Dark Angel, part two

Continued from:[link]

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Obertruppführer Evans hung up his cell-phone and strode over to the other two men in the apartment. He ran his hand through his short brown hair and turned his open lap-top around to face them. On the flat-screen monitor was the image of a young blonde woman, thin and well dressed making her way to what was in all likelihood her car. She was beautiful if not a little waifish and bookish looking. Bert, the larger of the three men assembled chuckled.

"I usually like 'em with a bit more meat on 'em Bill. I'm an ass man." he said in a deep voice.

Bill Evans smirked and flipped the monitor back around. "This one comes down form the top Bert. The big gal herself apparently gave the order. This chick's name is Clemence Wittgener-Mackenzie...a fucking mouthful there... a local librarian here in town. I've been tailing her around for about a week now. Our orders are to grab her up and take her back to Outpost 5. The girl is not to be harmed."

"Unless she gives us too much shit. Give a gal a rap in the mouth and she'll learn not to do it again." Tom piped up, "Reminds me of a joke: what do you tell a gal with two black eyes? Nothing you said it twice already."

The three men laughed at the incredibly poor joke before Bill held up his hands. "Seriously, they want this one done without any shit going down. By the numbers. We're going to pull up fast, throw her ass in the trunk of the car and get out of there. No monkey business."

The other two men nodded in agreement as the conversation returned to being serious.

"We have about..." Bill glanced down at his watch. It was 3:48 pm. "...another hour before she gets off her shift and we make this happen. I suggest we suit up and get a full tank of gas. I want everything ready to go."

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Grendel watched from across the street as the two burly men in riot gear walked out of the back of the apartment complex and hurried into a four-door sedan. Earlier one of them had taken the car out to re-fuel before bringing it back and the other two joined him. All three of these thugs worked for Ilsa. Oh there was a long line of commanders and sergeants and lieutenants before it got back to her, but there was a path all the same. They made up a small three-man unit of male operatives Ilsa sued when she didn't want anyone to suspect Fourth Reich involvement. The body-armor and face masks they used looked more like the gang involved with the North Hollywood shoot-out than the swastika clad uniforms her normal shock troops wore. Cells like there were located all over the city and were no less fanatic and loyal to her. She recruited from the local chapters of the Aryan Nation or Skinheads. Angry white males proud to serve the glory of a fallen dictator and the celebrity that was Genocide. It made Claire sick to her stomach. All those years later and so much knowledge about the atrocities the Nazis committed and still people flocked to their cause. She shut such thoughts out of her head. This particular cell had gone active in the last twenty-four hours and she was determined to find out why. As the sedan pulled away Grendel followed silently after it, leaping from rooftop to rooftop to keep up.

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The three men pulled up in the rear parking of the public library on 12th Street and idled their vehicle near the employee spots that were clearly marked on the pavement. Their targets car was several feet away and they were positioned so she would have to walk directly past them to reach it. Tom sat behind the driver's seat eating a Baby Ruth and looking through the rear-view mirror as the other two men sat in the back seat, geared-up and ready to go. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting Tom nodded his head. The girl was approaching, carrying a pile of books under her arms. Bill's hand closed around the handle to the door and Bert did the same on the other side. Just as she about to pass by, the two men leapt out of both sides of the car. Upon seeing the two men, dressed almost like riot-police bearing down on her, the woman screamed and almost without thinking chucked her pile of heavy books at them. Instinctively they both covered themselves as the books smashed into them, not causing any damage but buying her enough time to race off towards a side alley behind the library. Bert was right behind her and Bill joined the pursuit after almost slipping on an open book, the pages ripping and scattering around the parking lot.

Bert caught up with Clemence after a few steps and reached out for her with a strong hand. He grabbed a hold of her blouse and pulled hard, ripping it from her body. The force of being pulled from the opposite direction caused her to lose her balance and crash to the ground, tearing up her stockings and breaking the heel on her shoe. Her purse exploded like a hand grenade nearby, tossing her personal objects in all directions. She grunted in pain, the wind had obviously been knocked out of her. Bert tossed the torn blouse aside and snaked his hand out again, this time it found purchase in her golden blonde hair. He jerked her head back violently, almost lifting her completely off the ground.

"Bitch!" He hissed through his face mask. His breath stank of Patron.

Then there was a rush part her and suddenly the face mask and alcohol smell were gone. She turned to look, still trying desperately to catch her breath. A tall powerful looking woman, bald and unusual looking, dressed all in black was standing where the man who assaulted her once was. She was holding him about a foot off the ground with one hand clamped down around his neck. The bald woman sneered and twisted her wrist sharply, her assailants neck making a horrible splintering sound as she did. The woman dropped his still twitching body down in front of Clemence with a sickening thud. The other man who had chased her had stopped a few feet away and had gone for a pistol of some sort holstered under his arm. Grendel's trench-coat brushed against her face and back as she moved to engage the other attacker. Clemence didn't wait to find out who was going to win. She bolted in the opposite direction as fast as she could, heading for the streets and the bustling crowds of five o' clock Angel Falls. Her lungs felt like they were on fire and she clutched what was left of her blouse around her as she ran.

Bill took almost as much time to take down as Bert. He managed to fire off one round with his Beretta (now that she had a closer look at it) which was easily dodged to the right. Come up fast. Palm to the throat, collapsing the windpipe and crushing the trachea. Bill collapsed to the ground, turning blue and flopping around like a fish. He had about a minute or two before his brain would die from the oxygen deprivation. Grendel cut her eyes across the lot to the sound of the sedan's tires squealing. The last member of the Reich was peeling out leaving his two squad-mates to their fates. For a brief moment she considered going after him, but since a gunshot had been fired time was now of the essence. In this neighborhood the police would respond fairly quickly. She turned back the other way to find that the blonde had fled out into the street. Who was she? Why would Ilsa be so interested in a simple librarian? Claire scanned the alleyway until she spied what she was looking for. The girl's wallet was still laying on the ground near the scattered remains of her purse. She deftly snatched it up before bounding up the back wall of the nearest building, scuttling her way back onto the roof like some kind of human spider.

Crouching down she flipped open the plain, brown leather wallet to reveal the girl's driver's license:
Clemence Wittgener-Mackenzie.

She made note of the address.


To be continued...

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Part two of a collaboration between myself and my good friend and partner , who once again provided the beautiful render and inspired the idea behind this. Many thanks!

Grendel and Clemence are co-creations between myself and . The story and minor characters are all mine.

This takes place in the setting.