Page 48 of Powerless
"No," Shadow barked. "We've got incoming. There's no time."
"I'll be fast. It'll just slow your bleeding—“
"I said no!" he snarled at me.
My hands froze in shock. Not because he said no, but thewayhe said it. The way he looked at me when he said it. He glared at me like an injured animal backed into a corner, a mixture of intense fear and defensiveness.
"He'll be okay, Mari," Jandro said with a hand on my shoulder. "Duck behind the bikes and let us handle these fuckers first."
He physically shoved my head down so that I sat on the ground, then he and Shadow braced their assault rifles on top of the crashed bikes which served as our cover.
"Back away a bit, Mari. They're gonna return fire."
They started shooting right as I got moving, covering my head the moment I heard theplink-plink-plinkof returned fire ricocheting off of metal.
"Just like shooting wooden ducks at the state fair!" Jandro laughed.
"They're still coming," Shadow said.
"Yeah, fuck! They're going around! Get 'em!" Jandro and Shadow slowly turned their rifles as the riders came around in a wide circle. Soon they'd be behind our cover and free to fill our bodies with bullet holes.
The engines grew louder, sounding slightly differently this time and...coming from a different direction?
I looked toward Sheol where the dust started to clear. It was only a few hundred yards away, and yet seemed impossibly far. Visibility was improving though and from inside the gate, I saw what looked like long ramps placed against the wrought-iron supports. And the strange engine sound seemed like it was coming frominsidethe Steel Demons compound.
"Jandro," my voice shook. "Do you hear that?"
"My ears are ringing, babe. I can't hear shit."
Shadow, however, cocked his head toward the direction of the sound.
"I think our backup's finally here."
The sound grew louder. I saw movement inside the gate and my mouth fell open at a sight I never expected to see.
Motorcycles flying through the air.
Eighteen
MARIPOSA
One after another, riders on dirt bikes drove up the ramps and flew into the air to join us in battle. Their engines made higher-pitched grinding sounds, as opposed to the deep rumbles of the road bikes. The dirt bikes were also much smaller and lightweight. They hit the ground with a small bounce like a spring and rode on.
Some of the new riders carried guns, others wielded swords or machetes, but all were armed and ready Steel Demons.
"Fucking finally!" Jandro yelled.
Assuming all of our people were still alive, our numbers were now more evenly matched.
Reaper. I still had to find him. Or at leastseehim to know he was okay.
I hovered behind Jandro as he and Shadow kept shooting over our protective wall of crashed bikes. The returned fire gradually slowed down to nothing and then they stopped.
"Is it over?" I whispered.
"Don't know yet," Jandro muttered. "God, I wish we had Gunner's eyes right now."
One of the dirt bike riders emerged from a cloud of dust, a rifle slung across their back as they stopped in front of us.
