by Joe Peacock
lungs. She placed the inhaler to her mouth and took a second full hit of AMP. After a quick shiver, she stretched her neck and cracked her knuckles.
"Okay, Jen was right," she said, "I'm definitely going to puke."
She listened closely as she picked up the hunk of wood from the collapsed couch. Another WHAM. And then another WHAM. And then, before the ram could hit again, she tossed the chunk of couch at the switch by the door. The magnetic seals buzzed, and the door creaked open, just in time for the soldiers to come surging forward, wildly off balance.
Marlowe sprinted toward them, grabbing the head of the battering ram. She locked her feet in place, and with all the power she could muster from her recently fueled up muscles, she pulled the ram forward, yanking the soldiers into the doorframe on either side.
She retreated with the battering ram down the choke point she'd created and took cover. More soldiers filed in in two-by-two cover formation. As they spread out at the end of the furniture tunnel, Marlowe swung the ram like a bat at the soldier nearest her, cracking his helmet and knocking him out cold. She then grabbed the handles of the ram, leapt forward, and demonstrated that the head of a battering ram could punch through the chest cavity of a human being if thrust hard enough.
She reestablished cover behind the other side of the choke point at the doorway. Well-versed in MilSec tactics, she knew what was coming next. She took a very deep breath, ducked her head, closed her eyes, and plugged her ears.
Several flash grenades flew through the doorway and detonated.
Textbook, she thought to herself as more soldiers filed into the house through the tunnel choke point. One of the soldiers turned in her direction with his rifle at the ready. Marlowe grabbed the gun by the barrel and yanked as she took a step to the side, pulling the soldier off his feet and causing him to pull the trigger. The barrel seared her hands, but adrenaline and AMP kept it from registering with her nervous system.
It, however, couldn't prevent her from smelling her own cooked flesh. The stench, combined with the calorie-dense Battery nutrition bars and the first real cardio exercise she'd had in months all made her astonishingly queasy. As another soldier rounded the corner, she spewed milky white vomit on him.
"Agh!" The solder shrieked before Marlowe swung the rifle by the barrel at his head and knocked him out.
Two more soldiers came from the other side of the room after clearing their assigned corners, only to find themselves staring at a gagging, pissed off Marlowe Kana. They raised their rifles.
"Goddammit! I said no shooting!" Cain yelled as he marched through the doorway. "Who the hell fired that round?"
The two soldiers looked his way, then pointed at the puke-covered soldier at their feet.
Cain retched and said "Well, that smells just lovely."
"I got more if you want it," Marlowe said, brandishing the biometrically protected rifle by the barrel like a baseball bat. She couldn't use it to shoot, but it was far from useless. "Come and get it."
Two more soldiers filed in behind Cain and raised their rifles at Marlowe. Four red dots adorned her face.
"Good to see you again, MK!" Cain said. "Love the bracelets."
"Nice to see you too, Cain," she retorted. "Love the new arm."
He patted his augmented right arm with his natural hand. "Yeah, I suppose I have you to thank for it. But I'm not mad...I actually love it. But as much as I'm dying to show you how well it works, it'd be better for both of us if you surrender."
"And make you United America's Next Top Soldier?" Marlowe retorted. "No way in hell."
"You are outnumbered and have no place to run," Cain stated. "The prize is doubled if I bring you in alive, but I won't hesitate to order my squad to fire."
"So I saw a few minutes ago," Marlowe said drily. "Big brave 'Mad Dog' Cain...having his squad do all his dirty work. I'm sure everyone watching the Feeds right now is super impressed at how you’re able to tell your squad to shoot an innocent lawyer."
Another squad of eight soldiers arrived on the scene and entered the doorway.
"Hold your positions!" Cain ordered. "I got this."
Marlowe smirked. "Ah, so there is some fight in you."
"You're about to find out," Cain replied. He tapped a switch on his right arm and it began to hum with electricity.
"Oh goodie," Marlowe said, dropping the rifle-turned-club. "I do get to see how that fancy arm works!"
Cain chuckled. He reared back and then swung at Marlowe with all his might. Marlowe took one step to the side. The entire room echoed with a loud CLANG as Cain's powered fist slammed into the steel partition wall behind her.
Marlowe raised her fist to retaliate. The squad raised their rifles and trained them on her.
"Oh, would you look at this!" Marlowe said. "The Mad Dog needs his little puppies to back him up!"
Cain growled. "Lower your weapons!" he ordered his team.
"But sir..." one of his squad members stammered.
"That's an order!" Cain demanded.
The squad complied and lowered their weapons again. Cain began to circle Marlowe. He clenched his metallic fist and raised it at her. "You're mine," he said.
"You're pathetic," she replied with fists raised. She circled to the left, maneuvering Cain between her and the soldiers that stood by, agape at what they knew was going to be a fight for the ages.
"Come on!" Cain yelled, pounding his fist on his chest. "I'll even let you take the first--"
Marlowe leapt into the air, lunging at Cain. Her right fist cocked fully back, she punched directly into the middle of his chest as she landed. Her overwhelming strength sent Cain flying backwards into his squad.
Cain's body armor absorbed the force of the blow and dissipated it across his body, keeping her fist from sinking into his chest and ripping out the other side. Cain, however, momentarily lost his breath and balance, and his squad took the brunt of his weight. Like dominoes, they fell and tossed around in all directions.
Cain’s adrenaline kicked in. He rose to his feet and stumbled forward, swinging his powerful augmented fist. The weight of his massive hand hit nothing but air and sent him spinning right back to the ground with the rest of his squad, who were clambering on and around one another trying to get up.
Marlowe was already halfway down the hallway making her getaway. Without breaking her stride, she planted her left foot just above the door handle. The steel door took the the kick, and the deadbolt sheared clean away. The door slammed open so hard, the handle chipped away a sizable divot in the concrete wall.
Jen's heart skipped a beat and a light shriek escaped her lips as Marlowe burst into the room. She had just pulled back the carpet and opened the hatch to a system of drainage tunnels once meant to handle overflow rainfall...back when rain still fell.
"Gotta go!" Marlowe yelled as she slammed the door shut. She yanked the dresser next to the doorway over on its side as a makeshift barricade.
"Move!" She yelled to Jen, who had just picked up a small device from her bedside table.
Jen nodded. She grabbed the top rung of the ladder and began to descend just as Cain's powered metal fist punched a hole through the top of the barricaded door.
"GO!" Marlowe barked, placing her foot on Jen's head and kicking her down the tunnel.
Cain grabbed a side of the hole and began furiously ripping the metal door apart.
Marlowe turned and jumped down the tunnel opening, grabbing the top of the hatch as she fell. It slammed closed behind her.
"Hit it!" She said to Jen, who had just sat up trying to regain her bearings. Jen looked at her empty hand. The remote had fallen a few yards away. She lurched forward and scrambled on her hands and knees toward it.
The hatch opened just as Jen reached the detonator. She glimpsed Cain's metal fingers lifting up the hatch as she hit the button. The muffled sounds of explosions rumbled above the tunnel. The hatch fell shut. Screaming could be hea
rd as flames danced around Cain's hand in the cracked opening of the tunnel hatch.
Marlowe reached her hand down toward Jen. Jen took it. Without a word, they fled into the darkness.
9. A Day In The Life Of:
Glen Russel
Sweat poured from Glen's brow and soaked his sweatshirt. This was by far the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life: one hundred freaking push-ups in a row. With grim remorse, he recalled how he had been absolutely certain that Cain would win United America's “Next Top Soldier.” He never thought that he'd have to be the one to make good on the bet. But honor was everything with "The Night Crew" at his gym. And a bet was a bet.
"Come on, Glen!" A voice called out from somewhere in front of him.
"Dude, you got this!" Another said from his left.
"Just a few more, bro," A third voice urged from his right.
Sweat dripped from his chin. He'd already powered through eighty-four push-ups. He'd never completed that many in a row before. And despite feeling a bit embarrassed that he'd picked the wrong dog in the fight, he was still proud. For one thing, he was contributing to the Grid, and that always felt great. It was one of the main points of pride in staying in
