Partials (19 page)

Haru rubbed his left arm, the one he’d been hanging from, trying to force some feeling back into it. “Nothing to do but do it.”

Jayden lifted the Partial, taking the full weight across his shoulders. “Sorry, ladies, I’m going to be selfish and keep the meat shield for myself. Now run!”

They dashed out through the vines and saplings, running full tilt for the next building. They reached it, rounded the corner, and kept running, between the cars and across the street to another building beyond. Just as Kira thought they were safe, a bullet ricocheted off the car beside her, inches from her head, and she ducked for cover.

“Don’t stop running, Kira, move!” Jayden ran past with his load, and Kira took a deep breath and jumped back to her feet, expecting at any moment that a bullet would slam into her spine. Another bullet whipped past, several feet to the side. They reached the next road, a wide thoroughfare lined with high trees and battered storefronts. Yoon cut left and the group followed, using the cover to charge across the street and take shelter in a crumbling delicatessen.

“It’s single shots, spaced out,” said Jayden, gasping for breath. “That probably means it’s not a group, just one sniper.”

“Skinny or Scruffy,” said Kira, “whichever one’s the traitor. Nice going, Haru.”

“We don’t know if it’s one of them,” Haru snarled, but Kira could tell he had the same fears she did. Yoon was watching by the front windows, all but invisible behind a screen of overturned tables.

“We can’t stay,” said Kira.

“We’ll head out the side window and down this little street,” said Jayden. “We need to cut back and forth between the streets—the sniper’s not as dangerous without a straight path and the time to line up a shot.”

“The park you saw before is just a few blocks west,” said Haru. “We can follow it most of the way back, and we won’t lose time running back and forth.”

“Agreed,” said Jayden. “Let’s go.”

They slipped out the side, moving the captured Partial carefully over the broken glass. Yoon ran to catch up.

“I still don’t see anything.”

“What about the scout who didn’t turn on us?” asked Kira, struggling to catch her breath as they ran. “Shouldn’t we wait for him? Or try to find him?”

Haru shook his head. “If we can’t trust one of them, we can’t trust either of them.”

“But we know one’s innocent.”

“And we don’t know which,” said Haru. “That makes them both suspects. There’s the park; sprint to the trees and head left.”

Another shot zipped by as they crossed to the thick forest, and Kira swore under her breath as she ducked behind a car. The others ran past her and she steeled her courage again, racing for the trees. The park turned out to be riddled with fences, keeping them out of the dense cover in the center, but the outskirts were still better than nothing, and they ran from tree to tree, always keeping something at their backs. Every few blocks a wide street cut through the trees, but the park kept going.

Jayden stopped by a cluster of taxis and lowered the Partial prisoner to the ground, wincing.

“Keep going,” said Haru fiercely. “You can rest when you’re dead.” Jayden nodded and reached for the Partial, but Kira saw a drop of blood fall from his arm.

“Jayden, you’re bleeding!”

“Keep going!” repeated Haru.

“He’s been shot in the arm,” said Kira, looking at Jayden’s wound. “How long ago did this happen?”

“Just a few blocks.” Jayden reached for the Partial.

“Haru can carry it,” said Kira. “You just run. I’ll bandage this when we get somewhere safe.”

“My arm’s practically broken,” hissed Haru.

“Nut up and carry it,” said Kira, shoving him toward the Partial. She took Jayden’s semiautomatic and checked the chamber. “I’ll take the rear, now run.”

They took off again, Yoon leading the way through a maze of fences and trees and rusted cars. They passed a subway entrance, a dark stairway down underground, and Kira looked in as they ran past: It was flooded halfway up the stairs.
No cover there
. They kept to the park, and soon a thick steel tower rose up ahead of them.

“That’s the bridge,” said Jayden. “Take the first entrance you see.”

Kira shook her head. “That’s not the same bridge.”

“Do you really care which bridge?” asked Jayden. “Just get off the damn island.”

“But the traps,” she insisted, glancing behind her as she ran. “The traps will still be in place on this one. It’s too dangerous to cross.”

A bullet flew by, and Jayden cursed. “We don’t have a lot of options right now.”

They burst out of the park and into a wide street. The bridge rose before them at an angle, up and southeast toward the river, and the four runners were now so tired that they staggered up the incline, panting with dry, scratched throats. A shot pinged off the cement barrier, and they collapsed behind it out of sight.

“I didn’t see who it was,” said Kira.

“Whoever it is,” said Yoon, showing her pistol, “the Partial’s effective range is a lot longer than ours. We can’t outshoot it.”

“You go on ahead,” said Jayden, grabbing Yoon’s gun. “Find the traps, defuse them or mark them or … whatever you can do. Haru and Kira will follow with the Partial. I’ll guard the rear.”

“She just said you can’t outshoot it,” said Kira. “Are you crazy?”

“I can’t outshoot it at this range,” said Jayden, and pointed back toward the base of the bridge. “I can outshoot it just fine from down there, if I get a drop on it. It has to come around that corner sooner or later if it wants to pursue us, so I’ll hide behind one of the cars and wait.”

“Then I’m waiting with you,” said Kira. “I’m your medic, you idiot, I’m not leaving you behind with a bullet hole in your arm.”

“Fine, just stay low.”

Yoon crawled forward, and Haru followed, dragging the Partial behind him. Kira crept back down with Jayden and took position behind a fat truck tire. Jayden crouched by the next tire over, keeping an eye on the edge of the barrier below. The truck’s driver, a weathered brown skeleton, stared forward blankly.

“Who do you think it’s going to be?” asked Kira. “The Partial, I mean: Nick or Steve?”

“You mean Skinny or Scruffy?”

Kira laughed emptily. “It’s not like they’re hard to tell apart, I was just too embarrassed to ask which was which.”

“I’ll guess we’ll see,” said Jayden.

Kira looked up at the bridge, then whispered softly, “The watchmen will see us crossing the river.”

“I know.”

“We’ll get reported, we’ll get arrested, you’ll probably get court-martialed. Our secret mission isn’t going to stay secret.” Kira watched him, but he said nothing. “I’m beginning to think this was kind of a stupid idea.”

She saw a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Shut up, Walker,” Jayden whispered. “We’re trying to set an ambush here.”

They waited, Jayden watching the edge of the barrier and Kira watching the rest of the road. As soon as the Partial appeared, they’d—

She heard a click.

“Drop it.”

She looked up to see a Partial standing over them—not Skinny or Scruffy, a Partial soldier, likely one of the team they had encountered, black faceplate gleaming in the sun. Somehow it had gotten behind them. It gestured with its automatic rifle, and Jayden set down his pistol with a sigh. Kira set hers beside it.

“Don’t make a sound,” said the Partial. “There’s a—”

A wide crack spiderwebbed out across his faceplate, centered around a small hole that seemed to appear out of nowhere; half a second later the soft puff of a suppressed gunshot wafted past them. The Partial crumpled to the ground, and Kira stared in shock. Jayden grabbed his semiautomatic. They heard running footsteps, and Kira managed to turn herself around to see Scruffy running toward them, his rifle in his hands.

“That takes care of the sniper,” Scruffy called out, “but there are more coming. We’ve got to move fast.”

“You’re the one who warned us,” said Kira.

“You can act surprised later,” said Scruffy, dropping to one knee by the dead Partial. He slung his rifle over his back, picked up the fallen Partial’s automatic, and turned to Jayden. “I’m serious—there’s at least ten more behind us. We have to blaze.”

Jayden paused a moment, then stood and started jogging up the hill. “Come on, Kira. This is a long damn bridge.” They ran upright, not bothering to stay below the barrier, trusting speed and distance to keep them clear of the bullets. They caught up with Haru somewhere in the maze of stopped cars.

“Good to see you, Nick.” Haru dropped the Partial prisoner with a painful grunt. “My arm’s broken and Jayden’s is shot; take a turn with the mutt.” Scruffy looked behind, shrugged, and handed Haru his weapon. Before he could even pick up the prisoner, Haru shot him in the head. Kira yelped, Scruffy toppled to the ground, and Haru shot him again.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jayden shouted.

“I told you,” said Haru, “as far as I’m concerned, they’re both guilty. I’m not taking any more Partials home than I have to.”

“He saved us!” Jayden shouted. “He killed a Partial soldier!”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” said Haru, checking the assault rifle. “Now shut up and carry the prisoner.”

“He was also telling the truth about the group behind us,” said Kira, looking back. “I can see at least one soldier already. We’re not going to reach the other side in time.”

Jayden frowned. “If the cat’s out of the bag, we might as well catch some mice with it.” He clicked on his radio and started shouting as he shouldered the Partial. “Calling all personnel, repeat all personnel, there is a Defense Grid strike team crossing the Manhattan Bridge. Partials in pursuit, we are taking fire, repeat, human soldiers taking enemy fire. Request all possible assistance.” They were running now, Kira taking the lead and Haru following behind, turning and firing periodically to slow the Partials down. “Kira,” said Jayden, “switch my channel.” Kira clicked the knob on Jayden’s belt, and he repeated the message. “Calling all personnel, there is a human strike team taking enemy fire on the Manhattan Bridge. Request all possible assistance. Change my channel again.” Shots were coming toward them now, close enough to scare them into cover. They wove between the stopped cars, watching the ground for trip wires and other triggers, hoping desperately that Yoon had managed to find and mark them all. Haru fired back at the Partials, doing his best to keep them at bay; Kira chanced a look behind her and saw at least seven Partials in pursuit, and gaining quickly. Jayden ran out of breath, straining under the heavy prisoner, and Kira took over, repeating his message again and again in the hope that someone was listening. They caught up to Yoon far too quickly, and she shook her head grimly. “There’s no way we can keep ahead of them and still avoid the explosives. This bridge is a death trap.”

“I’m out,” called Haru, dropping the assault rifle and taking Jayden’s sidearm as they ran. “They’re getting closer.” A bullet glanced off the car in front of them, shattering the side mirror. “We’re not going to last much longer.”

“Calling all personnel,” Kira said again, barely keeping her breath as she clutched the radio, “there is a human strike force on the Manhattan Bridge taking—”

“I’ve got you in my sights, strike force,” the radio crackled back. “Please identify.”

“We don’t have time to identify,” shouted Kira. “We’ve got a Partial army behind us.”

“Jayden Van Rijn,” said Jayden, “sergeant second class.”

“There’s a large pylon tower about twenty yards ahead of you,” the voice crackled.

Kira looked up. “We see it.”

“Proceed straight forward on the outside lane, pass the purple car on the left, and go past that pylon. Take shelter behind the big red delivery truck.”

“Shelter from what?” asked Kira. The group jogged as fast as they could down the path they’d been given, each step lancing Kira’s exhausted muscles. “What are you going to do?”

“What do you think he’s going to do?” asked Yoon, pulling them down behind the Coke truck. “From what I’ve seen so far, this bridge has more C4 than steel.”

“You don’t mean—”

The bridge behind them exploded in a giant fireball, bright enough to sear Kira’s eyes even in the cover of the truck. The bridge lurched, cars flew into the air, and the force of the blast shifted the Coke truck ten feet forward, pushing the fugitives across the asphalt. Kira dropped the radio, covering her ears, and when the shock wave subsided, she staggered out to look.

Twenty yards behind them, beyond the nearest pylon, the bridge was gone. Chunks of steel and concrete dangled from support cables. The river beneath was a churning sea of fallen scrap. The Partials pursuing them had been vaporized.

“Maintain position,” squawked the radio. “We’re sending a team to pick you up, and you’d better have one hell of a good explanation for this.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“W
ell,” said Mkele. “It looks like we have another chance to chat.”

“Always a pleasure,” said Kira.

They were camped for the night in the lee of a freeway junction. After verifying that no more Partials were going to try to pursue over the remaining bridge, the Grid had reset the watch and Kira and her companions had been taken inland, as far as they could make it before nightfall. They were unchained, but a large group of Defense Grid soldiers were keeping a very close watch. The Partial was still unconscious, secured firmly to a heavy roadside barrier.

“Last time we spoke, Ms. Walker, we discussed a number of very important issues.” Mkele had arrived moments earlier on horseback, with a team of mounted rangers who quickly dispersed to strengthen the perimeter. He pulled her away from the others. “I apologize that I apparently did not make those issues sufficiently clear. Let’s start with the most obvious: It is considered very suspicious, and in fact highly treasonous, to enter Partial territory, consort with them directly, and bring one back into human territory.”

“I think you and I might have different definitions of ‘consort.’”

“What were you doing in Manhattan?”

“I’m a medic at the Nassau hospital in East Meadow,” said Kira. “I’m trying to cure RM, and my best chance of doing that was to obtain a Partial.”