Countdown to Apocalypse, page 9
“Another five meters to the rest of the team!” Hiro called, which An quickly translated.
“Got it,” The American said, not pausing in his efforts.
As they came abreast of the wounded, they’d pull them in as quickly as they could while others provided covering fire and the American kept pushing the rig forward. Finally, everyone was accounted for, but the pressure of fire from the attackers had become such that An was honestly starting to worry that they would soon blow through the armored vehicle.
“Is that everyone?” The American asked.
“Yes, yes, that is everyone.” An said.
“Good,” He replied, stopping brushing his hands off. “Wait here.”
“Wait here? Where are you going?”
The man smiled darkly, “Just going to say hi to our buddies out there. You’d better call for paramedics as soon as I distract them. Get your wounded clear.”
“Wait, you cannot…”
An’s objection was cut off when the man simply grabbed the edge of the armored car and pulled, shooting up into the air like a shot from a cannon as he arced forward toward the attackers. Despite his mind gibbering at what he saw, An kept it together and got to the edge, looking out around the Unimog to see what was happening.
*****
The three Triad members were having the time of their lives.
Yan had entrusted them with ensuring that the police and military didn’t interrupt him while he was dealing with the only true threat to their power in the city, and that meant that they got to completely destroy police officers in a rampage that felt like it was straight out of a video game.
It was awesome.
The cops had managed to recover their wounded, but that was fine. They would burn through the armored car soon enough, there was a reason why they were the three trusted to handle this part of the job after all. The temporary victory would only make the looks on the officer’s faces just before they died all the better.
They were pressing the attack with increased ferocity when one noticed a blur and was distracted into looking up.
“What in the…”
He exclamation was cut off as a shoe planted itself in the center of his chest and slammed him back into the ground with enough force to buckle the pavement beneath him. Blood spit out of his mouth, over the dress shoe that was pinning him to the ground, and he stared up at the figure standing on him in disbelief.
“What…?”
The man looked at the other two shocked Triad soldiers and smiled thinly.
“That’s One,” He said in English.
*****
Alex grinned at the two men who were staring back at him in open horror.
He didn’t know if they understood him or not, and honestly didn’t care. He only held position for a few seconds until one of them twitched the wrong way, and then he moved.
Since learning that he could fly, Alex was also discovering that he could move faster on ground by simply willing it than he could by actually walking or running. It wasn’t as precise, unfortunately, but it was a hell of a lot faster.
He twisted away from the blast of green something that was flung his way by the man who’d moved, and lunged in. Alex buried his fist into the man’s guts, folding him up like a blanket over a clothesline. He heard the rush of air blown out of the man’s lungs as his diaphragm collapsed under the blow, only a dry rattle coming from him after that as Alex lifted him off the ground and held him in place as he turned to look at the remaining man.
“That’s two,” He said, dropping the man to a crumpled ball on the ground as he turned to face the last one.
The man’s hands glowed that same acidic green, catching Alex’s attention. So far they hadn’t seen many similar powersets show up, but rather a wild variety that felt almost random. For two, or maybe three, to have such a similar powerset was enough for him to pause and note the incongruity.
Before the man could fire on him in his brief hesitance, however, a roar of automatic fire erupted and bullets tore into the man where he stood.
Alex glanced over to see the Police Tactical Unit, now regrouped, moving forward with guns blazing.
The third man hit the ground, bleeding from a hundred holes in his body, and Alex just winced slightly.
“Well, that’s three.” He said, nodding to the leader of the Tactical Unit.
“Thank you for the distraction and help,” The officer said, approaching. “Now, who are you?”
“Just a visitor to your fair city,” Alex said with a smile.
The cop rolled his eyes, “Yes and I am a movie star with millions of dollars and supermodels at home.”
“Must be a nice life.”
The cop seemed ready to retort when an explosion startled them all, causing them to turn and see a window blow out on the third floor of the hospital, spewing smoke, fire, and shards of glass over the street.
“This isn’t over,” Alex said grimly. “What the hell are they after in a hospital, of all places?”
The PTU officer growled, “We have reports of a girl being chased, pushing a wheelchair with an unconscious patient. It seems someone inside annoyed them.”
“Great,” Alex kicked the man at his feet over, “Any idea who these idiots are?”
The officer looked down, then abruptly dropped to one knee and tore open the sleeve of the man’s shirt before spitting on the ground.
“Triads.”
Alex nodded. That made sense with the reports that had brought his attention to Hong Kong. Whoever was behind the CRISPR modifications had a fetish for bad boys, it seemed.
“I’m going in,” He decided, “Tell your people to watch out.”
“You cannot,” The officer said, standing up, “Both sides shoot you if you do.”
“I can take a little shooting,” Alex said, more confident than he really felt. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Not worried about you, worried what you’ll do to the officers inside if they miss.”
Alex laughed, clapping a hand on the officer’s shoulder, “Just tell them to identify themselves, I’m not looking to be a cop killer.”
“I suppose I cannot stop you, even if I try,” The officer grumbled, eyes on the two men Alex had nearly pulverized.
“Not really, no. Sorry.”
The TPU officer grimaced, but nodded, “Fine. I’ll warn others.”
“Thanks,” Alex said before looking up and lifting off the ground and heading right for the smoking window on the third floor.
*****
An stared, dumbfounded for the latest time in the last few minutes.
His jaw was hanging open, he knew it was, but he couldn’t help it as he stared.
“An.”
“An!”
“What?” He shook himself, refocusing to look to where Hiro was calling for his attention. “What is it?”
“What do we do with these two?” Hiro asked, nodding to the two Triads who weren’t currently leaking all over the streets.
“Are they breathing?” An asked.
“Yes.”
“Unfortunate.” He grumbled, thinking about the lives lost so far. “Very well, secure them. Cuffs, strips, whatever you can. Everything you can. I do not know if they are as strong as our friend there is, but just in case let’s not worry about their comfort.”
“Not a problem,” Hiro grumbled as he got to work.
An saw the Paramedics had arrived and were doing what they could for the fallen officers and looked over at those still standing.
“Two guns on each of them at all times,” He ordered, “If they flinch in a way you do not like… empty the magazines.”
*****
Alex floated evenly with the window, checking inside before he let himself drift slowly into the hospital and land softly on the floor. The fire was mostly papers and toiletries from what he could see. Incidental fires, likely caused by someone being careless with energy blasts like those on the outside.
He stomped out a fire around an overturned trash bin and looked around until he found a fire extinguisher to finish the job.
The sprinklers had kicked in, and everything was getting soaked including himself, but there was no point in leaving anything burning if he could stop it. He crossed the room and stepped through a shattered door into a wide hallway, checking up and down the two sides as he tried to determine which way to go.
Screaming decided it for him, he went right toward the sound and deeper into the building.
Alex limited his speed to a fast, but intent stride, knowing that running into an ambush was now a significant likelihood with his visibility cut off. The sounds of fighting from up ahead quickly told him he was heading in the right direction.
*****
“Please, oh please, Shen, you have to wake up.”
Qi was beginning to sink into desperation. She felt like she’d been running for hours, though she was well aware that he had only been a few minutes in reality, perhaps fifteen at most.
She looked over her shoulder, trying to see if any of the pursuers were there but it was so hard with people screaming and running, the crowds were impossible to see through. Of course, they had to be screaming and running away from something, so she tiredly pushed forward as she headed toward the light up ahead.
The hall opened into a foyer that had huge glass windows and doors, she pushed Shen in that direction as fast as she could, struggling through the crowd and out into the open air.
As the crowd thinned around her, Qi slowed and found herself staring in horror as she realized that while she was outside, she wasn’t on the street level.
It was an enclosed courtyard, the building towering above her ahead and behind, and three story drops on either side.
She froze, looking around as she recognized the situation.
She was trapped.
*****
Yan snarled as he backhanded a stupid fool who was too slow to get out of his way.
The man’s neck snapped at the blow, and he never felt himself smash into the far wall or fall, dead, to the polished floor as his murderer strode on into the fleeing crowd and continued in kind with impunity as people fled or fell as to the thresher.
“Spread out,” He ordered his men, “Find them.”
The Triad soldiers nodded, hurrying through the crowd, striking down anyone who got in their way as they did.
They pushed through the foyer, eyes searching as they pushed out into the outside courtyard.
“Boss!”
Yan twisted, then turned back to follow the direction his soldier was pointing.
He spotted the girl they’d been chasing and recognized the man in the chair she was pushing as she turned blindly around looking for a way out.
“Get her!” He ordered, gesturing to send his soldiers charging ahead.
The closest sprinted and lunged into a tackle that sent her sprawling and upended the wheelchair in the process.
Got them.
*****
The darkness was a blanket, wrapping him in a cool comfort that Shen just drifted in. He felt like he could almost hear someone calling to him occasionally but couldn’t focus on the sound.
That all came to an end in a sudden moment as he was thrown about, and the darkness receded painfully around him. He opened his eyes, filling his face pressed into hot cement, bright sun beating down on him.
Where?
He stirred, looking about as his blurry vision cleared.
A scream caught his attention and Shen planted his hand down to push himself up, looking in the direction of the scream.
“Qi!” He called through a throat that suddenly felt like sandpaper as he tried to speak.
Qi was on the ground, a man standing over her with his boot on her face as he pressed down to keep her pinned to the ground.
Shen snarled.
“Qi!” He roared this time, struggling to his knees.
A boot caught him in the guts, throwing him up into the air and over onto his back.
“Stay down, boy,” A cold voice said, “Or this will go worse for you, I promise.”
Shen looked up to see a sneering face over him.
“On second consideration,” The man he recognized as the head of a triad gang suddenly grinned nastily, “get up. This is going to hurt either way.”
*****
Chapter 8
“Where is that power?” Yan demanded and he again booted the boy across the rooftop.
“Shen!”
He glanced over at the girl, still pinned by his soldiers, and snorted as he returned his focus to the boy.
“You burned my boys alive last night, I know it was you. I saw you.” He said as he knelt down by the boy. “Now you’re just some cripple. Pity. If you had the guts, I’d have forgiven you and brought you in.”
He rose up, “This world is changed today, boy. Hong Kong doesn’t know it yet, but it belongs to me. The rest of China will follow soon enough. Be proud, you die at the hands of an emperor.”
He planted his boot on the boy’s head, pushing his face into the hot cement, and looked over at the others.
“What do we do with her, boss?” one asked.
Yan shrugged, “Keep her for a while, I suppose. She’s a pretty little thing. We’ll kill her later.”
“No!” Shen surged up, only to get a boot to the head that sent him back to the concrete.
Yan dropped to a crouch, bringing himself down closer to the boy as he shook his head.
“What makes you think you get a say in any of this?” Yan asked him chidingly, before he stared for a long moment as if waiting for something. Finally, he sighed, “Nothing? Really? Perhaps I have wrong person after all.”
He got back to his feet.
“You do!” Shen gasped out, grasping as straws. “You have the wrong people. Please, let her go.”
Yan looked back down at him and shrugged, “No.”
He kicked Shen in the head, sending the boy tumbling back across the cement before turning back to his soldiers. “Well, pick or kill her. We’re leaving.”
“What about him, boss?” One asked, nodding to where Shen was bleeding on the ground behind Yan.
“Kill him here. I hate having my time wasted.” Yan said, brushing his hands off as he walked away from the boy.
The triad soldier sneered, eyes suddenly filling with blue white light as he strode past Yan with his focus on the boy laying on the ground.
“Shen!”
Yan smiled at the terrified girl, “Too late for him, girl. Worry about…”
Her eyes widening in surprise coincided with a rush of air behind him and a sound of something being struck, hard. Yan spun, his own eyes widening in shock as he saw his soldier bent double over the knee that had been drive into his midsection. A knee that belonged to a tall white man wearing a tattered looking business suit.
As Yan watched the white man retracted his knee and, before the triad soldier could fall, delivered fist strike to the back of his head that drive the triad into the cement hard enough to splinter bone and teeth.
Yan winced involuntarily at the blood that was seeping out from under his man’s face, and the rattle of breath still coming from him.
“Was that really necessary?” He asked, his voice surprisingly mild, “you could have just killed him, it would have been a little less… excessive?”
*****
Alex stepped over the broken man at his feet, glaring at the one who appeared to be in charge. The man was dressed in decent clothing, probably several times pricier than the business casual Alex had bought using SOCOM’s credit card and acted like he was in control of the situation.
Time to disabuse him of that thought, Alex decided as the man asked him something in Cantonese.
“Sorry, don’t speak that,” Alex drawled casually as he stepped closer, noting the thugs moving between him and the man who was speaking.
“American?” The man asked, scoffing. “Of course, Americans can never be bothered to learn another language.”
“I speak five languages, asshole,” Alex barked in darkly amused laughter, “just because I never bothered to learn yours doesn’t mean shit.”
The man, whom Alex presumed was a member of the Triads, reddened slightly, apparently not amused by the rejoinder. He got himself under control, though, his expression almost curious.
“Who are you? I don’t recall you being there that night?”
“I doubt you saw everybody,” Alex told him, stepping determinedly forward while apparently ignoring the three remaining thugs circling him. “but as it happens, I wasn’t there. Did you really believe you were somehow special? The first, or only people this happened to? Sorry, jackass, you’re just one more guinea pig in a cage. Just like me.”
The man scowled at him, “What do you know?”
“I know you’re a monster, attacking a hospital,” Alex gestured dismissively, “at least the last ones I dealt with had the balls to go after armed cops. Not exactly noble, I’ll grant, but a hell of a lot better than beating on the sick and injured. Were orphans too tough for you?”
Alex grinned as the other man gave up any semblance of control, face reddening in an almost violent manner as he spat out orders in Cantonese. Alex didn’t understand a word of it, of course, but really some things require no translation.
Actions are a universal language.
The three thugs came at him, no subtlety at all but they were clearly trained fighters too. Alex met the first head on, tapping his power just a bit to surge in under the man’s guard before he could fully be ready to defend himself.
A shot to the sternum folded the man over almost instantly, and Alex followed up by grabbing the thug’s lowered head and powering it down into his knee as he brought it up into the man’s face. Blood spattered everywhere as bone and cartilage near disintegrated on contact and the man’s head flew back up.
Alex side stepped as the man was kicked into the air by the force of the knee, casually backhanding him in mid air.
The force of the blow caused a small thunderclap as the air was rent by the power of it, and the man was flung clear away to the west. He flew over the side of the building, across the street, and slammed into the next building over with enough power to crack concrete and leave a mark before he fell to the street below.
