Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Zadie glanced at her watch. Exactly two hours and eight minutes since Gideon had connected to the node. "What's the data like?"
"It's been coming in spurts." Gideon glanced up. "I'm sorry. I need more time."
"Don't stress," Coulter's voice came over the comms. It was that annoying quiet tone he tended to use the shit hit the fan. "You warned us going in this could be an issue."
"All clear here," Wynn said.
"Same," Neve added.
"We've got a problem," Scout broke in. "Movement on the access road. Black SUV. Approaching from the south at a moderate to slow speed."
Zadie gripped her rifle. Her heart lodged in her throat.
Gideon continued tapping at his keyboard. "Data stream is coming in hot right now. I can't leave this node yet. If I can finish this cycle, it could be enough."
"SUV could be maintenance," Coulter said. "Hydro runs service vehicles through here."
"Doubt they use vehicles with tinted windows," Scout said. "And it just pulled off approximately three hundred meters from the south gate. That's suspect."
"How much longer?" Neve asked.
"It's not an exact science," Zadie responded.
"This is a big data chunk. I want to collect as much of it as I can. Based on previous pulls, I'm guessing thirty minutes."
"Don't think you're gonna have that long," Scout interjected. "Four men exiting the vehicle. All armed and in tactical gear. Forming up at the tree line south of the fence."
Zadie's grip tightened. Heat crawled up the back of her neck. She'd hoped for an easy outing. But easy hadn't happened since the ambush.
"Comms silence unless necessary," Neve said. "Coulter and Wynn, hold position. Scout, keep eyes on those men and report changes. Zadie, stay with Gideon until I say otherwise."
Zadie braced herself lower against the concrete. The substation's hum masked most sound, but she could feel the shift—that subtle change when a situation goes from controlled to contested.
"They're moving through the timber," Scout said. "Heading for the south gate. Pace isn't aggressive, but deliberate—like they know the layout and they have a plan."
"That can’t be good," Zadie whispered.
"They've reached the fence," Scout said. "Splitting up. Two entering through the south gate. Two holding position outside the perimeter."
"I've got eyes on the one moving west," Coulter said.
"The one moving east is moving away from the tree line," Scout said. "I need to shift position to follow him through the brush."
"Moving like their enhanced?" Neve asked.
"Can’t tell," Scout responded.
"Zadie, I need you on the south approach," Neve said. "Coulter and I will take the two inside the fence. Scout stays on overwatch."
"Gideon can't leave the hub, and I don’t want to leave him unprotected."
"Understood. But if those two outside decide to push, we need someone between them and Gideon," Neve said.
Zadie shifted her gaze and caught Gideon's.
"Go," he said. "I'll signal when I'm shutting down."
"Don’t be a hero. We need you alive more than—"
"I got it. Now go."
She nodded.
The compound was a grid of transformers, junction boxes, and concrete pads connected by gravel service paths.
She kept low, using the equipment as cover, and worked her way south.
She positioned herself behind the transformer bank closest to the fence, approximately thirty meters from the south gate.
"I'm at the south transformer bank," she said. "Eyes on the western unfriendly. Partial on the eastern."
"Hold position," Neve said.
Zadie controlled her breathing and steadied her hands. Her pulse climbed, peaked, then dropped into the flat calm that always came before the shooting started.
"The two inside the fence are moving toward the relay tower," Coulter said. "Point man has a rifle with a scope. Looks like he going for a target angle on Gideon's position."
"I've got him in my sights," Neve said.
"He aims that thing at Gideon, you take him," Zadie whispered knowing full well it was loud enough her team leader would hear it. But Neve wouldn’t respond. No one would. It was a statement that wasn’t necessary. They were a team, and Gideon had become part of their family.
And he mattered to Zadie. Protecting him wasn’t just about protecting the mission.
"The second one is using the transformer housing as cover," Coulter said. "Intermittent line of sight. I'll stay with him."
"Second vehicle down the road," Scout broke in. "One man standing by the driver's door, hand to ear."
"Finch?" Neve asked.
"No," Scout said. "Isaac."
"That was fast," Gideon said, calmer than Zadie expected. "He hung back at the diner. That could’ve been because he blew the place up, or for another reason. Either way, someone needs to monitor him."
"Understood," Scout said.
"Gideon," Neve’s voice came over comms in a low rumble. "I need you to move to the right about three inches."
Zadie sucked in a breath and braced herself.
The first shot cracked through the mountain air from Neve’s position in the tree line.
Scanning the area, Zadie saw one man in the dirt, blood pooling on the ground near his head.
Kill shot.
The second man reacted instantly. Not the scramble of someone caught off guard, but the fluid, explosive movement of a body operating beyond normal capacity.
He vaulted a three-foot concrete barrier as if it didn’t exist. He covered fifteen meters of open ground in a burst that made Zadie's feet go numb from embarrassment.
"Fucking enhanced," Zadie said. "One coming right for you, Coulter."
"I see him." Shots fired from Coulter’s location roared. Sparks flew off the transformer housing where the man had been a half-second earlier, but he’d moved so fast, it was hard to get a handle on where he’d headed.
He’d changed direction mid-stride, cutting laterally at a speed that made tracking impossible.
"Here come the ones outside the fence," Wynn said. "One sprinting for the south gate coming from the east thirty meters from Zadie’s position."
"Wynn, between you and me, we can deal with that one," Scout said. "Zadie, take the one coming directly through gate. Do you see—"
"Got him." She squinted, held her breath, and pulled the trigger.
The round caught him in the shoulder. He spun, stumbled, and dropped to one knee.
He groaned and grabbed the wound, but it was more like he was rubbing it off.
He pushed himself up and dodged behind a tree.
He moved as if the bullet had been an inconvenience rather than a . 223 round through muscle and bone.
"Runner hit, but barely flinched," Zadie said. "He’s hiding behind a tree."
"Copy," Neve said. "Coulter, where's yours?"
"Circling east. He's fast. I’ve hit him twice. Shoulder and thigh," Coulter said. "Waiting for him to materialize again."
Her man bolted from his spot, heading toward the transformer bank. Forty meters. Thirty. Zadie adjusted low. She fired again.
The round caught his thigh and his leg buckled. He went down hard, one knee slamming gravel, but his weapon came up and he fired a burst that tore into the steel housing six inches from her head. The impact rang through the metal, and she felt the vibration in her teeth.
She dropped behind the transformer base and rolled to the opposite side.
Her knee cracked against a concrete pad and pain flared up her leg.
She pushed through it, came up in a crouch, and fired twice at his planted knee.
The first round sparked off gravel. The second connected.
He pitched forward and his weapon skidded across the ground. A second later, he was crawling for it.
"My runner is down for now," she said. "Where's the eastern one?"
"He came through the cut section," Wynn said. "He’s hiding in the brush. I’m waiting for him to move so I can take my shot. I’ve got a good angle from here."
"Take it when he moves," Neve said. "Don’t let him get any closer to Gideon."
"You got it," Wynn said.
Zadie kept her sights on the man inching toward his weapon. The only reason she didn’t take another shot was that there was no reason to give up her location. Isaac could have called more men. She needed to keep scanning, watching, and defending. It was the best play.
Two shots blasted from the ravine. Zadie heard the thud of impact on something solid through the comms, but she couldn't see the target from her position.
"Hit one. Ass and thigh," Wynn said. "He's down but crawling. These guys don't quit."
"Scout, report," Neve’s voice filled Zadie’s ear.
"Isaac pacing in front of his vehicle, but he hasn’t gone anywhere. Just keeps putting his finger to his ear," Scout said. "I haven’t seen anyone else."
Two more shots were fired.
"Missed his head. Got his shoulder," Wynn said. "Still trying to move."
"Something’s off," Zadie said. "They’re coming at us, but Coulter’s the only one with sustained gunfire. Why is that?"
"Yeah, I’d like the answer to that question, too," Coulter said. A second later, two more shots. "Bastard has me pinned at the junction box."
"Wynn, cover me," Zadie said. "I want to have a chat with this guy."
"Jesus Christ," Neve muttered. "I’ve got you, but make it quick."
Zadie did a quick three-sixty before darting out from her cover. She reached the man in eighteen seconds.
No gunfire. But she was out in the open, and she didn’t like that.
She stepped forward and kicked the rifle out of range. He grabbed her ankle with his functioning hand and twisted.
The force of it yanked her off balance. Her hip hit the gravel and her elbow cracked against the concrete pad she'd already banged her knee on. White pain lanced up her arm. She rolled, drove the heel of her boot into his wrist, and felt something give.
He let go.
"What are your orders?" Zadie winced as she hobbled to her feet.
"Fuck off," the man said.
"You keep going for the relay and barely care about the fact I’m shooting at you."