Tires went out, but that didn’t stop them. “Chucky, you in position to hit it?”
“Got it, Sis.” Standing up from across the ramp, Chucky pulled a grenade launcher onto his shoulder. “Take cover!”
Cover was hunkering down as close to the wall as possible. Chucky fired on the truck. Casey mashed me against the cliff wall as the grenade hit. I knew this weapon. The grenade would attach itself to the truck and explode. “Shit!”
The truck was lifted off the ground, but rolled in our direction. I cast out an arm. Instinct and training combined to release a blast of energy. A wall of light spread over us, creating a barrier, a force field strong enough to deflect the SUV.
It flipped again, then did a full tumble down the ramp in such a violent bouncing way that it guaranteed no one could survive, seatbelts or not.
I dropped the field, looking up at Chucky across the ramp. “Make sure they’re purged.”
He ducked off the rock and a moment later two Kwia and Miri were on the SUV, now upside down at the bottom of the cliff. One of the Kwia discharged a sonic disrupter inside the vehicle. Anything possibly alive inside would be dead now, except the larvae.
The men pulled out four bodies, twisted, bloody and broken. The Ci’in knelt down on the chest of the first, cut open the man’s throat and thrust a hand down into the incision.
“OH! Really?” Casey looked away.
“That’s how it’s done.” I watched for a second as she started to glow. She focused her energy down into the dead man and in a moment the body started to convulse.
Casey didn’t want to watch, but like most humans, couldn’t stop himself. He let out a gasp as the woman started pulling. With a jerk she rose up, thrusting a bloody squirming snake-like creature into the air. A Kwia took it from her, threw it to the ground and shoved a white-bladed knife into it.
A sickening scream echoed up to us.
“That thing is in all the… zombies?” Casey skidded on loose gravel, my father shoving him back upright.
“Yeah. Now we have to go. They were only the first attempt. I don’t want to be crushed by the second.”
My father pushed past both of us. Casey brought up the rear. With a wave from my father, that the way was clear, I reached the top of the ramp, peeking over the edge. Casey popped his head up next to mine, seeing the carnage of the surprise attack on the encampment. Bodies were strewn over the plateau.
The helicopter had been hit. The blades were twisted beyond use and it lay on its side in the center of camp. One of vehicles along the opposing cliff wall was on its side. There was a barrage of weapon fire between our people and mercenaries inside the larger metal building.
I pointed to the smaller building. “That’s the mine entrance.”
“Looks like a stand-off at the moment.”
“Only a moment.” I jerked my head up at the cliff over the vehicles. From above I saw ropes dropping down the wall, then Kwia sliding down. Whoever was in the building couldn’t see them from their angle.
“They can’t destroy all the vehicles. We might need them to get the hostages out.”
“Least of our concerns, big picture here, my love.” I added the last as I felt him tense next to me. I was almost completely Din’ah right now. “Consider the tens of thousands more lives lost if we fail.”
“Right now they’re big bulletproof rocks. Just what we need to break the standoff.” Chucky made us all jump, slipping up behind us unheard. Sure enough the first Kwia down the rope got into a vehicle and started it up, moving it out of line. Several more vehicles followed, creating a line across the plateau. Kwia warriors ran up beside the SUVs as they slowly crept closer to the buildings. Several climbed inside, dropping the windows enough for their weapons.
One SUV sped out of the lineup, swinging around the smashed helicopter and skidding to a stop right at the top of the ramp. We ducked the spray of gravel. I had my Sig pointed into the SUV as the back passenger door opened. “You need a ride, Princess?”
“Frankie!” I rolled my eyes. “We have coms.” I scrambled up the ledge. “I nearly opened fire.”
“Me too!” Casey pushed me up and into the SUV. My father piled into the front seat.
“Hey, thought you’d prefer a layer of bulletproof glass over sticking your heads up over the rocks.”
“I do.” I tossed myself against the opposite door, watching as the other SUVs carried our people closer and closer to the buildings. Daniel and his group were in the forward position now. He had a sonic charger. One per vehicle and all aimed at the largest building.
When they opened fire, the metal siding crumpled and shredded like aluminum foil. Daniel strolled out from behind his vehicle and towards the smaller building, knelt and let go another blast. The wood and metal shack collapsed. Whatever was in there would take a while to crawl out.
Time we needed.
With return fire quelled, a group of Kwia warriors stormed the remains of the larger structure, warily. The first two went in. There were a series of clicks on my earpiece and the rest of the team followed. A few minutes later they came out, rushing across the plateau to the nearest vehicle, six women clung to their rescuers, crying, even as they were tossed into the backs of the SUVs.
“There’s some of our hostages.” I thrust open the door to the SUV, climbing out. Other Ci’in started across the plateau, stopping at each body to perform extractions. Their eerie glow preceded screams that echoed against the walls.
Casey tried not
