Maniacs The Krittika Conflict - By Nick S. Thomas Page 0,3
but Mason did not stop. The two ran over the bloodied bodies without breaking stride. The faint smell of burning flesh crept into Mason's nostrils as he passed the bodies. It was a putrid and disgusting odour that had become so familiar to him he could ignore it. If anything, it reassured him that his shots had met their targets.
"Another twenty metres and swing a right," said Liu.
He reached the turning up ahead and slid to a halt in shock. Liu saw the glow of high power lasers light up the corridor they were entering and spotted Mason's hesitation. He grabbed the back of his body armour, hauling him back as a flurry of laser fire flashed past. Mason took a deep breath.
"Second hurdle," he stated.
Liu nodded.
"Carter's behind schedule."
"Carter, where the fuck are you?" Mason shouted through the comms.
Gunfire followed as the response came through.
"Dealing with some shit, hang on!" yelled Carter.
"That's nice," he said to Liu.
The fire let up for a second, and he took a quick peak around the corner but recoiled even quicker when another hail of laser fire screamed past his face. He lifted up his wrist to check the time.
"Fuck, come on, come on."
“We aren’t going anywhere like this!”
As the last word came out, a large explosion rang out, and several large pieces of the weapon that had been firing at them flew past the corridor entrance beside them.
“All right, that’s it, go!”
They rushed out from the cover to find the corridor scattered with twisted metal and rubble. Two of the kidnappers lay dead near the side of the weapon, and Mason caught sight of Carter’s team approaching from the other side.
“Cells are this way,” he added, as they took a turn at the junction.
As Carter led the way past the wreckage, a huge blade flashed across, making him stop quickly. A hulking brute of a man flew past in front of him. The blade carved into the wall in front of them. Carter quickly responded with a knee into his gut, but the strike barely made the man flinch. He swung the blade around to cut at Carter’s head. He ducked down, and the blade hit the far sidewall.
Mason looked for a shot, but it couldn’t be made safely with the Boss between him and the thug. Carter lifted his rifle, but the man grabbed it by the barrel, ripping it from his hands, and delivering a brutal punch to his face with the blade still in his hands. The blow hit like a train and wobbled his legs. Mason caught him as he fell back and threw him forward towards the thug.
The clumsy kidnapper took a hard swing that Carter ducked under and passed by. It was Mason’s turn to weigh in, and he did so without hesitation. He knew he couldn’t risk a shot with the Boss on the other side, so he leapt forward and drew his knife from his chest. His rifle dropped down to his side as their attacker came at him. He reached forward with his offhand to parry the blade at the wrist wielding it. His arm almost buckled under the strength of attack, but he held as he thrust his blade into the man's neck.
The blade seemingly missed the windpipe of the thug's thick neck, but it caused enough pain for him to drop his machete-like cleaver. Mason grabbed his rifle and smashed the stock into his face. He stumbled back against the sidewall. The thug grabbed the knife in an attempt to draw it out. Mason was impressed with his resolve and toughness, but was no less inclined to spare his life.
A burst of laser fire rang out from the Boss. The man was dead. Mason looked over to see Carter breathe a sigh of relief as blood trickled from his mouth.
"Getting too old for this shit," he muttered.
"Yeah, you are," replied Mason.
"Your vote of confidence is overwhelming," Carter grunted.
"Sure is good to have friends."
Mason carried on at the lead. They reached the cellblocks and found no resistance at all. Everyone guarding it had already been dealt with, but they knew the scene outside would be wholly different. The body of a girl lay on the floor at the entrance to the cellblocks. She had a laser burn on the side of her head.