The Hallowed Cure, page 4
“Mister Riven?” Ethan called from somewhere in the lab. “I understand your instructions, and I’ve locked the doors to the lab. I’m coming out. Please don’t hurt me.”
A whole computer console slid aside, like a door, and I belatedly spotted the tiny crawlspace under it. Ethan must have hidden in there when the attack first started. He crawled out, hands raised.
“A whole squad waits outside, on Floor 82,” Ethan said. “Please don’t murder me.”
As I remembered him shoving a tracker in my leg and causing all this to happen in the first place, I forced the most intimidating scowl I could manage. “Do what I ask, and maybe I’ll only break your other hand.”
Ethan approached, hands raised. “Ah, Mister Riven? You can’t take Skye.”
“You miss the part where I just blew a hole in your lab, kid?”
“I’m in the middle of a critical experiment,” Ethan said. “Halting it at this point could be extremely dangerous. I need another twenty minutes to spin everything down.”
Like that was possible. “Get Skye out of that pod, now.”
“I cannot,” Ethan said. “The pod is locked. I cannot open it, even if you hurt me.”
Was he bluffing? Ethan didn’t seem like the type to bluff. Still, it wasn’t like we needed him to open the pod manually. I looked to Mia.
“Rip Skye’s pod open.”
Ethan gasped. “You cannot do that! If my experiment is disrupted, it could have...”
He trailed off when he noted I’d recovered enough strength to level Dismay at him. I wouldn’t fire my hand cannon—I wasn’t sure if I even could now, drained as I was—but he didn’t know that.
“On it,” Mia said. She walked away.
Ethan frowned. “Mister Riven, Miss Ashford, I need you to understand! The experiment I’ve undertaken involves a deeper understanding of Miss Taylor’s unique mutation! Terminating the procedure before it’s complete could cause permanent injury to Miss Taylor, or worse, unexpected…”
Metal screeched, followed by the hiss of escaping air. I glanced at the armored pod Mia had just ripped open with her metal arms and Hallowed strength.
“…mutation,” Ethan finished, looking a bit green.
I glanced at Caitlyn. “Is he telling the truth?”
Caitlyn glanced at the pod. “In some respects. Though it hardly matters, now.”
“Sorry then.” I looked to the armored pod. “We don’t have twenty minutes.”
“I’ve got her!” Mia shouted, as she pulled Skye from the pod.
“She’s alive!”
Mia walked over toting Skye like she would an unconscious soldier. Yet Skye had far more limbs than the average soldier, and her four mutant arms dragged behind her and Mia, along the floor.
Skye looked to be breathing, but made no other moves. Probably still doped up.
Ethan sighed. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
From behind us, rhythmic slams sounded from beyond the door. I turned to look at it. The sound was unmistakable. Someone out there had heavy machinery, and those people wanted in.
“Mister Riven?” Ethan asked hesitantly. “The squad outside has a drill. They’ll be through the door soon. I haven’t defied your instructions, but I can’t hold them off much longer.”
I wondered, belatedly, why the whole squad hadn’t just run up to Floor 84. They must have decided they’d never get through Lincoln’s shield. Perhaps those on Floor 84 had already redeployed.
After shooting the Inferno round that got us in here, my bones still felt like they were on fire. Pain poked and clawed at all my muscles, but I could move. I glanced over at Mia again, standing with Skye across her shoulder.
Mia glanced at me. “What now?”
I looked at the doors, behind which guards waited, and then up at the hole Lincoln guarded. It’d be difficult for whoever carried Skye to climb those ropes, and dangerous to try to jump with her. What if we dropped her, and she woke up and skittered away?
Worse, Cloud Nine could have filled the entire hall on Floor 84 by now, both sides of the hole I’d blown with Dismay. When Lincoln stepped out, they could catch him in a crossfire. I stared at the doors and fought a wave of mental weariness that threatened to reinforce my physical malaise.
We’d been too slow. I’d planned too poorly. I’d gotten us into Cloud Nine Engineering, safely ... but I’d be damned if I knew how I was going to get us out again.
The first step in that would be killing whoever was behind those doors.
“We’re bugging out,” I told everyone. “Back to the roof with Caitlyn and Skye, to our extraction. We’ve got our people and our Hallowed weapons, and Lindsay is likely deep below the building right now. We’re not pushing our luck. That’s an order.”
I worried someone would argue with me, but no one did. I hoped that was because they saw the logic in my orders, and not because they were disappointed in me for being a shitty leader. I’d never liked leading people, but it wasn’t like anyone else had stepped up to the plate.
Steel hissed behind me. As I spun and stared at the doors, a line of orange, molten steel burst from one of them, searing its way from one side to the other. The squad outside had a laser cutter! How had they even found enough power to fire one up?
We needed Lincoln to defend against a laser. “Linc!” I shouted.
“Get down here!” I pulled out Baku and glanced at Prescott. “Once he drops, we hammer the shit out of that hole until we collapse it.”
Prescott dropped to a knee beside me and aimed up. “Ready.”
“Drop now!” I shouted to Lincoln. “Leave the rappels!”
Lincoln backed out of the hole and dropped. I swept Baku’s laser back and forth, bringing down loose bits of metal and plaster, and Prescott blasted away with Godhammer. Together, we brought down a whole lot of concrete, armor, and rebar to fill the hole blasted by Dismay. We finished long before the laser searing the lab’s big metal doors completed its first cut.
It’d take any normal soldiers a long time to cut through the mess above us. Now we had to prepare for the soldiers ahead of us. I pulled Dismay and popped his cylinder open.
Mia knelt beside me, still holding an unconscious Skye on her shoulder, and snatched my arm with her free hand. “That was your last shot, remember?”
I loaded a Voltage round, slapped Dismay’s barrel closed, spun him, and tucked him back into my holster. “Just in case.” I shouldered Baku. “Linc, front and center!” I glanced at Mia. “Get behind us and be ready to move. You and Reese screen Caitlyn.”
Mia grimaced but hurried to stand directly behind me, with Caitlyn close behind. Lincoln stood just in front of me and slammed down his shield, and I crept up to poke Baku around the right edge. Prescott took the left edge, with Godhammer, and Reese settled beside Caitlyn.
As they were now, Mia and Reese were volunteering to be bullet shields for Caitlyn. I hated the necessity of that, but they’d deal with a stray shot a lot better than Caitlyn would. Still lying on Mia’s shoulder, Skye snorted, but she didn’t wake up. Not yet.
Caitlyn snatched a loose tablet from the desk beside her and focused on it, tapping intently. Hopefully, given she’d once worked here, she could make some headway into Cloud Nine’s security systems. Maybe she could get us a look at what waited outside the big steel doors.
I took comfort in the weight of Dismay in my holster. Yet I didn’t need him, not yet, and I couldn’t afford to shoot him unless I absolutely had no other choice. I crouched against a piece of roof debris and sighted the door with Baku.
I worked through options. “When the door comes down, I’ll sweep Baku wide horizontal.” I was now volunteering to cut more people into pieces, but it was what it was. “Key, snipe whoever looks the most dangerous. As soon as we’re clear, you and me up front with Linc. Mia carries Skye directly behind Linc, followed by Caitlyn.
Reese, you’ve got rear guard.”
“He really sounds like a commander now!” Reese shouted as the line of molten steel had almost reached the far side of the door. “I mean, he’s actually sort of good at this!”
“He’s not bad,” Prescott agreed. “Could work on his command voice, though.”
I ignored them. Any moment now, the squad outside would blow its way inside. I had to focus on that, not the ribbing from my friends.
“Hey, guys?” Lincoln shouted. “Just in case we all die, I want you to know I love you, okay? In a totally platonic way, but still. Love you!”
I smiled despite my fatigue. “Right back at you, Tortuga.”
The line carved by the laser finished. The whole lower half of one of the two giant steel doors sagged, revealing a hint of black behind the molten steel. Yet instead of falling over, it screeched.
It moved forward. It screeched. It moved forward again. Finally, as the back edge of the carved slab passed the front edge of the remaining door, the whole lower slab pitched forward.
It landed with a slam, but I held my fire. I couldn’t fire until I knew the soldiers were moving in on our position. A laser might warn them off, and then they’d fall back and take cover.
“Don’t shoot!” a woman shouted. “It’s me!”
A single shadow strode from the smoking wreckage, and I blinked in disbelief. Why did Amber Mason hate doors? She walked into view carrying Rhyme and Ruin.
“Did I miss all the fun?” she called.
Caitlyn stood, a grin bursting across her face. “Oh my God, Amber, I think I love you!”
Amber smirked and motioned for us to advance. “Just here to rescue my princess.”
Mia hopped over the concrete barrier, carrying Skye, with all four of Skye’s heavy mutant arms draped over her shoulders. I struggled to rise until a strong hand caught the back of my shirt and pulled me to my feet. Prescott helped me stand.
“Am I carrying you?” Prescott asked, quite seriously.
I trembled against my aching muscles. “You can try.”
Prescott thumped my shoulder. “Stubborn ass.”
As we all advanced on the door, with Caitlyn still tapping away at her tablet, Ethan called after us once more. “Ah, Mister Riven?”
I didn’t glance back. “Not now, kid.”
“Mister Riven, please listen!” Ethan said. “The experiment you interrupted has left Skye in a very fragile and unpredictable state.
Please be gentle with her. Any unexpected trauma may trigger her repressed Mute instincts, and she may react ... unpredictably.”
I chuckled, half mad. It sure was good we weren’t in any situation that might induce trauma. Nothing to worry about in that regard.
“We’ll be careful, Ethan.”
I soon reached the sloughed-off door, and Amber. Our eyes met, and she frowned knowingly. “Just how many times did you fire Dismay?”
“Too many,” Mia groused. “How’d you know to come get us?”
“I knew you couldn’t pull this off with me,” Amber said. “Avian’s on the roof.”
Lincoln hurried past me, shield raised, and took point. I stumbled after him, into the hallway. “You’re the best.”
Beyond the doors were dozens of armored soldiers, almost all of whom had been sliced to pieces. Amber hadn’t hesitated to carve them up with Rhyme and Ruin, and the almost immediate cauterization had blunted the smell. Even so, burnt human flesh still smelled awful.
“I’m in!” Caitlyn shouted, probably referring to Cloud Nine’s systems. “Floors between us and the roof look clear. But there are many, many soldiers on their way up.”
Just as I’d thought. Going down wasn’t an option, but up was clear. I’d made the right call.
We had our people. We’d killed enough people who’d done nothing but sign an employment contract to feed their families.
Beside me, I saw Amber remove Ruin and offer it to Reese.
“I’m fine with Pokey,” Reese declared.
Caitlyn took Ruin instead. I blinked at her. Could she fire it?
Caitlyn aimed the pistol at the wall and squeezed the trigger.
Steel burned. She nodded and lowered the weapon to her side. “I’d always wondered if that’d work.”
So Caitlyn was Hallowed, or something similar. Just like she’d said. What was her panacea rating? I was so glad she hadn’t managed to fire Dismay back on the Lily Pad.
I shouldered Baku and kept my eyes on Lincoln’s broad back. I doubted I had enough energy left in me to fire Dismay again, at least not without taking myself out of the fight for good. Baku didn’t consume nearly as much power, and while firing it might weaken me, I suspected I’d still be able to fight.
Belatedly, the Cloud Nine ear-comm crackled to life.
“We got him!” someone shouted. “The Armsman is down!”
I grimaced as we reached the stairs. Deep down, I’d always known Tony wouldn’t survive taking on Cloud Nine’s entire army, even with Torrent to back him up. I suspected he’d known that as well, but we’d both accepted what had to happen. Without Tony’s sacrifice, we’d have faced that army instead.
Still, I imagined hearing Tony was dead would be a bit of a trauma for Skye.
We headed up the stairs without further discussion. We’d already lost Tony. We might have lost Saul. I wasn’t willing to lose anyone else.
We’d escape, hide, recuperate, and take down Lindsay Griffyn when were good and rested. Torrent still had enough safe houses that we could stay ahead of Lindsay, at least for a little while.
What was important was Lindsay wouldn’t be torturing Skye. She wouldn’t have Caitlyn stuck in a cell. She wouldn’t be unlocking the secrets of Skye’s Class Zero mutation, whatever those were, and I knew losing Skye would likely piss Lindsay off more than anything else.
I really liked pissing Lindsay off.
[ 4 ]
THEY LOO SO UTE TOGETHER
We hurried to the roof with no more opposition. I imagined Amber had killed anyone left to challenge us on her way down. All reinforcements were below us, and we had a big head start. We’d simply have to hope they didn’t mobilize any Cloudhoppers to chase after us.
Sooner than I expected, I stepped out into the warm air on a darkened roof. The edge of the sun bled all over the horizon, blood red, and with all the lights fired, dusk cloaked the roof. Amber’s silver Avian gleamed red, like blood, as its glittering paintjob soaked up the sunset.
Amber rushed ahead, easily outdistancing the rest of us, though Lincoln ran right beside her. It took time to spin up an Avian from a cold start, and I knew she just wanted to get the engines started as quickly as possible. She clambered inside and vanished.
Lincoln stopped before the Avian and turned to us, waving us onward. Through the pilot’s window, I caught a glimpse of Amber flipping switches. The Avian’s two side engines whirred encouragingly as they spun up, blowing air across the roof.
Then a missile streaked down from the sky and blew it all to cinders.
Amber and her Avian exploded with enough force to rival an Inferno round. The concussion kicked Lincoln into the air and tossed him like a doll. The silver craft erupted upward and then landed with
crash, a glittering, gorgeous wreck that took yet another Hallowed soldier to her grave.
The shockwave knocked me on my ass with everyone else. It knocked me senseless. When I finally rolled to my feet, it was only to stare, in awe, at the god descending from the sky.
While it had the feet of a Barghest, round discs big enough to stomp a car, this mecha had two legs, not four. It was built like a giant soldier in full riot gear, with a box on each armored shoulder.
Those boxes, I suspected, held more missiles like the one it had just used to murder a woman I was actually starting to like.
“You’re not leaving!” Lindsay Griffyn shouted from the mecha’s giant metal head. “Surrender Skye and I might spare the rest of you!”
Dammit. Amber had deserved better. She’d helped us despite what it did to her own life. Yet while I might not have been able to pay her back for saving us now, I could still save the rest … if I could just take down the toughest mechanized robot ever built by Cloud Nine Engineering.
Before today, I’d only seen videos of these machines. Cloud Nine’s engineers had designed God Armor to replace an entire team of Hallowed, to allow mortals to fight Mutes. Cloud Nine had completed the first mecha one month after the Hallowed War ended, so it had never seen use in battle.
The whole roof shook as Lindsay Griffyn’s God Armor landed on its rocket feet, standing almost three meters tall. A wide black visor glowed red in the God’s armored head. The left hand looked almost human, gripped in a tight fist, but the right hand was more like a claw. In that claw hung Tony Frost, the Armsman, or what was left of him.
Yet though Tony’s legs hung uselessly, crushed and mangled by this mecha, his upper torso and arms still twitched. He was alive.
Somehow, his panacea cells had kept him alive despite having his lower body and legs smashed to pieces. He must be in horrific pain.
Behind me, Skye shrieked so loud it almost broke my ears.
A quick glance showed me the heap of shit we were actually in right now. Our only way off this roof was a burning wreck. Lincoln lay on the roof, head snapped in the wrong direction. Regenerating
through a broken neck took a while, and I suspected he’d already entered a Hallowed trance.
Even Baku, Kodai’s rifle, wouldn’t deal with this monstrosity before it murdered all of us. I drew Dismay and dropped to my knees. Yet before I could fire a Voltage round and fry the God Armor, a pale form dropped between me and the towering mecha. Skye extended all four mutant arms.
“Dammit,” I whispered.
Lindsay Griffyn’s hopelessly smug voice emerged from the giant mecha. “Careful now, Grant. Wouldn’t want to fry your old squadmate.”
My finger tightened on the trigger as Skye spun to click angrily at me, human features twisted in alien frustration. The posture of the four mutant arms growing out of Skye’s back made it clear that if I fired at that mecha, and thus killed the man it clutched, I was dead.
Everyone I loved was dead.
