John O'Brien - Sanctuary

All but one of the laser points of light leave the night runner except one centered on the head. A soft “pop” is accompanied by the metallic sound of a bolt being blown to the rear and cycling, the mag spring pushing another .223 sub-sonic round into the chamber. The spent shell ejected from Cressman’s M-4 clinks across the floor, bouncing several times before coming to rest. The steel core round leaves the barrel with a flash of light and reaches out for the night runner, the bullet’s path intersecting with it split seconds later. The steel hits the lower jaw. It tumbles upward by the force of hitting the solid bone, the angle of the shot, and the fact that 5.56mm rounds are designed to tumble on impact. The mandible shatters and the now partially splintered round is propelled through the soft tissue of the roof of the night runner’s mouth, entering the cranium and exploding out of the top with a shower of blood. The air above it is filled with meatier chunks of flesh, brain, and shards of bone. The night runner dies instantly and staggers backwards before dropping from view. A hush resumes in the area with a faint smell of spent gunpowder lingering.

“Nice shot, Cressman. All teams, continue your movement,” I say after a moment of surveying the area and realizing we haven’t raised the ire of any night runners.

“Thank you, sir,” Cressman replies.

“That was louder than I thought,” Robert, standing beside me, whispers in my ear.

“Yeah, it’s always louder inside. Natural outside noise and a more open area always makes it seem quieter,” I whisper back.

Green, Black, Charlie and Delta make it to the half-way point towards the rear of the store when Cressman whispers once again in the radio that she has spotted another night runner, this one on the balcony above and to the right. I quickly halt the teams in place and snap my head in the direction she indicated. Again, several thin beams converge and dance on the night runner standing by the second floor railing on the right side. The gray-skinned creature, seeming to glow in my goggles, lifts its nose in the air and snaps its head to the right. It leaves the railing quickly and trots over to where the first night runner was, disappearing from view. All of this happens too quickly to issue a command to fire.

A loud shriek reverberates within the interior; the night runner has discovered its fallen comrade. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later , I think waiting for events to unfold. Time comes to a halt. The last vestiges of the scream echoes throughout and a palpable tension grips the air. The release of adrenaline from the fifty-four soldiers standing and kneeling in various positions can almost be sensed. My own heart kick starts with a boom. It’s game time and the opening kickoff is away.

Choruses of screams suddenly erupt from the darker depths of the building; the first shriek, fading off, just a prelude to the rising symphony. The escalation of noise is like a ghostly crowd cheering a touchdown in an enclosed stadium; however, the sound is piercing rather than booming.

“Everyone hold positions and focus on your areas. Cleared to engage at will,” I say searching the upper and lower levels for movement; knowing it will not be long in coming.

“Night runners on the top floor,” Cressman calls over the radio.

I catch glimpses of numerous shapes darting from right to left along the second floor on the far side; possibly heading toward the escalator. A host of night runners suddenly appear at the upper balcony, both ahead and to the far right, pausing momentarily before vaulting the rail and leaping to the first floor. The sound of clothing racks falling to the floor or thrust aside rises out of the din of the yells. Flashes of light emit from Bravo Team as they begin firing into the night runners pouring like a waterfall over the balcony railing; the coughs from their suppressed M-4’s add to the many noises filling the interior.

Bravo’s rounds collide with the horde streaming over the railing, knocking many askew of their downward path but many more of the shrieking beasts reach the first floor unscathed. The loud coughs and metallic clinks of expelled rounds hitting the tile to their sides are continuous; the only pause of fire with each member is with the changing of empty mags for full ones.

“Delta, wheel left. They’re coming over the balcony edge. Charlie, cover to their rear,” I shout into the radio.

I see intermediate flashes of light coming from the right under the overhang as Delta begins to engage the host making it past the curtain of fire put up by Bravo. The flashes and an increase of sounds ring out from the right as Delta and Charlie find themselves under a sudden rush of night runners.

“Night runners on the first floor coming from the rear,” Mullins calls out over the radio.

The soldiers from Alpha start firing at night runners beginning to make their way down the escalator stairs to the left rear; with some vaulting down over the left side balcony.

“Lynn, orient to your right. Can you get an angle on the ones coming over the balcony?” I call pressing the mic button amidst this rapid and sudden onslaught.

“No. The stairs and a wall of some sort are blocking our line of vision,” she answers.

“We’re starting to get night runners on the first floor on the left,” Drescoll calls.

I see quick flashes of light bouncing off the ceiling in Lynn and Drescoll’s direction as they begin engaging night runners coming down the left flank; the sound of their shots add to the din of the battle. Night runners continue leaping over the railings on the right and the far side by the corner of the balcony. It’s a tide that Bravo Team cannot hope to stop and can only put a small dent into.

“Echo, peel off three to help Bravo,” I say.

I would divert more but the last thing we need right now is night runners dropping directly into our base of fire. Greg turns and taps three members of his team. They peel off and turn, joining Bravo Team and add their additional fire into the jumping masses. Thin lines of light extend out from Bravo into the avalanche of bodies. Some within the horde fall sideways with shrieks of pain and fall to the floor with hard thumps, injured or dead.

Alpha is pouring fire into the ones trying to get down via the escalator but their massed fire is holding the night runners at bay for the moment. The small amount of night runners that do make it over the side run directly into Black Team and are brought down. The muzzles of Blue Team covering the near stairs send their deadly projectiles upward as small groups of night runners appear at the top of the stairs. The wall of steel they lay down doesn’t allow a single creature to make it to the first step. The ones that appear at the top are propelled backwards, vanishing out of sight into the dark recesses of the second floor.

The laser aiming devices from Bravo and Alpha are steady as they fire into their appointed areas. The lights from Charlie and Delta wave around on the right as they seek out targets and defend themselves; the poor visibility from the numerous clothes on that side making it difficult to have clear lanes of fire. I see the same on the left with Black and Green Teams although to a lesser extent. The rapid development of the firefight and the limited visibility makes it difficult to determine exactly what we are facing on the first floor. The time from discovery to this point of determined defense has been short; only a matter of moments.

I would like to throw Red Team into the fray but am worried by what I don’t yet know or see. Becoming engaged will make us unavailable should something crop up that needs our immediate attention. If something were to happen and no one was available, our line could quickly fail and we could find ourselves trapped in small pockets of defense which could be easily overwhelmed. The carbines from the three Echo Team members remaining begin flashing at intervals as they keep our backside clear on the second floor. A body falls into view, dropping from the near-side balcony and lands in front of Red Team with a thud so hard it is both heard and felt. Red Team startles and all weapons immediately round to the body but it doesn’t move or rise from the cream-colored linoleum.