The Faith Eaters, Chapter 4: Erin

“The op felt wrong from the beginning.” Grimacing at the cliché Erin took another sip of hot herbal tea from the mug gripped in her icy fingers and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “Not just to me,” she continued, “I think everyone in the squad felt it in some way. Call it women’s intuition. But the orders came from on high. The briefs were thorough, accurate to a fault. The whole thing was laid out text-book-simple.

“We’d been in Kinsborough for nearly a month when the orders came, just getting familiar with the place, blending, learning our way around. We lived four to a flat in a complex about three blocks from the Cathedral. Everything had been arranged -- the places were furnished, rent was paid in advance. Our weapons had even been pre-staged somehow right there in our apartments. To be honest, it was a good gig. I mean, we always had to be alert, sure, but that didn’t keep us from checking out the nightlife. There’s one club down on Harkington Ave, live band every night, big dance floor...” Erin smiled a fragile smile and her voice trailed off into silence.

For several minutes she stared into the semi-darkness of the room, lost in thought, then, after a time, “I’m sorry. I...” She drew a long, shaky breath. “Our orders came in the night, slipped under our doors by Light knows who. We never know. Not knowing keeps the ‘Haus network alive in this city. But the packets were sealed. Correctly. “ Erin looked up from her mug, eyes wide. “We all agreed on that. That the packets were sealed correctly.

“And like I said, the briefs were thorough. And accurate.”

Erin’s tone changed, became terse, crisp, as she recited the details. “The Primary target will be a Heretic Brotherhood Keeper. He'll be traveling in a lone sedan: medium armor, black, four doors, Church plate: lima oscar charlie five oh six. In addition to the Primary, the vehicle’s occupants will include two Arch Primates armed with machine-pistols, one driver armed with a pistol. No known weapons on the Primary, but a moderate to high Symmetry threat has been assessed. A quick kill is advised. All occupants are viable targets, but 86 of the Primary is mission essential. The vehicle will be traveling through the South District, east on 54th, and will cross Jenkins at 2350, plus or minus 10.”

As she recited the words, Erin’s back had straightened and she had leaned forward on the rickety bed. Now, finished, she sagged back into the lumpy mattress as if deflated, leaned against the wall and once again tucked the blanket snugly around her. Silence hung in the air. The steam from her mug faded, disappeared as her tea cooled.

After a long time her hands relaxed and the mug tilted loosely in her fingers. Unblinking, eyes fogged with tears, she didn’t seem to notice as the now-cold liquid began to poor into her lap. Didn’t look up until the mug was taken from her and set on the nightstand next to the bed. She shook her head then, blinked several times to clear her vision and continued to speak.

“We staged the hit one block past Jenkins. Niki would hit the sedan with a string of grenades, blow it’s front tires. Babs whould go in close on the right and hit it with the torch to force an exit. The rest of the squad would be scattered across the street on the left to clean up.

“I wasn’t with them. Not up close. I was the long gun, on the roof of the warehouse where you found me.”

In answer to a quizzical arch of an eyebrow: “Yah. The long gun. Contrary to popular belief, the ‘Haus has ‘em. We just use ‘em different. I was there to play goalie. To keep any stragglers from wandering away.

“Everything was smooth as glass for about thirty seconds. Niki blew the tires. The front end of the rig went up, crashed down. The sedan stopped. I think the driver was done that fast. Through my scope I could see where his head hit the windshield. Then Babs lit it up. That’s when things went bad, because...”

Eyes wide, voice quiet, cracking, Erin looked up. “Because the thing that came out of that car, it... it...” Struggling to find the right words, she finally settled for, “we just really hadn’t been briefed on that,” and lapsed back into a long silence, her chin pressed against her chest to fight down the sobs trying to escape her.

Time passed. Erin’s gaze settled on a spot across the room, she took a deep breath and said:

“The thing from the car, the ‘Primary’, it looked like a man. It was shaped like a man wearing the robes of a Keeper. But there was something wrong with his face, with his eyes. It wasn’t a man.

“It did something to them. To all of them, even the Arch Primates as they came out of the car together. I watched it all through my scope, trying to get a shot. It was as if a hole opened in the air and started raining fur, teeth and claws. The ArPees went down, torn to ribbons where they stood. They never even fired a shot at us. Then the Stars fell. Glen, Jacqie, Tish, Ricca, our squad leader Marlo. They were covered with, what? I don’t know. Rats?” She shook her head. “No. No. Rats don’t do that. Rats don’t... I could hear them screaming from the rooftop, from three blocks away. I was three blocks away. Everything happened so fast. I couldn’t get down there and I couldn’t get a shot.”

Erin’s emotions finally overcame her and she began to sob, her breathes coming in short, sharp gasps as she struggled with the memories. She continued to talk, but had trouble forming the words. “They’re all gone... I couldn’t get the shot... too fast... couldn’t... I couldn’t...” Hugging her knees to her chest, Erin rocked forward and back, forward and back, until the rhythm of her breathing matched the rhythm of her rocking. Until both slowed, became even. She fought the battle with her emotions not to victory, but to an uncertain stalemate.

“Niki didn’t even hesitate. She moved around the front of the car -- I don’t think it could see her through the smoke -- and tossed a grenade at the thing’s back. It exploded. He turned to see where the attack was coming from and Babs lit ‘im up. They hurt him good. He fell to one knee, his robes on fire, was doing something with his hands. That’s when I squeezed trig. But I was too slow, it took me too long to draw a clean bead.

“Niki and Babs went down at almost the same instant I took his head off. He collapsed, still smoldering. The things that tore up my squad scattered into the gutters, the shadows, wherever. I just lay there, watching through my scope. I didn’t even hear the Banshees hit the roof behind me. I didn’t know they were there until their squad leader told me to drop my rifle.

“I was numb, spent. I’ve seen death before, but nothing like that. Nothing like it at all. I let the rifle slip from my fingers and rolled over to face them. I guess I figured I was pretty much done until I saw the light flash behind them and you worked your way to me.”

Erin pressed her hands to her face, wiped away the tears and looked up. Her eyes were swollen, puffy, blood shot from crying and lack of sleep. “It was good to see you again, Jargon.”