Chapter 29

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Runt had thought he might get to sleep in.

He was wrong.

"Wake up!"

Runt gasped, sitting bolt upright in bed as his eye shot open. Quixxa was beside him, her hand on his shoulder.

"Runt, get your suit on, now!" She said, tightening the flank straps on her newly donned bulletproof vest. "We're under attack."

Runt took a moment to process the announcement, but he was already throwing the covers off, scrabbling for his suit.

"Attack..."

His ears suddenly registered the sound of shouting from a floor below. He also heard a few sporadic pops of ion gunfire. He looked towards it.

One of the Human mercenaries, kneeling next to a window with a scoped rifle. Sand roared in through the broken window like a door opened into a blast furnace.

His hands found his armor.

"Who's attacking?" he asked, his heartrate suddenly jumping as he saw a streak of plasma shoot by the mercenary.

Quixxa pulled the slide back on her handgun.

"The MLA. I don't know how they found us. But they did."

Runt immediately felt sick.

Ok, stay calm Runt...

He slipped on the leg pieces of his suit, starting to pant and frantically glance towards the mercenary as he fired again.

A chest-bursting thud forced Runt forward, throwing him to his knees on the concrete. Shattered glass and sand pelted his back as a window behind him succumbed to a grenade burst.

No no no...

He slipped on his chest piece, and grabbed for the arms next.

Quixxa stalked by Runt, right to the window.

She shouted a few curses and fired blindly into the storm, backing away quickly as plasma replied to her insults.

C'mon...

He picked up his helmet and slammed it on.

"Ready!" he shouted to Quix.

His suit's heads up immediately started to scream. Weapons proximity alarms fired off one after the other, warning him that Quixxa held a gun behind him, and that there were traces of plasma fire in the atmosphere.

He disabled the alarms.

No crap, He thought, looking at the danger icon displayed in his upper right hand field of vision.

Quixxa grabbed his arm.

"Downstairs, to the van!" She said.

Runt's heart was thumping in his chest, trying to burst through his ribs as he ran for the stairs. A mercenary stopped him and shoved a weapon into his hands, shouting something about live fire, and rushing them down the stairs as he gathered the last of their gear.

The mercenaries' words hadn't meant anything to Runt. Panic rung in his ears, blotting out all his thoughts and the sounds around him. It was just him and his instincts, rocketing down flights of stairs beside Quix, his fists clutching a weapon he didn't know how to use.

The stairs spit them out on a concrete landing a few floors down.

A pair of mercenaries were waiting.

Or rather, providing cover fire.

The two humans were sheltered behind an overturned table, red-hot holes ripped through it in a half dozen places form incoming plasma. One of them had stripped off his armor and tossed it aside, where it was still burning from a plasma impact.

"Get down!" One of them shouted.

Runt dove behind the table with Quix.

"They're in the building, two o'clock low!"

Footsteps from behind made Runt stiffen as he looked back.

One of the last mercenaries from upstairs.

"Stay low." He said, making eye contact with Runt.

Runt's eyes widened as the human pulled one of the cylinders from his vest.

They weren't ammunition.

The cylinders were grenades.

"Heads!" The soldier shouted, pulling a pin and lobbing the grenade towards the two-o'clock low position.

The detonation hit three seconds later.

Runt felt it in the ground. Through his armor. His suit lit up with alarms again, which he ignored. He didn't have the presence of mind to shut them off.

"Move!"

Quix grabbed Runt and lifted him onto his feet. Runt just followed, keeping his head down and staying between Quixxa and the open room below.

He had at least that much sanity left. He knew better than to hide when he was the one with armor.

They turned a corner, and the van popped into view.

"Targets on right!"

Runt flinched and nearly hit the ground as three mercenaries started to open fire. Several more streams of fire opened up seconds later. The other mercs.

Runt looked up, and at the van.

Eyes on target. He thought, trying desperately to keep himself calm.

You're a pilot. He thought. Eyes on target. Ignore distractions.

A small cylinder clattered under the van.

By the time Runt realized what it was, it was too late.

BOOM.

White light blinded Runt for a moment as an explosion rocked the earth around him. The vehicle's volatile fuel had vaporized instantly under the touch of white phosphorus. And so had Runt's way out.

Runt looked back.

The human's faces were locked between anger and terror.

Quixxa, however, was only afraid. The fires danced in her eyes as she looked at her escape going up in smoke once again.

A few gunshots pulled them from their daze.

The humans returned fire and started to move back towards where they'd come from.

"Upstairs!" They shouted.

Runt watched as the whole group of mercenaries ran back to the stairs. As they rounded the corner again, they were joined by several others, the rest of the team. Two of them mercilessly sprayed the room with fire to keep the MLA beaten back.

Runt ran past them.

Back up the stairs, to the third floor he ran. The mercenaries were already starting to fortify, Jonah barking instructions.

"Get sandbags filled!" he shouted, re-loading a battery into his weapon. "Get the mines on the other exits armed, and give me a perimeter! We're making a stand here!"

Runt looked at Quix.

She was panting, sweat beading up on her forehead as her hands shook.

Without words, they knew what the other was thinking.

Any stand here will be the last.

"Quix, get a bigger gun!" Jonah shouted, opening up a case.

She turned to pick up a new weapon.

Runt blinked, lost and shaking as gunfire echoed up from the stairwell and the sandstorm continued to scream through broken windows.

There's got to be another way out. He thought.

There's got to be something.

His mind, in its panic, started to run through his pilot's emergency checklist.

Sensors...

His suit was running, still warning him of the danger.

Angles...

He looked all around. It was nothing but the barren inside of a building, and mercenaries.

Visibility...

Runt's heart jumped.

He had a thought.

He turned and made one leap to the broken window. He latched onto the brick, hanging off the side of the wall as he peered out.

Sand blocked his view.

He switched his helmet to thermal view.

Sensors...

He looked down.

Angles...

And he saw what he'd been hoping for.

A vehicle-shaped heat signature waited about thirty yards out, parked at the corner of the next building.

Runt swallowed and looked down three stories.

"Quix!"

Runt looked back. She didn't show up on his thermal view. He switched it off.

"Quix!"

She lifted her cheek off the butt of her gun and looked at him.

He motioned to her.

"Come help!" he said.

Quixxa rushed towards him.

"What?"

Runt pointed towards the ground outside.

"Their vehicle. It's unguarded. Let's get everyone down there!"

Quixxa nodded, hopping a little as she nodded and turned back to Jonah.

"Jonah!" She shouted, and started to get his attention.

Runt, meanwhile, was watching.

~

Quixxa's nerves were fraying. The bulletproof vest she'd donned wouldn't stop an ion round and she knew it, and it'd only take one hit from plasma. The MLA were closing in hard and fast.

They'd found her. And they weren't here to take prisoners.

Not that it'd have mattered.

She was as good as dead in their hands.

But there was still hope, all bottled up in Runt as usual.

Quixxa practically dragged Jonah over to the window, and to Runt. She squinted against the sand, and started to put on a muzzle-covering mask to keep back the sand.

"What's the situation?" Jonah shouted.

"Their van." Runt said, pointing. "I can see it with thermal. It's still running. If we can get to it, we can escape."

Jonah thought for mere moments before he pivoted on his heel and started to bark new orders.

Quixxa turned to Runt.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked, looking over her shoulder.

Runt nodded.

"We can't stay, right?"

Quix nodded, tightening her mask's face straps.

"Right. They found us, they're not backing down."

Runt paused.

"How did they find us?"

Quixxa felt an ache in her gut. She didn't know.

But something told her she didn't want to.

Jonah marched back, uncoiling a rope he'd tied to something inside the room. He tossed it out the window and nodded at Quix.

"We're moving out!" He shouted, his voice raised out of tension and anger. "Let us get down there first, we'll make sure it's clear. Runt, can you make it to the van and secure it?"

Runt nodded.

Quix felt her stomach tense.

Without hesitation, Runt stepped forward and dropped out the window.

She swallowed.

She could only hope that he was safe as she watched the mercenaries repel down the rope, one by one, emptying out the third floor.

Jonah dropped down last, leaving only Quix to cut the rope and cover their tracks.

God... she thought, grabbing the rope, keep us safe. And if you can, keep the MLA off our trail.

Quixxa pressed the muzzle of her gun against the rope and pulled the trigger. The fibers frayed and the rope fell limp just as she heard footsteps charging up the stairs.

She leapt towards the window, jerking a grenade off her belt loop and pulling the pin. She rolled it towards the stairs and dropped out of the window, towards the ground.

She grit her teeth.

It was a long fall.

The ground arrived with a thud.

Quix's feet hit, her muscles locking to try and slow her fall.

Her chest and belly impacted the ground, absorbing the rest of the impact. Her Springer's frame absorbed it, and she instantly looked up.

She'd landed beside a dumpster, where the mercenaries were huddled up.

She instantly found out why.

A plasm bolt rocketed by her nose, making her flinch and crack her head against the wall behind her.

She ducked, slapping a hand on the back of her head as she cocked her gun.

The sand around her suddenly flashed as the grenade above lit up the storm around her.

Her back flat against the wall, she took in a breath, grit her teeth, and shot up, twirling around and laying her aim across the dumpster lid.

She put her crosshairs near the first living thing she saw, and cut loose.

Before she could see if she'd gotten through her target's armor, or even hit him, she ducked. The dumpster boiled into hot steel where they returned fire.

She shouted a curse, and looked at Jonah.

"We're pinned!" She shouted.

Jonah rolled his neck as he snapped the locks off the case he'd been carrying.

"Not yet we're not." He said, pulling a weapon out of the case.

Quixxa's eyes widened.

It was huge.

"Run!" He shouted, standing up and laying the gun across the dumpster.

There was a tenth of a second where an electric motor whined, and then the thunder began. Five barrels started to belch ion-driven hunks of lead towards their attacker at ten thousand rounds per minute. A Gatling gun.

They were definitely safe.

The mercenaries jumped up, starting to run as Jonah strafed the area and back pedaled.

Quixxa put her head down and started to run into the storm.

Sand and asphalt shot by as she ran.

She panted, inhaling breath after breath through her sand-caked mask.

C'mon...

She lowered herself onto all fours, kicking harder and accelerating as her leather gloved hands gripped the pavement.

C'mon...

She made out the shape of a van in the sand.

Her heart soared.

And inside the cab, Runt, sitting behind the wheel.

And he was pointing.

She only had a tenth of a second before she realized what he was pointing at.

And by then it was too late.

A force like a meteor impacted her in the middle of the back, blowing her legs out from under her and cracking her chin on the pavement as she skidded to a stop before the van. The air exploded out of her lungs as the bullet proof vest stopped a shot.

She opened her mouth to gasp, stating to reach for the van, unsure how far it was.

No...

And then the shock started.

She felt like she could have died. Amperage pouring through her vest made her skin feel like it was boiling. Every muscles in her body contracted violently, her bones fluctuating between emptied and near collapse, to overloaded and aching to rupture. She could feel her heartbeat struggling to maintain its correct pace, the thudding beat in her ears hitting and missing beats like a novice drummer. Her eyes rolled back as she tried to inhale vainly, choking as the muscles in her neck collapsed her windpipe.

Electrified rounds.

The shock stopped, and Quixxa gasped.

She instantly vomited, her body locking again as it overreacted to the shock.

She tried to stand, her limbs shaking and out of her control.

She only managed to roll over, her facemask filling with vomit and blocking her airways.

She clawed at the mask.

She knew there would be another shot.

Quixxa felt someone grab her by the back of her vest and pull her up.

There was thunder next to her ear a heartbeat later.

She struggled to stay awake and claw off her mask as another explosion rocked the building, lighting up the storm as a grenade launcher round blew out the third floor.

"I got you." A voice said.

Quixxa tried to inhale.

Her own stomach acid burned her nasal cavity, making her struggle and kick.

She got a few fingers in the strap of her mask.

And an aftershock hit.

Her muscles locked again, her fists closing tight as her limbs stiffened.

Help...

Quixxa felt herself being dragged into the passenger seat of the van. The door shut as an armored hand slammed it for her.

"Quix, you alright?"

Runt suddenly filled her view, his armor the only thing she could see past her smeared facemask.

His eyes shot open as he saw her clearly.

He instantly ripped the straps off her mask with his suit's strength and helped her double over.

Quixxa heaved a little, coughing and blowing the last trickle of air out of her lungs to clear her airways before she took in a lung-breaking gasp.

Runt knew what was wrong.

He'd seen enough of the horror-injuries of electricity to Springers to know a shock wound.

Quixxa didn't protest, nor could she have, as Runt ripped her vest off and threw it out the window, the taser round still embedded in the back.

Quixxa coughed violently, gripping the handle on the inside of the door as her legs locks and jammed her toes into the floorboard. Her tail thrashed as she tried to get control of herself.

Runt reached across her chest and grabbed the seatbelt, locking her in as he glanced out the window.

"Hold on Quix." He said.

Quixxa heard the door on the van slam shut behind her, the sound of the storm suddenly cutting off.

Acceleration pressed her against the seat as she tried to regulate her breathing, listening to her heart jump and skip, gritting her teeth as the throbbing pain of burst hydrostatic vessels caught up to her. Her whole frame burned from the sudden pressure overload. She was sure she'd bruised her skeleton.

But she wasn't sure if she'd make it long enough for that to matter.

She could feel her heart fluttering, trying to keep going despite the shock.

There was no guarantee it would.

Runt looked back.

"Do we have everyone?"

"Yes! Go! Go!"

Runt stomped on the accelerator, the engine growling as Quixxa was thrown back into her seat harder.

The pressure on her chest was crushing, making her struggle and writhe, throwing her shoulders back and forth to try and find a breath and a few easy heartbeats.

"R-Runt..."

She grabbed for him with her left hand, trying to get his attention as the acceleration cut off her breathing.

Runt glanced in her direction for a half second as the continued to drive into the sand, Runt's suit guiding him.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

She choked.

"Cant... breathe..."

"Guys!" he shouted. "Help Quix!"

Quixxa felt herself suddenly fall backwards as her seat reclined.

The back of her head hit the rest as she was laid out, and her lungs suddenly found a breath.

She gasped, arching her back as her claws cut lines in the cloth seats.

Jonah appeared in her vision.

"Quix!" he said, grabbing both of her cheeks and pointing her eyes at his. "What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong. What hurts?"

She knew she couldn't answer. She just coughed out a breath, her abdomen constricting as she exhaled and trembling as she gasped again.

"She got hit with an electrified round." Runt said for her.

Jonah looked at her.

"Ok, hold on Quix. You're gonna be alright. Just hold on."

He turned away from her.

Quixxa swallowed, her throat burning from her vomit, her eyes watering from the pain. She just grit her teeth, her fingers sinking into the car seat as she clenched her fists and started to shake.

She could have died.

She tossed a glance at Runt.

She knew he was panicking. She knew he was locked up with anxiety and fear right then, driving through a storm with a hail of bullets behind him. But he was managing. He was driving. He'd saved her.

He'd saved her.

Quixxa felt a hot, stinging knot tie itself in the back of her throat, searing tears welling up under her eyes. She ground her teeth together as she stifled a whimper, letting parts of her body relax as the terror subsided and the pain flooded her veins. It was the adrenaline wearing off.

Jonah appeared over her again.

He held paramedic shears.

Runt glanced at him.

"No no, that's her only shirt."

Jonah glanced at Runt, and seemed to understand.

He looked back at Quix.

"Alright Quix, we gotta get your shirt off. Can you lift your arms?"

Quixxa, her eyes growing darker blue as they got bloodshot, nodded and started to raise her arms.

Jonah grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head, and off her arms.

She looked at Runt again.

She noticed that a grenade launcher was lying on the dash, just in his reach.

He'd saved her.

Her lip quivered.

Jonah stuck his hand under Quixxa's arm and started to sit her up.

She seized a breath before he did.

"Ok, hold on..." he said. "Runt can you keep her up?"

Runt nodded, and extended a

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