The Mantis Synchronicity - Book Five - 27. Chapter 27 - Assault

Abernathy awoke in surroundings that disturbed him. He sat bolt upright and vomited stinking putrescence all over the already foul alleyway where he had passed out. The group of Demifae who were hunting him had not found him. The sun was beaming down, and Abernathy did not know how long he had been unconscious, but he wanted to get out of the disgusting alley. He pushed himself up and saw the dead body of the green-furred Biological Shift lying in the gutter.

Abernathy knew people were after him, but he took the time to cut off the corpse’s head. He stuffed it into an old sack from one of the piles of garbage and spat on the body. He wrapped himself in the greasy blanket so he would appear to be one of the countless street people of Teshon City and no one would look at him twice, and he made it back to his apothecary without incident. The shop was empty.

“Where’s Croosen?” Abernathy grumbled as he opened the broken door. He threw the vile blanket onto the street and entered. “Time to try again. That organic mechanic thinks she can stop me from killing Shifts.” He laughed. “She doesn’t know that I have no problem killing her,” and he added in a growl, “I’m coming for you, girl.”

Once he cleaned the slime off his body, he dressed himself and again left his shop. He headed straight to Gate Town and the neighborhood of Shifton. Abernathy turned the corner that would lead him right to the First Organic Mechanic of Teshon City, but to his surprise, Olona was standing out in front with a pair of monstrous-looking Biological Shifts.

Olona was armed and armored, and she fired a shot before Abernathy even commanded his weapon to come out of the housing unit in his shoulder, but he managed to dive behind one of the old Oselian structures, and the concrete protected him. He peeked out from his hiding place, and he saw the two Biological Shifts move out in different directions.

“Let’s talk about this!” he shouted. Another blast, hitting the wall near his face, was Olona’s only reply. “Come on, girl, be reasonable.” He tried to aim at her from around the corner, but a third shot exploded close enough to make him duck back again. Abernathy’s enhanced ears allowed him to hear the two Biological Shifts, but they were not close enough to be a threat yet, and sudden running feet straight toward him caused Abernathy to hazard another glance.

Olona was upon him!

He fired, and Olona screamed.

She dropped to the pavement, but through her pain, she aimed and activated her weapon.

Abernathy’s foot exploded, and he wailed in agony as he toppled over. He hit the ground several feet from Olona and fired his weapon again at point-blank range, but he had landed on his shoulder, and his arm was momentarily pinned beneath him. The blast exploded against the concrete under him and blew off his forearm at the elbow. Abernathy cried out and rolled over, clutching at the tattered fleshy remains of what had been his arm. He tried to make his weapon fire again, but it had also been damaged and was no longer functional. He groaned in pain like he had never felt, but then fear unlike any he had ever experienced before began to overwhelm him. He was helpless but to watch, as Olona pushed herself up to a seated position. Abernathy began to quake in terror.

Olona was gritting her teeth, and her breath was coming in short bursts. Abernathy’s shot had hit her in the chest and punched through her armor below her right collarbone. A searing hole smoked in her flesh, and her lung was punctured, but her defensive organic machines prevented the blast from going all the way through her. Olona slowly raised her arm and pointed one of her many weapons at Abernathy’s face.

“No, wait,” he managed to moan, “please don’t kill me.” He coughed hard. “I’m just trying to make the world…” he faltered, “a better place. And isn’t it? Isn’t the world… better with… a few less of… those disgusting Shifts in it?” Pain overtook him, and Abernathy lost the ability to speak, just as the two Biological Shifts reappeared.

They stood behind Olona. One of them was bird-like, with what appeared to be little feathers covering every inch of her body. The other had blue scales and black spines, and towering above Abernathy, they were horrifying. He could not beg. He was unable to argue. He could not even cry out in pain. All Abernathy could do was lie there, bleeding onto the pavement, while his killers stared him down. He began to sob, and he mouthed the word Please but no sound came out.

The muzzle of Olona’s weapon began to glow, and Abernathy shook his head no, but then there was only light, and then there was nothing★