Linda Andrews - Extinction Level Event

“You have something in your hair.” Candy laughed.

A chill trickled down Manny’s spine. It wasn’t a nice laugh. The villains in those kiddie movies laughed like that.

“Eww!” her companion spat. “Did I get it out?”

Their stupid chatter didn’t fool him. Those girls would kill him if given the chance. He had to make sure they didn’t get the chance. Using his elbow, he pushed the gate open a bit further. The hinges screamed in his ear.

“There!” Cindy shouted. “Tell me you didn’t hear that.”

He squeezed through the opening. Splinters grabbed at his jacket and burrowed into the fabric. Panting, he ducked behind the gate. His knee gave out and he dropped to the ground, releasing the girls. Their legs came free then they released him. Twisting as he fell, he landed on his backpack. He heard the plastic swoosh as the margarine containers popped open and milk gushed down his back.

With a swish of weeds, the ninas landed on either side of him and curled up against him. Neither uttered a word.

He pulled them close. Their hearts raced like pent-up hummingbirds’ under his hands. He raised his head to stare at the gate. The arc of the flashlight’s beam cut across the opening.

“I know I heard something.” Cindy growled as the circle of light shining through the slats of the gate intensified.

God! If they looked, they would see him and the girls. His knives were in his pack and he didn’t have a clue where he’d left the bat. They were defenseless.

“Go check that backyard.” Candy directed.

Manny froze. The light was squarely on the gate and fully round. The two gangbangers couldn’t be more than five feet away. Lucia stiffened and gulped air near his ear. A second later, small paws crawled across his belly.

The rat’s red beady eyes stared at Manny. In the slivers of light cutting through the wooden slats, he saw its whiskers twitch.

“You check.” The other woman countered. “You have the flashlight.”

Manny pressed closer to the ground. In order for them to go away, they needed to find a source of the noise. Something other than him. And it had better work. Freeing his arm from around Lucia, he pinched the stiff tail and lifted. The rat squeaked as he threw it toward the gate. It landed with a thump outside the beam of light. Damn, why couldn’t it have worked?

“There. You see,” Cindy gloated. “I told you I heard a noise.”

The light dropped to the ground and the gate creaked open. Manny braced his foot against it. If they didn’t buy the rat, maybe he could slam it shut, giving least Mary and Lucia enough time to get into the street and find a better hiding space. They could find Irina and be safe, after he led the gangbangers away.

He crooked his knee a little bit more to accommodate the opening gate. Muscles bunched. He’d shut it on the count of three. Two.

The rat waddled across the beam of light.

One of the gangbanger’s screamed, splitting the silence like a hatchet.

“It’s a fucking rat.” One punched the gate. “Just like I said. Now let’s go, before they decide to eat us like they did to that old woman today.”

Old woman. Today. Basia. Irina’s grandmother.

“Did you see her twitch?” Candy chuckled. “I think she was alive when they started munching.”

Fucking bitches! Manny sat up. Small hands grabbed hold of his arms and tugged at him.

“You want to see what happens to it when I hit it with this tazer?” Candy giggled before a soft ticking disturbed the night and blue light pulsed in the darkness. The rat emitted a long screech and the scent of burning hair added to the stench. “Look, I can make it dance.”

The blue light crackled again. Off then on. Off then on. The hands on his arms tightened until his fingers tingled.

“Come on.” The companion muttered. “We’re going to be late.”

The blue light flashed again. Smoke drifted through the yellow beam. “Like they can start without us. We have the guns.”

They had guns, too? Manny gouged the dirt.

A popping like distant fireworks exploded in the night.

“Not all of them,” the companion drawled.

The light disappeared shortly before footsteps clattered on the garbage. “Hurry before we miss all the fun.”

Fun? They thought gunfights were fun? Why hadn’t they died in the Redaction? After the footsteps died away, he counted to sixty, and then counted again. Was it safe to move? Would more gangbangers be coming?

And just who were they terrorizing?

Some hapless homeowner? Another gang encroaching on their territory? Maybe the bastards would kill each other and be done with it.

One thing was for sure, they couldn’t stay here. He’d rather face the soldiers than the Aspero. Irina was damn lucky to have survived her encounter. Manny pushed himself to his feet. Twinges spiraled through him as he put weight on his knee. Bending over, he massaged the cap and the pain receded. Just a bad twist, not broken. God only knew what he’d do with a break. The only way to get into the hospitals was to call the ambulance.

He’d rather die than draw that kind of attention and risk his family.

A rustle and grunt sounded behind him before he felt the familiar tug on his shirt. Should he leave them and go find Irina and the boys? His chest tightened at the thought. As dangerous as traveling with them was, splitting up was more so. He shuffled forward and stuck his head through the gate.

Just them and the rats.

But for how long?

Yells punctuated the rat-a-tat-tat of semiautomatic gunfire.

Please, God, let it draw the attention of the soldiers. Stepping over the twitching rat’s body, Manny slipped into the alley.

A shadow grew from the mound of garbage. “Manny.” Irina’s arms wrapped around his chest. “I thought they’d killed you.”

Smaller arms encircled his waist and thigh. He patted each head. Mikey’s ball cap. Jose’s rolled up ski mask. Irina’s long, dark curls. He forced his hands to his side, and then pulled out of their embrace. “Let’s go while they’re fighting each other.”

After brushing Lucia’s pom-pom, he led them the hundred yards to the end of the alley. Pausing by the entrance onto the street, he glanced left. Blasts of white light shot from the muzzle of their weapons and illuminated a tank. Bullets pinged the reinforced metal while dozens of gangbangers whooped and cheered.

Jesus.

The Aspero were taking on the Marines.

Lead settled in his gut and filled him with an unbearable weight. Why weren’t the soldiers firing back?

As if in answer, the turret swung to the side and spat light and death. The rounds ripped through two men; they fell in pieces to the ground still clutching their weapons. The crowd darted as the turret span, cutting them down as they fled. A trio retreated behind a dumpster beside a burned-out convenience store.

A loud boom rattled the block fence at his back. A blast of red shoved against the darkness and a loud whistle filled the air.

Manny looked right. Holy shit! He pulled back as the tank rumbled by. A soldier popped up from the open hatch and fired. The ground shook as bloody light mushroomed in the darkness.

“Soldiers,” Lucia whispered.

“Good soldiers.” Manny peered around the corner. Nothing to his right. The fight continued to his left. Muzzle fire burped from the side of the tank, cutting down the gangbangers who ran as it joined its match at the intersection.

The whop-whop of a helicopter sounded in the distance.

Manny glanced across the seven-lane street. They’d have to make a run for it if they planned to make it. Scooping Mary into his arms, he grabbed Lucia’s cold hand and broke clear of the sanctuary of the alley.