They came and came and came. I tapped my helmet’s comm link. “Rogan, she used so much magic. She will need immediate evac. Don’t let them kill my sister.”
“She’ll be safe,” his voice said, reassuring and calm. “I promise.”
Two of Rogan’s people followed the column. Marko and Melosa jumped on them.
The column marched through the fields. Above them the sky raged, shot through with lightning. Wind tore at their clothes. We had minutes until the storm hit.
The last person left the wall. They kept walking, oblivious to another shape speeding in the opposite direction on its tracks, the massive gun pointed straight at the wall, and Team Bravo, Rogan’s sappers, running next to it. Catalina had done her part. It was my turn.
I ran out of the building. Rivera’s team followed me.
Romeo tore through the chain-link fence. I ran up to it, climbed on top, and into the hatch. The inside of the tank was cramped and dark. I groped about for the weapon I told Grandma Frida to leave for me. My hand brushed the heavy cold metal. There.
Romeo lurched.
“Ready to do this?” Grandma Frida yelled.
“Ready.”
Romeo fired, shuddering. Another shot, another shudder.
“We have us a hole!” Grandma Frida laughed. The tank lurched forward. “Old tank, my foot. I’ll show him an old tank.”
I grabbed my firearm and popped out of the hatch. The bright electric light blinded me for a second. The wall was a dark barrier behind us. I blinked and saw the nearest construct, an enormous horselike beast, gleaming in the light of the floodlights. Its eyes flared with bright electric blue. It opened its jaws, testing scissorlike teeth as big as my forearm.
This was a bad idea. This was a horrible, ridiculous idea.
The XM25 in my hands weighed a ton. I leveled it at the construct, braced myself, and squeezed the trigger. The airburst grenade launcher spat a grenade. The recoil jerked me.
The grenade smashed against the horse’s chest and exploded, ripping a hole in its center and sending metal and plastic flying into the air. The construct faltered. Ha! They didn’t call it the Punisher for nothing.
Parts torn away by the blast streamed back to fill the hole. Crap.
“Go!” I yelled at Grandma. “Go!”
Romeo sped forward, circling the dome. The horse snarled, a harsh metal roar.
Holy crap.
It snapped its fangs and gave chase.
The little tank charged as fast as it could go, which wasn’t fast enough. The horse hurtled toward us.
I lobbed another grenade at it. It ripped through the bottom part of its stomach and blew apart its legs. The horse stumbled. Behind it, the massive tiger construct rounded the bend.
“Get down!” Grandma Frida screamed.
I whipped around just in time to see the massive rhino construct bearing down on us from the opposite direction.
I ducked inside. The construct smashed into the tank, sending me into the bulkhead. My helmet smacked into something hard, rattling my skull. Things went blurry.
Romeo shook. Grandma Frida fired another missile.
Steel teeth blocked out the light in the hatch above me. I saw metal guts glowing with magic. The horrible screech of metal ripping metal lanced my ears. The tiger was on top of us and trying to dig in.
Metal groaned. It was ripping our armor.
When I shot the horse, the explosion should’ve carried the particles out, but it didn’t. They shot out a few feet and fell back in. The magic contained the explosion.
I thrust the grenade launcher straight up, into the metal throat, fired, and dropped down. Metal teeth snapped, nearly scissoring my arm off.
The blast wave punched me, but not nearly as strong as it should’ve been. Suddenly light flooded through the hatch. I scrambled up. The tiger was rolling on the ground, a quickly reforming mess where its head used to be. The rhino had managed to come around and tore after us. The horse was only yards away.
I fired and kept firing, trying to buy us time. Massive gouges scored Romeo where the tiger had carved at it. We couldn’t take another attack. If we let the tiger get to us, the construct would open us like a tin can.
An explosion rolled through the air. We rounded the dome and I saw the wall collapsing in huge chunks.
We rocketed down the grass, the small tank and three giants following it: the horse, the tiger, and the rhino.
The horse leaped onto Romeo, looming over me. Enormous teeth ducked down.
I fired my last grenade into its gut and dropped into the tank, hearing it blossom into a beautiful explosion. That’s it. Out of ammo. I had three regular grenades left. I grabbed them and thrust into the open. The horse had faltered and the tiger took the lead.
I pulled the pin and tossed the grenade. The tiger dodged and leaped, metal tail snapping, claws spread for the kill.
That’s it. We’re done for.
A huge chunk of the wall rose and smashed into the tiger, knocking it aside in midair. The tiger crashed, the section of the wall on top of it, its tail flailing frantically, sticking out from under the wreckage. A second chunk landed on top of it.
Ahead, Rogan stood in the circle he drew on the paved driveway. He flexed, his hands clawing the air.
Another massive section of the wall rose in the air and flattened the horse. It didn’t rise, buried under the rubble.
Romeo rolled past Rogan.
Behind us, the rhino was coming up, unstoppable, massive, pounding the ground with its feet.
Rogan thrust his hands up.
A twenty-five-yard section of the wall shook. He was trying to break it free from the rest, but it held.
The tank stopped, turning.
“Jump!” Grandma Frida ordered.
“What?”
“Jump!” she snarled.
I pulled myself out of the hatch, jumped and rolled into the grass. Romeo sped toward the rhino.
Oh no. No . . .
The small tank rammed the construct. The rhino veered at the last moment, throwing all of its bulk against Romeo’s flank. The tank rolled on its side. The rhino tore at it with its feet, punching holes in the armor. Fear turned my insides liquid. I ran toward it, because that was all I could do.
A shadow fell on me. The section of the wall slid above me and swept the rhino aside, burying it.
The heap of rubble shook and exploded. The rhino sprang free, reforming.
The ground underneath it split. A forest of shoots sprang up, spiraling up to the sky, fed by magic, straight through the rhino. The construct flailed, trying to break free, but the shoots caught the particles that made its substance and kept growing, thicker and thicker, becoming branches, their wood encasing the captured parts. Magic shook the lawn. The tree swept the rhino off the ground, trapping the stray pieces as they fell. An enormous tree spread its branches, a hundred and fifty feet tall, its trunk twenty-five feet wide. The colossal Montezuma cypress shook once and became still, towering over the lawn.
“She’ll be safe,” his voice said, reassuring and calm. “I promise.”
Two of Rogan’s people followed the column. Marko and Melosa jumped on them.
The column marched through the fields. Above them the sky raged, shot through with lightning. Wind tore at their clothes. We had minutes until the storm hit.
The last person left the wall. They kept walking, oblivious to another shape speeding in the opposite direction on its tracks, the massive gun pointed straight at the wall, and Team Bravo, Rogan’s sappers, running next to it. Catalina had done her part. It was my turn.
I ran out of the building. Rivera’s team followed me.
Romeo tore through the chain-link fence. I ran up to it, climbed on top, and into the hatch. The inside of the tank was cramped and dark. I groped about for the weapon I told Grandma Frida to leave for me. My hand brushed the heavy cold metal. There.
Romeo lurched.
“Ready to do this?” Grandma Frida yelled.
“Ready.”
Romeo fired, shuddering. Another shot, another shudder.
“We have us a hole!” Grandma Frida laughed. The tank lurched forward. “Old tank, my foot. I’ll show him an old tank.”
I grabbed my firearm and popped out of the hatch. The bright electric light blinded me for a second. The wall was a dark barrier behind us. I blinked and saw the nearest construct, an enormous horselike beast, gleaming in the light of the floodlights. Its eyes flared with bright electric blue. It opened its jaws, testing scissorlike teeth as big as my forearm.
This was a bad idea. This was a horrible, ridiculous idea.
The XM25 in my hands weighed a ton. I leveled it at the construct, braced myself, and squeezed the trigger. The airburst grenade launcher spat a grenade. The recoil jerked me.
The grenade smashed against the horse’s chest and exploded, ripping a hole in its center and sending metal and plastic flying into the air. The construct faltered. Ha! They didn’t call it the Punisher for nothing.
Parts torn away by the blast streamed back to fill the hole. Crap.
“Go!” I yelled at Grandma. “Go!”
Romeo sped forward, circling the dome. The horse snarled, a harsh metal roar.
Holy crap.
It snapped its fangs and gave chase.
The little tank charged as fast as it could go, which wasn’t fast enough. The horse hurtled toward us.
I lobbed another grenade at it. It ripped through the bottom part of its stomach and blew apart its legs. The horse stumbled. Behind it, the massive tiger construct rounded the bend.
“Get down!” Grandma Frida screamed.
I whipped around just in time to see the massive rhino construct bearing down on us from the opposite direction.
I ducked inside. The construct smashed into the tank, sending me into the bulkhead. My helmet smacked into something hard, rattling my skull. Things went blurry.
Romeo shook. Grandma Frida fired another missile.
Steel teeth blocked out the light in the hatch above me. I saw metal guts glowing with magic. The horrible screech of metal ripping metal lanced my ears. The tiger was on top of us and trying to dig in.
Metal groaned. It was ripping our armor.
When I shot the horse, the explosion should’ve carried the particles out, but it didn’t. They shot out a few feet and fell back in. The magic contained the explosion.
I thrust the grenade launcher straight up, into the metal throat, fired, and dropped down. Metal teeth snapped, nearly scissoring my arm off.
The blast wave punched me, but not nearly as strong as it should’ve been. Suddenly light flooded through the hatch. I scrambled up. The tiger was rolling on the ground, a quickly reforming mess where its head used to be. The rhino had managed to come around and tore after us. The horse was only yards away.
I fired and kept firing, trying to buy us time. Massive gouges scored Romeo where the tiger had carved at it. We couldn’t take another attack. If we let the tiger get to us, the construct would open us like a tin can.
An explosion rolled through the air. We rounded the dome and I saw the wall collapsing in huge chunks.
We rocketed down the grass, the small tank and three giants following it: the horse, the tiger, and the rhino.
The horse leaped onto Romeo, looming over me. Enormous teeth ducked down.
I fired my last grenade into its gut and dropped into the tank, hearing it blossom into a beautiful explosion. That’s it. Out of ammo. I had three regular grenades left. I grabbed them and thrust into the open. The horse had faltered and the tiger took the lead.
I pulled the pin and tossed the grenade. The tiger dodged and leaped, metal tail snapping, claws spread for the kill.
That’s it. We’re done for.
A huge chunk of the wall rose and smashed into the tiger, knocking it aside in midair. The tiger crashed, the section of the wall on top of it, its tail flailing frantically, sticking out from under the wreckage. A second chunk landed on top of it.
Ahead, Rogan stood in the circle he drew on the paved driveway. He flexed, his hands clawing the air.
Another massive section of the wall rose in the air and flattened the horse. It didn’t rise, buried under the rubble.
Romeo rolled past Rogan.
Behind us, the rhino was coming up, unstoppable, massive, pounding the ground with its feet.
Rogan thrust his hands up.
A twenty-five-yard section of the wall shook. He was trying to break it free from the rest, but it held.
The tank stopped, turning.
“Jump!” Grandma Frida ordered.
“What?”
“Jump!” she snarled.
I pulled myself out of the hatch, jumped and rolled into the grass. Romeo sped toward the rhino.
Oh no. No . . .
The small tank rammed the construct. The rhino veered at the last moment, throwing all of its bulk against Romeo’s flank. The tank rolled on its side. The rhino tore at it with its feet, punching holes in the armor. Fear turned my insides liquid. I ran toward it, because that was all I could do.
A shadow fell on me. The section of the wall slid above me and swept the rhino aside, burying it.
The heap of rubble shook and exploded. The rhino sprang free, reforming.
The ground underneath it split. A forest of shoots sprang up, spiraling up to the sky, fed by magic, straight through the rhino. The construct flailed, trying to break free, but the shoots caught the particles that made its substance and kept growing, thicker and thicker, becoming branches, their wood encasing the captured parts. Magic shook the lawn. The tree swept the rhino off the ground, trapping the stray pieces as they fell. An enormous tree spread its branches, a hundred and fifty feet tall, its trunk twenty-five feet wide. The colossal Montezuma cypress shook once and became still, towering over the lawn.
