Only Jane had no clue how they were going to get the namazu into the stadium.
“Keeper, is there an entrance large enough for the targets inside?”
“I-I-I have no idea. Beater One?”
“If it’s a normal stadium, it should,” Widget babbled. “Back in the States, they have these monster truck rallies at stadiums all the time. I don’t understand the concept but people like them. And if they can drive jacked up pickup trucks into the stadiums, there has to a monster-size entrance somewhere. The question is: where. Where? Where? There! It’s in the back, opposite of the River Front Entrance.”
Yumiko was darting in and out of sight as she led the monsters out of downtown. Jane could barely keep track of her despite the massive black wingspan. The tengu needed to stay aloft, away from the arcing electricity from the namazu, while keeping hidden from any snipers. Yumiko used what little cover the Fort Duquesne Bridge afforded as the five remaining monsters lumbered across the top deck. It was only a thousand feet but the on-ramp and off-ramp easily doubled the distance.
From Jane’s position, it certainly looked like they were all hurtling toward the same point, but it was difficult to be sure. She wanted to believe that Yumiko had realized that they were on the same side. It would be dangerous to assume that they were now trusted allies. The tengu woman could be leading Jane into a trap.
Widget was right about the vehicle entrance. There was a massive steel garage door protecting a tunnel that would have allowed a tractor-trailer to drive onto the playing field. Jane wasted a dozen bullets to shoot it into shreds. Marc smashed into the weakened barrier. The door caved and they drove down the short corridor to a second door. They downed that one. Beyond it was the weed-choked playing field.
Jane swiveled in the gunner’s chair, aiming back down the tunnel. She could see across the river to the first floor of Gateway towers. No. She couldn’t simply open fire while the namazu were bottlenecked in the tunnel.
“Do we have time to film a pass of the stadium?” Taggart broke his silence.
“Chaser One, how close are the targets?” Jane asked.
“You’ve got two minutes, tops,” Guy reported from Mount Washington. “We’ve lost sight of you.”
“Understood.”
They plowed through the tall weeds to the fifty-yard line. Taggart scrambled out of the Humvee and did a quick pan of the silent, abandoned stadium. The empty seats. The shadows heavy on the eastern end of the field. The slice of sunlight just touching the top lip of the western Rim. They sat in the silence and let him film despite the fact that their instincts were screaming for them to run. They needed film clips like this one to tie together all the confusing action pieces to make an understandable narrative. Taggart understood what would convey the desperation of their situation more than Jane, just as Earth-born Widget knew the general layout of stadiums when Duff did not.
“Backup camera three is out,” Nigel reported.
“I’ll check it after I reload.” Geoffrey shifted the big ammo cases around and fed a new chain up into the gun.
Jane kept aimed at the tunnel, heart thudding at the knowledge that they were unarmed until Geoffrey finished reloading.
“Seeker!” Guy cried from his advantage point. “You’ve got incoming!”
“Let’s go,” Jane said.
Taggart slid back into the Humvee.
Outside the stadium, there was the trill of the monster call. Yumiko flashed overhead; a rustle of black wings and then nothing. From some hiding space within the stadium itself, she blew the call again. The five namazu roared in answer, the noise echoing up the entrance tunnel.
“Get us room to maneuver,” Jane said.
Marc grunted. There wasn’t going to be a lot of spare area once the playing field was filled up with giant monsters throwing lightning.
The namazu lumbered down the tunnel faster than she expected. Electricity crawled along the seats near the entrance, flashing brilliance in the still pale morning sunlight. It startled a flock of pigeons that winged upwards. One vanished in a sudden puff of feathers.
Jane held her fire; she didn’t want to block the tunnel with a dead body.
The beasts rushed toward the Humvee, spreading out as they came down the field.
Jane opened fire. She focused on the far right, creating an escape path. The monster flailed under the rain of bullets. “Come on, die! Die!”
She couldn’t tell if it was completely dead but she switched to the second monster. “Move!” She shouted over the thunder of the cannon.
Marc sped toward the opening she made even as the left-most monster closed on the goal end. The other two split up, moving to cut them off even as the third gave chase.
“Left,” Geoffrey muttered as they raced directly at one. “Left! Leftleftleftleft.”
“Shut up!” Marc jerked the wheel right.
They dodged the namazu’s head and Jane strafed down its flank as they passed the long body. The other lunged at them. It slammed into the Humvee, making it tip. Electricity arced and crackled around them.
“Don’t roll us!” Jane fought gravity.
“Kill it then!” Marc shouted.
It snapped at Marc, smashing his window.
She opened fire without thinking of anything but her little brother. The recoil tipped them the rest of the way over. The Humvee hit hard on its side. They plowed through the deep weeds.
“Jane!” Geoffrey slapped her safety belt buckle and jerked her out of the gunner’s seat.
“Oh, damn, Bertha!” Jane cried.
“Forget Bertha!” Geoffrey shouted.
“Fire in the hole!” Marc shouted.
They covered their ears and ducked their heads.
There was a roar of noise as a flashbang went off.
Taggart cried out in surprise.
Jane’s heart flipped. Oh God, if he was stunned and blinded the monsters were going to kill him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Taggart called. “I just forgot your family owns stock in that company.”
The Humvee lurched as the blinded namazu slammed against it. They were grounded; they had to get out before its electricity could strike them.
“Go!” Jane shouted.
They scrambled out of the Humvee. She must have killed the namazu that tipped the Humvee. It wasn’t moving. The remaining beast was reeling from the flashbang.
“Get to the upper levels.” She led the way across the field toward the high wall surrounding the field. Of course both her brothers wanted to cover their retreat. “Move it!”
The namazu roared. It came crashing through the weeds toward them. She hit the wall first and scrambled over it. All instincts were screaming for her to stop and make sure the others got to safety. The hard truth was that her best chance of protecting them was to kill the monster.
She turned, swinging her rifle off her back and up to her shoulder. It was heart-stoppingly close to Marc and Taggart. Losing something makes it suddenly clear that it’s very important to you.
“Don’t think of that now,” she whispered. She sighted on the namazu’s small beady eyes, held her breath, and pulled the trigger.
The crack of the rifle was weirdly comforting. The beast staggered and then slowly crumbled.