A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 14: Jailbreak

            Quickly, Sarge and Gray Wolf scramble to barricade the door, jamming an assortment of pipes, chairs, and pieces of lumber against it to keep the soldiers from getting to them. The soldiers immediately begin banging on the door, throwing all their weight against the fortifications. But it is holding. For now. Their weapons and outfits are laying on a table for the two. Brawler's weapons, too. Gray Wolf is eager to rid himself of the Zhar-Ptitsa uniform. Wearing it makes him feel unclean. The two quickly don their own personal attire, and make sure to each grab one of Brawler's weapons. Gray Wolf has the machine gun, Sarge has the shotgun and revolver. Gray Wolf wonders how Sarge can stand wearing that heavy, stifling body armor. Sarge wonders how Gray Wolf can go without body armor in this line of work. Gray Wolf notices something sticking out of one of the plates on Sarge's body armor. Just the blue corner of the American flag is sticking out. So that's what he fights for. Shame we don't have a country anymore... Gray Wolf, out of habit, checks over his weapons. "Those fuckers!" he exclaims, looking over his kukri. It is smudged, with finger prints and dirt covering the steel. "They touched my knife, with their grubby, feely, little, commie hands!"

"I don't think they're communists anymore," Sarge laughs.

"Whatever, they'll always be dirty commies to me..." They both check their guns, lock and load, and take the safeties off.

"I'll go left, you go right," Sarge says, eyes down the ACOG scope of his M4.

"Hoo-fucking-ahh," replies Gray Wolf, staring down the iron sights of his Galil. The two face the door, as the barricade finally gave way. Sarge swings the door open, and the two step into the hallway, swinging into a back-to-back position, spraying fire. The world seems to slow down, as the two let loose a hail of bullets, staying low and moving outward to avoid fire. Gray Wolf's larger caliber bullets tear through the soldiers, spraying pink mist down the hallway, ripping off legs and punching holes through torsos and walls. But Sarge is a better, more disciplined shooter, and every one of his bullets find their mark. The deafening gunfire echoes down the hallway, amplifying the sound to ungodly decibels. All eight Zhar-Ptitsa soldiers fall to the ground, splashing in a pool of their own blood. Gray Wolf pulls out his hatchet to finish off the stragglers. The gunfire will surely attract more soldiers, so they have to move. They bolt up the stairs, following Brawler's trail of carnage, and listening for his lumbering footsteps and blood-curdling bellow, the extra weapons they carry clanging on their backs uncomfortably. Maybe he'll need them. Maybe.

The Zhar-Ptitsa lieutenant stares over the carnage with a group of soldiers. They have just missed the rampaging giant, thank God. He needs to get to the Colonel's office, ASAP. He bursts through the doors, and looks at the scene inside. The Colonel's head is laying on the desk, his clothes stained crimson, his exsanguinated face pale as snow. "Spread out!" the lieutenant shouts at his team. "Find the assassin!" The four soldiers split into teams of two and begin sweeping the halls. Alone, the lieutenant picks up the phone, punching numbers into the phone. A voice comes through on the other side "This is Lieutenant Antonov in Fort Reno. I need Damion. Now."

The trail of destruction seems to stretch on forever. Maybe it's possible that Brawler did kill everyone in the fort... The sound of gunfire indicates that that isn't so, yet. It leads to the front doors. Or rather, where they used to be. One door is missing, the other is hanging by a hinge. He has to be outside, in the courtyard. The sunlight hits Sarge and Gray Wolf in the eyes, nearly blinding them. It feels like they had been in that fort for an eternity. Gray Wolf quickly puts on his sunglasses. There's Brawler. Now they can watch him do his work firsthand. He picks up a soldier by the throat, lifting his feet off the ground. The other soldiers open fire on Brawler, but the soldier in his grasp absorbs the fire, acting as a meat shield. He throws the pulpy remains of the meat shield at the two soldiers shooting at him. It knocks them off their feet. He charges over to them, and stomps their heads in, letting out a vicious bellow that can be felt for miles around. Sarge watches a soldier in a watchtower take aim at Brawler, and Sarge lets fire a quick burst from his M4. The soldier cartwheels backward over the railing, screaming on the way down. Brawler glances back at Sarge and Gray Wolf. For a second, he considers killing them, too, and just escaping this all. Being on his own forever. But the more sane side of him has begun to break through a little. Not them. Not yet at least. Gray Wolf shoots a look at Sarge. Maybe they won't have to kill him after all. Sarge understands. More soldiers come out of the watchtowers and begin firing on them. Sarge and Gray Wolf take cover on either side of the doorway. Brawler roars and was about to charge, but before he can, Sarge calls for him.