Ticking Clockwork- Chapter 6

[Graham Russell]

 

A bullet flew from each barrel, the first hitting the pirate right in the middle of his chest, sending him to the floor. The second weaved in and out of the seats and around obstacle like it was guided by an outside force. It curved hard to the right and plowed into the temple of another pirate. Nina opened her tightly closed eyes just in time to see the two men fall to the floor.

"Hey!" another one shouted, drawing his pistol.

 

She took the guns, aiming this time, and pulled both triggers again. Both bullets hit him in the chest and exited out of his back, curving and hitting the last two men in the head. The three pirates fell in unison. Nina looked at her guns, astonished. These bullets act...like heat seeking missiles! How did Vince manage this one?

She put the thought aside; there were more important things to think about. I can't stay here if people are going to be coming in...Vince told me to meet him at the palace, so that's what I'll do! She walked to the door, checked to make sure it was clear, then dashed into the metal jungle.

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Mayor Tides let the bullets fly from the lever action rifle like he was handing out candy. He would have seemed trigger happy to Fran, except every shot counted. Fran loaded a fresh clip and dealt a head shot to an oncoming pirate, who fell to the floor. The large corridor of the palace didn't give the pirates much cover from the deadly supply of ammo. The two men hid behind the door frame to the room of a large office, leaning out and taking shots when they could.

 

“They just keep coming!” Fran shouted as ten more armed men came trough the door at the end of the hallway. “We're doomed, Tides!”

 

Fran spoke too soon. As if on que, at least twenty men in gray-blue uniforms burst through the same door the pirates had come in, guns blazing. Ah, finally, Tides thought, the guard. The pirates turned around to be met by a wall of bullets. After the last had fallen, a uniformed man with a gold patch on his left arm stepped forward, saluting Mr. Tides.

 

“Sir!” he said in a quick, staccato voice. “We've secured the palace, sir!”

 

“Good, good. Drive the pirates out of the city.”

 

“Yes sir!”

 

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Vince ran through the abandoned apartment, hopping over furniture and vaulting over obstacles. He saw an open window that lead to the balcony outside. He sprinted over to it, not stopping for the man in a blue-gray uniform toting an automatic weapon. Vince jumped and kicked the man right in the chest, sending him over the iron railing of the four story balcony. Vince only stopped moving for a moment, studying the clotheslines that were stung between each building, drying laundry of every color hanging from them and blowing in the breeze. Without a second though, Vince leaped from the balcony and grabbed a white bed sheet. He slid down to the middle of the rope, where his weight pulled him close enough to reach the line below him. He let go of his rope and quickly grabbed the next, repeating the process until his toes touched the cobblestone street below. This must be the gypsy part of town, he thought. A tribe of gypsies had settled down in this massive city many years ago, giving it and extra cultural edge. He looked at a map that he had “acquired” from one of the apartments, studying the different streets that made a square pattern. The palace is only two streets down! I'm almost there!

 

He took off down the street and checked the ammo in his pistol. He loaded it and turned a corner to see the massive, white, Gothic walls in front of him. The palace had a nice, green yard; it was probably the only green in the entire city, besides the small flowers in the windows of the more “green-thumbed” citizens. The yard was protected by a tall iron fence. A stone statue of the goddess of nature, Melidonna, holding hands with her husband, Phirox, the god of intelligence and prosperity. These figures had played a major role in Vince's childhood. His parents used to read him the interesting stories of the gods and goddesses out of the scripture books. Both Vince and Nina had taken them to heart; after all, that was what had brought them together as best friends when they met in the village temple that winter afternoon. Ever since them, they had been together, and now even owned one of the most successful repair shops in the area.

 

A woman's scream from behind him broke through his trance. He turned to see bright read hair flailing in the wind.

 

“Nina?”

 

She was being chased by three men with blades. Vince drew his pistol and blasted away two of the pirates. The other screamed and retreated into an alley. Nina leaned over her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

 

“Th-thank you, Vince...” she stuttered out, breathing hard.

 

“Good timing,” he said as he holstered his revolver and approached Nina. “Like your gifts?” He nodded his head to the two pistols that dangled by the chain wrapped around her body.

 

Before she could answer, the large, gold doors to the palace opened, and two men walked out. One was a well dressed, high class looking man in a blue suit. The other was large, muscular man with short, blond hair. He was dirty, his face smudged with grease. A miner? Vince wondered. He ignored the miner and went back to the man in the suit. The mayor...I have to convince him...he cant go on with this operation!

[David Mark Brown]

Nice weapons. And I like where it ends, leaving the reader wondering about the operation.