Epic: Book 03 - Hero by Lee Stephen Page B

hallway, the broken bodies of six Bakma scattered around him. The man’s hands were poised to strike. His fighting stance was eager and cold. It was a stance Becan had never seen before. In one hand, the man’s knuckles were anxiously protruded. In his other, his assault rifle loomed. When he turned to the door where Becan stood, chills broke over the Irishman’s skin.
    It was Oleg. The expression on his face was unfathomable, vile.
    The two stared at one another for a mere second before everything about Oleg changed. The killer’s posture snapped into a kind of alarmed subordination. His butcher’s gleam transformed into innocent shock. He became the man Becan knew once again.
    For several moments, they stared at each other. Then Oleg bent forward and heaved. He spoke in the same soft voice he’d always adopted. “What a rush…”
    The Irishman stood motionless in the open metal door, his M-19 still in his hand. Then he lowered it. “Yeah…what a rush…”

    * * *

    Max pressed against the second-floor wall as a flurry of plasma flew past him. Maksim rolled forward from behind, awkwardly crouching and firing an armor-piercing round from his own hand cannon. The Bakma fled around the corner in retreat.
    Lieutenant Brunner had flattened herself against the opposite wall. She barked out orders through her comm. “Shavrin, do you know the location of the safe room?”
    “ Yes, lieutenant.”
    “ There are civilians there. Retrieve them.”
    A Bakma warrior emerged from the corner and fired. It narrowly missed Brunner, who countered with a shot of her own. The Bakma was struck in the side and slunk back in retreat.
    Brunner was on her feet again. “Max, I am going ahead. I am taking your demolitionist with me. Make sure nothing comes from behind you.”
    Max gritted his teeth and hobbled forward. “No, I’m going with you. Maksim, you stay here and cover the rear.”
    “ This is not the time or the place to prove you’re a man,” she snapped back. “You will do as I say.” She looked back at Maksim. “Are you ready to go?”
    Maksim exchanged a conflicted look with both lieutenants.
    Max growled and fired a shot in frustration. “Draggin’ bull-headed woman. You wanna play it your way, go get killed. Go with her, Frolov.”
    As Maksim took to Brunner’s side, she said to Max, “You had better watch the rear well.”
    “ I’m watching! I’m watching! Freakin’ go !”
    Brunner and Maksim charged the corner.

    * * *

    Scott had been leading the priests outside when the overhead sprinklers kicked on in the church. The moment he left the building, he saw why. The top of the bell tower, where the alien sniper had once been, was engulfed in flames.
    He had heard the announcement about Jayden over the comm. But there was no time to think about that now. He had two dripping wet priests in the middle of a snowfall.
    On the other side of the street, on an adjacent corner, stood a row of residential housing. Only one thought came to Scott’s mind: warmth. “Across the street,” he said to the priests. “Come on, move !” Grabbing one by the arm, he dragged him along.
    Nicolai had been directly behind Scott until something else caught the slayer’s attention. Down the street, several blocks ahead, a canrassi lumbered around. The Nightman raised his weapon to fire.
    As soon as Scott reached the first doorway, he tried the knob. It was locked. There’s no time for this. Taking a step back, he struck out with his foot and bashed the door in. Gunfire struck him immediately. He flew back through the air. It wasn’t plasma—that much was revealed by the clattering sound of metal against his armor. It was something more brutal. As Scott landed back-first in the snow, gasping for breath, he registered the way he’d been hit. The wind was completely knocked out of him. He looked into the house. Huddled in the far corner was a terrified family, shielded by an old man with a shotgun. When they saw his gleaming