by Colin Sims
Yuri pointed to the shotgun. “You must return fire!”
I didn’t hesitate as I climbed out of the seat and crouched next to the helicopter’s open door with the shotgun. I lit up the holoscope and used the thermal imaging to double tap a cluster of soldiers into green. Theoretically, each Doomsayer could take out six at once.
I thrust the shotgun outside the door and fired without aiming. The Seekers would do the rest. Bullets kept snapping against the hull, so I pumped in another shell and fired again.
“You are hitting them!” Yuri shouted back to me. “Fire again!”
I stuck the shotgun back out and fired. Right when I did, however, I spotted Samireh running towards us across the tarmac. It nearly gave me a heart attack to see her running out in the open with so many soldiers shooting at us. She was flinging throwing stars as she ran, and within a few seconds of each throw, there was an explosion.
“I see Samireh!” I shouted to Yuri. “Can we take off?”
“Ten more seconds!”
Samireh was getting close. I frantically waved her in. Before I knew it, she was diving into the cabin and doing a summersault back to her haunches. The very first thing she said was: “We have to get Janice!”
She jumped into the co-pilot seat and shouted the same thing to Yuri.
He was focusing on the controls, but also managed to type something into the battletop. “She is coming!” he announced.
The helicopter started to lift off the ground, and as it did, more and more bullets began pelting the hull. By this point, every single soldier knew we were the primary target.
We were at least twenty feet off the ground when I saw Janice running straight toward us from below. I was about to shout to Yuri, yet right as I opened my mouth, the Droid leapt straight up to the door of the chopper and pulled itself inside.
“She’s on board!” I yelled.
The helicopter angled sharply as Yuri yanked on the stick. “We go!” he shouted, and we began to pick up speed. Bullets were still dinging the Blackhawk’s tail, but we were quickly moving out of range. In no time, we were clear of the outpost and heading into the black of night.
I collapsed against the doorframe, hanging onto one of the canvas handles. Janice had secured herself in one of the troop seats. I had just gotten up to join her when a powerful explosion knocked me off my feet and I nearly fell out the door. In an instant, alarms were blaring throughout the cabin. Black smoke billowed from the ceiling.
I scrambled back to my feet and shouted, “What the hell was that?” as I looked out the door. I couldn’t see anything in the dark, so I lit up the AMTACC. Automatically, it focused in on a small quad-copter chasing after us.
Yuri shouted that it had to be a drone. “Tail rotor is hit!” he said.
The Blackhawk started wobbling, losing altitude. “Can we make it to the Cougar?” I shouted up to him, but he was focusing all his attention on the controls.
Samireh jumped back and joined me in the cabin and looked at the image on the AMTACC. “It’s a hunter-killer!” she yelled into my ear. “They have rockets!”
“We have to make it a little farther,” I told her, and then shouted up to Yuri, “Just keep us in the air until we get to the truck!”
My best guess was that the Cougar couldn’t have been more than a few seconds away.
“What are you thinking?” Samireh asked as she took out what looked to be her last throwing star.
Without answering, I tapped into the AMTACC’s armaments screen and located the Cougar. As I did, Samireh moved toward the door to make what I assumed would be an impossibly long throw.
“Wait!” I shouted to her. “Give me two more seconds!”
She span around. “What?”
I double tapped the hunter-killer drone and turned it green. The Cougar’s computer-operated .50 cal whipped around to find its target. I pressed execute.
In an instant, a hail of brilliant tracer rounds lit up the night sky. There was a bright flash when the drone exploded in midair. I whooped in disbelief, yet my celebration was cut short.
“We are going down!” Yuri yelled from the cockpit. “We are going down, oh shit!”
Samireh and I both clung to the troop seats as we wrestled with the straps. I’d just tightened them across my chest when the Blackhawk slammed into the hard ground. The sound was deafening. It felt like a grenade had just exploded, and my head was ringing like a bell. I looked around the cabin in a daze. It was swirling with dust and smoke. I managed to croak, “Is everyone okay?”
Samireh coughed. “I’m alive,” she said, and then looked to the cockpit and asked, “Yuri?”
A second later his face appeared as he looked back at us with pure excitement. “This is first time I fly helicopter!” he declared. “It is amazing!”
I looked at Samireh, who looked at me, and then we both looked at Yuri. “Your first time what?” I asked him.
“My first time I fly helicopter!” he exclaimed, beaming. “I play computer game, yes, but real thing is very much better!”
Chapter 12
After hiking back to the Cougar, we drove back to the Clicker tunnel where we’d spent the previous night. Once we got there, we felt like celebrating, but we knew we had to stay as quiet as possible. For all we knew, there were additional NAM drones out searching for us.
Also, we were exhausted. It didn’t take long before each of us was passed out cold, and when we woke up a few hours later, it was morning. The first thing I saw was Samireh, sitting across from me and examining the Mantidae flash drive. Seeing me sit up, she grinned. “All of that for this little guy.” She tossed me the drive.
With my just-woke-up reflexes I failed to catch it and answered, “Yeah,” as I reached to pick it up off the floor. “I’m not really sure what to do with it now.
She shrugged. “We’ll think of something. By the way, how are you feeling?”
It took me a second to realize she was referring to the gunshot wound. I looked down at the bandages. “I actually feel fine,” I responded, slowing unwrapping the cloth. Once I could see the skin, I heard Samireh gasp.
“No way,” she breathed, stepping forward to get a closer look. I couldn’t stop looking at it either. “It’s like totally healed,” she added, prodding it with her finger. “Does that hurt?”
Dumbfounded, I answered, “No. No, it doesn’t.”
At that moment, Yuri climbed back into the cargo bay from the driver’s seat where he’d spent the night. “How is wound?” he asked, stepping next to Samireh.
“Look at it.” She pointed. “It’s almost completely gone. Just a small scar.”
Yuri starred for a few seconds and nodded knowingly. “You see? Yuri is always correct. I say healed in day or two, and a day later, wound is healed.”
“Because I’m a space alien,” I told him, still rubbing at the scar.
Yuri grinned. “Things are always possible. But I think space alien is not probable.”
“Speaking of which,” Samireh interjected, nodding toward Yuri. “Let’s hook the flash drive thing up to your computer.”
“Didn’t Watkins say it wouldn’t work with human computers?” I asked her.
Samireh looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah. He did,” she said. “He also called Billy Lee, the numbnuts.”
I conceded that she had a point. Still, I didn’t want to risk breaking the thing. None of us had any idea what would happen if we plugged it into another device. Looking up at Yuri, I asked him, “Is there any way to do it, like cautiously? I don’t want it to explode.”
“There is one way to discover this,” Yuri answered, taking the flash drive and reaching for his battletop. “I will plug it in and see what happens.”
Scooting back a few inches, I figured something must have gotten lost in translation. By “cautiously,” I was thinking more about plugging it in outside or maybe testing it somehow to make sure it wasn’t a bomb. Before I could really object, Yuri had stuck the drive into the po
rt on his computer.
We all watched in silence for nearly a minute. At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the battletop’s screen turned to static like an old television without a signal. Eventually, I asked Yuri, “Does this mean anything?”
He took a few seconds to respond. “I am not sure. But I think,”—he leaned closer to the screen—“I believe this could be code. Like encrypted data.”
Samireh frowned as she leaned in. “It looks like snow.”
“Is there any way to decode it?” I asked Yuri.
He shook his head. “I would not know where to start with this,” he answered, still fixated on the screen. “But the longer I look, I believe it is code.” He began to type on the keyboard, trying a number of key configurations, but even after several minutes, nothing changed the screen from static.
“I am very good hacker.” Yuri rubbed his brow. “But this is beyond my great skills. Computer will not work with flash drive in port.”
“What if you take it out?” Samireh asked. “Is it broken?”
Yuri let out a deep breath. “Let us find out,” he said and unplugged the flash drive. The instant he did, the computer screen returned to normal.
“Whoa,” I said.
“Indeed,” Yuri agreed.
“Is that good?” Samireh asked.
Yuri played around with the cursor for a moment. “It seems to be fine,” he said, sounding a little confused. “Let me try”—he plugged it back in—“this,” and the screen went back to static. He shrugged and took it back out. After a few seconds, he turned to Samireh and me. “This is not something Yuri can solve. But there may be someone who can.”
“Who?” I asked.
“He is Russian. My first teacher at Imperial Tech Academy. This is where I was prodigy. During my final year, he was sent to New American city of Grant. It is possible he is still there.”
“Is he another spy?” I asked.
Yuri shrugged. “Every Russian here is spy. But technically he is working for Rostek.”
Samireh stepped closer, taking the flash drive. “What makes you think he can figure this thing out?” she asked.
Yuri chuckled. “No idea. But if there is one person smarter than Yuri, it is him.”
I looked at Samireh. “Honestly, I don’t have any better ideas. Can we get into Grant if we go there?”
She thought for a moment. “Um … yeah,” she answered slowly. “But we kind of just blew up a New American Military base. I’m pretty sure they’ll be pissed about it when we get there.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t see our faces,” I said. “Not really, anyway.”
Samireh squinted as she looked back at the flash drive. “Maybe,” she said cautiously. “But I don’t think you realize what we’d be going up against. Grant is a full-blown city. That means lots of military, it means security checkpoints, police, Droids, and we’ll have to get fake IDs. I actually know a guy for that, but still … If we get caught in Grant, we’re royally screwed.”
Before I could respond, Yuri declared, “I wish to see this Grant. It has reminded me of St. Petersburg.”
I got up to open the Cougar’s hatch. “Come on,” I said to both of them. “Let’s take a look outside.”
The early morning air was chilly and the sky was grey. It looked like it was going to rain.
“We’re going to need supplies,” I said after a moment. Samireh and Yuri had both joined me, looking out at the barren Deadlands. I turned to Samireh. “How long you think it would take to get to Grant?”
She frowned. “A few days, a few weeks, a few eternities if we get killed …”
Yuri pointed out, “This will require more food and gas than we currently have.”
Samireh stepped closer to me. “Are you sure you really want to go there?” she asked. She sounded more worried than I would’ve expected. “I’ve been to two of their cities before,” she added. “I nearly died both times and it sucked.”
I thought about offering to go it alone, but I remembered her reaction the last time I told her she didn’t have to come.
Besides, I wasn’t thinking so much about Grant anymore. Yuri’s thought about food and gas had planted an idea in my head, one that I wasn’t too keen on carrying out. The ultimate white hallway.
“I think we have to go back to Boise,” I suddenly said.
***
When we rolled up to the remnants of the Security Wall, I wanted to kick myself for ever suggesting that we come here. It wasn’t just the sight of the place, which had been completely reduced to smoldering rubble; it was the smell. I hadn’t anticipated that. I couldn’t help but wonder if the stench was coming from people I knew.
We drove the Cougar through a wide gap in the tattered fence, slowly rolling forward. It was like driving through a graveyard, only the bodies hadn’t been buried yet.
Yuri and Samireh sat in the front two seats, while I crouched between them, staring out the small, boxy windshield.
“This is fucking horrible,” I whispered under my breath.
Samireh turned to me and her eyes were actually watery. I never thought I’d see that: Samireh on the verge of tears. “I’m sorry, Michael. I should have …”—she paused, looking back out the window—“Crap, I don’t know.”
Yuri glanced at me as well, and added, “You are brave for coming back here. I would not do the same if it were me.”
I took in a deep breath. “There could be survivors,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “I should’ve come back sooner.”
Samireh suddenly elbowed me on the shoulder. “And when would you have done that?” she asked sharply. “The whole place could’ve been crawling with Slicers.”
I fell quiet as we kept driving. I could barely recognize the place. Eventually, I spotted the remains of a hydro-tower near the river and pointed to it. “Let’s head over there,” I said, and Yuri nodded and began twisting the wheel. “The hydro-towers are our best bet for finding food.”
It took about ten minutes to slowly drive the truck through the debris-laden streets, careful not to run over anything important. By the time we got there, I was literally dreading the prospect of getting out and searching through all the wreckage. I knew it wouldn’t take long before I came across a body.
As if reading my mind, Samireh looked back at me. “Yuri and I can get out and search if you want to stay here. Just tell us where to look.”
I shook my head. “I can’t just sit in here. I’ll be fine.”
I moved to the rear hatch and opened it. The stench poured into the cabin and I pulled my shirt over my face. I jumped down and looked around. Yuri and Samireh joined me a second later.
“Let us do this fast,” Yuri suggested.
“I second that,” Samireh agreed.
I walked around the truck and peered up at the nearest hydro-tower. The top half was missing, but at least the base was still standing. I said, “Let’s start with—”
Before I could say another word, Samireh tackled me from behind, knocking us both to the ground. I heard the distinct snap of a bullet zing off the Cougar’s armor.
Yuri dove beside us. “There is sniper!” he declared. Another shot rang out.
Samireh rolled off me and reached for a knife from her ankle. I figured she intended to throw it.
I stuck my head up for a split second to look around. “Anyone see where it’s coming from?” I asked, lighting up the AMTACC.
Samireh peeked her head up as well. “It’s coming from the other side of the river. Near that generator.”
Staying as low as possible, I tapped at the holoscreen. I brought up the Cougar’s .50 cal and scanned the far side of the river.
“I don’t see any red,” I said. “He must have moved.”
Just then, another shot snapped against the rubble pile we were hiding behind.
Samireh whipped around. “That one came from the same spot! Look again!”
But I already was. There was no red anywhere.
<
br /> “Wait a minute,” I suddenly said. “What if the shooter’s not a bad guy? What if he just thinks we’re scavengers or something?”
“This is possible,” Yuri answered after a second’s pause. “But what can we do?”
I thought for a moment and then decided to take a risk.
“HEY!” I shouted out as loud as I could. “IT’S MICHAEL TRIPP. WHO’S SHOOTING AT US?”
Almost out of instinct, Samireh elbowed me again. “Are you crazy?” she spat.
I waited for a second then shrugged. “Well, it couldn’t hurt,” I said. “It’s not like he doesn’t know where we—”
“HOW DO I KNOW IT’S MICHAEL?” a girl’s voice shouted from across the river.
Stunned, I looked at both Samireh and Yuri. I started to say, “I think I know …” and I stood straight up.
“Michael!” Samireh and Yuri both hissed at me.
But I knew I wasn’t going to get shot. I knew that voice. And sure enough, a lone figure, completely covered in mud, stood up and looked at me.
“No way,” I whispered under my breath, and I suddenly felt a familiar loss for words.
It was Sarah Miller.
***
In a Samireh-like move, Sarah dove straight into the river and swam right at us.
Yuri and Samireh both stood up and looked at me. “You know this girl?” Yuri asked. “She is friend of yours?”
I gulped. “Yeah,” I answered. “But I’ve never talked to her before.”
I started trotting toward the water. Samireh and Yuri both followed a few steps behind.
In no time, Sarah had splashed out of the water and was running at me at full speed. I barely had time to blink before she crashed right into me and kissed me full on the mouth.
Now, when I got shot back in Oldstown, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Sarah Miller kissing me was a very similar experience. It probably only lasted a few seconds, but for me, it was a solid ten minutes.
“I can’t believe it,” she gasped, then pulled away, looking embarrassed. “Sorry about that,” she added quickly. “I just … how? Where have you been? How did you survive?!”
I starred at her dumbly. My brain was still catching up to the present. “I, um … well, it’s a long story,” I told her. “But it’s mostly because of my friends.” I stepped back to gesture toward Samireh and Yuri. Yuri’s face was frozen in a giant, awestruck grin, while Samireh’s was intensely the opposite.