Chapter 15 #3
But she didn’t need his protection, and would slap him down for it. He sucked in a breath. Being crazy about a strong, capable woman was hell on a man.
He shot a lone zombie as they neared the closest Centurion. The back door slid open and Avril dived inside, and Nik and Galen leaped in together. Solomon was there, slamming the door closed behind them.
“Glad you could make it,” the younger man said.
Nik pressed up against the side window. The sonic effects of the grenades had worn off, and the zombies were crowding in on Nera. She spun with her sword, lethal as ever.
“Come on, Nera,” he muttered. “Get over here.”
The others in the vehicle were tense, watching and waiting.
She wasn’t making much progress. Nik was getting ready to pop the top hatch on the Centurion and find a way to help her, when he saw her turn and run toward a tree.
She pressed her boots to the trunk and leaped high.
She grabbed a thick branch, her legs dangling above the zombies’ heads.
Then with a brilliant display of athleticism, she swung, released the branch and grabbed onto another.
She continued like that, from tree to tree, flying through the air with more grace than a space circus acrobat. Soon, she was above their vehicle.
Nik reached up and opened the top hatch. She dropped down on the vehicle’s roof, and slipped in beside him. He slammed the hatch closed.
“Damn, this stuff burns.” She tore off her gloves and dropped them to the floor. The black gunk on them was sizzling.
“Radioactive, too.” Galen was holding a beeping scanner. He pulled some hazmat gloves from a compartment and snatched up Nera’s contaminated ones. He slipped them into a small containment box.
Nik grabbed her hands, studying their smooth lines. There wasn’t a mark.
God, he wanted to yank her to him, kiss the daylights out of her. But with the others watching, he didn’t.
“Let’s get out of here,” Avril yelled to the driver.
The other vehicle was already moving, its laser saw firing up.
“You got it,” their driver called back.
The Centurion lurched forward, and soon they were following the same path they’d come through. The other vehicle had moved ahead, and they’d lost sight of it.
“Stars,” Avril said, her gaze glued to the windshield. “The vegetation’s already grown back in places.”
The laser saw was once again cutting through plant life. Nik shook his head, staring at the jungle. In the short time they’d been in the ruins, the jungle had already claimed back much of the path they’d cut earlier.
“What the hell?” the driver cried out, the vehicle skidding to a stop.
Nik and Nera bumped into each other. They traded a glance, then leaned forward, looking out the front window. Thick, black vines slapped against it. They were writhing and glowing an eerie neon green.
The driver muttered under his breath, then backed up. Then he aimed the laser saw at the mutant vines.
Neon-green fluid sprayed out from the vines as they spasmed, then retreated.
But the green substance sizzled on contact as it hit the hood, burning through the metal. Another splatter hit the thick synth glass of the window, and started eating through.
“Hell.” The driver backed up again. “Damn stuff is corrosive or something, it’s eating right through. And that’s military-grade reinforced armor and synth glass.”
Nik stared grimly at the fist-sized hole in the window. “We can’t risk getting hit by that again. Find another way through and avoid that particular vine.”
“Right.” The driver sounded dubious. Gears ground and the Centurion moved forward, then turned left to divert around the mutant vines.
The engine coughed.
“No, no.” The driver tapped at the controls, his hands dancing over the screen. Red lights were flashing. “Fucking hell!”
The vehicle ground to a halt.
There was silence. Nik caught Nera’s gaze, and she raised a brow.
“What is it?” Avril demanded.
“That acidic shit has eaten through to the engine.” The driver peered at his control screen. “Looks like a crucial electrical cable is damaged.” He swiveled. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
“Hell. And look at that.” Solomon pointed. The hole in the window had grown, the substance continuing to dissolve the glass. Three long cracks were forming, traveling across the window.
“We get another solid hit by a mutant plant or a rampaging pack of zombies, I’d say we’re fucked,” the driver said.
“And not in the good way,” Solomon added.
“Centurion One, this is Centurion Two.” The driver tapped at the control screen. “Are you reading us? Our vehicle’s been disabled.”
There was no answer.
“Centurion One—” Static hissed across the line. With a wince, the driver turned the noise off. “They’re out of comm range.”
“They’ll come back, right?” a young agent asked, wiping his hand over his mouth.
Nik heard what no one was saying…they didn’t have time to sit around waiting for a rescue.
“What can we do, people?” Avril demanded. Her face was pale. “Options.”
“We need to repair the cable. I have a patch.” The driver cleared his throat. “But someone needs to go out there.”
“Great. Just great,” Nik muttered.
Nera stood. “I’ll go.”