The Life & Times of Qindeo Greybeck

Chapter 4

Qin and Cass stayed with Zuton in his cabin for several months, making weekly runs into town for supplies at night.  They had so far managed to not have any run-ins with any of the scientist's henchmen, but it would not be long before they did.

It was a cold November morning, and Qin was just coming back from the weekly food run.  He kicked the door closed and set the four bags of food on the table.

Zuton and Cass were both sitting on the couch playing Halo, Zuton being completely owned by Cass.

"Hey guys.”  Qin said.

"Hey." Both Zuton and Cass responded.

"I play winner." Qin said, dropping onto the couch next to Zuton.

Then the cabin plunged into darkness as the power went out.  They stayed completely still, waiting for the generator kick in, but it did not.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Qin said.  He pulled his Deagle out and clicked the flashlight that was on it on. "Grab your weapons and head outside." He said quietly, making his way over towards the door where his sniper rifle was leaned up against the wall.

Zuton and Cass grabbed their weapons and headed over to where Qin was waiting next to the door.

Qin eased the door open, and the three of them slipped quietly outside.  There was absolute silence outside, not even the sound of traffic from I-90 could be heard.

"Something's not right." Zuton muttered, peering into the darkness.

Indeed, something was not right.  Right after Zuton said that, the night exploded with gunfire.  "Holy shit, RUN!" yelled Zuton, diving for cover behind a pile of firewood.  Qin and Cass followed him, bullets exploding against the wood.

"How many do you think?" Zuton yelled over the gunfire.

"I'd say about 15!" Qin yelled back.

Zuton nodded "Alright, you and Cass start taking out the guys on the left, and I'll get the ones on the right." He told them.

Qin and Cass nodded.  The three waited for a lull in the firing, and when they got one, they opened up.  Zuton's M6 cracked as he laid down fire, spitting 6.5mm rounds into the night.

On the right, Qin and Cass started firing as well.  Qin's Deagle boomed as he pulled the trigger as fast as he could, emptying the even round mag in a few seconds.  He dropped the mag, slammed in a fresh one, and kept right on going.

Cass fired away with her Colt 1911, quickly emptying the 14 round magazine as well.

The battle lasted for about five more minutes, both sides exchanging huge amounts of fire.

"Cease fire!" Qin yelled.  Cass and Zuton stopped firing. "I think that's all of them." He said.  He cautiously stepped out from behind the woodpile, and made his way over to the tree line.  He found 15 bodies; each one was surrounded by shell casings and extra magazines.

"That's all of them." Qin said as he made his way back over to the cabin. "But they have probably got reinforcements on the way, so we should get out of here." He said.

"Agreed" Zuton said, "Grab ammo and supplies and let's get out of here."

Zuton started the generator and they all went back into the cabin.  They grabbed as much ammo and supplies as they could carry, and headed back outside.  Zuton shifted into an eagle and took off, followed by Qin and Cass.

They had been flying for hardly 20 minutes along I-90 when 10 helicopters swooped out of the darkness.

“Holy shit!” yelled Qin “Peel off!”

The group split off, Qin diving to the right, Zuton diving to left, and Cass pulling straight up.  This maneuver successfully fooled the choppers for a couple moments, enough time for Qin, Cass, and Zuton to from up above and behind them.

Qin fired his sniper rifle into one of the choppers, the round tearing through the engine and sending it plummeting towards the ground in flames.

The rest of the choppers came to a sudden stop then, causing the three to shoot past them with the choppers right on their tails.

The nine remaining choppers now opened up on them with their .50 cal machine guns, searing the night with hot lead and tracer rounds.

Qin, Cass and Zuton ducked and weaved through the air, the choppers maneuvering with them.  Qin whipped around and managed to get several more shots off, sending five more choppers into the ground.

Now with only four choppers left, they picked up the pace.  The rate of fire intensified as the door gunners joined in with their machine guns.

Qin, Cass, and Zuton were now traveling at about 100 MPH, the helicopters easily keeping pace with them.  The chase had lasted a little over an hour now, and they were growing tired.

“Qin!  I cannot keep this up for much longer!”  Cass yelled.  She was lagging a little behind the others, and Qin dropped back to her.  He pointed to the lights that were fast approaching down below.  “We’re going to land there and try and shake the choppers.” Qin told her.

Cass nodded, and they began to descend.  The choppers followed them down, guns blazing away.  The lead chopper suddenly broke off though, and disappeared off to the right.

“Watch your right Cass!”  Qin yelled back to her, but it was too late.

No sooner had Qin spoke than the chopper came back along the right side, all the guns on it blazing away.

Cass had no reaction time as the chopper bore down upon her.  She took a .50 caliber round in her wing, and a smaller 7.62mm round from the door gunner in her lower leg.  She screamed and began to spiral downwards, the chopper following.

“Cass!”  Qin screamed, and tried to dive after her, but the other three choppers bore down on him and Zuton, and he was forced to flee while Cass plummeted towards the ground.

Cass’s fall was intercepted by the enemy helicopter.  She fell right into it through the open door, skidding onto the floor as the door slammed closed behind her.  She moaned in pain as someone removed her pistol and backpack.  She picked her head up and looked around the inside of the chopper before passing out.

Qin watched the helicopter with Cass turn and fly north, the other three turning and following it.

Qin and Zuton landed outside the town a few minutes later, Zuton shifting back into his human form.  Neither of them said much as they located a place to sleep.

The next morning Qin and Zuton set off again, following the interstate towards Cheyenne where Zuton said that they should then follow I-80 east.

The two made good time, reaching Cheyenne in about an hour.  They then turned east and began following Interstate 80.  The pair flew for 12 straight hours along the interstate, until they were over Iowa City.  Here they decided to turn north and followed a different Interstate up to the city of Cedar Rapids.

They came in low over the river at about 2:00 AM.  They landed on May’s Island and made their way along the Third Avenue Bridge into downtown.  They found an abandoned building and made their way inside.  It appeared to be an old factory of some sort, as the found old machines in several of the rooms as they made their way up to the top floor.

“This seems good.”  Zuton said.  Qin nodded in agreement.

They set their stuff on the floor and fell asleep where they sat.