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Chapter six: Leaving Hayder

Christina paced slowly as William and Serena kept a careful watch. All three of them looked up as they heard the numerous cries of the demons echoing from deeper within the city. All three aimed their weapons towards the street where the cries had come from, William cocking the mounted machine gun before Christina put up her hand for them to stand down.

"I guess Tobias found Calvin and the others." Christina said as she cradled her rifle, "But from those howls I'd say the majority of the Valdye here were still unaware of our presence."

Serena glanced down another street, "I find it hard to believe that. How could anything miss the gunfire?"

"We know for a fact that Scouts aren't exactly the smartest things the Valdye use." William explained, "My guess is every time they heard gunfire and weren't directly involved, they assumed the intruders, that's us, were killed until the next call went up. We know they act in a large pack mentality, but they are far from intelligent on their own."

Christina nodded in agreement as she pulled herself up onto one of the wrecked trucks, "But with Calvin and the others on the way here, plus the trucks we arrived in headed this way, we had best be ready for the entire horde to come after us."

As she spoke, Christina heard another howl go up from the town again, but this time from the other direction. As the cry went up, Christina nodded to William who turned the machine gun to face the street the howl came down. As the team waited, ready to defend their position, the first Scout appeared, breaking through a boarded window nearby!

As it gave a rage induced howl, William opened fire, the machine gun turret tearing through the Scout as it tried to advance. As it fell, another pair of Scouts leapt out from their hiding places, advancing towards the team as William opened fire again; the mounted machine gun easily ripping the Scouts to shreds as more began to emerge from the darkened ruins of buildings.

Christina's rifle blazed, the armor piercing rounds slamming through the Scout's thick hides, managing to pierce them enough to wound the demonic creatures. As she reloaded one Scout managed to evade the machine gun as it closed the distance between it and Christina. A sudden shotgun blast threw the demon aside, its front left leg blown off as Serena fired again, killing the demon.

"I owe you." Christina stated, before pulling her rifle to her shoulder again, opening fire as more Scouts entered the kill zone.

Serena smiled as she kept her shotgun raised, waiting for another of the demons to try to get close enough for her weapon to finish them off, "Anytime Christina."

As the demons continued to attempt to overrun the team, William called to Serena, setting down his light machine gun for her to use. As the collie picked up the weapon, the raccoon reloaded the turret, grabbing the end of an ammunition belt to feed the gun. As he opened the top of the weapon, Serena opened fire with short bursts. Scout after Scout fell to the gunfire as the armor piercing rounds penetrated their steel-like hides, black blood coating the ground. Once the turret was reloaded, William opened fire again, the turret shredding through the Scouts as more began to emerge from the ruined buildings.

Suddenly, a different howl arose from the chaos. The louder, sharper tone reverberating through the cries of the Scouts as a wall opposite to the team's location was destroyed! As the dust settled, a figure stood in the freshly made hole. The lizard-like head rose up as dust and broken stone fell from it, sniffing the air before it extended a set of long, serrated claws. As it did, the creature's pupil-less orange eyes widened before it let out another loud howl.

"God damn it! Knight!" William shouted, turning the gun on the demonic creature.

"Open fire!" Christina called out; her gun blazing as she also targeted the larger demon.

As the turret blazed, the Knight was forced to fall back, blood erupting from new wounds as it roared in anger. But, this did not stop the demon's advance. The Knight leapt aside and charged forward, it's pebbled, rough skin giving it some protection as it moved. Its powerful muscles propelled the demonic creature forward before William's shots could hit it. As the bullets trailed the fast moving creature, the Knight leapt forward, quickly closing distance between it and William. As it leapt, the demon extended it's serrated claws, it's eyes locked onto the machine gun turret William was manning!

Just as the demon was about to strike, William's turret blazing as bullets sank into the Knight's flesh there was a sound, a three tone honking sound was heard as a vehicle approached at high speed! Both the Knight and the team looked towards the source of the sound as a golf cart like vehicle rapidly came towards them, four figures leaping out of it. Before the Knight could react, the cart slammed into its side, forcing the Knight under it as it pushed the Valdye away from William. The raccoon wasted no time as he opened fire, the armor piercing rounds cutting through the weak steel of the vehicle before tearing into the howling demon. As it died, blackened blood pooling under it, William turned his gun back on the approaching Scouts before opening fire once more.

Christina shook her head, refocusing from what had just happened to the fact that the rest of her team had just returned. She smiled as a white tiger walked up to her after dispatching a Scout that had followed them to the meeting point.

"Did we miss much?" Calvin asked, the tiger reloading his rifle.

Christina nodded, "Yeah, grab some AP rounds from the crate over there. We're holding out and the trucks are on their way. Glad to see you made it back in one piece."

Calvin smiled, "Same to you. Though that new dragon is definitely proving his worth. The guy was killing Scouts left and right on our way here. Not a single wasted shot."

The vixen glanced over at Tobias, the dragon having taken several magazines from the crate before kneeling down, taking down Scouts as the demons continued to attack.

"Watch that road you came down." Christina ordered, "We don't want them getting behind us."

Calvin smirked, "Easy enough."

The tiger directed Kelsey to assist him with keeping an eye on their flanks. As the two went to work, Christina turned her sights back on the main road, her rifle snug in her shoulder as she lowered to one knee, opening fire again as another Scout attempted to reach them.

In time, the Scouts finally broke and retreated, their howls of fury dying off as a final demon attempted a charge, only to be cut down by Tobias's tail blade separating two of it's vertebrae before the demonic creature could react. Finally, with time to breathe, the team took stock of what was left of the convoy's crates. As Calvin, Melody, and Kelsey kept a watchful eye for any more immediate Valdye, Christina, William, and Serena were investigating the remainder of the crates.

"It looks like everything's here." William stated as the raccoon closed one of the crates, "With minimal damage sustained, too."

Christina glanced to him, "I'm surprised. I'd have thought that the initial fight alone would have done some damage."

William nodded and hopped down from the trailer he'd been standing on, "That's about all the damage sustained. Nothing further, no tampering by the Valdye at all."

"They were using it as a trap for us." Christina theorized, "We see the cargo, we go in immediately to secure it. Once we do, they spring the ambush and take us down. We've lost good teams to that before."

Serena smiled, looking up to the rooftop where Tobias was perched, "Not to mention we had Tobias scout it out first and eliminate a couple Scouts. Probably either a forewarning group to alert the rest or an advanced ambush."

Christina nodded, a slight smile on the vixen's lips as she looked up as well, thinking to herself, "That dragon is beginning to prove that he belongs with us."

William tapped his comlink, the raccoon speaking into it for a minute before turning to the others, "The transports are almost here. They ran into minor Valdye activity, probably the retreating ones, but didn't sustain any damage. We'll load up and head back to base with the cargo."

"And then the drinks are on Christina." Calvin smirked, "After all, that royal treasury has to have some money left for 'morale', am I right?"

Christina couldn't help but giggle a bit, "We'll have to see what I can convince the commander to lend us, Calvin."

* * *

Once the trucks had arrived, the team assisted in loading the crates into them. As the crates were loaded, Tobias had kept watch from the rooftops, making sure the Valdye stayed away from the transports location. His eyes scanned the streets below him as his ears listened for any sounds of their approach. His instincts told him to keep watch, that the Valdye were not gone but simply waiting for another chance to kill the ones he was to consider his teammates.

With a glance below to check on the five, the dragon's eyes focused on Christina, watching as she talked to the raccoon named William. As he did, something in the back of his mind kept nagging at him. Without the heat of combat to focus his mind, it was free to wander to the same questions it had asked before on the way to this location, but had not spoken aloud.

As far as he knew, the dragon was only built for one purpose, to kill the Valdye. But in the back of his mind, the dragon felt a nagging feeling that he was not being told the entire truth. Something was there, just out of his reach.

With a shake of his head, the dragon refocused and spread his wings, kicking off the rooftop before gliding to another roof across the street, the dragon looking down the alleyways behind the ruined building. After making sure it was clear, the dragon continued to make sure the area was secure. As he continued his search for any remaining Valdye, the dragon soon returned to the team's position with nothing found.

Once she had confirmation, Christina glanced to William, who was currently removing the mounted turret from the destroyed convoy. With the trucks being mostly unarmed, the raccoon had reasoned that having a mounted gun would add extra security now that they had loaded the supplies the convoy had been transporting. Christina agreed with his logic and had ordered him to mount the turret onto the rear truck. With help from Melody and Kelsey, the raccoon was now loading the weapon, preparing for their travel back to base from the Valdye infested ruin of a city. Once William had given her the confirmation that the gun was ready to fire, Christina walked to the front truck, pulling herself up to the cab.

"Let's get these to base in one piece." Christina ordered, "Keep your eyes open and guns ready. I doubt the demons will just let us drive out of here."

"I sure wouldn't mind if they did." Calvin chuckled as he climbed into the bed of one of the trucks, "It'd be a nice change of pace, don't you think?"

Kelsey smirked as she got in with him, sitting back against the crate, "I sure wouldn't complain."

Melody and Serena climbed in with William, both wielding shotguns in case any of the Valdye got within the turret's blind spots. Tobias perched against the crates in the first truck, the dragon situating himself against it so that he could easily leave the truck if necessary. Once everyone was ready, the trucks took off down the main road, the gravel crunching beneath their tires as the heavy vehicles moved quickly. Unknown to the drivers, the danger was far from over.

* * *

As the trucks drove through the streets, a small pack of Scouts watched and followed them, moving swiftly through the ruins to keep up with the vehicles. They could smell the team, mixed with the smell of burning fuel from the trucks. The deep roar of the trucks engines, the crunching of gravel and asphalt under their weight alone lead the demonic creatures along their path to the vehicles. Their desire for bloodshed grew with every passing second; fueling their hunting instincts as their senses homed in on their prey.

Suddenly, the lead Scout leapt towards the road, letting out a howl as it ran at the rear vehicle! William's turret made short work of it, tearing the Scout apart with armor piercing rounds. As it fell, the four remaining Scouts tried to rush the other vehicles, all finding themselves in a hail of gunfire. The trucks did not loose speed as the demons fell by the side of the road, dead before they could even reach the side of any of the vehicles, cut down as soon as they exposed themselves.

With the first pack of Scouts dead, a second pack emerged from the ruins, leaping out of several of the destroyed buildings. Two of the scouts were dead before they hit the ground, the machine gun turrets tearing through their armored hides with ease. One of the Scouts got close to the vehicles, but only long enough for Serena to target it and fire off an armor piercing slug round, blowing the Scout's leg clean out from under it. As the demonic creature tumbled Serena fired again, killing the Valdye. With its pack having distracted the team, the lead Scout managed to leap towards the rear vehicle, catching the back with its front legs. The Scout snapped its jaws at William as it scrambled to pull its body onto the truck. The raccoon growled as he pushed back against the Scout, shoving the barrel of his pistol into its snapping jaws. William pulled the trigger, unloading the gun into the Valdye's skull before pushing the dying demon off the truck.

Up front, Christina was riding shotgun with the lead truck. As she kept her rifle aimed out the front window, the vixen watched in horror as the door of a building was suddenly shattered! As the wooden door fell apart, a black figure emerged from within. The dark pebbled skin seemed to absorb the sunlight, as it's pupil-less, glowing orange eyes stared down at the trucks. The Knight howled furiously before charging forward towards the trucks, it's muscular legs propelling it forward quickly as it's claws extended to their full length. Christina knew the claws were powerful enough to rip the steel around the trucks to shreds, possibly even enough to stop the trucks fully if they tore through the tires and rims.

The driver moved to try to swerve around the demon as it closed the distance with them, but Christina had another idea.

"Keep going straight and keep it floored!" Christina ordered, "I'll take care of this."

The vixen aimed carefully, opening fire towards the Knight as it charged forward. The bullets shattered the front window before speeding towards the demon. They impacted against the hardened flesh of the Knight, the reinforced bullets breaking through and tearing through muscle and bone before bursting out the other side, shattering the Knight's legs. As the demonic creature let out a howl of anguish and rage, the truck closed distance with it. The truck jolted violently as the demon died beneath its wheels, the sheer weight of the truck destroying it before the vehicles raced out of the city and down the countryside road leading back to the base of operations.

Christina sighed as the vixen set her rifle down, taking a breath to calm her racing heart. Slowly she removed her finger from the trigger, her hands shaking as the adrenaline that had flooded her system finally left. The mission was over, their prize of munitions and medical supplies in tow. Her team had once again survived with their lives and almost no injuries. Even better, the newest member of Infinity had proved his worth in combat and tactical versatility.

"Things are finally starting to look up." The vixen thought to herself as she closed her eyes, "This stockpile should last us a bit longer, maybe even allow us to retake some of our lost territory."

With that thought, it was not long before the vixen was asleep for the trip back to base.