Out of Time Chapter 17-- We are Ambushed

Tyren clapped a hand over my mouth before I could make any noise. We pressed ourselves against the wall as the zombie walked by. As he passed—his shoulder an inch from my nose—I wondered why I had joined this crazy trip.

Tyren’s information net had caught news that the zombies were hiding several of the resurrection stones in an under-guarded, old warehouse on the Thames. She had set up a small team to infiltrate the warehouse and grab the stones if they were there. Since Tatianna was on bed rest and Gordon had volunteered to go, I decided to go.

Actually, I knew full well why I had volunteered. I wanted to make sure Gordon didn’t continue to worm his way into Tyren’s affections. That, and I felt like I needed to be with her to keep her safe. Besides, if I was going to be a leader, I needed to know how to fight.

Tyren released my face and gestured towards the ladder. I slowly climbed it, my vampire friend right behind me. Once on the roof of the warehouse, I surveyed the rest of the group. It consisted of Gordon, a werewolf named Sivan, a dwarf named Thor, an elf named Lilac, Tyren, Noddah, and me. 

Thor removed the skylight as Sivan tied a rope to a spike he had driven into the roof. Tyren drew her sword and nodded to her team. Completely disregarding the rope, she leapt through the skylight. Before her feet even touched the floor, the two guards standing around the stones lost their heads. She landed gracefully on the floor, looked around, then motioned for us.

After everyone else except Gordon and I had reached the floor, the vampire said, “I will bring up the rear. Go ahead, M.C.”

Deciding not to argue with him, I carefully lowered myself through the roof. Ropes were never my thing. I had always hated them in P.E. Very slowly, I began to shimmy as gracefully as a flopping fish down the rope.

One fourth of the way to the ground, something made me look up. Something flashed in Gordon’s hand, and I was falling. I thought I was a goner, but I landed in powerful arms. Sivan grinned down at me. “Thought you were a bird, did you?”

“Turns out I’m a rock,” I said.

Laughing, he set me on my feet. “You flail a bit more like a beetle on its back.”

I grinned. In general, I like werewolves. They were always laughing—mostly at your expense—but they were also always ready to bash in some heads. They might be a little prejudiced against vampires, but they usually got along with everyone. It was nearly impossible not to like them.

Lilac’s gasp—or shriek?—brought me back to the task at hand. “These are not resurrection stones!”

“Of course not, foolish elf. Do you really think we would leave something so important so inadequately guarded?”

We were surrounded by at least fifty zombies. Even with Tyren’s mad skills and a werewolf—the ultimate meleers—there was no way we were escaping. This was too perfect to be coincidental. They had known we were planning on visiting.

Being a dwarf, Thor was obligated to state the obvious. “It’s a trap!”

I was terrified. I was going to die.

The lead zombie thumped his staff on the floor to get everyone’s attention. “I want the boy alive, but you can kill everyone else.”

As one, the zombie mass surged towards us. In a flash, Sivan was in his wolf form and ripping zombies to shreds. Tyren was hacking them to pieces. Lilac was strangling them with vines she was growing out of the ground. Thor was jabbing them with his spear. I was frozen to the spot. Hey, give me a break. At least I was there. Gordon was nowhere to be seen.

Noddah thwapped me over the head with his tail. “What are you doing, Emmy? Fight these monsters! Protect your friends! I will cover you.”

I regained my senses just in time to shoot a bolt of light at the zombie overpowering Lilac. Quickly, I threw a shield up to block a blast from a zombie. Noddah ignited anyone who got close to his fiery rage. 

It was chaos, and we were losing.

Sivan was the first to go down. He must have had at least fifty different wounds. However, as he shimmered back into his human form in death, he lay in the middle of no fewer than seven zombies. He had injured countless others.

Lilac was next. Her vines had killed at least five. Six others died at the hands of someone else because they had been ensnared by her magical plants. Even in death she had a serene look.

Thor was next. He lay next to his broken spear, the head buried in the zombie who killed him. The zombie stumbled and fell, making Thor’s total killed six.

I refused to let Tyren to be the next to fall. Without even really thinking, I grabbed her around the waste and threw her over my shoulder. Apparently following my thought process, Noddah leapt from my head and—no, I couldn’t believe it—he grew. He became the size of a small horse. It was like my Pokémon evolved. After sucking all the air out of the building, he blasted a path through the zombies. Without pause, I barreled through the smoldering zombies, Tyren still over my shoulder.

I ran like demons snapped at my heels. After all, their servants could be on my tail. After I was a good football field away from the warehouse, I set Tyren down and collapsed. Noddah, having shrunk, landed on my stomach.

“How on earth did you do that?!” I asked the little dragon.

He grinned toothily. “Dragons can change size fastly.”

“Are you alright?”

I raised myself on my elbows. “Am I alright? Are you alright?”

She was bleeding in countless places. However, she just nodded. “I am.”

I sat up and looked more carefully at her. The vampire had a strange look in her eyes. It was almost haunted. Worried, I asked, “Ty, are you okay?”

“They are all dead,” she whispered.

And then I understood. “It’s not your fault, Tyren. We were ambushed. You staked this warehouse out for weeks. You couldn’t have known. Someone tipped them off.”

Movement to my left caught my eye. “Speak of the devil,” I growled.

I got to my feet as Gordon approached. He looked quickly between us. Most likely he was gauging our thoughts. I was clearly furious while Tyren was still blaming herself.

“Are you both alright?”

I gave him a good hard shove in the chest. “Yeah, no thanks to you! What the blinking crap were you up to?!”

“What are you talking about?” He lifted his nose in the air.

I got in his face and shoved him again. “You blinking coward, face up to it! You cut that rope! You hid while we were nearly murdered!” I shoved him for the third time before finishing, “You told them we were coming!”

Suddenly my feet were no longer under me like they were supposed to be. I crashed into the ground with a grunt. Gordon placed his foot on my chest, pushing any air that I had managed to keep in my lungs out. “Listen, human, you—“

He never got to finish, because he misplaced his feet as well. Tyren towered ominously over him. “Do not touch M.C.,” she growled in a quick staccato. “You are not the person who saved my life. You are not the person who stood by me when the battle was hopeless. Do not think you are better than him. Tonight, he is the hero, not you.” Grasping my hand, she pulled me to my feet. “Let us vacate the area before they find us.”

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Good morning!

So, what going on, here? Is M.C. right? Is Gordon up to no good?

Well, I'm at work, so this is a quick post.

Have a great week, ya'll!

AND HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

~C.P.