No Name

Chapter 8 - VIII

Someone was tugging on Holly's hair. She opened her eyes a crack, and surveyed the room, then almost screamed when she saw the man running his hand over her head. He was grotesque, and horribly disfigured, old scar tissue encircling his right eye. Holly had half a mind to pull her revolver from its holster and give the man an education in pain, but she reconsidered when she surveyed the rest of the room, memory flooding back to her. Lysander's small comfortable sitting room was filled with Broken. She caught sight of Matt, concealed in a corner, the group's backs to him. The leader had turned his attention to Holly.

"Yeah. We can take them two." He said. "The boss can have the redhead, and-" "Ahem." Matt had stepped out of the corner. The leader looked around in confusion. "Who said-" Holly watched as Matt sprang into action. He rushed forward almost silently and drove his foot into the back of the leader's knee, and the man howled with pain, dropping to his knees. Before any of his allies could react, their leader was knocked unconscious on the floor with a severely broken nose. "Kill 'em!" One of the bandits yelled, and pulled his pistol from his belt, but Matt was already moving. With inhuman speed, he kneed the man in the solar plexus and snatched the pistol from his hands, and then promptly pistol whipped him. The man sunk to the floor, and Matt moved forward. The remaining Broken were armed only with knives. The man who had taken an interest in Holly rushed to engage Matt, yelling savagely. He swung wide, and Matt simply ducked under his swing, grabbed his shoulder, and did some kind of fancy twist. There was a horrible crack as the unfortunate man's shoulder dislocated, and he fell to the carpet with a screech, eyes rolling back in his head. The remaining Broken circled, trying to get some kind of advantage. He had the knife, but didn't look all that confident. Matt calmly waited. The man decided to try his luck. He rushed forward, screaming obscenities as he slashed at Matt's throat with his blade. Matt ducked, and fast as lighting, drove two punches into the man's stomach before he could even think about retaliating. Geoffrey barked, seemingly cheering his master on. The wolf seemed remarkably relaxed; as if he already knew the outcome of the fight His master could certainly defend himself. The man looked panicked now, and desperately swung the knife. Matt caught the blow on the inside of the man's forearm, and swept his legs out from under him, and knelt down, quickly smacking the man's temple. He groaned, and slipped into unconsciousness.

"I'm sorry about all that." Lysander said to Matt apologetically. "I didn't want any blood on the rug, you see. It really ties the room together." Matt chuckled. "No complaints here. I was getting bored. Nothing like a life or death struggle to get your blood pumping." He replied, quickly removing the leader from the ornate rug before any blood from his broken nose hit the ornate fabric. "That was... efficient." Lysander remarked, watching as Matt cleared away the bodies. Matt shrugged. He deposited the last of the Broken outside, and Lysander repaired the trapdoor with a wave of his hand, green light weaving the wood back together and placing it back into its accommodating position on the roof. "Truly, you have a gift for combat." Lysander said, inviting Matt to sit down again. He did so. "Matt, would you be so kind as to get Holly a drink from that wonderful canteen of hers? She's just waking up now." Lysander said. Holly sat up, opening her eyes properly, and yawning, stretching luxuriously, Her leg felt fine. "What did you think of that display?" Lysander asked her. "I think, the next time I start a business, I'm going to let my brother handle the staffing choice." She said, taking the canteen Matt offered her. Clearly Matt had filled him in, because he showed no signs of confusion. "That leg will be fine to walk on in a few minutes." Lysander advised. "But it's getting late, and you're all tired, so I would suggest getting some sleep." Lysander said, and Matt settled down in the corner, pulling his sleeping bag from the seemingly bottomless backpack and watched as it floated above the floor as he lay down. Holly suddenly realised she was dead tired. The healing magic that had fixed her leg had obviously taken a toll on her body. She rested her head back on the pillow, and sunk into the comfortable folds of the couch. Sleep came instantly.

Elizabeth lifted her head, hand going instinctively to her forehead. There was a massive bruise, right above her right eye. The last thing she remembered was the building falling. She surveyed the room she had somehow come to be in. It was cosy, with a beautiful red rug on the floor, an old man dozing in an ornate armchair much like the one she had been sleeping on, and her feet were rested comfortably by a small gas heater. The walls were lined with books, and a few university football team flags, and a graduate's cap. On a huge inviting couch next to her, Holly slept. The bounty hunters wolf, Geoffrey, had curled up by his master's floating sleeping bag, which was empty. The room was wonderfully warm and blissfully quiet, accommodating her splitting headache nicely. Elizabeth sat there, drinking in warmth and nursing her head. In an unknowable amount of time spent in that strange early morning veil of twilight, Elizabeth noticed that Holly was beginning to stir. The old man to was showing signs of waking up. The bounty hunter was un-accounted for. "'Mornin Holly" she said when her friend sat up on the couch and yawned, stretching her arms wide, her hair all over the place. "Good Morning." She said, making a fruitless attempt to tame her hair. "Where are we?" Elizabeth asked. Holly sat down comfortably, and began to fill her in.

Matt threw himself over the void, the café roof looming closer as the bounty hunter flew through the air. The world was lit up through his goggles, and he neatly tucked himself in as he landed, rolling to absorb the ground shock, and pushed himself to his feet in one fluid motion, letting his momentum carry him to the other side of the roof, eventually resting on a low concrete parapet, and watched as the small dishevelled group of Broken he had effectively decimated moved through the streets, sticking close to the buildings. He had followed them from Lysander's place when they regained consciousness. Matt watched as the group limped towards a massive fallen skyscraper illuminated from above by a faint glow that penetrated the veil of darkness that lay over the cavern's roof. It's open to the sky. Matt thought, checking his phone. 8:40 am. Matt grabbed his sniper rifle and zoomed in on the Broken camp. The entrance was the half destroyed foundations of the skyscraper, twisted steel girders and iron struts creating convenient sniper nests and accommodating pillboxes. The entrance was a gaping hole in the centre of the skyscraper's previous floor, leading into what was once the lobby area. Armed guards stood outside the entrance, and patrols were moving in two man groups around the fortress. The small group of Broken limped their way inside the base. The place looked fairly well-guarded, but not impenetrable. Matt guessed that there would be various entry points of the roof, and he could spot several key weak points in the defence. Matt lifted away his scope, and stowed away his rifle, then began the walk back to Lysander's.

Holly had just finished her story when Matt dropped through the ceiling. He reached up and re-sealed the trapdoor, and crossed the room, then sat down heavily in an armchair. "The broken have a base a few blocks down. It's heavily fortified, and is positioned under a gap in the cavern roof. They have sniper nests, pillboxes, and machine guns." He announced to no one in particular. Geoffrey lay himself down next to his master's chair, and Matt began to methodically scratch his ears. "Lysander, is the veil a physical barrier?" he asked. The old man nodded. "It is both physical and magical. I don't know what effect it has on the human mind, because everyone who tries to climb out falls and dies." Matt rested his head back and closed his eyes. "We could float out" Matt opened one eye a crack and looked at Elizabeth. "Good luck getting the Broken to let you use their roof as a launch pad" he said, and closed his eye again. "We can put together a hot air balloon, and-" Matt opened his eye again. "Have any propane on you? Because you're not floating anywhere without fuel. Let's also consider the fact that we have no basket, envelope, or heating coil. Or an engine to run it off." He said evenly. "And then there's the issue of the veil." Elizabeth scowled. "Got any better ideas, you pessimistic-" "However, It's probably our best shot at escape. Lysander, do you know where we can get propane?" the old man nodded thoughtfully. "There's an old petroleum refinery on the other side of the city. They store the stuff in massive salt caverns, so you're going to have to try and find a pipe that still works if you want to get any." Matt nodded. "I'll need directions-" Holly spoke up. "I have an artefact that maps the area." "Ok, grab what you need and we can get going." Matt said, and pulled down the trapdoor, vanishing into the darkness.