Strike: The SYLO Chronicles #3

by D. J. MacHale

  TWENTY-SIX

  We skirted around the heart of the battle, which wasn’t an easy thing to do.

  Most of the fighting was centered at the open door of the dome, so we took a wide route around to try to come up to the door from behind.

  The Sounder commandos and the SYLO soldiers who had zip lined in from helicopters were valiantly holding the Retros away from the dome. They were now outnumbered and the Retros had brought in superior firepower, but the smaller group fought tenaciously.

  Granger and his ground troops had come up from behind, effectively trapping the Retro forces between them and those who were defending the dome.

  Still, the Retros were not giving up. Though they had to fight a battle on two fronts, they had the numbers and the firepower to inflict serious damage, while still putting pressure on the commandos at the dome. Many Retro soldiers broke through and made a mad dash for the door, only to be cut down by SYLO or the Sounder commandos.

  The body count was high all around. Retro soldiers lay dead or dying from conventional bullet wounds, while victims from both sides had fallen from the bursts of pulser energy.

  The only thing that kept Tori and me from being targets was that we weren’t firing back. The defenders weren’t concerned about two people in SYLO uniforms working their way closer to the opening.

  Along the way, we had to step over more bleeding bodies than I could count.

  “Don’t look,” I said to Tori. “Keep moving.”

  It was a grisly scene, not like the sterile way the Retros had wiped out so much of the population. In that case, millions of people had been killed without a trace. This battle was different. The clatter of automatic assault weapons filled the air, along with the telltale explosions of energy from pulsers.

  This was old-fashioned warfare at its worst.

  We approached the command center and made our way along the wall, hugging close to it for safety when . . .

  “Pierce!”

  Tori and I froze and looked ahead to see an Air Force com-mando guarding the front door. I recognized him from our briefing back in the Bridge city. It was Thompson, one of Sokol’s Sounders. We hurried up to him while scanning for potential threats.

  “You did it,” Thompson said. “You got ’em to come. Man, all hell is breaking loose.”

  “Thanks to you,” Tori said. “If you hadn’t taken control of the drones, SYLO wouldn’t be here.”

  Thompson gave us a quick recap of how Sokol and the commandos boldly conquered the drone command center. It had gone exactly as planned with only one casualty.

  “It’s as good as over,” he said. “So why are you still here?”

  “We’re looking for Kent Berrenger,” I said.

  “He just came through, headed for the dome,” Thompson said. “What’s going on?”

  We didn’t take the time to answer and ran off. “Hey, you shouldn’t be here!” Thompson called after us.

  He was absolutely right.

  We finally made it to the opening of the dome and quickly slipped inside, only to come face to face with Captain Sokol.

  He was charged up with the adrenaline of battle, with a wild look in his eyes that told me if we had been Retros, we would already be dead.

  “No!” he shouted the moment he recognized us. “Not you too?”

  “Kent came through here, didn’t he?” Tori asked.

  Sokol ran his hands through his sweaty hair in frustration.

  “He went back for Kinsey,” he said. “It’s insane.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said. “We’re going to bring him back.”

  Sokol kept his frustration in check and said, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. At 17:55 this door slams shut.”

  “Why haven’t you closed it already?” Tori asked.

  “We’re using the dome for protection. As soon as we close the doors, we’re exposed. They’ll wipe us out and hammer away at this thing until they get it open. Our best chance is to keep it open until the very last moment. But once it’s closed it won’t open again until the bomb is detonated. If you’re still back there, you’re dead. If you’re inside here, you’re dead. Is that worth the risk?”

  I looked to Tori. She gave me a small smile.

  “We started this together,” I said. “That’s how we’ll finish it.”

  “Kinsey may already be dead,” he argued.

  “Then we’ll just bring Kent back,” Tori said.

  “Assuming he’s still alive,” Sokol cautioned.

  “We’re going,” I said with finality. “And we’re wasting time talking to you.”

  “17:55,” he said. “I will not keep this door open a second longer.”

  I grabbed Tori’s hand and we ran deeper into the dome, headed for the Bridge. We stopped just short of the giant glowing frame and stood there, staring into eternity.

  I reached for my pulser. Tori already had hers up and ready.

  “Five minutes,” I said.

  “Four minutes,” she countered. “We’ve got to get back through and out of here.”

  “All right then,” I said. “Let’s go get ’em.”

  We each took a deep breath, and stepped into the future.

  When Kent had gone through the Bridge minutes before, the first thing he spotted was Olivia lying on the ground, fifteen yards in front of the frame. He didn’t see that Colonel Pike lay dead. He didn’t notice the white cylinder positioned in front of the bridge that was quickly counting down to zero. He didn’t even see Feit standing at the open control panel of the bomb, furiously trying to input the codes that would shut it down.

  All he saw was the girl he loved lying unconscious.

  He sprinted to her and fell to his knees at her head.

  “Not again, oh God, not again,” he cried.

  He felt her neck for a pulse . . . and got one.

  Quickly he dropped his pulser and scooped his arms under her to lift her up.

  “You’re okay,” he said soothingly. “We’ll hook you up to the IV back at the camp and it’ll be like nothing ever happened.”

  “I think it’d be better if you both stayed right there,” Feit said.

  Kent stood bolt upright as if hit with an electric shock. He immediately registered the bomb with the open panel and the keypad inside, next to which was a countdown clock registering nine minutes and counting.

  He also registered the pulser that Feit was pointing at him.

  “It’s so cool that you came back for her,” Feit said, as if he genuinely meant it. “But I thought she was hot for Tucker. Guess that shows you what I know.”

  “Let me bring her back,” Kent said. “Please.”

  “Oh! Sure!” Feit exclaimed. “Saying ‘please’ makes all the difference.”

  “Thank you.”

  Kent leaned down to pick up Olivia as Feit fired a pulser shot that whizzed past his ear.

  Kent dove away in surprise.

  “Idiot,” Feit said. “I was being sarcastic. First off, why would I do that? She’s a total traitor. When she gets to the court-martial she’s going to wish she died here. If she thought living here was bad before, wait until they throw her into military prison. Second, you’re not going back either. You’ve been almost as big a pain in my ass as Pierce and that Sleeper chick, so don’t think for a second that I’m going to let you skip out. And finally, I hate to break this to you, but the bomb won’t be going off. I’m shutting it down.”

  Kent went for his pulser but Feit fired at the ground, making him jump back.

  “Oh no,” Feit warned. “I wouldn’t touch that, unless you’d rather join Olivia on the floor there. I wouldn’t recommend that. It hurts.”

  Kent stood frozen, not sure of what to do.

  “Now be a good little preppie-boy and hold still while I finish what I’m doin
g here before it’s too late.”

  Feit turned back toward the bomb and came face-to-face . . .

  . . . with me.

  “It’s already too late,” I said.

  I tackled him and knocked him away from the bomb. The surprise only allowed me to get the first shot in. He recovered quickly and tried to bring his pulser around to fire at me, point blank. I grabbed the weapon and wrestled him for it.

  While we fought, Tori ran for Kent, who was struggling to lift Olivia.

  “Go through,” Tori commanded while helping to lift Olivia into Kent’s arms. “Before they shut the dome.”

  Kent struggled to lift Olivia’s limp body, then started for the Bridge.

  Feit was on his back. I was over him. Both of us had our hands locked on the pulser.

  Boom!

  The dome was suddenly rocked by what felt like an explosion outside. The entire iron structure shook and the floor shifted. The violent force threw me off balance, which allowed Feit to pull himself up to get more leverage. Neither of us released our grip on the pulser.

  If I let go, it would be over.

  Kent lost his balance and fell to his knees. He lost his grip on Olivia and they both went tumbling. Tori hurried to help get the unconscious girl back up and into his arms.

  “What was that?” Kent asked with dismay.

  “They must be trying to blow the door down with the pulser cannons on the planes,” Tori said. “Thank God it’s not dark or they’d just vaporize it. C’mon.”

  She draped Olivia over Kent’s shoulder while Kent struggled to stay upright and get to the Bridge.

  Boom!

  Another shot rocked the dome. The structure was built to withstand the explosion from an atomic bomb from within; there was no chance the energy cannons from outside would break through, but it did rock the place.

  Kent staggered and fell again. Tori struggled to get him back up to his feet and moving.

  “Hurry,” she commanded.

  “C’mon,” Kent said.

  “Right behind you.”

  Kent staggered forward with Olivia in his arms and stepped into the Bridge.

  Out of there. Safe.

  I wasn’t as lucky.

  That last shock wave threw me off balance. It was all Feit needed. The guy must have outweighed me by fifty pounds and he used every last one of them to wrench the pulser from my grip.

  I lunged forward, grabbing at the weapon before he could level it at me.

  He didn’t even try. Instead he swung his elbow at my head, hitting me square in the temple. I saw stars and fell back, desperately trying to hold on to consciousness.

  He backed away from me, headed for the bomb. His pulser was trained on my head.

  “Just sit down, would you?” Feit said. “This will only take a second.”

  I thought we were done until, from the corner of my eye, I saw that Tori was out in front of the Bridge, down on one knee, with her pulser aimed at Feit.

  “Stop right there,” she commanded.

  Feit stopped moving but he didn’t take his own pulser off of me. It was a standoff. Feit was aimed at me. Tori was aimed at Feit.

  “Seriously?” Feit said with frustration. “I cannot begin to express how sick I am of you two. Now let’s see who wants it bad enough.”

  Without lowering his pulser, Feit reached up with his other hand and twisted the weapon. I heard an audible beep.

  “This will now kill him,” Feit said to Tori. “Are you willing to let him die? Do you have the guts for that, Tori?”

  “Shoot him,” I said to Tori.

  Feit slowly backed toward the bomb.

  “Look, I’m just going to stop this thing from going off,” he said innocently. “How much time is left? Like, six minutes? Plenty of time. Let me just stop the clock and then we’ll talk.”

  Tori fired her pulser behind his feet, forcing Feit to freeze in place.

  Boom!

  The dome shook again.

  Feit spun and fired . . . at Tori.

  Tori dove to her right and fired back . . . not at Feit, at the bomb.

  Her aim was dead-on. The pulse of energy nailed the keypad next to the countdown clock, frying it.

  Feit dropped his pulser and stood there staring, momentarily stunned.

  “Wha . . . ?” He ran to the bomb to see that the keypad had become a mass of useless plastic, while the countdown continued. He clawed at the destroyed keys, as if he could somehow still input the now useless codes onto the melted surface.

  He then spun toward Tori and with building rage screamed, “Do you realize what you’ve done? We had a chance to escape. Escape the fate that the people of your time created. Now you’ve doomed us a second time to exist in this hell on earth.”

  Tori was down on one knee with her pulser up and aimed directly at Feit.

  “It’s better than you deserve,” she said.

  Feit looked up and over her head. His eyes lit up. Suddenly, he took off running for the closed door of the dome.

  “Stop!” Tori ordered.

  Feit slowed momentarily and said, “Go on, shoot. What have I got to lose?”

  He was headed for the panel that controlled the door. If he opened it, the conditions that created the Bridge in the first place would be altered. There would be immense destruction, but the Bridge would still exist.

  “Don’t do it!” Tori commanded.

  Feit picked up speed.

  Tori pulled the trigger . . . but her pulser misfired. She hit the trigger again and got nothing.

  Feit laughed. Feit always laughed.

  He changed direction and swooped down to pick up the pulser he had dropped. He grabbed it, saying, “This is really working out. I’ve still got time to personally finish you off.”

  He stood to face her but got me instead. I was holding Kent’s pulser leveled at him.

  “No you don’t,” I said.

  In that brief instant I thought of the exact way I would always remember that moment: It was the look of shock on his face.

  It was over.

  He was done.

  The Retros were done.

  He knew it.

  It was awesome.

  I fired.

  The pulse of energy made the weapon kick back in my hand. The force hit Feit dead-on, but rather than falling, it knocked him backward. He actually tried to keep his balance as he stumbled, pinwheeling his arms. I fired again. There was no way he was going to get away this time. The second jolt of energy knocked him off of his feet and he fell back, disappearing into the Bridge.

  Boom!

  The place was rocking, and not in a good way.

  “You think they could break through?” Tori asked as she ran up to me.

  “If an atomic bomb can’t break down these walls, I doubt if one of those cannons can.”

  The countdown clock showed four minutes to go.

  “And definitely not in four minutes,” I added.

  I gave one last quick look around the dome, and at the bomb that had the power to control the future and save the past. I saw that lying near the closed door was the body of Colonel Pike.

  “A lot of people gave their lives to stop the Retros,” Tori said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I don’t want to be one of them. Let’s get out of here.”

  I took Tori’s hand and we ran forward, out of the future, through the Bridge and into the past for the final time.

  When we passed through into the dome, the first thing I saw was Kent standing in the middle of the vast, empty space with Olivia still in his arms. He stood with his legs spread apart and his back to us, staring ahead at the giant door of the dome.

  The giant closed door.

  My heart sank.

  “Oh my God,” Tori said, bar
ely above a whisper.

  “I’m sorry,” was all I could think to say to my friends.

  “Can we open it?” Kent asked, without even turning around.

  I looked at my watch.

  “No,” I said flatly. “Even if I knew how we wouldn’t be able to get it open and closed fast enough. If it isn’t shut when the bomb goes off . . .”

  I didn’t have to explain any more than that.

  There was nothing more we could do. From the time we had made the decision to escape from Pemberwick Island we had always been moving forward: always looking for an answer. Always searching for a way to make things right. As we stood there in that vast, empty space, the truth hit hard that we had finally run out of options.

  “So close,” Tori said. “We won’t even know if it worked.”

  Kent gently rested Olivia on the floor.

  “But we did it, right?” he said. “I mean, we helped make this happen. We’ll go down in history.”

  Kent was finally going to be the hero he always imagined himself to be. Too bad he wouldn’t be around to enjoy it.

  “Yeah,” I said. “But whatever is written won’t even scratch the surface on what we did here.”

  Tori leaned in to hug me. I put my arm around her, then put my other arm around Kent. The three of us stood there holding one another, not knowing what else to do. In some strange way it felt right. They had become the most important people in the world to me. Together with Olivia and the Sounders, we had crushed the Retros.

  “Man, I hope this doesn’t hurt,” Kent said.

  “It won’t,” Tori said, sounding way more sure than she had the right to be. “We’re at ground zero. As soon as—”

  “Wait,” I said.

  Looking over Tori’s shoulder, I saw something that I’d noticed the first time we came into this dome. It meant nothing to me then. Maybe it still meant nothing.

  Or maybe not.

  “What is that thing?” I asked, pointing.

  It was the egg-shaped pod that was built into the wall of the dome. It looked like an old-fashioned diving bell with a heavy open hatch that showed its walls to be a couple of feet thick. The word EMERGENCY was stenciled on the outside above the open door.

  “I’d call this an emergency,” Kent said.