Hellhounds: Dylan’s Fireshow (Part 2)
#7 of Hellhounds
Hellhounds: Dylan's Fireshow (Part 2)
There was no point in trying to stop to catch our breaths or recover from the blast. The second we got on our feet, we headed our way down the hall. An Iksar emerged from the right side of the corridor, and he was quickly shot down by Zepher, followed by another light green soldier who was trailing behind him. Denton and I ran behind the werewolf as he sprinted down the hallway and made a right turn, where he entered another empty corridor. At least, it was empty momentarily; once Zepher took a few steps, about five or six soldiers appeared from the left and right sides of the hallway and started shooting at Zepher. He quickly backed up and hid alongside me and Denton, panting. I slowly crept to the corner of the wall and peeked around it, before two of the soldiers fired a few bullets at my muzzle. I immediately took cover and sighed exasperatedly, counting six shooters who were blocking our path. Lucky for us, we came prepared this time, unlike the incident we ran into down at Unstable. We had flashbangs and hand grenades with us. I took one off my waistband and pulled out the pin with my teeth, erratically chucking it down the hallway before closing my eyes and covering my ears like Zepher and Denton did. There was a loud explosion that sounded like a bag of flour bursting, followed by a few shouts and someone swearing repeatedly. We opened our eyes and put our paws down, keeping a firm grip on our assault rifles as we turned right and saw the six soldiers either covering their eyes or swaying from left and right, temporarily blind. We aimed our rifles at them all and fired multiple rounds. I didn't count how many bullets were wasted on them, but what I do know is that we fired enough rounds to drop all six of them in a matter of seconds. Once we reached the end of the corridor, someone shouted something and chucked a hand grenade next to the dead Iksars, and at our feet. Denton used his quick instincts to kick the grenade like a football, and we threw ourselves backwards and took cover as the grenade exploded, blowing apart the Iksar who threw it. I looked down the corridor we just came out of and saw two Iksars emerge from the burning room, aiming down their sights so they could improve their accuracy and take us out. I sprang to my feet and swore, jerking my body around and firing off a couple of shots. I missed unfortunately, as I had to back up when they returned fire, nearly tripping over Zepher and Denton in the process. Zepher took cover beside the wall in the left hall, and Denton and I took the right. We waited for the soldiers to fire off a few more rounds as they calmly headed down the hall before Denton shot one of them five times in the torso and chest, still glued to the wall. The other soldier returned fire, nearly hitting Denton's paw. The soldier thought there was only one intruder hiding behind the right side of the hallway and ran forwards; unaware that Zepher was hiding on the other side. As he reached the end, Zepher attacked the scaley, stabbing him in the stomach, the blade just an inch away from piercing the solar plexus. The soldier cried out in pain before collapsing to the floor, where Zepher promptly slit his throat.
"Come on, we're going this way!"
Zepher placed his knife back into its holster and followed us down the right hallway. Denton charged for the red door up ahead and bashed it open with his shoulder, and we entered the stairway on the other side of the compound. I looked up the center of the stairs, trying to see if I could spot any Iksars hastily running down the stairs, although they seemed to get the drop on us first.
"THERE!"
Two Iksars aimed their assault rifles down the middle of the stairwell, firing dozens of bullets and forcing us to hide underneath part of the stairs themselves. Denton knew that we needed help, and fast.
"Colonel, where the hell are you and the other hounds?! We're pinned down over here!"
"I told you idiots not to set off the goddamn alarms!"
"Shit happens boss! We can't reverse time so stop complaining and get down here and help us!"
"Where are you guys?"
I stepped out of cover and shot an Iksar several times in the chest and neck before he reached the ground floor and gunned us down. Another Iksar had been trailing behind him, and before I had the chance to shoot him down, my rifle clicked twice. I swore and hid under the stairs again, releasing the empty magazine so I could insert a full set into the rifle. Denton took care of the hostile by shooting him in the forehead. After watching his body tumble down the stairs, he spoke to the colonel through the earpiece again.
"The stairwell."
"Which one?! There's gotta be at least four stairwells in this damn place!"
"...The one on the left?"
I sighed exasperatedly and took cover when more bullets were fired in my direction. Zepher stepped into the middle of the stairwell and looked up, wasting half his magazine as he erratically fired at the Iksars on the floors above us.
"West stairwell colonel, probably in the southern quadrant. You guys near there?"
"Yeah, but we're pinned down ourselves! Get on the ground floor and find us! We're outside in the loading dock!"
"On it!"
Zepher shouted with frustration once he ran out of bullets and hastily released the magazine before reloading. I peeked out of my hiding spot a couple of times before running over onto the stairs and jogging my way up to the second floor (we were two levels underground from the loading docks). I crouched and hid against the concrete staircase built along the handrails and waited as two Iksars shot at me a couple of times. Lucky for us, the bullets weren't thick enough to penetrate the concrete. When the time was right, I sprang from my hiding spot and returned fire to the enemy soldiers, who immediately hid behind the concrete like I just did. I fired off a couple of bursts, impatiently waiting for the soldiers to show me their heads so I could shoot them, but they lifted their rifles right above the handrails and shot at me erratically, thinking that one of their bullets would eventually hit me. I gestured for Zepher and Denton to head over to where I was hiding, and they started to return fire. Then I started to army crawl along the stairs as quickly and quietly as possible. Zepher already knew what my plan was and instructed Denton to keep the Iksars busy so I could reach them in time. Still hiding against the stairs, the soldiers had no idea that I was also crawling my way up to them. When I was on the same level as them, I got to my feet, whipped out my M4, and shot both of them several times.
"Clear!"
I ducked and swore when a burly brown Iksar caught sight of me and started shooting, practically losing my right ear in the process. Denton and Zepher could see I was pinned down, but before they ran up the stairs to assist me, Denton felt plaster fall down on his head and looked up to see that the same Iksar who had me pinned down had his foot covering a rather large hole. The place was old after all, so a concrete staircase that was slowly rotting away was fitting. Denton looked through the scope of his rifle and pointed the barrel at the hole. Then he fired off a shot, sending a bullet soaring through the Iksar's foot before it lodger itself deep into a bone. The Iksar screamed and toppled over like an elephant whose tendons were just severed, making his head exposed on the end of the stairs. I pointed my gun at his face and shot him in-between the eyes. Zepher and Denton sprinted up the stairs with me, and we continued to take out any Iksars in our path, including one who was initially firing at us from the start.
"Allister! Where the hell are you, we need backup up here! These mutts are mowing us down!"
Sadly, Gerry Allister, Dylan's right-hand man (or Iksar, I guess) did not die in the explosion in the atrium. There's not much to say about the guy. Burly, mid-30s, green with red head-frills and tail, fiercely loyal, etc. He wasn't as angry as Dylan, or as smart for that matter, but then again, he didn't spend the first two years in the military scrubbing shit out of toilets. He was one of those guys you see always trying to calm his leader down when he got angry, always agreeing with his plans and trying to suggest a different idea in the most logical manner as possible without angering him when he didn't agree. He was also fucking his brother's son behind his back, which surely would've resulted in him having his testicles and limbs cut off. But he obviously didn't know, or he wouldn't have been sending his soldiers to kill us that day.
"There's only three of the bastards! A whole squadron of Iksars can't take down three Lycans?!"
The Iksar speaking to Gerry through his walkie-talkie yelped and took cover.
"Just send me some backup now!"
The explosion must've made Gerry's troops more disoriented than we thought. Many of the Iksars must've been sleeping soundly or slacking off, too lazy or incapable of predicting a sudden blast that would shake the whole building. The soldier who was busy calling Gerry for backup yelped and ran up a few steps once Denton shot an ally of his five times in the chest. We were almost on the second floor, but reinforcements were closing in on our position. Zepher looked down the stairwell and saw a few soldiers entering the area, who immediately shot at us with their AK-47s. He didn't have time to deal with any of them, so he grabbed a hand grenade, yanked out the pin, and threw it down the stairs. I didn't see how many were killed by the blast, but those who lived were lying on the ground missing a limb or two, or with their intestines spread all around floor. There were only two Iksars blocking our path from the second floor. One was the same Iksar who radioed Gerry, and the other was wielding a shotgun and slowly traversing down the stairs as he repeatedly shot at us. We were forced to hide against the concrete again, but the Iksar carrying the shotgun was roaming, so I couldn't crawl my way up the stairs again like I did before. One soldier had us pinned down, another was gradually making his way downstairs, and a few more were coming up the stairs. There was no other option left, except to use a flashbang. I snatched up a stun grenade and swiftly pulled out the pin before erratically tossing it on the stairs, covering my ears and shutting my eyes. The grenade exploded and two Iksars screamed as they went blind. I looked up and saw that the soldier carrying a shotgun was stunned, covering his eyes as he struggled to keep his balance. I charged over to him and grabbed his shotgun, wrestling him for it and head-butting him in the face. We grunted and panted as we tried to snatch the shotgun away from the other, but I realized that the Iksar who called Gerry was regaining his vision. I cocked the shotgun, pointed it at him, and squeezed the trigger. The hostile's head was blown to smithereens. The Iksar gained the upper-hand when he bashed the gun against my face twice and kneed me in the testicles. I coughed before he kicked me against the wall, and he cocked the shotgun and pointed it at me. Before he could fire, I whipped out my M9 pistol, shooting him in the arm and chest. I proceeded to kick him as hard as I could, and he yelped as his body was thrown over the railing, screaming on his way down to the floor. Lucky for him, we weren't even on the second floor yet, so the fall wouldn't have killed him. But he slammed his head on one of the rails on his way down, and I heard a loud crack when he landed on the floor head-first. He wasn't gonna get up again.
Denton and Zepher slowly walked backwards up the stairs whilst shooting at the pursing Iksars to join me, and I grabbed the assailant's firearm and led the others to a red door with a sign reading "Ground Floor" posted right next to it. I kicked in the door and stormed outside, where we were instantly blasted by the cold air from outdoors. We didn't even have time to find the other hounds before we heard something clink against the floor, and turned around to see that the Iksars just tossed a grenade at us. We threw ourselves through the door and took cover as the grenade exploded and the door was blown off its hinges. Panting and trying not to panic, I shoved Zepher off of me and pointed the shotgun in the doorway, blasting an Iksar in the chest when he reached our floor. Then I got up, sprinted into the stairwell, and shot the Iksar running behind him just below the neck. I turned around and examined the scenery. We were finally at the loading dock, which was full of reptilian soldiers, but to our surprise, the Iksars seemed focused on another disturbance besides us. They didn't even realize we burst into the docks. I couldn't really tell from where I stood, but it appeared as though the Iksars in brown were busy trying to take out a small squadron of Lycans who were hiding against one of the box trucks. The Iksars were obviously not winning, as I saw one of them yell and fall to the ground after being shot three times. We decided to assist the other hounds and began to attack the enemy from behind. Zepher and I took the left side of the dock, quickly shooting two Iksars in the back multiple times. One of the Iksars standing in front of them noticed his fallen comrades and turned around to get a shot at us. Zepher's lightning-fast instincts kicked in and he threw his knife at the soldier's head, hitting him in his right eye. He promptly took it out once his body fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Denton was sidestepping his way down the dock, shooting off the metal hook that was attached to the frame of one of the box trucks. The truck's wheels slowly began to turn, and before anyone knew it, it was rolling downhill. An Iksar who was trying to take out the other hounds outside glanced over his left shoulder and saw the truck coming right for him. He let out a short squeal before the truck ran over his body, the two left tires crushing his back and popping his skull like a water balloon.
"What the hell was that?!"
The Iksar shouted when Denton shot him three times in the back, followed by the Iksar in front of him, who was gunned down in the same manner.
"Colonel!"
Riesling, as well as Fenrir and Smart-ass stood up and stepped out from behind a giant shipping container. They ran over into the middle of the loading docks while the three of us jumped off the actual dock itself and regrouped with the colonel. We were about to mince words with each other when a humvee suddenly screeched its way around the dock and sped its way to our position. It was six soldiers against five, and all of us had assault rifles in our paws. Needless to say, when you fire that many bullets at a vehicle in attempts to take out the driver and the gunner mounted on top, you're gonna kill them both, unless you have a fucked-up sense of precision. The gunner went down first, only firing a couple of shots before his lifeless hands let go of the machine gun. The driver and his passenger were shot numerous times through the windshield, and the humvee accelerated and went out of control; the driver's foot must've pressed down on the gas pedal. We stepped outside and observed the vehicle swerve out of control, before running into another parked box truck with a loud crash. We stared at the vehicle for almost ten seconds, waiting to see if the passengers in the back seats would come out. They didn't, and were either killed in the crash or unconscious.
"You mind explaining to me what the fuck happened down there?!" shouted Riesling.
"There were too many soldiers for us to slip past colonel! After we planted the third bomb, we were spotted and we had to take him out. He fired off some shots; everyone heard the commotion and the alarms went off." said Denton.
"Colonel, you can grill us when we get back to the safe house! Just be glad we managed to get the job done and all the weapons are gone now. Let's get out of here and rendezvous with Jakob before the situation really gets out of hand and this whole goddamn quadrant is alerted!"
Colonel snorted, the kind of snort you hear from a bull after it fails to poke you in the ass with its horn by one, measly inch. I couldn't really figure out if he was mad at me for back-sassing him right then, or if he was pissed that I was sticking up for Denton. Who knows, maybe it was both. But whenever I hear that snort-from any animal, not just the colonel-I back away, unless I can predict what the animal's next move will be. And Riesling was not one to fuck with after hearing that snort, so I shut my mouth.
"Fine, but don't think that you three are off the hook that easy."
The one thing I loved about Zepher was that he didn't complain. I knew that if Smart-ass was teamed up with us, he would've whined and said, "But it was Denton's fault! Why the fuck should I have to pay for something that Denton fucked up?!" But Zepher kept his mouth shut, like a good soldier does. Granted, that doesn't make you a smart soldier, but furries like Costodor want furries who just follow the orders they're given and shut up until it's done with. We started to head out into the forest, but Colonel yelped when a sudden bullet ricocheted off the ground and nearly hit him in the leg. We looked all around, trying to find the hostile who took a shot at us, but as we were looking we failed to notice the large squadron of Iksars who were creeping around the corner to find us. Just when we found the sniper who took a shot at us from the rooftop, we heard about a dozen rifles cocking, and looked up ahead to see ten or twelve green and brown Iksars had us cornered. We had faced even grimmer odds before, but there was no place for us to hide and to make things worse, there was a sniper pinning us down too.
"Sarge, does Gerry want us to take these dogs alive? They might possess some creditable information." asked on of the lizards.
The leader of the squad, a macho brown Iksar with way too many rigid spikes all over his body, took a couple of steps towards us and scoffed.
"The only reason why dogs should still be alive is so we can have the satisfaction of puttin' 'em all down one-by-one. Kill 'em."
We were only two seconds away from death when the sergeant cried in pain and suddenly fell down after being shot in the ribs. The Iksars looked all around the area, trying to figure out who took out their sergeant; they knew it wasn't us. The sniper on the top of the building saw who took out the sergeant, but not before Jakob shot him in the face. Another shot rang out, and yet another Iksar fell down after getting shot in the right temple.
"Shit, we got a sniper!" yelled one of the soldiers.
Disoriented and confused, the Iksars took their attention off of us, and examined the forests to see if they could locate Jakob. We lifted our weapons and started to gun down the lizards. It wasn't until about five of them were dead that they began to pay more attention to us. One of the Iksars was about to take out Denton, but Jakob managed to shoot the assailant in the neck. It was seven against four now, and without their sergeant or the sniper to protect them, their morale was shattered and they were defenseless. One lizard tried to call for more backup, but Zepher chucked his knife at him, the blade impaling him in the Adam's apple. Another Iksar tried to run away, but Riesling and I shot him in the back a few times with our handguns after we ran out of ammo.
"FUCK!"
The scaley who swore was shot in the leg by Jake, before Zepher took out his gun and shot him in his left eye. The six of us stared at the lonely, exposed Iksar and began to contemplate what to do with him. I'm sure Zepher wanted to torture the living shit out of him, but we were in hostile territory and didn't have time to do all of that. Jakob didn't bother waiting on our decision, and shot the last soldier in the side of his neck. We looked all around the area to see if there were anymore hostiles around, but we seemed to be in the clear.
"Sure guys don't thank me for savin' your asses." said Jakob flatly.
"Oh, we won't." said Smart-ass.
"That's enough hounds! Let's get out of here and call for an evac before the rest of the area knows about us. I don't want those dragons roasting my ass with their fire breath!"
We all nodded and sprinted over to the forests and regrouped with Jakob. From that point on we continued to run as fast as possible, trekking through the swamps again until we found a clear area for a helicopter to pick us up in. I don't know how long it took Gerry to get out of the warehouse, but by the time he arrived at the loading dock, we were all gone, leaving a pile of dead Iksars at his feet.