Page 99 of Stray Omega

“All right, then. You and Seraph can clear a way to the exit. Are we getting close?”

“Yes,” Seraph answered. “We are arriving presently.”

The elevator gave a cheerful chime as it settled to a stop. The metal doors parted and Seraph immediately opened fire into lobby beyond. Within the confines of the elevator, the roar of the weapon was deafening. Embla winced and buried her face against Leros’s shoulder.

Finally, the shooting stopped. The air in the elevator was thick with the sulfurous smell of gunpowder.

“The way is clear,” Seraph set. “Let us proceed.”

With her ears still ringing from the gunfire, Embla opened her eyes again and looked around. They had stepped out into a big lobby. The floor was strewn with a dozen of the cyborg betas like the one Seraph now inhabited. The difference was that these betas were dead, their bodies riddled with smoking bullet holes. They hadn’t even had a chance to get a shot off before Seraph had cut them to pieces.

“The exit is this way,” Seraph called.

He marched across the lobby and the others followed. Before they reached the exit, however, there was a commotion from behind.

“More guards are coming!” Ark shouted.

“They’re mine!” Orwen growled.

Another group of armed betas was now coming around the corner from another corridor. With a savage howl, Orwen threw himself at the enemies. Instead of shooting his gun, he gripped it by the barrel and used it like a club. The stock of the rifle swung back and forth, crushing beta skulls in its path. Without firing a single shot, Orwen made short work of the second wave of attackers.

When he was done, he stood panting, rifle in hand, proudly surveying the damage he had done. The dead betas lay all around his feet.

“Interesting,” Seraph said. “Your method of fighting with a gun is highly irregular, alpha.”

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

Embla’s eyes caught a sudden movement on the floor next to Orwen. One of the betas was not dead, and the creature was raising its weapon, preparing to aim at the alpha.

“Orwen, look out!” Embla shouted.

Orwen heard her cry. His instincts kicked in and he ducked out of the way just as the beta’s rifle blurted a burst of gunfire that skewered the air where the alpha had just been standing.

With a wild snarl, Smoke pounced, sinking his white fangs into the cords and circuitry at the base of the beta’s skull. The dog gave the creature a violent shake. There was a pop of sparks as the wires ripped free. The beta’s body went flaccid with death.

“Good dog,” Orwen said, giving Smoke a quick ear-scratch for thanks. “All right, let’s get the hell out of here before more of those bastards show up. Seraph, if you get us outside, I can lead us down to the lower levels of the city where Taliesin is waiting with a vehicle.”

“Very good. This way.”

Together, Embla and her companions exited the building. Their appearance turned a few heads of the passers-by on the street. After all, among their group were two naked alphas, a naked omega, an augmented beta and a giant wolfdog. But in a matter of seconds, they had darted across the gridlocked traffic of the street, ducked into a dark alleyway, and disappeared into the shadows, leaving the witnesses wondering if they had not just hallucinated the whole thing.

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