CHAPTER 52 – BACK TO THE COMPOUND
I'm getting impatient. Just when I think I'm making progress with the Astorians, I realize I have far more work to do. I try to remind myself that the Astorians are a peaceful group of people not used to bloodshed and violence. But it feels frustrating to have been here for so long, training these men to fight every moment I can, and still not make significant headway.
So, I come to a conclusion. If I can't get all of them to come along, I'll just have to take on the Invaders myself. Difficult? Yes. Risky? Sure. But as each day passes, the more I miss Buffy. I miss home. I don't want to be in Astoria anymore.
I head to the commons room where several of the men are eating a late dinner.
"I'm leaving in the morning."
The men look at me, surprised.
"What's going on, Angel?" Brutus asks me.
"I'm going to the compound and I'm going to kill Cronus. Anyone is welcome to join me, but if not, I'm going by myself."
I leave the room and head back down the hallway towards my bunker, but I don't get very far.
"Angel."
I turn around to see Roman standing behind me. He looks confused, and I immediately feel guilty for losing my temper.
"Look, I'm sorry," I apologize. I look behind Roman and see Walker, Brutus, and Grayer standing behind him. "You guys aren't the problem. It's some of the others. I can't help the fact that they lack confidence. I've done everything I can do, but I'm tired of sitting around waiting for them to help. I know everything is a risk, and I know it's dangerous, but I'm ready for this thing to end. Aren't you?"
"What do you need, Angel?" Roman asks.
"I need to go back to the compound. I think that's where we're going to find the blue crystal. If I was an Invader, that's where I'd keep it. And I want to find Cronus and put an end to this misery."
Roman nods. "Then I'll join you."
"I will too, Angel," Walker says, stepping forward.
"Count me in too," Brutus says with a smile.
We all then stare at Grayer, knowing he probably has an opinion about this.
"Fine," he says. "I'll help you with your cockamamie plan."
Thanks to some of the villagers in the Sea District, we have a boat. It was given to us to help us with any fishing needs we might have.
We keep it docked on the north side beyond the mountains. This way, it's well hidden from curious Invaders, though it's a trek and a half to get to.
The boat itself isn't much and has definitely seen better days, but it gets us around.
Since we all won't fit in the Camaro and are lacking enough horses, we're traveling to the compound by sea, and the boat will come in handy.
I'm traveling with Roman, Carter, Brutus, Walker, Hornsby, and Grayer, which makes it feel like old times with the hunting group back together again. And this time, we're hunting Invaders.
Our journey takes many days. We sail close to land out of necessity and occasionally spot a dragon, which reminds us we have not totally eradicated them.
After weeks of being on water. We finally reach the other side of Astoria, which is a great relief to Walker as he has been seasick for most of the journey.
The compound comes into view. From here, it looks like a tranquil castle by the sea, but looks are deceiving.
After docking the boat, we set up camp on the beach a good distance away. We've already made plans of how this will go down. We won't, as Grayer likes to call it, "storm the castle". Instead, we plan to wait until night falls so we can hopefully break in undetected.
The only hurdle we have is getting past the guards we know are posted throughout the forest. With this in mind, we plan to do some recon of the area and take out the guards so they won't have the chance to stop us.
This is first and foremost a recon mission. Our goal right now is to find the remaining crystal, which we all suspect could be here at the compound.
The secondary goal is to kill Cronus. Once we find the blue crystal, taking down Cronus and the rest of the Invaders will be a lot easier.
Night falls, and we are ready. Fully armed, the seven of us make our way up the steep hill to the compound.
Earlier in the day, we scouted out the place to learn where the guard posts were. I knew the location of one tower, but figured there had to be more. I was right. We found five total.
There are seven of us, so some of the men decide to pair up, while others like myself go alone. My job is to take out the two guard posts on the south side, which are closer to the compound, and thus, more riskier. But I can handle it.
The guard posts are easy to find at night because of the light at each post, which also makes it easy to spot the guards. On the downside, he could spot me easily too.
I stay in the shadows behind the post and retrieve my crossbow. I've got my axe, but this will be more effective.
I move to get a better position, being mindful of my footsteps. The forest floor is littered with dry leaves that make noise when stepped on.
I load an arrow and take aim. Then of course, the bastard moves and I have to readjust my aim. I let the arrow go and hit the guard in the head. Success. I then scurry up to the guard tower to make sure he's really dead. When I see that he is, I take his weapon. Looks like a tranquilizer gun. Hot damn. This baby will come in handy.
I take out the second guard just as easily as the first and meet up with the others. Only Brutus and Carter had some difficulty, but thankfully they managed to take care of it.
"I can't wait to use this," Walker says as he holds up the gun he lifted from one of the guards.
"Only use it if you have to," I tell him. "Weapons like that we need to save for emergencies only."
Walker nods in understanding.
"So, everyone ready?" I ask.
And with that, we make our way to the compound.
With the guards dead, we can enter the compound undetected. We still must hurry though before the next guard shift change, otherwise the Invaders will know something is up.
We decide it's best to split up, then we'll meet back at camp. If we should find the crystal, we will make plans to bring it back.
With me are Roman and Grayer. Walker and Brutus make up the second group, and Hornsby and Carter make up the third. I decided it was important to have at least one person in each group that was somewhat familiar with the compound.
While the other two groups take the east and west entrances, my group heads for the main. Because it's late at night, after midnight in fact, I feel pretty confident the majority of the Invaders will be sleeping, but I'm not naive enough to think this compound isn't heavily guarded.
In the foyer of the compound, we spot two guards on duty. They're obviously not expecting trouble because both are snoozing. It's tempting to kill them, but we don't want to attract any attention. Grayer of course, grumbles about this once we are out of earshot, but agrees this mission is about searching for the crystal first and foremost.
The three of us search every room, every closet, and behind every door we pass. I suspect that if the crystal is here, it won't be in plain sight.
After avoiding a few more guards and searching for a while, finding nothing of much interest, we finally see something promising. At the end of a hallway, a guard stands at a door. This guard is wide awake.
Grayer motions for me to use the crossbow to take him out. For once, I agree with him. We've got to find out what's behind that door. If there's a guard posted, it must be something, or someone, important.
Roman and Grayer keep watch while I get my weapon ready. I load the arrow, aim for the guard's head, and let the arrow go.
The guard suddenly shifts his position, and the arrow misses. Instead of killing him, it has become lodged into the door and alerts the guard to our presence.
The guard blows a whistle, which I can only assume means we'll have more trouble soon.
With no other choice, I toss the crossbow aside and charge at him with my axe. The guard, with tranquilizer gun in hand, aims at me. I dodge the dart he shoots at me. He suddenly goes down. I'm confused at why for a moment until I see the knife lodged in his forehead.
"You're welcome," Grayer says.
"We need to get in there," I tell Roman and Grayer. "He's guarding something behind this door."
"No, I think we need to get the hell out of here before we have trouble," Grayer protests.
I look to Roman, who seems torn between exploring what is behind the door or running before the other Invaders get here.
We don't have time to decide. From behind us, we hear the sounds of footsteps and see a dozen or so Invaders charging our way.
I see Roman and Grayer using the tranquilizer guns to stop the crowd. I don't want to use that unless I have to. Besides, I prefer my axe anyway. More bloodshed, yes, but it kills them dead.
I fight off three Invaders at once, hitting one on the arm, one in the shoulder, and the other a clean cut to the neck that stops him in his tracks.
But the problem is not my ability to fight. The problem is the sheer number of them coming at us. What were a dozen guards initially are now more than twenty. We're clearly outnumbered, but there's no escape. We have to fight.
In my peripheral vision, I see Roman and Grayer fending them off with their weapons, so I assume that means the tranquilizer is out of ammo.
Slowly but surely, I am making progress. I'm a seasoned fighter, and though I no longer possess the strength I had as a vampire, I am more than capable of holding my own in a fight.
There is some commotion going on and I see Roman struggling. Before I can get to him to assist, I see the Invader raise his sword and Roman going down. Damn it.
I shove the Invader who is attacking me off, but before I can do anything else, I feel a sting to my neck. I know exactly what this is. I want to help Roman, but find myself without the strength to move.
Then, everything fades to black.
