When All Has Burned To Ashes

Chapter 2

"Get down!"

Blaze dove behind an upturned slab of cement just as thousands of tiny shards of shrapnel exploded through the air. His shoulder hit the pavement, the impact jolting through his arm painfully. Through the high-pitched ringing in his ears he could hear the panicked screams as some of his slower companions were thrown into the air. He didn't stop to mourn them.

A long, low whistle sounded - a form of communication he and Splint had developed over years of raiding together.

He blew a sharp whistle in response, pressing his body closer to the ground as an onslaught of bullets whizzed by just inches above his head. "I need some cover fire!"

Splint needed no encouragement, already taking out the barely visible snipers hiding far beyond the other side of the road. Even in the heat of the moment, Blaze couldn't help but take a second to admire his shooting. The man had skill. A few more single shots and the firing from the other side had finally trickled down to frenzied, erratic shots.

"You coming, or are you just gonna lie there all day?" A voice hollered from the stretch of trees behind him.

Blaze grabbed his gun and dashed for the woods, easily evading a few stray bullets that tore up the earth around his feet. He only stopped when his body was tucked safely behind a blackened tree trunk. Panting, he turned to Splint, who had his rifle poised in an unwavering grip. "I ever tell you what good timing you have?"

"Are you going to tell me how much you love me next?" He turned around and fired a few more shots, not even in his casual haste wasting a single bullet.

Blaze scoffed as he took aim at an approaching figure. "Would you be hurt if I didn't?" The bullet shattered his skull with a crack. Blood splattered the ground in heavy gushes, the body crumpling to the ground with a dull thud.

"Devastated." Splint chuckled, mumbling some crude jab of a sexual nature at him as he effortlessly took out two more attackers.

Anguished shrieks and screams sounded from somewhere in the distance.

"Hey, hear that? Did the others get that far ahead?" Blaze shouted out.

"How about we focus on us first, then worry about those bastards?"

"Fine by me."

He took a deep breath, then whipped around, shoulder flat against the side of the tree to steady his aim. A few more men emerged from the tree line, guns raised and firing in precise bursts. Blaze dodged to the side as a few shots passed a little too close for comfort. He waited until the firing came to a brief pause before ducking back out on the opposite side of the trunk. Before he could take aim, a single shot square in the chest felled a distant figure. Two more went down in quick succession with clean shots to the head.

"Damn show-off," he mumbled under his breath.

"Alright with that rifle, Blaze? Need any help?" Splint spoke through a smirk.

Ignoring the remark, Blaze scanned the rest of the field. "Is that it? I could've sworn there were more."

Splint straightened and cracked the stiffness out of his neck. "I think someone's been having some trouble keeping up with my kill count."

He scoffed. "Alright, now you're just getting annoying. Let's go catch up with the others."

The last licks of fire burned feebly on the cracked concrete, shards of glass and quickly evaporating alcohol littering its surface. Splint kicked a severed arm out of the way as they made their way down the crimson-coloured road.