last resort.

Chapter Twenty-six

“Those hinges are going to squeal like a bitch,” Landon cursed softly.

“Shit.” I debated on the best course. Throw the door open fast and be sure to make a huge racket, but be able to face what was on the other side quicker, or try to ease it open and reduce the noise, but leave whoever might be on the other side time to attack us? “They have to know we’re coming. I’d have someone on the other side of this door.”

“Several someones, and we’re choked down here.” There was maybe room for three men to stand abreast, and they’d have to be back far enough to avoid the door which swung into the tunnel, by the shape of the hinges. Damn inconvenient.

A slender wolf came through the crowd of guards. “Let me take point.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You.”

“Along with this.” He pulled out a beefy gun from that hung down his back on a strap.

“What the hell is that?” Landon asked.

“The Uzi Pro with a thirty-two round magazine. And I have spares.” The wolf smirked. “I might not be the biggest in my pack, but I’m the deadliest. Claws and teeth only take you so far, and the humans have guns—so should we.”

I shook my head. “Damn, man. Okay. You take point on the right, Landon and I will get this door open, then we’ll stagger behind you as we come out. Everyone watch for ferals, and don’t take out someone on our side.” My orders were passed along the ranks in whispers.

“What’s your name?” I asked the wolf while everyone get into the best position to storm through the tunnel exit.

“Wilbur.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, my mom had a thing for the book. A wolf named for a pig.” He grimaced. “I had to figure out some way to scare the fuck out of the bigger wolves just to survive.” He lifted his Uzi. “Found it.”

I fought the urge to laugh. “Yeah. You ready?” He braced himself along the wall, holding his gun at the ready.

“Let’s take these fuckers out,” he said.

Landon and I grabbed the metal ring and on the whispered count of three, pulled back. The metal screech hurt my ears, but it was drowned out by the rapid rat-a-tat-tat of Wilbur’s shooting. He sprayed the space through the door, then stepped forward. Landon took up a place on his left, and I waited two more steps before I took the right.

Moving as a unit through the door, I immediately had to step over a body. I spared a single glance down—werekin.

But not all of them. I also saw two pure humans in all black. Guards? The florescent lights overhead flickered, then grew brighter. I squinted. “Fuckers.” Darkness wouldn’t stop werekin senses from operating, but too much light?

“Incoming.” I could still hear, and the pounding of booted feet coming our way was unmistakable. We were sitting ducks in the hallway. We’d take out some of them, but they’d probably take us out too. “Try the doors.”

There were three doors in the hall. “Storage.”

“Damn.” We took the one farthest. “Everyone inside.” These rooms weren’t really any better.

“I might have a few other things that could help, but we’re underground, so it might also bring a shit ton of earth down on top of us.”

I wish Wilbur hadn’t reminded me of that. I hated the feeling of being hemmed in, and knowing there was a lot of soil and rocks above us didn’t help. “What?”

He pulled out two grenades. “This is my last resort.”

“Seriously?” Landon’s eyes were huge. “Dude, what the fuck do you have grenades for?”

“I like to be prepared.” Wilbur’s eyes gleamed. “And blow shit up.”

This fucker was crazy—but he was on our side, at least. Did our phones work? I pulled mine out. “Thank god.” How they hell they got cell service down here, I didn’t even want to know. He answered on the second ring.

“Yeah?”

“Take cover, pass it along. This wolf brought some grenades.”

“Holy shit. All right. There’s an adjoining door between us and the storage room behind ours, so we’re all together. Be careful, Park. I don’t want to tell my mate his brother got blown to pieces.”

“Doing my best.”

I hung up. “Let’s do this.”

Landon was peering through a crack in the door. “We got humans. More like those ones before. They’re spreading out, and they have major weaponry and shields.”

“Shields won’t help them with this.” Wilbur took Landon’s place at the door. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I heard him counting, then the door open and slam. “Take cover!”

I crouched down and covered my head. There was a loud bang and then walls shook. Screams filled the air, and the stench of chemicals and blood followed it when Wilbur opened the door. We took point again, but guards poured out of the second room when no one opened fire.

“I don’t think they were expecting that,” Landon said. Wilbur lead the way and Landon followed. They stood next to the edge of the hall, then peeked around the corner. “It’s clear over here.”

“No, I don’t think they were. Help me out here.” I crouched next to a human who was unconscious… nope, dead. A chunk of metal was lodged in his throat when I rolled him over. I started searching through his pockets.

“What are you doing?” Durant asked.

“Wilbur and Landon are covering it. We need to see if there’s any information we can find on these bodies. These are pure humans and they’re wearing uniforms with military-style guns.”

“They could be mercenaries,” Deke said.

“They could be government.”

That got everyone’s attention.

TBC

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