inFAMOUS: Legacy of the Beast

Chapter 8

"How others treat me is their path; how I react is mine."
~Wayne Dyer (1940–2015)

A strong gust of wind burst into the cabin as Cole slid the door open. He tightly latched onto the handle looking down into the bay, knowing death for him was only a slip of the foot away.

Three hundred feet below them, the aircraft carrier opened fire, releasing a hailstorm of 20 mm rounds at the blackhawk.

With his one free hand Cole summoned an electrostatic barrier toward the rear of the helicopter, disintegrating any bullets that collided with it. Whatever stray shots that bypassed his shield's radius pounded the outer shell like hail.

The three Conduits in the back watched him in awe. Certainly, they never thought they'd be on the business end of a battleship.

After a long moment of good fortune, Cole spotted something through the blue field rushing straight at the chopper. Seeing the tail of smoke, he recognized it as a guided rocket.

He lowered the shield to use his one hand to release a wave of electromagnetism. Coming within only a few feet of the copter, the projectile changed course like a rubber ball thrown against a wall and plummeted to the bay.

The sensation of a knife digging into his shoulder forced him to duck back into the cabin. Without thought, he covered the wound with his hand, finding warm blood sticking to his fingers.

The storm of bullets violently pelted the aircraft without diligent protection. Cole heard one shoot past his ear and end with a spark in the cockpit.

Torin nearly jumped out of his seat.

Heart pounding and shoulder throbbing, Cole pivoted back into the line of fire and raised the barrier again.

Rush glanced down at Julia, who looked like she was about to burst into tears. He took her hand and held it tight, trying to give her a few words of consolation. His voice was drowned out by the chaos.

An elbow jabbed him in the kidney. He whirled around to see Richard tensing and thrashing as thick brown hair sprouted from his skin. His mouth and nose began to jut from his skull, forming into a muzzle.

The blonde took him by the shoulder and shook him hard, trying to yell above the wind. When his efforts to calm him failed, he threw a punch as hard as he could to the man's face.

The wild man took a startled breath and quickly returned to his normal human appearance. He found Rush's blue eyes as his vision cleared and thankfully inclined his head.

Cole deflected a salvo of two missiles, sending them tumbling to the water.

The chopper tilted to the left as a trail of black smoke zoomed by them. Unprepared for the shift, Cole's feet slipped from the side of the helicopter. Had he not been desperately hanging onto the door, he would have been ejected from the vehicle.

Without hesitation, Rush unfastened his harness and flew to his aid, reaching to take his free hand while gripping the handle. Against the wind, Cole struggled to swing his arm forward and grip his hand with all his life.

Rush fought to pull him in without getting sucked outside himself.

Torin averted Kuo's attention to their peril. She rocked the helicopter to the right, sending the two falling back inside to the opposite door.

Trembling and stomach in his throat, Cole climbed to his feet and returned to the perilous fire fight. Before he could react, a rocket collided with the tail rotor, smashing it into pieces of metal shrapnel. He fell face first into an open seat as the copter pitched backwards.