Bear? Where are you?
I rose on the other side of the door and paused just in front of the two guards. My body was beginning to pulse—a warning that my strength was slipping away faster than time. I moved farther away and shifted back to flesh. For several seconds lights danced in front of my eyes, and it was all I could do to stay upright. I gritted my teeth, ignored the pounding in my head, and kept a fierce grip on the light shield.
Next to the hauler, he said.
Do you think you can take out the guard there?
Of course.
His tone was indignant, and I smiled. Good. Wait for my signal.
I carefully unclipped the dart gun, moved closer to the first guard. He, like his friend, was wearing body armor and a full helmet, so I aimed for his thigh instead. The dart embedded deep into his flesh and he slapped at it, driving it deeper rather than dislodging it.
I fired at the second man—who almost instantly pulled it free and raised it to study. “What the fuck?”
“What?” the other man said.
“Some bastard just hit me with a dart!”
“Where the hell did they come from?” the first man exclaimed.
“I don’t fucking know.”
I crossed mental fingers that the dart had been in long enough to knock the second soldier out, and headed for the scooters and their guards.
“Control,” the first man said, “There’s some weird shit happening up here.”
Which wasn’t what I wanted to happen, but not a complete disaster given the stairwell was the only way—short of flight—on and off this rooftop.
Go, Bear. I swapped the dart gun for two machine pistols and raced toward the speeders. The guards heard my footsteps—it wasn’t like the light shield muted sound—and even though their expressions were confused, they raised their guns and fired.
I immediately sucked in the darkness and thrust up into the air, and not a moment too soon. A deadly storm of metal shot through my particles and would have ripped me apart had I been flesh. I dropped down behind the two men, shed the shadows but not the light shield, and fired at the backs of their knees. As they went down, I ripped off their helmets and hit them. Hard.
Then I went back to check the two men near the door. One was down. The other I shot.
The hauler is now unguarded, Bear said.
Great work. Can you keep an eye on the two men near the scooters? If they show signs of becoming conscious, knock them out again.
With pleasure.
I finally released the light shield and had to thrust a hand against the metal exit door to keep upright. Everything was back to hurting and my heart raced so hard it felt like it was about to explode.
I sucked in air for several seconds, but it didn’t seem to do much more than make my head spin harder. I swallowed heavily, then reached down, grabbed a guard, and hauled him up to the scanner.
The scanner’s light flashed from red to green and the door slid open. I shoved the guard’s body in front of it to prevent it closing again, and then grabbed the other man’s arm and stumbled down the stairs, unceremoniously dragging him behind me.
I didn’t have the energy to pick him up. I really didn’t.
I’d barely opened the second door when Cat screamed, They’re in!
Little bodies pushed through and began a hobbling run up the stairs. As the boy with the tri-colored eyes flew past, I said, “Take them to the biggest vehicle up there.”
“Will do.”
Jonas carried the final two—a girl and a boy. Both were unconscious.
“Go,” I said, my voice little more than a scratch of sound. I hit the button and, as the door began to close, followed Jonas up the stairs.