I do not own Gears of War or any of the characters. A.N. I don't know where they canonically keep the ammo, so I'm just going with their theory that their entire chest plate is magnetic.
Home Wreckers
Joseph shook Lizzie gently, waking her from her third nap as they reached the estate. It was a lot bigger than he had expected, but it didn't really surprise him. Apparently JD was basically COG royalty, with his mother being First Minister before Jinn, and having been from a rich family before that, and with JD's father being the man who led the team that ended the Locust War, and the man who personally killed Queen Myrrha.
"There already?" Lizzie asked.
"As much as I enjoy you putting my shoulder to sleep and giving me a headache with your beautiful snoring, yes, we are finally here," Joseph said.
Lizzie sighed, sitting up and allowing Joseph to drop down off before he helped her down as well. "I don't snore."
"Sure you don't," Joseph smirked, picking up his helmet from where he'd wrapped it in the reins and pulling it on before tying his horse to a post beside the ones JD and Kait were tying off, Del apparently not knowing how. "You're just lucky you're pretty, or else you'd actually never get a boyfriend."
"I'm pretty sure she already has one," JD muttered to Kait, who nodded.
"Nope," Lizzie said.
"It's not like that," Joseph said.
"Really?" Kait asked.
"We just mess around," Joseph said. "And no, JD, not like that."
"What?" JD asked. "I wasn't going to say that."
"So, uh, you said he'd be home," Kait said, deciding to change the subject.
"He's home," JD said, turning surly and grumpy in seconds as he led them out of the stable and toward the manor. "He's always home."
"That house looks abandoned," Kait said.
"That's because that's not where he lives," JD said. "Follow me."
"He gets like that sometimes," Del said as the other four began to follow him. "You're about to find out why."
"Terrific," Kait said.
Joseph and Lizzie followed JD in relative silence. Joseph scanning the area around them for whatever had attacked the village, and Lizzie staring longingly at the manor. She had always wanted to have a big fancy house. Joseph smirked as he noticed her staring at it and shook his head, bumping his hip into hers, sending her stumbling away. She glowered at him as he acted innocent, kicking a rock into the back of his leg.
"Ow!" he said, then chuckled. "Abuse."
"Oh you think I'm abusing you now..." Lizzie grinned.
"So how was he able to get permission to live outside a settlement?" Kait asked.
"Easy," Del said. "Who's gonna tell him no?"
They reached a small house, little more than a shack, beside the manor, the windows flickering with the light of a flame. JD pushed the door open and walked inside with the others, finding Marcus sitting in a leather chair off to the left, a tin cup of some form of alcohol, Joseph would bet, in his left hand.
"Welcome home, James," Marcus grunted in his deep, scratchy voice, sitting forward as he spoke.
"How'd you know we were here?" JD asked.
Marcus pointed to a computer system off to the side where they could see camera feeds, then took a drink.
"Huh," JD said. "That's new."
"Not that new," Marcus grunted.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Joseph said.
"Cut the 'sir' shit," Marcus said. "Should I know who you are?"
"No," Joseph said. "I'm Anthony Carmine's son."
"Carmine?" Marcus asked. "Ah shit. The one that got shot by a sniper, right?"
"That's right," Joseph nodded.
"Dad, we need your help," JD sighed.
"I'm all done helping you," Marcus said, standing and turning to JD.
"Look, this time I'm not running from the COG," JD said.
"Del, you in this too?" Marcus asked.
"Waist deep," Del nodded.
Marcus grunted. "You were supposed to keep him out of trouble."
"Now you know that's not possible," Del said.
Marcus let out a sort of growling sound, looking to Kait. "I'd introduce myself but you'll be leaving soon."
"JD, show him," Kait said flatly.
"Show me what?" Marcus asked.
"Our village was attacked," JD said.
"And my mother was taken," Kait said.
"Taken?" Marcus repeated.
"Along with all our friends," Del added.
"Dad, look at this," JD said, holding out the crystal.
"No, you look!" Marcus growled, stepping toward him. "I warned you not to join the COG. What did you do?"
"Dad," JD said.
"I told you not to go Outsider!" Marcus continued, raising his voice. "The COG'll hunt you down! Again, what did you do!?"
"I think it was the Locust!" Joseph said loudly, Marcus freezing, then staring at him.
"What?" Marcus asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Now show him," Joseph said.
Marcus looked back at JD as JD held the crystal up in front of Marcus's face. Marcus took it from him, staring at it in silence for several long seconds before shaking his head slowly.
"Shit," he growled, throwing it on the ground.
"Uh, guys?" Del asked as the surveillance cameras on the computer screen showed DeeBees, both normal and the giant ones, which JD had called DR-1s, marching toward the house.
"Thought you said you weren't running from the COG!" Marcus snapped.
"Yeah, that wasn't entirely accurate," JD said.
"He lied," Joseph said flatly.
"God dammit, James!" Marcus snapped, just before the entire door of the shack was ripped from the wall, a DeeBee with a screen head and white armor standing in the doorway.
"Ah, Lieutenant," Jinn said. "Time to finish our earlier conversation."
"Is this the part where you accuse us of kidnapping hundreds of people, because we really don't have time for either," Joseph said.
"Corporal Carmine," Jinn said, then turned to Lizzie. "Both Corporal Carmines."
"Both?" Marcus asked.
"I'm the fourth brother's daughter," Lizzie said.
"Jinn, listen," JD said, stepping forward. "Y-You have no idea what's actually happening here."
"Oh, but I do," Jinn said. "Sedition. Led by one James Dominic Fenix, the son of a famously disgruntled old Gear. Speaking of which..." she paused as Marcus walked over to stand in front of the DeeBee, a modified lancer with a wood stock hanging at his right side. "Sergeant, how are you? Sorry about the door."
"Don't sweat it," Marcus said. "We were just leaving."
"So we're clear, Sergeant," Jinn said as threateningly as she could manage. "If you choose to aid these fugitives, I can't protect you. You too, Corporal." She looked at Lizzie.
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Marcus said, then raised the Lancer, starting up the chainsaw bayonet.
"Son of a-" Jinn's voice cut out as the chainsaw roared and ripped into the DeeBee, shredding through the DeeBee's obviously inferior metal in seconds and completely splitting the torso in half from its right shoulder to the left side of its waist.
"Holy shit!" Kait said.
"All units, fire at will!" Jinn's voice shouted from a Kestrel, a DeeBee helicopter.
"Main house!" Marcus said. "Go!"
They all ran to a window in the back, jumping out of it and heading for the main house.
"Nice to see you still have a way with people Marcus!" Del said.
"Just head for the back door!" Marcus snapped.
Just then, a Condor flew overhead, dropping a half-dozen pods in their path.
"Shit!" Marcus growled as everyone ducked down behind one of the thick stone railings, flower beds, or fountains spread around the back yard. "I guess we're dealing with this first!"
They began to lean out carefully, picking off the DeeBees as quickly as they could. JD and Marcus each got one, Del got another, and Kait got one. However, as Lizzie and Joseph leaned out and both sprayed one together, a DeeBee with an Embar sniper rifle that had landed on one of the manor's balconies fired, the shot punching into Joseph's helmet with a loud "PING!" and throwing him backward.
"Shit!" JD shouted. "Sniper!"
"Joseph!" Lizzie shrieked.
"Fuck!" Joseph shouted, rolling behind a fountain just before a second shot punched into the ground, scraping the back of his armor on the way. "That was so fucking loud!"
"How the fuck are you alive!?" Del asked.
"It bounced off," Joseph said. "Got lucky, I guess."
Marcus shook his head. "You sure you're not Clayton's kid?"
"Pretty sure," Joseph said, leaning out just as the DeeBee stood, carefully placing a short burst into its head and destroying it, the DeeBee exploding a moment later. "We're clear."
Another Condor flew overhead.
"Just kidding!" Joseph said.
They began to pick off the new DeeBees, moving toward the door whenever they could. Finally, Joseph managed to get around behind the last one and yanked his back right bayonet off his belt, driving it into the back of its head, then shoved the DeeBee away before it could explode, putting his knife away.
"Now we're clear," JD said.
"I take it these are Jinn's new toys," Marcus said.
"Yeah," JD said. "We've been playing with them all day."
"Come on," Marcus said, kicking the back door open. "Follow me upstairs!"
"Wait, what's upstairs?" Del asked.
"Family heirlooms," Marcus said.
Just as Joseph stepped into the house and turned toward the stairs on the right, a spray of Enforcer bullets slammed into his armor, one grazing his right bicep on the outside and one grazing his left forearm on the front from the way it was twisted to hold his Lancer. he shouted in surprise and pain, staggering backward as the others streamed in, opening fire at the DeeBees on the stairs.
"You okay?" Lizzie asked as she and Joseph each ducked the stairway's thick stone railing.
"I'm fine," Joseph said. "Again. Getting tired of being shot, though."
The two DeeBees stood up and JD and Del dropped them instantly. They all headed up to the stairs' flat section between the first and second floor just as two more DeeBees stood at the top, only for Joseph and Marcus to each take one out. As they quickly climbed the stairs, they heard a crash from the hallway on the right, where Marcus was heading.
"Activating Suppression Mode," a DeeBee's voice announced.
"More of 'em up here!" Marcus warned.
He stopped at the hallway's corner, then stepped out, spraying bullets just long enough for Joseph to sprint across the hall, entering a room with a second door to his right, which, if he had judged it correctly, should open up in the middle of the group of three DeeBees in the hallway. He kicked the door open and it smashed against one DeeBee, sending it staggering out of cover for Marcus to shoot as Joseph sprayed a DeeBee across the hallway. Another stood to Joseph's left, its Embar barrel reaching in front of the door and he swiped his rifle upward into the underside of the barrel, making the DeeBee shoot the ceiling before several bullets slammed into it, destroy it. Joseph carefully checked down the hallway before stepping out. Marcus passed him and he and the others followed. At the end of the hallway was an old, decrepit room that looked like it might have burned decades ago.
"Alright," Marcus said. "Now, which book was it?"
He pulled one and it tilted outward before the bookshelf opened, the two stands spreading outward and revealing an armory, complete with four chest plates, a half-dozen weapon racks, each of which were filled with at least six guns, one type per rack, several weapons lying randomly around the room, and an enormous pile of ammo crates.
"Yeah, now these are my kind of family heirlooms," Del grinned, nodding.
"You kept our armor," JD said as he and Marcus walked over to the armor racks.
"I knew you'd be back, probably with your ass on fire," Marcus said, shoving a modified Lancer into JD's hands.
Joseph and Lizzie began to restock their ammo. Once finished, Joseph compared of the customized Lancers Marcus had on a weapon rack to the one his brother had made. They were very similar. Joseph liked Marcus's wood buttstock better than his own Lancer's metal one, at least aesthetically, and both had had the magazine well modified to be angled forward so that the magazines were tilted back toward the rifle's shooter slightly, removing the need for a magazine well locking system like normal Lancers had. The main difference between Joseph's Lancer and the ones Marcus made were that Marcus's had attached flashlights and a slightly longer barrel.
"You made a custom one?" Marcus asked, now wearing a black bandanna over his hair.
"My brother made it," Joseph said. "I like the wood buttstocks and the flashlight attachments better, though."
"Take one," Marcus grunted. "I've got plenty of extras, and there's no point in letting them go to waist."
"I prefer this rifle," Joseph said. "Although, do you mind if I take a flashlight?"
"Like I said, help yourself," Marcus said.
Joseph nodded and took a flashlight out of the bracket on one of Marcus's and stuck it to the side of his own by applying some of Lizzie's tape to hold it on his, the tape wrapping around the hand guard under the chainsaw bayonet.
"Much better," Joseph said, looking to the others, who were all just finishing grabbing ammo.
"Alright, time to introduce the new COG to the old COG and clear these bucket heads out of my house," Marcus said.
They all headed for the door out of the armory, but just as JD opened it, the wall across from them, as well as the one the next room over, exploded, DeeBee drop pods rolling to a stop inside before bursting open. The DeeBee in the same room as them didn't get the chance to stand before Joseph's chainsaw ripped into it as Marcus had done to Jinn's controlled DeeBee before. The one in the next room dropped about the same time in a burst of gunfire from JD. Two more stepped into view from the balcony outside the hole in the wall but the other four dropped them before they could shoot anyone.
"Dad, what's the plan here?" JD asked.
"We gotta get to my truck!" Marcus said.
Just then, the Kestrel flew over the house, blaring Jinn's voice. "Trust me, you won't get away so easy this time!"
The Kestrel fired several rockets, which exploded in a trail to the truck, resulting in a fireball ripping the vehicle apart.
"God dammit!" Marcus shouted. "I just tuned it up! Alright, new plan! Take out that Kestrel!"
Its main guns roared to life instantly, ripping through the walls of the house like paper, several of the walls collapsing. Everyone took cover where they could, Del shouting for them to target the engines. Joseph stood to shoot, only to see a rocket flying toward him.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Joseph shouted, just before the rocket exploded against the low wall he'd been crouched behind, launching him backward into the armory.
"Joseph!" JD shouted.
"I am so sick of being blown up and shot today!" Joseph shouted, storming back out of the armory with a Boomshot that had been leaning against the wall next to Marcus's work table. "Fuck off!"
He fired the Boomshot and it exploded into the engine of the Kestrel, the engine exploding instantly. The Kestrel began to go out of control instantly, firing several rockets, only for them to go wild, blasting an entire section of the upper floor off to the left into rubble.
"Stop wrecking my goddamn house!" Marcus shouted.
Then, the Kestrel flipped and plummeted into the roof of the manor on the far side, exploding into a massive fireball that blasted a massive section of both floors. Marcus growled under his breath.
"Oops," Joseph said. "Sorry."
"So, uh, Dad," JD said. "The COG's still after us, your truck just blew up, and the house is on fire. Is there a plan B?"
Just then, a DR-1 exploded through the wall at the end of the hallway, holding a Tri-Shot in its hands, only for a Boomshot rocket to explode against its head and kill it. Joseph tossed the Boomshot aside and pulled his Lancer off his back's magnets again, walking into the armory again, this time grabbing a Longshot sniper rifle and placing it against his back's magnets on the left side, adding some ammo and magazines for it to his chest.
"Yeah, there's a Plan B!" Marcus snapped. "But it's down in the cellar! Grab some ammo and let's get out of here!"
Everyone else returned to the armory, refilling whatever ammo they'd used again before they all left, heading back down the hallway. Joseph stopped to pick up the Tri-Shot on the way before they returned tot he stairs, finding a dozen DeeBees filling the room at the bottom of the stairs and a fire filling the far end of the room, except a small area around the stairs Marcus said they were taking. Joseph set the Tri-Shot on the railing and opened fire, the bullets rapidly ripping the DeeBees apart. As soon as the last one exploded, he let the gun fall off the railing to the floor below and they all headed down and down the stairs. As JD was halfway down, however, the Kestrel suddenly fell through the ceiling above him, forcing him to dive the rest of the way down, narrowly avoiding being crushed.
"Come on JD!" Joseph said, hauling him to his feet. "We gotta move!"
They ran to catch up with everyone else, arriving just as Marcus shoved a heavy metal shelf to the side, revealing an escape tunnel. Joseph glanced off to the side and grinned, seeing several more custom lancers lying around the basement. Marcus was like Joseph's uncle. Paranoid and with weapons lying everywhere around the house so that they'd always have at least one within reach.
"You built an escape tunnel in your own house," JD said.
"Just follow me," Marcus growled.
"Why the hell did you build this?" JD asked.
"For emergencies," Marcus said. "I'd say this counts."
"Yeah, well you could have finally fixed up the outside instead," JD said.
"Lot of good that would have done now," Marcus shot back.
"Guys, stop it!" Del said. "How 'bout we talk about, oh I don't know, the monsters that just ran off with all our friends!"
"Locust," Joseph said.
"As soon as we get out of here, we'll deal with it," Marcus said. "Now come on."
Finally, they reached a door and Marcus pushed it open, revealing what looked like an old wine cellar.
"With any luck, Jinn'll think we didn't make it out of the house," Marcus said as they moved through the wine cellar, passing a dozen more custom Lancers and an ammo crate.
"She's still going to sweep the property," JD said.
"Then we'll deal with it," Marcus said.
Marcus pushed the next door open and they all walked outside, stopping and staring at the house, the entirety of which was now engulfed in flames.
"Holy shit," JD breathed.
"As I said," Marcus grumbled. "Welcome home."
"Uh, guys," Joseph said, seeing a Condor flying toward them. "I get that that's super upsetting, but we're about to have company."
They turned as it passed overhead, drop pods crashing down ahead of them. They all dove for cover, only for an Embar shot to slam squarely into Joseph's chest plate, throwing him backward into the wine cellar.
"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Joseph shouted as he flew, crashing down and doing a perfect backward somersault back to his feet and dropping a DeeBee before walking back out and dropping into cover beside Marcus, who stared at him. "What?"
"You remind me of someone I used to know during the war named Tai," Marcus said. "Nothing could kill him either. Well, almost nothing. I ended up being the thing that got him."
"You killed him?" Joseph asked, both ignoring the others shooting at the DeeBees.
"He'd been tortured," Marcus said. "I gave him the shotgun he killed himself with."
"That's not your fault," Joseph said, standing and spraying a DeeBee that had been working its way around the piece of cover Lizzie was behind.
Lizzie flinched as it exploded and its head landed in front of her, half-broken, then shook her head. "Thanks, cuz. Remind me to give you a kiss later."
"I think I'd prefer a beer," Joseph said. "I know how many times you've gotten a mouthful of oil and gas while working on that damned minotaur of yours."
"You mean the one those things flattened while they were raiding the village?" Lizzie asked, sounding mad and hurling a grenade so hard without even extending its chain that it smashed a DeeBee's head before blowing up two more.
"Someone's still pissed," Joseph chuckled, standing, since those were the last three.
"Yes I'm pissed!" Lizzie snapped as they all jogged after Marcus. "That was my baby!"
Joseph chuckled.
"Guys, can we focus please?" Del asked.
Suddenly, a loud sour note shrieked through the air as a Guardian flew into view, its Tri-Shot beginning to spray bullets, everyone diving for cover.
"Anti-social behavior will not be tolerated," the Guardian announced.
"Oh, great, you pissed the Guardian off, Dad," JD joked.
"Hilarious!" Marcus snapped. "Just shoot it!"
"Footage of your defiance has been recorded and uploaded," the guardian announced.
"Shut up!" Kait yelled in annoyance just as the Guardian's shield dropped.
Everyone rose spraying it for a moment before it crashed to the ground and exploded.
"There," JD said. "That wasn't so bad."
Joseph looked around the garden they were in, one which had been filled with low cobblestone walls to separate the seedbeds. The walls were almost all destroyed now, the last one collapsing as Joseph looked at it, and every single seedbed had been ruined.
"I'd hate to see what you call worst case scenario," Joseph said. "At least for a firefight with bullets and not explosives or the Hammer of Dawn."
"Let's move," Marcus said, walking away. "Through the greenhouse."
"Dad, where the hell are we going?" JD asked.
"To the barn," Marcus said.
"And where's that?" Kait asked.
"Ugh," JD groaned. "The other side of the estate."
"Then we should hurry," Joseph said.
"Agreed," Lizzie said.
Marcus nodded, but just as they stepped into the greenhouse, which was filled with shelves made from metal crates lined up into long tables with pots of vegetables on them, a Condor flew overhead.
"There's a dropship!" Del warned.
"Shit!" Marcus swore. "They're gonna mess up my FUCKING TOMATOES! ! !"
Several drop pods crashed through the roof of the greenhouse, one of them smashing down directly on the shelf with four potted tomato plants on it. Marcus swore loudly, grabbing his shotgun off his back and blasting that DeeBee several times as repayment while the others quickly dropped the rest of the DeeBees. Just as they finished, and got halfway through the greenhouse, another Condor arrived.
"Another Condor!" Marcus shouted. "What the hell did you guys do!?"
"Funny story, Dad," JD shouted over the gunfire as they shot at the newly delivered bots. "We have no idea!"
They moved forward carefully, using the metal shelves as cover, only for a third wave of DeeBees to arrive just as they managed to drop the last of them. This time, a DR-1 took the lead, charging straight toward Joseph with an Overkill, a massive, rectangular-box-shaped shotgun that fired four projectiles arranged into a square at once. Joseph groaned as it neared him, only for JD to vault over a crate, his feet slamming into the DR-1 and smashing it to the ground before he drove his knife into its head and ripped it out again, then leapt away from it before it could explode, landing in a roll just as a flying arm smacked Joseph in the side of the helmet. He simply raised his hands and let them fall in a sign of resignation, then tossed a grenade over his shoulder. After a moment, it exploded and pieces of two DeeBees flew over him as Marcus shouted about his tomatoes. After a moment, Kait and Lizzie both stood, each dropping one of the last two DeeBees and the others all stood, all of them quickly leaving the greenhouse, Joseph grabbing a mag of Lancer ammo from a crate beside the door, reloading with it and sticking his nearly-empty mag to his chest plate again.
As they began to run along the trail, however, the wind began to rapidly pick up, lightning flashing lowly ahead of them. Joseph swore. Windflare. Not a good time.
"Everyone, back to the greenhouse!" JD ordered. "Now!"
"The one that's not basically just a bunch of broken glass that are about to become projectiles?" Joseph asked. "No thanks!"
"The barrel shed's better shelter!" Marcus said, turning and continuing to run, everyone following. "We're almost there!"
They continued to run along the path, a pair of tall stone walls corralling them toward the shed, and after a few minutes, they were there, closing and barring the door behind them. Joseph turned away from the door, seeing eight winepresses in two rows of four, just as drop pods crashed through the roof. joseph sighed. There went their "better shelter." They all took cover, firing at the DeeBees when they could without getting shot, and after a moment, two Guardians arrived to help the DeeBees. Just as the Guardians began to close in, a section of the roof was suddenly ripped away, a tree branch smashing through the rafters in the hole and flattening both Guardians against the ground. Joseph shot the last DeeBee as Marcus stared up at the hole, fuming.
"First my tomatoes and now this!" Marcus snapped.
"Dad, this Windflare's not letting up, we gotta go!" JD said.
"No!" Marcus shouted. "We hunker down here! Wait it out!"
More of the roof tore free.
"But isn't this building a little...wooden?" Kait asked.
"It'll hold!" Marcus said.
"Yeah, maybe if they hadn't busted a hole in the roof and gave the storm something to grab hold of!" Joseph shouted over the wind screaming by the hole. "Now it's fucked!"
More of the roof ripped free, lightning flashing in the sky above them.
"It'll hold!" Marcus snapped, just before the rest of the roof tore free, the rafters beginning to shake. "Shit!"
"Condor coming in!" JD announced, just as it passed over them, heading toward the massive, glowing red storm funnel in the distance.
It began to flip backward suddenly just as a bolt of lightning exploded into its wing, sheering it off entirely and causing an explosion that blasted part of the main body of the plane, leaving it on fire as it flipped and began to plummet back toward them.
"And Condor going down!" Del shouted as they turned to run.
"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!" Joseph shouted bracing himself knowingly.
Sure enough, when the plane exploded into the far wall of the shed a half second before Joseph could duck behind one of the heavy support beams, a massive chunk of wood crashed into his back, hurling him forward to the ground on his chest where he skidded about six feet, loosing half his mags on the way, his knee pads thankfully saving his knees from being shredded.
He pushed himself up, quickly gathering his mags before following the others toward the body of the plane. Just as JD opened his mouth to comment on the barn not holding to his father, Marcus raised a hand.
"Uh," Marcus said, cutting him off. "Not a goddamn word."
"You okay?" Kait asked.
"I've basically accepted that I'm the entire world's punching bag," Joseph said. "I'll be fine."
"You have some shit luck," Del said.
"Well, I've survived being shot in the head five times so far," Joseph said. "I'd like to think I'm actually really lucky, and Death and Lady Luck are just both fighting over me."
"Well keep your bad juju away from me," Del laughed.
"Why?" Joseph snorted. "With me beside you, you're basically the luckiest guy in the world because I'm the only one who'll be shot."
"You know what?" Del asked. "You make an excellent point. I'll just use you for cover from now on."
Joseph rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he dropped out of the airplane's body, finding the wind had finally died down. "Alright, so, only another half an estate to go."
"Yup," JD said. "How many DeeBees do you think we'll have to fight on the way?"
"That depends," Joseph said. "How high can you count?"
"Pretty high," James said.
"Let's go," Marcus grumbled, pushing past the two.
Sure enough, they met more DeeBees within seconds of. leaving the Condor's wreckage. Shepards and Guardians alike. After finishing them off, they passed through a gate and Marcus pointed out a windmill in the distance which was next to the barn they were heading to. Then, two turns in the path and a second gate later, they walked out onto a bridge just before a second Kestrel arrived, blasting the bridge into pieces.
"Thank you again karma," Joseph said, tilting his head to the side to tap his helmet against the massive chunk of stone bigger than his torso which had embedded itself several inches into the ground several inches to the side of his helmet.
"Having fun James?" Marcus asked, pulling JD up.
"Sure, why?" James asked. "Aren't you?"
"Oh, it's always good to see you," Marcus said sarcastically, walking away.
"These two always like this?" Kait asked.
"Eh, there's usually more yelling," Del said.
"Guess we caught them on a good day then," Joseph said, pulling Lizzie to her feet. "Come on. I'd like to at least have some bullet-proof cover before that Kestrel returns."
"Good point," Del agreed, all of them following Marcus and JD.
They passed under two more bridges, which had been broken for a long time it looked like, and were found by Trackers. As they finished them, more DeeBees arrived before the Kestrel returned. Fortunately for Joseph, they managed to take this one down without Joseph taking a rocket. When it crashed, it hit a branch that was still standing, and while it didn't destroy the bridge, it did fire one last rocket that blasted the metal bars out of an opening on the underside of the bridge, allowing them to keep going. They followed the riverbed to the next bridge with barred off openings before they cut left into a ravine just as the wind began to pick up again. They all picked up the pace, knowing exactly what was about to hit, again. As they ran through the ravine, the storm rolled in fast. By the time they left the ravine through a small gap at the bottom of a cliff, coming out into a section with a river running through the middle, DeeBees everywhere, and no cover from the storm, the storm was blowing almost hard enough to lift them off the ground.
"Jinn's got us surrounded!" Kait shouted over the storm.
"Let's divide their fire!" Marcus shouted back, pointing to either side of the river. "James, which side do you want!?"
"We'll take the right!" JD said. "Joseph, you're with us! Lizzie, you go with Del and Kait on the left!"
Everyone nodded and split, quickly working their way up the river toward the barn. Finally, after killing almost another fifty DeeBees between the two groups, they finally passed through a gate and were in sight of the barn. Along with lightning bolts of lightning continuously striking the ground in a dozen spots between them and the barn, smaller bolts spreading outward from the main bolts.
"Storm wall's here!" JD shouted.
"Go, go!" Marcus shouted, everyone taking off sprinting, struggling to avoid the lightning bolts.
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Joseph shouted, barely dodging around the bolts.
The smell of ozone was suffocating, and he was pretty sure his hair was going to be standing on end after he took his helmet off, but he managed to make it to the barn door without being struck. He was the last one there and as soon as he was through the door, Marcus slid the door closed. However, as Joseph looked out just before it was closed, he saw dozens of DeeBees moving toward the barn.
"We're surrounded," Joseph said. "Now what?" He turned back to the others and saw them moving to a pair of motorbikes, both of which could only seat two each. "Please tell me you have three."
"No," Marcus said. "Only the two. We'll make it work."
Just then, the chopping of a Kestrel's propeller quickly grew louder over them.
"Sergeant!" Jinn shouted. "So, you're surrounded, obviously."
"No we won't," Joseph said, all of them ignoring Jinn. "You four take them and go. Lizzie and I will stay here. If Jinn sees you and JD leaving, she'll chase you, even if there are only four. And by the time she realizes we're not with you, we'll have taken the horses we got here with and left."
"Alright," Marcus nodded. "Meet us at Fort Reval."
"Alright," Joseph nodded. "We'll see you there."
"Good luck," Marcus said.
"You too," Joseph said, he and Lizzie running over to hide in a corner between the wall and a stack of crates.
A moment later, Marcus and JD exploded out through the barn's front door on one bike, Del and Kait following on the other.
"Oh, you old bastard!" Jinn spat. "After them!"
Joseph and Lizzie waited until both the DeeBees, and the storm had gone then left the barn, sprinting back across the estate to the horses, two of which had run off leaving only the one Kait had called Chuzz at the village, Joseph recognizing it by the dark hair along the top of its head where the other two had had white hair. He and Lexi climbed onto Chuzz and Joseph tugged at the reins, spurring Chuzz forward and starting away from the estate at a gallop.
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