The bolt of Dohi’s rifle locked back a moment later. He was completely out of ammunition.
A torrent of fire forced Dohi back down, bullets punching into the crates and walls. He pulled out his M9 and looked over his shoulder to see Kamer had fallen. Corrin rushed toward where the Canadian general had fallen.
“No! Corrin!” Ace yelled.
Corrin grabbed the limp general, dragging him out of view. Dohi had to turn back and fire on two collaborators charging his position. The Variant general was out of sight, flanking to pick them off one at a time.
Everything had turned to shit in a matter of seconds. Dohi had made a mistake letting Corrin out of his locks, and the Alpha was preparing to tear them all apart with the collaborator soldiers.
Time seemed to slow as rounds slammed into the crate and whizzed past Dohi.
Turning, he saw Corrin standing now with fresh blood on his chest. No doubt the blood of Kamer. The Chimera raised the rifle and aimed right at Dohi. He had known for a long time he would die in battle, but not because of a stupid mistake like this.
He watched the muzzle flare and bullets lance overhead. But none of them pounded his body. He glanced around the crate to see two collaborators thump against the ground.
A roar sounded from the Variant general. He exploded through a wall of crates and pounded into Corrin, knocking the Chimera to the ground.
Dohi looked over to see Kamer was sprawled out behind the busted crates where Corrin had dragged him to safety. Ace ran to him and lifted the general into a fireman’s carry, running toward the back of the garage.
“Come on!” Ace yelled to Dohi.
Dohi watched Corrin struggling against the larger Alpha.
Damn it, he thought.
He couldn’t leave Corrin to die like this. He aimed his pistol, waiting for a shot. More collaborators stormed in the garage.
Pulling the trigger, Dohi put a round in the general. The giant beast reared back, and he put another two into the chest. Corrin pushed himself up and ran over to Dohi as the Alpha limped away in retreat.
Together, the Chimera and Dohi ran to catch up with the rest of the team outside the garage.
Behind them, the glow of bright orange spheres of fire lit up the sky.
The hotel was burning.
The snow was coming down heavily again, nearly blotting out their vision despite the light seeping through the gray clouds. Behind the screen of snow, he saw two big trucks with snowplows fixed to the front idling at an open gate.
Thank you, Father Sky, Dohi thought. The cover the snow provided might be what saved them today.
Dohi swung his rifle up at shapes approaching from behind the trucks. But they weren’t hulking bears nor did they wear the ragged white and gray clothing of the collaborators.
It was Neilson and the rest of Spearhead with Sergeant Prince.
“Get in!” Neilson said, motioning to the closest truck.
They all piled into the back, hunching down against the freezing metal. Ace lowered Kamer gently onto the truck bed. The man was unconscious, but alive.
Dohi looked out the back of the vehicle at a monstrous shape silhouetted against the fires. The general.
The monstrous Variant stood his ground, watching as the truck took off.
“What the hell was that thing?” Neilson asked.
“An Alpha,” Fitz said.
“The general,” Corrin said. “Leader of the New God armies.”
The group fell into silence as the truck raced away for safety far from the base.
Toussaint broke the quiet. “Is this what it’s like?”
“What?” Ace asked.
“The attacks, the monsters, out of nowhere?”
Fitz nodded. “Almost always, there’s little warning.”
“And most of the time, it’s a slaughter,” Ace added.
“Good God,” Toussaint said.
“I’m sorry,” Prince said. “We had no idea.”
“No more,” Neilson said. “We’re in this fight now.”
“Where are we headed?” Fitz asked.
“Calgary,” Prince said. “We’ll regroup there.”
Dohi took in a deep breath. He couldn’t help but feel Ace was right, and they were heading from one slaughter to another.
***
Beckham knocked on the door to the laboratory. Through a window, he saw Kate working in an isolated chamber. She wore a blue CBRN suit. Yellow biohazard signs hung on the wall near the chamber and above a decon anteroom leading into it.
Kate could not hear him through the double sets of windows, but her assistant Ron was working in the less-restricted BSL-2 portion and noticed him standing there. Ron nodded at Beckham, then went to an intercom connected to the interior of the isolated chamber. Kate turned and waved a gloved hand. She went through the decon process, then carefully removed her suit before finally exiting and meeting him outside the lab.
“Sorry, I know I’m late,” Kate said. “I got wrapped up with work.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Beckham held up a paper bag. “I brought lunch.”
“Great. I’m starving. Truth be told, I need some time away from the lab.”
They left the hospital and met four soldiers outside who had escorted Beckham there. Together they walked under the afternoon sun back toward the outpost gate.
“You know the hospital is only a five-minute walk from the gate,” Kate said. “I can make it there in broad daylight, especially with the men Commander Jacobs assigned to protect me.”
“I feel better walking you in myself.”
Kate wrapped her arm through his. “And that’s why I love you.”
Once inside the outpost, Beckham led them to the nearest park. Trees dotted the wide, rolling lawns around a long reflection pool leading to a lake. Ducks and geese squawked as they milled about the water, their calls mixing in with the chatter of all the refugees who had recently arrived at Houston.
Dozens of tents had been installed around the park to house the newcomers. The soldiers following Kate and Beckham watched them with suspicion.
“So many people.” Kate’s gaze followed a pair of young boys kicking a soccer ball back and forth. “And so many families.”
Beckham thought of Javier in Galveston with the girls,
