"Have you ever used a gun before?" he asked.
Her eyes were wild with fear as she shook her head.
"Martial arts," she said quietly.
He nodded but pushed the gun back into her hands when she tried to give it back.
"Keep it just in case," he said. "You won't be able to beat the Glycons hand-to-hand."
She swallowed and nodded once, her blue eyes clouded by fear.
Apollo watched as she clutched the gun to her chest.
* * *
The road was quiet as they made their way to the front gate. She knew what was ahead, and yet it didn't seem to ease the fears that hammered at her chest. Even far from the fire, the acrid smell of smoke assaulted her nose.
Val glanced over to Apollo. His attention was all around them, and she was glad for it.
They neared the front and bile rose in her throat. Hate and fear filled the air. The emotions, mixed with the copper scent of blood, made her stomach roll.
"They are close," Rem said, his gun at the ready.
Val noticed how he kept Jenna on the inside near the center.
A harsh growl cut through the air, and they froze.
"How many?" Apollo asked.
Rem shook his head. "Three, maybe more."
"Too many," Apollo said and looked over to the other man.
Apollo stepped in front of her and gripped her shoulders hard.
"If any of them come at you, fire. Fire until you don't have anything left. Don't try to fight these things," he said quickly. "You won't be fast enough. If you get cornered, you run as fast as you can."
Val stared at him for a long moment before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him hard.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry," she said again. The words burned as they came out.
He shook his head. "Don't think about that," he said. "We survive, and then we deal with the rest."
Her heart thumped. If they survived this, she was never leaving his side again.
Val jumped when Jenna racked the slide of her gun.
"They are here," Jenna whispered.
Val looked into the line of the trees and swallowed.
A scream ripped through the air, and for a moment, she wondered if it was her.
She watched in horror as one of the Glycons ran from the trees, with two teens just ahead, sprinting.
"Fuck," Rem cursed and leveled his gun.
"You'll shoot them," Jenna said. She lined up her own shot.
The other Glycons in the line let out a scream and charged. Jenna turned her gun from the boys and aimed at the threat in front.
Val swallowed and watched as the Glycon got closer to the boys with each passing second. Her breath hitched in her throat as the running teens came into more detail: Dean and Peter. She had to help them. There had to be something she could do.
Val cursed and ran toward the boys.
"Val!" Apollo screamed after her, but she couldn't stop. They needed her.
"Peter," she shouted. "Duck!"
Peter dove over Dean and covered him with his body. Val opened fire, the sound of the shots ringing through the air. One of her bullets had to hit the bastard. No matter how fast they were, they weren't bulletproof.
The bullets whizzed past the angry man-beast, but his attention was now fully fixed on her. Val fired until the gun clicked, seemingly empty. She turned to run but found another Glycon stalking her from that direction. She glanced between the two and cursed.
This was it. From what Apollo had said, there was no way she'd be able to use her martial arts, and outrunning them at this point seemed useless. She almost laughed. Apparently, the Horatius Group would get her in the end.
She sucked in a breath as their rotten hatred passed over her. Bestial, primal, terrifying. She closed her eyes.
A gunshot cracked through the air, and she opened her eyes.
Apollo stood just on the other side of the Glycon as it fell.
He shook as he made his way to her. It had been close, closer than he ever wanted to think about.
Apollo raised his gun and aimed for the other Glycon that had been chasing the boys. It let out a piercing growl and lowered its shoulder, as if about to charge.
He fired, and the monster went down with a thud.
"Don't ever do that again," he yelled at her. "Some fights you can't win."
She wasn't listening to him. Val was already running to the boys.
Apollo looked back at Rem and Jenna. There were still three Glycons left, but they had the situation under control.
He chased after Val.
Before she even reached the boys, he could see that things weren't right. Peter hadn't moved from his spot on the ground, and Dean still hadn't sat up.