IV - Moonlight
-Next Day-
It was almost midnight. The moon was full and illuminating. The moonlight reflected off of the river, creating a beautiful sprinkling glow. Across the river was a large warehouse, a lighthouse, and two bridges connecting the land the group were at with Hudson.
There was an intense feeling of wrecking anxiety in the stomach of each child and teenager and adult.
The group's vehicles were parked inside the driveway of a house that looked over at the river from a hill.
The group members were grabbing their weapons, ammunition, equipment, anything that would prepare them for the upcoming battle.
David reached into a large rectangular crate inside Chunk's van and opened it. He then pulled out the rifle from it and placed a scope into it.
"M7 Hunter," said David. "Not as reliable as my SASS, but it'll do the job."
Luna grabbed the M7 Hunter rifle.
David grabbed a suppressor and attached it to the end of the gun barrel.
"The warehouse and the lighthouse aren't too far. Don't worry about bullet drop."
"Alright," said Luna.
"I still don't like that you're doing this," said Lori.
"And how do you think I feel about you doing this?"
"I have a responsibility to all of you guys."
"Well, screw responsibility. I just wanna save my sisters. Seems like you guys will be more likely to do that with me on this mission."
Lori had nothing to say. Luna was right, but Lori still didn't like it.
"Lori, can I borrow you for a minute?" asked David.
Lori followed David away from the group. Surrounded by trees, the two were free to talk discreetly.
"Some of our people aren't sure you should be in this mission," said David.
"What? Why not?" gasped Lori.
"Do you remember what happened when we met up with the Piranhas in Utica?"
"Ugh... do you think I'm going to freeze up again?"
"Do you think you won't?"
"I..."
"You won't. Because I'm here to make sure you don't."
David took out his gun.
"Bullets are flying all around you, so the most important thing to remember is to be aware of your surroundings. Take cover and control your breathing. You won't be able to lower your adrenaline, but you can use it to your advantage. Keep in mind- everyone's adrenaline's running high, so best control yours."
David leaned his back against a tree.
"Take note of where the enemy is firing. Don't come out of cover where they were shooting at. Instead, take another angle and fire."
"David, I know all this. You told us."
"Right, but everyone has an edge over you for one simple reason. You have too much to lose while the others don't. You think about what would happen to your family if you were to get shot. You love them all and you don't want them to lose you. So you freeze up. But a firefight... is the last place to think about that. You need to be in the present moment. You... have to act. Your family will get harmed if you don't act. Keep that in mind. And like I said. Use the adrenaline to your advantage. Fight to keep your family alive. Turn that adrenaline into rage- but controlled rage. The enemy is shooting at you. They will kill you, so you don't think twice about killing them. Be aware... and act. Before you know it, you will come out of the firefight alive."
"Will this really work?" asked Lori.
"It already has. Remember when Carlos's gang held us at gunpoint? You acted without thinking about it. You didn't care if your life was at risk. All you knew was that your family was in danger and you needed to do something. But then Lola happened. And what happened to her made death feel real to you. So... I'm simply reminding you what you already know. You understand?"
Lori sighed and nodded.
"Great. Let's go."
David and Lori returned to the group.
"Everyone ready?" asked David.
"Yeah, I'm getting inpatient here, David," remarked Richard.
"Alright, then. Let's go."
Lori looked at Lincoln.
"Keep everyone safe," said Lori.
"You too. Good luck."
Lori hugged Lincoln and then released him before joining the group.
Lincoln waved goodbye. He then lower his arm, feeling a sense of regret. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before heading back into the RV.
The moon was partially obscured by clouds, giving even more cover to the group members in the North Bridge.
Two Piranhas sat on top of a large semi-truck, which prevented any vehicles from getting through. They held guns with flashlights attached under their barrels, and wherever they aimed their gun, the beam from the flashlight would aim at it too. They kept the guns in their lap, letting the flashlight point at the road in between the abandoned cars.
David, Richard, George, Wavehead, and Dana held out their suppressed pistols, walking slowly along the bridge, using the abandoned cars as cover from the flashlights.
In the river, Sam was manning a motorboat at a low speed, as to not make a lot of noise and to not pass David's group, whom were already halfway across the bridge. On the motorboat was Chunk and Luna, the latter taking aim at the Piranhas at the top of the lighthouse next to the warehouse.
Many meters ahead of the motorboat was a tugboat, which was larger in size. Sergei was manning it, and Lori, Liam, Tabby, and Rusty were passengers. The passengers were in the main deck, using the wheel house as cover. They were all wearing life jackets as well.
The Piranhas on top of the lighthouse each sat in a chair that pointed at a cardinal direction. Behind them was a searchlight that rotated around, its light moving across the river, crossing both bridges and looking around the city of Hudson.
David raised his hand, causing his group members to pause behind an abandoned SUV.
A large beam of light from the lighthouse moved across the bridge. The Piranhas on top of the semi-truck looked ahead at the bridge, seeing the SUV being lit up by the searchlight. However, they saw nothing out of the ordinary. The searchlight then passed as soon as it came.
David lowered his hand and motioned his group to follow him. They went behind a school bus and decided to walk along its left side, avoiding the flashlights from the two Piranha guards.
"Yeah, I'm sure of it," said a male Piranha in the distance.
"What makes you so sure?" asked the female Piranha sitting next to the male Piranha.
"She's not the type to stand down and take it. She's a fighter."
"Yeah, and that hasn't worked out too well for her."
"That's a completely different situation. It was futile, then. But now... she has a chance. And I bet she took it. And I bet she's on her way here any time now."
David motioned the group to move forward. However, as soon as the group members began to move, Wavehead stepped on a side mirror on the pavement, cracking it.
"In fact-"
The Piranhas moved their flashlights towards the school bus, wondering what the noise was.
"What was that?" asked the female Piranha.
"Don't know," said the male Piranha. "Probably a roamer. Let it come out."
The group members remained still, causing the Piranhas to get confused and nervous.
"Nothing's coming out," said the female Piranha, her voice sounding more fearful. "Why don't you check it out?"
"Me? Why me? Come on, it's probably a rat or something."
"And if it isn't?"
The group members then saw one of the flashlights disappear and footsteps coming from the top of the semi-truck.
"We have to move now," whispered David.
David and his group moved slowly among the bus, this time heading to the back and away from the semi-truck. They looked at a car across the bridge. However, the searchlight was about to sweep the area.
"Now!" whispered David.
David slowly moved across the road and into the cover of the car. Richard and George moved along with him. Dana moved as well as the searchlight began to touch the bridge. She felt her heart skip as she picked up the pace. She then leaped forward into the pavement, just barely making it as the searchlight swept the road. The Piranhas turned toward the road, aiming their guns as they heard Dana's grunt. The male Piranha hopped down to the ground, taking a step forward. However, there was nothing he nor the female Piranha could see.
Sweat formed on Wavehead's face as he remained behind the bus. He could hear the male Piranha coming closer and closer. Wavehead gripped his pistol, getting ready to shoot the male Piranha.
In the river, the water moved calmly, though the motorboat left a trail of waves.
"How did you come to know driving a motorboat?" asked Chunk.
"My dad taught me," said Sam. "Not just a motorboat. A sailboat. A tugboat. A yacht at one point. We didn't own a yacht. My dad got invited to a yacht by his boss and we came with him."
"A yacht. That sounds real nice. Wish I could be in one. Cruise around the world in it. Probably take a woman with me."
"Does that woman happen to be Bruna?" asked Luna. "I saw how you looked at her, Chunk. You were flirting with our enemy."
"Technically, she surrendered. So she is our prisoner. And so what if I was? Ain't a lot of women around. There's only Missy and she's already taken."
"Can't you hold it until we get to Houlton? I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a lot of single moms around."
"That's messed up," said Sam.
"More messed up than dating a Piranha?"
"I see your point."
"Come on, loves. Bruna's not a bad gal," said Chunk. "She simply grew up with the wrong people. I'm sure if she stays with us, she can become one of us."
"We're about to kill her people," said Luna. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"Well... they're not going to be her people much longer..."
The searchlight came to a stop as it then moved back across the river and towards the tugboat. As soon as it lit up the tugboat, it came to a stop before following the tugboat.
"Looks like they got spotted..." whispered Sam, stopping the motorboat. "You're ready, Lunes?"
Sweat formed on Luna's face as she felt the motorboat rocking back and forth slowly. She lifted her rifle up and took a deep breath.
The male Piranha on the bridge walked closer and closer to the school bus. He then looked to his left, seeing the tugboat in the distance, being completely exposed by the searchlight. He stared at it.
"Hey, Jay!" exclaimed the female Piranha, standing up. "You see that?"
George began to exhale deeply as his chest rose up and down rapidly. He recognized that name.
The male Piranha continued to stare at the boat. He smiled.
"Is it Bruna?" he asked.
"I don't know. I'm going to ask Boomer."
As the female Piranha reached for her walkie-talkie, Richard came out from cover and shot Jay in the shoulder, causing him to yell. The loud bang caused the female Piranha to look over at the bridge where she saw David aiming his suppressed M9 pistol at her. After another loud bang, she was struck in the chest, and she gasped as she clutched her wound before falling forward from the truck. A loud thud accompanied by a crack was followed and George, Wavehead, and Dana came out from their cover.
"Ah, fuck..." grunted Jay.
George aimed his gun at him.
"Tell us where Sherry's holding our people," said George.
"W-What? I... I don't know!"
Dana pulled out her machete.
"We don't have time for this," said Dana.
"Wait, wait, wait!" begged Jay.
Dana swung her machete into Jay's head, slicing through his forehead and cutting halfway into his skull. She then pulled out the machete and let Jay's body drop to the ground as his lifeless eyes looked up at the full moon.
"Jesus," said Richard.
"Goddamn it," said George. "Why'd you do that? He could've fed us info."
"We have to hurry. Lori got spotted already," said Dana.
As Dana moved ahead, David looked at George.
"We have to stick to the plan," said David.
George sighed as he jogged ahead.
Lori took a deep breath as she remained in the shadow of the cabin with the kids. The searchlight continued to glare its hot light into the boat, though only being able to spot Sergei.
Luna tried aiming her scope at the searchlight. She pulled on her trigger. However, the boat was just making too much movement for her to get an accurate shot.
A shot was fired back into the river, though aimed at the tugboat. It hit the wheel house of the tugboat, nearly striking Sergei.
"Sam, can you stop the boat?" groaned Luna.
"It's already at a complete stop!" exclaimed Sam.
David, George, Richard, Dana, and Wavehead ran up to the northern entrance of the warehouse and used a couple shrubs next to the entrance as cover. A few lamps illuminated the window on the door of the warehouse.
George peeked inside and saw many Piranhas walking towards the southern part of the warehouse.
"What are we waiting for?" whispered Dana.
"We're waiting until there's a few of them left," said George. "Alright, someone's coming."
George walked to the shrubs, using its shadow to its advantage. The northern entrance door opened, and a lone Piranha came out, separating from his group. The Piranha looked out into the river, seeing the searchlight aimed at the tugboat.
Richard snuck out of the bush and walked towards the door while David stood up and lifted his pistol. As soon as Richard shut the door, the Piranha turned around and received a gunshot to the head.
Wavehead flinched as he grabbed onto the wall of the warehouse, surprised at how swift David killed the Piranha. He then heard another gunshot, though coming from the river.
"What's going on out there?" asked George.
"Moon Goat was 'posed to shoot the goddamn searchlight already," huffed Richard.
"Give her a minute," said David.
Another bullet was fired into the tugboat. This time, Sergei took cover below the wheel, avoiding the bullets that were striking the windows of the wheel house.
Luna took a deep breath as she looked into the swaying scope. She then began to hum Dream On by Aerosmith. She took control of the sway and moved it along with the rhythm of the song before squeezing the trigger.
The searchlight dimmed as one of the bulbs was shattered.
"What the fuck is shooting at us?" yelled the Piranha controlling the searchlight.
Luna then fired another shot, causing the searchlight to turn off completely.
The tugboat was now in the dark, only barely illuminated by the moonlight. And just like before, the motorboat continued to remain completely in the dark.
David smiled, being proud of Luna.
"There we go," said David. "Let's go inside now."
David opened the door, allowing his group to rush inside the warehouse, their pistols aimed out. He closed the door and joined his group, using the shipping containers as cover as they looked around the large dark warehouse.
George peeked out of the shipping container and saw lamps and lanterns along with tents and mattresses situated across boats and shipping containers. The shipping containers made the whole warehouse look like a maze, and though as helpful it was in creating cover, it made searching for the hostages a lot harder.
Footsteps echoed across the warehouse as Piranhas were shouting orders.
"This place is fucking huge," said George. "This is why we needed that Piranha alive."
Dana glared at George, not feeling a hint of remorse.
"We'll find another one," whispered David before handing Bruna's sketch over to George. "Where do we go?"
"Over there."
George led the group away from the sound of footsteps and past a large sailboat. They took no measure to silence their footsteps as it blended with the other footsteps in the warehouse.
Dana looked inside a large wooden box. No sign of Becky.
Wavehead looked past an aisle of empty wooden crates. No sign of D.
Richard looked over at the corner of two shipping containers. No sign of Missy.
George looked through a group of fishing nets hanging from the ceiling and blocking off an aisle. No sign of Vonda.
David looked inside a shipping container. He spotted four Piranhas carrying a large searchlight. He gasped and quickly moved away from sight. Before he knew it, a couple shots were fired out of the container, nearly striking him. He let off a couple shots near the open side of the container, preventing the Piranhas from coming out.
The group members quickly took cover behind a stack of wooden boxes. Richard turned around, aiming his pistol outwards to the cover the group's back.
"You come out, we shoot," said David.
"How many of you are there?" echoed one of the Piranha's voices.
"Enough to kill everyone in this warehouse," yelled George. "But it doesn't have to come to that. Just tell us where our people are and we'll walk away."
"Agent Cunt? Well, why don't you come over here and we'll tell ya? Don't be shy."
"Don't make this hard on yourself."
"I'll tell you if you come."
"That's not gonna happen."
"Then I ain't gonna tell you."
The group members then heard a walkie-talkie crackle.
"Hey, Boomer, we got a situation over here. Agent Cunt's got us trapped here in the north side of the warehouse."
Sweat formed on George's face. Now the entire warehouse knows he's in there.
Luna continued to hum her song as she watched the silhouette of a Piranha standing next to the broken searchlight. The Piranhas up in the lighthouse fired their weapons at the tugboat, though their shots were a lot less accurate, allowing Sergei to take the wheel.
Lori looked to her side as she saw water splashing from the bullets being fired onto the river.
Liam controlled his breathing as bullets flew past the tugboat.
Tabby kept close to Liam, feeling tiny splashes of water hitting her body.
Rusty kept himself crouched behind the wheel house like Lori. Suddenly, he saw lights coming from under the South Bridge.
"They're gonna get the flares!" exclaimed one of the Piranhas up in the top of the lighthouse.
"Hey, call Kenny up," said another Piranha. "Tell him to bring the machine gun."
"What, your sniper rifles already-?"
A bullet struck the Piranha behind the searchlight. He gagged and held his neck as blood poured down his gloves. He then collapsed to the ground as the Piranhas faced him.
"What the-?"
Another bullet struck another Piranha, this time in the chest.
"Sniper!"
The two Piranhas ran down the ladder and into the stairwell in a panic, avoiding the shots.
"Kenny! Get your machine gun up here!"
George was taking a heavy breath as he looked around the warehouse. If he could find an angle, perhaps he could force the Piranhas into submission. But he could not find an angle.
George gulped and took out a hand grenade from his back belt. He continued taking deep breaths and then prepared himself.
"L-Last chance, guys... otherwise, I'm throwing this-"
"Yeah, yeah, last chance," said the echoing voice inside the shipping container. "It's the last chance for you. If y'all don't wanna get caught. Then y'all better leave. Look for your people. Before they end up like your little girl."
George could hear a Piranha snickering inside the shipping container. He felt a flash of anger overcome him and he removed the pin from the hand grenade and walked up the shipping container. He then tossed it into the shipping container at an angle, causing it to bounce around inside.
The Piranhas' screams echoed inside the shipping container.
"Move, move!"
"Get the searchlight out the fuckin' way!"
"Fuck-!"
A loud explosion boomed inside the container, sending a body flying out of the container in limbs and pieces instantly followed by a spray of blood and red smoke.
Dana felt her entire body tremble with the explosion, causing her heart to beat rapidly as she held on to the wooden crates, as if to prevent herself from falling. However, there was nothing that would cause her to fall, except the threat of fainting.
Wavehead's eyes were glued to the mutilated corpse of the Piranha outside of the shipping container, seeing shrapnel pierced into their limbs and torso.
"They definitely fucking heard that," said Richard.
"Yeah," said David. "Let's keep moving."
George ran past the shipping container without looking inside.
David and Richard did the same.
However, Dana and Wavehead did not. They got goosebumps upon seeing the burnt flesh hanging from the dented metal walls and the body parts shredded apart by the explosion and fragmentation of the hand grenade. Blood stained the entire interior of the shipping container as smoke continued to flow out of it.
"Come on, guys!" exclaimed Richard. "Keep hauling ass!"
Dana and Wavehead both nodded their heads, almost robotically, as they jogged ahead, their eyes traumatized from what they saw.
"Hey, you guys shouldn't have looked inside," said David.
"I'm fine," said Dana. "Just... just keep moving."
David nodded, though he had a feeling Dana's words were not directed at him. He continued to follow George.
Boomer looked out into the river with a pair of binoculars. He then heard an explosion coming from inside the warehouse.
"Hey, what the fuck is happening?" growled Boomer.
Kenny ran out from the lighthouse, though Boomer grabbed his shoulders.
"Where you going?"
"Getting the machine gun," said Kenny.
"Alright."
Boomer let Kenny go and wiped the sweat from his face. As Kenny opened up a metallic crate, Boomer began to jog into the warehouse.
"Where you going?" asked Kenny.
"Gotta get to the bottom of this shit," said Boomer.
Boomer rushed inside the warehouse from the southern entrance.
Kenny wore a backpack full of boxes of cartridges and then laughed as he lifted an M240 machine gun. He ran back to the lighthouse.
Across the river, Luna looked out her scope and moved her rifle towards the South Bridge. She saw a light approaching the tugboat, but saw no guards in the bridge itself. She peered at the light with her scope. The light was attached to a motorboat, which was rapidly approaching the tugboat. It was too fast for her scope to follow it. She then took out her pistol and fired at the Piranha. However, the boat was moving too fast once again.
The boat was spraying water as the Piranha kept his head low. He then took out a flare gun and aimed it at the boat.
Lori aimed her pistol at the boat. She tried to follow it before realizing the Piranha was about to make a sharp turn.
The Piranha made a sharp turn and fired the flare gun. He was then shot by Lori, causing him to slip out of the boat. His weight as he slipped, combined with the extreme speed the boat was going at, caused the entire boat to capsize. The water splashed all over Lori and the children as they tried to cover themselves from the water.
They then noticed the red flare burning brightly at the end of the main deck. As Lori tried to walk towards the flare to kick it away, she flinched and backed up as bullets were fired onto the direction of the flare.
Luna turned her scope to the left and noticed bright lights coming from the end of the South Bridge near the warehouse. She aimed her scope at the attackers before her body fell down as Sam jerked the boat to the left. Bullets then flew past the area where the motorboat was.
"Ah, crap!" groaned Luna.
"Sorry!" exclaimed Sam.
"The bloody flare is giving us away," said Chunk.
"I know that!"
The lights were revealed to be four motorboats approaching the two boats in a V-formation. Inside some of the boats were Piranhas spraying a ton of bullets at the boats. Lori and the kids tried to fight back, but the amounts of bullets they were taking was immense.
"David! We're under heavy fire! I repeat we are under heavy fire!" yelled Lori into her wet walkie-talkie. "Come on! This thing is literally not working!"
Lori's breath began to pick up as the children cried out from each bullet that whizzed past them. She began to feel her muscles tighten and her legs lock in place. She was beginning to freeze. She then closed her eyes and heard Lynn and Lucy's cries followed by a series of gunshots. Her eyes then snapped open.
"Get inside the cabin!"
The children ran into the cabin as Lori let off a few shots from her pistol. She then followed them inside.
Above the cabin was the wheel house, where Lori could see Sergei through a small opening with a ladder.
"Sergei! Just keep moving the boat!" ordered Lori. "We're safe inside the cabin!"
"Da!"
However, even with the group members inside, the Piranhas continued firing their guns. Then, Lori realized the tugboat wasn't being fired on.
"Oh my god, they found Luna's boat," said Lori.
Liam looked up and peered out a window. He aimed his gun at an enemy boat and fired his pistol, shattering the window. The bullet smacked the water. He then fired another shot. A Piranha groaned as he clutched his arm.
The sound of water muffled the gunshots as something moved closer to the tugboat.
"Y'all keep firing!" said Liam.
"Where are you going?" asked Tabby.
"The flare's burnin' brighter than a July sun! It's givin' away the rockers! I gotta throw it into the water!"
"Alright go, we gotcha!" said Rusty.
Liam nodded and ran out the cabin door.
"I can't get a clear shot at the Piranhas," said Tabby.
"Just keep firing your gun until you hit one," said Rusty.
"That's how you waste ammo."
"Don't matter! Liam needs cover fire! We're giving it to him!"
Liam, Rusty, and Lori aimed their weapons at the fast motorboats. However, they kept missing the boats.
The Piranhas on the other hand, had no problem hitting the slow tugboat. They kept up their relentless shooting on the motorboat, one destroying the boat's controls. The engine was also shot multiple times, which caused the boat to slow down. They also tried their luck on shooting Sam's motorboat, but it was too fast for them as Sam moved the boat around, swerving it and using the tugboat as partial cover.
Meanwhile, Kenny continued to jog up the stairwell of the lighthouse while holding the machine gun. He was panting heavily, partially out of exhaustion but also partially out of excitement.
Liam ran to the edge of the main deck and grabbed the flare. He then tossed the flare as far out as he could. However, even after landing on water, the flare continued to burn brightly.
"W-What?" he gasped.
Suddenly, a pair of arms stuck out of the water and grabbed Liam's legs, pulling him into the water. He screamed before his voice was shut out by the water.
"What was that?" asked Rusty, turning around.
"Liam?" gasped Tabby.
As Tabby walked towards the cabin door, Lori pulled her life jacket back and stopped her.
"Wait," said Lori. "I'll check it out. Keep firing at the Piranhas!"
Lori looked outwards, aiming her pistol at the water. However, she could see nothing. Then, a knife was lunged down at her right foot, causing her to scream in agony before another diver pulled her into the water.
Tabby looked out of the cabin door, now seeing both Lori and Liam gone.
"What the heck?" gasped Tabby.
Tabby ran out the cabin, stressing Rusty out as he continued to fire at the motorboats.
Luna turned over to the tugboat, hearing a scream. She saw Tabby looking around.
"What happened?" yelled Luna.
"I don't know!" screamed Tabby in the distance. "Lori and Liam are in the water, I think!"
Luna and Chunk looked down at the river as Sam pulled closer to the tugboat. However, she still wanted to keep the motorboat away from the light of the burning flare.
The enemy motorboats approached as if to flank the tugboat.
Sam then pulled out her pistol and fired at the motorboats, forcing them to change course and head the other direction to avoid getting hit.
Chunk joined in, causing the motorboats to go even farther, though now the enemy motorboats were circling them and the tugboat.
Air bubbles came out from Liam's mouth as he tried fighting off whatever grabbed him. He tried pulling the arms away that were holding on to him. He then moved his arms backwards and grabbed the attacker's scuba mask. He tried pulling on it before the attacker pushed him off. He quickly swam forward, though the water was so dark he had no idea where he was going. He only saw a blurry red light and tried to follow it. However, the attacker grabbed his legs, causing him to turn around and kick the attacker.
Some many meters away, Lori was also fighting back against her attacker.
A sheer rush of fear and adrenaline activated Lori's survival instincts as she faced the most desperate struggle for her life. Lori held her breath and slowly opened her eyes, although she barely saw anything. She only saw the shadow of the diver trying to kill her, and that was enough to keep Lori active. The diver swung his knife at Lori over and over, but the teenage girl kept swimming backward. She then extended her arms to get a hold of the diver, but she was met with a slash to her left palm. Bubbles came out of Lori's nose as she finally got a grasp of the diver's hand. Her blood continued to pour into the river and onto the diver's hand. She pinched the diver's arms which caused him to loosen his grip on the knife, loose enough for Lori to get a hold it. She grabbed the knife and slashed the diver's throat open, tearing through his wetsuit. She then started suffocating as air bubbles began to escape her at a fast rate, so she grabbed the dying diver's rifle and swam up to the surface.
The other attacker pulled himself closer to Liam, pulling out a knife. Liam's eyes widened as he reached for the attacker's wrist. The attacker slashed his life jacket open, causing the inside to get soaked in water. Liam quickly shoved the life jacket off of himself before getting stabbed in the arm, causing more air bubbles to come out from his nose and mouth. He held onto the attacker's wrist as grabbed onto his scuba mask again. His muffled yell overcame his pain as he ripped the mask off, causing air bubbles to come out of the Piranha's face. The Piranha quickly swam upwards as Liam tried to follow him. However, the stab wound made it very difficult for him to use his arm to propel himself. As blood flowed out of his wound and surrounded him, he let out a few more air bubbles. He grabbed onto the wet life jacket, feeling it sink. He then released it and flapped his leg, moving upwards. However, his eyes closed, and his vision began to fade.
Lori coughed and gasped as she moved her hair away from her face. She swam towards the tugboat, only a few meters away, sniffling silently as her right foot and left hand sizzled with pain. She grabbed onto the main deck, though using her left hand to grip the main deck only caused her pain as her hand trembled.
"I got you!" exclaimed Tabby.
Tabby grabbed Lori's arm and pulled her into the main deck. The two quickly moved away from the edge of the boat. Then, the sound of splashing water caused the two of them to look up, one with enthusiasm and the other with fear.
The attacker surfaced, revealing his blood-stained knife as he flailed his arms around. Tabby's enthusiasm quickly turned into one of distress. Lori raised her pistol and attempted to pull the trigger. However, the trigger felt stuck as it dripped water.
The attacker raised his rifle, but before he could fire at the tugboat, Tabby raised her pistol and fired it multiple times as she yelled. One of the bullets shot his eye out, but Tabby kept on firing. The attacker then sunk down, his oxygen tank preventing his body from floating. She continued to press on the trigger as tears came out of her eyes.
Lori grabbed her arms and lowered it, before trying to move her into the cabin. However, Tabby resisted.
"Why isn't he coming up?" asked Tabby, tears coming out of her. "Someone get him!"
"It's too dangerous," said Lori. "Please, get inside."
Tabby walked inside the cabin, continuing to look outside the cabin.
Rusty was confused.
Lori then closed the door.
Tabby dropped her pistol and broke down in tears. Even as multiple gunshots were coming in from the outside, she didn't care. Thus, Lori physically forced Tabby to duck by grabbing her shoulders and lowering her.
Rusty ducked as well, tears now enveloping his eyes. He understood completely. Liam was gone.
Lori looked at the rifle she grabbed from her attacker. It was a strange-looking bullpup rifle. But if the diver was equipped with it, then it must've been functional even when wet.
Kenny reached the top of the warehouse tower, covered in sweat. He opened up the bipod and set it on the edge of the lighthouse. He dropped his backpack and opened it up, pulling out the belts of cartridges that the M240 machine gun needed. He placed the belts next to the machine gun and began loading the cartridges in.
Boomer held his UZI submachine gun tightly as he moved silently through the warehouse. He heard a loud groaning coming from across a line of shipping containers. He ran along the containers before coming across the body of a Piranha with two bullet holes in her stomach. He then saw another Piranha coughing as his shot legs left a blood trail. He was the one groaning out loud.
"It… was… Cane," groaned the Piranha.
Boomer held his breath and let out a deep sigh. He knelt down and looked around.
"Where's... Gina?" asked the Piranha.
"Not here," said Boomer. "I'm sorry, man."
"Toss me... into the sea... when you're done."
Boomer nodded. He took a deep breath and rose up. He aimed his UZI at the Piranha's head and fired a burst of bullets, finishing off the Piranha. He lowered his UZI and muttered.
"Why the hell is this happening?"
He turned around and saw George sneaking up to him. He gasped and raised his UZI before being smacked in the back of the head with Richard's revolver, causing him to collapse into the ground.
"This one knows?" asked Richard.
"Yeah," said George.
David, Dana, and Wavehead came out of a shipping container. Dana looked at the two dead Piranhas in the ground next to the unconscious one. She began to feel unnerved by the whole mission.
"Dana, I want you to stay posted over there by those crates," ordered David. "Wavehead, watch her back. Richard and I will-"
The sound of roaring gunfire thundered above the warehouse. It was significantly louder than any of the other gunshots they heard.
"What the hell is that?" asked George.
"Fucking hell," muttered Richard. "It's a machine gun."
David began to run towards the southern entrance door.
"Dana and Richard with me!" urged David. "Wavehead- stay with George!"
"Okay!" replied Wavehead.
Dana's breath shuddered as she followed David and Richard. She felt her legs holding back, though she pushed on anyways.
The children, Lori, and even Sergei screamed as windows were shattered, masts were chipped, and holes were created in the deck outside.
Kenny rained hell from the tower, aiming at the tugboat before moving towards the motorboat.
"Sam! We gotta ditch the boat!" yelled Luna.
Sam nodded and leaped off of the boat.
Large rays of light moved in the direction of the motorboat.
Luna followed suit and hopped off the boat.
A pattern of splashing water rapidly approached the boat.
"Wait, I can't swim!" shouted Chunk.
The machine gun began rocking the motorboat apart as the enemy motorboats moved away from the gunfire.
"We'll help you, Chunk! Just jump!" yelled Luna.
A bullet pierced through Chunk's back and out his stomach. Then another one. And one more. The bullets were shredding his innards apart as he fell into the river.
"CHUNK!"
The gunfire tore the motorboat apart, causing it to sink rapidly.
Sam grabbed Luna's arm.
"To the tugboat!" yelled Sam.
"But Chunk!"
"We're going to die with him if we don't swim away!"
Chunk gasped for air as matter from his intestines floated in front of him.
Luna cried out silently before she saw the shadows of two divers under the red flare in the water.
The thundering of the machine gun stopped.
Kenny tossed the empty cartridge box away into the river and began to reload the machine gun with another belt of cartridges.
Luna yelled as the two divers came up to the water and stabbed Chunk in the neck and arm, preventing him from grabbing any of the floating wooden pallets.
"Wrong fucker," groaned one of the Piranha divers.
Luna turned around and followed Sam as the two girls tried swimming to the tugboat. It was sitting still in the river, yet it felt like it was moving away from them.
The divers swam back into the river and followed the girls, swimming much faster than them with the help of their scuba gear.
"Faster Luna!" cried out Sam as she turned around. "Over here! No!"
The shadows approached Luna like sharks. But before they could grab her legs, the divers were engulfed in a storm of bullets.
"What the?" gasped Sam.
Two bodies floated to the surface of the river and displayed their bloody diving suits. Unlike the other two divers, these ones did not have big metallic oxygen tanks.
Sam turned around and looked up at the main deck of the tugboat, seeing Lori standing on it while holding one of the divers' rifle.
"Come!" exclaimed Lori.
Lori looked at a motorboat that was circling the tugboat. One of the Piranhas lifted their gun, though Lori fired hers at the motorboat, causing the Piranha to duck.
Tabby ran over to the main deck and helped Sam up to the main deck.
"Oh, thank you, Tabby," panted Sam.
All Tabby could do is nod.
Suddenly, the thundering of the machine gun returned. The three girls screamed as they ducked behind the cover of the cabin.
Luna held on to the tugboat and kept her head partially submerged in the water as bullets struck the tugboat.
Kenny laughed and whooped as he continued firing the machine gun. As he released the trigger, he heard footsteps coming from the stairwell below.
"Yo, Boomer! I'm pretty I just killed three people!"
Kenny looked down the hatch and saw David on the ladder with his gun out. Before he could react, David pulled the trigger, causing Kenny to collapse to the floor with a hole in his head. His blood spilled into the hatch, staining the ladder that David, Dana, and Wavehead climbed up on.
Dana gasped as she looked at her hand, seeing spots of blood. She tried scrubbing it against her shorts, but was unable to completely wipe it off.
"Cover your ears," said David.
Luna gasped as she moved her head above water. She tried to grab onto the wooden floor of the main deck, but her hands were too slippery and weak to help her get on.
Lori, noticing the sound of the machine gun having stopped again, ran out of the cabin, but gunshots from the enemy motorboats forced her to duck. She then raised her rifle again and fired outwards.
Sergei then came out of the wheel house and fired his rifle at the motorboats as well, diverting the attention to him.
Sam ran over to the edge of the main deck and saw Luna struggling to lift herself up.
"Here!" exclaimed Sam.
Sam grabbed Luna's arm and helped her up into the main deck. She then noticed the enemy motorboats grouping up as they rapidly approached the back of the tugboat.
Lori gasped as she realized she couldn't take them all on herself.
Suddenly, the thundering of the machine gun returned, causing Sam to pull Luna down to her as they both fell to the floor. Luna landed on top of Sam as the two remained low to the floor.
Lori ducked as well as water splashed around her. She then heard screams coming from outside the boat.
Machine gun fire rained on the Piranhas, shredding their boats and bodies alike. Blue and red water splashed onto the tugboat, drenching the girls in the main deck.
The machine gunfire continued to echo across the river before it stopped suddenly. An eerie silence followed as bodies floated to the surface.
Lori swallowed hard as she looked out, seeing the river washed with blood and body parts.
"Is everyone alright?" asked David through Sergei's walkie-talkie.
Luna panted heavily as she looked down at Sam, who was mere inches away from her face.
"Are you okay?" asked Sam.
"Yeah," whispered Luna. "Are you?"
Sam nodded hesitantly before closing her eyes.
"Thank you," said Sergei.
"No problem. Pull up to the warehouse. We might need the help."
Sergei lowered the walkie-talkie and chuckled.
"This suka. After everything we gone through..."
Sergei entered the wheel house and moved the boat ahead towards the warehouse.
"Let's go," said David.
David went down the hatch as Dana and Wavehead panted heavily, their sweat dripping on the blood-covered floor of the lighthouse.
As the tugboat arrived at a dock in front of the warehouse, Rusty kicked down a ramp. He then walked down the ramp and onto the dock.
Sam helped Lori down the ramp as the latter limped, hissing at the pain in her right foot.
Luna and Tabby walked next to each other, both of them traumatized and anguished over what happened in the river.
Sergei was last to get off the boat.
At the end of the dock was David, Dana, and Wavehead.
"Oh my goodness, what happened?" asked Dana, walking over to Lori.
"The Piranhas happened," groaned Lori. "Richard and George?"
"They're alright," said David. "Chunk and Liam?"
Luna and Tabby both were unable to figure out what to say. But their anguished faces said it all.
David gulped and nodded.
"Let's go inside. Keep an eye out. There may still be more of 'em inside."
Boomer's closed eyes seemed at peace. Suddenly, George lightly slapped him in the face repeatedly.
Boomer's eyes open instantly. He looked around and found himself staring at his shadow at the end of a shipping container. Immediate fear crept up on him as he noticed other shadows behind him.
"You awake there?" asked Richard, his voice echoing inside the container.
As Boomer prepared to turn around, Richard grabbed his head and forced him to face the end of the container.
"Eh, eh, don't turn around. If you do, we'll kill you. Got it?"
"Who... who the hell's talking?" asked Boomer, his voice trembling.
"You don't have to worry about that. All you gotta know is that if you don't answer our questions, we'll fuck you up. You understand?"
Boomer was shaking immensely.
"Dear lord, you're about to piss yourself aren't ya?"
"What do you want from me?" asked Boomer.
Tabby stood outside the container with Luna and Sam.
Rusty, Wavehead, and Sergei kept an eye out for any potential Piranhas sneaking up on them.
Dana held Lori's arm over her shoulder.
David and George stood behind Richard, who stood behind Boomer.
"Here's a map," said Richard, handing Bruna's sketch over to Boomer. "Point to where our people are."
Boomer grabbed the sketch and looked down. He shook his head.
"They ain't here," said Boomer.
"Bullshit."
"R-Really! They're really not here... they're at the Dust Zone. I think."
"And where's that at?"
"Down south. It's what's left of New York City."
"Is that so?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm not lying!"
"And where in this Dust Zone are our people at? New York's a big city, after all."
"I... I don't know. Sherry... she didn't mention much. But she went there on boat. Bet you can track that down. Kinda like how you tracked this place down."
Boomer attempted to turn his head by instinct, but Richard quickly grabbed his head and forced him to face away from the group again.
"I'm sorry..."
"You're saying... if I ask another one of your scumbag friends about this Dust Zone, they won't say something else?"
"They shouldn't. It's exactly what it is. I promise! I'm not lying!"
"Shh, okay, okay. Just relax."
Richard turned around. He gave a slight nod.
David turned on his walkie-talkie.
"This is David, can you get Bruna over to the line?"
"Sure thing," said Lincoln.
"Oh, Bruna," said Boomer. "She's... good people. Keeps mostly to herself. A bit harsh on Joan sometimes. But only because she cares so much, I think."
"Shut up," said George.
"A-Agent Cane? Didn't expect you to be here!"
"You can get out of this alive. But you need to shut the hell up."
"O-Okay."
David's walkie-talkie crackled.
"Yo."
"Bruna? Got a question for you," said David. "What's the Dust Zone?"
"It's what Sherry calls New York City. When you see it, you'll know why."
"All right. That's all."
Boomer sighed out of relief.
"Looks like we got a new location," said David. "Maybe we can take one of these boats."
"Yeah," said George. "Let's take Boomer. Bruna's been useful. I have no doubt he will be too."
Boomer began to move his head.
"If... if you don't mind-"
Richard lifted his Python and squeezed the trigger. The gunfire echoed.
The group members flinched.
George gasped as he felt a ringing in his ears. He then looked ahead and saw a splatter of blood and brain matter staining the top end of the shipping container and Boomer's body lying before it.
Richard turned around and began to walk out.
"We're not gonna waste our food just to keep this bastard alive," he said.
Richard walked past David, who looked upset as he pressed on his ears in pain.
Lori was panting deeply as Sergei and Wavehead ran over to the container, wondering what just happened.
George walked out of the shipping container and glared at Richard. He felt his hand move closer to his sidearm before his fingers twitched.
The glitter in the river from the moonlight reflected bits of red now, just like the smoke hovering above the bodies.
For a moment, the midnight moon appeared to glow red.
End Credit Song
In the Water - Anadel
The search for the captured group member continues! We lost three group members. How many more people will the group lose to save the hostages? Find out in the next chapter where we get a closer look at the hostage's situation. I will try to keep my promise to post more often. If you enjoyed the story, and want to get alerted whenever I post a new chapter, make sure to follow me and favorite this story! Leave a review if you want to compliment and/or critique my story. Suggestions are always welcome. See y'all soon!
P.S. this chapter just beat Chapter 2: Exodus, for the longest chapter in the story.