“I’m gonna see if I can’t stop that MRAP,” Madison said before sprintingahead.
“It’s blast-resistant!” Donovan shouted as he ranafterher.
“Let’s test thattheory!”
Jamie shook his head before picking up the pace, weapon braced against his torso. The flurry of footsteps behind him told him Larson, Burwell, and the remaining members of their groups were hot on hisheels.
“This street is clear, so see if you can’t funnel everyone this way. We need to get them clear of Boston Common,” Jamie said overcomms.
“Copy that,” his teamanswered.
Jamie swerved toward the cops still taking cover behind the squad cars. “We’ll try to funnel whoever we can down the street and out of the line of fire, but I need you to hold position here to provide them with somecover.”
“We can do that, Apollo,” the woman said with astiffnod.
Jamie left them to it and headed for Tremont Street, where the trickle of people running toward them was growing to a surge. Jamie’s enhanced strength enabled him to stay upright as he pushed forward, stepping on discarded protestsigns.
Tremont Street had been cordoned off, but the police had opened it up when the first Splice bomb went off. The police could hold the line against vehicle-driven bombs, but Jamie was more worried about the possibility of suicidebombers.
“Tank, I need you to keep looking for anyone carrying a bomb,” Jamie said as he approached the three-wayintersection.
“You mean like back in London?” Donovanasked.
“Affirmative, but I wouldn’t put it past either Declan or Cillian to trysomethingnew.”
“Fuckers.”
Jamie didn’t respond to the general statement, attention drawn somewhere else. The remote gunner station situated on top of the Cougar XE MRAP driving down the street was directing sustained fire from a machine gun at innocent civilians scrambling to get out of range. Already, bodies lay strewn in the street as if Boston were a warzone. People scattered, running in every direction, with many rushing for safety by heading underground at the Park Street Station near the corner of Boston Common. Police officers kept firing on the MRAP, but nothing short of a powerful explosive over a blast measurement of thirty kilograms of TNT would even leave a dent in the damnthing.
“Nova,” Jamie said over comms as he ran toward the target. “Get me somecover.”
“On it,” Madisonreplied.
Madison’s ability to create energy blasts came in handy in situations like this. While what she threw at the MRAP might not be enough to immediately disable it, right now, Jamie just needed adistraction.
The MRAP picked up speed, targeting a small group of people who were carrying a wounded person and trying to get her to safety. Two cops had come up behind them, shooting at the MRAP as it barreled down on them. The remote gunner station swiveled around, but didn’t target the group as the driver chased them down, aiming for others in the crowdinstead.
Moments before they would have been crushed under the tactical vehicle’s heavy frame, the group of people abruptly rose into the air as if they weighed nothing, floating out of reach as the MRAP drove over where they’d just been. Annabelle flew over the crowd, taking those she’d rescued with her and depositing them past where Jamiestood.
With the civilians out of the line of fire, Madison didn’t hesitate in throwing one of her bombs at the MRAP, aiming for the reinforced windshields instead of rolling it underneath the tactical vehicle where the heaviest armor plating was located. A fireball erupted over the front of the MRAP, doing little damage except maybe scratching the paint. She’d gone for a lower charge in the blast because it was meant as a distraction rather than a full-on attempt todisableit.
The driver sped through the crackling ball of dissipating energy and smoke that resulted from the explosion. Jamie was right in its sights when it got clear, the remote gunner station swiveling around to the front as he leapt onto the hood. The vehicle jerked to the left as the driver tried to toss Jamie off the MRAP, but he went to his knees and managed to hold on as he stayed below the machine gun’s lineoffire.
Reaching up, Jamie grabbed the machine gun’s barrel, stopping it from moving. He could feel the vibrations of the constantly feeding magazine through his gloved fingers as he hauled himself up toward the roof of the MRAP. The driver swerved yet again, but Jamie kept his balance. He scowled behind his mask as he reached over the protective plating to get a hand on the body of the weaponitself.
If he broke the barrel, he risked possibly losing his arm in the middle of the fight from the machine gun backfiring. While regen regimes could regrow limbs, Jamie couldn’t afford to be taken out of commission right now. The MRAP could withstand explosions, but sheer brute force was another thing entirely. So Jamie went with the secondoption.
With a grunt, Jamie used his enhanced strength to rip the remote gunner station off the top of the MRAP. Metal plating, bolts, and electrical wire all ripped free as every connection to the vehicle was severed. The machine gun stopped shooting, the magazine hanging limply from the feeder as Jamie tossed the thing off to the side, watching as it crashed onto the street. Madison dodged around it as Jamie threw himself offtheMRAP.
“All yours, Nova!” Jamie shouted as he hit the groundrunning.
Part of the roof to the MRAP had gone with the remote gunner station, opening up the once-sealed interior to the elements. At close range, Madison was as accurate as Kyle with his guns, throwing another of her energy blasts at the hole Jamie had made before sprinting forcover.
The MRAP was blast-resistant on the outside, just not on the inside. The explosion ripped through the vehicle, cracking the front windshields and forcing the vehicle to a juddering, fiery halt in the middle of TremontStreet.
Jamie flashed Madison a thumbs-up. “I’m going after the senator. Keep position, Nova. Tank, do you copy? I’m gonna needyoureyes.”
“On my way,” Donovanreported.
