“Keep after them!” I barked as we ran up the road, chasing a dozen fleeing Werwolf members.

  It had been an eventful night. From our raids on Werwolf, the ANTIFA team and I had seized almost half a million dollars, dozens of guns, and a few hundred pounds of drugs. Now the people it all belonged to were running for their lives, and I intended to get them too. We rounded a corner as they fled up a brightly lit street, scrambling towards a blocky structure at the end of the road.

  “Cop shop!” Fidel bellowed.

  “You serious?” I gave him a look, eyes wide. “No way they—”

  “It’s Brockton Bay.”

  I swore viciously, sprinting as fast as I could. If they made it to the police, we were going to have a serious problem. I didn’t trust the BBPD, the PRT, any of them. They’d be as likely to help the Nazis as arrest them.

  A hell of a first night for the ANTIFA squad, but it had been going fairly smoothly. Now though, it was all threatening to fall apart. I raised my carbine and fired a round, dropping one of the suspects to the ground. The others sped up and made it to the front doors of the police station, quickly slipping inside and out of sight.

  “Fuck!” Rosa cursed, kicking the body as she passed it. “Now what?”

  “We arrest them,” I said, pausing at the foot of the steps. “Base of fire here. Don’t let anyone in the perimeter. I’m going to knock on the door.”

  “Sure that’s a good idea?” Trinity asked.

  “No, but we need to try cooperating,” I said with a sigh. “J-Dog, call the shots while I’m gone.”

  “Got it.”

  I started climbing the steps, slinging my rifle. My heart hammered against my ribs as I approached the imposing doors, branded with the BBPD shield with the number ‘3’ stamped over it. I had worked with the Third Precinct before, though sure wasn’t happy about it. The most corrupt branch of the cops in the city, and that obviously hadn’t changed. I hammered my fist on the door, then stepped back and glanced at the windows, weapon ready.

  “Return to your home!” a quavering voice called out. “Put your weapons down and go home peacefully.”

  “Surrender the Nazis you’re harbouring,” I countered sharply, looking for the source. “This is a hot pursuit. If you don’t cooperate, we’re kicking the door.”

  “You’re a civilian.”

  “I’m a cape,” I spat. “Three minutes to decide, then we come in.” I jogged down the steps, returning to my team. “Okay, we’ve got a few minutes. Suggestions?”

  “Go home?” Trinity said, eyes wide. “I mean, what else should we—”

  “I called Nadir,” J-Dog interrupted. “Her squad is on the way to back us up. Two minutes tops.”

  “Good, Fidel?”

  “RFB shouldn’t be long,” he said, gazing up the street. “Roter Frontkampfbund, they’re highly experienced. Twenty of them, no capes but they have guns.”

  “Great,” I said with a nod. “Once backup arrives, set them up either side to block the street here. I’ll take a squad inside once we have the numbers and we’ll sort this out. Keep everyone away from the fighting okay? Don’t want civilians getting injured.”

  “Got it,” Rosa said, grabbing Trinity and pulling him away.

  “Hey, boss, don’t mean to be a bug but…”

  “It’s fine J,” I reassured him. “What’s up?”

  “This is a little much, ain’t it?” he asked, voice low. “I mean, we never gone after cops before.”

  “First time for everything,” I said dryly. “I don’t like it any more than you do, man, but they’re harboring the enemy. That makes them the enemy, understand?”

  “Sure I get it,” J-Dog replied. “Old ops clique with new ops, it’s just how it goes. Still, they’re cops.”

  “And we’ve got bullets that go through their vests,” I said flatly. “They’ll die like any other Werwolf bitch: screaming.” He winced, but gave me a nod.

  Nadir arrived soon after, her team piling from Jeep’s car and joining us at the steps. Moments later, a van arrived and a bunch of guys dressed in red shirts piled out. Fidel greeted them and marshaled them into position. The RFB, if I had to guess. At least we had backup now.

  “Okay,” I addressed the few people I’d gathered. Nadir, Jeep, Wick, and Reese huddled around, carbines in hand. “Bad news, very bad news. The Nazis have shacked up with the cops, and we have to go in after them.” Everyone took a step back, staring at me.

  “You gotta be shitting me,” Reese muttered. “You want us to raid a precinct?”

  “I want you to do your job and follow orders,” I retorted. “Ammo check, armour check, then stack up with me on the door. Understood?”

  Demanding as I was, they all agreed hesitantly. A minute later, they were lined up behind me, in front of the massive double doors that led into the building. There were flashing lights at either end of the road, but it seemed our reinforcements were keeping them at bay. No gunfire, so it wasn’t devolving quite yet either. But we had to do this fast.

  I raised my hand, counted down, then blasted the latch of the door to pieces. We flooded into the precinct, weapons raised, blood hot. Bullets struck my projection and I returned fire in an instant, rewarded with a yelp of pain. Charging towards the noise, I found a bleeding, shaking cop, hands in the air.

  Jeep clobbered him with the butt of his rifle and we moved on, taking only his gun. Sticking to the basics, that was us. Fortunately I had been here before, so started leading us towards the holding cells where the Nazis would be caged...hopefully.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  But the cells were empty. I swore viciously as I reloaded my weapon, mind racing. Fuck, fuck. The jail. It was lower down, easier to defend, no doubt they’d be there. The armoury was down there too, which didn’t ease my worries any. Still, we had to go and go quick; we couldn’t give them any time to establish fighting positions.

  “Keep moving,” I barked, continuing down the hall. “Jeep, post up here, watch our flank.”

  He peeled off and took a knee while the rest of us headed for the stairs. I could feel sweat stinging my eyes and blinked it away as I pushed open a door and started heading down. My heart raced like a machine gun, but I ignored it as best I could. We had bigger problems than my idiot biology.

  I kicked a door open to another hallway, sweeping down as fast as I could while keeping my sights steady. It was quiet, too quiet. No way the cops had retreated, they’d never give ground like that. We charged past the armoury, something for later, and continued towards the jail. Once we reached the door, we stacked up like usual and got ready for a nasty fight.

  I counted us down, then blew the hinges off the door. My gun went over my shoulder and stepped into the frame, suppressing a flinch as rounds struck my projection. I bellowed for Nadir, and seconds later the fire slackened. More shots came from deeper inside the room, but only for a moment before Nadir took care of them too.

  “Move in!” I yelled, pouncing on the nearest figure and binding his arms.

  It only took a few minutes of work. Soon enough we’d gathered the officers and their detainees, lining them up at the front of the room. I hoisted my carbine and paced in front of them, staring each in the eyes as I passed.

  “All accounted for,” Jeep said as he jogged from the back of the room. “Twenty in total. No casualties.”

  “Good, means everyone gets a chance,” I said with a nod, then stopped. I took aim at the nearest skinhead, glancing up and down the line of cops and gangsters. “Listen up because I’m only going to say this once! Every single one of you is scum and you should be glad you’re getting a second chance. So here it is: leave Brockton Bay within twenty-four hours. If you don’t, I will kill you. Any takers?” I stared up and down the line of captives.

  “You can’t do this,” a cop with a bushy moustache bristles. “We’re police officers, our job is to—”

  “Your job as of right now is either running for your lives, or being target practice,” I cut him off, taking aim at his forehead. His eyes widened and he shuffled back. “Leave or die, you have you options. Move out!” My team left the room in a rush, and I stalked out after them, keeping my eyes on the fearful prisoners.

  “Good work Nadir,” I said as we started up the hall towards the stairs. “You made it easy.”

  “My mirror,” Nadir replied, flashing a little piece of glass. “Couldn’t have done it if I couldn’t see.”

  “Huh, interesting,” I mumbled. “Think that’ll be an issue if you’re working solo?”

  “Nah, no problem,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Hey, we raiding the armoury?” Jeep asked as we passed the heavy door. I paused and considered it a moment.

  “You know what, let’s treat ourselves,” I said with a nod. I walked up and tore the lock from the frame, then kicked it in. I gestured for my team to go in as my phone rang. “Amaranth, go ahead.”

  “We’ve got cops approaching,” Fidel said quickly. “Orders?”

  “Retreat,” I said instantly. “We’re done here, no need to get caught.”

  “Understood. We’ll start a distraction then bail.” The line clicked before I could ask what kind of distraction he had in mind.

  “Hey,” I called to my team as they rifled through racks of rifles. “We’re going to need an alternate exit. Anyone know how to drive a truck?”

  “Yeah, me,” Jeep yelled back. “What you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking the cops have a lot of armoured cars in their motor pool.”

  “Aww shit yeah,” he crowed.

  “Load up quick,” I snapped. “Three guns each, then we go.”

  “Come on,” Wick groaned. “We got so many options.”

  “So choose carefully.”

  A few minutes later, and many weapons heavier, we ran down the halls toward the garage. My team had taken shotguns, grenade launchers, even a massive rifle that could have been the one I used on Thurisaz. I led the way, carbine raised and sweeping the hall in front of us. Just because we had help holding down the fort didn’t mean there weren’t ambushes all over the shop.

  Fortunately, we reached the motor pool without incident. I shot the lock off one of the Bearcats that was just waiting for use, then let Jeep into the driver’s seat. It only took him a few seconds to get it started, and I ordered the rest of my team into the armoured cabin. Once they were aboard, I clambered into the passenger seat and nodded to Jeep.

  “Let’s drive.”

  The engine roared and the van took off, speeding through the open door and into the night. I glanced out the back and winced at the sight of flames shooting up from the entrance of the precinct. A distraction indeed… Well, it was going to keep their eyes busy while we made our getaway at least. While we drove, I gave Fidel a call.

  “All clear,” he said when I asked for an update. “We made it out cleanly. RFB stayed to provide a rearguard, but our team is gone.”

  “Good,” I said. “And the front?”

  “They set the fire,” he explained. “Got away after that. Far as I know, they’re clear too.”

  “Alright.” I took a deep breath. “We’re in one of the BBPD’s vans, going to go down to the docks to clean it up. Seized some weapons too.”

  “Excellent.” There was a beat of silence. “Meet up tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, see you then.” I snapped my phone shut and let out a sigh.

  “Where we headed?” Jeep asked, looking over at me.

  “A place off Robie,” I said, settling in and checking my carbine. “I’ll give a shout when we get there, okay?”

  “Copy,” he said.

  The engine roared as we left the building in flames.

  “Why you bring this here?” the man at the warehouse rumbled, glaring at me.

  “Because we need it cleaned,” I replied. “Trackers, serial numbers, all of it scrubbed. I’ll pay triple your usual rate.”

  “Mm, you need to,” he said, crossing his arms. “Dangerous stuff.”

  “Everything is dangerous,” I countered. “Especially people able to take shit off the cops.”

  “I take your point,” he said with a sigh. “Four times rate, and you give us a weapon. That weapon.” He pointed at the large rifle slung over my back.

  “Fine,” I spat, dumping it on the concrete. “Get this done by tonight, okay?”

  “We will have it done within the hour,” he said, retrieving the gun and checking it, nodding slowly. “Good doing business, Amaranth.”

  I nodded and headed back to the rest of my team, huddled in an alley just down the road. Nadir glowered at me as I approached, shaking her head and clearing the snow that had dusted her. I brushed it off my shoulders and gave her a smile.

  “Good work guys,” I said brightly. “What’s the haul with the weapons?”

  “Four automatic shotguns, two semi-auto grenade launchers, and half a dozen rifles,” Jeep said, gesturing to the pile. “Plus the one you gave away.”

  “Payment for the van,” I replied simply. “We’ll have that back in an hour. And guys? Thanks for backing me up tonight. I know it was kind of a shitshow but—”

  “Kind of a shitshow?” Nadir snapped. “Amaranth we raided the police! Do you know what they’re going to do to us?”

  “Call us villains, like they’ve been doing,” I said with a shrug. “Fact is, they were sheltering gang members. None of them were even killed, but in case...well, we know where they work.”

  “But—”

  “Nadir, no,” I cut her off. “We can’t finish this unless we rip out every last den they have. We’re at war now, and we will be until they’re annihilated.”

  “I...okay,” She sighed. “Just promise this is only going to be a sometimes thing?”

  “Don’t worry,” I said, patting her arm. “I don’t want more enemies. Now beat it, I’ll bring the van by your place Reese, you have a garage right?”

  “Yeah, rather keep Wick’s car there,” Reese rumbled. “But this is fine too.”

  “Good,” I said with a nod. “And great work tonight, seriously guys. We’ll figure out pay tomorrow, tonight just get some rest. Get home safe.”

  They left me alone in the alley to wait for my ride.