GAME ON - GoM 2

12

Tom got rid of the runts and grabbed his bow again. He glanced back at Alex, nodding to let her know he was fine. She finished with that group of rocks a moment later and joined him, shotgun in hand, as more gunfire echoed in the woods from up the slope.

They hurried together to the next rock. Now the shots sounded further, from the south. Alex banned any thought about Bass on that side of the house and turned her attention to drawing the sigil.

It was a big rock, about seven feet tall. Tom was about to climb it when four runts jumped on him from behind it. Tom dropped the bow, jumping back to the ground before they could touch him. He pierced a man's eye with the arrow in his hand as he retrieved his knife.

Alex stepped back, cocking her shotgun, and shot another man down while Tom rolled to the ground, fighting the remaining two. One of them was huge, and swung a mighty blow to Tom's head that pushed him several staggering steps back. The fourth runt attacked Alex at the same time that three more men came running down the slope. She shot the man down on the spot. Tom tried to get between her and the incoming runts, but the giant cut him off, forcing Tom to fight him. Alex didn't have time to reload, so she grabbed the barrel and swung the shotgun like a club, knocking down one of the men.

A shot echoed only yards away.

"AL!" Aidan shouted out.

"OVER HERE!"

The giant finally fell, after taking several stabs, allowing Tom to run to Alex. Just in time, because the three runts still standing had her cornered against the rock. Aidan rushed down the slope as Alex punched one of the men and launched a ruthless kick to the man's crotch, flashing a crooked smile at the poor bastard's cry. Aidan shot down one of the runts left and Tom took care of the last one. He grabbed the man's shoulder and shoved him against a tree, making him hit his head.

But the giant managed to stand up, grabbing his belly and groaning in pain. He wielded a long knife and ran to stab Tom's back. Aidan's shot through his heart halted his sprint, as Tom turned around only to see the man fall down for good.

"You guys okay?" Aidan asked.

Tom could only nod, panting and wiping the blood dripping from his nose.

"Where's Claire?" asked Alex.

"She's fine. I'll go get'er," Aidan replied, and hurried away before Alex could ask any further.

Tom rested his back against the rock, still breathing heavily, and grunted, touching his ribs. Alex approached him, but he shook his head.

"Let's get this done," he grunted.

Alex went to his side anyway, her eyes moving over the bodies fallen around them. They were almost a dozen. Where the hell did Markus find so many nutjobs willing to die for demons? She spotted Tom's bow on the grass and picked it up.

"Thanks," Tom muttered, taking it from Alex's hands.

She made him rest his arm around her shoulders and helped him to the next rock.

* * *

Claire sneaked across the front yard, crouching among the parked vehicles to stay out of sight from the house. Once she reached the passage way to the backyard, it took her a minute to reach the woods. She paused under the first trees, but she heard nothing that could direct her. So she paid attention to what she sensed. The runts' twisted, violent nature was like a beacon.

She found one of them trying to circle around Sean to attack him from behind. She didn't bother to take cover. She just drew an arrow to her crossbow and shot. The man staggered with an angry growl, grabbing his wounded thigh. But he wasn't alone. Claire sensed another one closing in on her from her right. She had no time to draw a second arrow. So she wielded her wakizashi and turned around. The runt didn't expect to be spotted, and was completely taken aback when the tender blonde attacked him like a stealth horror.

This was what Claire loved about her wakizashi: it was like dancing. She just needed to flow with their motion. Swing, step, spin, swing, stab. The runt fell at her feet with a deep cut along his inner forearm and his belly pierced. And there came his fella, Claire's arrow still stuck in his thigh. So she danced again, and within seconds both men squirmed on the ground side by side.

Claire didn't think about them in terms like "injured" or "in pain". Those bastards full of hate didn't deserve the same words as Ollie. Or Jack. Or Harry. They were down. Period.

She heard quick footsteps coming closer and looked up. Sean came out of the thicket and stopped sharply, gawking, his eyes moving from the bleeding men on the grass to the short blades in Claire's hands.

"Claire! T-thanks... I guess?" he mumbled.

She smiled. "Anytime. Where's Bass?"

Before Sean could answer, they heard a shot from the east. They ran together in toward the lake.

A minute later, at the other side of the house, Aidan reached the front yard. He was trying to spot the passage way they'd used the night before when he saw Graham showing out at the top of the cliff. The sheriff waved at him and pointed to the other side of the road. Mark! Aidan cursed under his breath. He really hoped Claire stayed out of trouble, because he didn't want a sow painful death. But he couldn't leave his own brother in danger. So he ran up the track and across the road.

"MARK!" he called out, running through the strip of woods between the road by the lake and the old sawmill.

"Here!"

Mark's voice sounded fine, but further than he expected. The thicket slowed him down, so he traded shotgun for machete and started swinging left and right to clear his path. Until he spotted the shadow of a man up ahead. Shorter than Mark, so Aidan stopped and crouched to hide behind the bushes. The man approached him, scanning the thicket with a flashlight to Aidan's left. He waited until the man moved past his position and jumped to his feet, swinging up his machete, ready to bring it down in a deathly blow. But the man spun around and the flashlight beam blinded Aidan for a heartbeat, making him miss the blow.

"Hey! You're Mark's bro!" the man said, lowering flashlight and shotgun.

Only now Aidan saw the man's face clearly. "And you're Al's friend, right?"

"Mark's almost at the sawmill. I came down 'cause I heard—DOWN!"

Aidan's muscles reacted faster than his brain and he ducked, hearing Phil's bullet hiss barely an inch over his head. He heard the muffled groan and the thud behind him, and Phil's flashlight showed the feet under the bush where Aidan was hiding not a minute before.

"Son of a bitch!" he snarled.

"Go with your brother," Phil said. "I'll watch this side."