“Nn… that’s what Lily thought. The two gods you contracted got to work yesterday after Felicia put that machine together. They were battering away at whatever was working against us. Especially the big lady. Ioana and her get along well,” Adriana said.
Hm. If it wasn’t for the artillery, and the possibility of someone dropping a nuke on us, I’d say we could probably hunker down and wait for Abera.
“We, the ANet, didn’t feel like we should wait. We’ve been combing the streets looking for you. And before you ask, we each removed a pinky and left it with our Prime so we could be re-summoned by you after we found you in case we died while out on patrol.
“We knew we would find you. Us or Miu, but we trust her,” said the Beastkin.
“Miu?” Felix asked.
“She’s been looking for you as well. She’s been carving her way through the ranks of Skipper’s officers. Listening to their communications and ambushing them. She thought it was one of them who took you away. We weren’t really sure.”
From the rear of the post office there was a bang, as if someone had hit the door. It was followed by repeated strikes and booms.
“And our guests have returned,” Felix said. “Alright. One up on the rear door. Everyone catch a nap if you can. We’re out of here in three or four hours. I’ll clear the front door when it’s time.”
Chapter 32 - Over a Candy Bar -
Felix felt like there was no time like the present. Rolling to his feet, he gave himself a quick brush off.
The strikes from the back of the post office had quit hours ago. Apparently they were figuring out a better way to get in, or had given up for the time being.
Either way, Felix wouldn’t be using that door anytime soon.
Moving quietly around the rooms, he began to gently shake everyone awake, or get them up and moving if they already were.
There was no time like the present and moving at this hour would be beneficial.
Finally, he got to Adriana.
Eva had stuffed her to bursting, to the point that Adriana actually started to look like she might vomit.
Taking the corner of his sleeping bag in hand, he carefully raised it up to peek in to see if her legs were completely mended.
She was completely restored. Though he doubted she was recovered. Being fully intact wasn’t the same as being healthy.
“Darling, are you going to join me? I’m not so sure with so many people around though,” Adriana said, her eyes glowing softly with her Beastkin heritage as she stared up at him.
He hadn’t even noticed she’d woken up.
Her teasing smile gave her true intention away.
“Cute. You’re quite a bit darker and more playful than your sister,” Felix said.
“Yes. We are. When we divvied everything up, we realized we would soon start to develop our own personalities. We thought this was ok,” Adriana admitted.
“Mm. Eventually I’m going to corner you or Andrea about what really happened with Myriad.”
“We know… we’ve been discussing it on the ANet… if possible… leave it be? For now?”
“Speaking of the ANet, I take it you have no way to contact home base?”
“It was destroyed when they fragged me. I had a radio and a transponder,” Adriana said, frustration tinging her voice.
“Time to go out on a maneuver. Can you perform?”
“Yes… but I’m no good as anything other than a rifle right now. I’m feeling pretty weak,” Adriana said, her eyes breaking contact with his.
“Great. You can walk the middle with Julia. That’d be a load off my shoulders. We have some no-combat experience helpers with us. In about ten minutes, be ready to roll out,” Felix said.
Adriana’s eyes flashed as they snapped up to his, freezing him. Her right hand slowly snaked out of the sleeping bag and drew him down, planting a firm kiss on his mouth.
“I’ll be ready, darling,” she said, releasing him.
Blinking twice, Felix got to his feet and went to the front of the post office.
Very different. Getting more so every day.
Staring at the entryway, Felix had pulled up multiple windows. The rubble was rubble, and had no owner.
It was trash.
Clearing unowned rubble was as easy as could be.
“Missed my calling in demolition work,” Felix muttered with a grin.
“What, dear?” Adriana asked from his right side.
“Nothing. Nevermind,” Felix said, shaking his head. Looking around, he saw everyone standing loosely behind him, all holding packs, crates, and weapons. “We all ready then?”
There was a collective nodding of heads.
“Suppose that’s it then. The goal is to get out of Skipper territory. They’re going to target anything owned by anyone else. We’ll be heading in the same direction as Legion HQ as we do so,” Felix explained. “Keep it quiet. Keep it simple. Keep it tight. Goal is to make it through without being seen or heard. Steve, you’re on point again. Keep it to the back channels.”
Felix activated the panels and the entire front of the post office fell away into nothing. In the span of ten seconds, it ceased to be and no longer existed.
Steve immediately moved out first, his rifle raised and on a swivel as he took point. Clearing the entry, he paused long enough to scan both sides of the street, and then started moving again.
Everyone fell in behind Steve. Felix and his small group set off in the gloomy pre-dawn hours.
They’d managed to make decent progress. Nowhere near as fast as Felix had hoped, though. Much of the city was in ruins, or now populated by angry citizens who were forming their own gangs.
Dropping shells on the city had only galvanized it into a support structure for Skipper.
Whatever idiot had decided this plan of action had altered not just the scale of this fight, but the complexity of it.
As they slunk through alleys, and broken buildings, and did everything possible to stay out of sight, they’d managed to get an eyeful of the change.
Murdering one’s own civilians tended to radicalize a population. Tilen was no exception to that, and if anything, had gone to an extreme in that regard.
Partially so because of what Felix was now witnessing.
They’d been forced to take a breather when noon rolled around. Up ahead was a street crossing that they’d have to make and doing that in broad daylight didn’t seem like the best idea.
Most especially when right in the middle of the intersection nearby was an entire congregation of people, that were clearly caught up in some true zealotry.
The screams were audible even from this far out.
“Sickening,” Julia said, her mouth twisting in a sneer. “I’m not one to squirm away from killing, but this… is barbaric.”
Felix didn’t respond, but only made a soft humming noise instead. There was no point in saying anything. It’d all already been said by everyone else.
He could add nothing of value.
In the middle of that intersection, for their god or goddess, this group of people were setting people on fire and letting them burn to death.
Unable to watch them pull out another person to throw onto the pile of burning wood, Felix turned away from the sight.
He paused halfway as the sound of chanting voices could be heard.
It was faint.
Almost inaudible.
And coming this way from down the street.
“Felix, I can see a large group of people,” Adriana said from a different window. “They’re coming up the road. They’re… glowing?”
Glowing?
Keeping himself patient and still, Felix waited at the window, his eyes glued to the direction the glowing chanting people were coming from.
At the same time, the murdering crazies who had been using people to make a bonfire were now organizing themselves. With several groups of people at the center, they formed up into a shapeless mass facing down the street.