keep them off us.'
Even though her fear of the moving, weaving, and speeding car caused a shake in her hands, she did as instructed, pulling her M-4 from the rear seat while opening the sunroof with the push of a button.
Gordon swerved right again to avoid a flatbed tractor trailer hauling a piece of construction equipment. As he did, Nina saw his face change. His eyes, in particular. They grew sharper, but she also saw a grin poking at the sides of his mouth under that bushy mustache.
'Hey,' he said without taking his eyes from the road. 'Find something good on the radio, will you? This shit goes great to music.'
She ignored his request, offering only a grunt of disapproval as she hauled the upper half of her body through the open sunroof with her assault rifle ready to fire.
Nina's ponytail got caught in the wind of the rushing automobile and fluttered in front of her face as she looked rearward. Traffic in grouped bundles seemed to fall away from either side of the car as the BMW raced at an insane speed.
Their adversaries appeared, running along the freeway on four legs faster than most cars ran on four wheels. They could have been earthly lions-perhaps slightly larger-save for the armor plating covering their heads in a flesh akin to iron.
She could not believe an animal could run so fast. She watched as one side-swiped a compact car, flipping it sideways.
Nina fired first at the beast to her right as it came close enough to nearly nose the BMW. Her bullets hit the monster square in the forehead. The rounds bounced away, unable to penetrate its natural shield. However, the beast scrunched its head and neck to absorb the impact, causing its pace to slow. That one fell behind, at least for the moment.
She turned her gun on the second and let fly several volleys, only vaguely aware of the cars passing in the background. Her first shots ricocheted off the highway pavement, possibly into bumpers and windshields, she did not know.
The BMW banked hard to the left. Nina saw why as they zoomed by a slow-moving cement truck. That bigger vehicle caused the closest attacker to hurriedly adjust its path, darting across two lanes to the far side.
Nina turned her barrel to the first Speed-Lion as it caught up again and fired, hitting it once more on its front end. Its eyes-featureless red bulbs-glowed hotter in what had to be frustration or anger. Yet still, while the bullets did not hurt the beast the impact of the shots caused it to decelerate. It faded a good fifty yards back, taking out its frustration on a motorcyclist that it sent-bike and all-over the bank and off the Interstate.
Nina again changed her focus just in time to ward off the second attacker as it cut across the lanes and tried to side swipe the BMW. One of her bullets hit the flank of the creature where a splash of crimson liquid squirted forth, but either the damage did not hurt the thing or the impulse to pursue and kill overrode any pain. Nonetheless, its swipe at the BWM's side was temporarily chased off.
When Nina pulled the trigger again, she heard a depressing 'click' from an empty magazine. Standing there in the roaring wind and taking pot shots at beasts that ran like race cars had caused her mind to lose track of munitions. However, Interstate 95 entered another cloverleaf and a mass of additional vehicles joined the northbound parade. The new traffic forced the Speed-Lions to adjust their course, buying her a few seconds respite
Nina descended into the cabin of the car and secured a fresh clip. Gordon's hands gripped the steering wheel tight but his expression remained almost child-like in its fascination. She figured him to be 'high' on the adrenaline of the situation, having seen similar looks in the eyes of her men during firefights.
Amidst the roaring engine, the shifts from third to fourth gear and down again, and the squeal-inducing lane changes, Gordon found time to speak.
'Well, looks like we know how high up this goes.'
Nina spoke in a melodramatic voice, 'You mean, like all the way up to Evan?'
'Oh now honey, if you're just figuring out that Evan is involved, you're way behind. The question has never been if Evan is involved,' he rocked the car to the left to pass a station wagon full of day laborers. 'The question has been, who's in it with him? I think it's safe to say that Dante Jones, the Witiko, and Internal Security are up to their eyeballs.'
'Internal Security?' Nina pushed a fresh magazine into her rifle.
'Oh c'mon. Here we are in the largest city in The Empire on the busiest road around in broad daylight. Where are the choppers? Where are the patrols? Where is Internal Sec-'
The steering wheel spun in Gordon's hands as the entire vehicle was shoved to the right by one of the Speed-Lions nudging the rear quarter panel as if to say 'don't forget about us.' Nina shouted anxiously while Gordon struggled to regain control. They skidded across four lanes of traffic heading hard toward a concrete retaining wall.
He pointed the wheel in the direction of the slide and lifted his foot from the accelerator. At the same time Nina watched the wall grow bigger… harder, the smell of frying rubber shot in through the air vents, the out-of- control sedan cut off two half-ton trucks that blared air horns then slammed into one-another Gordon caught the slide, the rear-drive car fishtailed as he pointed north again and hammered the gas with a fury, throwing Nina back into the passenger's seat.
Nothing more needed to be said. As the car straightened…as the scenery around the freeway again turned into one big blurred tapestry…Nina climbed her way to a stand with her top half sticking out the sunroof and her gun sights searching for targets. The car crossed lanes again-this time in a controlled fashion-and took station in the center of the highway as the road cleared of traffic for a stretch.
Nina spotted the creature that had hit them, ten yards behind. She unloaded burst after three-round burst at the beast. It seemed to shrug its shoulders so as to increase the protection of its armored mane. Then it hopped straight up and over a slower-moving gold and silver Rolls Royce. The shots Nina fired at the Speed-Lion hit, instead, the windshield and front hood of the luxury car. A red splash from the driver's seat exploded onto the inside of the Royce's shattered glass and the vehicle spun round and round like a top, seeming to fall away from her as the chase continued forward at break neck speed.
The four-legged hunter landed on its feet in full stride. Nina did not have time to weep for the innocent killed by the crossfire. She fired again at the same enemy as her ride turned hard to the right, following the bend in the road as they traversed through another cluttered combination of on and off ramps. She hit the Speed-Lion in the face but, once more, only managed to annoy it. However, it did retreat with a jump across the center concrete barrier into the oncoming southbound lanes as if searching for shelter from the pestering bullets.
Meanwhile, Gordon realized they had long since passed the exit for Miami Shores, but that did not matter. There would be no going to Ernie's house. He needed no more evidence than the Witiko Skytroops he spied shadowing them and the creatures pursuing that Ernie had been compromised. Suddenly Miami burned too hot even for him.
Nonetheless, before he could do anything about that, he had to get them out of their current situation. No small task but- — he swerved into the far right lane to bypass a pair of motor coaches then maneuvered the crisp- handling sedan to the center of the road again.
No small task but he figured he could turn this problem into an opportunity; the type of thing he always did either for Trevor Stone or for his masters in the old world. The little piece of insurance he took from Omar before saying goodbye to Pennsylvania would give him-if it worked-the one ace he needed.
In the driver's side mirror he saw one of the creatures move off to the southbound lanes. Nina's shots did not damage the monsters but the creatures did not enjoy being shot, either.
Gordon glanced to the passenger's side exterior mirror.
Oh shit.
The second attacker had avoided Nina's watch and neared for the kill. It raced alongside the sedan bounding forward with its iron-ish head and ruby eyes bobbing up and down like a galloping race horse. Gordon thought fast. He turned a problem into an opportunity.
Knox jogged the wheel to the right as if threatening the beast with a collision. This encouraged the Speed- Lion to instinctively move…just enough.
The monster that could run as fast as a Ferrari slammed into the rear end of an 18-wheeler full of foodstuffs. The trailer crumpled and the cab jackknifed. As the mess faded quickly from view, Gordon saw the truck topple over
