Red Awakening (Red Zone 2)

“Doesn’t matter either way, Tinker Bell. We both know who saved your life.” She grinned wide. “You owe me, and I don’t plan on ever letting you forget it.”

Keiko groaned just as a massive blast rent the air. They ducked their heads back under the water to avoid flying debris. While, above them, the sky burned red before turning black.

Chapter Forty-Seven

Buffalo Bayou Park

Houston, Northern Territory

“I’m taking the chopper down,” Striker said into his comm as he watched the shuttle hit Waugh Bridge.

The blast waves made the chopper dance around on his descent into the park. Striker fought with the controls, taking the bird into a steep descent. Aiming for the side of the bayou where he could see Mace lying on the bank, Ignacio leaning over him, checking the field dressing on his chest. A field dressing that was strangely red and looked suspiciously like lingerie.

A dark cloud caught his attention, and his heart jerked in his chest.

When the shuttle had crashed into the bridge, it had disturbed the bats living under it, and they’d taken to the sky in one great chaotic cloud. There was no time to lose. He had to set the chopper down before his craft was swarmed and he plummeted to the ground.

“I’m coming in hard,” he told Hunter back at their mobile base. He wished he could tell Sandi the same, but her comms had been washed out. “We’ve got bats in the air.”

“Damn,” was all Hunter said.

Strider didn’t so much land the chopper as drop it out of the sky. He hit the ground with a thump and a shudder. “I’m down,” he told Hunter. “But there’s no way I can take off again. The sky is black with bats.”

“Already on it. I’ve got Gray and Zane on their way. They’ll take you out by road.”

“What’s the ETA on Enforcement?”

“They’ve been delayed.” There was a grin in Hunter’s voice. “I got in contact with our hacker friend, and he’s infected the Enforcement grid with a new virus he’s written. It won’t stall them for long—five, ten minutes at most—but it’s something. It cost us, though.”

“Whatever you had to pay, it’s worth double.” Striker powered down the chopper before climbing out. “Medical help?”

“On standby. Gray’s got the coordinates. I’ve hacked the city’s camera network, and it’s gone black. That’ll buy you a window to get out of there. I made sure to delete all the footage I could find of the shuttle descending toward the bayou. No one will know the people on board managed to get off before it blew.”

“Good job.” Striker ran for his teammates and crouched beside them. “How’s he doing?” he asked Ignacio.

“Still breathing. Heartbeat is weak. He’s losing blood, internally as well as through that.” He pointed to the metal tube poking out of Mace’s chest.

Striker waved a hand to ward off some stray bats that were spiraling around them. “Sandi? Keiko?”

Ignacio nodded toward the bridge, where the two women were climbing out of the bayou. Sandi had an arm around Keiko, who looked weak and was clearly struggling to stand on her own. Her eyes shot straight to Mace, and her strength seemed to return. She rushed forward, limping on a foot that’d lost its shoe. There was blood on her ankle and hands, bruises everywhere else. Her hair was wet and matted, her clothes torn, but she was alive. And very much focused on Mace.

Stumbling over the rocky ground, she fell to her knees beside Mace. “Is he alive?” she asked Ignacio, her voice trembling. With hesitation, as though afraid of what she’d find, she reached for Mace.

“He’s alive,” Ignacio said. “He’s too stubborn to die.”

Leaning over, she placed her ear to Mace’s chest, right above his heart.

“No trust,” Ignacio grumbled as Keiko’s whole body seemed to sag with relief.

Two bats swooped, dancing around their heads, and Keiko’s eyes went wide. With a start, she jerked away from Mace and looked up at the cloud of swarming bats above her head. Before anyone could say anything, she was on her feet, her focus on the cloud.

“Bat,” she shouted. “Bat!”

“Calm down.” Striker stood and placed a hand on each of her arms.

She shook him off. “Baaaat!”

“She’s losing it,” he told Ignacio. “We need to get out of here before she goes into shock.”