Nocturnal Gale

Chapter 18: Pain

A few minutes later, there's footsteps and she ducks behind a dumpster. It's Deadline. The whole gang. Now she knows there's something wrong with Shade, and Sheridan too. They're missing, and Roland must have them. That much is certain.

Halibut momentarily not important anymore, she switches plans and makes her way to Roland's main stakeout, and then she hears it. Commotion in the next alleys over. Then there's suddenly a small group of Roland gangsters right behind her and she strikes out at the nearest one, punching him in the face and yanking his rifle out of his grasp. He goes down and the other two flee, obviously having no wish to fight her and seeming like they have other business to attend to.

Dusk pursues them and knocks them out cold, then slings the rifle over her back and takes to the roofs. She runs ducked over towards the voice she can hear now. As she gets closer she instantly recognizes it as Roland's and he's talking to someone. She slides to a stop at the last building's roof and looks down. Shade is on his knees, badly hurt. Roland has his pistol against his head and kicks him in the side. He doubles over, choking, and anger boils up in Dusk; she can make out what Roland is saying the next time he speaks and she unslings the rifle.

"You have five seconds or I'll make the decision for you. One."

Shade coughs hard, unable to get his breath back.

Dusk straightens abruptly, bringing her foot onto the ledge of the roof, leveling the rifle at Roland. Suddenly one of the other members of Roland sees her and pulls his gun around, aiming for her. Dusk switches targets and swings the barrel towards him.

Roland gloats as he holds the gun in Shade's face. "Or maybe you're dying anyway. In that case I might as well make it quick."

Dusk shoots. The report of the gun is loud in the stillness, and the gangster falls. There's a piercing scream from Sheridan, and Roland jerks around, searching for the source of the shot.

"She's up there!"

"Roland! We have company—"

"Ignore the kid, we need to—"

Dusk hears the cries but doesn't register them. She shoots two more gangsters in the head and then the rifle jams. She bites down on a curse. Never trust a gangster's gun.

She pushes off from the edge of the twenty foot building, letting gravity take over, landing on top of two men, driving them unconscious into the pavement. At the same time, she draws her knife and stabs a third in the chest. She throws the useless gun against another's head and he falls. Then she's in the middle of a deadly dance, hooking an elbow around a gangster's throat, letting his lunge propel her into four more who fall victim to her blame. She dances out of the way of the rest and glances quickly down the alley at the situation of Shade and Roland and Sheridan.

It's being handled. Shade tackles Roland and hits him in the face with his own gun. Dusk trusts him to take care of the rest and turns back to the fight. A tattooed gangster flies at her with a machete and swings for her neck. She bends gracefully out of the way, stabs him in the eye when the momentum of the swing brings him too close, and draws her throwing knives, pinning a man aiming for Shade. He cries out and falls. Shade has an AR-15 in his hands and starts shooting men, one after the other. Dusk is already on the move again, kneeing another in the groin, slashing two and wrapping her legs around the neck of a third, bringing him hard into the concrete, his neck broken. She pins two more with the rest of her throwing knives and gathers them up again as she works her way through five more. They fall dead. Dusk drops three more then leaves the quickly dispersing fight, running to Sheridan's side.

She's behind a bin and Dusk jumps into safety next to her, landing in a low crouch. "Get somewhere safe," she tells her firmly.

Sheridan nods, but her eyes fly to Shade, worry evident. "But he's hurt." She starts to stand.

Dusk follows her gaze, letting herself feel her own anger. "I know. Everything will be okay. Deadline is on their way."

There they are, rushing through the fight from the other end of the alley, armed to the teeth and out for blood.

No one comes after Deadline.

Dusk sees Chance take care of Roland, kicking him in the chest, but she doesn't stay. She sprints out from behind the bin and across the alley. A gangster hidden behind a dumpster is aiming for her. She spins and the next instant there's a knife buried in his chest. No other gangster dares to cross her and she reaches Shade's side unharmed behind a rusted oil tank.

"You," Shade breathes.

"Yeah." Dusk nods at him. "Get to Deadline. I'll cover you."

"And you?"

"I'll be fine." She takes the AR from his grasp. "Go."

He nods, eyes lingering on her for just a second longer, then makes a break for it. He rushes across the alley. Dusk takes in the view through the scope. There's two gun barrels swinging around. Dusk breathes out and pulls the trigger, instantly swinging around and pulling it again. The barrels disappear and there's two thuds.

Once Shade lands on the friendly line of the barricade Deadline has erected, Dusk recedes a little. She keeps to the shadows as she makes her way around a building, expertly sniping hidden gangsters as she goes. Then she hauls herself up a metal ladder with one hand, runs across the roof of the building, ducking out of sight. She takes a deep breath, then gets up and positions the stock of the AR against her shoulder, staring through the scope. She's got a good view from up here, and can provide back up. It's skirmish warfare now. Deadline is all grouped together, all the gangsters are spread out, and Roland..... No.

Roland has somehow gotten behind the barricade and is now grabbing Sheridan around the throat from behind, putting his pistol to her head.

No. Dusk jerks the gun around and tries to get a good shot, but the angle is wrong. She can't shoot Roland for fear of hitting Sheridan. Lucky for him.

"Deadline!" she hears his voice. Everyone whirls and Lyric goes pale. "Stop fighting, or she dies."

Then everything happens too fast. Lyric shoots Roland in his gun arm, but he catches his falling gun with his other hand and shoots her in the chest.

Something tears in Dusk's chest. Not again. Not again.

Suddenly, there's noises behind her and she whirls, shooting a gangster in the head. There's five. Must have followed her up here. And one of them's got a machine gun. Where the heck...?

Bullets splatter towards her, ripping into the bricks of the roof, much too close. Dusk hurls herself out of the way and comes up running. She shoots two of them in the chest then heaves to the side as the machine gun fire starts again, following her relentlessly across the building. Having nowhere else to go, she jumps. The gunfire stops in surprise, but Dusk doesn't stop. It requires immense concentration as she falls, then grabs an old clothesline at the last second and swings in an arc, narrowly missing crashing into the opposite wall and lands on the next roof over. She hits the pavement, turns and fires at the two gangsters looking over the edge of the taller building she'd just left. She hears their cries and and they fall. The last one standing disappears and Dusk turns, not about to let him stalk her. She runs to the edge and jumps again, turning a 180 and catching the edge of a window. Without skipping a beat, she lets go and drops another eight feet, catching the next window ledge, then drops again, and again. There's a noise, barely there. She draws her knife as quick as lightning and, holding on with only one hand, turns and throws the knife. It flashes through the air and hits the last gangster in the sternum. He won't be trying to shoot her while she's descending the outside of a building ever again.

Dusk hangs there one handed for a second longer, just breathing and listening. Then she drops the last ten feet to the ground and jogs back up to the first roof, her boots ringing slightly on the old metal of the fire escape. She jumps silently onto the roof and walks over to the dead gangster. She jerks her knife out of his chest, wipes the blood off on her pants, and sticks the weapon back into its sheath at her lower back with three deft movements.

Then she goes back to where it had all happened.