Will hated leaving Hunter behind. He hated not being able to protect her and he prayed, even as he fought in the hanger alongside his fellow heroes and the military soldiers who kept behind the planes and the crates, that Hunter would remain safe.
He'd been hit by a bullet in the thigh, but it was slowly digging itself out of his skin. Another had just popped out of his left bicep. He tried to take them for the others, but in the panic after the grenade took Imogen down, they scattered for shelter and became separated.
Will ignored the burning bullet holes in his body and charged forward, clumsily taking on an Agent who was a far better opponent than he. Reminding himself to get Joshua or Marcus to teach him the techniques of combat when this was over, he swung hard punches where he saw the opportunity, and when the Agent took out a knife and stabbed it into Will's stomach, he cringed and then smiled. The Agent's eyes widened as Will grabbed the hilt of the knife, drew it out of his flesh and – quicker than he expected – drove it into the Agent's chest.
"Sorry mate," he muttered. "I'm Immortal."
The Agent's body crumpled to the floor. Will spun and surveyed the fight.
Imogen had gained consciousness and was throwing her force fields at anyone who needed them. The soldiers had killed most of the Chinese, leaving only the Agents and four mutants. Behind him, Zokani swooped in and attacked an Agent who was firing consistently at Ryo. She kept appearing and disappearing in different parts of the room to confuse them. One Agent in particular seemed determined to take her out and kept shooting in her direction as soon as he saw Ryo appear. Suddenly, Ryo blinked in front of another Agent that had just knocked Chevie to the ground. Before the first Agent could figure out Ryo's next move, he pulled the trigger, Ryo disappeared, and the bullet ripped through the second Agent's chest. His colleague was so shocked that he dropped the gun. Ryo teleported right to it, whipped around on her knees and shot him in the heart.
Chevie climbed weakly to his feet and thanked her before turning to help his father – who didn't look like he needed help at all. Alistair and a mutant who was twice the size of Will were street fighting on the other side of the room, breaking crates and throwing large objects at each other. They were growing dangerously close to the door of the hanger, and when Alistair realized this, he saw his opportunity. With a force Will could not describe, Alistair spun a roundhouse kick and the mutant's huge body soared back at least four meters into plain sight of the snipers. In less than three seconds, he was ripped apart by bullets and lay unmoving on the dirt path.
Yung was using his martial arts power to fight three Chinese men at once, moving faster than Will could comprehend. Suddenly, a high-pitched cry startled him and he whirled to see a mutant woman launch herself at him. She was feral and large and cackled as they rolled around on the dusty hanger floor.
"Pretty boy," she cooed. "Pretty pre-"
Will threw her off him. She had blood dripping from her arm but she didn't cradle it. Her ankle was bent at an odd angle. Will frowned. Did Dr. Wolfe re-create his power or just cut off her ability to feel pain?
The woman leapt at him again and Will threw a right hook at her jaw. He didn't realize how powerful the punch really was until the woman fell and didn't get up.
"CHANTAL!"
Out of the corner of his eye, through a blur of bullets, Will saw Chantal tip gracefully to the floor, almost in slow motion. Her head hit the concrete, her blond hair spilling out around her, empty eyes staring right at him with a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead.
Will felt a stab through his heart worse than any weapon. Zac ran to her, dropping to his knees, scooping her head up into his hands and crying for her to come back.
"Chantal," he whispered.
Will saw what looked like a black panther zoom past him and throw itself at a nearby Agent. It had to be Illya. The piercing roar echoed in his mind – as did the sight of an Agent having his throat torn out by the panther's jaws.
A heavy bang sounded and Will whipped around to see two-dozen soldiers spill from the door they were supposed to take once the hanger was clear. Behind them was a group of Men in White – one of them being Jamison. Their bullets soared through the air. One hit Imogen in her chest.
It reminded him so powerfully of Fearne that he froze amidst the battle, bullets tearing into his skin. He did not feel them, only the agony of watching death take more of his family. He tripped backwards over a body. When he looked down, he saw Ace lying at his feet with his neck broken and slash marks across his face.
It was all too much.
"NO!" someone screamed and Illya fell beside Ace's body, making Will feel sick as she held his face in her hands just as Zac did with Chantal. With Ace's head clenched against her chest and her eyes like murderous, green floodlights, Illya looked at Will with a face so torn apart by agony that he felt almost guilty he didn't stand up for her on the plane. She was right: they were all led to the slaughter.
Will couldn't take the bloodshed. All around him, his friends were dying. It felt as though they came so prepared, with their superhero suits and their new ambitions and the Captain and his men to back them up. Now, as gunfire rained upon them, he didn't see any of them making it out of the hanger alive, let alone with the President.
"Ryo!" Will called out. "You need to get into the bunker!"
"What?" she yelled at him as she and her brother fought the only remaining Agent, a mutant and three Men in White. At the same time, Will was suddenly attacked by a guard and a Chinese soldier.
"You're our only hope of stopping them." He punched the guard in the stomach and threw him into the soldier, satisfied to be returning some of the hits he took from them at ICE. "Run to the bunker when you get the chance!"
"What if-"
Ryo was knocked down by Jamison and he paused to grin maliciously at Will before throwing his foot into Ryo's stomach. Yung yelled ferociously and dove on Jamison, wrapping his arms around the man's neck and, quicker than lightning, Jamison's head snapped to the right and he fell on the floor. Two Chinese men jumped on Yung and he was in a fight again. Will took down the guard, but wasn't ready for the soldier. And more were running toward him.
We need a miracle.
YOU ARE READING
Consuming Fire
Science Fiction*AVAILABLE ON AMAZON* The third in the ROUGE series ... 'The true heroes are the ones who have courage, even when they have no power at all.' After Hunter and Will are rescued from the terrifying institution and brought to the safe house where the o...
