Survival and Sacrifice Read online

Survival and Sacrifice

  Kevin L. O'Brien

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  Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Boere Tudor font distributed under a free use license by Su Lucas

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  License Notes

  Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

  If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever. Finally, certain words use British instead of American spelling, to simulate the characters' English accents.

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  Table of Contents

  Preface

  Survival and Sacrifice

  Bonus Story: Sauna Mates

  About the Author

  Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

  Sample Excerpts

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  Preface

  This is the only other Team Girl Alternative Reality story I have written so far, though it might not seem like one at first. These Girls are virtually identical to the Contemporary versions of Eile and Sunny, but the ending is very different from a normal Contemporary tale. I actually plan to use this as the prologue for a longer Contemporary tale, but I thought it made a good story on its own. I rarely write straight-forward action stories that have little point beyond the action itself, but this is one exception.

  To say that the Girls and Sir Differel Van Helsing are BFFs is something of an understatement. They are in fact so devoted to each other that each will willingly sacrifice their lives for the other. This story shows just how far Eile and Sunny would go to ensure the safety of Differel and her son Henry, both out of love and a sense of duty. It also shows a side of them that has not yet been revealed in previous stories.

  I have also included a bonus 500-word flash story that further illustrates how close Eile, Sunny, and Differel truly are.

  Back to TOC

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  "Hey! Stop hoggin' the mirror, ya butthead!"

  Eile stood beside Sunny in front of the bathroom's small vanity. It really had been designed to be used by just one person, so both of them together made it somewhat crowded, and Sunny's huge mane of gamboge hair didn't help matters any, either. Then again, the rooms in the suites on the third story of Differel's ancestral manor were rather small to begin with, pretty much comfortable only for single persons. She and Sunny normally didn't mind, because they enjoyed the intimacy, but there were times when it became bothersome.

  Like when they were in a hurry and trying to put on makeup at the same time.

  They were visiting Differel and Henry for a few days, and the aristocrat had decided to throw an impromptu semi-formal dinner party. They had spent the whole afternoon shopping for new clothes in King's Lynn and nearly didn't make it back in time. They rushed through a shower together and threw on their new threads, with just barely enough time to make themselves presentable.

  "I just need a few more seconds!" Sunny replied. There were few times when she lost her temper, but interfering with her primping was one.

  "Like you need it." She elbowed Sunny over so she could brush on mascara.

  "I'm not some kinda supermodel, you know." Sunny leaned back in to paint on lip gloss.

  "More like a bimbo centerfold--watch it!" A lock of Sunny's hair flapped into her face.

  "I'll be done in two shakes of a lamb's tail; can't you wait?"

  "We're late enough as it is. Diff's gonna blow her top if we show up after the horse doovers are served."

  "That's hors d'oeuvres, you Philistine."

  She flashed Sunny a dirty look. "Put a sock in it."

  A loud kerfumple sounded from somewhere close by.

  "What was that?!" Sunny looked off in the direction of the sound.

  "How the hell should I know, ya ditz?" But it almost sounded like someone running into a door.

  "Come on, let's check it out." And Sunny skipped off into the bedroom as Eile jogged after her. She reflected how, even after so many adventures together, her partner still tended to go running off into the face of possible danger without thinking.

  Nothing looked amiss in the bedroom, other than their street cloths and underwear scattered across the bed and floor where they dropped them in their haste to change. Nor did they see anything wrong in the drawing room. Eile had just about convinced herself that the sound was nothing important, when Sunny opened the door to their suite and jumped away from the threshold with a squeal.

  A Caerleon Order guard lay just outside, face down in a pool of his own blood.

  Sunny knelt to feel the pulse on his neck as Eile sprinted forward. She scanned the hallway; to the right lay the corridor that gave access to the gymnasium, game room and chapel, while to the left the passage led to the solar. Both were empty.

  "He's dead."

  "No shit, Sherlock." Eile didn't look down. "Gimme his rifle."

  Sunny passed up the L85A2 assault gun. "He must've hit the door when he was killed."

  Eile released the magazine and examined it; it was loaded, and it looked to be a full thirty rounds, but she couldn't be sure. "Does he have any more ammo?" She fitted it back in place and cocked the weapon.

  Sunny opened a snap pouch on his belt and pulled out two STANAG magazines. She held them up as she removed his L106A1 service pistol.

  "Huh. We're gonna be handicapped hauling these clips around with us."

  Sunny retrieved two 15-round pistol magazines and his combat knife. The British Armed Forces didn't have a standard-issue knife, but Differel made sure all her troops had a Gerber Mark II.

  "I've got an idea." Sunny slipped the knife into one of her designer boots and stood up. "Keep watch." She slipped past Eile back into the room.

  Eile went out into the hall, thumbing the selective fire switch to three-round bursts as she stepped over the body. All the combat training they had gotten from Lt. Gen. Morgan Leia Ross for the special missions she used to send them on was still pretty fresh in her mind, and they had been getting supplemental training from Differel's Master-at-Arms, Sergeant Major Giles Holt. She glanced back into the room. Sunny had one of their handbags and had dumped the contents into a chair. She placed her magazines inside and slipped it over her head and one shoulder.

  She stepped out into the hall. "We've gotta get to Henry." She released her pistol's magazine and checked it over, then slammed it back into place and cocked the gun.

  Eile handed her the STANAGs and Sunny put them in the bag. "Yeah. You take point."

  "Right. Let's go kick hiney, partner!" Gripping the pistol with both hands and raising it to her face, she checked up and down the passage and then headed for the solar. Eile raised the rifle to her shoulder and fell in behind her, keeping watch in back of them as she followed.

  Sunny paused at the corner of the room and hopped forward, aiming the pistol left to cover the alcove for the service elevator.

  "Clear!" She raised the gun and continued
on. At the end of the passage stood an open door that led into the solar. Sunny flattened herself against the right wall and Eile hugged the left. She didn't see anything in her line of sight, but she couldn't see much of the room in any event. They stopped a couple of feet from the threshold; Sunny lowered the pistol to her waist as Eile pointed the barrel of the rifle at the ceiling. They looked at each other and nodded.

  Sunny jumped into the room and crouched as she raised and pointed the pistol to the left at the double doors that led to the family activity rooms. A second later, Eile stepped inside and aimed right towards the stairs that came up from the second story.

  "Clear!" she said.

  "Clear!" Sunny echoed.

  "Go!"

  Sunny sprinted for the closed door at the opposite end of the room while Eile covered her. When she reached it and turned to face her, Eile started towards her.

  The double doors crashed open; in the threshold stood a bipedal monstrosity, like a cross