Dimitry jumps out of the way, taking advantage of the distraction. His goons with the assault rifles bring them to bear and then hell breaks loose. Everyone spreads and jumps for cover. Rebel and Badass gun down one of the guys together, Zero puts a bullet between the eyes of another, but there were more inside. Had to have hidden deep enough that not even Quickshot's scope could pick them out.
I run for the closest loading station, throwing myself behind one of the support walls. Piston joins me, and Zero a few moments after.
Animal roars and goes down, clutching his thigh. Motherfucker. I aim my gun, looking for who it might've been, but the guy drops in time with a crack from somewhere behind us. Quickshot or one of the other snipers.
"Cover me!" Hunching over so I'm a smaller target, I run over to him as quickly as I can. Piston and Zero lay down cover, and I get there at the same time as Badass. "This way."
I get Animal up and over one of my shoulders, while Badass takes the other side, and we run him back to our cover, bullets kicking up dirt around our feet, but thankfully not quite connecting. Animal grunts when we put him down, but the wound doesn't look too bad. Badass already has a bandage out.
The armored monstrosity turns in place on its treads, while the guy behind the armored machine gun turret on top, spins and puts down fire across the whole lot. Fuck, you'd think we'd be used to wild stuff happening, but who the fuck expects Mad fucking Max? The guys with assault rifles are laying down coverfire from behind the walls of the garage, and our boys are taking pot shots at them, but are largely pinned down. Quickshot and the other snipers pick off targets when they reveal themselves, but there's so much to hide behind that they can't save the day on their own.
"We gotta take out the fucking truck!" Piston yells over the gunfire.
Sure, but fucking how?
"Three prong attack," Zero says. "You guys distract, I come up behind."
"Why the fuck are we always the decoys?" I glare at him.
"Do you know how to snap a man's neck clean in under a second?" He asks it as matter of fact as if he's wondering if I know how to make lasagna.
But he has a point. My methods don't tend to be as neat and exact as his. I get the same result eventually, but it's messy. "Fine. Piston?"
"Fuck it, let's go."
We come out together, guns blazing. I try to put bullets into the cracks in the armor, where fuckers inside are shooting out. Not easy while running, but as long as it keeps them on the defensive, it means fewer bullets coming my way. As both the truck and the turret spin in our direction, Zero darts out the other way. One of the guys with the rifles aims, but doesn't get any further than that before Zero drops him.
Dirt kicks up around my feet. Fuck. Not gonna be much help if I end up a corpse out here.
As Piston and I get in close, it's easier to keep ahead of the spinning. And then Zero jumps up on the back, pulling himself up to the turret on top. The back is open, and he takes full advantage of it. He sold himself short. I don't think the neck snap takes him even half a second.
He drops off the truck, dragging the body with him as a shield against bullets from the factory. That gives me an opportunity. It's my turn to throw myself at the vehicle, and I use one of the armor plates to lever my way up. The little gunner's nest is tight, but I squeeze in, and then I'm the one in charge of the machine guns. I grin like a kid who just got a new gaming console for Christmas.
Suddenly things feel a lot more in our favor. I spin around, aiming for the factory and pull both triggers. The whole metal monstrosity shakes as the barrels fill the air with lead. It fucking shreds through the sheet metal siding and takes chips out of the concrete support pillars. It doesn't take long before the shooting from the factory dies down.
The last thing I do is spin and aim the machine gun straight down at the top of the truck cab, and pull the triggers. There's no armor on top, and the bullets tear it apart. The truck stops. I don't even wanna fucking look inside.
By the time I'm back on the ground, we've got the situation under control. The goons still breathing have surrendered. Animal's gonna be alright. A couple of others took a flesh wound or two, but nothing that Doc or Emily can't patch up. Zero, Piston and me are good. This shit could've gone so much fucking worse.
Eagle-eye is safe and sound and standing over Dimitry with a gun pointed to his head. Kozlov's errand boy is bleeding from an ugly wound in his side. "Where the fuck is Kozlov?"
He shakes his head, eyes big and staring at Eagle-eye's barrel. "I don't fucking know. He said this would be easy."
Eagle-eye snorts. "He was right. Just didn't say who for."
Then he pulls the trigger.
I wince and look away. The fucker made it personal and took the punishment for it. The rest of the survivors we let go to spread word after relieving them of their weapons. A little fire in the truck's gas tank and it goes up in a fireball that they can probably see from the clubhouse.
Eagle-eye looks at us, taking stock with his steely glare and nodding his head. "That went well. Looks like negotiations are off the table. If it's war Kozlov wants, he's gonna fucking get it."
30
SANDRA
Jerryand I are just done with our chat at the bookstore when my phone rings. I was going to see him off before I head upstairs to stay put like the guys want me to, but I hold up a hand for him to wait. It's Carl.Again.
"Hey, what's up?"
