The metal was searing with heat, and she jerked her hands away. The pain brought a little clarity, and she quickly removed the chest rig carrying her grenades and ammunition while cursing her stupidity. Blocking out the lightning bolts of agony, she grabbed hold of the frame and pulled with all her might. As the steel began to warp and groan, Kayla tried not to think about the smell of burning flesh that invaded her nostrils. She tugged hard with another immense effort, and the door finally came loose.
Kayla dropped to her knees and reached inside, felt the strap of a chest rig, and pulled. Nothing moved, so she reached for her knife and found the seatbelt, cutting it in one smooth motion. Thandi’s unconscious body slid smoothly out of the wreck, and though she was covered in soot, she was still breathing. Kayla wanted to cry with relief, but she wasn’t even close to finished.
A storm of gunfire continued to rage around her, but she ignored it, dropping to her belly, and crawling into the hellish interior of the wreck. Through the roiling smoke, she found another body, cut the belt and dragged Lyna out onto the road. The woman began gasping for breath as soon as she found fresh air, but Kayla couldn’t stop to check her over.
Despite being numb, her hands and arms still worked, though she didn’t feel the need to look at them. She moved by instinct, and looked for a hold on the driver’s door. The frame seemed remarkably unharmed, so Kayla kicked the window hard until it shattered. Then she seized the serrated glass lined edge of the new opening and pulled again. This time, the door opened quickly.
The fire was already spreading into the interior, and Bibi’s leg was pressed against her rifle, wedged behind her seat. When Kayla pulled, melted flesh tore away. She almost vomited, but fought to stay in control. Once Bibi was outside, Kayla checked her pulse, and found to her relief that she was still alive. A coughing and spluttering Lyna waved her away as she pulled a bandage for the horrendously damaged leg off her chest pouch.
Kes’s clothes were burning, as she lay crumpled against the twisted far door. Kayla went to work, and though she had to push and pull a few times to get Kes’s limbs past the steering wheel, she soon had the squad leader out. Kayla rushed to pat out the flames, and then stared appalled at the sight of the woman’s body. Half of her visible flesh was burnt black, while in some places her clothes had melted themselves to her skin. Her pulse was weak, but still there.
Kayla shuddered as she finally caught sight of her own arms; livid red where they weren’t charcoal black, and blistering heavily. She put the sight out of her mind and grabbed her weapon again while Lyna took care of the others.
Unfortunately, the situation had not improved. The attacking men—very likely a VennZech security force—had been pushed out of the street by the efforts of Ray and the others. But they had taken cover in a nearby store, and were able to maintain a dangerous level of fire against the women in the street. The squad would need grenades, and, ideally, two elements going in opposite directions to break the defensive position.
Kayla wearily grabbed her chest rig and reattached it with trembling fingers that only reacted slowly. In the distance, she could hear the sounds of sirens drawing closer. There would be others on the way too, and a police or news drone was probably watching them at that very moment. She hoisted her weapon, and yelled over to Ray.
“Give ‘em everything you got,” she roared hoarsely through a burning throat. “I’ll move in from the other side.”
“That’s a hell of a gun fight,” Sal observed as he and Gaz moved cautiously towards the corner of a hotel by the main road.
They had first headed towards the starport and tried, without success, to observe the chaos from the freeway. Then Sal heard the distant noise of another battle in the streets of the city. Reasoning that buildings would allow them to get a closer look than open tarmac, he had suggested they go and check it out. After a heart-pumping drive spent dodging the hastily assembled police checkpoints, they finally decided to ditch the vehicle somewhere safe and continue the rest of the way on foot. The cacophony of staccato thunder bounced off the walls of surrounding buildings, making the source of the shooting difficult to pinpoint.
Gaz leaned his head out to observe the length of the wide street. The occasional bullet kicked up dust as it skipped across the nearby road surface. Then he pulled his binoculars out of his jacket and held them up to his eyes. The image shook with his heartbeat as barely resolved figures ran back and forth across the road.
“What do you see?” asked the impatient Sal.
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“Black SUVs and one wrecked. Got to be VennZech security. And—”
He held his breath and waited to confirm if he had really seen what he thought he had seen.
“And?” Sal demanded.
Gaz ducked back behind the store and faced him with wide eyes. “Ponytails and bobs. Looks like they have wounded.”
“I’ll get the van,” Sal said, and turned to run without waiting for a reply.
Kayla ducked behind a building column as a burst tore chunks out of the concrete. There was nothing for it but to storm the store alone. Maybe, if she took enough of them out before going down, the rest of her squad would be able to get away. Fortunately, she had managed to extract their second machine gun from the wreck, and passed it to Ray, who was now laying down fire from behind some parked cars. Kayla turned to try and make eye contact with her.
Then, a bright green flare shot into view.
Kayla stared at it in confusion, before her eyes, moving of their own accord, followed the smoke trail up the street. A few hundred meters away, some kind of cloth was waving from the side of a hotel. A man stepped out and waved. Kayla looked down her scope to see Gaz, holding both hands high in the air. A few bullets kicked up dirt near his feet, and he ducked out of sight. A car horn blasted a few times.
Kayla thought quickly. She motioned to the confused looking Ray to keep shooting then dashed behind her and across the street to make contact with Jess and Tian.
“We have extraction,” she said breathlessly. Do not fire to the north.”
“What’s the plan?” Tian demanded.
“Lay down smoke and heavy fire so we can get the casualties into our truck. Lyna will drive, the rest of us will follow on foot.”
“Good, my legs are getting stiff already.”
Kayla stuck her fingers in her mouth and gave a shrill whistle. Lyna was still pinned behind the smashed-up truck, trying to treat the others. She looked around, and watched while Kayla made a hand signal for her to prepare to pick up and move.
“With me, Jess,” Kayla snapped, then she grabbed every grenade on her vest, including the smoke, and tossed them hard at the enemy’s strong point. Jess copied her, and the incoming fire slackened off as a series of bangs erupted at the gunmen’s position.
Tian started dumping rounds into the building faster, and, picking up on the cue, Ray did the same. Once a thick white cloud had begun to obscure the street, Kayla made a run for the wreck.
She grabbed Thandi immediately and threw her still form over her shoulder.
“Our truck,” she yelled to the wide-eyed Lyna, over the storm of the machine guns.
Then, carrying their friends, the Rangers sprinted as hard as they could.
The machine guns kept up their frenetic chatter toward the smoke shrouded building, and Kayla offered a silent prayer that the wind wouldn’t pick up. The unconscious members of the squad were roughly shoved into the truck, and Kayla pointed Lyna towards the driver seat.
“Two guys and a gray van waiting for us up the road,” she said with a rasping voice. “Trust me, they’re friendly.”
Lyna nodded and hit the ignition. Kayla blinked back tears of relief when the engine started up.
Another sharp whistle had Ray and Tian sprinting up the street as the truck pulled away. The Rangers began to leapfrog each other, dropping to their knees in pairs and shooting, then turning to sprint while their squad mates did the same.
When they reached the hotel, the van was waiting down a side street. They all broke into a dash, throwing themselves into the back as the vehicle started to move. Ray threw her machine gun in, then swung her other weapon off her back. She stood still, aiming into the sky, and pulled the trigger on the underslung grenade launcher. Then, she caught up with the crawling van and jumped inside.
“Drones,” she explained and slapped her weapon. “Got ‘em with an EMP.”
Kayla nodded and leaned out the open door, making sure Lyna was following them as they sped away into the safety of the streets.
The city passed behind them without any indications of pursuit. Kayla’s world began to slow down, while the agony from her arms took over her senses. Even so, she felt like she had dropped a heavy burden. The ambush had been a nightmare, but they were all alive, and would heal in time.
After what seemed like hours, but had probably only been a dozen minutes, both vehicles pulled into Gaz’s safe house, and a garage door swung shut behind them.
It meant safety, and Kayla found herself beginning to shake.
The truck was mobbed by men and women, who pulled the unconscious Rangers out and laid them on the floor, while first aid kits were produced and ripped open. Gaz had to have radioed ahead—at least his comms weren’t blocked. The thought gave Kayla a moment of hope; Rayker hadn’t compromised everything.
“She needs ventilation,” Lyna yelled as they carefully moved Kes onto a stretcher.
An intubation tube was produced, and somebody started chest compressions.
“Give us a room,” Ray was yelling, “Put them in a room, then let us deal with them.”
Kayla staggered out of the van and glanced at her vehicle. The bodywork was covered with so many bullet holes it looked like a cheese grater. Checking herself, she saw that she had been shot twice, once in the shoulder, and once in her hip. Both had gone straight through, and the bleeding had already stopped, but she couldn’t hide her limp, or her arms.
“Why don’t you sit down here,” Gaz said gently, as he guided her over to a sofa at the edge of the garage. “Want some water?”
He produced a bottle. Kayla grabbed it and emptied it down her throat. She still felt a bit dazed, and wondered if she was dealing with concussion after the first crash. Her ears were ringing, and she had to make an effort to control her breathing.
“Are these… bullet holes? But you’re not bleeding?” Gaz stared at her in confusion. Then he blinked and turned his attention to her arms. “Let me get a bandage on those burns, okay?”
Kayla waved him off. “Forget it.” She sighed heavily, then turned to stare at him. “Where the hell did you come from?”