Page 6 of Hell Breaks Loose

My hand moves before I even register the presence, taking the attacker in the leg. A hair trigger spin sends stiff fingers into the thug’s wrist, taking the gun from his grip.

This one was less far gone, more lucid.

Still dies the same as the rest, but he offers me a leg up.

Another gun.

It’s my only out at this point as they close in.

Two shots take out the couple racing over the line of gutted cars ahead of me as I dash toward the exit. Two on my left, another on my right. I can’t miss. I can’t waste a bullet.

The gun clicks in my hand and I stop, turning a circle, my head clearing. It’s a fucking massacre. Nothing I haven’t seen before, but I’m sure I’ll have nightmares the next time I get to sleep.

Sun breaks through clouds, bathing the ramp out of the structure as I leave the carnage behind. I’m over this shit. I want out.

“Come on, ya grizzly bastard! There’s only one way out. Come say hi one last time, get this over with. I got a syringe of something sweet with your name on it.”

Because why would they waste a perfectly good soldier for their little army?

I pitch my voice to the side so it echoes out.

“The only ‘hi’ that you're gonna get is from a bullet straight through your brain, you asshat. Let me walk away. Nobody else needs to die.”

“So cocky! But I agree. No more deaths. I want you to replace all of my minions that you killed the past few weeks. Seems like a fair trade.”

“Alright. Trade it is. I’ll come out. First, you gotta tell me where you’re getting the drugs.”

“Ha! The audacity of this motherfucker! Can you believe it?” He cackles, and several other voices join him, most of them a lot less cogent. “I think you know who made this shit. But what really matters now is that I have the power. I call the shots. No more Devonde. No more scraping by.”

“You think this is your little kingdom now, then? This wasteland?”

“It will be soon. Once I spread Devo to the rest of the population. Once I set them free from worry. From choice.”

“Devo?”

“For Devotion. I think it has a nice ring to it…”

“Sounds like a good time.” I’m a step away from revealing myself, of putting one of my last bullets to good use, when I see movement to my right.

Surging toward the figure, I overcommit, expecting another unskilled, wild junkie. Instead, I’m blocked, a hand clamping onto my arm and using my weight against me to swing me into the wall. A forearm across my neck and a cold metal barrel against my temple still my reaction.

Right in time with the soft whisper that has me scrambling mentally.

“Gavin.”

“Wh-? How do you know my name?”

“It’s me, you jackass.” She’s hideous, smeared with dirt and grime, her cheeks sunken and drawn.

“All I see is another fucked-up whack job.”

“Good disguise, huh?” She laughs, her eyes catching the light.

“Alaya? Shit! What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you, dipshit.”

“Cute. I don’t need rescuing. You do realize we’re both trapped down here now, with an army of druggies up there waiting for us?” I relax slightly, easing back into the wall to loosen her grip.

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