“And you’re sure about that?” Royce said into the radio.
“Yes, sir,” someone crackled back.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Bill handed me a radio which I secured to the utility belt. He handed Vee one as well.
“The two Bane that got in seem to have split up, or there’s more of them,” Royce said. He pulled out a set of binoculars. Night vision I had to assume considering how dark it was. “One of our people said they saw one ten blocks west of here. Someone else said they saw one about two miles south of the hospital. They’re moving fast.”
“Get everyone inside,” I said, looking back at the crowd that was gathering inside the lobby. “I’m assuming you’ve got a guard up at the transmitter?”
Royce nodded.
“Good. Lock things up. Don’t open the doors until I radio in that we’ve taken them out,” I said, scanning the roads before us. “Keep in contact with our men and women out there. And Royce,” I said, looking back at him. “You’d better be ready to get that Extractor powered up just in case.”
The look on his face told me he’d already thought of this possibility.
Two other soldiers suddenly buzzed around the side of the building on ATV’s. They hopped off and Vee and I climbed on. Bill started explaining how it worked to Vee.
“Go get those bastards,” Royce said with darkness in his eyes. I just nodded back.
“You head south,” I said, looking over at Vee. “I’ll head west. If we don’t find them in the next fifteen minutes, I’ll call them out to the water. I don’t want to have to do that though unless I have to. Who knows how many I’ll call into the city doing it.”
“Got it,” Vee said.
We both peeled away from the hospital.
The night air whipped my hair back and made my eyes water as I ripped down the street. The very last of the day’s light disappeared behind the tall buildings, casting me in darkness.
I’d only gotten three blocks away when I was suddenly engulfed in headlights one second before the truck slammed into me.
For one freeing moment, I was airborne, sailing through the night. And then the next I was skidding over the concrete. My skin grated away like cheese and my vision flickered in and out. The pain my brain didn’t allow me to feel threatened to knock me out.
Snatching my rifle up, I climbed to my feet and fired at the truck as it started racing toward me once more, driving right over my crushed ATV.
Five—six—seven shots and the tires were blown out.
The glass of the front window shattered as the Bane within erupted through it. It landed on top of me, its hands wrapping around my throat as we rolled over the pavement. It had just pinned my head to the ground when I saw another truck go barreling down the road.
Straight for the hospital.
“Get off me!” I screamed and the Bane didn’t hesitate in climbing off. Grabbing my rifle once more, I pointed it at the Bane and the next second its head shattered into a thousand metallic pieces.
Darting back into the road, I caught sight of the raging truck. One block from the hospital. Our soldiers were firing at it.
Turn around, I thought. Turn around now!
The tires screeched and skidded as the back end of it suddenly whipped around. It tipped up on two wheels for a moment before slamming back down.
Hatred and fury burned through my veins as I focused once again.
The truck picked up speed, racing back in the direction it had come. And then plowed right into the side of a concrete building.
The explosion of fire was brilliant.
So was the amount of Bane parts that exploded from it.
I darted across the street, careful not to get too close to the flames. The back of the truck had burst open and within, I could see at least half a dozen demolished bodies.
They’d tried to sneak an entire truck full of them into the city.
I picked up the radio and held it up to my mouth as I started sprinting back to the hospital.
“Royce, you copy?”
“Loud and clear. What the hell were they trying to do?” His voice was full of fury.
“I believe they planned on ramming that truck into the hospital to get in,” I said as I closed in on one block. “The back of that truck held half a dozen Bane.”
By this time, I’d gotten back to the hospital and tucked my radio back into my belt.
“Bill, Raj, Banner!” Royce was shouting. “Bring out the tanks! I want one positioned on this side of the hospital, the east side, and the west side. Alexa, you take the solar tank to the north side!”
“Vee, you copy?” I asked into the radio. My breathing came out harder than I expected. Hot acid burned through my veins.
“One second,” her voice came through. Two moments later we all heard a faint boom and the sky lit up with flames ten blocks from the hospital. “The threat has been exterminated.”
“You don’t see anything else out there?” I asked. I snatched Royce’s night vision binoculars from him and held them up to my eyes. I scanned the streets.
“Nothing,” she said, and I heard her ATV growl back to life over the radio. “I’m coming back in.”
Royce swore under his breath. “You get to the medical wing,” he said, glancing at me. “You’re freaking me out.”
I glanced down at my left arm. My shirt and jacket hung in tattered shreds. My mechanical bones shone from underneath. I reached up and felt my jaw. Most of the flesh there had been ground away.
“What if there are more of them out there?” I asked, handing his binoculars back. He took them and resumed scanning the streets.
“I’ve checked in with our other soldiers, no more reports of activity,” he said, but there was something in his voice that didn’t sound right.
“What is it?” I demanded.
He glanced over at me, his eyes unsure and regretful. “We haven’t heard back from Jeb yet.”
It took me a moment to remember who Jeb was. He’d been one of the members of the Underground. He’d joined security detail a while back.
“Where’s Vee?” I said, turning back toward the street. “She wasn’t that far out. She should be back by now.”
Suddenly there were shots fired, no more than two blocks from our location. There was a scream at the same time. And when the shots stopped, someone started shouting, frantic and panicked.
“Vee!” I shouted. I was about to dart back out when Royce grabbed my wrist. I looked back at him. He shook his head with grave eyes.
“That’s enough for tonight,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let you out in the first place. We can’t risk you getting killed.”
“But Vee—”
Just then she shot out into the road on her ATV. And on the back of it was Jeb.
“He’s been touched!” she shouted as she rolled up. She came to an abrupt halt and Jeb fell off like a rag doll. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with him,” she said as she climbed off and just looked at him. “The Bane grabbed him, but he isn’t injured.”
“Probably in shock,” Royce growled as he and another woman darted forward to grab him. “Let’s get him up to the Extractor!”
They disappeared through the door. Just then, Graye rolled up in a truck, followed by Tuck and Tristan. The majority of the soldiers that had been out with security climbed out. Almost all of them darted inside the hospital.
“What are you doing?” I asked, nabbing Tristan with my good hand before he could duck inside. “What if there are more of them out there?”
“Holy…” Tristan jumped, stumbling back from me two steps. “What happened to you?”
“What do you think?” I said, glaring at him and feeling annoyed. “What are you all doing back here?”
“Graye’s ordered us to tighten the perimeter,” Tristan said. There was fear in his eyes. More than I hoped to see. “We can’t watch such a wide circle close enough. He’s closing it off to a five block radius. We had to come back for more ammunition. There are still a few of us out there.”