“Down the stairs!” Sarah shouted motioning with one of her axes glowing like a beacon on the street. She stood in front of a subway as people funneled down the steps and to the safety of tunnels. She lowered her other axe and ran toward a car and stood atop it. “The subway is safe! Spread the word!” she shouted.
After the flash Marco and Sarah made their way across the bridge and back toward the point of the city where the ship looked like it was crashing down. Along the way they ran into several Taq-Law and dispatched them the best they could but very quickly they realized that there were too many. They just kept coming and so they started focusing on getting people to safety.
The streets were littered with the parts of Taq-Law robots that she had hacked to pieces along the way or Marco had shot down. This was the third subway tunnel that they had gone to and realized the Taq-Law couldn’t fit down there nor were they looking. As long as you stayed out of their sight the Taq-Law weren’t going to investigate the hole in the ground.
A red light flashed near her and she flinched raising her axes but Marco appeared with a guy and girl that probably weren’t any older than she was. They had a baby in their arms crying loudly. They stared at her shocked but she relaxed slightly.
“Right down there,” Marco said pointing toward the stairs. “They won’t go down there. Find a man name Rick. He’s helping to organize everyone.”
Hopping to the street she pointed toward the subway entrance. “Anything?”
He shook his head, “People are scared. I’ve told as many people as I could find to get to cover and that going underground was safest but the Taq-Law are relentless on the streets. People are terrified and hiding in the buildings.”
“I would be too. What about Seth, Kathryn and Cal?”
“Haven’t heard anything from them. Haven’t seen them at least not directly,” Marco spun the barrel of his gun and pointed. “Some people from over there said they saw a pink one of us out there getting people out and making their way the city.”
“That’s Cal,” Sarah said and Marco nodded. “So, I guess we’re all heading toward the ship crash then. Any idea of where it hit?”
“If I had to guess, I think the stadium. Or somewhere near that,” Marco sighed and leaned forward for a second. Sarah moved toward him but he held up his hand shaking his head. “I’m fine. Let’s get up there and figure out-“
Before he could finish talking he was shoved into the far wall by a blur of movement. Slamming into the solid cement of it he was dragged up the wall quickly and then thrown through a window. Rolling across the office he broke down multiple cubicle walls and landed on a desk.
Shifting to his feet slowly he raised his gun and stared down a Taq-Law on two legs. The difference between the one that had hunted them before was that this one had swords on its wrist that glowed a hot red. The red light on its head zeroed in on him and it darted forward. Spinning the barrel to blue he shot the ground but the Taq-Law leaped over the obstacles like they weren’t even there.
Spinning the barrel again he locked into yellow and leveled a shot against his arm and fired. The bullet flew at the machine and it swatted the bullet out of the sky. The electricity tired to latch onto its arm but the blade just absorbed it. Raising his gun quickly he blocked the first swing and was kicked over the back of the desk and into a wall.
Rotating the barrel quickly he aimed up and fired a few purple shots that slammed into the chest of the Taq-Law. It spun off course and hit the ground beside him. Rolling to the side he got to his feet leveling the gun again but Taq-Law was already lunging at him. He ducked low and it spun kicking the gun off target and throwing his arms to the side.
Thrusting its arm forward it, shoulder checked him into the wall and stabbed him with the charged blade. Pinned against the wall his legs stopped working and he could barely think straight. It raised its other burning blade, the hand vibrating intensely, ready to finish him off. Before it could thrust its hand forward a curved green blade jolted through its chest.
It looked down at the blade and jerked as the blade moved upward, tearing the machine in half. It sank to the ground and Marco used the wall to support himself as his legs started to work again.
When the machine fell to the ground he stared at the one who saved him. He stared at the figure in front of him wearing a suit of green. The gauntlets and boots were like his own but smaller. Wrapped around their neck was a short golden scarf that loosely covered the bottom of their helmet. In one hand they had a bright green scythe that they rotated around and rested on their shoulders.
“What the?” Marco mumbled. “Thanks for the help but who are you? What are you?”
“You’re asking me that question? I guess that makes sense,” they shrugged their shoulder and the scythe disappeared. “You never really saw me in action. Even if it was only on the news.”
Marco blinked tilting his head to the side but it slowly clicked together, like tetris blocks settling into their slots and the picture formed in front of him. He tried to take things slow. Tried not to jump to a conclusion but it was right there in front of him. “No way. You’re not him. You can’t really be him. It’s a bad joke if you aren’t.”
Spreading their arms, they lowered their head and the armor disappeared. He looked up, his hair longer with a dark green streak through it now. His skin was paler than he remembered but the grin that came easy to him was right where it belonged. “I gotta say Marco, red looks good on you.”
Marco let the armor drop from his around his body and he took a stumbling step forward and then ran forward. He wrapped his arms around him tightly and he was real. He didn’t disappear when he held him and he finally made a sound and it was a choked sob.
“You’re really here. You’re really alive. I don’t know how the fuck you’re here again but Jesus Christ you’re here Jack.”
Jack smiled and hugged him back. “Yeah Marco. It’s really me.”
The Harlequin Library 