Fireflight

Chapter Seventeen

Brenden squinted through the scope on his rifle and scanned the dilapidated barn and the surrounding area. Seeing nothing he brought the gun away from his face and turned to motion to the others who were waiting a short ways back. 

"I can't see anyone." he whispered loudly. 

Blitzo nodded and motioned for both Moxxie and Millie to follow him up to where their sniper was crouched. Upon their arrival the boss dropped down onto one knee and leaned down to speak to Brenden. 

"Do you think its safe to go?" he asked. 

Brenden nodded. "There is a window at the top of the barn, probably a loft. We'll have to go carefully and use all the cover we can. I can keep an eye on the window in case they've got a sniper up there." 

Blitzo nodded. "No doubt they do. Thank the nine circles the grass hasn't been cut." 

The imp surveyed the land before him and was happy with the results. Because the property had been abandoned, grass and tall bushes had grown unchecked, creating a patchwork of almost impenetrable foliage. Then turning back to his employees, he gave the signal to go. The four of them crept through the thick grass towards the barn, tensions high yet yearning for a good fight. 

Over the course of the next twenty minutes they crept ever closer, shortening the distance between them and the barn. The group of mercenaries had closed the distance to the barn to just ten feet when Brenden whispered a warning. 

"Movement up in the loft! Get up against the wall!" 

Without a second thought, the other three imps pushed themselves to their feet and made a dash for the wall of the barn. As they did a shot rang out and dirt sprayed up from near Blitzo's foot as he dashed. Brenden rose swiftly to his knees and fired without aiming. His bullet tore up through the loft window and slammed into the other sniper's throat, tearing through it and embedding itself in one of the rafters up above. A shout of alarm came from inside the barn, and the sound of rapid footsteps on damp hay seeped through the old, grey walls of the rotting structure. 

"Look's like the action has just begun," Blitzo warned his employees. "Let's get up to the door and give them some heat." 

The couple followed their leader closely around the corner of the barn walls and right up to the edge of the sliding double doors that sat open. Blitzo motioned to Millie and pressed himself against the wall. The spunky assassin gave him a stoic nod and crept up to the door frame. Then in one smooth motion, she plucked a grenade she had clipped to her belt and tore the pin off. She tossed it in and reached for her gun, waiting. A startled cry alerted her that her grenade had been seen. A second later it blew with a satisfying crack, followed by the angry yell of one of the commandoes inside. Immediately after the grenade exploded, Moxxie dashed past the open door and slid to a kneeling position on the other side, his gun clutched tightly to his chest.

"Ready? Go!" Blitzo roared, waving the two of them forwards. 

Without second thought, the two battle hardened imps pivoted around the edge of the large door and opened fire. With the two of them laying down a thick covering fire, Blitzo ducked through the door and took aim at the closest target to him. The mercenary pointed his rifle at a commando who'd been injured by the grenade. It was an almost point blank shot, with no way to miss. The enemy soldier's legs had been shredded by the shrapnel. Despite this, he lashed out with a crippled leg, catching Blitzo in the stomach. The imp's shot missed its mark and punched through the combat armor covering his opponents shoulder. 

With a growl of anger and pain, the wounded demon swung his leg up, catching Blitzo under the chin with a hard, stunning blow. The mercenary hit the ground hard and scrambled to get back up. He turned to shoot his enemy as he climbed back to his feet to see the business end of a pistol just a foot away from his face. Fear shot through him as his gaze swept up from the barrel of the sidearm to the snarl on the elite soldier's face. A gunshot rang out and Blitzo shut his eyes instinctively. Half a second passed and he realized he wasn't dead. His eyes flew open to see the face of his combatant. A trickle of blood escaped his lips what were still twisted into a menacing snarl. With his eyes open wide in shock though, the commando fell back hard. 

The next thing Blitzo knew, Moxxie was by his side while his wife spat lead from the muzzle of her gun to cover the two of them. The taller imp flashed a thankful smile at his employee and took his hand. 

"Thanks a shit ton, Mox!" 

"No problem sir, I'm here to- look out!" Moxxie shouted, pushing his boss face first into the muddy floor. 

Blitzo rolled on impact and looked up to see a long bladed knife with jagged serrations swipe menacingly overhead. The tip of the dagger screeched off the side of Moxxie's gun as he brought it up to shield his face. Without second thought, the hitman swung it back towards his assailant and gunned him down. With that the two imps ducked for cover behind the wall of a stall. 

"So that's three out of six, right?" Moxxie asked Blitzo. 

"I think so." he answered, pulling his head back around the edge of the wall as bullets tore past him. 

A round shape came to a rolling stop near their feet and Moxxie looked down on it for half a second before his instincts kicked in. "Shit, grenade!" he squeaked. With the speed of a tiger he swept his hand down and batted the explosive back. It detonated in mid-air, shredding another enemy. 

From behind, Brenden came into view, running towards the door to come back them up. As he passed through its threshold he slid on the wet ground and fell into his rear. As he did a bullet cleaved the air where his head had once been. With a grunt, the marksmen landed heavily. Then without hesitation he raised his gun and fired off three shots. The first missed, passing between his target's legs. The second and third found their marks, first in the stomach and then through the center of his target's chest. 

"We've got them all!" Millie called out. 

"You sure?" Blitzo asked. 

The imp nodded. "Yep, I bagged the last one when you guys ran for cover." 

"Good. Then we can get to searching." her husband said. 

The four imps spread out, scouring the barn for anything of value. While Blitzo searched the ground floor, Millie and Moxxie checked the second, with Brenden covering the loft. After a couple of minutes Blitzo came to the foot of the ladder to the second floor. 

"Have you found anything?" he asked. "I've got nothing." 

"Nothing here boss-man." Brenden called down, sliding down the ladder to the second floor. 

"Nothing yet." Millie replied. 

"Yeah, we've- Wait! I think I've found something!" Moxxie crowed from the other end of the floor. 

He was crouched by a narrow walkway that ran around three sides of the barn, giving access to a large window at the above the double doors to the structure. His friends came to join him, stepping carefully over a snapped wooden plank that left a foot sized gap in the boards. 

"Let's see it Mox." Millie said, edging as close as she could to him so as to see what he'd found. 

Her husband passed a dirty manila folder over and she opened it. Inside there were only half a dozen sheets of paper, but all were covered in small, neat print. 

"Jackpot Moxxie! You're really starting to impress me." Blitzo congratulated. 

"Really sir?" the surprised and touched imp asked. 

"Yeah, just barely." his boss waved aside, snatching the folder from Millie's hands. "Anyways, let's get back home." 

Moxxie gave his boss the stink eye as he left, before glancing over at his wife. She flashed one of her beautiful smiles at him and put a hand on his cheek. 

"I think you did wonderfully! she said.

"Thanks honey." Moxxie smiled back. 

The familiar and grating voice of their boss cut through their nice moment. "Hurry it up you two. You can cross barn sex off the bucket list another time!" 

Moxxie's smile faded into a straight line of annoyance. Seeing this Millie's smile widened. 

"Come on honey, we can cross barn sex off the bucket list later." she teased, taking his hand and leading him out.

As they left Brenden muttered softly to himself. "What the hell is barn sex?"