RUSTY | frank castle

THIRTY FIVE

Frank went in first, shooting one soldier in the back of the head with his rifle, then shooting a second one. Rusty signalled for Lexi to run to the other side from the shadows; they didn't know she was here yet. 

Shooting a third soldier, Frank ducked behind a plastic crate in the garage to put fresh ammunition in his gun. More gunfire was heard before Frank nodded to Rusty, signalling for her to follow him. 

Frank shot one of the gunpowder-filled bulbs, the mixture exploding in a bright purple flame, filling the area with thick, white smoke. Rusty followed, shooting men to both sides with her own rifle. An impact to her side told her there was a soldier shooting at her from her left, but before she could shoot him, Lexi threw herself onto him, tackling him on the ground. Rusty shot his head to finish the job. 

Frank was attacked too, so he dropped his rifle and pushed the man to the metal frame, letting Rusty shoot him in the neck. 

Now hidden behind the white plastic sheets that Frank had hung up to act as walls on the frames, the three walked down the middle walkway. Frank pulled a large gun out from its hiding spot on the metal pipes, turning the corner as he and Rusty split up. 

He shot a soldier in the head, cocked the gun and walked up to another man. He struggled, but was shot, and fell onto another frightened soldier, who stumbled back. Frank walked down the steps and shot him point-blank in the face. 

With knees bent, Rusty walked forward quickly, shooting anyone in front of her. One soldier hid behind a thick pole, and shot Rusty at her chest, making the woman stumble back to hide behind the corner of a wall. She pulled Lexi behind her by her harness, and waited for the right opportunity to shoot. 

The soldier reached out, but he was shot before he could even raise his gun to aim at the ex-marine. 

She caught up with Frank, who shot an injured man struggling on the floor. Blood splattered at the impact of the large bullet. She was about to join him when rapid gunfire hit Frank's back, grazing Rusty's left arm. She ducked behind a stack of wooden boxes, pulling Lexi close to her body as Frank grunted, jumping to the two for cover. 

Even more gunfire started, so there must've been more than one gun, meaning more than one enemy. Rusty, with her back to the crates, held Frank close to her as Lexi followed her training and lay down, her head to the floor to avoid getting shot. 

Suddenly, the gunfire ceased. Rusty and Frank looked at each other, knowing that the enemy would be inching closer to them. Rusty, with black lines painted on her cheeks, forehead, chin and nose (used to confuse the enemy), put her now empty rifle to the floor silently and pulled out a beretta handgun from her thigh holster, clicking the safety off. 

"Russo!" Frank yelled. 

Lexi heard the footsteps of the soldiers getting closer every second. Rusty figured the were surrounded.

"You hear me!?"

Frank licked his lips. "I'm gonna watch you die!"

Pulling the detonation switch into view, Frank made eye contact with Rusty, who nodded at him. He pressed the switch, and the explosion shattered more glass and threw the men to all sides. 

Rusty acted quickly, passing another rifle to Frank, who quickly ran out while they were all disorientated.

Lexi's ears were buzzing, but Rusty shouted, "Get 'em!", and the shepherd jumped over the crates and launched herself off of them to sink her teeth in another man. She went from enemy to enemy, injuring them and killing them off one by one before any of them had a chance to shoot her.