In the precious minutes since the android army was spotted, the group had done exactly as instructed. The most vulnerable were huddled at the middle of the pack with crates barricaded around them. Those who could hold a weapon were offered tools, pipe, or anything else hard enough to crack an android’s casing. People had tipped a few sleds on their ends and placed them over the gathering like arbor. It wasn’t much, but it would keep stray bullets from landing on those people. I snapped a piece of metal plating off one of the sleds and tied a length of cord around it so that when I twisted my wrist in the slack, the plating made a halfway usable shield.
The androids had tired of waiting. Perhaps they were expecting us to rush down the hill into a kill box. The leader of the pack, an android with eyes that looked eerily similar to Gabriel’s stepped forward and opened its mouth. The noise that came out of it made me drop my shield and clap my hands to my ears. This was no ordinary robot language. The sound was like two trains mating at full volume. Martin Jones rushed up to show me his tablet. He must have completed his initial translation. It was rough, but the message was clear.
It was a battle cry.
The android army rushed us in a roar. The humans took their first shots at the most vulnerable targets: the drones. They put up one hell of a fight, whizzing one way and that. As a drone whisked past my field of vision I noticed an appendage underneath the chassis. It looked like a mechanical scorpion tail. The reason for the attachment became clear seconds later when one unfolded and let blast a burst of energy in my direction. I dropped and held my shield as high as I could. The beam hit the metal and melted straight through it, skimming inches over my head. The heat from it caused my hair to light on fire and I frantically patted it out with my free hand.
The android soldiers were met with a strong resistance. Human bodies clashed against machine, the humans taking advantage of being smaller and faster. Those who weren’t occupied with downing the drones took the occasional shot at the androids. Their bullets pinged against the android armour but the gunshots were enough to distract the machines. I saw a huge man plow his body into his android attacker. He knocked the machine to the ground and took out his utility knife. He plunged the blade into the side of the android’s neck; their armour didn’t protect the machines all the way around. Sparks and synthetic blood flew from the machine and it bucked a few times before going still. The man stood and shouted, holding his knife above his head in triumph. Others took notice and started to execute the manuever.
Despite having a way to take out the machines, it wasn’t a fair fight. For every android a human managed to down, they had already taken five with them. The battle’s initial burst of energy was fading, fast. Human screams and shouts filled the air. I tried to concentrate on defending myself. I was fairly tall but light compared to the androids. Every blow that struck against my makeshift shield hit hard. If I lived through this I was going to have one hell of a time in the morning. The androids weight worked against them in some respects; they were literally fighting an uphill battle. If one managed to knock them backwards, they sank into the springtime mud underneath the grass. Left alone they would right themselves with time but a quick moving human could sever their lifeblood while the machine struggled to get up. I almost lost my own head when I watched an android crush the skull of the person next to me like it was nothing. This couldn’t continue. We were losing too many people, too fast. The androids herded us into a tighter and tighter circle. Since we hadn’t come to their original kill zone, they were making their own.
The truck wasn’t far from me. It was time to get going. I put all my energy into my legs as I barrelled past android soldiers. My shield felt twice as heavy as it had originally and the fingers in my hand were numb. Two android soldiers stood between me and my goal. I skidded to a halt in the grass, taking care to keep the shield in front of me. I dimly heard Marcus bellow a call for retreat; they were going to protect the vulnerable until the last. The android soldiers shifted their weight back and forth, raising their weapons.
This was going to hurt, so, so much.
I tightened my grip on the shield and lifted it horizontally. The machines fired but my body was mostly shielded by the metal. I screamed and rushed forward, holding my shield like a battering ram. One of the androids must have changed his firing pattern; a searing pain tore through me as a bullet went through my side. The shield hit the machines just as intended and I jumped into the truck with it attached to me. Letting my arm fall formed a kind of drivers-side shield. At least they’d have one less angle to shoot at me from.
Ducking down in the front seat I used my knife to pry the wires from the portable battery. My arm clenched with the current that ran through it and I wrenched my weapon out of where it was stuck with my other hand. Keeping as low as I could I ripped a panel off the dashboard where I thought the ignition switch would be. A tangle of wires sat in front of me. No time to figure out the right one. I would have to wing it when the time came. As I boosted myself up to start the engine another bullet struck me,
