“Who’s attacking!” She had some kind of foreign accent, maybe Spanish, but her English was nice and clear.
No time to explain. “Aliens!” shouted Cole.
The door swung open so fast it rebounded off the wall and almost shut again. Cole and Rube pushed through it. “We need to get out onto Murray Street,” said Rube. “We need to get to our weapons.”
She ran ahead of them, praying in Spanish as she went.
“Stay indoors,” said Cole.
“No va fuera,” said Reuben. “No entra la rua! No mira la rua!”
The woman nodded as she fumbled with the keys and finally got the front door open.
Cole started looking for Mingo’s SUV. Only when Rube pushed the button on the remote did Cole realize that the SUV was directly in front of him.
“I planned it this way when I chose our parking place,” said Rube.
“It’s a miracle from God and you want to take credit?” said Cole.
By now they were both inside the SUV with the doors closed.
“Want to try to run for it in the car?” said Rube.
“Did you see what it did to that parked car back there?” said Cole. “I want to see Mingo’s arsenal!”
“He won’t have a grenade launcher, more’s the pity,” said Rube.
“I’d be happy with a World War II bazooka.”
Rube pulled out an M-16A2 rifle. “You want this? Or there’s an M-4.”
“How the hell did Mingo get an M-4 for private use?” said Cole.
“You want it or not?” said Rube.
“Duh,” said Cole, reaching for the weapon he knew best, the M-4.
“And maybe I’ll take the Minimi.”
“You didn’t tell me there was a machine gun when you offered me my choice.”
“Too late, no takebacks. Here’s an M-9 for you and an M-9 for me.
Cole took the offered pistol and then they started sharing out ammunition.
“When did you learn Chinese?”
“They were starting to train me for the next possible war.”
“They guessed wrong,” said Rube. “This is the next possible war.”
“Now you tell me. When did you learn Spanish? Special Ops is planning for a war with Colombia?”
“That was high school Spanish. And some college Spanish. And look. An M-240. Forget the Minimi. I want the heavier bullets.”
“Against tanks?”
“I’m betting the mechs aren’t armored like a tank,” said Rube. “Too heavy for those legs to hold up.”