Jay Posey - Morningside Fall

“Mama, don’t,” Wren insisted. He was hanging back, away from the gate. Wick and Swoop moved into the enclave with cautious steps. Finn and Mouse followed after, and the four men began to fan out with their weapons lowered, but shouldered.

“Sky, bring it in,” Gamble said. She and Able remained outside the gate with Cass and the boys. “You boys be careful.”

“Wren, what is it? What are you feeling?” Cass asked.

“There’s something in there, Mama.”

There were a number of buildings visible from the main entrance, but they were all closed up, windows dark. For all intents and purposes, the place looked completely abandoned.

“I don’t think there’s anything in there, Governor,” Gamble said.

Think they all left? Able signed.

“Could be. Seems odd, though. Ninestory’s been around for years. Don’t see why they’d pull up and head out now.”

There was a noise behind them, and Cass turned to see Sky jogging up to join them.

“What’s the word?” he said as he drew near.

“Dunno yet,” Gamble answered. “Could be an attack. Could be they up and left.”

Sky let out an exasperated sigh. “Didn’t we just do this?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wasn’t that great the first time, you know.”

Inside the enclave, the four team members were approaching the nearest building. Wick led the way, with Finn right behind him, while Mouse and Swoop held off a few yards and covered their flanks.

“Yeah, Wick, I got you,” Gamble said. “…Check. Just be careful. You see something you don’t like, you come right back out.”

“Please,” Wren said, “please, let’s just go. Let’s go back.”

Cass went down on one knee and drew Wren to her. He was trembling.

“Gamble, I really think we should listen to Wren,” Cass said.

“I hear him,” Gamble said. “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna stay long.”

Wick eased open the front door and flowed in with Finn in support. They disappeared into the darkened building. Mouse and Swoop waited outside, weapons up, casually scanning.

“Check,” Gamble said, and then looking back at Cass and Wren, “Front room’s clear. They’re just gonna check the lower level.”

The words had barely left her mouth when the gunfire barked from inside the building. Gamble cursed, and immediately the whole team switched on, weapons up, closing in on the building. Wren clapped his hands over his ears.

The gunshots continued, and a few seconds later Finn appeared in the doorway, firing his weapon with one hand and dragging something backwards with the other. He was screaming for Mouse.

It took a moment for Cass to realize what Finn was dragging: Wick. He was on his back, and his legs were fishtailing along the ground, trying to help his brother propel him backwards away from the building. Wick still had his weapon up, firing.

Mouse and Swoop started advancing towards the door — right as the first of the Weir stumbled out into the daylight. They both opened up, and the Weir dropped, but it was quickly replaced by another, and then another. Cass’s mind couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing, as a stream of Weir came pouring out into the street.

“Back! Fall back!” Gamble shouted, and all guns were up and firing, cutting down the impossible wave that flowed out of the building. Finn went down hard, fighting to drag Wick further away, but no matter how many they killed, the tide of Weir kept gaining ground. Mouse ran forward and skidded to a knee beside Wick, firing into the advancing horde.

Swoop let out a howl of pure rage and walked forward, unleashing an unrelenting torrent of gunfire. Able sprinted towards his comrades. Sky remained at the gate, methodically firing shot after shot after shot, with barely a second in between to acquire a new target.

And just when Cass thought the team was sure to be overwhelmed, the tide broke and the last of the Weir toppled to the ground, mere feet from where Wick lay.

“Come on, get him up, get him up!” Finn shouted, but Mouse was already there, lifting Wick to his feet. Mouse wrapped one of Wick’s arms over his shoulder and hauled him up, jogging away from the building and the mass of bodies that lay sprawled in the street. Even from where Cass knelt, she could see the dark stains soaking Wick’s chest, and the paleness of his face.

The others kept their weapons up as they backpedaled towards the gate. Cass was still trying to process what had just happened when the sounds started. It was muffled at first, an indistinct mass of white noise coming from somewhere within the enclave. But as it grew in intensity, it also sharpened, and Cass realized she wasn’t hearing a single sound, but rather some countless number of them blending together.

The whole enclave was full of Weir. And they were coming.

“Back, to the building!” Gamble ordered. “Get to the building!”

Cass didn’t hesitate. She swung Wren up in her arms and took off, sprinting for the tall building just over fifty yards away. The indistinct sounds became clearer, and she recognized the telltale cries of the Weir echoing behind her. But there was no sound of gunfire. Yet.

As she reached the door to the nine-story-tall building, Cass realized she had no idea what was on the other side of it. If there were Weir in the enclave, was there reason to think they wouldn’t also be inside the building?

She skidded to halt just in front. Gamble caught up and didn’t slow down. With a stomping kick, she slammed the double front doors open and entered aggressively with her weapon shouldered.

After a few moments she called from the inside, “Clear, let’s go!”

Painter was staring back at the gate, eyes wide, unmoving. Cass grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, and shoved him through the door ahead of her, following him in closely. The entryway was a small dusty front room that led to a narrow corridor. The corridor was lined with a number of doors on both sides, and there was a concrete stairwell at the far end.

“Come on, come on!” Gamble shouted.

Cass pushed into the corridor to make room for everyone else. Gamble waited by the door, motioning fiercely to the rest of the team, as if by waving them in she could propel them that much faster.

Mouse was the first one through, carrying Wick across his shoulders. Cass couldn’t believe he was able to carry both Wick and all their gear, and still walk, let alone run, but he managed to cover the ground with impressive speed. The others must’ve been holding back to cover Mouse, because as soon as he made it into the front room, the others piled in quickly behind. Swoop was the last one in.

He and Gamble slammed the doors shut behind them, and Able grabbed something off the side of Swoop’s pack. Cass’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the relative darkness of the room; the only light now came in from two narrow horizontal slot windows, placed high and covered over with steel grating on the inside. In two seconds Able was at work, running a wide band of what looked like some kind of thick grey putty down the center of the doors, overlapping both where the doors met in the middle. When it was in place, he made a flicking motion and stepped back, and seconds later the strip let off a shower of white-hot sparks, dazzling in the darkened room, fusing the doors together.

Everyone seemed to be moving all at once, but there was no chaos in the motion. Gamble was barking orders that the team seemed to be able to respond to faster than Cass could process. They put three guns on the door: Swoop, Able, and Finn.

Gamble sent Sky to check the stairwell, and he pushed past Cass with such intensity it seemed like he barely registered she was even there. Gamble started down the hall, checking the doors on either side.