Operation Ludendorff: a Leviathan fanfic

Chapter Eight

A bullet whistled past Deryn's ear as she ran, a geyser of puddle water shooting up where it collided with the cobblestones. Shattered stone fragments rained down on her head after each shot connected, debris lodging itself into the folds of her clothes.

Rain splattered into her eyes, everything fading into watery black shadows. The street whizzed past as she ran, her attic scrambling with each crack of the pistol behind her.

Deryn mopped an arm across her eyes, a layer of ash and powdered cement smearing onto her sleeve. With most of the grime gone, she could make out a white splotch in front of her. She squinted in the dark before noticing two wide eyes staring back at her.

Bovril was clutching onto Alek's neck, the beastie wracked in shivers. Its mouth was wide as the noise of bullets pinging against metal escaped from it.

The bullets were growing scarce when Armbrust cursed. Deryn turned, seeing for a split second something ripping into the man's leg. A curse escaped her mouth.

Armbrust was slowly tipping over with the force of the hit when Deryn hooked an arm around his, the suitcase banging awkwardly between them. She tugged at his arm to pull him up, trying her best to ignore the darkening smear of blood.

She heard footsteps splash towards them before Armbrust's weight lessened, Alek holding onto him from the other side.

"There." Armbrust gestured to a corner at the end of the street.

Deryn tightened her grip on the suitcase before making for the corner as fast as Armbrust could manage, which was actually rather fast for a man with a gaping wound on his leg.

Her knee was staring to twinge when they finally turned into the corner, the noise substantially lessening there. A sigh escaped her lips as she let go of Armbrust, setting the man down against the wall of a building.

"There's antiseptic and gauze in the suitcase." Armbrust ground out the moment they'd found a place shadowy enough to hide his bulk.

It took time for Armbrust to fish out the rusty key to the suitcase's lock from his pockets, and by the time he was handing it to Deryn his eyes were already locked on Bovril's shivering form.

"Look, as much as that fab has been helping us with those soldiers back there," Armbrust gestured to their surroundings. "I don't think it would do us much good when we're hiding from them."

"I'll take care of Bovril," Deryn said, thrusting the key into the lock. The suitcase's lid popped open and glossy glass shards glittered inside. Deryn hoped that the bottle of antiseptic wasn't one of them.

She thrust her hand into the mess of multi-coloured powders and glass and pulled out a roll of gauze. The antiseptic, which was buried beneath a light dusting of white powder that reminded Deryn of chalk, was luckily unbroken.

Deryn passed the items onto Alek, who was busy cutting Armbrust's pant leg to get to the wound on the man's calf. She took Bovril too, the beastie much quieter now that it was sure they were relatively safer than where they had been before.

"Mr. Sharp!" It said when it had gotten its little arms around her neck. Shivers still ran up its body.

"Aye, it's me. Now calm down and hide."

Bovril seemed to understand and clambered into Deryn's jacket without much difficulty. It was still shivering, but kept relatively still and silent.

"Leave it, I can take it out later." Armbrust's voice made Deryn turn. What now?

Alek was kneeling beside Armbrust, a cloth soaked in antiseptic hovering uncertainly above the ripped flesh. The boy was turning slightly pale the longer he seemed to be looking down at the wound, but a quick shake of his head was enough to keep his eyes level with Armbrust's.