Dark Empathy by Archibald Bradford (inspiring books for teens TXT) 📕

force, crushing it and sending ceramic shrapnel everywhere.

Once the clattering of the big doors had faded, the thunderstruck inhabitants of the machine shop all looked to the unexpected visitor now standing in the wreckage of the crucible.

“THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND DIE!” The Gigas roared at them.

In the midst of sneaking in with Erica and Kala through the now-broken door down the bathroom hallway, Miranda cursed into the startled silence.

“Or die Nina, for fuck’s sake.”

There was a long moment of stillness as the giant looked around at everyone, red eyes wide and hammer raised to show them she meant business.

All at once men began to scramble, a few ran for the exits, while a couple more dropped whatever arms they were carrying and lifted their hands high in the air, smart enough to recognize a Gigas for what she was.

The rest lifted their weapons to their shoulders and did something stupid.

There was a sound of thunder as they lit up the little red girl from all sides, while a couple men stalked forwards with flamers and poured the heat on her.

One especially reckless man on a catwalk above the presses towards the back of the room placed the odd tube that Rebecca had found on his shoulder and fired into the fray, the bulbous end separating and flying towards the Gigas with a terrible hissing sound.

Even through the haze of flame and heat Nina saw the strange projectile coming though and swatted it out of the air with her hammer, the rocket slamming into one of the presses before detonating and indiscriminately killing several people as the explosion blossomed outwards.

There was an awful screeching noise as the multi-ton machine began to crumble from its own weight.

The weapons fire halted after the explosion, the armed men too shell-shocked to keep up the pressure, while several had to scramble to get out of the way as the press collapsed.

When the smoke cleared from the blast there Nina stood; bleeding slightly in several places and stark naked, her clothes having succumbed to the blaze of the flamers.

She looked down at herself; the eyes of all still present followed her gaze to her naked form.

“That was my favourite shirt.” She complained.

Without delay she threw herself at the man with the strange cannon, crushing him instantly before he could blow anyone else to pieces.

Though it could be argued that she swung a bit too hard given that she took the catwalk out with him, the metal railing and reinforced ceiling mounts snapping like dry sticks under the weight of her wrath.

Her landing was less than graceful as she had been expecting her hammer to slow down in her overhand swing; instead she flipped ass over teakettle and landed on the stone floor flat on her back in the midst of a shocked group of workers.

There was a brief pause before they leveled their guns at her.

“Don’t even think-”

They thought about it, and then did it, bursts of red light accompanying their weapons fire.

But to no avail.

“OW! You almost got me in the eye you little turds!”

Still flat on her back she spun her hammer around her, sweeping their legs out from under them and using the weight of the weapon to help her get back to her feet in an odd spinning maneuver.

Then she closed her eyes, because while she might not have been able to recite the criminal statutes she was supposed to have learned at the academy, she did at least know that when the Aegis made entry into a building, they led with strobes.

__________

Upstairs, panic reigned.

“They’re here already!”

“They brought a fucking Gigas! We don’t have anyone outgunned!”

In all the chaos brought about by the explosion, Gregory closing the door to the office and locked it.

As if that would keep the giant out.

Still held in place by the other man, Rebecca licked her lips frantically as she looked for an out.

“Y-you should turn yourselves-”

But she was cut off when the night manager rounded the chair and ruthlessly punched her in the stomach, causing her to fall out of the seat, retching on all fours.

Bethany talked over the unpleasant sound.

“The others are on their own. You two have enough sense to follow me out of this shitstorm?”

They didn’t move right away, too focused on listening to the drama downstairs, but then their eyes flipped to the pistol she was rhythmically tapping against her thigh.

She leveled her best glare at each of them.

“You want to avoid the digsites? I’m still your best option.”

Left unspoken was the fact that if they didn’t help her neither of them were likely to live long enough to dig anything.

Despite the chaos of the Aegis raid, the cherry-haired woman didn’t appear worried, though there was a certain urgency in her movements that betrayed her nerves.

Inevitably the pair as she said, tossing whole sheaves of papers off of a long box in the corner while she turned and knocked over the shelf in the back to reveal a hidden exit cut into the wall next to the icebox.

Desperately hoping to slip out while they were distracted Rebecca crawled on all fours to the door, reaching to the lock with trembling fingers.

But Gregory spotted her and snagged her by her ankle to drag her away from the exit.

“And her?”

Bethany looked over her shoulder as she worked to undo the rusted latch on the hidden exit.

“We take her for insurance. She makes a fuss, hurt her some more.”

“You r-really are a b-bitch.” Rebecca wheezed with hot tears of pain and anger spilling down her face.

“Tell me all about it later. Let’s go!”

__________

Meanwhile there was a series of pops and snaps as the task force flooded the shop below, the main room filling