A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 49: Welcome to the Family

           

They came across the killing field several miles outside of town, near where they were ambushed on their way in. The bodies had not yet been buried or burned, left out for the birds, and the winds had blown a thin layer of ash over them. But there were several bodies uncovered. Fresh kills. Two were Zhar-Ptitsa soldiers, laying in piles of spent brass. The rest were Ash Phantoms.

     "I don't see her body anywhere," Louis said, scanning the horizon.

     "She's gotta be hiding then!" Charlie said, looking at the ground for a feminine outline. "She may have buried herself in the ash." The six circled up, then slowly spread out, searching for her.

     It ended up being Will who found her. His cane struck the ground where she was hidden, getting her right in the diaphragm, and he heard her groan for breath. "Found her!" he called to the others. Charlie was the first there, despite being farthest from Will.

     "What the fuck happened?" He asked her, helping her off the ground.

     "They sent me and a few other soldiers to hunt you all down after this." Anastasia responded, other hand on her stomach, gasping for breath still.

     "Why you specifically?" Will asked.

     "Gael and Damion are unavailable, for whatever reason."

     "What about the Ronin?" Charlie asked. "Or is he still out east?"

     "No, he got moved up into Winnipeg, I think. But anyway, here I am. The mayor sent us out here, then the Ash Phantoms got them."

     "One of these bodies has a bullet wound in it," John shouted incredulously from behind, looking at a Zhar-Ptitsa soldier. Charlie and Will turned back to John, then back to Anastasia. She grinned sheepishly. "One of them jumped in my way?"

     "Are you hurt?" Charlie asked.

     "I mean, I just got the wind knocked out of me..."

     "I barely touched you!" Will shouted. "And you better not have scuffed my cane..."

     "You put all your weight into it!" She shouted back. Will stood there, making an expression of shock, as if a normal person—not him—had been accused of murder.

     "So that's a no, then?" Charlie asked.

     "Please, this is me we're talking about."

     "Good point."

     "So what do we do about this?" Red asked, the rest of the group finally having caught up. "The Zhar-Ptitsa can't know she found us."

     "You don't actually think I was gonna tell them anything, did you?" Ana replied, brushing the ash off her navy blue peacoat.

     "You are aware she works for me, right?" Nox said, calmly to Red. "We need not worry about her."

     "Actually, I think we can one-up not having to worry about her," Will said, grinning. "Sweetie, could you hold out your arm for a second?"

     "No, no you don't!" Charlie shouted, snatching Anastasia's arm away from Will. "Do you even know where the chip is?"

     "Charlie, I'll be fine." Ana said, grabbing his wrist. "I'm a big girl."

     Charlie sighed heavily. "Don't fuck this up," he said to Will, letting go of Ana's arm. She took a bottle of whiskey from his jacket and took a long drink before grimacing in displeasure. "How do you stand this shit?"