Arius was rapidly approaching Olivia’s house, both Olivia and Gina were still bound and in danger. Seeing Zoltan in the house only raised the level of urgency to get the mother and daughter as far from that psycho as possible. Zoltan is an automaton and has no room in his heart for compassion, he is like a machine, heartless, cold and calculating and along with no feelings whatsoever for the world nor its inhabitants. He can kill a man one minute, and in the next minute walk into a restaurant and order a Creme Brule without the slightest hint of remorse or concern, It would be as if he just squashed an irritating insect.
This specialized characteristic of his, as flawed as it may be, makes him an ideal candidate as an Annihilator, one that is welcomed with open arms . There are not too many outsiders that are allowed into the faction of the elite, but Zoltan is not only an exception, but also exceptional, though he is not allowed to breed with the woman of the annihilators, he is however allowed to know some of their secrets of longevity. Zoltan is only called in for special jobs, ones that require a mind that borders on insanity, yet one that can also methodically separate business from pleasure and to also evaluate what needs are best suited for the organization. When he is called in, it is usually at the bequest of the current top dog, Taruuk.
Arius did not know if he should be flattered by the attention or not, but one thing that he did know was that Zoltan would not hesitate to kill them if he feels it would benefit his cause. There were two guards posted at the back of the house with one more in front. Arius carried the crossbow that he took from the truck of the surveillance detail, along with some other goodies. The two guards at the rear of the house were separated by about 50 yards, far enough for stealth, yet close enough to be killed.
Arius inched his way towards the first guard, hidden by the night and some dense bushes. He waited until the guards were bored enough to get their hands away from their triggers. Arius rushed the first guard, he took his blade and in one swift motion ran it across the rear of his legs, cutting both hamstrings, then as he fell to his knees onto the ground, Arius, than arced the blade and drove it into the side of the neck of the guard. By then the second guard turned to see his comrade, until out of the darkness he felt the force of the arrow from the crossbow as it went into the front of his throat. The guard grasped the shaft of the arrow as if to pull it out, only to fall face first to the ground, forcing the arrow to exit at the rear of his neck.
After looking around to see if he had been noticed, Arius than climbed a tree that was close to the house, it brought him to the second story bedroom window of the home. He peered into the windows and then entered the bedroom after he saw that it was clear. Arius noted that they were all downstairs, as best as he could tell. He went back to the window and pulled out a rope, he then reached into his pack and pulled out what appeared to be a rock. He then tied the end of rope to the rock, he opened the window and slowly lowered the rope till it was just above the first story window, he then marked the rope and pulled it back up. Arius then started to equip himself with the armory that he brought along. After he was set up, he went back to the window and held the rope so that it was past the previous mark he made and then held onto the other end. Arius took one last deep breath and threw the stone straight out. As the rock reached the end of the rope, it then dropped down and followed the rope until the rock hit the middle of the window on the first floor. Arius dropped the rope so that it would lay on the ground, he then stood up and prepared himself.
The rock thundered through the window startling everyone in the room, some dropped to the ground others took shots at the window. Zoltan turned towards the window and grinned “Now, let the fun begin” he then placed himself near the woman, he would either be their shield or their demise. “You two, go out and see whats up, the rest of you make a perimeter around our lovely guests, he is not far from here and we should greet our honored guest appropriately”. The two men dashed out the front door, the others went to the rear area of the room, they also avoided the windows for obvious reasons.
Arius was watching from the stairs as the two men left out the front of the home, Zoltan was facing away from him, as were the other guards. Arius pulled out his FN SCAR-L/Mk 16 rifle as he descended the stairs. The 5.56mm rounds exited the rifle to find their marks in the two guards at the rear of the room, Arius swung the rifle and pulled the trigger aiming for Zoltan. Zoltan turned in time to see Arius as he killed his two guards, Zoltan next felt his left shoulder burn as the round took a small piece out of it. The impact was enough to spin Zoltan around and knock him to the ground. Arius was already halfway to Gina & Olivia as the front door began to open. In stepped one of the three guards, he was met with a barrage of bullets, his body tried to fall, but was held suspended until Arius took his finger off of the trigger long enough for gravity to take effect. Arius lost no time in pulling out two grenades as he rushed the door. He pulled the body from the entrance and saw the other two guards scatter for cover. He than pulled the pins and tossed the grenades through the front door closing it behind him. Explosions were heard, followed by the screams of the guards, Arius knew that the grenades were successful.
Just as he moved towards Gina and Olivia, a guard jumped from one of the rooms and attacked Arius, his gun was knocked away from him. It only took him a second to react to this new intruder as he went with the momentum and grabbed the guards head in his hands as he spun around twisting the head until the guard let go of Arius and was facing away from him. At that moment, Arius, still holding the mans head, twisted it in the opposite direction. A sickening pop followed by wet cracking sounds could be heard as the guard was placed lifeless onto the floor. Without missing a beat, Arius scooped up the gun that was knocked from his hands earlier as he got to the woman. A commotion could be heard outside, Arius knew that his time was short. With his knife he was able to cut them free. “Stay close and stay low, but if move, you move too. No questions asked” The woman just nodded their heads in agreement, but as they turned towards the front door Arius heard a familiar voice. ”Arius, is that how you greet an old friend, by shooting him in the shoulder? it seems your manners have deteriorated with the years”. Zoltan cracked a small insidious smile, their way to freedom was blocked by the butcher of Budapest.
© 2010 Steven Takacs
Filed under: The Guardian Chronicles Tagged: | annihilators, Arius, death, fiction, fighting, guardians, immortality, immortals, Mr. Szabo, Olivia, soldiers, The guardian chronicles
