“Changing!” Rodger shouted.
“Down to my last magazine!” Sofia yelled.
Michael shot a gliding Siren with a bolt to the chest, and it augered into the earth.
A burst of automatic fire cracked next to Les as Rodger started on his fresh magazine.
The city sounded like a war zone.
The silhouetted figures of more Sirens emerged on buildings fronting the roads. Others swooped in from the sky. The twenty-millimeter rounds from the turrets on the airship cut them to pieces, but ever more of them came on, like sharks to a bleeding carcass.
Les knew they couldn’t wait any longer to get to the ship.
“We have to make a run for it!” he yelled.
Michael waved the group forward and set off on point, firing his laser rifle to clear a path.
“Timothy, bring Discovery down,” Les ordered. “And open the launch bay when you’re about to touch down.”
“Copy that, sir,” replied the AI.
The airship began to lower, the wash from the turbofans blasting down onto the street. Les fired three-round bursts at the beasts climbing over the piles of rubble.
A pack of twenty had already reached the landing zone. They bounded over the carcasses littering the broken asphalt.
“Take them down!” Les yelled.
Bullets and laser bolts brought down more and more of the beasts. But each time one fell, another took its place, black maw open, jagged teeth dripping ropes of saliva. The ravenous creatures seemed crazed for a chance at food.
Muzzle flashes lit up the sky under the lowering airship. Tracer rounds, looking like mini laser bolts, sprayed outward as Timothy worked both Miniguns, blowing apart the mass of the Sirens.
That did the trick. The beasts scattered in all directions, some of them bolting, others limping on the ground, dragging mangled wings.
The launch-bay doors parted, and a platform extended downward. The turbofans clicked off, and the ship’s landing feet crunched against the ground.
“run!” Les yelled.
He turned and waved, his heart racing at the sight of Sirens flanking them from the sky across the sinkhole. Others came pelting down from the ruined buildings, and now that the ship was grounded, the Miniguns couldn’t fire on any of them.
“Mags, Sofia, get these people to safety!” Les yelled. “Michael, Rodger, on me! We have to hold those Sirens back!”
The three men formed a line, laying down covering fire while the rest of the group made a run for the launch bay with the injured. Gunfire cracked in that direction as Sofia and Magnolia took down any beasts foolhardy enough to try picking off a human.
“I’m out,” Rodger said, drawing his handgun.
“Sir, I can’t get a shot with the Miniguns,” said Timothy, “but Alfred has rearmed Cricket with grenades.”
Les looked over his shoulder as the drone flew out of the launch bay, its arms extended with the blaster and grenade-launcher attachments.
“Instruct Cricket to fire at the flanking Sirens,” Les said.
“Aye, aye, sir,” Timothy replied.
As the drone joined Les and team, the fired grenades detonated around the sinkhole, collapsing the edge and burying many of the beasts on the ground.
More grenades hit the crushed building on the right side of the road, ripping apart the Sirens streaming over the pile.
Les and the other divers, meanwhile, concentrated their fire on the creatures coming in by air. Together, with Cricket’s help, they held back the horde while the last civilians loaded into the launch bay.
“Captain, we’re in!” Magnolia said over the comms. “Get back here!”
Les checked his six and then tapped Michael on the shoulder.
“Rodge, let’s go!” Les said.
The men ran and Cricket followed, still launching grenades to cover them. The ground rumbled from the impacts, and the air filled with the cries of wounded and dying Sirens.
They were halfway to the launch bay when something burst out of a shop entrance on the right side of the road. The thing shook dust and concrete from its massive frame of muscles and bony armor.
“Bone beast!” Michael yelled.
The hulking mutant stormed out onto the sidewalk. A black-taloned hand ripped a steel signpost from the ground. Holding it like a spear, the beast hurled it through the air.
The projectile hit Cricket, breaking off the arm with the blaster and knocking the drone off-kilter. Sparks rained from the machine’s broken limb. A flurry of chirps followed as the robot tried to stay airborne.
The divers opened fire on the bone beast, but the bullets did nothing against its bony armor and only pecked away at the muscular flesh. It held up a wrist to protect its eyes from Michael’s laser bolts.
“Come on!” Magnolia shouted, waving from the launch bay. Alfred and the militia soldiers joined her, firing rifles at the monster.
The flurry of bullets drew its attention, and it pulled a bone dart from over its shoulder. It hurled the missile at the open launch bay, hitting a militia soldier and knocking him backward.
“Over here!” Les shouted, waving.
Michael fired a flurry of bolts that hit the beast in the shoulder, breaking away armor and burning through flesh. When he pulled the trigger again, the gun sizzled.
“It’s overheated!” he yelled.
“Get to the launch bay!” Les shouted.
“No way!” Michael said.
Rodger took off running, leaving them both alone.
But they weren’t alone.
Cricket moved overhead and launched a grenade at the storefront. The explosion blew out the overhang and dumped debris over the monster, pinning it to the sidewalk.
Les jammed the last magazine into his rifle and ran over to the struggling beast. Michael joined him, still waiting for his gun to cool.
The creature swiped at them as they approached. Michael distracted it, giving Les an opportunity to move in from the other side. He jammed the barrel of his machine gun against an eye and fired a burst.
The rounds punched through the brain, and the creature went limp.
“Watch out!” Michael shouted.
Raising the handgun X had given him, he fired at the top of the ruined building. Les moved back, but too late to avoid the Siren that jumped down. The creature landed on him, crushing him to the ground.
He tried to move but couldn’t, and wondered whether his back was broken. Maybe that was why he couldn’t feel claws ripping into his flesh. Blinking, he saw blood trickling from a hole in the thick skull. Les tried to get out from under the limp carcass, but the big dead son of a bitch had him pinned.
A robotic hand grabbed his shoulder armor and hauled him out from under the beast. “You okay?” Michael asked.
Les wobbled. His limbs felt like jelly. He put an arm around the commander, and Magnolia ran over to help the three divers get back to the launch bay. Cricket covered their six and then joined them going up the ramp. Once inside, Michael hit the button to retract the platform.
Les collapsed on the deck, and Michael bent over, hands on his knees, panting like Miles. The doors began to close behind them as the ship rose off the ground. Before they shut, Les spotted what Magnolia was pointing at. A herd of perhaps twenty bone beasts ran down the street below, tearing into the Sirens and letting out their monstrous roars.
The airship thumped as winged Sirens crashed into the hull.
“Get us out of here, Timothy!” Les shouted.
The turbofans lifted them higher into the air as the legs retracted. More thumps sounded against the starboard and port sides as Sirens latched on.
Les knew they weren’t safe yet. He pushed himself up and, with Michael’s help, stood.
The ship shook again, knocking both divers back to the deck.