18,

Ambush

Get down!

Liv! Her telepathic warning ripples through my mind, seconds before a bolt of lightning streaks from the market stall behind us.

Without thinking, I grab Astrid and throw us both to the ground.

More blinding pulses of light.

Then three sharp hisses, splitting the air right above us, followed by the thud of exploding ice. The sharp smell of ozone stings my nose.

Slicer fire. Streaking toward Vora, Dax and the Enforcers.

In a daze, I reach up to activate my ear bud just in time to hear Dax’s screamed warning: “Take cover! Cover! Cover!”

Astrid must hear him too because she’s already rolling into a nearby ditch. I belly-crawl after her, barely escaping the barrage of return fire.

If the Enforcers know we’re caught in the crossfire, they don’t seem to care. Sparks and stinging pellets of ice rain down on us as the firefight intensifies.

This shallow ditch won’t protect us for long.

“Move!” Astrid cries. She’s already crawling toward the shelter of a partially collapsed building. I lunge after her but something whistles past my ear, knocking me to the ground. I get back up and scramble forward, ears ringing. The taste of salt and metal fills my mouth.

When I reach Astrid, she stares at me in alarm.

“You’re bleeding!”

“I’m fine! Stay down!”

As the words leave my mouth, a massive explosion rips through the far side of the market, blowing us down. No way was that slicer fire. Someone’s using heavy weapons now.

I risk a glance back to the market stalls where the ambush began. Nothing remains but flaming debris and the bodies of Settlers who couldn’t find cover in time, their blood reddening the snow. Three white blurs dart through a shattered storefront window, followed seconds later by a blood-curdling scream.

Snow rippers, tearing into their victim.

“We have to stop this.”

Astrid’s voice behind me sounds grim, determined. She’s lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows to witness the unfolding massacre. She taps on her mask transmitter and orders all Enforcers to cease fire.

Static, followed by Dax’s staccato reply: “Can’t… hostile fire. Enforcers engaged. Hold position!”

“But they’re killing Settlers!” Astrid shouts. “Tell them to stop firing, now!”

Another burst of static, then Dax’s clipped response: “Vora’s down. Evac team’s coming. Enforcers know your position. Just stay where you are!”

Astrid shoots me an exasperated look. “This is insane! We have to do something!”

“But what?” I duck as more slicer fire crackles overhead. “The Enforcers won’t listen to us.”

“Like hellfire they won’t!” She pushes up into a crouch. “We’re the ones in charge here. They follow our bleeding orders!”

Before I can respond, she taps her mask transmitter back on: “Dax! Tell the Enforcers to stand down! We’re coming out!”

His answer practically blasts out my eardrum: “Negative, damn it! Try it and I’ll shoot you myself!”

She turns to me, jaw clenched. “Spineless idiot! We need to stop this, Wil. I’m going.”

There’s that determined look in her eyes again – the same wildfire I saw at the top of Academy Peak, right before she jumped. Problem is, she won’t have a chute to save her this time. The Enforcers won’t stop firing. One step outside and she’ll be shredded.

I’m about to explain this when Liv’s watery voice calls to me again.

Stay where you are. We’re coming.

Then a promise: We’ll protect you.

The telepathic message fills me with dread. It’s happening. Just as the Prime Enforcer predicted, the terrorists are coming for Astrid. All I need to do now is keep her here. Keep her from escaping before the trap has been sprung. Just let it happen.

But I won’t.

To ashes with the consequences. They’ll take her over my dead body.

“You’re right.” I jump to my feet. “We can’t stay here. The Aletheians are coming.”

“How do you –?” Astrid stops mid-sentence, eyes widening. “Wait! Are they communicating telepathically with you right now?”

“Just Liv. She wants us to wait here. She says they’ll protect us.”

“Great.” She gives me a wry smile. “Some choice we have, Wil. Caught between the Enforcers and the terrorists.”

“Well?” I edge toward her. “What do you want to do?”

“Make a run for it.”

“Okay.” Using a gloved finger, I scratch out a crude map on the dirt-caked floor. “So we’re… here. And most of the slicer fire is coming from here.”

“The Enforcer position,” she agrees. “If we stay low and keep to the ruins, we could make it.”

“What about the rippers?”

She flinches. “You saw that?”

“Yeah. Heard it too.”

“They’re trained to attack on command. If we’re not targeted, they should leave us alone.”

Should. Not exactly the most reassuring word, but I agree we have no choice but to move. I can feel the terrorists approaching, fast.

“I’ll go first,” she says in a tight voice. She must sense them too. “If I’m hit, don’t stop for me. Slicer fire usually kills on contact.”

She swipes her mask transmitter to warn Dax we’re coming, then sprints into the open before either one of us can object.

I race after her, head down.  Slipping when I reach the base of a small hill. Then crawling on all fours, glancing up every few feet to regain my bearings. Astrid’s several strides ahead of me, moving over the ice with the grace of a skater. She’s about to crest the hill when –

Boom!

The ground shatters in front of her, throwing up a wall of snow. For a terrifying moment, she’s swallowed up by the debris cloud. Then I see her again, brown parka poking through the white powder. Half buried. Motionless.

I tumble after her and frantically dig until I’ve freed one arm.

Then the other.

Now pull.

Her head and body follow, sliding out with surprising ease.

“Astrid!”

When I roll her onto her back, she coughs and then lets out a weak groan.

Still alive!

Pulse pounding, I check the snow around her.

White. No blood. Maybe it’s not as bad as it looked.

If her spine is injured though, more movement might paralyze her.

I lower my lips to her ear and ask if she can move her legs.

She shivers and mouths the word “yes” just as another explosion rips though the market. Further away this time, but still close enough to knock me down. Tongues of lightning flicker to our right, coming from behind a low concrete wall. The Enforcer position, less than a hundred feet away now. We’ll have to cross through open space to get there.

Why in flames are they still firing?

Because the terrorists are right behind us. I don’t need to look back to know. I can feel their determined auras closing in, like a hot breath on my neck.

I ease Astrid over my shoulder and stagger to my feet, then carry her toward the Enforcers. Head down. Ignoring the slicer fire as it hisses by, vaporizing the snow behind us into hot jets of steam. One slip and we’re finished, but I won’t let that happen. Not now, when we’re so close to safety. Just a few more feet and…

Silence.

The slicer fire cuts off abruptly. They must finally see us!

The tip of one of my boots catches on rubble, toppling me forward, but something stops my fall. Someone.

An Enforcer, trunk-like arms extended to support me.

Dax rushes out from behind the concrete barrier to scoop up Astrid. “I’ve got her!”

With the help of the Enforcer, he transfers her onto an improvised stretcher made of plywood and blankets and they set her down behind the barrier. Seconds later, her eyelids flutter open.

Dax throws his arms up in frustration. “I told you to hold your position! Why didn’t you listen?”

“Because the terrorists were closing in!” I say. When I lean in to check on Astrid, she shifts her weight and tries to lift her head. Her eyes look cloudy. Distant.

“Where…?” She blinks back into focus. “Wh — what happened?”

“You got caught in a blast,” I tell her. “The dizziness will pass. Try not to move until the medics check you out, okay?”

“Hey rookie!” Dax grabs my shoulder and spins me toward him. “What in flames were you thinking?"

“Get off our backs,” I warn. “We had no choice. The terrorists almost had us.”

“Doesn’t matter!” He moves closer, getting right in my face. “I ordered you to stay put!”

“Well, we didn’t! Why don’t you report us?”

Dax cocks his head to the side, studying me. I’m thinking this could go really badly, but then I notice the amused sparkle in his eyes. “Are you giving me attitude, Wil?” he asks with a smirk.

“Only if you’re looking for it.” I turn my back on him and kneel to check on Astrid.

“Huh.” He snorts behind me. “So the Camp Rat has some balls. Wonders never cease.”

I glare at him over my shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s right. I know where you come from, Wil-mington. Not that I give a damn, as long as you’ve got a pair. Who knows?” He slaps me on the back. “You might not be totally useless after all.”

 “Where’s Vora?” I ask, ignoring the back-handed compliment.

“In there.” He points to a structure right behind us – steel awning arched over concrete stairs that drop into darkness. “Shrapnel clipped her leg, but she’ll be fine. The medics should be here any moment.”

As he says this, I hear a new sound above the wind – the mechanized whir of rotors, growing louder, a steady chop-chop-chop echoing through the canyon of ruins. The evacuation team. If I time things right, their landing should provide the perfect distraction.

The Enforcers are busy scanning the horizon for targets, having lost interest in us already. Good. I don’t see any snow rippers though, which means they’re still somewhere out there, hunting. That could pose a major problem.

“Wil?”

Astrid’s voice interrupts my thoughts. When I turn, she’s already sitting up in the stretcher, ignoring my advice as usual. Wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to stand.

“Hey. You really shouldn’t move.”

“Yeah, well…” She looks over her body, apparently deciding that any injuries are minor. “Too late for that. Besides, everything seems to work okay. I’m just kind of woozy. What happened?”

“You came within inches of being blown apart.”

“But you –” She winces as the details come back to her.  “You saved my neck. Again.”

“No problem.” Despite the circumstances, I can’t help but smile. “Just returning an old favor.”

She matches my grin. “The playing fields?”

“Right.” I nod. “Those Peacocks would’ve beaten me to death without you.”

She rolls her eyes and laughs. “So you do remember. Founder’s blood, you were such an ungrateful little idiot.”

“Not ungrateful.” I reach down to dust the snow off her facemask. “Just an idiot.”

My last words get swallowed by an ear-splitting explosion. The Enforcers have opened fire again, blasting the perimeter with everything they have left.

“The Green A?” I scan the horizon for any signs of an attack, but Dax shakes his head.

“Nah!” he shouts above the chaos. “They’ve all run off! This is just cover fire! Evac’s coming down!”

Seconds later, the rescue heli drops through a gap in the canopy of ruins, whipping up the snow around us. The landing spindles hiss as they touch down, broad blades swooping overhead.

Dax tells me to help Astrid on board before turning to the nearest Enforcers.

“You two!” he barks above the whine of decelerating rotors. “Take that stretcher and follow me!”

They’re going to fetch Vora.

I glance at Astrid, who’s now surrounded by a team of medics. They hover over her to do their assessment, backs toward me. Blocking her from sight.

Won’t get another chance like this. As much as I hate to abandon Vin, he’ll be better off without me. Gant needs to believe I’m dead. That’s the only way to save my sister without betraying Astrid.

I pivot and face the debris-strewn ice field we just risked our lives to cross.

Look beyond the shattered market. Past the rubble and bodies. Toward the Aletheians.

Somewhere out there, Liv’s still waiting for me. She must be.

Now! I order myself, leaping over the concrete barrier.

No time to think. Just run.

***

© Copyright 2025 graymartin. All rights reserved.