Dead Ones

Chapter 14: Darkness

Short and long bursts of automatic gunfire echoed throughout the streets. People were shouting and running everywhere. It was quite easy to distinguish friend from foe because everyone from the Refuge had the same armor.  Maria, John, and I grouped back up with Juggernaut and Aaron. Juggernaut was letting several rounds rip through his machine gun, providing suppressive fire. His suppressor began to glow a faint orange. "Take that damn thing off," I shouted at him. He pulled back from his firing position and observed the glowing hot suppressor. "Wait for it to cool and take it off, we don't need it now," I told him. "Was having fun," he said. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Smoke was steadily rising off of the progressively cooling suppressor. I peeked from cover and let a few rounds rip from my rifle, keeping the enemy at bay. They fired back. Rounds ricocheted off of the wall near us and flew into the distance with a wiz. "We need to push them back," I shouted to the others. "Okay," John said happily. He broke from cover and rushed the enemy. I thought about calling him back, but I might as well let the man go. I also broke from cover and provided cover fire for him as he pursued the enemies, who were hiding behind metal barrels for cover. John flanked them all the way to their sides and pushed around their cover. He fired his shotgun three times. A mixture of helmet fragments and chunks of human remains flew into the air after each shot. He kicked one of the bodies after firing. I approached him to examine the carnage. "Pushed back enough?" he asked me, loading three shells into his shotgun. I looked over at him, half amused. I bent down and grabbed a few of the armored men's grenades and flashbangs. I did not make the mistake of wearing them openly on my gear. I stood and looked over at John, who was drawing the lever gun from his backpack, moving his shotgun to the side of his body. "No," I said. "Why not?" he asked, disappointed. "I'll let you shoot it once," he said, giving me a pouting face. I glared at him. "We each get one," I said. "Hell yeah!" he said. He opened the chamber and loaded two rounds into it. "One's spicy, one's not, flip a coin," he said. "I just wanna ride the lightning, you can get the spicy one," I said. "Here, the normal one is first," he said, handing me the rifle. It was quite heavy. I tucked the rifle in my shoulder and aimed down the street. There were enemy soldiers running our way. I took aim at the closest one and fired. I struck him square in the chest. Both him and I went flying in opposite directions. His vest caved into his chest and he suffocated on it. I opened the lever of the gun, expelling the spent casing. That thing was shoulder fired artillery. John took it with a giddy expression in his eyes. He took hold of the rifle and rounded a corner, taking aim at an enemy machine gun nest that was set up in the center of the street. He fired. The man operating the machine gun keeled over. A flash was seen upon impact. Shrapnel and blood flew everywhere. I had hoped the machine gun was still operational. We could use it. If it was broken, it wasn't the end of the world. We had Juggernaut after all. John exhaled dramatically after composing himself. "Alright, you had your fun, now please be serious," I said. "Yes grandpa," he said jokingly. This was no time to kid around. He began packing the rifle away in his bag again. While he was knelt over an enemy popped up behind him from around a corner. I fired a quick burst from my rifle, tearing up his vest. He fell backward, but began to sit up again. I let another burst from my rifle go, knocking him back again. He sat up once more. These people must be wearing level four plates. No way a level three could survive that many rifle rounds. John stood up and pointed his shotgun with one arm, pulling the trigger once, decimating the man's helmet. He looks at me slyly, seeming to be saying 'see? easy.' with his expression. He loaded another shell into his shotgun. "At the end of the day, I still got thirty bullets at the ready, you only have eight," I said. "Buckshot," he said simply. Annoyingly so, he was correct. There were nine pellets in each buckshot shell. Each pellet was roughly the same size as a 9mm round, all of which were hitting their target at the same exact time. That's what made shotguns such a devastating weapon at close range. We regrouped with Juggernaut and the other two. "There's an empty gunner nest round' the corner. You should set up there," I told Juggernaut. "I hold center of town," he said. He ran as fast as his massive legs would take him. I slapped him on the back as he left. I turned to the other three with me, being John, Maria, and Aaron. "Alright, lets split up to cover more ground. Breach each and every one of the buildings. I want everyone in here who isn't one of our own to no longer be breathing," I told them. We exchanged luck to one another and broke apart. I weaved around the corner towards one of the buildings adjacent to Juggernaut. He was having the time of his life. He was operating the heavier machine gun that was propped up on the sand bags in the center of the town by a nearby fountain. Enemy forces seemed to have broken from the center of the town and flanked the walls of the settlement, pushing inwards towards the center. Juggernaut and the rest of our people's goal was to now hold their ground and resist the forces closing in on the center of the town. I exchanged my half spent magazine for a fresh one and kicked in the door of the nearest building...