Landfall (The Reach, Book 2) (43 page)

Lazarus placed a hand on Knile’s chest and pushed him behind, to where he was protected from the other Redman’s view.  He drew himself up to his full height.

“I am not Gomez,” he announced.

The other Redman squinted at him again in the low light.

“What the…
Lazarus?
” he said, disbelieving.  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I have come to put things right, Carter.  Put your weapon down and leave here and you may greet the morrow with breath in your lungs and a beat in your heart.”

Carter laughed.  “Shit, Laz.  Still as arrogant as ever, I see.  And you still talk like you’re the High Priest of the goddamn Citadel or something.”  The man shook his head.  “I always hated that.  You think you’re better than everyone else.”  He raised the rifle.  “Now take your armour off, you big lump of shit, you aren’t worthy to–”

Lazarus made a wordless shriek of fury and lunged forward, bounding across the floor with surprising speed and grace for such a huge man.  Carter’s mirth evaporated from his face and he fired a round of blue incandescence from his pulse rifle.  It slammed into Lazarus’ armour and red sparks flew like fireworks, but Lazarus barely slowed his pace.  Carter fired once more with the same result, and then Lazarus was on top of him, crashing against his chest and sending him sprawling through the wooden struts behind him.  He tried firing again, but Lazarus slammed down on top of him and wrapped a hand around his neck.  His fingers closed with such force that Knile could hear the bones cracking apart from the other end of the room.

Lazarus wrenched the pulse rifle out of the dead man’s hand and then loomed over him.

“You do not have the right to judge my worthiness.  None of you do.”

Knile could already hear footsteps closing in, and he ran toward Lazarus.

“We have to go!  The others are coming.”

Lazarus stood still and rigid as he listened.  He nodded.

“There will be two more.  Both must fall if we are to prevail.”

“Can you take them?” he said, but Lazarus was already on the move, pulse rifle held at the ready.

“Follow close behind me,” he said, and then he disappeared into the darkness.

Talia was running, but she wasn’t sure if she was heading deeper into the complex or toward the exit.  In truth, she wasn’t even sure which option she wanted to pursue anymore.  There was every chance that Capper would have his people stationed in or around the workshop to gather up anyone who sought to escape, and that was a trap she wanted to avoid.  On the other hand, if she wound her way deeper into the complex she might become lost in there, unable to escape at all.  When the dust cleared, whoever came out victorious – Emil or Capper – would have her at their mercy.

Between a rock and a hard place again, right Tal?
she thought.

Perhaps if she kept searching she could find another way out of here.  She was sure that Skybreach would have at least one emergency exit.

She tried to think back to her tour with Iris, but the woman hadn’t pointed out any exits to her.  Talia thought she could recall one door in particular toward the southern end of the complex that might have led to a way out, and that was possibly her best shot.  With that thought in mind she rounded the next corner and took a right, only to see Crumb coming at her from the other direction.  He seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

“Well, darlin’,” he drawled, smiling grotesquely.  “We finally caught up to you.  And what a tasty prize you had in store for us.”  He glanced around.  “I’ll bet there’s some riches in here, huh?”

She lifted the .22 at him, but Crumb ducked nimbly to the side and disappeared into an adjoining room before she could shoot.  She heard him laugh disparagingly.

“What’s your problem?” she shouted desperately.  “Why won’t you leave me alone?”

“Because you’re our cash cow, bitch!” he cackled.  His voice seemed to have shifted, as if he were moving position.  “You’re sittin’ on somethin’ big and we know it.”

“That’s bullshit!” she cried.  She glanced around, fearing that he would come at her from behind.  “You’ve had it wrong from the start.”

He laughed again, but his voice was more distant this time.  She felt exposed, unprepared to face him.

Panicked, she turned and fled.

She wound her way through the dimly lit corridors as the sound of gunfire wafted through from other sections of the complex.  She wasn’t sure if Crumb was still following her, but in
all
likelihood he was.  He’d followed her across the whole damn city, hadn’t he?  Why stop now?

She wondered what he would do if he caught her.  Would he simply kill her, now that they’d found this place, or would he keep her around for his own twisted ends?

Maybe it was fitting that it all ended with Crumb.  He was the one who had started this mess, way back when he’d waited for her outside her apartment the day she’d set off to find Roman.  If he hadn’t seen her and Knile entering Grove, maybe things would have turned out very differently.  Maybe she, Knile and Roman wouldn’t have been forced to run into the arms of Skybreach in order to find sanctuary.

Maybe Knile and Roman would still be alive.

Stop running.

Her legs kept moving, doggedly refusing to obey.

“Stop!” she screamed at herself, and this time she did.

She stood there in the corridor, panting, her fists clenched at her sides.

Then she turned back the way she had come.

Kill the bastard.  Put an end to this.

She raised the .22 before her and stalked forward.  One of the members of Skybreach she had seen earlier, a young woman in a green blouse, was cowering in an alcove.  Talia continued past her, now calm and focussed.  Despite the mayhem that was going on around her, she finally felt in control.  She knew what she had to do.

Crumb leapt at her from a doorway on her right and she spun, but he managed to grip her wrist and force the gun’s muzzle toward the ceiling.  They struggled against one another, scuffling in a circular motion and grunting with the exertion, and Crumb pressed his hideous pallid face towards hers.  He leered as if he were enjoying the tussle.

“I’m gonna lick you from head to toe,” he said, waggling his tongue obscenely.

Talia dropped her weight suddenly, cartwheeling Crumb over the top of her, and she launched her boot into his stomach for good measure.  He landed on the floor a short distance away with a loud
oomph
.

Talia swivelled onto her knees and brought the .22 up again and took aim.

“Now, now, darlin’, hold your horses,” Crumb sneered as he crawled off his back.  He held up his hands.  “Don’t wanna–”

Talia squeezed the trigger five times, peppering Crumb’s chest and neck, and then he went down.  He clutched feebly at his heart, convulsing, and then lay still.

Talia got up and started to run again, not bothering to savour her victory.

There was only one thought in her mind.

Find the rest.

Lazarus held out a hand to bar Knile’s path, then came to a halt in the middle of the corri
dor.  He bowed his head until his chin rested on his chest
, then exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

“What is it?” Knile hissed, glancing about apprehensively.

“I need to pray.”

Knile’s mouth dropped open.  “You’re shitting me.”

“Do not use such vulgarities in my presence,” Lazarus growled without changing his stance.

“Come on, seriously?  We’re up against a couple of the biggest badasses on the planet and you’re watching the back of your eyelids?”

“I seek guidance from the Holy One,” Lazarus said irritably.  “I need to understand what strategy they shall use against us.”

“Well, I hope there’s not a line-up to talk to the Holy One–”

“This process will pass far more swiftly in complete silence.”

Knile sighed and took the hint, his eyes darting from one gloomy corner to the next as he pictured their pursuers appearing out of nowhere amid a haze of red.  He couldn’t imagine what Lazarus might be thinking about, or to whom he might be praying, but in a moment the Redman lifted his head and nodded once.  He began to walk away.

“Did you get an answer?” Knile queried.

“If we live, then I should think I did.”

Knile stared after him, baffled.  “And if we don’t?”

Lazarus turned and pressed a finger to his lips, then wordlessly indicated to an adjoining corridor.  He began to move quietly in that direction.  Knile followed close behind him, ducking his face now and again to the tablet as he continued to probe at the Consortium network. 

They continued that way for another minute or two, and then Lazarus stopped again and cocked his head as if he were listening to something far off in the distance.  He turned to Knile and was about to say something when the wall behind him exploded and another Redman came bursting through the plaster, knocking both Lazarus and Knile to the ground.  Lazarus recovered first, gripping the Redman by the ankle and swinging him through the air before he could get a shot off with his pulse rifle.  As Lazarus went after him, the Redman bounded to his feet and disappeared around the corner.

Lazarus changed course, finding cover and indicating for Knile to once again get behind him.

“I don’t believe my eyes,” came the mocking voice of the other Redman from the darkness.  “Is that Aron Lazarus I see wearing the crimson?  Is that you, Laz?”

Lazarus made no reply.

“If I remember correctly,” the Redman went on, “you were sentenced to Landfall.  Isn’t that right, my friend?  You don’t belong in this place anymore.  You don’t belong in that armour.”

“You
never
belonged in this armour, Scole,” Lazarus shot back.  “You still don’t.”

“Aw, Laz.  You got me trembling in my boots, man.”  Scole laughed.  “Oh, where are my manners?” he added.  “Sorry to hear about your bitch, Laz.  I heard about it when she croaked in the Cellar.”  Lazarus’ eyes seemed to positively glow with fury, but he held it in check.  “Nasty business, man.  Six Enforcers were tag teaming her, right?  The last one to take a turn split her right in half.”  The Redman made a disgusting wet tearing sound in his cheeks.  Beside Knile, Lazarus ground his teeth.  “Not all bad though, Laz.  I heard she enjoyed it right up till the moment she ripped in two.”

Lazarus heaved to his feet, ready to explode, but Knile gripped him firmly on the arm.

“Stop,” Knile whispered hoarsely.  “He’s trying to get under your skin, make you do something stupid.  Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

Lazarus nodded, then his eyes widened as he saw something behind them.  He raised the pulse rifle and began to fire, and as the room began to disintegrate in a hail of blue fire Knile realised that the Redmen had effectively trapped the two of them in a meat grinder.