Page 62 of Reaper's Revenge

“Three down!”

“One down!”

“One down!”

“Two down!”

“One down!”

The reports ring out from the teams. We’re nearly at the church; they're already eleven men down. Everyone who gets shot takes a bullet to the head. I’m not risking one of them sneaking up behind us and taking a potshot. So we’re thorough, we’re cautious, they'll know we’re coming by now, but there's no way for them to get to us. We left a small team in one of the armoured trucks, and they're slowly driving in as we clear. Anyone with any medical knowledge is in there with enough supplies to patch up the Titanic. If things go sideways, we need them close but protected. Nothing safer than an armoured truck, am I right? Not being here would be safer, but that's not an option, so an armoured truck it is!

There's a screech of tyres, and I spin to look over my shoulder, and Doc has just flattened a guy.

Tatts gets out and puts a bullet through the mangled head of him.

“One down!” He grins at me as he jumps back in the truck. I flip him a two-finger salute before heading back towards the church.

“Team One in position!”

“Team Two in position!”

“Team Three in position!”

“Team Four,” then a grunt. “Fuck, it’s just a graze,” as we all hear gunfire before, “Team four in position!”

“Team five in position!”

“Breach in, three, two, one.” Teams one to four are on either side of the building, and Team Five are the guys in the truck. We all kick through the doors to the front and rear and windows at the side as we come face to face with a shit tonne of guns. We have them pinned, so it's just a matter of keeping our heads down and firing inside, hoping we hit them. Cade pulls out a tear gas canister and lobs it through the window.

“Fuck! Cover your faces!” I bellow as we keep firing, we should be okay. We're still on the outside of the building, but it's gonna sting like a motherfucker when we have to make our way inside. The gunfire slowly steadies as we deem it fit to head in. One of our guys, fuck knows what his name was, takes a bullet to the skull, stuck his head up too far and paid the price. One takes a round to the shoulder, and Priest is fucking lucky as one bullet skims along the side of his head and ear. There’s blood all over him, but I'm informed that it looks worse than it is.

“Cover your faces, anyone in there, shoot in the head, even if they’re already dead. No fucker is coming away from this!” As we push through the doors, there are a few people coughing and spluttering, hiding behind the pews, and taking potshots. There are a few left near the confessional booths, and as we surge in, they are taken out. Savage takes a bullet to the leg; Tank was the one who got grazed before we were in position, but seeing him inside, he's fine. As we take our positions and clear the floor, a single shot rings out, and the guy just behind me crumbles to the floor!

“Fuck!” I drop as I spin and see the head popping back. “Behind the fucking podium thing! Take that fucker out!”

Cade’s up there and pops him once in the shoulder before walking over and putting two bullets between his eyes. I mean, fucking one would have done it, but at least he was thorough.

As we advance toward the stairs at the front, there's a rain of bullets that come from the mezzanine level, and we all dive for cover.

“Motherfuckers,” Cade spits as he gets caught in the shoulder of his left arm.

“Pa, you good?”

“Yeah, son, through and through, hurts like a bitch, but I've had worse.”

We take another round of fire. As the bullets slow, I jump up and run as I hear Dice bellow my name, but I don’t stop until I’m under the mezzanine level and skid to a halt. Savage has taken cover near the stairs, and I look down at him. He’s fucking bleeding everywhere, so I cut the bottom off my top and tie his leg up. “Better?” He grunts but nods, and I take off for the stairs. There's the main floor, a mezzanine level which looks out over the congregation facing the pulpit and what looks to be another smaller enclosed floor above that probably leads up to the bell tower at the top. My bet is that's where they are.

As I round the top of the stairs, I take three twats by surprise as they're looking over the edge, trying to pick our guys off. With three shots to the backs of their heads, two fall over the edge while one slumps over the bannister. I clear the floor before walking over to him. He’s dead, so I toss him over before heading to the second flight of stairs. I have Steel, Tank, Pa, Priest, Dice, Blade, Viking, and four other guys by the time I get there. I’ve no idea who the fuck they are. Apparently, they're called Irish, Razor, Snake and Dave. I don’t have time to ask why Dave is called fucking Dave. I mean, they all have biker names, then he’s called fucking Dave. But right now, I need to focus.

“When did you join the party?” I ask Viking. Last I heard, he’d fucked off back to Carmen’s when he found out about Bas, and the guys wanted to keep Steel in the dark.

“Tank called on route, got some of Carmen's men outside. They are helping with the clean-up and the wounded.”

I nod, and me and Pa push up the stairs first. It brings us to the back of the floor with the big stained glass window; well, what's left of it. It’s all smashed bits, missing and broken, pretty much like the rest of the town. With the rest close behind, watching our six, we push to the next floor, we take a jump back when we’re met with a round of gunfire. Laying down on the top step, I quickly poke my head around before pulling it back. Bas has Ray in front of the window with his back to it, using her as a human shield. He has a gun and a knife trained on her, and five other guys are with him.

Leaning back, I take out my spare gun and reload my first, whispering to everyone about their positions. I nod to Pa, and he takes a few steps back. Grabbing my ankles, I nod when I’m ready, and I tense my legs. He thrusts me out along the floor as I slide I quick-fire two rounds before he yanks me back, and then we hear two thuds, and I grin as I get up off the floor. “Then there were three! Well, five if we count Ray and Bas.”

“It's over, Bas!” Cade spits, “Give it up, son. There's no one left to help you.”

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