AN: I'm trying to keep up with chapters of Devastation, work on the Clusterfuck collab with Shadow182angel and Double H19, and then start at the beginning of the Saints with Saints Row Begins. Whew! Updates for Devastation should be coming a little quicker, now, since I have most of Devastation's final act written out :) Ljubica will be back when the events of Clusterfuck conclude :D Thank you to everyone that's reviewed, favorited, and followed this and anything else I've ever written. It really keeps us fic writers going!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The attack on Purgatory came an hour before dawn. Scores of Fallen and Circle vehicles descended on the Saints' hideout like a swarm of killer bees defending the hive. Foot soldiers piled out of them, quickly overwhelming any Saint standing outside.
Johnny and Aisha strode purposefully towards the front door, in perfect unison. Both had a pair of T3K Urbans in their hands, katanas on their backs, and as they reached the front door, Johnny kicked it inwards, shattering the frame.
Mother's minions stood aside as the Fallen and Circle poured into the breach.
#
It was complete, utter chaos inside the nightclub. The Saints fought a desperate battle, and while they had the home field advantage, their massed enemy had the high ground. Gunshots from weapons of all type were constant, and the occasional grenade went off, scattering Saints and their enemies alike.
"Once more into the breach, my friends!" Oleg bellowed, pitching a Fallen into a cluster of enemies like a carnival game. Their bodies were scattered like so many milk bottles, and the hulking Russian searched for something else to smash. Instead he found himself near Kinzie.
"Go release Viola and Tera," he ordered.
"Oleg we don't have time…" Kinzie shot back, firing her Ultimax into the chest of the closest Fallen member.
"If Purgatory falls," Oleg shouted, back handing a Circle that got too close. "If Purgatory falls, I will not have them falling into the hands of the enemy. They are still Saints even if being held prisoner!"
Kinzie winced at his tone, but nodded. As she went to rush off, her Russian Superman gently took her arm, and he kissed her, passionate and strong, before releasing her.
"My apologies for shouting," he told her, then turned and charged into several Circle.
Kinzie was still blushing when she made her way to the area where they were keeping Viola and Tera. She unlocked the door to their room and shoved open the door.
"You're free," she said quickly. "Either help us fight these guys off, or run, I don't really care and neither do the Saints."
"I'm staying," Viola told her. "I owe the Boss for what I did to the Saints, and to her."
"You do," Kinzie replied, wincing as an explosion rattled the basement, lights flickering.
"Fuck this, I'm out of here," Tera grated, looking around. "How do I get out of here?"
Kinzie pointed into the darkness. "You should be able to find a way back up to the street that way."
Viola and Tera went to the weapon rack down by the Range, each grabbing an AR-55 off the wall and several spare magazines. As they turned, a horde of zombies shuffled out of the darkness, stretching back until disappearing into the inky blackness.
"Run!" Kinzie shouted, backing towards the door. As the tide of undead charged, she started firing into them, as Tera and Viola's assault rifles opened up.
#
Oleg heard gunfire from the basement, and immediately started fighting his way to the stairs leading deeper into Purgatory. "I am coming, my flower!"
A blow from behind sent the Russian titan staggering forward, and he turned to meet his attacker.
"Ah ah ah," Johnny said with dark chuckle. "Mother's gift to that Russian slut is a little busy with your girl at the moment, comrade."
Oleg swung a heavy fist, the blow snapping Johnny's head to the side, shattering his glasses and sending them askew. But the hybrid zombie turned his head back, grinning.
"That the best you got, big guy?" he asked cockily, punching Oleg in the stomach.
Rage welling from deep within, Oleg grappled with Johnny, both men struggling for the advantage with their incredible strength.
"You are strong, I give you that," Oleg said, gritting his teeth. "Like bull. But I must ask, can you throw cars?"
"Huh?" Johnny asked. "What the fuck does that got t-…"
Oleg lifted Johnny bodily into the air over his head, hurling him through space. The Saint-cum-Circle Lieutenant crashed through several walls before finally coming to rest in an unfinished room.
"Hang on, Kinzie!" Oleg shouted, barreling his way through enemy gang members on his way to the basement.
#
Ramona flinched every time a gun went off nearby. She watched in awe as Oleg threw Johnny through a wall, and then rush off. There was a brief lull in her area, and as she took a moment to dust herself off, she felt a prickle at the back of her neck.
"Hey there, sweetie," Aisha said, drawing her sword and raising it over her head.
Ramona curled her fingers just so, shouting something in an ancient tongue, and Aisha froze, surrounding by sparkling, faintly purple energy. The hispanic woman sneered. Her dealings with and gifts to Baron Samedi were paying off.
"I am growing stronger than your bitch Mother," she spat, accent thickening with her anger. "I am going to kill her soon and take her power from her, and the Baron will bury you where you belong."
Ramona was suddenly picked up from behind, and her concentration broke, spell shattering into glittering shards. She screamed, struggling, but the Circle enforcer that had grabbed her was much stronger than she was.
"Let's get this one home," Aisha said darkly. "Mother will be so pleased."
#
"We're fuckin' finished," Tera growled, reloading her rifle.
The three women were pinned against the Range by the sea of zombies. The good news was they had lots of ammunition to fight with, but the bad news was that they were far from the exit leading back upstairs. Another explosion shook the room, plaster falling from the ceiling.
"Giving up that easily?" Viola quipped. "I don't know about you, but I'm gonna keep making my rifle bursss until all these zombie creeps are dead!"
Kinzie rolled her eyes. She knew if Viola DeWynter was making jokes about the YouTube videos, things were incredibly dire. Chuckling low, she fired her shotgun over and over, heavy slugs ripping through zombie torsos and heads.
"Just keep your shirt on," the hacker told her.
"We're out of magazines!" Tera called, shoving the last spare magazine for the ARs into her rifle.
Viola tossed her empty AR-55 aside, pulling a K8 Krukov off the wall instead. "We have plenty for these, though!"
Kinzie tossed aside her Ultimax while the other two women covered, and got a Krukov of her own, the Russian battle rifle nearly as loud as her shotgun when it went off.
Soon Tera had her own K8, and the three women fought on.
#
Johnny groaned, getting to his feet.
Damn it, Oleg, why didn't you just finish me off? he thought to himself. The small core of himself that was left was glad Ljubica wasn't here, he didn't want to hurt her again.
The Saint-turned-Circle picked his way over the rubble, running into Aisha and her courier as they were heading for the parking lot, Ramona's unconscious body over the other man's shoulder.
"We got a prize Mother will love," Aisha told him. "Come on, let's get her back to the cemetery."
Johnny nodded. "I think between both gangs and the zombies, this place is finished. Let's get outta here."
Aisha nodded, and Johnny joined her in step as they headed out into the parking lot.
#
Kinzie, Viola, and Tera stood shoulder to shoulder in a slight arc, firing KA-1 Kobras at the massed zombies before them. The pistols were all they had magazines for, their red laser sights glinting off decayed, desiccated flesh as they fought for their lives.
"I'm out!" Kinzie called, throwing her uses weapon at the horde with a frustrated cry.
"I wish I could say it's been fun!" Tera growled, firing several more times before her Kobras clicked empty.
Viola was lamenting that she'd be remembered as a traitor, when a ragged battle cry roused her from her thoughts.
"Oleg!" Kinzie cried.
Oleg roared in defiance as he smashed his way through the tide of undead. Their rotted flesh exploded like overripe melons, splashing his suit jacket with gore and ichor, and he was soon looming over the three women.
"No time!" Oleg bellowed, interrupting Kinzie's opening mouth. He scooped all three women under one arm and rushed the exit back up to Purgatory, using one arm like a battering ram to clear the path. He shoved the door shut behind them, dropping his charges and pulling the redheaded hacker into a hug.
"Blockade the door," he ordered, releasing Kinzie and plodding off back to the fight. "And then join me upstairs."
#
Oleg looked around the nightclub. Purgatory was in shambles, but the Saints still controlled it. He wearily climbed the stairs, looking out over the cleanup.
"You would make the Boss proud to call herself a Saint!" Oleg shouted, raising a fist.
The Saints below stopped what they were doing, cheering.
"This will not go unpunished," Oleg promised darkly. "After we get things back in order here, we are going to hit these bastards again and show them why you do not fuck with the Saints!"
There was another resounding cheer, and the 3rd Street Saints redoubled their efforts despite their weary bodies.
"Mr. Oleg," Manny said, voice cracking as he walked up. "I think they got my sister."
"Ramona?" Oleg asked, heavy brow frowning. "Are you sure?"
Manny nodded, handing the towering Russian a medallion. "This was hers, I found it downstairs."
Oleg nodded, eyes gentle. "We will be getting her back. If they took her instead of killing her, then they are wanting her alive for some purpose."
#
"Rival me, my dear?" Mother asked, amused. "I was casting circles when you were a stain running down your mother's leg."
Johnny chuckled. It was more crude than anything he'd ever heard the woman say, but he approved.
Aisha said nothing, patiently waiting. Ramona was tied to a table in the dark sewer and catacombs they called home, the stink of rot and rancid water filling her nose.
Mother trailed her fingers down the younger woman's cheek. "You will make a fine sacrifice when the time is right."
Ramona spit at her. "They will come for me, and you will pay."
"Oh believe me," Mother told her, grinning darkly. "I am counting on her coming down here for you."