Jay Posey - Morningside Fall

It happened so fast that they were already moving again before Cass reached them.

“Not that way,” Wick said as he resumed their initial path, leading them on without hesitation. Cass hazarded a glance down the left turn as she passed and saw four or maybe five Weir sprawled there, and one clambering over the bodies.

“There’s another–” she cried, trying to warn Gamble, but Gamble’s weapon was already up and firing.

“Wick,” Gamble said without missing a beat, “find us a place to button up.”

Wren clung tightly to Cass with his arms and legs, and kept his head buried in her shoulder. Not out of terror, though, or not just out of terror. She could tell he was doing his best to keep himself stable, taking some of his weight off of her arm so she could move better.

Up ahead, Wick exited the alley and slowed. Finn caught up and forcefully guided Painter into position between the brothers, one on each side. They moved together then, covering opposite directions. Cass cleared the alley and found that they were crossing a wide street. For the moment, there were no Weir in sight. Across the street, there was another row of decaying buildings. Wick made for a squat two-story structure. It had only one door and a small slot window at street level, both yawning with darkness.

When they reached the entrance, Finn and Wick left Painter just outside and steamrolled in, snapping their weapons around in precise movements as they made sure the room was clear. Their red lights danced across the walls and made it look like a fire was burning low inside.

Cass caught up and Gamble quickly directed them all inside. The first room was large and open, with a wide and partially collapsed staircase running up the left side, and a doorframe in the back wall. There red lights played along the walls of a hall, where Wick and Finn were rapidly searching for any threats. Wick’s pack was in the middle of the room, on the floor. Gamble slung hers there as well.

“Cass,” she said, pointing at the base of the staircase. “Anything moves up there, kill it. Boys, over here.” Cass moved to the bottom of the stairs and went down on a knee, aiming the jittergun up into the darkness at the top of the stairs. Painter and Wren followed Gamble’s directions and moved to a corner in the back of the room, furthest from all the entrances.

“Floor’s clear,” Finn said as he re-entered the room, “but there’s a back door in one of the rooms.” He turned off the light on his rifle.

“Wick,” Gamble said. “You’ve got the hall.”

“I’m on the hall, check,” Wick answered. He stayed in the front room, but crouched down near the back where he had a tight angle through the doorframe into the hall.

“Upstairs?” Finn said.

“Cass has it,” Gamble said. “I need you guns front.”

Finn moved closer to the front entrance, though he remained well inside and to one side of the door. Gamble slid over to the opposite direction, so they were covering opposing angles through the entrance.

“Where’s Sky?” Finn asked.

“On the way. Wick, you bounce the location?”

“Yeah, they’ve got it.”

“Check.”

Cass couldn’t see what was going on outside the building from where she was, but the Weir were making a lot of noise calling and answering. Their cries and howls filled her with dread. And out there, somewhere, Sky was alone. Cass couldn’t imagine what he must’ve been feeling. Or what Gamble must’ve been going through. Not that she was showing any signs of concern.

“Swoop? Gamble, what’s your situation…? We had to hole up. You get Wick’s bounce…? If you can, yeah.”

“Here he comes,” Finn said.

“Understood,” Gamble said, though Cass couldn’t tell if she was responding to Finn or still talking to Swoop.

“Come on, come on,” Finn said to himself. And then, a few seconds later, slightly louder, “Sky’s coming in.” He lowered his rifle, and Gamble pointed hers at the ceiling. Moments later Sky ducked in through the entrance. As soon as he was through, both Gamble and Finn brought their weapons back on target.

“Sorry, Ace,” Sky said, breathing heavily. “Had to do some extra legwork.”

“You bring any with you?” she asked him.

“Not immediately. Left a little trail for them headed the opposite direction. Might buy us a couple minutes.”

“Check.”

Sky slid in next to Gamble, taking over her position. “Glad you’re safe,” she said.

“Me too,” he answered.

Gamble moved further back into the room, putting herself between the door and the boys.

“Finn is front,” Gamble said. “Wick is back. Cass is stairs.”

“Check,” Sky said. Coordinating, Cass figured. So if Gamble told everyone to move to the back, they all knew which way she meant.

They sat in silence after that, tensely. Three minutes passed. Five. Maybe as many as ten. Cass’s arms grew tired, and she lowered them to rest on her knees. If anything had been upstairs, it likely would’ve come down by now. Even so she stayed focused on the staircase, just to be safe. The stairs bent to the right, preventing her from seeing all the way to the top, but a portion of the upper steps had collapsed, which gave Cass a better view than she would’ve had otherwise.

After a time, unless Cass was mistaken, the Weir began to quiet. It was subtle at first. More pauses between calls. Longer delays. And then they started to seem farther away. Maybe they’d thrown them off the trail after all.

Finn made a soft hissing sound. Cass glanced over and saw him holding up one finger. She wondered if anyone else could see it in the darkened room, but Gamble’s whisper answered that question.

“How far?” she asked.

“Thirty meters,” Finn answered.

“Inbound?”

“Not yet.”

“Hold fire. See if it moves on.”

Cass hated not being able to see what was going on. The slot window wasn’t far from her. But she knew Gamble was counting on her to watch the stairs, and she fought back the urge to sneak a peek.

“What’s it doing?” Gamble asked after a minute.

“Just standing there,” Finn said. “But it’s looking this way.”

And then it made a sound that sent chills racing down Cass’s spine.

“ Spshhhh. Naaaah. ” The same noise they’d made the night they attacked the wall. It was shockingly unlike the Weir’s typical cries. They were some unholy mix of electronic and raw animal sound. As uncanny as those were, this new cry was different, more disturbing; almost as if a piece of machinery were trying to form words.

“Not again,” Sky said.

“Hold,” Gamble said.

“ Spshhhh. Naaaah. ”

“Count?” Gamble asked.

“Still just the one.”

Cass watched the others, trying to get a read on the situation. Everyone was focused, intent on their areas of responsibility. Wick might as well have been oblivious to what was going on through the front door, even though Cass knew he was completely aware; he just kept his eyes fixed on that back hallway. Wren and Painter were still huddled together in that corner. Cass noticed Wren had his knife out.

Some instinct kicked in, and Cass quickly looked back at the stairs and at the same time brought the jittergun up. There was a soft glow reflecting, and through the gap she saw clawed fingers closing to grip the top stair.

A Weir.

Cass did her best to emulate what she’d seen the others do. She hissed and held up one finger, keeping her eyes on the Weir’s hand she could still see. What was it waiting for?

Wordlessly, Gamble glided over to her side, and Cass pointed at the hand. Gamble shook her head. She couldn’t see it, unlike Cass.

“ Spshhhh. Naaaah. ”