Confrontations: A Wolf Pretending To Be A Sheep, Part 6 - Gun To Gun, Part 5

While true that Aaron's capacity to suppress his emotions and sharpen his focus to a razor's edge makes him a truly frightening opponent when he chooses to strike back it is not something that can be sustained indefinitely at least not presently. To separate oneself from all emotion or notion of conscience and become truly ruthless is a rare and terrifying quality but with it comes great cost in terms of one's body and mind. The strain alone would kill an ordinary person after only 30 minutes by any generous measure but to maintain it hour after hour takes The Will of A Demon and The Resilience of The Gods Themselves.

Every second that passed, The strain became more and more intolerable but that didn't matter. There weren't many people left on the fourth floor to deal with and then he could take a breather and recover his strength for a few minutes otherwise he would pass out and if that happened he wouldn't wake up for several days if he woke up at all even without **** waiting around every corner for him.

Given he was reaching the limits of his mental and physical endurance Aaron had to finish the rest of the floor quickly before he reached his peak tolerance level. Aaron's entire body felt like he had been encased in a Lead Suit but he **** his body to move and it was a good thing to because he had been so preoccupied with forcing his body to move that he neglected to look at the scans of the floor from the satellite and with nearly all of his concentration on just trying to move normally... By the time he reached the intersection in front of the elevator two Men who he assumed to be scouts appeared from around the corner.

The moment they saw him they stared yelling in what sounded like a peculiar mix of Swahili, Arabic and Egyptian, and tried to shoot him. The fatigue made it difficult for Aaron to react properly but he just managed to avoid being shot in the face by throwing himself to the side with all his strength, slamming into the wall with bone-jarring ****. Aaron just manged to kick the closest assailant to the side, causing him to lose his gun while Aaron dispatched the other Man with a shot to the throat, shattering the Man's spine and decapitating him less than a second later. Aaron slumped over bracing himself with a hand on his knee while breathing heavily as the other Man desperately scrambled for his gun.

"Damn IT CROSS GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF OR YOU'RE DEAD!," Aaron cursed inwardly as he **** his body with all his will to move., "Move Faster... FASTER... DAMN IT... FASTER!"

Before Aaron knew it he was standing over the body of a Dead Man with three bullets in his chest. Aaron was stunned, He couldn't remember shooting this Man nor crossing the distance to reach him. Aaron's hands shook and he could barely stand but a sound from down the main hall penetrated his fatigue, causing his head to whip to the side where three Men with **** rifles were racing toward him with their guns pointed towards him yelling profanities at him involving his Mother and a three-way with a goat and camel.

Aaron gritted his teeth as the Men opened fire. Aaron dodged quickly to the left then the right and then back to the right while firing his Tec-9, killing all three Men with a single round to each of their hearts. Aaron was drenched in sweat as he collapsed forward on his hands and knees before coughing up a mouth full of blood and collapsing on his side on the floor.

"FATHER!," Came Gog's frantic voice.

"I'm Okay.," Aaron tried to reassure Gog through their link.

"But Father Your Muscles and Internal Organs Are Breaking Down... You Can't Take MUCH MORE!"

"SILENCE!," Aaron roared through his link with Gog amid her hysterical sobbing as he struggled to get to his knees. Aaron clutched his ribs which felt like they were on fire with his left hand and within seconds he felt a warm, wet sensation coating his fingers. Aaron's shirt was soaked with sweat but mixed in with it were small but definite amounts of blood.

"Damn It!," Cursed Aaron inwardly as he held up his fingers and saw the thick, crimson droplets fall from his fingers and onto the ground.

Looking over, Aaron was struck by how beautiful his blood was as it decorated the floor, creating a spectacular portrait. He could almost see his image in the blood and not like a reflection but something akin to a watercolor painting. As he looked at the puddle of his own life's blood pooling on the floor he could almost see the individual brush strokes brought forth by the peerless hands of a Master Artist and the interplay of crimson and silver was breathtaking as his blood and the trace amounts of thick mercury-like metals that rushed through his veins intermingled and reveled in each other's warm embrace like passionate lovers. As Aaron stared at the pool of blood, A scene straight out of some cheesy romance movie unfolded before his very eyes as The Handsome Hero and his Beautiful Lover embraced one another under a blood red night sky twinkling with hundreds of shining stars. It was Beautiful, How could it not be.

Aaron wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and with great effort stood up though shakily at first, bracing himself against the entrance to the main hall with his forearm.

As Aaron breathed heavily he spoke softly into the link., "I'm Sorry Gog."

Aaron waited but there was only the sound of silence and crying almost too faint to hear., "I Shouldn't Have Snapped At You Like That... I'm Sorry."

"Stupid Father.," Gog huffed cutely.

"That's My Girl.," Aaron chuckled with relief even as he nearly collapsed trying to stand on his own two feet without support., "I'll Make It Up To You Later... I Promise."

Aaron smiled hearing Gog sniffle once more before returning to her normal cheery self., "I Love You Father."

"I Love You To Gog.," Aaron felt light but he still wobbled slightly as he took a few shaky steps forward. Aaron didn't have much time to gain momentum as the doors of two of the apartments in the main hall burst open and three Gunman started firing at Aaron. Aaron may have felt lighter but his body was responding like a Mack Truck trying to maneuver through a precision vehicular obstacle course. He could barely dodge the incoming bullets but thanks to his Light Shield the one's that were on target were deflected or flat out stopped.

"Definitely Got To Get One of These!," Aaron chuckled lightheartedly to himself as he raised his weapons while weaving through the hail of bullets as best as his current condition would allow and fired. His shots were a couple of millimeters off their marks but still invariably lethal. Aaron doubled over near the entrance to the main hall as sweat dripped from his forehead.

With a low growl from deep in his throat Aaron gritted his teeth and stood straight, The effort causing him to see stars and feel lightheaded. Aaron's condition was becoming critical as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"I Have No More Time To Waste.," Aaron thought, trying to hold the weakness he felt threatening to overcome him at bay as he used his satellite scans to snipe his prey through the walls without giving them a chance to ambush him from their hiding places. When it was over another fifteen Men were dead by his hands and the floor was clear for the time being though for how long was anyone's guess.

Aaron was drenched in sweat as he staggered toward one of the apartments. It was the one that had the most casualties if you can even call a bunch of murderous assholes getting their heads blown off casualties. Aside from Aaron and the seven dead Men scattered across the floor, The apartment was empty but that was only part of why Aaron chose this particular apartment out of the many others. The others being that it was strategically located and in the center of the room was a bar. Now some of you are probably thinking "Damn After Everything Aaron's Been Through Already He Deserves A Drink.," Well that isn't the reason.

The reason was much more practical then gettin' smashed on someone else's liquor. It made the perfect work bench for Aaron who after locking the door and securing it behind him made his way directly to the bar and sat down with a tired sigh. Aaron inspected his Light Shield., "Thanks To The Power Provided By My Watch The Light Shield Isn't Even Close To Running Out of Power But I Can't Let That Make Me Reckless or I'm As Good As Dead."

Satisfied that his Light Shield was operating perfectly, Aaron took out the other one from his pocket and used the dimensional storage from his watch to bring out some tools, parts and his first aid kit. Aaron took a hypo from his kit and pressed it against his leg and with a hiss it delivered its contents into Aaron's bloodstream. Within seconds, Aaron's tired expression slowly began to fade. After that Aaron connected an intravenous line into his arm and with a shiver he watched the nano-machine impregnated liquid enter his veins and shortly after begin to heal his internal injuries.

Next Aaron inspected his guns even the one's he hadn't used yet just to be safe. Both the Blake-Kenner and Tec-9 were almost out of bullets but while he had one clip left for the Tec-9 once the Blake-Kenner ran out that was it but its design gave him one last card to play once its ammo supply was exhausted and he knew just how to use it.

"It's Too Bad I Can't Use Their Weapons.," Aaron lamented but despite the crude lead-firing antiques they were using, someone had obviously gone to some trouble to make sure that not just anyone could use them. Aaron could bypass the integrated safety mechanism but that involved disassembling the weapon itself and removing the device which would not only be time consuming and labor intensive but would also render the weapon useless making all that effort a waste so Aaron could only use what he had., "It's A Shame None of These Bastards Have Any Grenades."

Aaron didn't know how long it would be before they sent a team to find out what happened but given what he had seen so far he could make an educated guess so he didn't waste any time preparing his little surprise.

Thanks to Aaron's incredible intellect he was able to do in seven minutes what it would have taken a group of five top-shelf scientists half a day to achieve if they could do it at all. Aaron had recovered almost completely from his mental and physical exertions, and with a deep breath Aaron spoke to Gog through their link., "Everything's Ready On My End... How Are Things Up Stairs?"

"As You Predicted Father... The Enemy Is Preparing To Send A Ten-Man Squad Down To Root You Out."

"Perfect.," Aaron replied with a smile., "Alright Now I'll Need About A Minute To Get In The Proper Mindset For What Happens Next So I'll Leave The Rest To You."

"You Can Count On Me Father."

"I Know I Can... Do It Just Like We Discussed."

"RIGHT!," Gog replied happily if a bit too forcefully.

Body Count:

For Those of You Who Are Interested In The Number of Bodies Dropped By Aaron But Don't Want To Go Too All The Trouble of Pulling Out A Tally Sheet and Keeping Track Yourself:

• 23 Confirmed Kills (The Most of Any Floor So Far)
  
• Unconfirmed Kills: None