Morningside Fall(81)

“Swoop, abort alternate, alternate is compromised. We are moving to contingency,” Gamble said, in an emotionless tone at complete odds with the chaos. She ushered Cass, Wren, and Painter all towards the far end of the alley where Finn and Sky were.

Cass grabbed Wren’s hand. “I say again, alternate is compromised, proceed to contingency. Warpath, warpath, warpath.”

Cass didn’t know what “warpath” meant exactly, but she had a pretty good guess; they were in trouble. As they exited the corridor, Finn grabbed Painter and locked him close to Finn’s side, controlling Painter’s movement. Sky covered their escape, his rifle pointed back down the hall. Cass heard it hum once and then quickly again as they raced across the open space and into the alleys across the street.

No one was concerned about how much noise they were making now. Wick plunged into an alleyway and Finn was right behind him, dragging along Painter with one hand and keeping his weapon at the ready with the other. Gamble kept a hand on Cass’s shoulder. Her grip was firm, and though it didn’t feel like she was forcing Cass any particular direction, she left no doubt where she intended everyone to go. Cass squeezed Wren’s hand in hers.

They weren’t running exactly, not even jogging really, but they moved so aggressively that Cass found herself occasionally having to surge forward a few steps to keep up. Wren kept up as best he could, though he stumbled several times and would have fallen at least once, if Cass hadn’t been holding his hand. After the third time, she finally just picked Wren up and carried him, doing her best to keep her gun hand as free as she could.

Further down the alley, a Weir hurtled around the corner and charged straight at them. Wick didn’t even break stride. He fired three times, pop pop pop, and hopped over the Weir’s body as it skidded towards his feet. Cass hazarded a glance over her shoulder and noticed Sky was nowhere to be seen.

“Eyes forward,” Gamble said, her voice even but full of intensity. “Just keep moving.”

“Where are we going?” Cass called.

“Wherever Wick takes us,” Gamble answered, and then switched over to comms. “Swoop, we’re in contact, what’s your location?”

Wick disappeared down an alley to the left and Cass heard a flurry of gunfire. Finn stopped at the intersection and pushed Painter up against the wall.

“Easy!” Painter said, but Finn didn’t seem to hear him. He braced his rifle against the corner of the wall and squeezed off two shots as Wick backed his way out, firing his weapon as well.

It happened so fast that they were already moving again before Cass reached them.

“Not that way,” Wick said as he resumed their initial path, leading them on without hesitation. Cass hazarded a glance down the left turn as she passed and saw four or maybe five Weir sprawled there, and one clambering over the bodies.

“There’s another–” she cried, trying to warn Gamble, but Gamble’s weapon was already up and firing.

“Wick,” Gamble said without missing a beat, “find us a place to button up.”

Wren clung tightly to Cass with his arms and legs, and kept his head buried in her shoulder. Not out of terror, though, or not just out of terror. She could tell he was doing his best to keep himself stable, taking some of his weight off of her arm so she could move better.

Up ahead, Wick exited the alley and slowed. Finn caught up and forcefully guided Painter into position between the brothers, one on each side. They moved together then, covering opposite directions. Cass cleared the alley and found that they were crossing a wide street. For the moment, there were no Weir in sight. Across the street, there was another row of decaying buildings. Wick made for a squat two-story structure. It had only one door and a small slot window at street level, both yawning with darkness.

When they reached the entrance, Finn and Wick left Painter just outside and steamrolled in, snapping their weapons around in precise movements as they made sure the room was clear. Their red lights danced across the walls and made it look like a fire was burning low inside.

Cass caught up and Gamble quickly directed them all inside. The first room was large and open, with a wide and partially collapsed staircase running up the left side, and a doorframe in the back wall. There red lights played along the walls of a hall, where Wick and Finn were rapidly searching for any threats. Wick’s pack was in the middle of the room, on the floor. Gamble slung hers there as well.

“Cass,” she said, pointing at the base of the staircase. “Anything moves up there, kill it. Boys, over here.” Cass moved to the bottom of the stairs and went down on a knee, aiming the jittergun up into the darkness at the top of the stairs. Painter and Wren followed Gamble’s directions and moved to a corner in the back of the room, furthest from all the entrances.