in a window half a block down. Could be nothing. Could be a sniper.
It moved again. Sniper.
“What should we do?” asked Maggie. “Ram them? Run them off the road?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t like the looks of that shotgun.”
“We could bluff them.”
I shook my head. “That sniper in the window makes me nervous.”
“What sniper?”
I looked at her and she suddenly realized just how much different I was now. The two Red Masks began walking toward us.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said.
I hit the juice on the car, driving us backward at a high speed. The two Red Masks began running after us.
“When I say so,” I said, “hop off the back of the car and run for cover. When I open fire, you open fire.”
“Got it,” she said.
We rounded the corner onto another street. As soon as we cleared the corner and were out of sight, I turned to Maggie. “Now.”
We both jumped off the sides of the car. I kept the car going for another block, setting it to pull into an empty driveway. I scrambled for a nearby bush, while Maggie made her way behind a parked car across the street.
Then we waited.
The Red Mask with a rifle poked his head around the house on the corner first. He scanned the street quickly, missing both of us before taking off in a run to catch up. The one with the shotgun followed quickly behind, in a full run itself. I lined up my shot and pulled the trigger.
Plasma sizzled the leaves on my bush before crackling through the morning air and striking the shotgun-wielding bot square in the stomach. The shot tore it in half, the legs still running for a couple of seconds as the torso tumbled lifelessly to the ground.
The clip on my plasma rifle beeped repeatedly.
Out of ammo.
The rifle-wielding Red Mask spun in place, raising his rifle scope to his eye, pointing right at me.
Maggie’s shotgun rang out.
Missing him entirely.
He spun toward Maggie.
I quickly popped the clip out of my rifle, dropping it and grabbing a replacement.
Maggie fired again, this time clipping the Red Mask’s shoulder. Plastic shattered and sprayed off his arm, spinning him a bit to the right. He corrected, his arm still functioning, and fired.
The bullet shattered the window of the car Maggie hid behind.
She fired again, this time taking the Red Mask’s arm off at the shoulder.
I slid the clip into the plasma rifle and listened for the whine of the rifle charging up. I fired, the plasma putting a flaming hole through the bot’s chest. He doubled over, seeping melting plastic onto the ground.
I quickly ran out into the street to make certain each of the bots had expired. They had, the light in their eyes extinguished, two pairs of hollow, blind orbs peering seemingly through me.
Maggie staggered out from behind the car, shotgun limp in her hand. With her other hand, she touched the side of her stomach, a bullet hole running through her abdomen. She looked at me, confused, wrapping her head firmly around what had just happened.
Maggie hadn’t gotten through the first night unscathed.
The very existential threat of what was happening was all of a sudden very real to her, washing over every fiber of her being.
“He shot me,” she said.
“He did,” I said with a nod.
“We’re going to die.”
“Probably.”
“We’re going to die for them.”
“Most likely. Are you okay with that?” I asked.
She hesitated. “They were going to kill the Styleses.”
“Yes.”
“Butcher them.”
“Yes.”
“And put them on that grotesque wall.”
“All of that, yes.”
She nodded. “Fuck these robots.”
“That’s my girl.”
She walked over and snatched the rifle up from the ground. She quickly checked that it was loaded, then marched purposefully toward the house at the end of the street, making sure to stay close enough that the sniper wouldn’t see her.
She crouched down, peering slightly around the corner, scope of the rifle raised to her eye.
She fired. Then she fired twice more in quick succession.
Then, wordlessly, she stood up, slung the rifle over her shoulder, and walked straight back to me.
“Let’s get back to the car.”
“Sniper?”
She nodded. “You’ll see him when we pass.”
Maggie’s wound was superficial, the plastic around her waist cracked and a few wires that operated servos in her legs frayed a bit, but otherwise, her functioning was intact. Regardless, she was never quite the same after that. Not the same at all.
Chapter 10101
The Detour
I opened the door and leaned into the car, checking on everyone inside. Everyone peered at me, confused, unsettled, and completely in