Chapter 58

A steady stream of Vampires poured out of the trees, firing off round after round at her unsuspecting teammates as they stood outside of the cave, waiting for any sign of life from her aunt who was trapped inside. Unable to put any more attention on what was going on with Cassidy, now that they were being assaulted from behind, Jo turned and shouted at the others to open fire on the Vampires.
Shrieks and screams around her let her know that some of the LIGHTS personnel had already been hit. The Healers got busy, sending wave after wave of blue light across the opening, but the bullets were coming faster than the Healers could work, and Jo couldn’t even keep track of who all was hit. It became clear that these Vampires were using scandium bullets as it wasn’t just the Hunters that were falling. Guardians were being affected, too.
Jo spun her Beretta around and began firing as quickly as she could, aiming at the lead Vampires and working her way back. They had managed to procure a few more titanium bullets, but it wasn’t enough for them to easily take out the entire Vampire hoard. They’d have to rely on regular bullets and silver blades if it came down to it. While there didn’t appear to be that many more Vampires coming at them than she had people on her side, they had gotten the upper hand when her team was caught off guard. At the moment, it looked as if there were about thirty or forty Vampires bearing down on about twenty of them still standing. Some of her teammates were breaking for the trees, presumably to take cover or maybe get a better vantage point. There didn't seem to be time for that, though, as the Vampires were mowing down more and more of her people.
Jo looked around to see who was still standing as she continued to fire into the mass of dark-clad forms working toward them. Cadon was up on the hillside now, firing down. He seemed to be well shielded. Scott and Cale were also taking shelter so that they could send their healing lights out to the wounded without being taken out themselves. Zane and Brandon were still standing near her, out in the open, firing and dodging bullets like she was. She also saw Lucy on the perimeter, firing from behind a tree, but she was getting a lot of attention from the Vampires on that end of their line, and if she didn’t fall back soon, she was going to get hit.
The rest of the team had either hidden so well she couldn't see them, or they had been shot, lying out in the open, trying to fire if they were conscious, waiting for the Healers to move to help them, and none of them could because they were pinned.
Jo saw her entire team falling apart in front of her eyes, and for a moment, she envisioned her father coming out of the portals only to discover they were all gone--all of them. That he’d picked someone to lead them who was so incapable, she was essentially General Custer, and this was her last stand. She wouldn’t be able to handle that, even if she wasn’t alive to see it. Thoughts of Elliott finally making it to Russia, only to find out his son was dead, along with his daughter-in-law, also ignited a fire inside of her. Jo wasn’t just going to stand by and let her team be annihilated, not when she’d been the one to put this plan together.
The rage building inside of her bubbled to the surface. No longer able to control herself, Jo moved forward, drawing her blade with her left hand, and switching to her Glock with her right, her Beretta swinging back into place behind her. With the speed and accuracy of a bullet, she sliced through the air, taking on the Vampire closest to her first with plans to move right down the line.
Her boot landed firmly on the Vampire’s hand where he held the weapon, firing at her friends at an angle such that he didn’t realize she’d come flying at him from his left. His weapon sprayed bullets up into the air as he lost his grip. She kicked him in the stomach, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and ran her blade through his neck, leaving him spraying ash as she moved to the next Vampire. This one also didn’t realize she was there as she moved like lightning, jabbing the knife blade into his throat while she drove her elbow into his stomach.
The third Vampire in the line realized she was in trouble and turned just in time to have a titanium bullet at close range rocket through her eye socket. Again, Jo had to assume the explosion of ash was coming as she continued to work her way down the row, hacking and shooting her way through one Vampire after another. These bloodsuckers were newbies, not the kind who had experience fighting. They were reliant upon their weapons, and when she reached them, not a one was skilled enough to put up a fight.
The further she worked her way down the line, the more her teammates were able to focus on the others. A few of the Vampires turned to fire at her, but Jo was able to dodge out of the way, and while they were not focused on the LIGHTS members in front of them, her friends took them out. In a matter of minutes, Jo had decimated at least twenty Vampires all by herself, and her team was able to handle the remaining assailants so that almost as quickly as the rage within her had caused her to attack, she found herself standing alone in a long line of ash, her lungs burning, surveying the damage.
There was a lot of it.
Nearly everyone was wounded somewhere. Many of them were grasping at arms or legs as blood spurted between fingers. Those wounds would be okay. She needed to see who wasn’t moving. Scott and Cale jumped out from their spots between trees and moved to actually put their hands on the teammates who weren’t mobile because their powers were stronger when they could actually touch the injured instead of just throwing their light at them. Jo locked eyes with Zane from across the expanse. He was kneeling over a body on the ground, someone who wasn’t moving. From this angle, she couldn’t tell who it was, but she didn’t feel good about it.
Her brother had come down off of the mountain, and she didn’t like that either. “Cadon find a place to serve as a lookout, somewhere where you’ll be able to see them coming if there’s another round.”
“How?” He argued. “There are trees everywhere I won’t be able to see through.”
“Figure it out!” Jo passed Mila who was bleeding pretty profusely and headed over to Zane. When she got there, he was shaking his head. “I can’t find a pulse.”
It was Ping. She didn’t see any blood on his clothing, but there was a round entry wound right in the middle of his forehead, and when Zane removed his hand from the back of the young man’s head, it was covered in the warm, sticky substance.
He hadn’t wanted to come. He’d wanted to stay back and guard Ryker. They’d said he needed the experience. And now he was gone. “Son of a bitch!” she muttered. “Scott!”
“Just a minute!” Scott shouted, not in a rude way, but it was enough for her to know he was busy trying to save someone who might actually be savable. Jo knew that his father, Jamie, had once brought her own mother back from the dead, but she didn’t think there was much that could be done for Ping. Still, she had to try.
In the meantime, she looked up to see Brandon moving rocks.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked him through the IAC.
“What do you think I’m doing?” he shouted back, disappearing into the opening of the cave before he reappeared with another large boulder, which he tossed aside.
Jo left Ping and headed over to him, catching him by the arm before he could go back in. “Brandon! You could be making it worse! We don’t have any idea how bad it is in there. Moving these rocks could make more come down!” She didn’t mention to him that there was still no activity on Cassidy’s IAC, which led her to believe they’d be headed in there on a recovery mission, looking for a body, not a rescue mission to pull her out alive.
She didn’t blame him for trying, though. She would do the same if it was the love of her life in there. The moment her hand moved from off of his arm, he was back at it. “I’m not leaving her in there!”