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Chapter four: A Town of Trouble

Kelsey checked out the window, the cat noticing that this room was just past the sinkhole. She also noticed that the wall of the next room was partially destroy, just enough so that they could escape through it.

"Go!" Kelsey cried out, running into the next room and leaping through destroyed wall, rolling as she hit the street outside.

Melody was second out, as Calvin backed up to it. As the tiger glanced out, he heard the sudden sound of wood being ripped away and angry growling. Looking back, Calvin found himself being hungrily looked over by another Scout who had entered the room, the door to the small apartment having been ripped off it's hinges by the Valdye. The demon growled heavily, it's red eyes ablaze with a bloody hatred as it stepped towards him, it's black claws clicking against the floor. Calvin raised his revolver; the tiger growling back as he took a step forward.

The demon arced it's back, letting loose a bloody howl before charging towards Calvin! The tiger sidestepped it, the demon's scything tusks almost catching his side as the tiger moved. Once it passed him, the demon slamming its head against the opposite wall, Calvin took two steps before running towards the destroyed wall. The Scout, having recovered from its momentary confusion and replacing it with rage, raced after Calvin as the tiger leapt through the hole. The demon soon followed, propelling itself outside. But as it leapt, Kelsey was already aiming for it, the cat blasting it back with two shots from her sawed-off.

The demon hit the ground hard, it's legs audibly breaking as it impacted the ground with black blood already pouring from its wounds. The scout tried to get up, pure adrenaline pulsing through its system to keep the demon fighting, Calvin walking over and pinning it with his boot. He fired twice, killing the demon with two revolver rounds to its neck.

"That was a little harsh, even for you." Melody said as Calvin walked back to them, reloading his revolver.

"Look around you Melody." The tiger replied, motioning to the destroyed buildings around them, "You've seen what these demons are capable of. We've all seen what they do to innocents and soldiers alike. Really think they deserve any mercy after seeing our own teammates gutted before our eyes?"

The collie shook her head, "No...you're right. They don't deserve mercy."

Kelsey glanced down the street, "We'd better get moving before those demons catch up."

A sudden howling erupted from the building as Calvin quickly agreed. As he turned, the tiger replaced his revolver and pulled up his combat rifle. The tiger's gun was an older model, a 6mm semi automatic rifle with a 1.2x-6x variable scope. More powerful than Kelsey and Christina's 7.26 rifles, the tiger's gun could disable a Scout in a couple shots. The downside was it held less ammunition, only ten rounds compared to the 7.26 rifle's thirty round magazines. It was also heavier to carry, weighing a few pounds more than the rifles the girls were carrying. But for the tiger, this gun had seen him through the toughest of encounters, more than proving it's worth in combat against the Valdye threat.

"Double time to the cache." Calvin ordered, "We can't just wait around for the demons to get out of there and come after us."

Suddenly, another bloodthirsty howl erupted from the apartment building! As Calvin raised his rifle to his shoulder, it's strap wrapped around his wrist, Kelsey and Melody raised their own weapons.

"I don't think we'll have to wait long." Melody stated, her voice trembling a bit as the first Scout burst through another window, the glass raining down as the demon landed.

As it let loose another howl, two more ran outside, breaking through a wooden door to the far left of the team. Calvin took aim at one of the Scouts, the crosshairs of his scope resting on the demon's neck as it moved slowly to circle them.

"I hope you have a plan, Calvin." Kelsey said, her rifle's iron sights on one of the demons.

Calvin smirked, "Yeah, kill them before they kill us."

"Real original." Kelsey replied dryly.

Calvin kept the demon in his sights, keeping pace with the slowly circling demon, "You asked, you received."

"Guys? Can we focus?" Melody asked, keeping the third Scout in her visual range.

Calvin nodded and waited for the right moment. Then it came, the demon turned ever so slightly, exposing a hint of it's exposed neck flesh. Calvin squeezed the trigger and a flash of fire erupted from the other end of the barrel. As if in slow motion, the 6mm bullet sped through the air, piercing the demon's throat!

As it went down, the other two Scouts sprang into action, leaping towards the team with a roar! Kelsey leapt aside, opening fire as the demon passed her. Her rounds pinged off its armored side, only furthering to anger the demonic creature. As it moved to attack again, Kelsey kept it in her sights, waiting for a moment to take the Valdye down for good. Suddenly, Calvin fired again, his heavier round tearing through the Scouts leg.

As the blood erupted from the wound, it gave a howl of rage, trying to stay standing as Kelsey ran up to it. The cat gave a hiss as her boot met with the demon's head, kicking the demon hard enough to force its skull up enough for her weapon to find it's exposed throat. As her gun fired, the demon howled in anguish, suddenly cut off as it's blackened blood spurting out from its new, fatal wounds. With it collapsed to the ground, Calvin and Kelsey focused their attention to the final Scout.

Melody was already engaged with the demon, both of her handguns blazing as the Scout charged at her. Moving quickly, the collie leapt up as the Scout charged at her, landing on it's back and pushing off, effectively forcing the demon to the ground. With an agitated growl, the demon stood up again, turning to face the collie as Melody opened fire once again. The few seconds the demon had exposed the unarmored sections of the inner parts of it's legs were all Melody needed to cripple the demon, the heavy pistol rounds tearing through it's flesh and rebounding inside off it's armored hide. The demon fell to its knees as Melody walked up and fired a single round into its mouth.

As the demon slumped to the ground, there was a beep in Calvin's ear.

"And you called me harsh." Calvin stated as Melody walked past him.

She smiled to him, "They don't deserve mercy, remember?"

The tiger couldn't help but smirk as his comlink beeped at him again.

"Got some bad news guys." Christina stated.

Calvin glanced to the dead demons and replied in a sarcastic tone, "Let me guess, we have Valdye confirmation?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Christina asked.

"We just took out four of the buggers." The tiger stated as he kicked one of the dead ones, "No injuries, but they're definitely still around. Looks like they weren't happy just hitting the convoy, they wanted the retrieval team too. It's like they were waiting for someone to come after this cache."

"I wouldn't jump to that conclusion just yet. They may just be looking for anyone to kill, not one of our teams in particular. After all, we still don't know how long they've occupied this city. Keep an eye out for ambushes and call in if you encounter anything strange." The vixen said.

"Will do Christina." Calvin replied, "Over and out."

The tiger glanced to Melody and Kelsey and nodded to them, "I think we'd better keep moving before any more show up."

The girls nodded in agreement.

* * *

As her part of the team continued towards the cache, Christina glanced up at a ruined sign. The rusted hinges were worn from the weather, looking like the sign could fall at any moment. As she watched it for a moment, the vixen wondered what had happened here the day the demons had attacked, if the family who owned the store had escaped or been killed.

William walked up behind her, his LMG still raised as his eyes scanned the surroundings.

"Christina, we don't have to time gawk." He stated calmly.

The vixen nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry William, I was just letting my mind wander."

The raccoon nodded, knowing what she was thinking about, "I'm sure they escaped. But we can wonder that later. Right now, you're needed."

Christina turned away from the sign after a moment more, cradling her rifle as her golden eyes scanned the destroyed buildings. With no signs of life, her gaze returned to the streets before darting to the dragon walking to her left and just a little behind her.

The dragon's sapphire blue eyes were glancing around, scanning the crumbling buildings around them. His handguns were holstered as they walked, the deadly blade at the end of his tail held high, ready to lash out at the slightest instance of attack. His over all demeanor was calm though, almost unsettlingly so.

The vixen looked forward, her eyes resuming their scan of the street and buildings around them. For now, her eyes couldn't see any other threats, but experience had taught her otherwise. In every dark corner, a demon could be waiting to attack.

"William, how far to the last known location of the convoy?" Christina asked.

The raccoon brought up his TAC-COM, the small, hand held computer keeping track of the location by satellite, "We're close, another half mile north. Then again, you know how touchy these things are lately with how long the relays go without repairs."

Christina nodded, the story being the same for most of their current equipment. But as she looked to the skies, the vixen had an idea.

"Tobias, I have a job for you." Christina said, looking back to the dragon, "Take to the skies and see if that convoy is still there. Report back with anything you find."

Tobias nodded silently and spread his wings. With a couple of hard flaps, the dragon was airborne, disappearing over the rooftops as he flew towards the objective.

As he vanished from their sight, Christina turned to William and Serena, "Ok, set up a perimeter. We'll hold here until Tobias returns."

With a nod, William and Serena took up either side of the street, the two constantly checking their surroundings for any sign of Valdye presence.

* * *

As Tobias flew, the dragon kept his eyes downward, scanning the buildings for any sign of a threat. His wings made tiny adjustments to keep him aloft with each flap, working on pure instinct as his mind focused on his objective, locating the convoy. The dragon continued north for a few minutes, landing on a rooftop. As he did, Tobias pulled out his own TAC-COM from his vest, checking the location of the convoy in relation to his own.

"Alright, should just be another few streets from here." Tobias thought, glancing around as he placed the device back into his vest, "I had better make sure it is still there."

As the dragon leapt off the rooftop, his wings spread, catching the thermals from the ground and gliding into the air, pushing upwards with his wings. But as the dragon took off, he failed to notice a pack of Scouts watching him. One of the demons growled to the others and ran after him, the two other Scouts following after it as the lead Scout tracked the dragon. The demons followed Tobias from the ground, leaping over or tearing through any obstacles in their way.

As the dragon landed once more, Tobias glanced down towards the street below, his eyes scanning for his objective. Below him was a series of trucks with two heavy assault vehicle escorts. Parts of the vehicles were missing with bodies strewn in the street below. Blood stained the street, the soldiers having been killed where they stood, their weapons and bullet casings littering the ground. The scene was grim as Tobias spread his wings again, landing to take a closer look.

The first thing the dragon noticed as he walked up to the scene was the lack of Valdye corpses. While there were a few corpses of the demonic creatures strewn among the bodies of the soldiers, the amount was much lower than the dragon would have expected. In total, only ten of the Scouts were dead, but the fatalities for the Delsirian soldiers was higher, at least thirty to thirty five dead plus the drivers of each of the four trucks. The dragon glanced to the heavy assault vehicles, noting that the sides were completely torn out, a trickle of dried blood from one of the gaping holes in the vehicles armors. He did not need to guess what the inside of the vehicles looked like. But as the dragon examined one of the trucks that had been torn open, he realized that whatever had taken out one of the trucks was bigger than a Scout, and much stronger.

The dragon ran his hand along a set of gashes that had been torn through the steel plating of the vehicle. His finger fit perfectly into the marks, making the dragon believing that whatever had taken down the convoy was larger than him at least. But whatever it was, it had to have been strong enough to tear through the trucks and still be fast enough or well enough protected not to be killed by the hail of gunfire that must have been attacking it.

"I'd better report back to Christina." Tobias thought as he turned away from the trucks.

As he turned, the dragon heard a deep growling coming from nearby. As he looked towards the source, Tobias saw a Scout walking closer, the demon watching him as he watched it. Then, another growl caught Tobias's ear, the dragon turning to find a second Scout leaping down from a destroyed car, circling to the left of him as the third scout paced at a distance, waiting for a chance to strike.

Tobias gave a growl, adrenaline flooding into his system. The dragon raised his tail, the deadly blade at the end arching over his shoulder, his coiled muscles ready to unleash their power and speed. The blades on the dragon's arm rose up, the razor sharp edges exposed for battle.

The three Scouts circled him, each one growling as Tobias kept his eyes on each one as much as he could, his mind already formulating how to take each one down quickly and efficiently. His tail flicked, the blade slicing through the air slowly as he came up with his plan, his hands taking hold of the grips of his pistols. Adrenaline flooded the dragon's system, his every fiber itching to strike down the demons.

The first Scout leapt at Tobias, it's scything tusks ready to rip into him! Tobias dodged aside, the demon passing just an inch from his body as the dragon's tail whipped across his body, the deadly blade just missing the demon's side as it passed. As it landed, the demon turned to face Tobias, the dragon staring it down before the second Scout attacked. Tobias grabbed it by the leg, his arm blade coming down into it's back as the dragon severed its spine before tossing it aside. Blood poured from the wound as the Valdye tried to move, it's body unresponsive to the commands it's mind tried to convey. Tobias pulled up his handgun as the first demon tried to strike again, the dragon dodging aside to avoid it's deadly serrated tusks, the flat of his tail blade pushing the demon aside as he fired at the injured Scout, the bullets finding their way deep into it's underside as blood pooled under the demon as it died.

The third demon, which had been watching the fight, waiting for a moment to attack the dragon, finally leapt into action. As the first Scout landed after once again missing the dragon, the third one leapt at Tobias from behind! Tobias's ears picked up the sound of the Valdye running, the dragon turning towards the third demon; it's powerful legs propelling the Scout into the air.

Suddenly, time seemed to crawl to Tobias. He watched as the Scout's gapping, bloody jaws grew closer as it let out a seemingly drawn out battle cry; it's serrated tusks closing in on his body to tear into his flesh. Adrenaline pumped through Tobias's system, speeding him up as the dragon rotated aside, grabbing the Scout's neck as time seemed to speed back up! Using the demon's momentum against it, the dragon threw it against a nearby truck. Tobias heard the demon's bones breaking from the impact against the hardened, steel surface, his tail blade whipping around his body before embedding itself between the Scouts head and shoulders.

The last remaining demon let loose another howl as Tobias turned is attention back to it, wrenching his tail free from the side of the truck. Black blood dripped from the blade as Tobias gave a challenging glare to the Scout. The demon raced towards him, it's blood red eyes filled with hatred and fury. Tobias raised his handguns and opened fire, fire escaping the barrels as the bullets raced towards his target. Although they only pinged off the demon's steely hide, the dragon continued to fire as the Scout grew closer.

Finally, the demon leapt up at the dragon, it's claws and fangs bared! Tobias opened fire once more, the dragon's handguns firing towards its mouth. The bullets ripped into the demon, it's weakness exposed to the dragon as they speed into the Scouts head. The Scout fell, blood dripping from its jaws as Tobias finished it off, slicing through the demon's legs first before opening fire once more with his handguns point blank into it's skull.

Tobias wiped his brow before reloading his weapons, taking to the skies once more to return with his findings to Christina. Already that fight was stored in his memory for experience, readying him for the next battle against more of the Scouts. But as the dragon flew back towards his team, he failed to notice that something was watching him.

The creature was slightly larger than Tobias was, its dark, pebbled skin hiding it in the shadows of a destroyed convenience store. It had watched from here as Tobias had taken on the Scouts, noting his abilities and strengths against the lower class demons. The Valdye extended a set of three inch, black, serrated claws from its hand in anticipation of sinking them into new flesh. With that thought in mind, the demon left it's hiding spot, moving to a better position to ambush anything that came near the convoy.