The Bloodless Read Free Page B

There was no sign of anybody. The footsteps in the shaft were getting louder and more rapid, they’d be there soon, but with just three left the task at hand didn’t seem so daunting. The only thing was that they had the tactical advantage with us cornered in a small room.
                  Crist acted first. Using her grappling hook she jumped out of the window and swung around into a hole in the shaft, knocking two of them off the steps and all the way back down to the main floor. I sprang into action and met the third one half way up to our location. It struck first with a glancing blow to my jaw, but I ran through it and slammed it against the wall. We engaged in a flurry of hand to hand combat moves with neither side getting the upper-hand.
                  Suddenly it caught me with a sweeping blow to my midsection that doubled me over and knocked out every last bit of breath I had in me. I felt myself tumbling down the stairs until I slammed head first into the wall in one of the turns. It’s hard to say what happened after that because everything was a little fuzzy. I remember the wretched thing being on top of me and then feeling a splatter on my face that I could only assume was the killing blow because after that I blacked out.
                  When I came to I was laying in one of the pews. I sat bolt upright and looked around but didn’t see anybody. “Crist!” I yelled into the void in a desperate voice that was hardly my own. I was still groggy and I placed my hand on the back of one of the pews to stabilize myself. I felt another hand come down on top of mine and I spun quickly to see who it was.
                  “Are you okay?” It was Fox.
                  “It was you! You took out the other half?” I asked. Fox looked confused. “Have you seen Crist? Is she okay?” He looked at me funny, like I was out of my mind. “What?”
                  “Crist was slain several days ago. We have attempted to establish contact with you for days now, but you never responded. I was sent out to find you and I just recently remembered your old patrol route. I saw you enter this building and it looked like you were talking to someone but I could not see anyone near you. I decided to follow you first to get an idea of what was going on with you. You do realize that Crist is deceased, yes?” There was an inkling of pity in his eyes, a look I understood too well.
                  That’s when it all came crashing back to me and my head began to swim once again. I dropped to a knee and Fox came to my side, he placed a hand on my shoulder and left it there as I attempted to gather myself. A ringing in my ears grew steadily louder as that incident crept its way back into my mind.
     
    *****
 
                  We were walking along the rubble of Abiyah, the town at the perimeter of GoD Laboratories’ compound. All of us were heavily armed and ready for the fight we wanted to avoid. There was a good feeling among the group. Our plans were sound and the strategy was solid. I, of course, was running point and everyone knew their marks. The power station was less than a couple kilometers from our current location. Ready would’ve been a good word to describe us. Scared shitless would’ve been more accurate.
                  It’s not like any of us were cowards, but when faced with the possibility of overwhelming numbers of Bloodless, anyone is likely to have reservations. Our mission had to be accomplished; no one else was going to do it as I was the only one left with so much intimate knowledge of the compound. Let’s be clear: some of my co-workers survived The Invasion, but none of them had any desire to continue fighting. I don’t blame them either. What we saw that day was enough to make anyone want to tear their eyes out and put a lump of hot steel through their temple. So since their fortitude was null, it