Dixon added, “That’s mostly true. But the D-17s have additional low-light and infrared sensors.”
The newcomers now noticed Dixon. One of them said, “Ma’am, we need to get you to safety.”
She replied, “There is no safety. Not while those things are out there.”
Miller asked Reyes, “You run into any tin men?”
Reyes shook his head. “We were on our way to the armory.”
Brodie noticed that two of the new arrivals were carrying M240 machine guns, with ammo belts dangling down. Those things weighed thirty pounds not counting ammo and had a hell of a kick. Not an easy thing to shoulder-fire, but anything lighter was pointless against their titanium foes.
Miller handed the thermal night vision headset to the Ranger next to him, a Corporal Khan. “You’re the navigator, Khan.”
“You got it.” Khan put the headset on.
Miller said, “If we are where I think we are, we head past this building, make a right and then a left, and we’ll pass the front of the mess hall on our way to the armory. Khan will lead. Reyes, keep your eyes on the rear. Six-foot dispersal. Kowalski and Wagner, I want you on theflanks with those M240s. Everyone, if we come under fire, find cover where you can.” He put his hand on Khan’s shoulder. “Let’s move.”
They walked down the road in a line, while the heavy hitters with the machine guns walked on either side of it. Brodie was somewhere in the middle, with Taylor behind him, and Dixon behind her. In total they were a dozen people. Brodie had never patrolled outdoors in a line this tight, but he’d never had to patrol in a sandstorm either. Any more than six feet and he might not be able to see the guy in front of him.
The problem was they were sitting ducks like this. One D-17 with an automatic rifle might be able to gun down their whole line. But what choice did they have? Pandora’s box was open, and violence and death had been unleashed upon Camp Hayden. And if they failed here, that might be only the beginning. There were small towns only about twenty miles south. That was an hour’s jog for these bastards.
Well, one thing had been left behind in Pandora’s box after all that terror and evil was loosed upon the world—hope. And until you’re dead, there’s always hope.
CHAPTER 50
THE THICK AIR AROUND THEMgrew darker as the heart of the storm rolled over the camp. The buildings offered some relief from the winds, but as soon as their patrol had to change its orientation toward the wind or get into a more open area, they’d be half blind.
The rear spotter yelled, “Six o’clock!”
At that moment a burst of automatic fire streaked at them from behind, and the Ranger ahead of Brodie was struck in the neck and fell.
Brodie hit the ground. Tracer rounds punched through the veil of sand ahead of them now too. The tin men were coming down the road from both directions.
It was chaos. The Rangers returned fire with the M240s and EMP blasts. Grenade rounds sailed into the haze and detonated in the distance. Brodie fired a grenade toward the east end of the road.
He heard cries and screams all around him and then saw angled tracer rounds hitting the road from above. The tin men were on the rooftops too. This was a massacre.
He looked over at Taylor, who was running in a crouch west toward the gunfire.
“Taylor!”
He shouldered his grenade launcher, grabbed the EMP rifle from the dead Ranger next to him, then ran forward about twenty feet and took cover behind a building.
He could tell by the tracer rounds that the D-17s were shooting short, precise bursts and hitting their targets. These things didn’t need to saturate the area. They saw the enemy, and they did not miss. Nomatter where he tried to take cover, it was going to be Brodie’s turn any second. Well, might as well make it count.
He switched the M4 to full auto, pivoted back into the road, and squeezed the trigger.
The EMP on full auto emitted bass-heavy electrical pounding thumps one on top of the next, as he sprayed blindly left to right down the road, and then back again.
Two points of enemy fire stopped. He ran forward and repeated it, but after two more seconds of firing, blank shells continued to spit out without accompanying EMP bursts. He must have fried the barrel, which was why the Rangers used only semi-auto with these things.
He tossed it aside and gripped the grenade launcher. He wondered where Taylor was. He feared the worst.
Behind him to the east, the sounds of battle grew distant. He was guessing the survivors had dispersed and were being pursued. He needed to follow, but first he had to know what had happened to Taylor…
He kept running south and almost tripped on a D-17 lying in the road. His buddy was lying right next to him. Brodie didn’t know how long the EMPs disabled them, but he decided these two deserved one of his last precious rounds.
He backed up a safe distance, fired a grenade, and the two tin men were blown apart.
