Page 27 of Ruined Omega

He unloads a barrage at the black car until the hammer of the pistol clicks on an empty chamber.

Out of ammo.

I look back over his shoulder and see the car still coming fast despite holes in the windshield and hood.

A black-clad man with goggles leans out of the passenger window into the rain. He takes aim with a rifle.

The muzzle flashes and more bullets whistle past. My guts clench at the sound.

“Damn it,” Tal shouts. “If they hit the wheels, we’ll be done for.”

The other Alpha’s voice shouts over the radio. “Tal! What the hell is going on?”

More gunfire from behind. Tal swerves at the same moment, and more bullets spear past us, so close I swear I can feel the heat from them.

Tal presses the comm button and shouts.

“Meeting place! Two hours!”

He swerves again, barely dodging a geyser of pavement raised by a bullet.

His fingers tap a few more keys on the dash. A screen flashes the words “Auto-Navigation Engaged.”

“Hines, listen,” he shouts. “Don’t get off the bike until it stops. Baen will find you. He will make you safe.”

“Tal?” I whimper. “What are you—“

Before I can finish my question, Tal has let go of the handlebars, and with superhuman agility, he leaps and turns so that he is crouching backward on the seat behind me.

“Tal!”

He leaps again, this time flying off the motorcycle.

I look backward, and the scene seems to freeze behind me. I see the dark colossus of the city hive disappearing into the rain. I see the black car, less than twenty yards behind us. I see the look of utter shock on the gunman’s face as his mouth drops open. But most of all, I see Tal—the dark skin of his arms is accentuated by the white of his tank-top, which is stained on one side with a vibrant red. The thin, wet fabric is plastered to the rippling muscles of his back. His arms are outstretched, body poised to attack.

The sound of the wind, the pelting rain, the rumbling engine—all of it is drowned out by his primal roar.

Then, in a flash, Tal tucks and dives through the windshield of the oncoming car, his massive body punching through the glass on the driver’s side.

The car swerves and goes into a violent roll.

The gunman hanging from the window is flung away like a limp rag doll.

The vehicle tumbles end over end, spraying rain and glass and twisted metal.

“Tal!” I scream.

Behind, the black car finally comes to rest on its crumpled roof. It shrinks into the distance as the motorcycle continues onward, its computerized navigational system automatically driving me away from the city.

“Tal…”

After a few more seconds, the wreck is swallowed up in the gray curtains of rain and disappears.

I turn back to the controls. Tears spring to my eyes and roll down my cheeks, mixing with the rain.

He’s dead. Tal is dead. Even though we only knew each other for a few hours, the connection between us was undeniable. And now he has sacrificed his own life to save mine.

Now I’m alone again.