No Tortured Meat!

“Go, go, go, go!” I yelled and jumped out of the van. Three human guards hadn’t been fooled by the smoke bombs the second team had thrown through the windows at the other side of the house. They were reaching for their guns when I mowed them down with a long burst from my Uzi. Even as I was reaching for a new magazine, Burger-face ran past me, swinging his energy whip and laughing like a madman. The rest of the team spread out. “She’s close,” Burger-face growled, his horrible features working hard at producing a grin. “I can smell her.”

“Which way?”

Instead of answering, Burger-face rushed through the double doors leading to the office. This was the place that Janice Hotchkiss had been using as her headquarters. From it, she had been waging a street war manipulating and murdering human and Nightbane alike throughout the state. “Payback time!” Burger-face howled as he leaped forward. I rushed in after him, trying to get a clear shot.

Burger-face bounced against a wall, thrown away with incredible force. The brick and concrete crumbled under the impact. Janice Hotchkiss stood by her desk, laughing. I took aim. Still laughing, she gestured, and the gun liquefied in my hands. Molten metal burned me to the bone, faster than I could heal.

“Little children,” she said. Her smile was full of fangs. “You shouldn’t have annoyed me.”

Ross tried to take the drink offered to him, but found that his hands were still shaking too badly. He leaned back on his chair and continued his story.

“There were six Hounds in the house. They caught Lydia while she was still wearing her Facade. She never had a chance. I managed to change, but six on one — 1 was a gonner, and 1 knew it. That’s when the strangers came.”

“You sure they weren’t Nightbane?” Lloyd broke in. “You know, the pretty boy types that we get from time to time.”

“No way. I would have sensed them coming. I never got a twitch. Two men and a woman, wearing trenchcoats. All three of them were platinum blondes — they looked almost like albinos. They walked in, and suddenly they started to glow, like they were on fire. It got so it hurt to look at them directly. The Hounds actually hesitated for a couple of seconds, but then four went after the shiny guys, and two stayed to tango with me.”

“Four on three,” Sergeant muttered, considering the odds. “Not impossible, if the three Nightbane know how to handle themselves.”

“I’m telling you, these weren’t our kind,” Ross snapped. “The Hounds never had a chance. The three strangers just opened up with beams of light, like lasers! Even from where I was, I felt warmth, as if I was outside on a bright summer morning. They burned big smoking holes in the Hounds, and three of ‘em went down before they even reached the strangers. The last one got taken out by a couple of fancy kung-fu moves. I managed to take out one of the two Hounds, and the other one ran. First time I ever seen a Hound run from a fight, too.”

“Then what?” Lloyd asked. He looked worried.

“Well, one of the two guys looked ready to let me have it. Then the woman said, ‘No, Gaius, he’s not an enemy,’ and they left without saying good-bye or anything. Truth to tell, I was too happy to be alive to really get mad at their manners.”

“I’ve heard of them before,” Lloyd said in a low voice. “The Guardians.”

“You sure?” Sergeant said. “I thought they were a fairy tale.”

“Sure. Like monsters, shape shifters, and people walking through mirrors.”

“Fine, you made your point.”

Private First Class Jose Ramirez gripped his rifle so hard his hands started to go numb. He and the rest of the platoon were AWOL, but fear of being found by scowling MP’s wasn’t what made his hands tremble as he desperately looked into the darkened forest. He and the trooper next to him were marching quickly through the forest, barely able to see the guys ahead of them.

They had heard the frantic radio call, the shouts that people were being murdered throughout the base. Then a short period of silence, followed by the orders that all the troops on maneuvers should return to the base. The orders had been so strangely phrased that the Lieutenant deliberately disobeyed them. He then led the platoon on a roundabout route to the base to see what the hell was going on.

They saw plenty when they got there. Dead soldiers — and pieces of dead soldiers — littered the ground. Some bad ju-ju had gone down in there. Now the Lieutenant was trying to move his command as far away from the base as possible. A small town was a few miles away. If they didn’t get lost, they would be out of the woods —figuratively and literally.

A loud clang and a shortened scream startled him. Ramirez spun around. One of the soldiers behind him was down. His helmet rolled towards him, and he realized with a sickening jolt that the soldier’s head was still attached to it. Next to him. O’Grady screamed and fired a long burst up in the air. The flashes all but blinded him. When his vision cleared, Ramirez saw two dark figures sweeping down on him. He was bringing his rifle to bear when he felt a brutal impact on his head. Pain and light exploded inside him. And then he felt nothing at all.

pieces of dead soldiers — littered the ground. Some bad ju-ju had gone down in there. Now the Lieutenant was trying to move his command as far away from the base as possible. A small town was a few miles away. If they didn’t get lost, they would be out of the woods —figuratively and literally.

A loud clang and a shortened scream startled him. Ramirez spun around. One of the soldiers behind him was down. His helmet rolled towards him, and he realized with a sickening jolt that the soldier’s head was still attached to it. Next to him. O’Grady screamed and fired a long burst up in the air. The flashes all but blinded him. When his vision cleared, Ramirez saw two dark figures sweeping down on him. He was bringing his rifle to bear when he felt a brutal impact on his head. Pain and light exploded inside him. And then he felt nothing at all.