Rise of a Valkyrie

Part 72

Buy the book now at your preferred store: https://books2read.com/u/bM2Nna

***********************************

Eventually, the team arrived at a wide cavern, apparently a nexus of the tunnel network. They came under fire immediately from several fixed positions. Masey yelled at Kayla to hold where she was, before turning to snap off a few rounds, while Urtiga called in the contact to the Banshee, letting them know they had engaged the enemy.

While she waited, listening to the storm of gunfire that had erupted, Kayla thought she saw electricity sparking off the walls. Thinking there must be some loose or damaged cables, she was about to warn Urtiga when her confused mind caught up to reality. The sparks, she realized, were caused by bullets ricocheting off the walls, changing direction as they followed the corridor's angle. Immediately she stepped away from the wall, and watched with fascination, as, moments later, bright sparks spat from the rock she had been hugging for cover.

The danger made her angrier, and she chafed at being made to sit back, helpless to engage in the gunfight. Her instinct told her to join the fight, but the risk of Urtiga's stern reproach held her back.

The teams advanced, passing corridors blocked off with barricades of furniture and construction material. Certainly a prepared defense, Kayla thought, and she started to feel the alarmed sense that they were not in control of the battle.

"We're being funneled!" Gucci snarled, her arm dripping with blood where a bullet had struck her.

"We're killing them faster than they can retreat! Keep pushing!" Urtiga yelled back, before calling the same directive into her radio.

The lead squad rounded another intersection, leading onto a much longer, wider corridor. At the far end, two soldiers had set up a machine gun to cover their comrades as they ran down the vulnerable hall. Before they could fire, a Raider shot them both dead, then another killed the last soldier caught in the open before he could make it to safety.

"Watch our six here until we control the far end!" Urtiga called to Kayla, then raced forward to join the advancing squads.

Kayla dropped to a knee, carefully scanning the area they had passed through. Bodies littered the hallways, the gray and green of their camouflage contrasting sharply with the bright red blood that pooled around them. Kayla's eyes came to rest on an upturned face, jaw frozen open in a rictus of fear. His eyes were wide—glazed white as they stared into infinity.

She shuddered, but a deeper, darker voice expressed only satisfaction that these men would never trouble Calderans again.

A whistle tore her attention away, and she looked around to see Masey beckoning to her. She got up to run. As she traversed the long hallway, she noticed she was approaching an odd circular space with a strange blue lighting effect. The distraction caused her to slip in a pool of blood and fall flat on her face.

"Stop screwing around—get down here!" Masey called.

Kayla pushed herself up to her feet. As she took a step forward, she saw Masey and the Raiders ahead of her flicker, then vanish.

The thunderous storm of gunfire was replaced with an empty hallway and an intersection that looked completely different from the one she had seen seconds earlier. Hearing nothing but her own heartbeat thumping in her ears, Kayla started to panic. At first, she tried to convince herself she must be having a vizor malfunction, and banged her helmet a few times.

But that didn't change anything.

Shock began to take over her senses, and she began gasping heavily. She forced herself to slow her breathing and tried to mentally detach herself from the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her.