by Dan Wells
Yoon panted. “You are damn lucky he didn’t know I was there.”
“There’s at least two more we haven’t accounted for,” said Kira, crawling to her feet. “We’ve got to find Jayden and Haru.”
The building was more solid down here, two levels below the explosion, and they were able to move more easily. The first door they found was blocked by rubble, but they pried it open and explored quietly, listening for sounds. They found Jayden coming the other direction down the long central hallway; he still had both of his pistols, and gave one to Yoon.
“There doesn’t seem to be much damage below,” he said, “though the structure’s getting weak on the west end. If Haru’s still alive, he’s above us.”
Kira nodded, and they worked their way to a stairwell on the eastern, more stable half of the building. Two floors up they heard a faint voice and followed it all the way back to the far side. Light was shining through a wide hole where the outer wall had been blown away, and Haru was clinging to an exposed pipe, his elbow wrapped around it; his other hand clung to the backpack strap of a dangling, unconscious Partial.
“It’s alive,” said Haru through clenched teeth, obviously straining not to lose it. “I caught it just as the wall gave way.”
“Then drop it,” said Jayden, frowning as he struggled to identify a safe path toward Haru around the gaping hole in the floor. “We’ll save you and get its arm or something down on the ground.”
“Not a chance,” said Haru. He grunted and adjusted his grip on the strap. “I want this thing alive, so I can beat the hell out of it back at home.”
Kira shook her head. “We’re not taking it home, we just need blood and tissue to study.”
“We’re taking it, and we’re interrogating it. Our people don’t even know where we are, and somehow the Partials were here, waiting for us? I want to know why they’re here, I want to know what they’re doing, and I want to know if our scouts are Partial agents.”
“He’s got a point,” said Yoon. “Nick and Steve set half the traps in Brooklyn—if one of them’s a Partial, our entire defense perimeter could be useless. And if the Partials are planning something, like an attack…” She trailed off.
Jayden frowned. “Kira, you still have your medkit?”
She shook her head. “Just the belt pouch; the main kit got lost in the rubble.”
“Sedatives?”
Kira checked and nodded. “A painkiller that will do the same job, if we give it enough.” She looked at the body swinging from Haru’s arm. “And if its biology works the same as ours.”
“I don’t mean to be a burden,” Haru grunted, “but this thing’s a lot heavier than it looks.” Jayden slowly picked his way around the periphery of the room to reach him. Kira studied the destruction, found a solid wall, and carefully climbed down to the next level. Yoon followed her, and together they grabbed the swinging Partial through the window and pulled it in. Jayden retrieved Haru, his arm hanging uselessly at his side.
Kira and Yoon laid the Partial down on a stable bit of floor. Kira pulled off the Partial’s helmet and stopped, staring. She had expected them to look human—of course they looked human, that was the whole point—but even so, seeing one for the first time was… She couldn’t put it into words.
A human face. A human mouth and nose. Human eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. A young man, handsome, with short, dark-brown hair and the beginning of a bruise on its jaw. The greatest enemy mankind had ever faced, the vicious monster that had ended the world.
It couldn’t have been more than nineteen years old.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” said Yoon. “All this talk about how they look like us, and then they just … look like us.”
Kira nodded. “I don’t know if that makes it less scary, or more.”
Yoon drew the semiautomatic she got off Jayden and pointed it at the Partial. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast.”
Kira pulled out a bottle of Nalox.
“Best-case scenario, this keeps it down,” she said, glancing at Yoon.
“Worst case it dies?”
“Worst case, it wakes up.” Kira prepped the shot and held it over its neck. “We have no idea how these nanoparticles will react to its physiology. As far as I’m concerned, its death is very close to the ‘best case’ end of the scale.”
She stabbed the needle into its neck, pushed in the plunger, and stowed the syringe. “It’s done,” she called out. Jayden was helping Haru climb down into the room. “But there’re still one Partial we haven’t accounted for.”
Haru raised an eyebrow. “Not two?”
“Yoon killed one,” said Kira, and Haru’s eyes went wide. Kira laughed dryly. “I’m totally serious. Practically took its head off. Of course, that was after it got buried alive twice, caught a couch with its face, chased me through two stories of rubble, and almost killed me.”
Jayden nodded. “And the explosion got the other one—I found enough pieces of it when I was upstairs that there’s no way it’s still a threat. Must have been right on top of the bomb when it blew. So we should be good.”
They hefted the unconscious Partial between them and carried it carefully out of the building, through the multistory crater and down the stairs to the outer doors. Jayden stopped them.
“Wait—I spoke too soon,” he said, scanning the overgrown apartment grounds. “There is at least one enemy unaccounted for: One or both of our scouts are still out there, and we still don’t know whose side they’re on. Plus, there could be more of these things that didn’t assault the apartment.”
Kira watched the grounds, saw the saplings waving in the breeze; they’d provide some cover, but it was essentially open ground. “We’ll have to run for those buildings,” she said, “but we can’t move very fast with this deadweight between us.”
Haru rubbed his left arm, the one he’d been hanging from, trying to force some feeling back into it. “Nothing to do but do it.”
Jayden lifted the Partial, taking the full weight across his shoulders. “Sorry, ladies, I’m going to be selfish and keep the meat shield for myself. Now run!”
They dashed out through the vines and saplings, running full tilt for the next building. They reached it, rounded the corner, and kept running, between the cars and across the street to another building beyond. Just as Kira thought they were safe, a bullet ricocheted off the car beside her, inches from her head, and she ducked for cover.
“Don’t stop running, Kira, move!” Jayden ran past with his load, and Kira took a deep breath and jumped back to her feet, expecting at any moment that a bullet would slam into her spine. Another bullet whipped past, several feet to the side. They reached the next road, a wide thoroughfare lined with high trees and battered storefronts. Yoon cut left and the group followed, using the cover to charge across the street and take shelter in a crumbling delicatessen.
“It’s single shots, spaced out,” said Jayden, gasping for breath. “That probably means it’s not a group, just one sniper.”
“Skinny or Scruffy,” said Kira, “whichever one’s the traitor. Nice going, Haru.”
“We don’t know if it’s one of them,” Haru snarled, but Kira could tell he had the same fears she did. Yoon was watching by the front windows, all but invisible behind a screen of overturned tables.
“We can’t stay,” said Kira.
“We’ll head out the side window and down this little street,” said Jayden. “We need to cut back and forth between the streets—the sniper’s not as dangerous without a straight path and the time to line up a shot.”
“The park you saw before is just a few blocks west,” said Haru. “We can follow it most of the way back, and we won’t lose time running back and forth.”
“Agreed,” said Jayden. “Let’s go.”
They slipped out the side, moving the captured Partial carefully over the broken glass. Yoon ran to catch up.
“I still don’t see anything.”
“What about the sc
out who didn’t turn on us?” asked Kira, struggling to catch her breath as they ran. “Shouldn’t we wait for him? Or try to find him?”
Haru shook his head. “If we can’t trust one of them, we can’t trust either of them.”
“But we know one’s innocent.”
“And we don’t know which,” said Haru. “That makes them both suspects. There’s the park; sprint to the trees and head left.”
Another shot zipped by as they crossed to the thick forest, and Kira swore under her breath as she ducked behind a car. The others ran past her and she steeled her courage again, racing for the trees. The park turned out to be riddled with fences, keeping them out of the dense cover in the center, but the outskirts were still better than nothing, and they ran from tree to tree, always keeping something at their backs. Every few blocks a wide street cut through the trees, but the park kept going.
Jayden stopped by a cluster of taxis and lowered the Partial prisoner to the ground, wincing.
“Keep going,” said Haru fiercely. “You can rest when you’re dead.” Jayden nodded and reached for the Partial, but Kira saw a drop of blood fall from his arm.
“Jayden, you’re bleeding!”
“Keep going!” repeated Haru.
“He’s been shot in the arm,” said Kira, looking at Jayden’s wound. “How long ago did this happen?”
“Just a few blocks.” Jayden reached for the Partial.
“Haru can carry it,” said Kira. “You just run. I’ll bandage this when we get somewhere safe.”
“My arm’s practically broken,” hissed Haru.
“Nut up and carry it,” said Kira, shoving him toward the Partial. She took Jayden’s semiautomatic and checked the chamber. “I’ll take the rear, now run.”
They took off again, Yoon leading the way through a maze of fences and trees and rusted cars. They passed a subway entrance, a dark stairway down underground, and Kira looked in as they ran past: It was flooded halfway up the stairs. No cover there. They kept to the park, and soon a thick steel tower rose up ahead of them.
“That’s the bridge,” said Jayden. “Take the first entrance you see.”
Kira shook her head. “That’s not the same bridge.”
“Do you really care which bridge?” asked Jayden. “Just get off the damn island.”
“But the traps,” she insisted, glancing behind her as she ran. “The traps will still be in place on this one. It’s too dangerous to cross.”
A bullet flew by, and Jayden cursed. “We don’t have a lot of options right now.”
They burst out of the park and into a wide street. The bridge rose before them at an angle, up and southeast toward the river, and the four runners were now so tired that they staggered up the incline, panting with dry, scratched throats. A shot pinged off the cement barrier, and they collapsed behind it out of sight.
“I didn’t see who it was,” said Kira.
“Whoever it is,” said Yoon, showing her pistol, “the Partial’s effective range is a lot longer than ours. We can’t outshoot it.”
“You go on ahead,” said Jayden, grabbing Yoon’s gun. “Find the traps, defuse them or mark them or … whatever you can do. Haru and Kira will follow with the Partial. I’ll guard the rear.”
“She just said you can’t outshoot it,” said Kira. “Are you crazy?”
“I can’t outshoot it at this range,” said Jayden, and pointed back toward the base of the bridge. “I can outshoot it just fine from down there, if I get a drop on it. It has to come around that corner sooner or later if it wants to pursue us, so I’ll hide behind one of the cars and wait.”
“Then I’m waiting with you,” said Kira. “I’m your medic, you idiot, I’m not leaving you behind with a bullet hole in your arm.”
“Fine, just stay low.”
Yoon crawled forward, and Haru followed, dragging the Partial behind him. Kira crept back down with Jayden and took position behind a fat truck tire. Jayden crouched by the next tire over, keeping an eye on the edge of the barrier below. The truck’s driver, a weathered brown skeleton, stared forward blankly.
“Who do you think it’s going to be?” asked Kira. “The Partial, I mean: Nick or Steve?”
“You mean Skinny or Scruffy?”
Kira laughed emptily. “It’s not like they’re hard to tell apart, I was just too embarrassed to ask which was which.”
“I’ll guess we’ll see,” said Jayden.
Kira looked up at the bridge, then whispered softly, “The watchmen will see us crossing the river.”
“I know.”
“We’ll get reported, we’ll get arrested, you’ll probably get court-martialed. Our secret mission isn’t going to stay secret.” Kira watched him, but he said nothing. “I’m beginning to think this was kind of a stupid idea.”
She saw a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Shut up, Walker,” Jayden whispered. “We’re trying to set an ambush here.”
They waited, Jayden watching the edge of the barrier and Kira watching the rest of the road. As soon as the Partial appeared, they’d—
She heard a click.
“Drop it.”
She looked up to see a Partial standing over them—not Skinny or Scruffy, a Partial soldier, likely one of the team they had encountered, black faceplate gleaming in the sun. Somehow it had gotten behind them. It gestured with its automatic rifle, and Jayden set down his pistol with a sigh. Kira set hers beside it.
“Don’t make a sound,” said the Partial. “There’s a—”
A wide crack spiderwebbed out across his faceplate, centered around a small hole that seemed to appear out of nowhere; half a second later the soft puff of a suppressed gunshot wafted past them. The Partial crumpled to the ground, and Kira stared in shock. Jayden grabbed his semiautomatic. They heard running footsteps, and Kira managed to turn herself around to see Scruffy running toward them, his rifle in his hands.
“That takes care of the sniper,” Scruffy called out, “but there are more coming. We’ve got to move fast.”
“You’re the one who warned us,” said Kira.
“You can act surprised later,” said Scruffy, dropping to one knee by the dead Partial. He slung his rifle over his back, picked up the fallen Partial’s automatic, and turned to Jayden. “I’m serious—there’s at least ten more behind us. We have to blaze.”
Jayden paused a moment, then stood and started jogging up the hill. “Come on, Kira. This is a long damn bridge.” They ran upright, not bothering to stay below the barrier, trusting speed and distance to keep them clear of the bullets. They caught up with Haru somewhere in the maze of stopped cars.
“Good to see you, Nick.” Haru dropped the Partial prisoner with a painful grunt. “My arm’s broken and Jayden’s is shot; take a turn with the mutt.” Scruffy looked behind, shrugged, and handed Haru his weapon. Before he could even pick up the prisoner, Haru shot him in the head. Kira yelped, Scruffy toppled to the ground, and Haru shot him again.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jayden shouted.
“I told you,” said Haru, “as far as I’m concerned, they’re both guilty. I’m not taking any more Partials home than I have to.”
“He saved us!” Jayden shouted. “He killed a Partial soldier!”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” said Haru, checking the assault rifle. “Now shut up and carry the prisoner.”
“He was also telling the truth about the group behind us,” said Kira, looking back. “I can see at least one soldier already. We’re not going to reach the other side in time.”
Jayden frowned. “If the cat’s out of the bag, we might as well catch some mice with it.” He clicked on his radio and started shouting as he shouldered the Partial. “Calling all personnel, repeat all personnel, there is a Defense Grid strike team crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Partials in pursuit, we are taking fire, repeat, human soldiers taking enemy fire. Request all possible assistance.” They were running now, Kira taking the lead and Haru follow
ing behind, turning and firing periodically to slow the Partials down. “Kira,” said Jayden, “switch my channel.” Kira clicked the knob on Jayden’s belt, and he repeated the message. “Calling all personnel, there is a human strike team taking enemy fire on the Manhattan Bridge. Request all possible assistance. Change my channel again.” Shots were coming toward them now, close enough to scare them into cover. They wove between the stopped cars, watching the ground for trip wires and other triggers, hoping desperately that Yoon had managed to find and mark them all. Haru fired back at the Partials, doing his best to keep them at bay; Kira chanced a look behind her and saw at least seven Partials in pursuit, and gaining quickly. Jayden ran out of breath, straining under the heavy prisoner, and Kira took over, repeating his message again and again in the hope that someone was listening. They caught up to Yoon far too quickly, and she shook her head grimly. “There’s no way we can keep ahead of them and still avoid the explosives. This bridge is a death trap.”
“I’m out,” called Haru, dropping the assault rifle and taking Jayden’s sidearm as they ran. “They’re getting closer.” A bullet glanced off the car in front of them, shattering the side mirror. “We’re not going to last much longer.”
“Calling all personnel,” Kira said again, barely keeping her breath as she clutched the radio, “there is a human strike force on the Manhattan Bridge taking—”
“I’ve got you in my sights, strike force,” the radio crackled back. “Please identify.”
“We don’t have time to identify,” shouted Kira. “We’ve got a Partial army behind us.”
“Jayden Van Rijn,” said Jayden, “sergeant second class.”
“There’s a large pylon tower about twenty yards ahead of you,” the voice crackled.
Kira looked up. “We see it.”