Further Down the Road

Michael and Lani raced down the road, now having found another route to the same location that they were originally headed.

“Is anyone following us?” Lani asked with a slight hint of excitement in her voice.

“No,” Michael said flatly, “Nobody at all.”

“Oh,” Lani said softly, “you sound like that shouldn’t be.”

“Well,” Michael said with narrowed eyes, “They blocked an interstate, and fired white phosphorous at us.” he paused for a moment before continuing his realizations. “That’s a lot of effort for someone to just quit once we run away.”

“Should we go back and ask them what the fuck their problem is?” Lani asked, “I’m kinda curious what’s up their ass, as well as if they knew who they were fucking with.”

Michael laughed. “I know you wanna go back and burn more ammo on people,” he said through his smile, “but we can’t chance them using that mortar on anyone else.”

Lani glared as they continued travelling down the road. She wanted blood. She wanted to kill the people who put her purpose at risk. While they knew each other's secrets at this point, Lani still withheld verbalizations about her thoughts and feelings for fear of adding to Michaels stress.

Michael got on his phone and called Tom. After a brief two ring moment, he picked up. “Hey Tom,” Michael said with noticeable agitation in his voice, “you’re about to find out about a mortar attack on local grounds.”

“Yeah,” Tom groaned as if he were in pain, “We just intercepted police chatter, care to tell me why someone is using white phosphorus to make an attempt on your life?”

“The fuck if I know, Tom!” Michael barked with agitation, “We just got out of there before anyone could set off IEDs or let off any more rounds at us.”

“I’m actually glad you called,” Tom said with a slightly improved tone, “We need you to go back and find those mortarmen.”

Michael rolled his eyes before glancing over to Lani who had unsoured her face and was smiling with joyous cheer. “Sounds good,” Michael replied with a smirk on his face, “we’ll figure out where they got their ordinance.” He disconnected the call.

Lani let out a squeal as she turned the suburban back around to head back to the area they had just left. Her grin nearly stretched across her face as she sped down the road faster towards the ambush point than she had been driving away. She grabbed another 60 round magazine and handed it to Michael. “Please?” she asked in her sweetest begging voice, “load my gun for me while I drive.”

Michael took the mag and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Okay,” he said slowly, “but I’m gonna pout the entire time I do it.” He grabbed her weapon and replaced the mag. He didn’t rack it since it was still chambered from the previous magazine. He set it next to her where it was usually kept for drivers. He smiled once he was done reloading it.

“Thank you,” Lani said softly. She smiled softly as she looked onward, seeing the burning cars they had just left behind. They looked around for signs of observers. Knowing they needed to be somewhere not in the kill zone of an old ambush, they noticed a small house less than a mile off. Lani turned and took to off-roading their vehicle as they drove at the house.

Michael grabbed his vest and put it on. He checked that he had the right magazines in his pouches, then reloaded his own rifle. He watched as they got closer to the house, a man stepped out from behind the house and opened fire. The shots pinged off the ballistic rated windshield. “Turn left,” Michael said calmly, “that house might not be entirely hostile.”

“Okay,” Lani replied as she turned to the left. As she turned to ask what next, she watched as Michael jumped out of the seat and ran toward the house, firing at the armed assailant. The door latched shut, and her teeth clenched as she turned to look to the other side of the house. She smashed her way through a wood fence and stopped. She grabbed her weapon and stepped out, moving quickly towards the house. Closing in on the side of the building, she peeked quickly through a window and noticed a hiding family. They’re not alone she quickly concluded before moving to another breachpoint. Finding an empty room, she forced the window open and climbed in.

Meanwhile, Michael dealt with a shooter who had fired from inside the house. Two shots hit his plate, but this left him unphased as he fired ten shots through the window and house wall, killing the shooter. He ran full charge at the window and leapt through the remaining glass. A man had made the mistake of having a weapon in his hand as he came through the doorway into that room. Michael fed his chest five shots. He aimed up and let off five more through his mouth. He was gone before he could fall to the floor.

Lani heard Michaels weapon on the other side of the house from her. She stepped through the hallway, looking quickly around before proceeding to the room with the trapped family. Finding the man hiding behind their dresser, she shot through his head with a long burst. He fell, his blood smearing on the wall.

Michael heard Lani fire her weapon in a long burst, which made him fully aware that she was in the house. He moved with caution and speed as he went room to room clearing out the rest of the threats. He had one try to grab his weapon. He shoved it down on his sling and immediately sent a fist straight for his face. The attacker moved with abnormal speed and struck Michael's chest hard. The blow knocked him into the wall but he wasn't slowed as he struck the man's forearm. He's enhanced Michael realized quickly as he followed up his parrying strike with a series of hits to the assailants chest. The blows he landed would have had a normal man on the way to the emergency room, but this enhanced person took it.

Lani heard the lack of shooting, her ears picking up sounds again. She heard the fistfight and knew that no normal person usually hit back when Michael hit people as hard as he had hit this man. She moved quietly down the hall and turned a corner. She heard a thud against the wall beside her. Another target? She heard a click, then a magazine drop to the floor. As the sounds of a magazine being inserted into a magwell echoed, Lani pushed her muzzle toward the sound and let off 20 shots.

Michael continued to pound away at the enhanced one, landing effective blows as he absorbed the strikes that his assailant was trying to land. The man grunted as he tried to grab a vase to throw. His throw was so ineffective that he missed Michael completely. Instead, it flew across the room and hit Lani in her forehead. Michael lunged at him and kneed his chest several times. His target grabbed Michael by the vest and tried to pull him to the ground. His attempt failed as Michael simply struck upward at his elbow, snapping his arm.

Before Michael could make his next move, Lani walked over and grabbed the man's jaw and tore it from his face. She turned it and started beating him in the head with the tooth side. Short screams let out with each hit she landed. The man tried his best to block but that just got him more suffering as she ripped the arm off completely. She twisted his forearm and used the jagged wrist to stab his neck and chest. Occasionally shouting 'fuck you!' Every few hits.

Michael let her continue destroying the bleeding man on the floor while he checked the last room for any enemies who would have potentially taken the chance to attack with the distraction going on in the hall. A few turns and steps, and the room was clear. He came back to Lani and put his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him to check her forehead. It was bleeding a little bit, but the small cut was very minimal compared to the damage that would have been taken by an average person.

“He tried to hurt you,” Lani muttered, “I can’t have you getting hurt.” She grabbed the edge of his plate carrier and lay her head against his chest as she grit her teeth. “Last time you fought an enhanced, I almost lost you.”

Michael let out a sigh, moving a hand to the back of her shoulder, his other hand patting her head. “That was a team effort,” he said softly, “and I only collapsed cuz my self aid came undone and I forgot to check it.”

“We were so fucking focused on secrecy,” Lani said looking up at him with a glare, “you put more effort in hiding the fact that you were hurt than getting un-hurt!”

Michael went to say something about the importance of not terrifying what used to be a little girl fresh out of orphan high school, but he couldn’t. She’s right, he thought to himself. He looked into her eyes and calmly said in low tones, “I have you here with me now,” as he placed his thumb under her eye to wipe an escaping tear, “and you have me, we’re a team in this.” He looked around. “We still gotta figure out who these fucks are and why they were on that road.”