Secret War: The Annihilation Plague (Part 2)

Chapter 27

Despite their pace hastened by the sound of bolter fire, It still took them far too long to reach the bottom of the staircase. The plague zombies seemed to fill the corridor more than ever before; it was as if, to Attelus' morbid imagination, the horde was controlled by something, and that something was trying its frigging hardest to keep them from finding who else that could've been.

The numbers that raged against the Sister's constant, disciplined deluges of bolter fire were of such intensity because the power-armoured Throne Agent had fallen back to guard the rear, and Attelus and Goruan were forced into close combat twice. Attelus cut down a few dozen zombies with his power sword before they were pushed back. But that didn't prevent three Stormtroopers and two Sisters of Battle from being dragged to their dooms by inhumanly strong, cold, clawing fingers. Neither of those sisters was Satiristine, thank the Emperor. It was becoming more and more obvious that in close-quarters combat, having the high ground wasn't much of an advantage, especially against an endless horde.

A flamer or two, or even better, a heavy flamer or two, would've been a frigging Emperor-send right now. It was frigging stupid that they didn't have one right now, even though the Adepta Sororitas were infamous for liberal use of weaponry. In all honesty, the Emperor wasn't doing a good job protecting his most faithful today. Attelus Kaltos being excluded, of course; perhaps that was why the Emperor wasn't protecting? That'd make a frig-ton of sense, in all honesty.

It was just about when they were stepping on flat ground that Attelus' autopistol clicked dry. He'd run out of dumm dumms, but that didn't matter as through the almost endless press of countless green bodies a good thirty metres away, Attelus glimpsed the flash of a bolter and at least two black power armoured figures.

'Shit! We've got some survivors,' Attelus roared over the din.

'Yes, we have already managed to figure that out, you little fool!' snarled the Canoness.

Attelus couldn't help but clench his teeth and growl a muffled, frustrated growl. Emperor, damn it, the old hag was a bitch!

'Yeah, frigging, yeah, I am aware of that! But I saw them, and in any second, they might be overwhelmed!'

The Canoness growled and said, 'So, what-'

'Cover me!' Attelus roared. Then he slid the distance, and his horizontal slice bisected the skull of the nearest lunging zombie. Ignoring the yells at his back, Attelus again began to slay his way through the countless zombies.

'Frigging damn it, Attelus!' Enandra screamed. 'Damn it, give the little fool supporting fire! Selva now is the time to use your powers!'

Gunfire tore through the horde around Attelus as the zombies came for him as if instinctively knowing a lone fighter's weakness. But even though his whole body ached and shook with exhaustion, Attelus was no normal lone fighter. He had the support of some of the most elite warriors in the Imperium of Mankind. He also hoped that he might draw some attention away from the almost overwhelmed Sisters.

Attelus decapitated a zombie and sliced through the chest of another with the reverse stroke. He cleaved diagonally through the skull of a third. Then his lightning-fast figure eight tore through at least four more. The jagged, glowing, smoking parts collapsed and became lost among the crowd. There would've been no way in hell that Attelus could have done this with a standard sword; even a monomolecular-enhanced blade would have struggled. Yet again, Attelus thanked Estella Erith for giving him the beautiful weapon back on Omnartus. But yet again, he was reminded how much of a crutch a power weapon can be.

The shadow swept up in the corner of his eye, and Attelus spun sword slicing, but he stopped; Goruan grinned at him as his Catachan Fang spun and cut out like snake strikes.