Brodie took the weapon and strained to push the thing over onto its back. Dixon removed all the bolts, then repeated the process with the EMP pistol to flambé its CPU.
As Brodie watched the smoke rise from its chest he said, “Goose is cooked.”
“Awful,” said Dixon.
“I thought we were dead. I’m allowed a bad joke.”
“We might still be dead.”
Brodie unclipped his walkie and said into Channel 1: “This is Scott Brodie. Does anyone copy?”
No response. Brodie feared the worst about what might have happened at the barracks. Splintering apart a hive mind meant there were now thirty individual agents with RPGs. Anything could happen.
Then a voice crackled over the walkie,“This is Colonel Howe. I’m in the barracks. What is your status? Over.”
Brodie looked at Dixon, who appeared relieved. He said, “I am in the lab with Dixon and two out-of-commission tin men. What’s the situation out front? Over.”
Howe replied,“Unclear. They are maintaining their position, but they appear disoriented and are communicating with each other verbally, which I have not seen before. Someone took down the cell tower, which I think has affected their transponders. Over.”
Dixon gestured for the walkie and Brodie handed it to her. “This is Caroline. They’re as handicapped as they’re ever going to be. I’m not a military mind, but if we are going to try to take them down, I think now is the moment.”
Brodie took the walkie back and said, “I have an RPG launcher withone round. I’ll make it count the best I can, and that will be your cue to hit them with everything you’ve got. Over.”
There was a pause. Then Howe replied,“We’ll await your signal.”She added,“See you both on the other side. Over and out.”
Brodie looked at Dixon and said into the walkie, “Yes, ma’am. That’s a promise.”
CHAPTER 53
BRODIE AND DIXON EXITED THElab. The air was a little clearer now, and Brodie could make out the distant smoke from the blasted cell tower. He wondered who had done that. He hoped it was Maggie. It was her style. Brash and brilliant.
They slowly crept back toward the line of D-17s in front of the barracks. Once they could make out their shapes through the haze they stopped, and Brodie got on one knee and set the RPG on his right shoulder. He said to Dixon, “Watch the back blast. Get next to me.”
She moved to his left side and crouched.
Brodie looked down the RPG’s sights. He could make out three ammo boxes of RPG rounds distributed along the firing line. It was a much smaller target than the D-17s themselves, but if he wanted to make his single rocket count, he’d have to go for it. He said to Dixon, “After I fire, we head to the spot where we left our weapons. They’re probably still there.”
“Copy.”
Brodie held tight to the launcher’s grip, aimed the optical sight at the center box of ammo, and pulled the trigger.
An explosion shot out the back of the launcher as the rocket streaked ahead. It met its target in the center of the line of D-17s and exploded, sending the nearest bots flying. The fireball ignited a couple of their rockets, causing secondary explosions and more damage.
The gunners in the barracks opened up with grenade launchers and the M2 machine gun as Brodie dropped the launcher and he andDixon dashed to their right, then cut left and sprinted north. In a minute, they located their weapons.
Up ahead was total bedlam. Tin men were scattered in pieces in front of the barracks as the survivors fired a barrage of rockets at the building, blasting holes in the brick façade, as they were raked by machine gun fire and grenades exploded around them.
Brodie grabbed the M240, folded out the bipod, and set it on the ground. He said to Dixon, “Get on your stomach, you’ll only need your right hand. Squeeze the trigger and have fun.”
He put on his ammo vest and picked up the grenade launcher as Dixon lay down in the road. She kept her left arm and broken hand at her side as she took the grip with the right and wrapped her finger around the trigger.
She opened fire on the line of D-17s while Brodie launched a grenade into the cluster of bots. It exploded on the ground and caused indirect damage as Dixon squeezed off dozens of rounds into the group of tin men, now a panicked and deteriorating formation. The few still standing managed to get off a couple more rockets before being ripped apart by bullets or grenades. Brodie took another grenade round from his vest, loaded it, and fired, scoring a direct hit. Dixon ran out of ammo. More grenades and bullets spilled out of the barracks windows, and Brodie spotted two tin men dashing into the building.
He got back on walkie. “Two bots on foot just entered the barracks.” He said to Dixon, “Let’s move.”
She got to her feet and drew her EMP pistol from her waistband, and they jogged forward.
Gusts blew sand across their path as they ran toward the scene of destruction. Metal limbs and heads, circuit boards, and charred wiring littered the asphalt amid smoking impact craters and scorched black sand on either side of the road.
