‘Those Elohim in the booth back there didn’t seem too interested,’ Damien said.
‘Don’t speak too soon.’ Sophia pulled up at the northwest gate, pistol on her lap.
Damien fidgeted beside her, unarmed. ‘What’s the plan?’
‘Take them by surprise.’ Sophia pulled on the handbrake.
‘That’s not… reeeeeally a plan, Soph,’ Jay said.
‘And don’t get killed,’ she said.
One of the Elohim approached her side. She had no ID to show.
Damien was rummaging through the glove box. He handed over a laminated parking permit. ‘It’s all I could find.’
It would have to do.
Sophia wound down her window and shoved the pistol under her thigh. Before the Elohim had a chance to say anything, she offered him the parking permit. She only had a second before the Elohim realized it wasn’t her UN identification.
As the Elohim took the permit, Sophia opened the car door, slamming it into the Elohim, drew her pistol and shot him. The first shot split the parking permit and struck him in the chest. He was likely wearing a bullet-resistant vest but it still knocked the wind out of him. The second round went straight through the man’s chinstrap. From inside the Prius, it sounded like a harmless cap gun.
Sophia didn’t need to give any commands. Everyone knew exactly what to do.
Jay shoved his pistol in his waistband and jumped out of the car. As soon as the Elohim dropped, he scooped up the PEP rifle and fired straight into the gate booth, shattering the glass and paralyzing the second Elohim. The sound was far from covert; it reverberated across First Avenue.
‘Sometimes I think you’re just trying to make as much noise as possible,’ Sophia said.
Jay offered his pistol to Damien, but instead Damien slid across the Prius’s hood and ran for the second Elohim’s PEP rifle. He disappeared inside the booth. A second later, the gate was opening.
Sophia released the handbrake.
The gate opened one-eighth of its full span, then stopped.
‘Shit,’ Jay said, facing east. ‘We have a fuck-off number of Elohim coming our way.’
He took cover behind the Prius.
Sophia checked her rear-vision mirror and confirmed Jay’s announcement: twelve UN-helmeted Elohim. All carrying PEP rifles.
Damien was still inside the booth. Through the broken glass, he said, ‘The gate’s stuck!’
‘How the fuck?’ Jay said.
‘They’ve cut the power,’ Sophia said. She got out of the car and crouched beside Jay.
‘Through the gate, Soph,’ he said. ‘We’ll cover you.’
Before Sophia could reply, an infrared pulse smashed into the Prius, shattering the windows with a glittering blue-green ball of plasma. The windshield was the only thing left intact.
She checked herself. No cuts, no paralysis. The first thing most people did when they experienced shock was to stop breathing, but she was trained to do the opposite — to take in even more oxygen. Since escaping the building, her shot lung had been gradually healing. It still burned to breathe, but it was keeping up with her so far. And her injured arm had more range of movement now. Good, she thought. If she was going to get out of this mess, she’d need two working arms and lungs.
She checked Jay beside her. He wasn’t hurt or paralyzed either. He returned a shot in the Elohim’s direction, forcing them to split into two teams of six. But they weren’t slowing down.
She ran for the gate. It was open just enough for her to squeeze through. On the other side of First Avenue, she spotted a small NYPD barricade blocking off a one-way street. It might’ve been small, but it was overcrowded with police officers. She counted at least ten.
Moving left, she put a hedge and abandoned bus between her and the Elohim, who were no longer in her line of sight. That aside, there was a good half a mile stretch between the major barricades. And she was right in the middle. It was eerily empty, except for litter, discarded banners and bits of glass.
Four NYPD officers approached her from the small barricade. Three were carrying riot shotguns and one had a taser. While the bus separated her from the Elohim, there was nothing between her and the officers. They approached her in a wide arc, cutting her off from the major barricade uptown. She had no choice but to run. Downtown.
They were pushing her towards the major barricade 200 yards away. But on her right was a monstrous glass skyscraper — the United Nations University Office. The front entry had revolving doors. Depending on the floor plan, she’d have up to three possible exits, north, south and west, with four elevator cores, and two fire escape stairwells in case the underground parking lot was her only escape.
As she ran towards the building, she heard the roar of a diesel engine behind her. She looked over her shoulder to see a white Land Cruiser behind the police officers. The officers split up, letting the Cruiser through. As the Cruiser moved past them, a small cylindrical object dropped out of its window and bounced along the concrete. Flashbang.
The Cruiser accelerated hard.
Sophia turned away from it, covered her face and ears with her good arm. A loud bang reverberated across First Avenue. When she opened her eyes, the Cruiser was driving right for her. In its wake, riot police staggered and sprawled.
She recognized the driver: Benito. And the passenger, Nasira.
What the hell were they doing here?
She didn’t care. She sprinted for the Cruiser. Shockwaves of superheated air blossomed on the concrete behind her. At her four o’clock, Elohim emerged in front of the crashed Speedhawk, their PEP rifles aimed in her direction.
She sprinted faster. Her healing lung burned to keep up. Riot police closed in behind her, side by side with Elohim. She heard tear-gas canisters clatter just a few paces behind her. She had to get to the Cruiser.
Another shockwave exploded on her right, blowing out the back windows of the abandoned bus. Beyond it, she saw Damien inside the booth and Jay behind it, trying to keep the Elohim pinned down. Given there were only two of them, she knew the Elohim would outmaneuver them in no time.
The stunned riot police behind the Cruiser were getting back to their feet. It occurred to her that Benito and Nasira wouldn’t be able to slow the Cruiser down for her to climb inside. There were too many riot police officers and Elohim in the mix, and they were closing fast. That left only one option.
As if reading her mind, Benito pointed to the roof of the Cruiser.
You crazy son of a bitch, she thought.
He accelerated.
Sophia sprinted head-on towards the Cruiser. She had to time this well. A moment before the Cruiser hit her, she jumped. Over the hood.
As she leaped, she saw a flash from the corner of her vision. Something hit the Cruiser’s front, followed by a viscous shockwave. Benito ducked below the dashboard. The windshield shattered. The shockwave struck her. It felt like she’d hit concrete, but she was still flying. Her feet never touched the hood. In desperation, she reached out for the sunroof. Her fingers brushed the edges but refused to grip. It was then she realized that the shockwave had paralyzed her mid-jump.
Nasira’s hands shot out from the sunroof and clamped down on Sophia’s arm. In one quick movement, she pulled her arm inside and held tight. Sophia found herself pinned chest-down atop the Cruiser, unable to do anything except hope for the best.
Ahead, the riot police and the Elohim were taking aim at the Cruiser.
Benito hit the gas and the Cruiser punched through. The Elohim dived off to the side. No shockwaves this time.
Sophia felt the Cruiser decelerate. Benito was slowing on purpose, the momentum sliding Sophia’s paralyzed body in through the sunroof. Nasira guided her into the back seat as best she could. Sophia wanted to tell them about Damien and Jay, but her lips wouldn’t work.
Nasira lobbed another flashbang out the window. While both Nasira and Benito covered their eyes and ears, the only thing Sophia could do was blink. She shut her eyes tight.
The flashbang detonated right behind the Cruiser. Her eyes and ears ached. When she opened her eyes, Nasira had turned in her seat to buckle her in. One side of Nasira’s face was decorated with tiny cuts from the obliterated windshield.
Through the window beside her, Sophia watched the riot police close in. They were almost in range. Benito hit the brakes and slipped to neutral, then punched straight into reverse and hit the gas. The nearer Elohim scattered to get clear as he reversed uptown. He was heading straight for the Elohim who were only now getting to their feet. Sophia saw them reach for their PEP rifles. This was going to be close. She hoped Benito would be quick enough.
One of the Elohim was faster than the others. He had his rifle in both hands and was already aiming towards the Cruiser. He fired.
With elbows bent and thumbs outside the steering wheel, Benito whipped the Cruiser around. It lurched to one side. The Elohim scattered to avoid it. Sophia saw the infrared pulse hit the concrete beside her. It exploded into a ball of brilliant turquoise plasma, the loud boom almost deafening her.
Nasira took another flashbang from the glove compartment. What did she have in there — a party pack? With Benito still reversing at high speed, Nasira dropped the flashbang onto the hood. It rolled off, bounced over concrete.
The Elohim regrouped. There was nothing to protect the Cruiser from the PEP rifles. A direct hit now and it would all be over. The Elohim brought their rifles to eye-level, only to lower them again when they saw the flashbang bouncing towards them. They dispersed, running from the flashbang and from the Cruiser. It was mostly open ground. There was no cover.
Sophia closed her eyes before the flash, then opened them a moment later. Benito whipped the steering wheel clockwise. The front of the Cruiser swung around. Clutch in, he shifted to neutral, then declutched. While straightening the wheel, he grabbed first gear and punched the Cruiser straight through the NYPD barricade. Riot shields bounced over the hood as the police officers scattered.
Sophia blinked. Only moments ago he’d scooped her through the sunroof and then pulled a perfect J-turn through the intersection of First and East Forty-Seventh without even slowing down.
‘Your rally car skills just paid off,’ she said.
Nasira looked over her shoulder, realizing Sophia could speak. ‘Welcome back,’ she said.
Sophia tested her arms. She could move too.
‘We have to go back,’ she said. ‘Damien and Jay are pinned down.’
Chapter Fifty-Five
‘Fuck this shit!’ Jay yelled.
An intact slab of safety glass fell between him and Damien: the last of the bus’s windows blowing out. This side of the bus offered protection from the riot police and Elohim further down First Avenue, but it would only be a few moments before Elohim slipped through the partially open gate, following Damien and Jay outside. The inside of the bus was appealing right now, but Jay knew it would trap them.
He moved to the front of the bus and took a shot around the corner. He got lucky, knocking the last of the NYPD officers on their backs, paralyzing them. While Damien covered the gate, he sprinted for the barricade. Two NYPD squad cars were parked in a V-formation, which offered protection from both flanks.
Damien positioned himself at the front of the bus. Once he confirmed that Jay was safe, he readied himself to move.
Jay searched for targets. The Elohim and riot police downtown were close now, and dangerous. He aimed the PEP rifle over the hood of the squad car and squeezed off one shot after the other. The PEP rifles had a slow rate of fire. Like Javelin rocket-launcher slow. But Damien managed to make it towards him.
A ball of plasma struck the hood, knocking Damien into the side of the other squad car. Jay ducked out of view and placed his PEP rifle on the asphalt. He pulled Damien up against the side of the car.
‘Hey!’ he yelled. ‘Can you move?’
Damien blinked. His right hand twitched.
Then Jay saw the Cruiser. It came cannoning down First Avenue. Benito was driving and Nasira was in the front. He thought it was coming for them, but it drove right past. He spotted Sophia in the back seat. Hadn’t they seen him and Damien?
They looked like they were on a direct collision course with the Elohim and riot police. Two infrared pulses hit the front of the Cruiser, crackling in the cool air. What the fuck were they doing?
Jay grabbed his PEP rifle and fired off another shot. He managed to paralyze one riot police officer while everyone was distracted, but that was the best he could do. There were still half a dozen riot police and a dozen Elohim moving towards him. The Cruiser had only managed to slow them down. He couldn’t see it any longer because he’d ducked behind cover again, but he could hear it screeching as it took a hard turn.
Jay crawled over to Damien and slapped him across the face. ‘Snap out of it!’ he yelled. ‘I need you!’
Damien tried to move his right leg. He could bend it.
Fuck this, Jay thought.
He grabbed Damien’s PEP rifle and placed it beside him, within easy reach. Peering over the hood, he fired his own rifle at the swarm of incoming Elohim, who had taken cover behind the bus opposite, then rested the rifle on the hood and snatched up Damien’s. Switching between the two, he could fire faster.
After five shots, someone answered him with an ear-shattering cannonade of plasma. Both squad cars were flensed completely of glass. Jay’s eardrums whined. He looked up the small one-way street ahead. If he was going to carry Damien anywhere, it would be through there. But nearby he could hear sirens. Squad cars were coming towards them. They were boxed in.
He peered back over the hood, PEP rifle ready. Riot police were moving to his right. Half a dozen Elohim were taking up positions on the opposite side of the road, mostly around the bus, while the other half approached from his left.
The bus exploded.
Jay ducked for cover as bits of metal showered First Avenue. If his eardrums had been whining before, they were dead to the world now.
When he peered through the flames, he saw a white UN ASV accelerating in his direction. At fifteen tons, it was somewhere between a Humvee and a tank, and it looked like someone was operating the enclosed two-barreled turret. The bigger barrel pumped a second forty-millimeter grenade. It hit a patch of road, sending a cluster of Elohim scattering and setting alight a neatly manicured hedge.
The sirens behind Jay grew louder. He abandoned both PEP rifles on the hood and pulled Damien up. They ran for cover, behind the burning bus and inside the gate. Meanwhile, the ASV’s turret peppered the Elohim with its .50 caliber M2 machine gun. Occasionally splashes of plasma hit the ASV’s front, but all they seemed to do was rip off its windshield wipers.
Jay hauled Damien to his feet and slung his arm over his own shoulder as the ASV pulled up broadside in front of the squad cars. A side hatch opened and Sophia yelled at them. Jay didn’t need encouragement, he was already dragging Damien towards her.
Behind him, a fresh wave of squad cars pulled up. NYPD officers aimed pistols at them. Jay half-threw Damien into the hatch. As Sophia caught him, rounds struck the hardened shell of the ASV. One sang through Jay’s flesh, across his shoulder blade. He collapsed. Into the hatch.
Above him, he heard the turret swivel and Nasira mutter, ‘Dodge this, motherfuckers.’
Chapter Fifty-Six
Scarlet orbs and tinsel shimmered at the edges of Sophia’s vision. Before her, people were dancing, eating, drinking. She looked down to see four splendidly dressed wooden pigs perched at a table, plates of roast chestnuts and glasses of port in front of them. She looked up at the people all around her, the sound of flutes and violins, the smell of cheeses and aromatic vin brulé. She thought she was hallucinating, but Leoncjusz was there. Walking towards her, encircled by a cluster of fireflies that only she could see. He was wearing a new coat and scarf. He smiled. That kind, almost goofy smile she swore she’d never forget.
She ran to him, then slowed. This wasn’t a dream, yet he couldn’t h
ave possibly survived.
‘How did you… I thought—’
She felt tears spill onto her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around his coat and buried her face into his lapels. When she came away, she still couldn’t believe he was standing there.
‘It is good to see you again, Sophia,’ he said.
The scent of cinnamon brought tears to her eyes again. Her lips trembled into a smile. But the smile faded.
‘I suppose you’ve heard I released the Chimera vector.’ She breathed sharply, then pressed her lips together to keep from falling apart. ‘Everyone trusted me. And they shouldn’t have.’ Tears blurred Leoncjusz’s motionless figure, turned the fireflies into smears of light. ‘I’m so sorry.’
She felt his hands on her shoulders. She blinked to sharpen her vision, surprised to find that he didn’t seem angry. Or disappointed. Or sad. He actually seemed happy. How could he be happy after what she’d done?
She sniffed. ‘I actually believed… we could do this, you know.’
‘Listen to me, my friend,’ he said. ‘You have little time left. And none of it for this crap. The knife is at your throat and your back against the wall.’ He stood back, releasing his grip. ‘And in such position you can do things. Tremendous things.’
The fireflies sizzled, then faded to darkness.
She opened her eyes and found herself sitting upright. On the maintenance walkway of a bridge, at night. She’d fallen asleep. It took a couple of seconds for her to remember where she was. A stream of cars gushed beneath them, on their way to Manhattan Island.
Beside her in the darkness, Benito blew his nose into a tissue. ‘International flight has been locked down because of our “terrorist activities”. That should look good on my resumé.’
She could see under the half moon that he wasn’t smiling.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
He looked at her. ‘For what?’
‘For not hating me.’
‘That’s quite a presumption.’
‘A correct one?’ she said.
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