Chapter 26 #3
Immediately she starts firing off as fast as she can, pinging the robots in their heads with her ridiculous accuracy. However, two of the ones she hit get right back up and continue to march in our direction. We take cover behind a broken elevator shaft as Hunter pivots out to shoot.
“The eyes,” I tell her as she aims down her scope. “The controlling mechanism is behind their eyes. You have to hit them in the eye. One should do it.”
“Oh sure, hit them in the eye, she says.” Hunter aims down again. This time, I peek out to watch as she hits one in the right eye and it goes down with sparks, seizes, but does not get up.
“Spread out. Lucy, Mason, move up to the old newspaper stand. Cassie, Finley, jump the tracks to the other side. Roxana, stay here and cover Hunter. Her ammunition is in the bag.” I kick a duffel bag toward her. “Keep her stocked and cover her reloads. Delilah, stay in cover.”
“What are you going to do?” Hunter asks between shots.
“Something reckless but probably successful,” Lucy says as she grabs my hand. “Be careful, please.”
“I will be back.” I cup her chin and kiss her firmly. “Now go.”
Reluctantly, she parts from me and runs with Mason to the stand to take cover.
They draw a bit of fire but appear unharmed.
Cassie and Finley make it to the other platform and use an old advertising sign to protect them from the hail of bullets.
I rummage in the bag for ammunition and grab what I need.
Rifle loaded, I inhale three deep breaths.
Running and firing, I hit as many as possible as I go from cover to cover.
Bullets whiz past me and I duck behind a garbage can.
The smell of burning metal grows, and I squeeze my eyes shut to block out the memories.
This is not Detroit. This is not a war. This is a couple of robots.
Big, dumb, tin cans. Three loud bangs sound around me, and I peek up as three bots go down, each with a single hole in their eyes.
With great effort I turn over the garbage can and kick it as hard as possible toward a group of them, knocking them down like bowling pins.
In the chaos I push forward, grateful for each bot that gets shot down around me.
My own rifle takes down a bunch, but we’re rapidly becoming overwhelmed.
Cassie and Finley are pinned down behind their advertising sign, which is losing enough area to sufficiently cover them.
Hunter will eventually run out of ammunition.
There doesn’t seem to be an end to these robots.
Back pressed against a column, I work out the rest of my plan.
I need something to set on fire. A glance around me comes up with nothing, and my shirt won’t tear easily enough.
Then, I spot a smoking Flashman on the ground.
Quickly, I drag it to me and use the edge of the platform to dangle its body over it.
With a few firm kicks, the body comes away from the head and exposes the inner wirings.
I flick on the lighter I drew from my pocket and press it against the open wires inside the head.
It doesn’t take long for them to catch, and the head becomes a big bowl of fire.
I’ll only get one good shot. Hunter knocks down another three Flashmen near me and I take my chance. I toss the head into the air and it hits the sprinkler with a loud metal donk. The head lands on the ground, clangs and bounces, then rolls away.
Nothing happens.
Well, there goes that idea. I know Finley didn’t want to die by robot, but it looks increasingly likely we will.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we won’t go down fighting.
When I take cover to reload, I watch as this ragtag team of soldiers pushes up against these incredible odds with nothing but determination.
I step out to shoot down more when suddenly the ceiling shakes with noise. After a few sad spurts, the sprinklers start raining down water on the platforms. I open my hand and the rust-tinged water collects in my palm. Gross, but usable.
In the intel I’d gathered about the Flashmen, one detail stood out: they often malfunctioned in bad weather.
The robots begin to misfire and walk into one another, perhaps retreating and getting scrambled in the process.
The shooting around me ceases and I can breathe again, albeit doing so without drinking any of this tainted water.
Most of the robots are down, and the ground is littered with their corpses like the bottom of a recycling bin.
“Finley’s hit.”
I whip toward Cassie’s anguished voice and find her knelt on the ground next to Finley, who is on her back. Without hesitation I leap across the platform and race to them. Finley’s left leg oozes a bit of blood, but it appears to not have shattered bone.
“I don’t think I can walk on it, Mini Boss. You guys go on, we don’t want to be stuck down here when the robots wake up.”
“We’re not going to leave you here,” Cassie insists. Though I would appreciate the silence, I cannot in good conscience leave Finley behind. She may be annoying, but she’s one of my soldiers now. “Are we, Taylor?”
“Of course not. Don’t be an idiot, Finley.” I call across the platform, “Mason, Roxy, come here and head up the stairs to find the exit. Lucy, Hunter, do a quick sweep and make sure there’s no more of them. Delilah, grab the first aid and follow me.”
“Wait, what are you—” I throw Finley over my shoulder and stand up. She sags against me, and her laughter shakes us both. “Oh, my big strong hero.”
“Shut up, Finley.” I jog after Mason and Roxana, who’ve found the staircase leading out and started to kick and use their shoulders to break through the wood. Finally, with the assistance of Hunter and Lucy, the wood gives and we run up the stairs and out into the open.
Far more people walk on the street here near the Piccolo mansion, but we pass as UR soldiers to the naked eye.
At least long enough for us to duck into an alley to treat Finley’s wound.
I place her on the ground and Delilah quickly gets to work patching her up.
The wound is gnarly, but she’ll live. I find I’m glad for that, with no alcohol to blame it on.
Roxana comes up behind me and pats me on the back. “You are one hell of a soldier, Taylor. I know I can’t take credit for it, but I am so proud of you.”
Embarrassingly, my eyes grow watery. The genuine pride, the casual, reassuring touch…
what a life I could’ve had if Roxana had been there with me.
Speaking would give away my emotions far more than my face already does, so I nod in appreciation and inhale a deep breath before approaching Finley on the ground.
She winces as Delilah disinfects her wound, and Cassie gives her a hand to squeeze. I crouch next to her. “You did good, Captain. At least you’ll have another scar by which to tell another annoyingly long, mostly embellished story.”
Finley laughs as she groans in pain. “You’re a real asshole, Mini Boss.”
“I believe the saying is, ‘It takes one to know one.’”
We collect ourselves in the alley, checking each other for wounds and bruises. Lucy wraps her arm around my waist as we wait for Delilah to finish with Finley. Only a block or two from the mansion, we’re in familiar territory for Lucy. Practically her childhood playground.
“This must be hard for you. Are you okay?”
Lucy nods absently, and stares up at the sky between the buildings. “I used to dream about how far away I could get from this place, yet here I am. The city has changed, but not as much as I have. It’s funny…it suits me more. Broken city, broken princess. We both lost our shine.”
“Well, perhaps the city has, but you certainly have not.” I glance up at her and she kisses my temple.
Delilah wipes her hands on a handkerchief and leaves Finley with Cassie. “I think we should have Shea and Cassandra stay back. Maybe keep Mason back too, to cover them.”
Hunter, busy fiddling with the scope on her rifle, nods in agreement. “Fewer people who go in, the better. We know she knows we’re here. That welcoming party was something else.”
“I agree. Let’s not waste any time, then.” Delilah turns around. “Mason, stay with Captain Finley and Private Frank, please.”
Mason frowns. “I walked through all that goo for nothing?” More seriously, he approaches me directly. “Last time I let you face her alone…”
“I won’t be alone,” I remind him. “It won’t be like last time. Please, if this goes wrong, I need you to keep Cassie safe. And Finley, I guess.”
Mason chuckles half-heartedly, but I know it hurts him to see me leave again, knowing what happened at the airport. He lowers his voice and leans in toward me.
“No compromise, no surrender.”