The First Soul Flair was just beyond West street,
in front of the Federal building. The mortal agencies still functioning
were working to block it off from any ground access. All around it
emergency and military vehicles were parked, and crews were hastily putting up
more of the concrete barricades that already blocked off so much of the
city. Spurts of gunfire could be heard
as the military sporadically battled back mobs of incoming infected from the
blackened city around them.
Rick Brown and Tony Trist had volunteered to shut
down this paranormal geyser, but as they surveyed the scene and all of the
heavily armed mortals, a plan did not easily present itself to accomplish that
task.
"There's so many of them, we would need one
hell of a distraction, and that would probably just buy us a couple of
seconds." Rick said exasperated. "Maybe if we were still
driving the Gorf, or even better the Toyota Sienna-but in this thing we've got
no chance."
Tony activated Majesty in the passenger seat as
Rick spoke, and his body seemed to shine in a perfect display of his image.
"I know Rick, and worst of all is the fact that neither of us can
really hope to survive for very long taking any kind of damage."
Just
then a woman’s scream could be heard from just beyond the first wall of barricades
accompanied by several more blasts of gunfire.
“That’s
Veronica Bell” Tony said scrambling out of the car before Rick could even begin
to protest. Veronica had always been
loyal to the city, and a friend to the group.
If Tony could save her now, he would.
Rick
watched on as Tony picked up speed and ran full bore at the wall of rebar and
concrete. “That is such a bad idea,” he
thought as his friend scaled the wall and dropped down behind. “Well I for one am not leaving the fucking
car” he said exasperated and then punched the accelerator.
Neville
had always been a loyal subject of the Camarilla, and an upstanding citizen of
New York. He supported the prince,
cursed the Watchdogs, and paid his taxes.
It seemed odd to him now that he should be in such a situation. Another burst of gunfire flew past him as he
grabbed hold of Veronica’s coat and hauled her body behind one of the
overturned cars that lay between himself and his mortal aggressors. “Why, only last week I was helping a former
proxy to the Justicars sneak through the sewer system to rocket a corrupt
camarilla helicopter out of the air” he said out loud watching the Aidis’s body
regenerate the damage it had just sustained.
“What have I become? I’m not Lucky”.
Neville was proud of the fact that he had been able to save her from the
acidic gasses coursing through the undercity, his knowledge of the twisting labyrinth
of tunnels beneath the streets had been supremely helpful on a number of
occasions. But with the tunnels now
burning with hydro-sulphide gas, his tricks and knowledge were no longer even
remotely useful. He slumped against the
car, defeated.
A
loudspeaker crackled and then blasted with a familiar voice nearby to the
Federal building. “ALL UNDEAD OR UNDEAD
EFFECTED MORTALS, CEASE YOUR RESISTANCE, OR FACE DESTRUCTION”. As the message ended, the gunning of two large
engines could be heard.
Somehow
with everything going on Rick’s car hadn’t been noticed. He had slowly rolled his way down the street
to get a better view of the situation, and found what he was looking for. From his new vantage point he could see a gap
in the outer barricade just big enough to squeeze the car through. With a heaping pile of luck he could floor
it, get through the gap, and have a straight shot at the inner barricades
surrounding the soul flare. He had no
idea what he would be doing once he got there, but he would have to figure that
out later.
Just
when all hope seemed lost for Neville and Veronica, Tony Trist burst onto the
scene. Shrugging off gunfire and flack
from the entrenched military, his run turning into a slide which came to rest
behind the car that sheltered his two friends.
“Hey
guys, I think we had better get mo-“ Tony said with a look of terror on his
face, but was abruptly cut off by a large explosion not twenty feet away.
“Holy
shit, wha-“ Neville said taking a peek over the car and catching a glimpse at
what had Tony so frightened. The mortals
had rolled out two tanks. And from the
look of the white-hot flames left behind from the shell that had just detonated
nearby, they had been equipped with some sort of burning phosphorous
ammunition.
“I’ll
get Veronica, get over to that building and I’ll spider-“ Tony yelled but was
cut off again. This time one of the
tanks hit its mark, straight into the car that shielded the three vampires. It’s impact shattered the car and sent
burning debris in all directions.
Veronica, Neville and Tony were sent sprawling and unprotected on the
street beyond, stunned by the blast. The
hissing of the flames in the rain seeming almost like laughter…
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