“No, no, no.” Hunter tapped the number one button.
“That’s not going to help.”
“Shit.” Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, as soon as the doors open, we sprint to the van. Hopefully, Jake is there waiting for us.”
“And if he’s not?” Thad pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “No. Let me guess. We improvise.”
“You know it.”
“You know what Hunter, you are a terrible friend.”
“I know.”
Hunter was about to speak again, but the shrill sounds of an alarm and flashing lights stole his words as the doors opened.
“Run!”
Hunter and Thad sprang out of the elevator, nearly knocking over two men standing outside with the wheelchairs.
“Sorry.” Thad yelled over his shoulder as he sprinted back the pathway they came from and past Jake and John as they stepped out of the security office.
John pressed his back against the wall. “Jake, what in the hell was that?”
“Whatever it was, it wasn’t part of the plan.” Jake pulled the pistol from his back holster and sprinted after Hunter and Thad. “Turn the cameras back on as soon as you hear my gun fire.”
The sound of Jake’s shoes slapping the floor echoed off the hard, cold walls as he ran past terrified faces. “Everyone get back!”
When he turned the corner, Jake stopped, aimed his pistol, took in a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger, sending the camera above the exit door into an explosion of metal, plastic, and sparks.
Hunter and Thad covered their heads and looked back at Jake.
“What are you doing?” Jake screamed. “Get out of here. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”
“We aren’t leaving you. Come on. They’ll kill you.”
“This is the only way. Take care of my father and Ella. She’s our only hope.”
Hunter pushed open the door. “Come on.”
“Hunter, we can’t leave him.”
“We don’t have a choice. He’s right, we’re all dead if we don’t go now. And then it’s only a matter of time until they find Ella. Look what that son of a bitch did to his own son. What do you think they’ll do to her?”
“Alright.” Thad spat as he pushed Michael through the door and towards the van. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
When Hunter was through the door, he gripped a metal cable casing attached to the wall with his metal hand, bent it across the door, and swung his fist into the keycard reader, smashing it to bits.
“Hurry.” Thad screamed at his friend as he gently lifted Michael into the back of the vehicle.
Hunter rushed to his friend’s side, put the other unconscious man and the syringe box into the van, and shut the door.
“I’ll drive.”
Thad puffed out a nervous breath. “Do you even know how to drive?”
“Sure.”
“Very reassuring.”
Hunter rushed to the driver's side door and flung himself inside. He twisted the key still hanging from the ignition, put the van into gear, and pressed down on the gas pedal as hard as he could.
The sounds of banging on the hard metal door caused Thad to spin around in his seat. “Go go go!”
Hunter steered towards the large roll door. “I’m going as fast as I can go.”
“Well, go faster.”
“You’re not helping.”
Thad’s breath caught in his chest as the door behind them burst open and ten Republic Guards came storming out, guns raised. “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Why don’t we stop and let them help us out?”
“Thad,” Hunter gritted his teeth as he looked at guards in the rear-view mirror for a moment before turning his attention to the three security guards at the main gate with pistols aimed at them. “shut up, strap in, and get down.”
“Oh, shit.” Thad ducked down in his seat and covered the back of his head as the first shot rang out, turning the corner of the windshield into a spiderweb crack.
“Well, I have some good news and bad news.”
“What’s the good news?” Thad peaked through the corner of his elbow and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
“It looks like the van is bulletproof.”
“What’s the bad news?”
Two more shots rang out, one from in front and one from behind, adding two more cracks to the glass that surrounded them.
Hunter flinched. “I don’t think the glass will hold up much longer.”
“No kidding.” Thad screamed.
“Hang on. It’s about to get bumpy.”
Hunter gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white as he swerved to miss a guard before tearing through both fences and out onto the open road.
Thad raised up in his seat and turned to look out the fractured back glass. “Holy shit. That was insane.”
“Yes, it was.” Hunter’s eyes flickered to the rearview mirror. Five bright lights were behind them and gaining fast. “But we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“Hey Hunter, do you remember the other day when you said you owed me all those drinks?”
“Yes. But now is probably not the best time for a drink.”
“I know, but I’m thinking maybe you should make that an entire bar. At the beach.”
“You got it. Hold on.” Hunter spun the steering wheel and veered to the right.
For a moment, the world outside the van was still until an explosion of light broke the tree line behind them.
“Damn it!”
“Hunter, we’ve got company.”
“I see them.” Hunter scanned left, right, and back again, looking for another outlet road.
“It looks like five Republic bikes.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“I know!” Hunter turned at the last possible second to an access road to the left. “I said I saw them.”
Thad buried his face in his hands. “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die.”
“Thad!” Hunter yelled at his friend until Thad met his gaze. “Focus.”
Thad took in a deep breath as the roar of engines inched closer. “Okay.”
“Good. Now, is there anything in here we can use as weapons? Guns? Knives? Heavy objects we can throw?”
Thad unbuckled from his seat and made his way to the back of the van. “We’ve got an oxygen tank, some blankets, a metal pole, a cooler with two IV baggies of what I’m going to pretend isn’t blood, and the two stretchers the guys are laying on.”
“Good. Come back up here and take the wheel.”
Thad poked his head next to Hunter’s. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“I know I’m a pretty big jokester, but now’s not the time.” Hunter leaned forward in the seat. “On three, I go high. You slip in behind me.”
“And hope we don’t crash or let the bad guys catch up with us.” Thad got into place, ready to move. “You’re hilarious.”
“See. I told you.” Hunter puffed out a breath and nervously tightened and loosened his grip on the wheel. “Three!”
In one fluid motion, Hunter stood, his foot still pressing on the gas while Thad jumped in the seat behind him. Once Thad was in place, Hunter released the wheel and flopped out of the way.
“Really man? What happened to one and two?”
“No time.”
“No time?” Thad shook his head. “I’ll remember that when you ask me to jump in front of the bullets, they shoot at your face.”
Hunter patted Thad’s shoulder as he made his way to the back of the van. “Good man.”
“More like the best man.” Thad tisked.
“I heard that.”
Thad flinched as a bullet connected with the rear of the vehicle. “Would you just get rid of them, please?”
“Working on it.” Hunter grabbed the metal pole, returned to the front passenger seat, scanned the area in front of them, and pointed at another road that jutted off to the right. “There. Do you see that road?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait until the last possible second and then make a sharp turn.”
“And what exactly are you going to be doing?”
“Something stupid.”
“So, normal, then?”
“Yup.” Hunter gripped the pole like a javelin in his metal hand, waited for Thad to make the turn, and opened the passenger side door. He paused for a moment as a bullet struck the inside of the glass, and when he saw the first motorcycle lean into the turn, Hunter grabbed the inside frame of the door, swung outward, took aim, and threw the pole as hard as he could. He watched as the pole connected dead center with the man’s chest, knocking him off the bike in a tumbling heap, before slipping back inside and closing the door behind him.
“Nice shot.”
“Thanks.”
“Four more to go. What’s next?”
Hunter disappeared into the back of the van only to reappear with a blanket and the two IV bags. He tied an IV bag to each side’s corner of the blanket. “You’re up.”
“What do you mean, I’m up?”
“When I say now, you roll your window down. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Of course I am.” Hunter folded the blanket in half so he could hold both IV bags in one hand and waited until a motorcycle appeared in the driver's side mirror. “Now!”
As Thad rolled down the window, a bullet hit the mirror, sending bits of glass shrapnel into his cheek. When his friend was clear, Hunter threw the blanket out the window where it opened against the wind and landed on the pursuer’s face, causing his motorcycle to crash.
“Well, that wasn’t expected.” Thad yelped as he wiped the blood away from his face.
“Sorry about that.”
“No worries.” Thad wiped more blood away from getting into his eye. “If this is the only injury I get from this, it’ll be worth it. And besides, chicks dig scars.”
“Let’s hope so.”
“What’s next?”
“A more direct approach.”
“Oh, boy.”
Hunter stumbled to the back of the van and grabbed the stretcher as more bullets rained down on them. “Keep the van steady.”
“Will do.”
Hunter pushed Stanton’s son off one stretcher, kicked open the van’s back door, and flung the bed out of the vehicle, where it clattered onto the road behind them. The nearest motorcycle swerved to the right, missing the object by inches, where it crashed into the rider behind him.
“Two more to go.” Hunter yelled over the wind as it whipped around him.
“We may get out of this alive after all.”
Hunter smiled for a moment until two red blinking disks shot out from the motorcycles and connected to the underside of the van.
“Hang on!” Hunter dove back towards the front of the van as an explosion lifted the vehicle into the air for a moment before slamming it back into the unforgiving earth.
Hunter’s eyes flitted open to the sound of motorcycle engines, a red flashing glow against smoke, and the taste of copper in his mouth. He tried to stand, but a pain shot through his right leg that made him crumple back into the debris beneath him. Hunter tried to call out for Thad, but a broken cough was the only thing that would escape his lips. He drug himself towards the blinking red light until his hand made contact with the cold metal of the collar that had been around the scarred man’s neck. Hunter’s mind swam as a pair of inhuman screams tore him back to reality. Panic pushed Hunter to his feet as he grabbed the collar and stumbled out of the back door of the vehicle just in time to see Stanton’s son on the ground with an outstretched hand. Floating above his prone form were the two remaining Republic guards twisting in agony until they evaporated into smoldering ash and bone. In one last gasp, the man released a shock wave from his mouth that snapped the nearby trees in half before he collapsed. Hunter rushed forward, kneeled to lash the collar around the unconscious man’s neck once again, and held it in place until the red light blinked green. Hunter stood and took a step towards the smoldering van before bending over to retch hot, sticky bile from the pits of his stomach. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued towards the driver’s side door of the vehicle. He gripped the handle and flung the door open. Thad sat motionless in the front seat. Chin down, head tilted to one side. Blood still seeped from the scratches on his cheek.
“Thad.” Hunter patted his friend on the cheek. “Come on, man. Wake up.”
Hunter gripped Thad’s shoulders and shook him as tears streamed from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. “You‘ve got to wake up. I can’t do this without you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Thad leaned his head back on the seat’s headrest and coughed. “But you really shouldn’t shake a person with head trauma.”
“You son of a bitch.” Hunter laughed through broken sobs and gave Thad a playful smack to the stomach.
Thad chuckled a moment before coughing again. “Or hit a person with broken ribs.”
“Are you done?”
“Give me a minute.” Thad squinted his eyes open and shifted his gaze to Hunter without moving the rest of his head. “But please don’t let me stop you from saying how important I am to saving the world.”
“No time for either of those things. We have to get out of here before more guards show up.”
“Oh, yeah.” Thad wrapped his left arm around his ribs and unbuckled his seat belt with his right hand. “That’s probably a good idea.”
Hunter offered Thad a hand out of the van and gave his friend a gentle pat on the back. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
“Man, you are getting soft in your old age.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t let it get to your head.” Hunter moved towards Stanton’s son. “Check on Michael.”
Hunter grabbed the unconscious man by the ankles and drug him towards the van just as Thad appeared with Ella’s brother in his arms.
“He’s alive.”
“Good.”
Thad watched Hunter drag the man towards him with eyebrows raised. “What in the hell happened?”
“I’ll tell you when we get out of here.”
“What do we do?”
Hunter picked up Stanton’s son and flung him over his shoulder. “Grab that other stretcher and two blankets.”
Thad laid Michael down on the ground, ran to the wreckage, and brought out the bed. In one swift motion, Hunter laid the man face down on the mat and began tying his wrists to the bed frame.
“Hunter, what are you doing?”
“Later.” Hunter gave the man’s wrists a swift tug to test the bindings and nodded to himself. “Lay Michael face up on top of him. With his torso on top of this guy’s legs.”
“You got it.”
While Thad moved Michael into place, Hunter ran back to the van, fished the syringe case out of the debris, and laid it next to Michael’s body.
“Now what?”
Hunter stepped to the end of the stretcher nearest Stanton's son’s head, spun around, gripped the edge of the bed frame, and lifted. “Grab the other end and let’s go.”
Thad lifted the opposite end as the two men made their way towards the nearby tree line as quickly as they could.
“Where are we going?” Thad whispered through a labored breath.
“North.” Hunter panted. “Towards the city.”
“You have got to be kidding me. We’ll never make it.”
“We don’t have a choice. We have to try.”
The whir of Republic drones crackled the surrounding air.
“They’re coming.”
“I know. Keep moving.” Hunter looked around frantically until his eyes settled on a large stone half covering a culvert pipe jutting out of the ground. “There!”
Hunter ran towards the opening, gripped the stone with his bionic hand, and slid it away just enough to slip behind.
He turned to Thad. “Get in.”
Thad nodded and pulled the stretcher in behind him. When everyone was inside, Hunter slipped past the stone and pulled it back into place, completely covering the opening until all the light was blocked out. With a deep breath, Hunter fell to the ground, resting his back against the hard cold concrete, and waited. He closed his eyes as unconsciousness washed over him.
