Planet Omega

Chapter 19

"No!" Will cries out.

I move fast to see where the shot came from, and the bloodied body of a guard is half emerged from between two other bodies. Once I spot him, I aim and shoot right in the head a moment before Will springs up at him. A pawn. We missed a pawn guard. Somehow, we'd lost track of all of the bodies, and who was what.

I should have counted the pawns more properly, I should have paid closer attention as Phin was getting to them. But there's blood everywhere, and no one else was moving, so I assumed...

Oh, god. Phin.

"Will, are they all dead?!" I scream. Will's eyes scan the room, more thoroughly than before. It jumps around from body to body, blood eventually dripping off Its paws with each leap. "Will!"

"They're all dead, they're all dead!" Will cries out, panic in their voice. They rush over to Phin, shifting into one of Its bigger human forms.

It's all the confirmation I need. "If you can get her out safely, do it. I'll be there as fast as I can." And without hesitation, I begin taking apart my sniper rifle, hurriedly putting the pieces in the bag.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. But how bad could it be? Phin's armor suit should have been able to withstand a shot, even from that distance. All of our armor suits were made with bullet wounds in mind. I didn't even see where she got shot, I couldn't tell. There are very few places she'd be vulnerable, and from that angle? There's no way. There's just no way.

My heart is pounding in fear the entire time I rush downstairs and out of the building. Phin and Will got as many guards as they could around the mansion before executing the bloodbath in the conference room. It'll be a while until someone discovers what happened. But there's no guarantee that more pawns aren't patroling the area.

I have to get Will and Phin out somehow. We're all going to make it out.

I spot Will with Phin in Its arms, dashing out of a side door. We all know that if things go south, we split up if possible, and meet back at our hidden campsite. With Phin limp in Will's arms, there's no splitting up for us to do.

The fact that alarms still haven't sounded from inside the mansion means we have enough time to get away, but we need to put as much distance as we can between us and our crime scene. Once the alarms sound, we know the army is alerted to this location. If the army comes, we're fully fucked.

"Keep going, I'll cover!" I yell over at Will and pull out my handgun. As soon as we head into the woods and across the border, we'll be safe. With Phin in her condition, however, there are no guarantees, and I want Will focused on getting her to safety and not on whether anyone will shook at our backs.

I take my careful time as I move backwards, keeping an eye out for anyone hiding in high areas. But despite what our team just did inside that mansion, all is oddly still and quiet. We were told the general considers his property the safest in the region. No one else would ever dare plan an attack so bold, but I suppose in the end, his arrogance was his downfall.

Perhaps for someone else, the task would have been near impossible. Other killers might have made more noise, and certainly would have been caught even before getting inside. Phin had almost been too perfect about it, even with twenty-eight bodies waiting on the inside of that room. Was that why she'd taken a bullet? Karma for how well she killed?

I glance back towards where Will ran and don't even see It anymore. Coast is clear, much to my disappointment, but it means that for now, we're safe. Taking a deep breath, I put my gun back in its holster, and rush to catch up with Will and Phin.

Will already has Phin laying with her head on a piled up blanket to prop her up just a little. I drop my rifle bag and get to my knees beside her, searching for her wound. But there's so much blood on her armor already, I can't pinpoint the location. "Help me take off her suit," I order Will, who's shifted back into Its regular humanoid form, breathing heavily. "Will!"