Allen and West stood on either side of the window with their backs against the wall. Their rifles were loaded and held close to their chest. The feeling of the metal in their hands somewhat eased their nerves. Allen took a deep breath the rusty smell of the rifle tickled his nostrils. He pecked through the window and waited.
Silence.
Everything was so quiet it was hard to believe that just across the road, a massacre was taking hold. Allen glanced down at his watch, the sweat stinging his eyes.
"One minute," he mumbled under his breath. His voice echoed quietly in the room but it felt like thunder in West's ears.
'If we missed even a second,' West thought. He didn't even want to begin thinking of what might happen if they were late, or early.
The bomb would go off at the wrong time, and they might all be as good as dead.
"It's here!" Allen exclaimed.
West by reflex tightened his grip on the rifle and peeked through the window. Down the horizon, he could see the cargo train getting into sight. He turned to Allen and they shared a nod.
"Prepare for the impact," West said through the transmitter. He thought he heard the gasps from the other side.
"30 seconds," Allen whispered.
The train was almost upon them. The numbers on the watch on his wrist seemed to move slower now, the world seemed to be moving slower. His heart beats loud in his head, his breath uneven, and before he knew it. An explosion shocked the floor beneath their feet.
~~~~
"Everything is clear."
Elfric turned to Jake. "Well, it's time to get into positions," he said, glancing down at his watch. "We have 3 minutes before the explosion."
Elfric had his consciousness shift back and forth between here and the shadow tangled with West. He saw them place the bomb in the place they chose and get to the window to see the train arrive. By the time Elfric made it back to his own body, he saw the train as well.
"Tell everyone to get ready," Elfric said over his shoulder.
Jake nodded and did as he was told. "I'll get going then," he said glancing to the side to where Helios stood. "Take care."
According to Elfric's plan, they can't have their forces focused on one floor. He needed Jake down there with the others to balance the distribution of power in the building. Helios, however, didn't seem to fit anywhere. Elfric knew very little about the extent of his power, or if he could use it at all in hurting others. As far as Elfric knows, Helios can't even hurt a fly, let alone kill another.
In the blue overall, it was difficult to tell that Helios wasn't a human. His pointed ears were hidden under the hood, and the dazzling shimmer of his pupils was covered by the shadows cast on his forehead. Elfric was against the elf joining in but he insisted.
"Do you still not trust me?" Helios said, eyes fixed on Elfric.
Elfric was silent as he moved to stand against the wall, he could hear the roaring engine getting closer. "I don't really like to play this game of trust," Elfric said after a moment of thought. "You prove it, earn it, and get it."
Elfric didn't spare Helios a second glance but he knew he was staring in astonishment. He bit down the urge to walk away from the elf, something about being near him made his stomach turn. Elfric always seemed vulnerable around Helios, it was as if he saw right through him to the deepest part of his secret, that he even saw Orathan. The elf made it clear before, that he sensed something else within Elfric.
"Something is different about you these days, Samael," Helios said, not lifting his eyes off Elfric.
Elfric sighed and rolled his eyes.
'What's up with these superior beings?' Elfric thought. 'Always talking like you could see the unknown.'
'The elf is capable of sensing your aura,' Orathan said. 'He knows you are not any ordinary human, but I doubt he knows it's because of me. Perhaps, he can see what you and I can't see.'
Elfric understood what Orathan was implying, and couldn't care less, and least for now. The white silhouette.
'Not now,' Elfric said to himself. He forced his mind to reality once more and he could feel the stare pouring holes into him. It was either that Helios was persistent for a reply or he simply couldn't read the situation.
Elfric sighed and glanced at his watch. "1 minute."
He shifted his consciousness to West, he was ready as well. Elfric could hear their irregular breaths from the shadows. Elfric swiftly moved from one rebel to the other, making sure that everyone was in position and once he checked he was back to his own body.
"Thirty seconds left," Helios muttered next to him.
Elfric peeked through the window, and the floor shook under his feet.
~~~~
Allen's ears were ringing from the explosion, rubble fell from the ceiling around them like rain. He turned back to the window and glanced out.
'I can't see anything,' he said in the back of his mind.
Their view of the train was cut off by the smoke and the rubble looming in the air. But, he could hear the yells coming from out there. He could no longer hear the sound of the engine, the train stopped.
"We are under attack!" a voice came through, the walkie-talkie they had. The snipers on the roof.
"We need to get down there now!" the voice continued.
West and Allen shared a glare. They were coming down here.
West gestured to the stairs and Allen nodded as he crouched down. West quietly headed to the stairs leading to the roof in front of them. He heard the door clattering open and the approaching footsteps carefully climbing down.
West leaned against the wall with his rifle close to his chest. The footsteps got louder, their shadows cast down on the floor in front of West. On the count of three, West stepped out of cover. Two bullets were shot, and two bodies slammed to the ground. West stared below at the sight of blood leaving the two bodies and then at his hands. He was definitely faster now. His hands moved to the trigger as fast as his eyes landed on the two soldiers dressed in black.
While he was in his daze, he heard the hiss of air pass by his ears as two more bodies fell on the stairs. More soldiers. West turned over his shoulder and saw Allen lowering his rifle. He nodded a thank you.
In mere minutes, the building was shaking with footsteps flooding into the building.
"They must be coming from the hole caused by the explosion," Allen noted, joining West at the stairs.
"We will stay here," West said. "Just like planned. We can't leave the roof open like that."
"Damn it," Allen cursed under his breath but he knew that it was the right thing to do.
"The main forces are in the second attack," he recalled Samael's words. "So don't worry when you feel outnumbered."
West gestured to Allen to get in position. They both crouched on either side of the stairs and waited. The sound of footsteps was now mixed with the shuddering noise of gunshots. At this point, there was no way to tell whose side fired first. Allen gulped down the worry and tightened his grip on the rifle, finding comfort in the weight of it. The noise started getting higher up the stairs.
"They are flooding in from everywhere!" Julian's voice broke through the in-ears. "We are barely making it!"
"We need to get to them!" Allen turned to them. "We can make it through."
"We can't leave our posts!" West exclaimed.
"Julian!" Allen turned away. "Margret up and I'll take her place! We will switch places!"
"Roger! Margret…." Julian replied, his voice faded before he could hear anymore.
"Now we are only switching places," he added and turned to West. "Backup will take time to arrive and if they use the roof, we will be ready by then."
West saw nodded. He trusted Allen and knew if there was anyone who could guess what Samael would have done in a situation like this, it was him.
The firing continued muffled on the lower floors, the rhythm was broken as footsteps approached closer to them, till it was only a flight below them.
"Margret…?" Allen whispered, raising his rifle slowly. There was no way to know who was coming up until they are right on top of them.
A shadow emerged on the stairs before them, and before they could move a shot was fired, landing on West's shoulders. He groaned as he lost his balance and fell to the ground, his blood seeping from his shoulder to taint the fabric of his clothes.
Before Allen made the shot, Margret shot first from below. Her breath was uneven from running up.
"West!" She exclaimed, her eyes reading the scene before her. "Are you alright?!"
She ran up the last stairs and joined Allen by West's side. The bullet pierced West's right shoulder.
"Are you okay?!" Allen said, examining the wound on his shoulder. "Can you get up!?"
West's mind was foggy, the voices of his friends seemed to be far away. The pain shot from his shoulders to his whole body. When he opened his mouth to talk, he groaned and his head fell back from the pain as his eyes squeezed shut.
"Y-Yeah," West stuttered, feeling light-headed, and forced himself to sit up straight. "Go…"
He took hold of Allen's arm. "They need you down there," he continued. "Go now!"
Allen hesitated and looked over at Margret. "Take care of him."
"I'll do my best," Margret said with a nod.
Allen grabbed his gun and ran hurried down the steps without looking behind. The moment he was out of view, gunshots went off.
Margret hurriedly swung her bag to the ground and brought out the medical kit she had backed. West could already feel the pain-numbing his arm, the same similar numbness he got in his leg. The leg that now worked perfectly fine to the point he forgot he was once a crimple. The ringing in his head continued from the explosion and bullet that went through his flesh.
"We need to stop the bleeding!" she exclaimed as he examined the wound. She halted.
"W-What is it that bad?" West mocked, choking on his breath.
"It stopped," Margret said, bending down to take a better look before turning to look West in the eyes. "The bleeding stopped."
West couldn't help the chuckle that broke through. 'Right, I'm no longer the same,' he said as if the fact escaped his mind. All the bullets, blood, and the explosion, it was enough to drive his mind off things. He took a deep breath and struggled to his feet, instantly attacked by nausea. If not for Margret, he would have been kissing the floor.
"I'm okay," he reassured, bending down to get his gun. "Just lost a lot of blood. We need to get back into position now."
Despite the protest from Margret, West still did as he said and soon Margret followed after giving up.
"This is bad!" Allen's voice broke out of the transmitter. "There are more of them than I thought!"
West barely made out the words through the chaos. "I need to go."
"But you are hurt!" Margret protested.
"I'm okay," West muttered under his breath as he reloaded his rifle. "You saw it too."
Margret was silent. She examined the wound on his shoulder, the bullet went through his shoulder for sure. However, the bleeding stopped in a mere minute. She couldn't protest on baseless words.
"Julian," West said, placing his index finger on the in-ear. "Can you hear me?"
"Y-Yeah!" Julian replied. "Make it quick! I'm in the middle of something here! Park get your ass out of there!"
"Get David up here along with Park," West said, raising his voice. "I'm coming down."
"What?!" Allen cut in. "West you can't do that you are hurt!"
West was silent suddenly feeling too tired to explain. He took a deep breath as he shifted the weight of the weapon in his grip, and he dove into the gunfire below.