Chapter 102
Floating was not something Jo liked to do. She didn’t even like flying in airplanes, so when her feet left the concrete of the rooftop she had been running on, it was unsettling to say the least.
But she knew exactly what her aunt was doing the moment it happened, and all Jo could do was hold on for the ride.
The three of them--Jo, Cassidy, and Scott--were all up in the air at the same time. Somehow, Cassidy managed to catch the bullets from the firing squad and turn them back around, shooting them back at those with the guns. Several of them hit their mark, knocking the shooters to the ground. The Vampires were running toward them, but the bubble of Cass’s powers around them wasn’t allowing any of the enemy's bullets to hit the trio, nor would it let the combatants in.
It wasn’t enough for Cassidy just to turn the bullets away from the prisoners, though. The Vampires and Hunter Assassins continued to fire, and if even one bullet got through, it could cost their side a life. In a matter of seconds, Cassidy had moved their group within the bubble between the firing squad and the prisoners, expanding the bubble so that all of the prisoners were in it as well.
Just looking at Cassidy’s face, Jo could tell that she was using every bit of her power now to shield all of them. “What do you want us to do?” Jo asked her, but Cassidy didn’t have the wherewithal to answer. Instead, with her eyes still scrunched closed, Cassidy lifted all of them off of the roof, and then, much to Jo’s horror, flung them over the side of the building.
Jo didn’t want to scream. She felt like doing so would ruin any chance she had of convincing the others that she was capable of leading them into battle. No, she couldn’t be their Hunter Leader if they saw her screaming like a child now.
Even knowing that the ground couldn’t kill them wasn’t enough to make her calm down. They were falling so quickly, it didn’t seem like Cassidy had control of them at all. The bullets from above them were continuing to bombard the bubble, bouncing off, but once they hit the ground, there would be an entirely new set of Vampire soldiers ready to assault them. She didn’t think there would be any Hunter Assassins down there that could take out the Guardians, but she didn’t know for sure.
She also didn’t know how long Cassidy’s abilities could last. If she managed to get them to the ground without splattering them all over the place, there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to hold out and protect them from the bad guys on the ground.
In the few seconds that they were barreling over the roof, falling toward the ground, Jo saw that there were plenty of other people inside of the bubble screaming like they thought they were going to die. Cassidy’s eyes were still closed, which made Jo wonder how in the world she was going to know when they were about to hit the ground so she could control the landing.
The concrete drive that led to the building was wide, and they were aiming right for it. At this velocity, hitting the grass probably wouldn’t be that much more comfortable than hitting the drive, but it didn’t look like they were going to be able to avoid it.
At the last second, right before they collided with the ground, Cassidy changed the direction they were traveling so that they were floating parallel to the ground. Bullets from the top of the building could no longer reach them because they were too far away, but there were plenty of bullets coming from the front of the building.
Cassidy set them all down on the ground and kept the shield between them and their assailants as they took off running backward, toward where the Australians were encamped.
It all seemed so easy--even though it wasn’t at all. Getting into the building, finding the hostages, and getting them out was incredibly complicated, but Cassidy made it look effortless.
Jo had no idea how they would’ve pulled this off without her.
They were so close to the Australians now, the troops with Margie came running up in front of them to take on any Vampires that might’ve followed. It seemed that they had pulled back, but Jo thought it was probably because they were regrouping, getting more troops and vehicles ready. Jo expected a barrage of aircraft to fly over at any moment, raining bullets down on them.
Margie herself came out to meet them. Since there was no one shooting at them at the moment, she ran straight to her brother. Jo watched as Jamie, Margie, and Scott embraced. A few moments later, Ashley, Jamie’s wife and Scott’s mom, came running out of one of the tents nearby, crying hysterically as she sprinted toward her husband.
Jo had a tear in her eye, but she didn’t want anyone to see it. Crying over happy reunions was a sure fire way to ruin her reputation as a hard assed bitch.
Cassidy sat down on the ground right behind the Australians’ line of defense, clearly exhausted. Brandon was with her. Jo had no idea how the rest of her team had gotten themselves out of that pickle with the Vampires and gotten there so quickly, but she was glad Brandon was there. She figured they must’ve gone back they way they came once Cassidy got them to the roof. He was taking care of Cassidy, so Jo left them alone. Grant was over with Margie and the Joplin family now, and Pamela and Daniel were over with the other Australians.
She tested the IAC to see it was back up again. Cassidy really was amazing. “How are you coming along, Elliott?” Jo asked. “We’re out. Can you extract yourselves, or do you need help?”
“Heather has a bubble around us and is backing us up, but these bastards won’t give up. She’s going to try blowing the ceiling in on them in a moment. But we have another problem, Jo.”
“What’s that?” Jo wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
“We lost a Hunter.”
“What? Who?” Jo hadn’t even assigned any Hunters to that group. Margie had though. Before Elliott even told her, Jo knew who it was. “Blanche?”
“Affirmative,” he replied. “We’re transporting her back, but Cale couldn’t fix her because he was too shot up himself.”
“And she’s… dead?” Jo clarified.
“As a doornail.”
She was glad her funcle was only talking to her and not anyone else at the time.
The only thing Jo could think of to say was, “Affirmative.”
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