NOTHING SO BOLD AS A MAN IN LOVE WITH HIS GUN
"We won't be able to hold out much
longer."
Garrison didn't answer Bax, but kept his
eyes locked on the door through the scope of his rifle. He loved his gun. His
gun was the only thing, besides Jacks, that had never let him down. He patted
her now and waited for the alien on the other side of the door to try to get
through.
"Marz is hurt."
Garrison did look up then, and Villiar
shook his head where he leaned over the prone form of their medic.
"He's seizing or something."
The crimson-skinned Threxian had something akin to panic in his deep voice. He
held down the smaller man, his eyes wide with worry.
Garrison knelt beside the Phanger, hoping
his sub-par field medic's training might be of some use. The usually pale
Phanger was in the throes of some kind of fit, his head and neck stiff as his
arms flailed wildly. White foam dripped from his mouth as he tossed and turned
in Villiar's grip.
"Don't let him choke on his
tongue." Garrison dug in his pouch, pulling out a wrapped package of
bullets. He looked at it uncertainly for a moment, and then shrugged. What the
fuck? Chewing on a bullet would be better than biting off his own damned
tongue. He pressed the pack between Marz's lips, and his teeth clamped down on
it hard, nearly taking off Garrison's finger in the process.
"Any idea what's causing this?"
he asked the others. Bax and Villiar looked at each other and shook their
heads. Phanger physiology was similar to human, but they weren't that familiar
with the specifics. Garrison took the medical scanner from Marz's belt and ran
it over the alien, and all it showed was that nearly every one of his body's
systems was out of whack.
"Aren't Phangers really sensitive to
energy fields?" Bax asked, and Garrison nodded. He seemed to recall having
to replace a few of the Blade's shield sensors when Marz had first joined the
crew, because they caused the man to have headaches. “Odd, though, since he
never had a problem with J, and he puts off a hell of a blast."
"Must be the machine." Garrison
looked at Villiar as the pounding started up again on the other side of the
door. "Keep him still as best you can. The only thing we can hope for is
that J can get this over with quick."
Villiar nodded as Bax and Garrison took
positions in front of the door, guns aimed at the opening.
"If he breaks through then you move
back and keep him off the others." Garrison instructed Bax, kneeling and
taking up his firing position. With his rifle in his hands he was 99.9% sure he
could stop the monster banging on the door, but there was always that .1%
chance he'd fail.
"What about you? If I move back that
puts you in my line of fire." Bax shook his head at his friend. "I
don't like that plan."
"Only plan we've got." Garrison
said, a grin lighting up his face. "So don't fuck it up."
Bax grumbled, hefting his big shotgun in
his arms. The pounding got louder, the scrape of the monster against the metal
of the door nearly unbearable. Garrison gritted his teeth, but half his mind
was with Jacks. That was his best friend in there, and he was going to do
something ballsy and try to save the whole universe from this thing.
Garrison had seen what it did to Lia, and
knew that Verhagnis had to be stopped. He just wished it was anyone else,
anybody but Jacks. Hell, didn't the man do enough? Sure, he sold his exorcisms,
but he put millions of the dead to rest. Gave families peace and moved on whole
fucking civilizations. Now he was going to kill a monster, maybe die, and it
wasn't fair. For once in his life Jacks had been given a gift, a woman who got
him on every level. It didn't take a genius to see the spark between them from
the moment they'd walked into that conference room together. Considering Jacks
hadn't shown interest in any woman for more than a year that was saying
something. Now, knowing what he knew about Lia and Jacks, Garrison understood
that the woman was literally built for Jacks. The thing he'd been looking for
his whole life, even if he never said it out loud, and now he might die.
"Fuck."
They all looked at him but he shook his
head and squared his shoulders. The only way that fucking beast was getting
past him was if it took his head off his shoulders, and it had better move
faster than a bullet because he had a whole clip loaded and ready for it.
The thing outside the door howled, some
crazy sound like wind through a peephole and they looked at each other.
"I think we pissed him off."
Villiar said in his deadpan way.
As usual, Garrison and Bax cracked up,
laughing even when the shit wasn't funny. Even the staunch Villiar cracked a
smile, and Marz had quieted.
"Guard your minds, gentlemen."
Garrison shook his head, already feeling the scrape of the bastard against his
mind. He knew what it was, that spider on his skin feeling that made his brain
shudder inside his skull. "He's going to try to mess with us."
"He must not know who he's messing
with." Marz's voice was weak, but when Garrison looked at him he was pale
and grinning.
"No." Garrison smiled, and it
wasn't a pleasant have-a-nice-day smile. It was a
I'm-gonna-fuck-him-up-and-like-it smile. "He doesn't."
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