The Artful (Shadows of the City) (33 page)

The Angels met us at the street. Each side barreled into the other like a devastating car wreck; bodies thrown, and trampled in the sheer chaos. Although both sides were distinctly dressed, it was hard to tell which side was which, with all our bodies meshing together into a strange painting of chaos. Gunshots fired, and metal clanged against metal, yet those did nothing to diminish the sound of flesh crashing into flesh or the shrill screams of human life being ushered into death.

It doesn’t shame me to say I panicked. The world closed in on me, as I drowned beneath a sea of violence. I was almost certain I would die there on the cement streets bathed in blood, and no one would notice my death. Instead, they would jump, trample, or stumble over my body and continue this mad fight. People pushed past me. Dodger, as sick as he was, managed to pummel an Angel to the ground. I spotted Red off to the side, swinging her sword like a windmill, everywhere I looked was insanity. Then I realized a hulking shadow loomed over me. I turned in time to see a towering Angel glaring at me with a raised sword
. This was it
. People tended to have the fight or flight reflex. I, however, seemed to go with a third option, which was to stare dumbfounded as my sentence was carried out.

I was about to do the bravest thing I could think of―close my eyes tight―but stopped at the sound of a loud pop. I looked up in time to see a large hole explode on my attacker’s forehead. . I managed to glance behind me at the broken third-floor window where my guardian angel watched from above. More popping noises filled the air, and Angels fell at my feet. The tide of battle slowed. People were rattled, Angels and Tribe alike.
Who brings a gun to a knife fight?
We do!

I smiled at the Angels who backed away from me. Red had her gun drawn and was recklessly firing in the direction of fast-approaching Angels. Dodger grabbed my arm and pulled me through the melee of bodies, too tightly intertwined in battle to be safe shots for Gia. We pushed and shoved people out of the way, trying to make our way to the back of the fighting. We weren’t fleeing; this was always part of the plan. Eve wanted Dodger dead, and we hoped to separate her from the group. If we could eliminate her, the rest would fall back. It was a shame Gia couldn’t get a clear shot. If Eve wasn’t lost amongst the chaos of her Angels this could have been over already. The others had to keep the bulk of the Angel army contained to the street. We didn’t want any making way to the camp to find easy prey among those we left behind.

We made it through the mass out into a clear area. Two Angels were on our heels, but the sound of two well-aimed gunshots told me they were no longer a threat. We ran into the park, away from the tented area of the infirmary.

“Where is Eve?” I took Dodger’s arm in support, noticing him slowing down. “I lost sight of her in the melee.”

“I don’t know, and, I hate to admit, I can’t keep up like this. There are a lot of trees around; you think she’ll find us?”

“Come on, Dodge, when has a girl ever been able to take their eyes off you?”

“I think that was the wisest thing I’ve ever heard you say. I might be in love with you.”

“Keep it up, and you might get a bullet to the head.” I pointed at the gun muzzle trailing us from the building across the street.

“I’m surprised she hasn’t shot me already.” Another Angel came tumbling out of the bushes with a knife in his hand that he barely had time to raise before his head blew up like a crushed watermelon. “Jesus Christ, she’s efficient. You sure you want to get in bed with Sarah Conner over there? One minute, she’s throwing you kisses in her dinner outfit, all American-girl like, the next you’re covered in bruises, scared you’ll get a fresh one if you don’t get that pie done on time.”

We stopped at a bronze statue of Washington atop a horse, pointing out into the distance. Dodger leaned up against its base, trying to catch his breath, coughing up black phlegm and sliding down into a sitting position. We could still see the battle beyond the trees as people ran back and forth clashing. I climbed up onto the horse and pulled myself onto Washington’s outstretched arm to get a better view of the park. I scanned the area, looking for Eve.

“So wait, how far did you get with her?” Dodger shouted up to me.

I spotted the old timer from the bar. He was beating the living hell out of an Angel while he had another held firm in a headlock, surrounded by other fallen Angels who contorted on the ground in looks of pain and agony. “Way to go, grandpa,” I muttered.

“What?”

“I dunno. Not far I guess.” Red was holding her own. She was quick with her sword and quicker with her gun. Angels seemed to be avoiding her all together. “We made out; we made out a lot actually. Cuddled a bit when the Slavers caught us.”

“The Slavers…” he whispered to himself. “Wait, cuddling already! Oh, no, man, you are heading down a dangerous path! Don’t get her used to that crap. You let them think you’re a cuddler, you’ll never have a comfortable sleep for the rest of your life. You wake up with a leg across your lower body, an arm wrapped around your neck. All the circulation in your arm gone, feels like it got cut off while you were sleeping. It is common knowledge. This is something men have had to deal with since the beginning of time. The curse waiting at the end of sex, the cuddles…”

I looked down at him; he had his arm held out in front of him, and was squeezing his wrist. “Well, it was cool. I mean I liked it a lot. I miss feeling the warmth of a female body comforting me. Kinda like when my mom, well, what I can remember of her, used to hold me.”

“Holy crap, man, what?” He smacked himself in the forehead. “Please don’t tell her she makes you think of your mom.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” I spotted an area where Angels had three unarmed men surrounded, moving in slow. I waved up at Gia’s window and pointed them out. “I just meant, it felt good sleeping with a woman,” The gunshots echoed, and the Angels fell. “And comforting.”

“If you wanted someone to hold you all this time, you just needed to ask,” he said laughing to himself.

“Oh, no!” I yelled, cutting him off.

“What? I was just joking, I am not cuddling with you. Nope, never, won’t do it with girls, won’t do it with you.”

“They’re breaking through.”

He sat up, looking out into the direction I pointed. “How many?”

“All of them.” The old timer and Red were forces to be reckoned with, but the rest of the Tribe was being overpowered; a fresh wave of Angels ran into the scene, pushing our forces back, trampling and slaying whoever stood in their way. I waved frantically at Gia and pointed at the oncoming Angels. She fired rapidly, felling countless bodies, but then stopped. My heart sank as I saw her waving from the window. She had run out of bullets. “We got to find Eve, if we don’t—”

“Twist.” Dodger’s voice was off. It didn’t take long for me to realize why. Eve was standing in the clearing, aiming a gun at him, the same one we stole from the scavenger, the one Dodger killed Adam with. He looked up at me, hands raised, and shrugged.

My statue dismount wasn’t graceful; I tried to climb down quickly and ended up tripping myself up and falling onto Dodger.

“This is unbelievable.” Eve’s voice sounded like nails across the chalkboard. “You two idiots killed Adam. You two are nothing but idiots!”

Dodger and I got up onto our feet and straightened ourselves out. I was standing in front, but he calmly pulled me behind him.

“Listen,” he said. “I’ve never said anything serious in my life. Really, everything that comes out of my mouth is mostly bull. But what I’m about to tell you is a hundred percent. I’m sorry. You don’t know how sorry I am. I wish I hadn’t killed him. I can still see his face; I can still hear your scream. I can imagine your pain. But I had to do it; he was going to kill Twist. Twist is the only brother I’ve ever known, so all you have to do is look at how you are feeling right now and understand that that’s what I was feeling. What I had to stop. If anyone ever hurt Twist, I’d probably hunt them down and make them pay. I don’t blame you. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m just sorry. I honestly had no choice.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Oh?” Dodger echoed.

“I had no idea.” She looked down at her gun and lowered it. “All this time I’m here planning on revenge, you wouldn’t believe all the things I was planning for your…” She pointed to Dodger’s crotch.

“I don’t suppose they were sexy things?”

“Oh, no, they were horrible things.”

“Understandable.”

“But you’ve explained it all, and apologized. So maybe I should just call this all off and let bygones be bygones?”

“You’re messing with us, right?”

“Yes!” She raised the gun and shot Dodger in the leg; he fell back into my arms, knocking us both to the ground. She fired off another shot at his leg, but we both scrambled back, the bullet barely missing. Unfortunately, we were pinned up against old Washington and couldn’t go any further. “He wasn’t my brother, you freaking idiot! He was my soul mate!”

I tried helping Dodger up. He squirmed in pain. “You said he was trying to kill you! You wanted my baby to stop him from killing you.”

“We were going through a rough spot; all couples do.” She absently waved the gun around at us. “But now we’ll never know because this jerk killed him!”

“So then call off all your people.” Dodger stood up, leaning on me while trying to stop the flow of blood from his right thigh. “Call them off and take me, kill me, do whatever you got to do.”

“What?” Eve and I both looked at him in confusion. Once again, he pushed ahead of me hopping toward Eve.

“Everything I said is true. I feel like crap, I’m tired, and I am honestly sorry. I don’t blame you for wanting to kill me. I can’t say I don’t deserve it, so call them off, and get it over with.”

Before I could protest, a shadow crawled over the park. I looked up and saw the small airship. Speakers on the sides blared sirens that were usually followed by an announcement or message.

“Cease and desist. Everyone put down their weapons, and lay on the ground. You are all under arrest under authority of the Empire. Peace enforcement officials will be with you shortly, make haste in your surrender, and have a nice day.”

The three of us were momentarily distracted by the airship’s message; by the third loop, I realized I had to stop Eve. Things happened in bit of a blur, Eve was moving back toward Dodger, I was meaning to pull him to the ground and shield him, but was cut short by someone running past me from behind, tackling Eve.

“Stay the hell away from my man!” Gia wouldn’t stop punching Eve in the face. Eve looked pathetic and helpless. “Really, you tried to hook up with this ugly bitch?” Gia shouted over her shoulder.

Dodger and I cringed at the sound of her knuckles connecting with jawbone. Dodger was about to say something, but I held up my hand, knowing better than to annoy Gia at the moment. Instead, I climbed back up onto Washington’s arm, flinching every time I heard another sound of flesh hitting flesh. Suits piled into the streets, armed with guns and rifles. Angels and Tribe members, those who weren’t dead or unconscious, were on their knees, hands behind their heads. Those that weren’t as compliant were dealt with by a blow to the head or back of the knee, before having a gun pointed at their face. Everyone was soon put under control.

Gia must have grown tired of hitting Eve. Dodger stood over them with his hands on his hips inspecting the damage, muttering something to Gia, who nodded in approval. Just Stan was making his way toward us with a procession of Suits, no doubt following the airship as their beacon.

“I feel like I’m reunited with long lost brothers. What’s going on over here?” Just Stan looked over at Gia, still straddling Eve, with an excited look. “No wait, don’t. I’d prefer to leave it to imagination.”

We were surrounded by four Suits, all with rifles trained on us. Gia casually stood up, straightening out her pants and adjusting her hood. Dodger fell back into sitting on the ground. He was still pressing at his leg, covered in sweat, straining to breathe. There was a slight wheeze every time he breathed in. More than once he coughed up tar-like phlegm and spat it out next to him.

“You look like complete crap.” Just Stan knelt down close to Dodger, leaning in face to face. “Just look at the sight of you.” Dodger didn’t reply. Instead, he coughed really hard in Just Stan’s face. He wasn’t miffed, though. He wiped his face casually and stood back up, addressing me next. “You have been a busy boy. I have to admit when you went into Brooklyn I thought you’d never make it out alive. It was impressive. I take it that’s where Smith was hiding. Where is he now?”

“He wasn’t so lucky,” I said, meeting his strong gaze.

“Hmm, shame. Where is it then?”

“Right here.” Dodger reached into his pocket and fumbled around before taking out his hand and flipping Just Stan off. “Oh, snap, look at that.”

Dodger was laughing, and Just Stan joined him. He broke out into such a loud ruckus that Dodger stopped, his laugher replaced by yells of pain while Just Stan pressed his foot on Dodger’s wound. “Now, boys and girls, I had better not have come all the way here for nothing.”