Free Lethal Seasons (A Changed World Book 1) by Alice Sabo Page A

other ran at the car, gun blazing. Nick opened the door, and used it as cover to returned fire. A hot line of pain seared his scalp. He aimed low, below the armor. The man stumbled, but the gun kept roaring. Nick ducked back behind the door. He braced himself for another attempt. He was panting and his heart was pounding. It had been a hell of a long time since he'd been in a fire fight. He took a deep breath, but before he could move, the night went quiet.
    He checked. The man was down. Inside the van, he heard Wisp say something to Lily. The side panel opened and Wisp stepped out. Blood dripped from a wound on his right arm. He held his bandana out to Nick.
    “How bad?” Nick asked as he tied the bandana tightly around Wisp's arm.
    “It went through. It will heal.”
    Nick stared at him, shaken by the unreal calm. “Don't you feel pain?”
    “Very much so. But we don't have time for it right now.” Wisp walked past Nick, and collected the weapons from the dead mercenaries.
    Nick hurried to catch up with Wisp, so they entered the building together. The lobby looked like it had once been a reception area. Now it was full of drying racks that held fish. The smell was overpowering. Five more civilians lay dead on the floor. Racks had been thrown down, fish scattered across the floor and lying in puddles of blood. Nick checked every body. All died of multiple gunshot wounds. All were unarmed. He stood over a woman, her arms thrown wide, eyes open, mouth agape. She looked astonished that she was dead. He had talked to her about fishing when he’d been here, only days ago. A fist clenched tightly around his heart, but this wasn’t the time to mourn.
    “This way.” Wisp went through an archway into a carpeted corridor that led to offices.
    Rooms with glass-paneled fronts and solid wooden doors lined the hallway. Halfway down the corridor a doorway was open, the glass wall shattered into pellets across the floor. Tied to the doorjamb was a young man, bloodied and limp.
    “Dead,” Wisp said as Nick stopped. He checked for a pulse anyway. It was just like what the others had done to William.
    The next room held hostages. Nick saw Wisp recoil from the doorway. “Too much fear,” he said backing up. He turned to Nick. “The only ones left.”
    Wide eyes above gagged mouths, the stench of sweat and urine, muffled keening, the sounds and smells hit Nick hard. He wondered what another layer of emotion on top of it all would feel like. “Check the rest of the place anyway,” he told Wisp.
    Nick took a quick survey. Two women, two kids and a bloodied man who looked unconscious. He chose the woman whose brown eyes looked more angry than scared. “I'm here to help,” he said. He cut her loose and put the knife in her hands. “Hurry.”
    He bent over the man. Alive, but badly beaten. He'd need Wisp's help to carry him to the car.
    “You're the guy from High Meadow.”
    Nick turned to see the angry woman holding his knife out, but not to return it. “I’m Nick.”
    The other woman and children, now free of their bonds, huddled behind her. The hand holding the knife was shaking but Nick didn’t doubt her intent. He quickly thought through a couple things that might calm her down. “Lily's safe. Wisp found William.”
    “Thank God!” She lowered the knife. “I'm Jean.”
    “There's a car out front, Jean. Can you get these people into it? Wisp and I will carry him.”
    “Bruno,” she said with a hitch in her voice. “He's our leader.” She pointed to the hallway. “His son...”
    Nick shook his head. “I'm sorry. There's no one else alive.”
    Her eyes brimmed with tears, and it looked like she might give in to the grief. She scrubbed her face, then gathered the others. Wisp entered the room before Nick could call him. They carried Bruno out to the car, following the women and children. Jean shepherded them past the blood and violence, their grief redoubling at every body they passed. A brisk wind rattled the