Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Istared at the spot where the vehicle should have been, rage bubbling inside my belly.
“Someone is so getting fired,” Bee bit out through gritted teeth.
“We’re gonna die,” Pip said softly.
She was right.
We had minutes of power left on the lamps, dawn was an hour away, and so was base if we tried for it on foot.
We were fucked.
The rippers moved in, their tar-black eyes gleaming with triumph, saliva dripping from their teeth-infested mouths. The click-click of talons on cement made my teeth ache. They’d be tearing into us soon enough.
I drew my pistol and checked the chamber. One bullet left. “Bee?”
She cracked open her pistol. “I’m out.”
“Me too.” Pip’s voice trembled.
We’d discharged our weapons earlier to ward off the rippers.
Pip began to cry. “I don’t want to be eaten.”
Bee and I exchanged glances. We knew what we had to do.
“It’s okay.” Bee gripped Pip’s shoulder. “You can have the last bullet. It won’t hurt. It’ll be over fast.”
Our lights flickered.
Pip nodded and I pressed the barrel of my gun to her temple.
The lights went out.
Pip screamed and shoved me away, throwing my shot wide.
“Pip, don’t!” Bee made a grab for her, snagging the pack and tearing it from her but failing to stop her.
Pip ran, wild and scared. The rippers descended on her like bees on honey. I blocked out her screams.
Nothing we could do for her now.
I grabbed Bee’s hand and ran.
Heart pounding so hard I was sure it would burst from my chest, I ran east, toward base.
The chances of us making it were slim to none, but like fuck were we going to throw ourselves at the monsters and beg to be eaten.
Pip had provided an unplanned distraction, but we’d be lucky if we got more than a few minutes’ head start.
I unclipped the UV lamp as I ran, allowing it to crash to the ground behind me. Bee did the same, swinging the med pack onto her back instead.
We ran for two minutes, maybe three, before the sound of pursuit sent a fresh wave of adrenaline through me. Bee stumbled, but I grabbed her arm, hauling her with me until she regained her equilibrium.
I’d lost two members of my team tonight; I wasn’t losing another. If we could get as far as Sector A, where the sweepers patrolled, then we might be safe. Thirty minutes tops. Thirty minutes of non-stop running. Maybe less now that we didn’t have the UV lamps to carry.
“We won’t make it, Rue,” Bee panted.
“We have to try.”
“We won’t both make it,” Bee amended. “But maybe one of us can.” She shoved the med pack at me. “I love you.”
“What?”
She stopped running.
“No!” I skidded to a halt. “Bee, come on!”
The rippers were rushing up behind her. She had seconds, if that.
“Bee, please. Please!”
She smiled and dropped me a salute.
She was going to die. The stupid bitch was going to—
Bright light swept across the road, bathing Bee and eliciting screeches of pain from the rippers.
A male voice bellowed orders, boots hammered the ground, and silver light lit up the night, emanating from the blades wielded by males and females clad in black combat gear.
Silver markings blazed to life on their bare arms, wreathing them in an ethereal glow as they sliced and diced at the rippers, bringing them down one by one.
I dropped to my knees, tears of relief blurring my vision, because the sweepers were here.
The sweepers were here, and we were going to be okay.
The street was littered with ripper bodies.
It was amazing how easily they could be cut down with the right weapons. The blades provided by the golden city were the only weapons that could kill a monster, or denizens, as the council liked to call them.
“Wrap it up, incinerate, and move out,” Jamie, the alpha team leader, ordered.
I pulled myself off the ground, strode up to Bee, and punched her in the face.
Her head whipped back from the impact. She turned her head and spat out a gob of blood.
“I’m not sorry,” she said.
I grabbed her by her shirt and hauled her close. “Don’t you ever do that again, you hear me? You don’t get to decide who lives or dies.”
“Neither do you, Rue.”
Damn her. Damn this whole fucked-up situation. “I can’t lose you.” My voice cracked and tears blurred my vision.
“Ditto, bitch.”
I pulled her into a quick hug. “You’re the only bitch around here.”
“Rue, Bee, we need to go. Now,” Jamie said. “Before the scent of their blood attracts more.”
I looked up at the alpha team leader and nodded. “Thanks for the assist.”
“You’re lucky we came by.” He looked pissed, but I knew him better than to think his anger was aimed at us. “You lost your ride?”
“Flat. No spare. Backup ride wasn’t there. We lost Jarrod and Pip.”
“Fuck.” He led us to the sweeper van. “Get in. We need to report this to your father.”
Mention of my father made my stomach hurt. I didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face.
Jamie hesitated. “This is not your fault, Rue. Henry will realize that. I’ll speak to him.”
Jamie and my dad had been buddies for years. He was the only person who could get through to my dad most of the time, but I didn’t need him speaking for me.
“I got this, Jamie.”
He frowned, and for a moment I thought he’d argue, but then he nodded. “Let’s get back.”
We climbed into the van and parked our asses on the benches in back. The doors slammed shut, leaving us in gloomy darkness with three members of Jamie’s unit.
“Sorry about your team,” Remi, Jamie’s second, said.
She didn’t look up from cleaning her blade, her bicep muscles bunching and relaxing with the motion.
Remi had a reputation for being a hardass, fucking whomever she wanted, male or female, and cursing like a sailor. Her tolerance level for fools was zero, but she took care of her team.
“It could have been avoided,” Bee replied. “This could all have been avoided.”
She was right. And the person or people responsible for fucking up were going to pay.