by Jo Schneider
Wendy took her pipe and tried to shove it through the hole.
It was too big.
The door bucked again.
“Now is a good time to do the thing you’re going to do,” Kev said.
Wendy flipped on her headlamp and looked around the floor. “Hold on,” she said.
“This isn’t as easy as it looks,” Jeff said as they got thrown back a few inches.
The pipe was behind her. Wendy grabbed it and turned back. The boys were losing the fight. She ran forward and threw her weight in with theirs. It shouldn’t have made that much of a difference—maybe she hit right as a Skinny stopped pushing—but the door shut with a click. Wendy shoved the pipe in and through the loops.
The Skinnies hit again.
The door held.
Jeff and Kev slowly stepped back, their arms out as if they expected it to give way.
“It’ll hold,” Wendy said.
“How do you know?” Jeff asked.
Wendy pointed at the two dead kids in the corner. “They died in here. Nothing got in.”
Kev cocked his head to the side. “You are one twisted girl.” He looked at Jeff. “Do you agree?”
He nodded. “I kind of do.”
Wendy ignored the exchange. She pointed up. “We need to get up through there.”
Kev gave her a scowl. “Because climbing sounds like so much fun right now.”
Something metal crashed against the door. “Go,” Wendy said.
She saw Jeff grimace at the idea, but he said nothing.
Kev went first. Jeff held out his hands, fingers interlaced, and gave Kev a boost. Kev used it and got half way up without having to try. The rest of it took some effort, but his wiry frame made it. Wendy noticed the blood on the pole and wondered where Kev was injured.
“You next,” Jeff said.
The door buckled under another impact.
Wendy shook her head. “You next. I can’t haul you up, but the two of you can get me up. Besides, I can climb. You’re injured.”
Jeff looked into her eyes for a moment, but said nothing. Instead he nodded, turned and began to climb. A grunt was the only pain he displayed. The muscles in his arms coiled and released as his legs wrapped around the pole and propelled him upward. He slid back only once, but a moment later Kev reached down and helped him up through the small hole.
The noise outside the door stopped.
“Great,” Wendy said. She jumped up and climbed. The pole was slick with blood in more than one spot. Her hands slipped, then her legs, but she made it far enough for Kev and Jeff to reach down and grab her shoulders. They pulled her up with no more effort than it took them to lift their packs.
“Is it still here?” she asked.
“Right there,” Kev said, pointing. He looked around as flashlights began to swing back and forth on the ceiling. “Plus company.”
Wendy grabbed the pack and her jacket. The three of them ran behind a transport. Wendy peered around the end and saw that one corner of the platform hadn’t given away—probably the reason she was still alive—and now it served as a ramp from below. They ducked under the transport and saw Pelton, bleeding but alive, running up the collapsed floor.
“There should be a way out at the front,” Kev said. “Hound got the security grid on. It should be up in a few. If we can hold them off until then, we should be able to make it.”
Kev looked at Jeff.
Wendy looked at Jeff.
Jeff’s expression went into thinking mode.
They didn’t have time to think.
“Come on,” Wendy said. She grabbed both boys by the elbow and shoved them forward. “Stay behind the transports. Keep moving.”
They dodged around vehicles. Wendy could hear the Skinnies, searching. She didn’t know if they were looking for them, or if Pelton had them spread out to look at the transports. It didn’t matter; he would kill them this time.
Maybe she would get another chance to kill him.
Jeff led them to the last transport before the large doors. A man size door stood to the right.
“Can we open it?” Kev asked. “Will the codes work?”
“I doubt it,” Jeff said.
“How do we get out?”
Jeff held up another grenade. “With this.”
Kev grinned. “I like how you think. May I?”
Wendy wasn’t entirely comfortable with the twisted gleam in Kev’s eye.
Kev held out his hand. “Let me throw it, we both know I’m a better shot.”
Jeff shrugged, but handed the grenade over. Kev took it, and was about to speak, when three figures dropped on them from above.
“Look out!” Kev shouted.
Time slowed again.
Wendy tried to back up, but hit the transport. Kev reached out and shoved her away from him.
The gleam of a sword flashed between them. It missed Wendy by the width of a finger. Kev was not so lucky.
The zing and crunch of bone sounded.
Wendy stumbled backward, barely keeping her balance.
Before Kev’s severed hand hit the floor, she drew the pistol she’d picked up, cocked it and shot the Skinny in the head.
Blood splattered onto the transport.
Blood sputtered from Kev’s handless arm.
The momentary look of confusion was almost comical. Kev stared at his hand and the grenade rolling away under the transport as if he’d missed out on a good joke. His eyes met Wendy’s, and she could see shock in them.
Time sped up again. Jeff jumped toward Kev and hauled him away.
Wendy turned and found a second Skinny just a few feet away. Wendy raised the gun, but it clicked.
Out of ammo.
She threw it at the nearest Skinny and followed up with the pipe. It only took one shot.
Someone screamed.
Wendy had always been protective of others. Her dad jokingly called her the hammer, not the heart of the operation. Justice and safety. Those were her concerns. But when people got hurt, Wendy always got mad.
How she still had this much rage inside of her, she didn’t know. She finished her turn and shoved the pipe into the next Skinny’s eye. He screamed. She left her pipe there and took his dagger.
“Get the grenade,” Jeff yelled from where he had Kev behind him and two Skinnies in front.
Wendy saw more Skinnies on the way. How many had Pelton brought? She looked for the grenade. It took a second, but she found where it had rolled under the transport. She dove beneath and grabbed it.
“Throw it!” Jeff yelled, finishing off the last Skinny.
Wendy pressed the ends of the grenade, counted to ten while running away from Skinnies, drew back her arm and threw with all of her might.
She’d never said she had good aim.
The grenade landed ten feet short.
Jeff finished with the Skinnies and pulled Kev’s good arm over his shoulder. Wendy ran to them and they all slid behind a transport.
Jeff pulled his shirt off and wrapped Kev’s stump in it.
Sweat poured down Kev’s face. “And I thought you were a bad shot,” Kev said to Jeff.
“Shut up and duck,” Wendy said. Her stomach clenched as the concussion from the explosion sucked the pressure out of the room.
The moment it subsided, she looked back around the transport. At least there was a hole. Unfortunately, it was in the floor.
Above them, a light went on and began to flash.
“There’s the grid,” Jeff said. “We need to go.”
“Come on,” Wendy said. She reached over and drew Jeff’s gun. “I’ll cover you.”
“We’re going to die,” Kev said weakly. Maybe only half joking.
“Shut up,” Jeff said as he dragged Kev forward.
Wendy leaned around and waited until she had a target. A Skinny was rising to his feet. Wendy shot at him, but missed. Still, it had the desired effect. All the Skinnies she could see ducked and covered.
“Come on!” Jef
f said over his shoulder.
Wendy followed them, shooting every few seconds. She began to understand the appeal of the weapon. Until she ran out of ammo. Again.
Clicking sounds filled the air. Wendy caught a glimpse of something lowering from the ceiling.
“Faster,” she said.
“We’re there,” Jeff said.
Wendy turned and swore. Beyond the hole lay a twenty-foot drop to the ground below. Grass greeted them, along with the first rays of the rising sun.
The whine of machinery warming up started.
A gunshot flew past Wendy’s head.
“We’re in trouble,” Jeff said.
“I can see that,” she said. She looked over the edge. “We could jump.”
“Bad idea,” Kev said.
Jeff grinned. “Or we could hitch a ride.”
Wendy looked over again. Relief flooded through her. Two hover bikes rose from below. Dennis piloted one, Matt the other. She waved them up, then turned back to fire at the Skinnies.
“Hurry,” she said.
She heard Jeff tell Matt that Kev’s hand was gone. Both got on with Matt. A moment later, a barrage of gunfire erupted around Wendy, kicking up sparks and metal. She dove to the floor.
“Roll off!” Dennis yelled.
Trusting Dennis more than twice in the span of a few hours was not how she had expected this day to go.
More bullets ricocheted around her. One left a burning line along her calf. Wendy scooted until her shoulder passed the edge of the floor. She took one deep breath and rolled off.
She only fell a few feet, but it felt like a mile. She landed perpendicular to the bike, on her side. The crunch of a rib made her cry out, but she clung onto Dennis and righted herself.
At that same moment an all too familiar beam of heat slid past Wendy’s arm.
The security grid had come on line.
Chapter 24
“Go, go, go!” Wendy yelled.
Dennis was moving before she said it. He dropped them down to the floor below and weaved out through a new hole in the wall.
Wendy fought to get a leg over the bike. Dennis turned, almost throwing her. A heated beam singed Wendy’s other shoulder.
“Hold on,” Dennis said.
Wendy threw herself into position and wrapped her arms around Dennis. She hoped that nothing would hit the pack on her back.
Matt and the other two were ahead of them. They burst outside and into the morning light. Turrets, just like the one she and Jeff had battled, had sprung from the ground and were taking aim. Her grip on Dennis tightened.
“I see them,” he said.
It wasn’t in Wendy’s skill set to sit back and let someone else do all of the work, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter. She turned her head to look back, and saw Pelton standing at the edge of the hole, his eyes on her even as Dennis dodged another blast.
Pelton. The all too familiar rage enveloped her, and she reached around and grabbed Dennis’ gun. She took aim and shot toward Pelton.
Of course she missed. It didn’t even make her feel better.
“What the hell was that for?” Dennis asked.
“Just keep going,” Wendy said.
“Then hold on,” Dennis said.
He almost sounded like he meant it.
She leaned around him and watched the other hover bike disappear through the gap in the shield. Wendy held her breath as she and Dennis went through. She could have sworn that she felt and heard the crackle of energy from the shield. She didn’t breathe until they came out on the other side.
Dennis swore as they swerved to avoid being vaporized. Wendy almost lost her hold on him.
“Get away from the shield,” she said.
“Trying.”
Every muscle in Dennis’ chest and back was taut. She could practically feel him going through the possibilities in his mind. He drove like he fought, with the intent to win.
A moment later, they left the blasts from the security grid behind them. Dennis didn’t slow, but he did relax.
“Are they still ahead of us?” Wendy asked.
“Yeah.”
“Where are we going?”
“Our transport is just over this rise.”
Wendy peeked out from behind Dennis, and only then noticed that his back was sticky. His shirt was covered from blood coming from multiple wounds. She leaned away. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Again, he almost meant it.
“Did everyone get out?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you get the shield part?”
“Yes.”
Wendy let out a sigh of relief.
“Why did you go back?” Dennis asked.
“I have meds in my pack.”
Wendy still held onto his waist, and she felt him relax ever so slightly. All he said was, “Good.” But his tone told Wendy he was relieved. Maybe even grateful.
The wind whipped through her hair as they zipped through the trees and up a rise. As promised, one of Shelter’s transports was waiting on the other side of the hill.
Dennis pulled close and brought the bike to a stop. It settled on the ground. Wendy jumped off and ran to where Matt was helping Kev into the transport.
“Kev!” Cal’s shaky and shrill voice pierced the air before he ran down the ramp. Blood flowed from two gashes in his head and he jogged with a serious limp. He got to Kev’s other side and helped Matt. “What happened?”
“You know, just sacrificing my body to save the day,” Kev said in a breathless voice through gritted teeth.
Cal’s already pale face lost more color as he looked at the shirt wrapped around Kev’s arm. Cal stopped and stared at his friend.
Kev swayed. “Come on, man, let me sit down.”
Cal swallowed and nodded.
“Strap him to the floor,” Matt said to Cal.
“Got it,” Cal said as his head continued to nod up and down, as if he had no idea what else to do with it. He helped Kev up the ramp.
Matt turned to Wendy.
“I have the meds,” she said.
“I heard.” His expression was half relief and half horror.
“How bad is it?” Wendy asked, looking around Matt and into the transport.
“Sven and Janice are down. Either of them could die. I hope we have a bandage for Kev; if not he’s in trouble too.”
Wendy gave Matt a little push. “Go. I’ll store the meds.”
Matt swallowed once, took a breath and jogged up the ramp.
Wendy followed and had to step around Sven and Janice, who were already lashed to the floor. Hank had a hand on Sven’s leg where he looked to be fighting a losing battle against a long gash. Kev didn’t look very happy about getting strapped down, but he let Cal do it as Matt rifled through the transport’s medical kit for supplies.
Riggs, Hound and Jeff were in the front, tying the shield part down.
The transport had come with a handful of sickly-looking fighters; four of them ran outside. A moment later, Dennis limped up the ramp.
“That’s everyone,” Dennis said. “The fighters are going to draw Pelton off with the bikes. We should go, those guys will be after us.”
“Hold onto something,” Riggs said right before he yelled, “Go, go, go!”
The ramp came up, sealing everyone in, and the transport shuddered as it took off.
Wendy held onto the nearest seat. Adrenaline infused her with energy. She slipped off the pack and looked inside. The vials were still intact. She carefully stowed the pack below one of the seats and sealed the compartment. Then she turned to Matt. “What can I do?”
The flight back to Shelter took over an hour—they didn’t want Pelton to track them—but it felt much longer. Matt had Hank, Wendy, Jeff and Dennis running around putting bandages on everyone including each other. He found one that would cauterize Kev’s stump and used it. Then he gave Kev a shot that knocked him out cold.
By the time they landed, Wendy’s energy had wa
ned, and she once again felt heavy.
Where’s the pack? “Matt asked.
“I got it,” Wendy said. She retrieved it and followed Matt down the ramp the moment it hit the ground.
Elle met Riggs. The nurse studied him with a stern expression. Wendy didn’t envy him.
“Still in one piece,” Riggs said with a forced smile.
“Doesn’t look like it,” Elle said, her dark eyes glaring.
“I promise.”
Elle snorted and moved around Riggs. Wendy didn’t miss the way their hands brushed as she passed him.
Doc came next. “Did you get it?” he asked Matt.
“Wendy has it.”
Doc turned on her as Matt kept talking. “I couldn’t find exactly what we needed, but I think we can manufacture it from what we brought back.”
Wendy withdrew the bundle and held it out.
She barely got her fingers away in time to keep them from getting ripped off as Doc snatched up the meds. He unwrapped them and studied the labels.
Matt held his breath until Doc nodded. “It’ll take some time, but this will work. Get cleaned up, I’m going to need your help.”
Matt nodded as Doc turned on his heels and jogged back the way he had come.
Arie and Mike appeared next with a handful of shaky adults.
“Wendy!” Arie stopped short, her eyes going wide. “Are you okay? What happened? Where’s my dad?”
Wendy stood facing her friend, not knowing what to say. Kev had lost a hand. Sven might die. Everyone was injured. “I’m fine,” Wendy said finally. “We’re mostly in one piece. Your dad is okay.”
Mike looked at Wendy. “Did you get the shield part too?”
Wendy looked over her shoulder. “They’re unloading it now.” She glanced back at Mike. “Do we have enough healthy people to get it fixed?”
“I hope so,” Mike said. He rushed past Wendy, followed by four adults. Probably mechanics.
Arie stood staring at Wendy, her mouth open and ready to speak, but it took a few tries to get anything out. “What happened?”
Wendy swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “Pelton was there.”
“What?” Arie’s shock melted away as her eyes narrowed. “How did he know you guys were going to be there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think it was coincidence?”
