Quin reaches down from the walkway, grabbing my arm to help pull me up, but a moment later he is shot in the arm, dropping me. I begin to fall, and am just barely able to grab hold of the rope I’d been tied to. I pull myself back up to the ledge and Quin grabs my arm again, and pulls me up. We run down the connection bridge as Hostem begin to make their way through the smoke filled entrance of the Developmental Quad.
Energy blasts ricochet around us. Lehen and Braxton return fire.
The walkway sways mildly when the first detonator goes off.
We turn the bend in the bridge as the second one ignites, fiercely shaking the metallic structure. I turn my head and see the Developmental Quad bending, buckling under its weight.
Lehen goes down from a shot to his thigh. He’s never been injured before, and buckles, slow to heal. I crouch in front of him to give him time to recover, taking several shots to my side and back.
The bridge shakes violently as the final detonator ignites. The Developmental Quad collapses with a great roar and shriek of metal, sliding down the cliff into the snowy darkness below. Those still standing are knocked to their feet as the connection bridge begins to slide, the glass walls cracking from the pressure exerted by the supports failing. The Hostem in the walkway try to retreat, but fall out of the broken window as the bridge twists to the right; Braxton and the Morrigan make it into the Predestination Center; Lehen, Quin, and I slide down the metal flooring.
The bridge collapses, folding at the doorway seam. The rest of the building has been lost, eliminating the protective film, and the three of us fall through the glass. Lehen and I manage to grab hold of the metal window casing. I grab Quin as he falls past, just moments before he’s out of reach.
“Quin, you’re slipping,” I shout, as my hold begins to loosen. “Grab my arm with your other hand!”
Energy blasts fly at us from below. Lehen is hit in the back, but manages to keep his hold. Quin is also hit, his body swaying from the blast.
“Let go, Meg,” he says to me.
“No, you need to hold on.”
“Meg, it’ll be all right. You have to let go.”
I shake my head and try to pull him up. He uncurls his free hand, showing me an activated detonator, counting down brightly in the darkness.
A moment later he lets go of me, falling into the abyss below.
I scream his name, my wounded voice resonating off the rocks.
The detonation is bright blue, and powerful. The remaining glass in the bridge rains down on us. The shock wave radiates skyward then all is quiet.
Tears pour from my eyes. My heart breaks, mourning another loss of someone I love.
“Trea,” I hear Lehen say, as if from somewhere off in a distance.
I look over at him, his face emotionless.
“We have to climb.”
He pulls himself up and begins to ascend the window frames like a ladder.
I look down one last time, rage beginning to build.
Chapter 27
Braxton reaches down to me as I make it onto the last metal frame. I place my hand in his and he pulls me up to the doorway.
“It’s not over,” he announces, as more blasts can be heard from the other connection bridge. “We need your help.”
Just what I need to take out some of the frustration I’m feeling right now. “How many do you think remain?”
“Just about a handful. They shouldn’t be too much trouble.” He smiles at me as he places his Levin gun in one hand and the Levin gun Quin dropped in my other.
Trea grins back.
I take off down the hall of the main level of the Predestination Center leaving Lehen, Braxton, and the Morrigan behind.
I enter the walkway, firing at anything that moves, taking down three Hostem before I reach the entrance to the emergency bunker, which is sealed shut. I come upon four more as I make the bend in the walkway and cut my way through them, leaving nothing alive behind me. I kill two more as I enter the housing unit. The remaining Hostem is at the far end, firing at me, but missing. The Hostem turns to run, but a well-aimed shot shatters a femur, and the Hostem falls.
I walk slowly down the length of the hall as the fighter tries to crawl around the corner, but the person doesn’t get far and I’m there in seconds.
“Why?” I ask, pointing the gun at the Hostem’s back.
“To bring an end to Sirain,” a familiar voice answers. She rolls over onto her back, breathing labored due to blood loss. Her face is covered in dirt and sweat, but the white-streaked red hair is very recognizable.
“Rena?”
“Hello, Meg.” She tries to push herself up into a sitting position. “I imagine you’re as surprised to see me as I am to see you.” She shakes her head. “If Terrance had known the truth about you, he never would have left to go looking for you.”
I take the butt of the Levin gun and hit her across the face. A cut above her eyebrow forms deep and red. “What truth? What did I ever do to you or Terrance? You’re the monsters here, and I’m going to stop you.”
“You can never stop this, Meg. Acheron is lost and Tyre soon will be. You’ve failed.” She taunts me, a smile growing on her face.
I kneel, bringing myself down to her level.
“Why do you care so much about destroying the cities?”
“They obliterated everything…murdered hundreds when Asphodel fell…they’re the reason why the Wasteland exists. They manipulate and control those they feel are beneath them. Destroy anyone who thinks differently.”
“Your brother was
