Free Aftermath by Tim Marquitz Page A

oversized briefcase and absolutely nothing else, to include clothes. They were naked, their little dingleberrys and roots hanging out as if this were some hippy commune they were taking a stroll through. Pale, thin, and without an ounce of fat on them it clicked in my head that they looked like marathon runners and not a heartbeat later they proved me right. All three grinned like psychotic morons—a look I know all too well—and bolted off in a sprint, each of them veering off at a different angle to make staying on all of them impossible.
    “Stop the streakers!” I shouted needlessly and drew on my power, my brain scrambling gas to why there were three of them to begin with. That was a hell of a lot of boom for the buck.
    Thud and Grace ran after the trio, their skillsets geared more toward melee fighting but Kit wasn’t so limited. She had a weapon already hobbled together and took a shot. There was a muzzled pop and a flash of light and a flower of red blossomed on the back of one of the Nephilim. He stumbled and fell, face-planting into the wild grass. I hissed and looked away for just an instant, grateful the world was still there when I looked back. That’s when it hit me we were playing shoot `em up with a group of people carrying nuclear weapons and I had no idea where the hell the prison was. It had to be close though, so why hadn’t they triggered the bombs already?
    “Hold your fire!” I spun and waved at Rachelle. “Round them up and dump them in Limbo!”
    Rachelle heard me and nodded, her magic spooling up but it turned out the Nephilim had heard me as well. The one Kit had shot scrambled back to his feet and fumbled with his briefcase, smearing blood across the handle. Rachelle didn’t give him time to get anything done. A portal peeled open below him and he disappeared with a yelp, briefcase and all. The portal closed after him and she turned her attention to the others.
    “Why are they running?” Rahim asked. “We’re close enough for them to trigger the bombs and have them be effective.”
    Our eyes met and a cold chill settled over me. I could see he was thinking the exact same thing that had popped into my head a split-second before. “It’s a distraction.”
    Right then Shaw cried out, “More incoming!” That was all the confirmation I needed.
    Rachelle scooped up a second of the runners when a new player appeared on the field ahead of them. There was none of the overtness of the others in her approach. She was dressed all in black and clung to a large duffle bag. Magic wafted off her and I could see she’d formed a defensive shield as soon as she appeared, ready to protect her package. She was the real threat.
    “Rachelle!” I pointed at the new arrival but she’d been too distracted by the last of the runners to be quick.
    The woman stood up and raised her arms, screaming something I couldn’t make out. Then she exploded.
    I reached out with my magic, forming a giant arm of energy, and swung it about, scooping up Thud and Grace and all the rest of the folks nearby and pulled them to me, raising a shield at the same time. Everyone hit the ground in a heap, bitching and moaning as the barrier went up. I ducked my head and channeled everything I had into the shield. I knew from experience the next few second were gonna hurt bad.
    There was a thunderous rumble as the nuke let loose, and I ground my teeth to nubs readying for the impact. It never came.
    After about thirty seconds and the blast hadn’t hit us I dared to open my eyes and glance behind us. What I saw damn near blew my mind.
    A glowing ripple in the dimensional wall stood between the explosion and us. It gleamed with energy and danced in the air but everything this side of it was unharmed. My gaze jumped to Rachelle. She stood looking ready to collapse, her eyes gleaming, arms outstretched and fingers twisted as though they were seizing up.
    Rahim was on his feet and gone before I’d even realized what Rachelle had