‘Fuck this shit!’ Jay yelled.

An intact slab of safety glass fell between him and Damien: the last of the bus’s windows blowing out. This side of the bus offered protection from the riot police and Elohim further down First Avenue, but it would only be a few moments before Elohim slipped through the partially open gate, following Damien and Jay outside. The inside of the bus was appealing right now, but Jay knew it would trap them.

He moved to the front of the bus and took a shot around the corner. He got lucky, knocking the last of the NYPD officers on their backs, paralyzing them. While Damien covered the gate, he sprinted for the barricade. Two NYPD squad cars were parked in a V-formation, which offered protection from the PEP rifle blasts.

Damien positioned himself at the front of the bus. Once he confirmed that Jay was safe, he readied himself to move.

Jay searched for targets. The Elohim and riot police downtown were close now, and dangerous. He aimed the PEP rifle over the hood of the squad car and squeezed off one shot after the other. The PEP rifles had a slow rate of fire. Like Javelin rocket-launcher slow. But Damien managed to make it towards him.

A ball of plasma struck the hood, knocking Damien into the side of the other squad car. Jay ducked out of view and placed his PEP rifle on the asphalt. He pulled Damien up against the side of the car.

‘Hey!’ he yelled. ‘Can you move?’

Damien blinked. His right hand twitched.

Then Jay saw the Cruiser. It came cannoning down First Avenue. Benito was driving and Nasira was in the front. He thought it was coming for them, but it drove right past. He spotted Sophia in the back seat. Hadn’t they seen him and Damien?

They looked like they were on a direct collision course with the Elohim and riot police. Two infrared pulses hit the front of the Cruiser, crackling in the cool air. What the fuck were they doing?

Jay grabbed his PEP rifle and fired off another shot. He managed to paralyze one riot police officer while everyone was distracted, but that was the best he could do. There were still half a dozen riot police and a dozen Elohim moving towards him. The Cruiser had only managed to slow them down. He couldn’t see it any longer because he’d ducked behind cover again, but he could hear it screeching as it took a hard turn.

Jay crawled over to Damien and slapped him across the face. ‘Snap out of it!’ he yelled. ‘I need you!’

Damien tried to move his right leg. He could bend it.

Fuck this, Jay thought.

He grabbed Damien’s PEP rifle and placed it beside him, within easy reach. Peering over the hood, he fired his own rifle at the swarm of incoming Elohim, who had taken cover behind the bus opposite, then rested the rifle on the hood and snatched up Damien’s. Switching between the two, he could fire faster.

After five shots, someone answered him with an ear-shattering cannonade of plasma. Both squad cars were flensed completely of glass. Jay’s eardrums whined. He looked up the small one-way street ahead. If he was going to carry Damien anywhere, it would be through there. But nearby he could hear sirens. Squad cars were coming towards them. They were boxed in.

He peered back over the hood, PEP rifle ready. Riot police were moving to his right. Half a dozen Elohim were taking up positions on the opposite side of the road, mostly around the bus, while the other half approached from his left.

The bus exploded.

Jay ducked for cover as bits of metal showered First Avenue. If his eardrums had been whining before, they were dead to the world now.

When he peered through the flames, he saw a white UN ASV accelerating in his direction. At fifteen tons, it was somewhere between a Humvee and a tank, and it looked like someone was operating the enclosed two-barreled turret. The bigger barrel pumped a second forty-millimeter grenade. It hit a patch of road, sending a cluster of Elohim scattering and setting alight a neatly manicured hedge.

The sirens behind Jay grew louder. He abandoned both PEP rifles on the hood and pulled Damien up. They ran for cover, behind the burning bus and inside the gate. Meanwhile, the ASV’s turret peppered the Elohim with its .50 caliber M2 machine gun. Occasionally splashes of plasma hit the ASV’s front, but all they seemed to do was rip off its windshield wipers.

Jay hauled Damien to his feet and slung his arm over his own shoulder as the ASV pulled up broadside in front of the squad cars. A side hatch opened and Sophia yelled at them. Jay didn’t need encouragement, he was already dragging Damien towards her.

Behind him, a fresh wave of squad cars pulled up. NYPD officers aimed pistols at them. Jay half-threw Damien into the hatch. As Sophia caught him, rounds struck the hardened shell of the ASV. One sang through Jay’s flesh, across his shoulder blade. He collapsed. Into the hatch.

Above him, he heard the turret swivel and Nasira mutter, ‘Dodge this, motherfuckers.’