New World Order

by S. M. McEachern

  Reyes, Summer, and I were in the back of the wagon, our pistols strapped to our legs, knives sheathed in our boots, and a blanket draped over our laps to conceal the weapons. Eli and Jin-Sook had their bows slung over their backs since the weapons were standard garb for recruiters. Zach and Hayley’s rifles were hidden in the wagon, within easy reach.

  Peering through the gates beyond the curious onlookers, I could see people walking the dirt road all heading in the same direction, toward the center of the compound. At the end of the street, facing us, were two bear-drawn wagons. The wagons were at a standstill, and I wondered if it was because we were at the gate or if something else was going on.

  That whirring, droning sound I’d heard yesterday was back again. Reyes, Summer, and I looked around for the source. Did they have machinery within the confines of the fence? Technology? We didn’t need any surprises if things got violent. We were already outnumbered.

  The man who had been sent to find Ryder was finally running back toward us. I noticed with a sinking feeling that no one accompanied him. I tapped Reyes and Summer with my foot and flicked my head at the lone man. They each gave me a curt nod. We were going to have to do this the hard way.

  Beneath the cover of the blanket, I wrapped my hand around the grip of my pistol, drew it from its holster, and clicked off the safety.

  The man reached the gatekeeper and whispered in his ear.

  Hayley sauntered closer to the wagon and draped her arm over the rail. Beneath the cover of the blanket, Summer lifted the rifle to within her reach.

  As the man whispered to the gatekeeper, the gatekeeper looked at the two sentries standing over us on the platform at the top of the fence.

  Hayley yanked her semiautomatic out of the wagon just as I brought up my pistol. I took aim and shot the archer across from me. Hayley took out several behind me in one round. I fired again and took out another one just as Zach grabbed his rifle. He fired a round at the men on the platform. Reyes flipped up his hood and leaped from the wagon, dropping down on two sentries at the gate. Summer stood, hood pulled up, shooting at pretty much anyone moving. Eli and Jin ducked for cover behind the wagon, peeked over the top, and started letting arrows fly.

  Men were scrambling to close the gate.

  “Reyes! Summer!” I yelled. “The gate!”

  We ran at the gate, hands outstretched, and combined the strength of our exoskeletons to ram the gate back open before they could latch it. The men on the other side were thrown back with the force, and the gate swung open, giving us a clear view of the pandemonium gripping the city. People were screaming and running in every direction. As we walked through the opening into the compound, four archers took up a frontline position, turning themselves into a barricade. They shot at us, but the arrows bounced harmlessly off our suits. We advanced on them, and Reyes grabbed one of them by the throat.

  “Jack Kenner,” Reyes said. “Have you heard of him?”

  The man clawed at Reyes’ hands but managed a restrained nod and pointed down the street.

  “He’s down there?” Reyes asked.

  “Yes,” the man squeaked.

  Reyes gave him a shake. “You better not be lying.” And then he threw the man on the ground.

  The three of us took off down the street, the enhanced speed of our suits giving us the power to cover the distance in seconds. Arrows and knives bounced off us as we went, and people ran screaming to get out of our way. Any recruiters brave enough to face us, we pushed aside.

  The end of the street was clogged by two wagons, and all the gunfire and screaming villagers had spooked the bears. Their handlers were trying to calm them, but the bears reared and strained against their harnesses. The three of us detoured between two buildings to avoid the panic-stricken animals. We emerged from between the buildings to a village center. A lot of people were gathered there, more than were at the gate, and our appearance caused a ripple of panic in the crowd.

  “There are kids here,” I said.

  “I see them,” Reyes said.

  “Just aim high and you’ll hit the tall ones,” Summer said as she advanced into the mob.

  The entire square went into a state of chaos. Women and children ran away from us while brave men armed with bows, knives, shovels and anything else they could use as a weapon came at us. Beyond the villagers advancing toward me, I also saw armed men running in another direction. There was a separate fight in progress.

  “Over there!” I said to Reyes and Summer.

  A familiar voice called my name. I spun around, searching the crowd. “In the wagon!” There, in the back of one of the wagons, were Naoki and Talon. I didn’t see Jack.

  “They’re here!” I said to Reyes and Summer. “But where’s Jack?” Naoki was pointing at the fight across the square.

  “I got Naoki and Talon,” Summer said. “You go get Jack.”

  Reyes and I took off at a run, bounding over the short fence and knocking over a table in our haste. There was definitely a fight in progress. I watched as a tall, dark man was ushered away just as another man hit the ground flat on his back, blood pulsing from a chest wound.

  And in the middle of the brawl, kicking serious ass, was my husband. I’d finally found Jack.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Jack

  “She’s not going anywhere,” Fadi said firmly, but Teegan was already in motion.

  As she darted out from behind us, Fadi hunched forward to grab her, and as he did I tightly clasped my hands, raised them high above my head, and slammed them down onto his back.

  A gunshot rang out. A gunshot!

  The sound startled everyone, and the mob in the square became agitated.

  “What was that?” Ryder exclaimed somewhere behind me.

  It dawned on me that they had probably never heard the sound of a gun firing. But I had. Whoever was at the gate was definitely from the Dome.

  I only took two steps in the direction of the gate before Amos grabbed me from behind and put me in an armlock. I threw my head back and slammed it into his face. His hold on me loosened and I dropped low, slipped my arms out of his hold, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and threw him over my shoulder. Fadi pulled himself up. Still bent forward from throwing Amos, I reached for the knife on Fadi’s belt and yanked it free. He brought his fist down hard on my back before I could stand up. A surge of adrenaline shot through me at the pain, and I rammed my head into his gut and sent him flying into Ryder. Both men tumbled to the ground.

  I straightened and paused to see if I had a clear shot to throw the knife at Ryder, but Fadi’s body was covering him. Ryder’s two security guards kicked Fadi off just as Amos pushed himself up from the ground and came at me. I slashed Amos across the chest with the knife and he staggered. A roundhouse kick to the gut sent him to the ground. Fadi was getting up, and just as I took a step toward him, a bullet lodged in his head.

  I spun around.

  Dressed in her black, form-fitting exoskeleton with a holster strapped around her slim thigh, a pistol in her hand, and wisps of red hair the color of a sunset blowing out from beneath her hood, was Sunny. She was running right at me.

  “Jack!” she yelled. “Behind you! Duck!”

  I didn’t bother to check behind me. I took her word for it and ducked. Both she and the guy in the exoskeleton with her fired their weapons. Then I recognized the guy. Big, brawny, and still awkward with a gun, it was Reyes Crowe. What the hell was he doing here?

  Sunny launched herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck, and we hit the ground with her on top of me. “Jack! It’s you. It’s really you! You’re alive.”

  “Suit!” I said in a strained voice. I was ecstatic to see her, but she was choking me.

  She drew back to look into my face. “Oh my God, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” She smoothed my hair back and examined my face. I pulled her lips to mine. She was here. It wasn’t my imagination. My beautiful wife was here.

  “I hate to interrupt,” Rey
es said, shooting off a couple of rounds. “But the natives are closing in.”

  I broke off the kiss and pushed her back so I could see her face. “Do you have a flare gun?”

  She blinked and looked at me in confusion. “A what?”

  “A flare gun.”

  She nodded. “Ted gave me one. But it’s in my backpack.”

  I took her face in both my hands and kissed her again. “God, I missed you.” Arrows came our way: two bounced off Reyes, one off Sunny, and one hit the ground beside us. I pushed Sunny up. “Where’s your pack?”

  “In the wagon, at the gate. Why do you want the flare gun, Jack?”

  “Why did Ted give you one?”

  It took a few seconds, but her face transformed from confusion to enlightenment. “That noise I’ve been hearing!”

  “I’m not sure if it’s the Osprey or not, but a signal wouldn’t hurt.” Someone threw a knife, and it hurtled toward Sunny. “Behind you!” I yelled, as I pulled her toward me. The blade ricocheted off her suit and landed on the ground. Reyes fired two shots.

  “I gotta reload,” he said.

  “I want one of those suits,” I said. “Let’s get to the flare gun.” I looked around, suddenly realizing that we were surrounded; some men had arrows nocked, others had knives. “Oh, crap.”

  Sunny corralled me between her and Reyes as the arrows started flying. I didn’t like it. Truth be told, I felt a little emasculated sandwiched between my wife and her ex-fiancé. It wasn’t even a year ago that I had been kicking Reyes’ butt in the Pit.

  And then I saw a familiar face riding a bike, bowling through the crowd as she went. “Is that Hayley?” I asked Sunny as she emptied her pistol.

  “Yeah.”

  “You two went out on a search together?” Sunny hated Hayley, and Hayley hated everyone, especially people from the Pit.

  “No. We met up with her along the way and—” She paused and gave me a quick look. Did I see remorse there? “We’ll talk about it later.”

  I had a bad feeling. “What happened, Sunny?”

  “Seriously, Jack? Now? We’ll talk about it later,” she said.

  “Reloaded,” Reyes said. “Here’s the plan: I’m just going to walk toward the crowd and keep firing until they get out of our way.”

  It was exactly the kind of dumb plan I would expect my wife’s ex-fiancé to come up with. “Whatever, Reyes,” I said.

  “I’m with you,” Sunny said to him.

  “You’re not really—” The two of them started firing, and the crowd parted. Seriously? I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Hayley!” I yelled.

  She was over by the wagons where Summer was working on freeing Naoki and Talon. I waved my arm, beckoning Hayley toward me. She revved the bike, lifted her feet off the ground, and charged through the people surrounding us.

  I elbowed Sunny to get her attention and pointed to the wagons. “There’s a little girl over there. Her name is Teegan. Please get her out of here.” As Hayley approached, I stepped out from between Sunny and Reyes.

  “Wait!” Sunny said. “Stop. Where are you going?”

  “I told you—to send a signal to Ted.” Hayley was approaching fast, and I stepped out to meet her.

  “Jack!” Sunny yelled. But even as I stepped toward Hayley’s approaching figure, Sunny covered me with gunfire.

  “I love you, and I’ll be right back.” Hayley skidded to a stop, sending up a spray of dirt. “Mind if I use this?” I asked as I relieved her of her rifle.

  “Be my guest.”

  “You see that big stone chimney?” I asked, pointing. “Head for it.”

  “I thought you said you were going for the flare gun?” Sunny asked in an accusing tone.

  “I have a better idea,” I said. I hopped on the bike backward so I could cover our rear. “Go!”

  Hayley took off with such speed that I was almost thrown off. It took every bit of energy I had to keep my seat on the bike while I used the rifle. I hadn’t realized how much strength I had lost from being starved half to death.

  As we raced away, I watched in horror as the mob that had been surrounding us closed in on Sunny and Reyes. I took aim and fired the semiautomatic.

  “What are we doing, Jack?” Hayley asked.

  “See that big stone chimney ahead of you?” I asked and fired another round.

  “What about it?”

  “Drive straight into it. There are vats of oil that we need to dump on the fire to send up black smoke.”

  Hayley didn’t respond right away. Then, “What the hell for?”

  “I think Ted’s out looking for us in the Osprey.”

  Maybe she’d heard the noise too or maybe she was just hopeful, but she pushed the bike to full throttle, ran down a few people, and literally drove straight into the plastic factory. She crashed, and we both rolled to the ground, slamming against the fence.

  I got to my feet, feeling a little lightheaded. Stars clouded my vision, and I had to wait a second until I could focus. I kept the rifle ready, but when my vision cleared, I saw that no one was in the factory. Ryder had called everyone to the square to witness my disembowelment, and then the fighting had broken out, sending most people back to the refuge of their homes. This area of the compound was empty.

  “Hurry up,” Hayley said, pointing to the cautious gang working its way down the street toward us.

  Slinging the rifle over my shoulder, I ran to the stone stove and took lids off vats until I found some of the black slurry. The pot was hot, but I picked it up and withstood the pain as I hurled it into the big fireplace. Immediately, the air around me became thick with smoke and fumes.

  “Ready?” Hayley asked, a note of urgency in her voice.

  She was on the bike and revving the engine. I hopped on behind her. The gang was almost to the end of the street. Putting my arms around Hayley, I positioned the rifle in front of us and aimed at the group.

  “Run them down,” I said.

  She took off while I fired the semiautomatic. Men dove out of the way. We dodged a few arrows flying out from windows and ducked low as we raced down the street. Sunny and Reyes came into view. They were clearing the way. Hayley raced right by them.

  “Stop!” I yelled. I wasn’t going to leave Sunny behind.

  “They’ll catch up,” Hayley said.

  I was about to protest when Sunny and Reyes sprinted after us. Within seconds, they were jogging alongside the bike, with no trouble keeping up. I really was going to have to get myself one of those suits.

  We were almost to the gate when I heard the whoop whoop whoop of the Osprey.

  Chapter Thirty

  Sunny

  I didn’t want Jack to leave the shield Reyes and I made for him in our exoskeletons, especially to send a signal to an aircraft we weren’t even sure was out there. That had not been the plan. The plan was to find Jack and go home. I’d found Jack, so now it was time to go home. So why was I covering him as he ran to get on the back of Hayley’s bike and make his way through an angry mob? What if mere seconds after finding him he died, and I didn’t get the chance to tell him he was going to be a father? Things were getting out of control. Specifically, out of my control.

  Several archers directed their arrows at him, and I directed my pistol at them.

  “Sunny,” Reyes said. “We gotta go. The natives are getting the upper hand.”

  He was right. They were inching closer. I watched Jack disappear down the street. He was firing at the crowd. “Ready to run?”

  “Are we headed for the gate?”

  “Head for the wagons. Summer’s over there and Jack wants me to find a kid named Teegan.”

  We took off at the same time, charging at the throng of armed villagers. Reyes fired at the crowd twice, and they parted, giving us a pathway out. I decided not to use my gun unless I had to, preferring to trust the impact resistance of my suit and the enhanced speed it gave me.

  We emerged from the throng to a more alarming scene. The bears were
in a rage, standing on their hind legs, swatting people with paws bigger than the average man’s head. The wooden carts they were harnessed to were breaking apart under the strain. Summer was in the back of one of the wagons trying to keep her balance as she cut Talon loose. Naoki was already free and busy relieving an archer of his bow.

  “Summer!” I said to Reyes, pointing to her.

  The handlers had abandoned the animals and most people had barricaded themselves behind closed doors, so there were few obstacles in our way once we reached the wagon. The deep, throaty roar of the bears was so loud and powerful it vibrated through me. One of the back wheels of the cart Summer was in had broken off, and it listed to one side.

  “Let’s get all the prisoners loose,” I said to Reyes. I climbed into the wagon with Summer and Reyes took off toward the other wagon. I pulled out my knife and started cutting the other prisoners loose.

  “Where’s Jack?” Talon asked.

  “He headed toward that big chimney with Hayley,” I said.

  As soon as his hands were free, Talon jumped down from the wagon and picked up a discarded bow and some spent arrows from the ground.

  I looked down the street to the gate, where the rest of our team had gained control over the walkway at the top of the fence. Jin-Sook and Eli were on one side, sending arrows at anyone who approached. Zach was on the other side with his semiautomatic. I looked around for Jack, but he still wasn’t back. Naoki had a few villagers on the run.

  “Naoki!” I called. He turned to look at me. “Jin-Sook and Eli are at the gate and could use some help.”

  “Jin’s here?” Naoki yelled. I nodded. “Talon, let’s go!” They set off for the gate.

  “Is that everyone?” Summer asked.

  I cut the last prisoner loose, and we all leapt from the wagon before it was completely torn apart by the bears.

  “Jack wanted me to find a little girl,” I said.