Not So Simple ~Part 5
Part 5: Didn't this. . .? Nah never mind
The tank roared again, throwing the shell downrange to smash into the car, killing it and the soldiers behind. It revved and lurched forward, its bulk filling most of the street. A rocket from inside the house at the end of the street streaked down and hit at the base of the main gun, blowing a hole in the barrel and destroying the coaxial gun. The tank revved and accelerated, plowing into the house and coming to a stop. Neither the tank crew nor the ones who fired the rocket emerged.
"Someone get in there, pull them out!" a figure in the street shouted.
Two soldiers ran forward towards the house, guns up and aiming in case any hostiles were still inside. They entered around the tank, stepping over bits of destroyed furniture and house. Three jets flew overhead in close formation, followed closely by a series of distant explosions. Black plumes rose into the air, adding to the haze building around the city. Gunfire echoed from all around, faint screams of pain or orders carrying on the wind. Despite being several miles out still, I could hear the crump of explosions within the city itself.
I stood up and leapt onto the roof of the next house, ran across it and onto the next. The suburban command post was about half a mile away, and the area in between was crawling with soldiers. As it was, the houses screwed my angle; otherwise it would be an easy shot. I had to get there before they decided to pull up and move out. It'd make this a hell of a lot easier. That tank had been the one thing going in our favour along this route. With it being out of commission, things got a lot more difficult. I had no way of knowing what lay in my path. But I did have an advantage. The enemy wasn't looking at the roof, and the setting sun combined with the smoke made it very hard to see me. It was almost as if the world wanted me to kill the commanders.
As I ran though, I couldn't help feeling like I'd done this already. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and kept running, dropping into a backyard and hopping the fence. I sprinted across the park as fast as I could, pausing only for a moment under a tree as two tanks rolled by. This was the first time I'd come to this city, this was the first time I'd been tasked with doing something like this. So why was this all so familiar? I stayed under the tree a moment longer to catch my breath and clear my thoughts. My lungs burned, more from the smoke in the air then from running. Another trio of jets arched overhead, streaking out towards whatever battle was making such noise. I rose and continued back across the park, jumping another fence and scrambling back onto the roof. It wouldn't be very long now.
Five streets over, the area was bathed in light. That was where I had to go. I took a longer route around, coming up to the street on the far end. It was one of those few that were long and pretty straight. Probably so the tanks could have a clear firing line all the way down. Well, that worked in my favour as well. These streets weren't designed for a siege; they were for comfort and ease of movement. Long, wide and straight. A sniper's paradise. I managed to climb onto the upper roof of a two story house, hugging the shadows tightly. I waited until my breathing had slowed before looking through the rifle's scope. A small field tent had been set up, along with a portable radio antenna and generator. People swarmed all around, coming and going from houses to trucks to the tent. Why the human commander didn't move into a house and set up there was beyond me. It would have been more secure. Guess they were still underestimating us.
It was hard telling one human apart from another through the scope. It might have helped if they didn't look at the same to begin with. I kept my rifle trained on the tent, the flap open and pulled back so people could come and go more easily. Eventually, someone important would make an appearance. As I waited, the sounds of battle grew slowly more intense. The scientists had always remarked they wanted to field test us, I guess this was that chance. Field test their creations against what was supposed to be the strongest army in the world. And look who was winning. We weren't in retreat out of the city, we were advancing. From multiple fronts. It'd get harder inside the city, the taller buildings giving more places to stage ambushes. I had no desire to see it to that point. I might even slip out after this shot. This was the central coordination point for the entire suburban defensive front. Take this out, and it'll just spread confusion as suddenly no one is on the same page, and reinforcements don't go where they're needed. The front will dissolve and breaks will occur. Through the breaks and coming down to hit the enemy on their ass. And the first break would be here.
There, the insignia of a major. And three lieutenants. The lieutenants would be from different forces coordinating with the major. Well, that'd make sense anyway. They could be anything. I tweaked my scope slightly to refine the aim and waited. The right moment always showed itself. That perfect shot. After that? Kill the rest as fast as possible, because there was going to be a lot of shooting in my direction. That one perfect . . .
shot.
Three of them had lined up just so perfectly. It always comes when you wait. Now there was a sudden stillness and people tried to take in exactly what just happened. I used that pause and shot the other target, his head exploding like the others. Two more shots followed, just to cause some chaos, another two humans falling dead without heads. My last two shots punched into the generator, killing it and silencing the radio. Thick darkness fell as the lights went out. I slithered down to the other side of the roof and reloaded. Time to get the hell out of-
The ground came up to meet me. I slammed hard, my rifle landing in front of me. Pieces of the house rained down around me. My ears rung from the explosion. I slowly started to move, my body aching, but nothing felt broken so I guess I was lucky. My wings hurt the most thought. I looked at them. They were punctured and torn.
The tank. It'd been pointed right at the building the entire time. I had barely noticed it and thought nothing of it when I'd checked. Fuck. They'd been anticipating that? Or had this been a trap? That was the best vantage point for a sniper. If I had thought of it, why wouldn't they have? Fuck. Fuck!
I grabbed my rifle and checked it. Seemed to be in one piece, nothing broken or bent. Maybe I might just be lucky after all. I started to run but fell over, pain rushing through my left leg. I cursed and crawled back to my feet. It hurt, but I could still move. I hoped it was just a sprain. A break or fracture would mean death. I jumped over the fence and hobble-ran down the street, aware every moment those soldiers could appear behind me. But somehow, I knew they wouldn't. It was in those moments, though, as my hearing started coming back, I really began to hear the battles. Each bark of a gun, the crump of explosions, whistling tank shells. The jets few over again, only two this time, and again were followed by explosions. I wasn't sure anymore who was flying the jets. For all I knew they could be captured. I don't think I cared.
I passed no one on the street, not friend or foe. I used my rifle as a kind of crutch to take the pressure off my ankle, though it was beginning to hurt a little less. Could be adrenaline, could be my ankle wasn't very serious. I didn't know. I didn't care. I needed to move. Another explosion sounded close behind me, another house exploded. Guess they were looking for me. I ducked through a house and jumped the fence, ducking through onto the street again. It was quieter out here, the sounds more muted. Bodies littered the street, all human, and not all military. Kill 'em all and leave nothing standing, I guess. One hell of a legacy.
I ducked into one of the houses as the jets roared overhead again. Just as I went inside, there was an explosion and fireball. Guess there was only one jet left now. I ducked into the house's basement and fell to the floor, my body aching everywhere, blood oozing out to dry and crust in my fur. I pulled my boot off and looked at my ankle. Seemed find to me, just a little tender to touch. Shouldn't have too many problems with it.
Another explosion sounded nearby. I couldn't tell what was blowing up, but it sounded wrong, like it didn't belong. I didn't care. I did my part, and got shredded for it. That's all I agreed to do. Take out the guys in the command post. I did that, my contract fulfilled. I was just gonna focus on survival for the moment. My survival. They could take care of the battles, humans really only had numbers at this point. And they were losing that. Not very quickly, but fast enough. Everything behind us, as far as I knew, was pretty much devoid of life. I was willing to bet there were a lot of humans who slipped through the cracks. I didn't care. I really only cared if they were trying to kill me. Only reason I was here. I suddenly felt cold. Always heard that meant death was close. So be it, then. I wasn't going to whine and complain if this was my end. It'd be pointless anyway. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I was rather tired.
I opened my eyes suddenly. It was cold. I blinked a few times before I realized where I was. Laying naked on a mattress, curled around my tail. The blanket was gone and the fire had sputtered out. My body ached from being curled up like that for so long. I slowly stretched out, my joints protesting the movement, still blinking my eyes. I hated it when those dreams came. I sat up and shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. Thunder rumbled again, duller then when the storm started. It must have settled into the midrange of the storm. Always a violent start. Short, but violent. Just meant it was going to rain a lot, a few rumbles of thunder. I stood up and finished stretching, then carefully jumped and grabbed the hole in the ceiling and hauled myself up.
This floor I'd left untouched, other than making sure it was clear. Nothing of a whole lot of interest, so there was no reason to mess around much. The next floor was mostly empty, most of the walls having been blown out. Support columns were still intact, but the flimsy walls were gone or almost gone. I padded carefully around various pieces of rubble over to the window. I'd only been up here once, and hadn't bothered checking the rest of the floors, or even to see if there was a way up beyond here. Most of the stairwells had collapsed on the fourth or fifth floor, only one leading to the sixth.
The air was cold, a breeze blowing in through the building. I walked over to one of the windows and looked out carefully. Water had already overrun the sidewalks, slowly creeping higher. Because these buildings weren't designed with keeping water out, many first floors were moldy, the carpet and furniture ruined. Guess we were lucky to have people who could figure out how to overcome the water issue. I dropped back through to my room, relit the fire and curled back onto the mattress with the blanket. After a moment, I took the oil lamp and turned it up, rummaging around in my pack under I found the book I'd brought with me. The cover was a little damp to touch, but the pages were dry. I crawled back into bed and opened the book. Not much else to do until the rain stopped.