I mean, they probably hadn’t expected their panels to do what I was going to use them for. But they’d definitely known that someone might need more cable to move the electricity from the fence to someplace further along.
Inside that box, there had to be at least twenty feet of looped cable, and a quick search told me that the end that wasn’t loose was connected to the cable that went down into the ground on the other side of the fence.
This was it. That cable was functional, and there was live electricity flowing inside of it.
The end of the cable was secured with a large wire guard—which meant, I knew, that the live wires were actually accessible. They were in there, just waiting to be attached to something so we could use the electrical current running through the thing.
Well, if this worked the way I thought it would, I had a very specific use for that electrical current.
I whirled around, the cable in my hands and my fingers working frantically at that wire guard, my eyes on the park in the distance. I needed those tanks to come into the empty space where I was standing, and I needed them to do it quickly. But now that I was here, I realized that there was a hole in my plan. Like… a very large hole.
I had no way of attracting their attention.
At that moment, people came streaming out from between the buildings and supports in the park itself, screaming and running like their lives were on the line. Which they might have been, honestly, considering there were about ten tanks rumbling along after them, their treads churning up the dirt and grass underneath.
Will was at the head of the pack. And he was grinning at me like this was the biggest game in the entire freaking world.
Chapter 29
“What do you need?” he shouted, his voice carrying over the distance in a faint but determined tone.
“Get them as close to me as you can!” I shouted back. “Try to get them to crash into each other!”
Yeah, I know, it was a long shot, that one. But that was Will’s problem. He’d already coordinated our squad into not only finding the tanks but bringing them here. I had faith they’d figure out how to bring those tanks to a stop.
And after that, it would be my turn.
I looked down at the cable in my hands, my mind churning. The wire guard was off, now, exposing the end of the protective rubber around the wires, and I dug into my pocket and came up with the knife I’d grabbed last night in the armory.
Moment of truth. Again.
Because this time, those wires were packing an incredibly big punch.
I bit my lip, sent a prayer up to the universe that I would survive this experience, and then started cutting away the rubber around the wires, working very, very carefully. I needed to expose the wires themselves, but do it without touching them with the knife, because one touch and I would be electrocuted. Game over. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Because I would be dead.
I glanced up at the sound of roaring and saw that more tanks had arrived—and that they were tearing after the people they were chasing. People who were now doing some sort of complicated dance, passing each other at an all-out run, leading the tanks on a merry chase.
And it only took about thirty seconds for the first two tanks to crash into each other, right in front of me. Ten more seconds and I heard two more hit the first two. Ten more seconds and there were more crashes.
Turned out those guys were not only untrained on guns, but also on how to drive tanks.
Convenient.
At that moment, I managed to get through the rubber coating on the cable and expose the wires themselves. I shoved the lever on the box up to the mark that said ‘Full Power’ and then turned and dashed toward the first tank. I wasn’t going to have a lot of time with each tank, and I was gambling on these ones being built the way I’d seen others built—yes, I’d once done a hacking job that had to do with tanks, believe it or not.
If this worked, it would buy us the time we needed to get the hell out of there.
I hit the first tank at a mad dash, slid around to the back of it, and searched desperately for the panel that should be there. If everything I remembered was right, there should be a panel into the engine right…
Ah. I saw it, right where I’d been hoping to see it, and lucky for me, it didn’t even look like it had a lock on it or anything.
I quickly reached forward, one eye on the tanks around me and one ear on the screeches and banging of the people and tanks on the other side of them, and lifted the panel. Inside, I could see… a piece of the engine.
Terrific. There must be some larger panel that you used somewhere if you needed access to the whole thing. I didn’t need that. A piece of the engine was going to do just fine, as far as I was concerned. And this was faster—which was good, because I needed to get to all the tanks before the guys inside started getting out of them.
And now I came to another problem. Because I wanted to fry the tank… without frying myself. And no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t for the life of me remember if I would be safe, courtesy of the rubber coating around the wires, if I was still holding the thing when I gave those wires something to shock.
I couldn’t remember if I was going to be protected… or not. And with this much live voltage running through those wires, one shock was going to be akin to suicide.
“Shit,” I breathed. “Think, Michelle, think.”
It wasn’t worth the risk. But I didn’t have much choice about this, because we needed these tanks incapacitated, and the people driving them as well, if we were going to get the hell out of here.
Then I realized what I needed to do. I took a deep breath, sent up another prayer, and took a step back.
Then I shoved the cable forward, live wires exposed and sparking, aiming directly for the engine—and letting go at the last second and actually throwing the cable.
There was a boom so big, and a spark to match, that it actually pushed me back a couple steps, and the cable rebounded off the engine like they were magnets pushing away from each other. I stumbled, trying to catch my balance, but kept my eye on the tank.
It looked like… it looked like nothing had happened.
But there was smoke coming out of the engine, and I took that to be a very good sign. If it meant what I thought it meant, then the entire electrical system of the tank—including all the electronics inside, for steering and the like—had just been fried.
Bonus: That included the mechanism that would let the guys out of the tank itself.
I counted on my guesses being correct, there, and grabbed the cable up, already on my way to the next tank.
By the time I got to the last of the tanks, Annie, Louis, and Will were all running with me and helping to coordinate the effort. One of them would slide the engine compartment open while the others kept their eyes on the rest of the tanks to make sure no one was getting out of them.
We’d managed to fry twelve tanks already. And though the men inside weren’t dead—I didn’t think—they also weren’t able to get out.
I was also guessing that they didn’t realize they could touch the walls of the tanks. They had to be able to guess at what I was doing, considering their electrical systems were all going out, and I was betting that none of them had the education to realize that the electricity would be running right through the tank and into the ground, rather than sitting in the walls waiting to electrocute them.
With luck, they were going to be stuck in there until we could get out of the park.
When we finished the last tank, we shared a smile, the four of us running toward the rest of the group, my mind already on how we were going to get the hell out of that goddamn amusement park.
Then there was a shot from behind us, and the dirt flew up to my right, courtesy of a bullet hitting the ground. Before I knew what was happening, Will was tackling me to the ground, his body over mine, his face buried in the back of my neck.
Another gunshot and I felt him jerk against my body
.
We hit the ground rolling, and I glanced behind us, horrified to see Jerry standing there with a sniper rifle. I didn’t think. I yanked the gun out of my waistband, pulled it up in front of me, aimed, and fired.
He went down after one shot. And I whirled around to find Annie and Louis already getting Will up, their shoulders under his arms to drag him forward.
I ran after them, picking up his legs to help carry him, and ignored the fact that his head was bobbing along as if he couldn’t support himself anymore.
Chapter 30
By the time we got to the SUVs, I knew Will was in bad shape. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t said anything, and though I only had his legs, I’d seen Annie look at his face twice and then glance back at me, her own face… resigned.
I didn’t think about it. I’d seen him shot before and it hadn’t meant anything. The guy seriously had nine lives, and we’d only been through two of them. I wasn’t going to let him be dead. Not after everything we’d been through. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him die at the hands of Jerry.
So I was praying that that bullet had been blocked by something else. Maybe it had just grazed him. Hell, maybe it had gone all the way through him but hit nothing organ- or artery-wise.
He couldn’t be dead. I wouldn’t accept it.
We hit the front gate and there were something like two dozen SUVs parked in the parking lot, just as I’d remembered from when we arrived. And yeah, I was counting on the keys being inside the trucks. Because first of all, this was Adam, who didn’t think about things like putting passwords on his computers to protect them.
And secondly, we were in the middle of nowhere. And this was Adam. I really doubted he was worrying about someone happening along and stealing one of his military trucks.
"Get to the trucks!" I shouted. "We're getting the hell out of here!”
I didn’t say that we’d be back for the others, because I didn’t know for sure, though I thought that if people still had loved ones down in that bunker, they probably guessed that I wouldn’t leave them there.
Even if I didn’t come back with them, they’d be coming back to rescue their family members. If I could help with that, I would. Right now, though, my mission was to get us all off of that property so we could regroup.
Annie, Louis, and I hauled Will to the closest SUV, where Louis climbed in behind the wheel while Annie and I got Will into the backseat. I took the time to glance at his face—pale, eyes closed—and then push my fingertips up against his neck.
No pulse.
But I’d made that mistake before. I’d thought for sure he was dead out there on the road after Sally shot him. And I’d been wrong. I was no nurse or doctor.
I climbed in the backseat with him while Annie darted to the front, and I knew the truck bed was filling with people as well, each of them probably looking fearfully behind us to see whether we were being followed.
Then we hauled ass out of there, Louis pulling out at the front of the pack. I didn’t watch everyone else fall in line with us.
I was watching Will’s face. Because I’d pulled his shirt up to find the wound in his chest, and it was gushing with blood. Which meant nothing had stopped the bullet, this time.
And when I put my fingers to his neck again, I still didn’t find a pulse.
We buried him in a grave that we marked only with stones from the landscape around us, and though I knelt down and touched the biggest stone gently, I didn’t cry. I knew I couldn’t afford to.
And I knew Will would have understood that.
Because I now had roughly a hundred people to lead out of here. We’d gone into that bunker a twosome, partners in crime, and I’d come back out of it at the head of a group of people who I was now at least partially responsible for.
I didn’t have time to give in to something like tears. At least not yet.
I turned and gave Louis and Annie quick looks.
“Let’s get at least a hundred miles away before we stop again,” I said sharply. “And if we can find shelter, we do it. Even better if there’s also food and water. I want to regroup and figure out what our next move is. When we move again, I want a plan in place for rescuing the rest of those people—and I want to know that plan will work.”
I walked back toward the SUV and tried my best to turn my eyes to the future and think about that, rather than the pieces of my heart that I was leaving behind in that grave.
I yanked open the SUV driver's side door and jumped in behind the wheel. As Annie and Louis got in and shut their doors, I hit the gas and skidded out onto the highway again, trying like hell to remember everything I knew about this area of the state—and where we might find the next town.
A tear finally slid down my face.
For Will.
The End (for now…)
For updates on forthcoming releases, and a chance to read and review my books before they’re published, sign up to the K. M. Fawkes mailing list
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
ALSO BY K. M. FAWKES
ESCAPE THE DARK
Dark Tides
Fearful World
Into the Ruins
Caught in the Crossfire
Do or Die
ENTER DARKNESS
The Longest Night
Dead of Winter
The Survivors
Thin Ice
First Light
AT ANY COST
Survive The Dark
Fight For Everything
Bleak Horizons
Survival of The Fittest | Book 3 | Final Ride Page 15
