Whitefall

When Etris Kurdian stepped out of the warehouse and into the blinding sun, the first thing he noticed was that the street that had been bustling with people twenty minutes earlier was now empty and silent. The second thing he noticed was the loud gunshot accompanied by a bullet that tore into his shoulder, spinning him around and planting his face in the dirt. The third thing was the odd thought that he now had a hole in his favorite jacket.

He hit the ground hard and his mind suddenly focused on the pain that radiated in waves from his shoulder. Behind him, his XO had already dived back inside the sliding doors, using the building walls as cover from the unseen assailant.

Well, maybe unseen wasn’t the word.

Kurdian lifted his head painfully and caught sight of the shooter in a second floor window across the street, lining up for another shot. Kurdian rolled as the gun fired again, and with a sing the bullet whipped past his head. His instinct took over then; he looked above his head at the overhang twenty feet above him and looked for the supports for the structure. He saw the two wooden pillars and rolled for the nearest one. Another shot rang out and another bullet whizzed by him, missing his right side by less than six inches. Way too close for comfort.

Gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder, he kicked out hard with his legs, pushing against the pillar and propelling his body backwards through the open warehouse doors. It proved to be a smart move, as three more bullets peppered the ground where he had just been laying.

“Captain!” Rian Reese grabbed Kurdian’s good arm and pulled him the rest of the way inside. He yelped in pain as dirt dug into his wound, but he knew that Rian had needed to get him inside fast.

“Thanks,” he gasped as soon as he was behind cover. She nodded in response, helping him sit before taking a closer look at his shoulder.

“How is it?” he asked. “Worse than on Florida Moon?”

She chuckled just like he knew she would. “Close to that,” she repli