“Just like the rest of the city,” Fitz said. “We have to get out of here.”
They ran down the new corridor to their right.
A few lone Variants lurched at them from the shadows. They dispatched them quickly, then ran into a stairwell. Dohi looked down the winding stairs from the fifth floor. Monsters had reached the second floor and were climbing quickly. A few let out hunting cries when they saw Dohi.
He ducked back into the hall. “We can’t get down that way.”
A low explosion boomed behind them. Wood splintered, the doors to the conference room breaking. Smoke billowed down the corridor.
Fitz signaled for the team to take firing positions.
As soon as the first dark shadow moved within the smoke, Ghost and Spearhead unleashed a fusillade of gunfire.
But unlike the Variants before, this time their enemy fired back. Bullets punched into the walls and webbing around them. The team scrambled for cover, but there was nothing but knots of webbing and a few gurneys to hide behind.
“Keep low!” Dohi shouted.
From the smoke, collaborators emerged wielding rifles and pistols. The first few went down in a barrage of fire from Rico and Fitz. But then came the real threat, a group of Chimeras in armor, gripping machine guns and wielding saw-toothed swords.
Their golden eyes practically glowed in the low light environment, and they moved like professional soldiers, advancing on Teams Ghost and Spearhead.
The beasts outnumbered them three-to-one.
They couldn’t stay here. Running down the stairs back to the ground floor would be suicide too, which left one option.
“On me!” Dohi yelled. He fired a burst of suppressing fire and then ran for the stairs, bullets searing past him.
Fitz switched on the comm. “Command, this is Ghost One, we need immediate evac! Surrounded at the UMC!”
There was no immediate response and with the distant explosions, Dohi began to wonder if anyone was out there to answer.
“Command, this is Ghost One, do you copy?” Fitz tried again.
A familiar voice surged over the channel.
“Ghost One, this is Reaper One, report your position, over.”
“Beckham,” Dohi whispered. If anyone could save their asses, it was the former lead of Team Ghost.
***
A thud rang out from an impact against the locked door on the rooftop, rattling the crates and debris Team Ghost had stacked against it.
“Get ready,” Fitz said.
The team had already taken firing positions behind the ducts and rusted air-conditioning units around the rooftop. Rico was next to Fitz behind a unit near the cornice lining the perimeter of the roof.
“Stay close to me,” he said to her.
Corrin sheltered beside Ace and Dohi. Neilson propped up his rifle on a ventilation shaft, aiming at the doorway with Toussaint crouched nearby.
The roars of the beasts surrounding the building nearly drowned out the gunfire cracking through Vegas. Thuds continued on the door, each one knocking more of the stacked crates away.
“At least I got to see you one last time, Fitzie,” Rico said. “If I’m going to die, I want it to be next to you.”
“We’re not going to die,” Fitz vowed.
Shrieks of monsters from all sides of the buildings made it hard to believe his own words.
“Reaper One, Ghost One,” Fitz called over the radio. “Is our evac en route?”
“Copy that, Ghost One,” Beckham answered. The line crackled with static, interspersed by gunfire. “I’m trying to locate all members of Recon Sigma, but I called in a special favor. Hold tight.”
Fitz didn’t have time to guess what the favor was going to be. A pair of creatures clambered over the edge of the roof, their mouths opening to let out howls. Their muscles flexed as they leapt, and their tongues whipped over their wormy lips.
“Conserve your ammo, and watch your firing zones,” Fitz called out. The rooftop was wide, but the close proximity of the soldiers made firing extremely dangerous.
He switched to single shots and didn’t fire until he had a clear target. The first shot thunked into the closest creature’s muscled chest, knocking it off balance. The monster crashed next to the other beast that Rico dispatched with a head shot.
“Contacts!” Neilson yelled.
All around the roof, the Variants crawled over the railings. Gunfire lashed out from the two teams, taking down the first wave easily. Corrin hunched, growling, waiting to join the fight with his claws.
As a second wave emerged, he stood and let out a roar.
Fitz fired at the blurs of diseased flesh.
Each second turned into its own hellish eternity, and he resisted the urge to avert his gaze and check the smoke-clotted sky for a helo.
The door to the roof access stairwell finally exploded open. Fitz turned toward it as four Chimeras rushed out, slinging fire. Bullets punched into the air conditioning unit, forcing him down close to Rico, their faces nearly touching, eyes locked.
“Stay down,” he said.
He switched to automatic fire, knowing it would take more than a single well-placed round to kill these creatures. Holding in a breath, he popped up and fired a burst straight into the face of the lead Chimera.
Another was hit by a blast that crippled its legs.
Even as the two surviving beasts found cover, five more rushed out. Four ducked behind shelter immediately. The last one stood in the doorway, firing as rounds punched into its armor and flesh.
Fitz only got a glimpse, but he could tell the Chimera was larger than the others and wore a tattered cape along with the front of a human skull as a mask.
Could he be the Prophet?
Rico fired from around the air conditioner while Fitz reloaded. The beast zeroed in on them, returning fire.
Ace and Dohi continued to attack the monsters crawling over the edge of the buildings, while Toussaint and Neilson provided suppressing fire to allow Fitz to select his shots. He was easily the best marksman. It was on him to take the leader down.
The Chimeras pushed forward, their gunfire and growls growing closer. They outnumbered Spearhead and Ghost, and the ever-present threat of the Thrall Variants climbing the walls closed
