“Could this be some kind of…I don’t know, technological implant she gave to herself or something?” I asked.
Doctor Taylor shook her head, “there’ve been some amazing leaps in prosthesis and bio-mechanical implants. But this isn’t like anything I’ve read in the literature.” She exhaled slowly. “But this is Akira we’re talkin’ about. She might’ve known somethin’ about it I didn’t.”
“It’s strange,” Aveena said in a hushed voice, eyes down at Akira’s hand held in her lap, “it really shows that we’re all just a flesh computer, able to be turned back on after bein’ shut off, so long as you don’t allow any damage to the fleshware.” She looked up at me, “I asked her about that a lot when it came to Laura. Akira always told me there is no theoretical difference between a human body that’s functioning and one that isn’t, as long as there’s no permanent damage to vital organs. All it takes is some initial impulse – like enough energy to generate an ion imbalance in the heart muscles – to make a body start functioning again. Once you breathe that initial spark of life into the body, it already has all the mechanisms within it to keep it goin’.” She paused a moment before saying, “in a sense, all of us are capable of bein’ immortal.”
Doctor Taylor nodded slowly, “I talked to her about that, too.” She looked back to Akira and said, “I just can’t help but think that she discovered…something. Somethin’ that would allow her to do this. But without the right equipment, I’ve no idea what she did.”
Akira simply stared blankly back at Doctor Taylor. She demonstrated only the level of instinct a newborn infant possessed – like looking back at someone when they looked at you – but there was no indication of comprehension in her expression, or even an understanding that the sounds people were making had some sort of meaning.
“I wouldn’t put that past her,” I said, “but do you think she’s even capable of continuing on? Will she…live? Will she be able to continue moving?”
“I dunno,” Doctor Taylor said, “this is unprecedented, far as I know. Even with reduced metabolism, she’s quite literally on starvation mode right now. Her body’ll eventually eat itself to death. It’ll kill her in a matter of days if the buildup of waste products doesn’t do it first.” She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly in a twirling cloud of steam. “From what I understand, your chromosome treatment grants you a low level of photosynthetic energy production. But…even if the sky remains cloudless, that’ll only go so far. And that snowstorm’ll take care of the sun soon enough.”
Aveena looked back down at Akira’s gloved hand, disheartened by this news. Yukiko didn’t understand the words everyone was saying, but she could sense the mood of the conversation. She climbed onto her mother’s lap and hugged close to her, but Akira only looked down at the three-year-old with a dim acknowledgment that she sensed her.
“We can at least try and get her up,” Rocky said, taking a step forward.
Aveena stood up and guided Yukiko away from her mother while Rocky and I gently brought her to her feet. After letting go, Akira was able to maintain her balance, but only stood where she was, looking blankly around at all of us. Aveena tugged on her arm and she followed along instinctively.
The sky remained clear all morning, which I counted as a blessing for Akira’s sake, even with increased visibility from unseen eyes. Despite this, the temperature continued to fall, reaching ten below zero, making the air painful to the skin. By eleven o’clock the word going around was that four of the wounded people had died, and the cold was to blame.
Major Forrester continued to stall, saying we weren’t going to start moving until mid afternoon at the earliest, and that we might even stay another night. He gave the green light on starting fires, although that was just a formality, as many had already done so. Sachi and her people muttered to one another as they watched the smoke rise into the clear sky like a beacon for the entire CSA to see. Chat about taking a handful of people and abandoning the larger crowd cropped up, but even by one in the afternoon nothing came of it.
Savita kept us informed on what was going on in the front guard, even though Major Forrester had left her out of what had been dubbed the command assembly. The hostage from the assault was still alive, although the followers rallying behind Forrester made sure that the forty-eights had no access to him. Savita could hear arguments happening between Major Forrester and Colonel Riviera, with more and more of the LoC Security clients began disfavoring Riviera and LoC Security, convinced that she was a pawn of the forty-eights.
“In other words,” Joaquin Yrid said to Sachi after gathering potential supporters in the rearguard, “the reason we’re just sittin’ here’s because Forrester’s shoring up support. It has nothin’ to do with figuring out how to proceed.”
The small meeting had been called when Colonel Riviera brought Major Ellison and Corporal Roman to the front guard for their command assembly meetings.
“You mean he’s puttin’ everyone in danger just to make his rivals look bad?” agent Brie asked.
Yrid nodded. “This is exactly the kinda shit he did during peacetime. He made the rank of major through glad-handing and politicking.”
“And the threat of assassination isn’t gone either, is it?” Rocky asked.
“I would think not,” Yrid said, “but at this point, if you retaliated, it would probably only increase that threat.”
“What are the chances that Forrester’s making a deal with that hostage they’ve captured?” I asked.
Yrid shrugged. “It’s possible. But as you’ve seen, Forrester’s petty and won’t forget that the rebels shot at him and his people. Although, he’s also concerned with his own self-preservation. I wouldn’t discount any possibilities at this point.”
“We need to leave these people,” Olivia said, looking to Sachi, “they’ll get us killed by the CSA if they don’t do it themselves.”
Everyone waited for her to respond as she considered this. I could imagine what her hesitation was about. She needed people’s support, and getting them through this ordeal was supposed to make her look like a hero. If we broke away and left them to die, it would make the forty-eights look as self-serving as Forrester was being. And if he ended up getting them through this alive, it would look even worse. It was purely a public relations consideration for her.
“We need to find out what kind of support we still have around here,” Sachi finally said, “if we do split off, we can maybe take some people with us.”
“We’re not far from the sixty-two,” Yrid said, “I believe Forrester plans on headin’ east to Dallas to see if it’s occupied and then maybe continuing to follow the five fifty northwest toward Grand Junction.”
“And you think it would be opportune to split there,” I said, “and go into the woods there.”
Yrid shrugged. “I’m just givin’ you the layout. The terrain starts getting’ a little more wide open as we head north, but by then we’ll probably have the snowstorm to give us cover from the CSA.”
Sachi gave him a nod, “Well, then we have tonight to-”
Gunfire went off out in the woods, but it wasn’t the potshots our pursuers had been taking before. Everyone threw on their helmets and spread out as the refugees stood up from around their fires, looking to each other in fear and confusion. The remaining LoC Security people started trying to corral them as the forty-eights fanned out. I saw Aveena leading Akira and Yukiko away, the mother looking blank and the daughter starting to cry.
People zigzagged toward us through the forest, dodging behind trees as they approached. It was the Crusaders, wearing their EXO:B-009s, legs and arms mechanically aided. The forty-eights opened fire at them, mostly managing to hit trees as the attackers dodged back and forth, lobbing bursts at us.
An explosion sounded just behind me, the shockwave causing me to stumble forward a step. I glanced back, seeing the now empty camp decimated by a grenade.
“Fall back,” Sachi said, “stay with the group.”
&nbs
p; Bullets continued flying at us as we made our tactical retreat. Another explosion crashed behind us, sending chunks of frozen dirt tumbling over us. A bullet hit me square in the back, the impact echoing through my exoskeleton.
I turned and sprayed with the .50 caliber on my left arm before launching a grenade of my own. The explosion blew off a chunk of a pine tree, sending wood splinters soaring through the dense forest. I turned back around and kept trotting fifty feet behind the crowd, our pursuers continuing to shoot.
The ground around me plumed with dirt where bullets hit, the trees getting battered as chunks of bark scattered about. The crowd in front of us called out in confused panic. I spotted someone a ways up falling to the ground, a family behind him leaping over his body as they continued.
I turned around again to spray in a semicircle with my .50 cal. One of the rebels ran out from behind a tree a hundred feet back. They shouted in pain as my .50 caliber fire connected, sending them falling to the ground behind another tree. Emma, running just to my right, stopped and turned, spraying her .50 cal and firing a grenade. More shouts sounded as it exploded, one of the rebels now running right toward us screaming, blood pouring from his face. Neither of us bothered to finish him off, turning back around and catching up with the group, his screams still sounding behind us.
Another explosion cracked a ways off to my left. We were running downhill now, getting close to the road between Placerville and Dallas. My radio was mad with people shouting, but it was all background noise to me. I turned around again, firing my .50 cal up the hill as an explosion rocked the earth next to me, tossing me into a tree, shrapnel clacking off my exo suit.
I sat up stunned, ears ringing, and climbed slowly to my feet. I staggered over a few steps, coming face-to-face with one of the rebels. He swung his .45 caliber around toward me. I reached out and grabbed the barrel as he fired off a shot. I raised my 30 mm but he ran into me, throwing his shoulder into my chest and sending me falling back. He fired the .45 cal again, just missing as I rolled once down the hill before springing to my feet, just barely dodging another shot as I charged him.
He stumbled back in surprise as I ran into him, the .45 cal falling from his hands. I grabbed him by the neck lifted him up, his feet kicking uselessly at my groin. I wound back with my other hand and thrust my fist into his face, feeling it crack through bone with barely any resistance before dropping the lifeless body back to the ground.
I picked up the .45 caliber rifle and started running down the hill to catch up with the others, getting to full speed before seeing them a lot closer than I expected. I skidded to a stop, almost running into Victor, when I saw what the problem was.
The road down below swarmed with CSA soldiers – at least twenty APC:B-021s and APC:B-032s, numerous soldiers in EXO:B-039s and EXO:B-024s, and countless soldiers in EXO:B-009s. All their weapons were trained up at us.
Chapter 59
The first shots came from the refugees. The CSA soldier’s answering volley hit right in the heart of the group. People screamed in terror, running in every direction. Bodies toppled like wheat as the storm of steel fell upon them. The rebels who had been following us opened fire, shooting at the CSA soldiers.
The forty-eights dispersed, trying to find safer positions to fight from. I watched as one of the refugees ran past me down the hill, the M249 in her arms firing bursts toward the CSA before a hail of bullets caught her, sending her tumbling forward.
Bullets clattered off my suit as I dove behind a large pine, bark and pieces of wood flying all around me. An explosion erupted fifty feet away, the shockwave pounding my ears.
I continued firing bursts around the large trunk with my .50 cal. Soldiers in B-039s took cover at the bottom of the hill, their armor offering protection against the .50 cal fire. The rest stayed behind the line of APC:B-021s and APC:B-032s.
Bullets filled the air. Gunshots and whizzing slugs created a cacophony that drowned out everything except the tinny shouts over my radio. Vibrations spread through the thick tree trunk into my exoskeleton.
I looked around the trunk again, aiming my .50 cal at the nearest APC:B-021 and firing. A bullet glanced off my helmet as I did, rattling loudly. I got back behind cover, looking around for the others, seeing only a few refugees taking cover by nearby trees.
Did the others run?
I peered around the tree, seeing the soldiers below coordinate into a creeping barrage that their exoskeleton unit could follow. Refugees with guns took the opportunity to turn around and open fire on the soldiers crowding the road.
“They’re getting ready to charge!” Savita shouted over the radio.
I ran further up the hill, hearing the barrage coming forward. Wood cracked, people screamed, bullets ricocheted, voices shouted. I managed to make it further up to the next tree, scrambling behind it. The radio went momentarily quiet until a single voice came over it.
“Now!” Sachi ordered.
All at once the forty-eights darted out from behind their cover and opened fire with everything. Thirty grenades screamed down the hill, their deafening explosions engulfing at least seven vehicles. Bursts from .50 cals followed, spraying over the scrambling soldiers.
The creeping barrage was abandoned as the B-039 soldiers came rushing up the hill, spraying .50 cal fire. The refugees started falling back, many dropping to the ground in the hail of bullets.
I took aim at one of the exo soldiers and launched a grenade, the explosion sending them hurtling through the air. Gunfire focused on me as I retreated further up the hill, bullets whizzing past and plumes of dirt flinging around me. I jumped behind a tree, the wood tearing and cracking, wood fragments raining down around me. Somewhere to my right I heard Victor’s flamethrowers belch fire, answered by tortured screams from CSA soldiers.
I peered around the tree, taking aim with my 30 mm and fired at a soldier, hearing him cry out as his backside exploded down the hill.
Seeing a small gap in their line, I rushed down the hill. Gunfire from the road met me, bullets smashing against my exo suit. The wounded soldier tried raising his arm mounted weapon but I pumped another shot into his head as I ran past, zigzagging down the hill. An RPG rocketed past me, just missing, the explosion throwing me forward, landing and rolling down into a tree.
Coughing, I scrambled to my feet, finding myself twenty feet from the road, no trees around. I jumped as a vehicle mounted .50 caliber opened fired at me, spraying my own .50 cal wildly at the APC:B-021.
I rushed forward. Onto the road. Colliding with two B-009s, seeing them go reeling to the pavement. I ran shoulder first into the side of the APC:B-021. It barely budged. The driver leaned out the window, fumbling with his rifle. I grabbed his face with my exo glove and crushed, feeling the ends of the fingers dig into bone as he screamed.
I looked up, seeing the .50 cal aiming as far down as it could go, but unable to reach me. I thrust my hand up, grabbing the barrel of the gun, and tore at it. The metal groaned as the gun loosed from its mount, crashing to the road. I reached and grabbed the top of the vehicle, hoisting myself up.
The gunner had his pistol out, shooting when he saw my head. The bullet ricocheted off my visor as I hoisted myself up onto the roof of the vehicle. The gunner tried ducking down inside, but I swept my hand around the .50 cal mount and grabbed his arm. Squeezing down, his forearm snapped. He screamed. I lifted him from the opening, grabbing his throat with my other hand and clenched, blood gushing onto my glove before allowing him to drop back into the vehicle.
I jumped off the roof, bent down picked up the .50 caliber machine gun. The belt trailed behind me as I walked the street, opening fire. I crept down the line, seeing soldiers in EXO:B-009s flee in terror, many falling under my fire. The armor of the APC:B-021s gave way, soldiers still inside trapped as the hail of bullets crashed through their windows.
I reached the last APC:B-021 in the line. An explosion sent me skidding across to the other side of the street. I got slowly back to my feet, picking up the
.50 cal and continued on, eating through the belt as I laid down unrelenting gunfire on the soldiers.
And then down the road I saw another convoy coming towards us, still several hundred yards away. I zoomed in with my bionic eye, seeing exoskeleton soldiers already running off into the woods.
“Everybody get down to the road!” I shouted, tossing the gun away, “they’re flanking us!”
Nobody had time to respond before the familiar hum of a charging rail gun echoed over the forest. I watched as the UAV swooped down over the road, the explosion sending a towering column of dirt and uprooted trees sailing into the sky before arcing back down. This was followed by another hum, two more UAVs flying overhead, the explosions from their rail guns tossing more earth into the air, the shockwave knocking me onto the other side of the road, skidding through dirt.
The screams of dying refugees were cut short when a fourth UAV came swooping down almost to the road, its rail gun charging, firing as it began climbing, the shot tearing instantaneously through two hundred yards of forest before impacting the ground, the trees in its path flung to the sides like flaming bowling pins.
People ran out of the forest into the street, the few remaining CSA soldiers firing on them as they fled toward the woods on the other side. The other unit of APC:B-021s barreled down the road toward us. Sachi, Rocky, and Olivia rushed onto the pavement and made a line facing them, firing all weapons down the road. I ran up and joined them, seeing the other forty-eights and security agents guiding the disorderly retreat across the road.
“We’re going to have to lose them in the woods!”
The APC:B-021s kept coming, bullets whizzing past us. The extra loud hum of all four rail guns charging thundered across the sky, four UAVs swooping back down as we followed the retreat into the woods.
Explosions devastated the road right in the middle of the retreating refugees, their combined shockwaves lifting me off my feet and throwing me to the ground twenty feet up the hill, knocking the wind out of me.
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