Nicholas Smith - Hell Divers

X watched the glow of Magnolia’s battery unit as she darted across the street. A few seconds later, her staticky voice crackled over the comm.

“There’s a few assault rifles, but it looks like a couple of things are missing… Didn’t Command say they were sending us some food and water? Because I’m not seein’ any.”

The missing provisions troubled him, but at least they had heavy weapons. They were still in business.

“Do Sirens eat energy bars, X?” Magnolia asked.

“How would I know that?” he replied. “Hold your position, Magnolia. Katrina, Murph, Tony, get down here.”

“On our way,” Tony replied.

X sprinted across the street. Above the noise of the wind whipping his suit, he caught another sound, closer now: the piercing wail of a Siren. As usual, it seemed to come from no particular direction.

“You hear that?” Katrina said over the comm.

“Yeah. Now, hurry up. We need to gear up and get gone.” He swept his blaster over the surrounding terrain. “You see anything, kid?”

She brushed up next to him, her voice barely more than a whisper, “Wh-what are those?”

Magnolia pointed toward a snow flurry drifting across the far end of the street. Within the swirling flakes, wrinkled, leathery shapes swayed from side to side as they approached.

X holstered his blaster and pulled an assault rifle from the crate. Then he grabbed four loaded magazines, stuffing three into his vest pockets and slapping the fourth into the weapon.

“Pick a rifle and load up on ammo!” X shouted.

He aimed at the pack of Sirens, trying to count them in the gusting flurry. A half-dozen approached on all fours, moving slowly through the fierce wind.

“Magnolia!” X shouted. She wasn’t moving.

“I’m not good with guns!” she yelled back, panic rising in her voice.

Looking down the rifle sights, X followed the monsters as they clambered across the road and up the sides of the buildings. Some perched on ledges or sills, watching the divers. Others moved in the partial concealment of the swirling snow, waiting for an opportunity to strike. The creatures had always attacked right away in the past, but now they seemed more cautious, as if sizing up their quarry.

“Katrina, Murph, Tony!” X shouted. “Where the hell are you?”

“Here. We’re at your five o’clock,” Katrina said. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a flash of movement behind the approaching divers.

“More contacts!” X yelled. “Tony, Murph, Katrina, you got the three o’clock position. Magnolia and I got nine o’clock. Hold your fire until I give the order.”

As the Sirens continued to prowl, X said to Magnolia, “Kid, you need to listen close. I want you to hold the gun snug to your shoulder, but don’t grip it super tight. Aim it dead center at one of those things and squeeze the trigger for a short burst. But whatever you do, do not shoot one of us. You got it?”

“Okay,” she mumbled. The rifle shook in her hands, and X considered taking it away. Her file said she had failed combat training, but she had done okay on the last dive, and he needed every weapon in this fight.

X took aim. The Sirens were creeping in from all directions, like a vise slowly closing. A snow flurry clouded his vision for a moment. He blinked, refocused, and trained his rifle on a thick-bodied Siren leading a pack of four.

The beast let out a piercing shriek and charged.

“Fire at will!” X shouted. Deactivating his night vision, he used the light from the sky to guide his shots. The first went wide, kicking up a puff of snow. His second hit one of the creatures at the base of its thick neck. It reared its head back, and the painful croak from its wide mouth sounded like an emergency alarm coming through a broken speaker on the Hive.

The pack fanned out in all directions as the creature collapsed to its knees. A brilliant arc of lightning streaked overhead, and he could see open maws, spiky backs, and taloned hands and feet. Another flash lit the exterior of a building across the street. The structural steel was alive with Sirens.

Mindful of the limited ammunition and the sheer numbers of the enemy, X fired a controlled burst at the pack in front of him. He cut down a second beast with two shots to the chest. It slumped to the ground with one last agonizing shriek.

He took out the other three with single shots. The monsters flopped in the snow, unable to continue their advance. X got the next pack in his sights and knocked down two more.

Over the crack of gunfire, the unearthly wails formed a chorus, and over this came the heavy clap of thunder. A brilliant web of lightning streaked overhead, the tips branching out and licking the tips of skyscrapers. Sparks rained down on the streets as the Sirens continued their assault.

“On me!” X yelled. The other divers came together to form a perimeter, but the five of them wouldn’t be able to hold the monsters off for long. Worse, the gunfire seemed to attract even more of them.

He scanned the battlefield as he fired. A spray of blood erupted from a wrinkled neck. A bony head crest puffed into scarlet mist. Three more of the abominations crashed to the ground before his ammunition ran out.

In one continuous motion, X ejected the spent magazine, slapped in a new one, and knelt. He was firing as soon as his knee hit the snow. His next shot punched through a Siren’s chest, and it fell dead, tripping the one behind it. As the second beast bounded over the carcass, X shot it in the mouth. He twisted to the right and squeezed the trigger, counting the bullets and watching the bodies pile up. Steam rose from the spilled blood.

Over the cacophony of firing and shrieking, X heard someone yelling.

“Power down!”

X ignored the voice, acquired a new target, and fired again, cursing a blue streak all the while. The voice on the wind wasn’t familiar. Was he really hearing it?

The same voice shouted again, “Power your suits down and don’t move!”

A bleep on X’s minimap pulled his eyes away from the monsters. He turned to see an armored diver running toward them from the north.

Waving frantically, he was still screaming, “Power down!”

X watched the creatures closing in all around them. There was no possibility of holding them all back.

“Power down and don’t move!” the man yelled again. “Trust me!”

X pulled the empty magazine and reached for another as the new diver sprinted to them. He pulled the battery unit from his own armor, still yelling, “Power the fuck down!”

X saw no other option. They were dead anyway.

“Do it!” he shouted to his team.

Lowering his rifle, he yanked out his battery. His HUD went dark instantly. A moment later, a brilliant red light streaked across the street. One of the monsters, which had stopped behind the barrier of bodies, burst into flames and lay thrashing in the snow.

A second flare hissed in the opposite direction.

The screeches started to grow fainter. X couldn’t believe his ears. They were retreating.

The mysterious newcomer was busy reloading his blaster, and X couldn’t see his face behind his visor. With the Sirens on the move, the new diver spoke only one more word: “Run!”

Captain Ash wiped the film of sweat off her forehead. It was a reminder that the bridge, unlike the noncritical areas of the ship, still had heat. Some of the shelters were heated, but there weren’t enough for everyone on the ship, so most of the Hive ’s passengers would be huddled together under blankets in their designated safe areas belowdecks. No safety belts to buckle into, and no heat to keep them warm.

At the sound of footsteps, she turned to see Jordan taking the stairs two at a time.