Family(5)
“Sienna’s right. We go for cover and worry about how flimsy it is afterward,” Zack said, startling me as he came around the front of the car, speaking to me through the flames on the engine. The air was filling with acrid smoke, causing me to gag from the smell of it. He chucked his thumb at the military-style team that had begun to move toward us. “We’re not going to get help from the Directorate for a while, so we need to move.” He pulled his pistol and extended it in the direction of our attackers, who were closing. “No time for debate.”
“What about Jackson and Hodgkins?” Scott asked, referring to the agents that had been riding with us until we had gotten to Wausau, where we had dropped them off to rent a car.
“Probably an hour behind us,” Zack said. “Ariadne gave us orders to floor it to get home; they were supposed to obey the speed limits.”
“Kurt,” I said, changing the subject. “He’s hurt bad, but I can free him if you give me a few minutes.”
“No time,” Zack said, and gave me a gentle push. “We go now without him or we all die.”
“Did you call them?” Scott asked, already beginning to run toward the driveway, Reed across his shoulders. “Did you warn the Directorate?”
“I dialed their emergency number,” Zack said as we began a sprint toward the driveway. Behind us, I saw the black-clad men, goggles over their eyes. They moved quickly, for humans, but not so fast that I couldn’t outrun them.
“You think they’ll send M-Squad?” Every step Scott took stirred up dust and dirt as we left the pavement and the highway behind, the trees around us offering a sort of tunnel, lining both sides of the driveway. It felt like a perspective trick, elongating in front of me, stretching out into infinity, as though it would take forever to run it. We had left the fire behind us at the car, but it felt like it was still with us, the stinging smell, the heavy smokiness hanging in the air around me as I ran.
“Doubt it,” Zack said. “I think they’re still in Kansas. But maybe some agents.” He cursed as he hit a low hanging branch at the edge of the driveway. “Hopefully heavily armed!” He said the last words with emphasis, and when Scott shot him a look, he shrugged. “The line is still open; they can hear us at HQ.”
“Scott,” I said, and he slowed to look at me. “Zack’s not going to be able to keep up with us.” I felt my resolve harden. “We need to buy him some time.”
“How?” Scott shot back at me. “You want to try and stop some bullets with your face? Or did you forget you’re unarmed?”
“Yes,” I said, “I forgot that I’m unarmed. Can you try and stop them with your powers?”
“A torrent of water isn’t going to slow down a bullet. The only way I could slow them down is by surrendering and making them stop to fill me full of holes.”
“I like it,” Zack said. “It’s got just the air of desperation we’re looking for in a plan right now.”
The trees thinned ahead as we reached the end of the infinite driveway. The sun brightened overhead as we exploded from under the trees onto an open lawn. The green carpet of grass lay before us, leading to a house set off the driveway. Brown wood siding, a garage tucked neatly under the second floor, it was a rectangular box of a creation. I looked back to see the men in black entering the driveway. Their weapons were raised but they had yet to fire.
I ran, ran like hell, like I would have if Wolfe were nipping at my heels. The only thing holding me back from going all-out was the knowledge that I’d be leaving Zack behind to die, or worse, be scooped up by these Omega bastards and have who-knows-what happen to him. I saw blood staining the leg of his jeans, and it made me pause, slowing my run.
“Into the house?” Scott called back at me.
“Better ideas?” I asked, passing him as I ran up the three short wooden steps to the brown front door. “No? Breaking and entering it is, then.”
“Wait!” I heard Zack call as I kicked the door down open. He joined me on the front steps and I heard a little hiss beyond the panting from his run. “We need to be able to shut it,” he said.
The first of the shots whistled around me as I stepped to the side of the doorframe to let Scott pass. At least three bullets lodged themselves in the siding above my head, and another broke the glass peephole window of the door. “It’s still on the hinges. Get inside.”
I dodged in after Zack, slamming the door and leaning my back against it. Zack had dropped to one knee and was fiddling with the leg of his pants as I yanked open the door of the coat closet to the left of the entry. I grabbed a leather coat from inside and threw it over my uncovered shoulders, my tank top not exactly offering a lot of protection. For others. From my skin.