Chapter 13 – Shadows in the Alley
The plaza behind him faded into silence as he walks further to the crowd. Gaius walked with long, deliberate strides, not hurrying, not glancing back.
He could feel the hunters now. Ten of them, circling the block, the weight of their eyes pressing against his back. Men and women in black suits, moving with the shallow discipline of soldiers who had never known a real war. Their steps were too even, too measured. They thought the hunt was theirs.
Gaius turned into a narrow alley between two buildings, the street lamps dim and flickering above. The stench of old garbage and oil hung heavy. It was a dead end ahead, brick wall rising high. Perfect. He let his boots echo on the pavement, each step deliberate, before he stopped and stood still in the shadow of the wall.
Three followed. A woman with sharp eyes, two men flanking her. All young. All armed. They entered the alley with a predator's confidence, the woman speaking first.
"Stop right there," she ordered, voice steady. "Hands where we can see them."
Gaius did not turn. He remained still, towering, the collar of his coat shadowing most of his face. Beneath the layers of worn fabric, his undersuit clung to his massive frame, unseen but ready.
"Sir!" the taller of the men barked. "You are under arrest. On your knees!"
Their words were noise. Gaius tilted his head slightly, listening. He counted the footfalls beyond the alley, the shuffling of more boots, rifles being shouldered. The rest of the pack was ready.
Good.
He bent his knees, coiled, and then leapt.
The three below gasped as his massive form blurred upward, clinging to the brick wall like some armored beast. Dust rained down as he landed silently above them. They spun, weapons half-raised, eyes darting to the wall, and then a heavy thud shook the ground.
Gaius dropped behind them, blocking the mouth of the alley with his body. His shadow swallowed theirs.
The woman's breath caught. The two men froze, fingers tight on their triggers.
Gaius stepped forward.
"You don't know what you're hunting," his voice was low, iron scraping stone.
"Stop!" the shorter man shouted, pistol trembling. "Another step and we fire!"
They fired anyway.
Muzzle flashes stuttered, bullets snapping through the dark. Gaius surged forward, impossibly fast for his size. One round grazed his cheek, another struck his coat. He ignored them.
His hand shot out, wrapping around the throat of the nearest man. The pistol clattered to the ground as the agent kicked and clawed. Gaius lifted him clear off the ground with one arm, using the body as a shield as the other two kept firing. Bullets ripped into their own comrade's chest, blood spraying across Gaius' hand.
The man gurgled, eyes bulging, fingers clawing weakly. Gaius squeezed once. The neck crumpled with a sharp crack, the head twisting unnaturally. He hurled the corpse aside like trash, the limp body smashing into the wall.
The woman screamed, raising her pistol higher. She barely got the muzzle up before Gaius was on her. His hand engulfed her skull entirely. She thrashed, boots kicking against him. He squeezed.
The sound was wet, brittle. Bone splintered, skin ruptured. Her skull collapsed in his palm like rotten fruit, blood and fragments spilling between his fingers. Her body twitched once, then went still.
The last agent froze in horror, pistol shaking. He fired again, rounds slamming into Gaius' chest at near point-blank range. Gaius didn't flinch. The Primaris stepped in, caught the man's arm mid-shot, and twisted. The elbow snapped backwards, bone jutting out. The man screamed.
Gaius silenced him with a blow to the chest. The massive fist drove into his sternum, ribs shattering, lungs collapsing under the impact. The agent staggered, eyes wide, before falling face-first onto the concrete.
The alley was silent again. Only the drip of blood, the metallic tang heavy in the air.
Gaius exhaled once, steady, like a man adjusting his stance after training. His hands were red, his coat spattered. He left the three bodies where they lay and turned toward the street.
The reinforcements had arrived.
Two dark SUVs screeched to a halt at the alley's mouth. Doors slammed open, rifles raised, agents pouring out in disciplined lines. The first shouted into a radio, the others leveled their weapons.
"There he is! Engage, engage!"
Gunfire erupted, deafening in the narrow street.
Gaius charged.
He broke from the alley like a storm, bullets hammering into his frame. Pain was nothing. He had felt the claws of daemons carve into his organs; this was a breeze against his undersuit armor.
The nearest SUV was his first target. He slammed his fist into the driver's side window, glass exploding inward. With one hand he dragged the driver screaming out of the seat and snapped his neck with a twist. The corpse was discarded before the echoes faded.
The door was still attached. Gaius tore it free with a wrench of his arm, the metal screeching as bolts snapped. He spun and hurled it across the street. It smashed into a second SUV as agents were stepping out, crushing two flat against the metal and hurling them into the pavement with broken spines.
Panic rippled through the squad. They fired wildly now, some shouting to fall back, others screaming for more men.
Gaius advanced without pause.
One agent braced and fired a burst at his head. Gaius closed the distance in three strides and seized him by the chest. Fingers dug deep, crushing ribs until the man shrieked. Then Gaius slammed him into the hood of the SUV, leaving a crater of twisted steel.
Another tried to retreat into the vehicle. Gaius caught him by the leg and yanked, tearing him bodily from the SUV. The agent hit the pavement hard, bones snapping audibly. Gaius raised a boot and brought it down. The skull split open under the weight, blood painting the ground.
Screams filled the air now. Civilians at the far end of the block fled in terror as the firefight dissolved into slaughter.
Three agents rallied together, rifles aimed, shouting to focus fire. Gaius ran straight into their line. Their shots tore into his coat, into the meat of his arms, as the undersuit reach only to elbows , but it didn't slow him. He swung a backhand. The force caught one across the jaw, snapping his neck instantly. The second was grabbed by the throat and lifted. Gaius squeezed until the airway collapsed, then used the corpse as a weapon, flinging it into the third with bone-crunching force.
The last survivor crawled backward on hands and knees, eyes wide, pleading incoherently. Gaius loomed over him, silent, expression cold as stone. Without a word, he stamped down, crushing the man's skull beneath his heel.
The street was quiet now.
Blood pooled, bodies lay broken, SUVs wrecked. The acrid smell of gunpowder and gore clung to the air. Gaius stood among it all, broad chest rising and falling steadily. His coat hung in tatters, but his eyes burned steady and clear.
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