Page 37 of Survivor
I grip the laser pen tightly in my hand. There are two guns and three of us. “We need to confuse it.”
“You have fifteen seconds to comply.”
“Yeah, and how do we do that?” Lore asks.
“We run in different directions. It can only target two of us at a time.”
“You have ten seconds to comply,” the machine reminds us calmly.
“Fuck,” Tide says. “Fine. On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
I rush the machine in a zigzag pattern.
A laser shot misses me by a few inches. Then another. Fuck.
I skid between the massive legs of the machine, bringing the laser pen up and slicing through metal, severing and damaging the mechanics of the guard.
“Xavier, watch out!”
I roll free from beneath the machine just before it hits the ground with a thunderous smash.
Silence.
Nice.
“Well,” Lore says. “Let’s hope there aren’t any more of those on the ship.”
21
VEX
The arena is a hive of activity. But with the excitement of the upcoming gauntlet, no one even gives me a second glance as I weave my way through the throngs and to the platforms that carry patrons from floor to floor. The air is cooler up here. Fewer bodies. Just a thin trickle of latecomers to the party.
A party where they hope to watch the woman I love fight for her life.
Fuck them.
Fuck them all.
I pick up the pace, walking against the grain. I’m the someone leaving amongst a wave of people arriving. Still, no one pays me any mind.
There are two entrances to this place. One for regular patrons to be scanned to ensure they’re not officials and another for potential fighters.
Braker has a fucking database of faces—criminals and significant creatures—but, thanks to Xavier, our faces are no longer on that database. The warrant on us is live, it’s active, and Braker has a record of it.
I guess the reward money is nothing to him.
The exit looms, and I’m out in the fresh air. Well, as fresh as it can get on this stinking port.
The narrow roads outside of Braker’s tiny empire are busy. High sun time. High business time. I use that to my advantage, blending in the best I can as I wind my way toward the Cog’s scrapyard.
My entrance to the tunnels is there. Hidden. Waiting. All I need to do is get Rogue out.
Let’s hope the guys do their part and get us onto the ship.
* * *
TIDE
