Chapter Twenty-Six
Late in the afternoon the radios chirped. Another blast of static came from the speakers and you could only make out one word.
Incoming.
The entire group froze in place. We didn’t know if that meant a missile strike was launched against us or if we were going to be riddled with bullets. Everyone with a gun targeted the field in front of them. If there was an assault on its way, we would at least take a couple of the androids with us. My heart beat loudly in my ears as I waited for the unknown threat to come upon us. Then we heard it.
The whine of an engine. Not just any engine, but the same whine we encountered while escaping the machine city. Whatever was coming, it wasn’t human. Out of nowhere an android vehicle appeared, with at least four androids on it. Two sat in the front of the vehicle and the other two stood on a caged bed in the rear. Three of the four were visibly carrying weapons.
“Everybody down!!” I screamed, but it was too late. Bullets whistled through the air, striking some of the old and slow. They fell to the ground screaming and clutching their wounds. The rest of the caravan dropped to the dirt. “Form a line!” I tried to force Eliza down with the rest of them but she shook me off. “Fire at will!” The few of us who had weapons took position in front of the right side of the group. I ripped a couple of boxes from one of the sleds and threw them in front of us. They were just tall enough to crouch behind. Pings rang out as the androids’ weapons hit the side of the cases. They were made of reinforced plastic; the shelter would hold, but not for long. My pulse raced every time I saw Marcus or Eliza peek out from their cover to fire at our attackers. Given the speed of the vehicle, hitting it was difficult. I handed my gun to a young woman who assured me she was a good shot and stepped back. None of these people had seen the machines before, but they kept steady fire as if they were familiar enemies. I could see flashes of light as the bullets ricocheted off the vehicle’s metal frame.
“Shoot for center mass!” A voice that I recognized shouted above the chaos. It was a friend of Eliza’s who accompanied her and Marcus to the gun range in the virtual world. His name completely escaped my mind. David? Donald? Dietrich? Whatever he was called, he knew a bipedal enemy would be most vulnerable in their torso. The group concentrated their fire on the androids in the truck bed. With a crack I saw one of them fall from the vehicle. It was impossible to tell whether it was dead. It wasn’t getting back up, though, and that’s all I cared about. The vehicle roared past the group and began a turn in a wide arc. The pause in gunfire gave us precious seconds to reload; the vehicle would be back within range in under half a minute. Shutting my eyes, I did the math. In order for the androids to turn themselves around, there would be a brief period where the vehicle would be pointed straight at us. I remembered thinking that they looked like buggies from another planet; the entire frame of the truck was cast in metal and the six wheels beneath gave the androids precise control over the steering. But just as if the truck had been on the moon, there was no windshield.
Goddamn it. This was a stupid, stupid idea. A stupid idea that was going to get me killed.
“Honey, if I get killed, I’m really sorry and you were right in every argument we ever had.” I bent down next to Eliza and kissed her soundly. “I need you to count me down over more time, and then I need you to not miss. Okay?”
“What the fuck are you—oh, FUCK no.” Eliza swiped at my sleeve to hold me back but it was too late. I leapt over the barricade and ran.
“Hey, assholes!” I shouted at the rapidly approaching truck. “Remember me? You shot my fucking wife!” I held out both hands in a one-finger salute. “Come finish the job you pathetic dickstains!” Really Fiona? Dickstains? That’s a hell of a last word. I thought. To my shock, the truck stopped. I held my breath and waited for the end. The truck’s engine revved, a reverberating growl that elicited memories of the panther’s snarl as it crept toward me. I saw two pairs of glowing eyes in the front cab and recognized both. Eleanor and Zohei. So much for having made friends. The gun in my hands felt heavy and I hefted it up to my shoulder. Why hadn’t they cut me down yet? Then I saw the androids expressions. Riddling my body with bullets wasn’t going to be enough for them. This was personal. If Eliza and Marcus missed, this was going to hurt.
The truck accelerated as I popped off a few shots in the androids’ direction. A couple of them even came close to hitting the machines, but it was more of a distraction than anything. I waited, my ears straining for some signal, some indication that I wasn’t about to be plowed into the dirt by several tons of metal. I had started to really sweat when I heard Eliza.
“Down!” I leapt out of the way as a volley of gunshots erupted behind me. The truck swerved slightly before it crashed through the feeble barricades. Thankfully the humans behind it had fled the second the bullets left their guns. The truck
