Guardian Angel (11 page)

“Turn it off.” Jackson said.

“But...this is your chance to get back.” Alicia said with confusion.

“I'm not going back to Norfolk. Plan on settling in Washington City.” he replied.

“Won't that be considered desertion?” she asked.

He thought long and hard about life from this moment forward. His commitment was to God and country, and nothing would ever change that. But technically, he was to be given the option of leaving the United States Navy well over a year ago, having served the time required by his contract.

He had continued to fight because a military life was all he knew. All that was left. However, from the moment he and Alicia first locked eyes, another reason to live had been presented. And though leaving the Navy seemed like a tough choice, it wasn't. It was time for him to find true love, and along with it some sense of normal. What was the point of fighting so hard to remain alive, unless he truly had something to live for?

“No,” Jackson said with a pause. “At least it better not be. I plan on killing just as many of the bastards as before, if not more.” he added.

“Kill 'em!” one of the men of New Kinneston yelled as the armed men charged, less than a dozen Ancients remaining, many of which were wishing for death because of such painful injuries.

It was the work of Naval fighters above, and everyone acknowledged that. But, as the group of ordinary men fired their rifles onto the dying group of Ancients, it provided them with a much needed victory. A personal victory.

They would see their wives and children once more, and many would become hardened soldiers for the Resistance, swearing their allegiance right now as they fired hunting rifles onto a star born race that had been beaten.

“Listen up,” Alicia yelled, approaching the group as she stopped to fire two shots into the chest of an already dying Ancient. “Strip what weapons and supplies you can from their dead. You are soldiers for the Resistance now, and that means you answer to me,” she added with authority, the men standing more firmly. “We leave for Washington City in fifteen minutes, and I swear with everything above that we will make it by nightfall!”

The men cheered a bit, a few even raising their rifles into the air. They had intended to stay here and defend their homes. But, after seeing the Ancients up close and knowing in their hearts an air strike had saved them, their priorities had shifted a bit.

The importance of the home they had always known, quickly took a backseat to being with the ones they loved. Homes are simply a reflection of memories made with those you care for, and so they would make new memories, and new homes, in Washington City.

“You heard the lady, get the lead out of your asses and get moving!” Jackson yelled, flexing a command that didn't exist. Still, the men moved, immediately dispersing as they pulled weapons, viable armor and even a few Ancient relics for their children.

“And somebody owes me a damn watch!” Jackson yelled loudly.

“You're such a whiner.” Alicia said with a smile of angelic fashion. The sunrise further beautifying her already perfect face.

“We've received word of your friends,” Commander Snelling said as he slowly approached the German airship that was still under heavy guard.

“Are they alright?” the highest ranking soldier asked.

“I think it would be best if you and your men came with me.” Snelling replied.

“I am under strict orders to stand guard over our German vessel at all times.” the soldier replied.

“Oh,” Commander Snelling said, turning to motion into the distant. “I doubt your standing orders are of any importance at the moment.” he added as dozens of American soldiers rushed to them with their rifles drawn.

“What is the meaning of this?” the German soldier asked loudly.

“This is American soil, you don't ask the questions here,” Snelling replied bluntly, raising a brow as he stared the soldier directly in the eyes. “Now, have your men throw down their weapons.”

“That won't be necessary,” Calypso said, approaching the group with Preacher and Certes, each holding weapons themselves.

“Calypso, what in the hell...” Snelling began to ask.

“Shut your mouth, you don't ask the questions here either. Not anymore,” Calypso replied heavy-toned. “This man is a sympathizer of the Ancients, and I have the document to prove it.”

“You have no such document! Shoot him! I want this man dead!” Commander Snelling demanded.

What he quickly discovered, however, is that his own men had a fierce allegiance to Calypso, Alicia and their group. For they had been the ones to slay Ancients in the thick of battle, not their Commander.

“Kill him I say!” Snelling yelled once more, his own men reading proof of his betrayal to the Human race.

“Commander Snelling,” Calypso said. “I am removing you from the position of Commander and placing you under immediate arrest. I will assume military command until Alicia Lucard returns.”

“Like hell you are!” Snelling interjected, though he was slowly convinced as his own men turned their weapons onto him. “This is madness!” he added.

“Indeed,” one of the German soldiers replied. “The thought of your own turning against you.”

“We are not without fault,” Preacher replied. “Nadia's name is also on that list as well.”

“Bullshit!” the German soldier replied.

“No, I have seen it with my own eyes. She tried to lead us into a trap, I was there.” Preacher said.

“And where is she now?” the German soldier asked.

Certes answered the soldier's question with a nod.

And though Commander Snelling fought a bit, his restrained hands were no match for such a numerous detail of soldiers. And so they led him to the cell in which he would be held, formerly known as DC Jail.

“Do you think Alicia and Jackson were successful?” Preacher asked as Certes rejoined the group of German soldiers at their airship.

“I do,” Calypso replied. “At least I hope so.”

“Sir, what is our next order?” the German soldier asked of their highest ranking officer.

“The darkness will not be kind to us,” Preacher replied. “We will remain here overnight and lift off for Berlin at daybreak.”

“Understood sir.” the soldier responded with loyalty.

“Double the guard detail on our city's edge,” Calypso ordered.

“Right away sir!” a Resistance soldier replied.

And as the soldier turned to double the detail of guards who protected the outskirts of their city, Calypso began to look out across the landscape.

Mountains, once beautiful with the influence of almighty God, were now war-torn and littered with signs of mortar shelling and fires. What was once a crisp breeze of nature blowing through the city streets, now reeked of dead flesh and ash.

Calyspo's wandering eyes skimmed the city behind him, noticing neon signs and hybrid cars replaced by calligraphy painted signs and carriages powered by both horse and steam. Though Humanity had withstood such a devastating barrage of attacks since Invasion Day, it had forever been changed; the memory of how things used to be, just that. A memory.

He hated the Ancients. With every speck of his very soul, he hated the race that had humbled them back to such Victorian times. And he was tired of being on the defensive. Sick of waiting for the gray-skinned bastards to strike, only to pray for their defenses to hold.

He, like many of the remaining Humans, wanted nothing short of redemption. And as he turned to glance back into the wastelands, thinking of what once was scenic land painted by the hand of God, he hoped for the return of Alicia Lucard. He knew she would have a plan.

Chapter 5

Almost there.
Alicia thought as she attempted to curb her heavy breathing and push forward just a bit longer.

“Alicia,” Jackson said. “You go, I'll...” he added, cut off swiftly.

“No, you go,” she replied, her angelic voice hindered by such a small intake of oxygen. “Get them to safety. I'll be right behind.”

Jackson wanted to argue with her, wanted to plead for her to make better sense of the situation. The New Kinneston survivors were exhausted, a few even having passed out during the trip. All day, every minute of every hour they had ran for Washington City. No water breaks and no stopping.

Alicia had decided their best chance of survival was to somehow make it to Washington City in the span of only a single day. She knew the Ancients would soon have slayers of Humanity on their heels, and she was right. For nearly an hour now, the Ancients had been right behind them, murdering any survivor of New Kinneston who fell behind.

The group was exhausted, and a few of the surviving had even fallen back on purpose, choosing death over a continued journey to possible freedom. Viewing the trip as a forced death march.

Jackson wanted to plead with her heart, but they both knew there was simply not enough time. She was more skilled in fighting the Ancients, especially on foot. She would provide them all with the best chance of survival.

“You get you ass to Washington City, you understand me.” Jackson said firmly, tears filling his eyes as he wondered if this would be the last time he laid eyes upon her.

She simply nodded, her own eyes tearing heavily. Having tasked Jackson with pushing the group of survivors to sprint the hill that lay ahead, Washington City merely a hundred or so yards away from them, Alicia pulled two pistols. And as she leaned against a tree of rotted bark, Alicia closed her eyes for a moment. Remembering life before Invasion Day, while thinking of her newfound love for Jackson Ayers.

She had to live, fate had granted her no other choice. Her heart, in such a short time, had been changed for the better. She had found herself madly, deeply in love. And the Ancients had taken enough from her already. She would be damned if they took her true love as well.

As Alicia slowly opened her eyes, it was if she had been reborn. No pain, no fatigue. Simply focus piled onto the will to kill those who deserved it most. She turned slowly from the tree, firing eight shots from her right hand pistol and four from the left.

Two Ancient soldiers lay as dead as the night winds before, victims of the first eight shots. Meanwhile, a third grimaced with pain as he crawled slowly behind a tree of his own, four shots striking him in the stomach only moments before.

It was a cold day by Human standards, the breath of Alicia nearly freezing at she exhaled softly. Pressing a single button, the expended cartridge ejected from her pistol, quickly replaced as she shoved a loaded one into the weapon of survival.

As she started back around the rotted tree which provided cover, bark flew into the frigid air, nearly a dozen Ancients having taken aim onto her location.

Alicia threw her arm around the tree, blind firing her pistol in a desperate attempt to injure any Ancients closing in. And though her bullets did strike one of the demons, he was merely hit in the upper thigh.

It was Alicia, however, that took the brunt of it. Her right hand hit with a rifle shot before she could retract it back behind cover. It passed through the webbed flesh that rested between her finger and thumb, spilling only a trickle of blood but hurting her immensely.

As she dropped the expended pistol, Alicia used her wounded hand to help guide her last remaining cartridge into the pistol still held in her left hand. As the steel of the cartridge slid into place, Alicia turned to take aim at the beasts once more.

A gripping punch from one of the Ancients, however, sent Alicia onto her back, pushing the air from her lungs in the very moment of impact with the snow-covered soil.

“She's alone!” the Ancient yelled loudly, his tone deeply infected with a slang of non-human.

“In that case we will shave the tissue from her bones,” another Ancient replied with a smile. “Slowly.”

Alicia could hear their conversation, though her eyes swelled with tears from the hard punch which had thrown her to the ground. Reaching around, she did her best to locate the pistol which had fallen from her hands only moments before, though all her hands were able to grasp hold of were twigs aproned in powdery snow.

“It will be my own sword that maims the soul from her shell of a cattle.” an Ancient said with authority.

Her time had come, and the heart inside of Alicia's chest convinced her mind that it was so. All of her slaying of the race born of stars was coming to a close as she lay here, so close to Washington City.

As the monster rared his sword up high, preparing to thrust it into the disoriented woman of such beauty, a gunshot fired loudly enough to nearly pierce her own eardrums. Her tear-filled eyes allowed her to see the shadow of such a large Ancient fall to its side, thudding heavily onto the ground beside her.

More gunshots rang out, dozens or more as she found herself giving up the attempt to count them and focusing on getting back to her feet.

As she started to get to her feet, still pushing with what little power remained in her arms, the silhouette of an Ancient once again hovered over her. Falling back to her bottom, she did her best to lift her arm in order to absorb the strikes about to come down onto her.