Page 66 of Fallout

They jumped into action, pushing the stretcher onto the ambulance. Julio helped push. One of the firefighters said, “You going with them, Cap?”

Julio shook his head, a whole lot of yearning on his face. “She doesn’t want me there.” He slammed the door shut and swiped his helmet on the ground. “Everyone back to work.”

“Yes, Cap.” The firefighters all dispersed.

Destiny squeezed his waist. “Let’s get you seen.”

“What was that about?” Something was going on between Samantha and Julio. Or it had, in the past.

“When she wakes up, you can ask her.”

Jasper looked down at Destiny and spotted an odd red light on her shoulder. His brain clicked into a realization.The sniper.

He yelled, “Gun!”

Then he swept Destiny to the ground and covered her with his body.

A bullet cracked across the front yard.

TWENTY-NINE

Destiny blinked at the sky, trying to figure out how Jasper had moved so fast. He’d managed to be gentle about it, even.

Blake yelled, “Destiny!”

She turned her head in his direction. “I’m good!”

Above her, Jasper had put himself between her and any more bullets that might start flying. The police officers present scrambled for cover, organizing themselves into a search for the gunman. Calling for backup. Yelling orders around.

Blake and Jasper didn’t go anywhere. The firefighters were rallying around them, and some were helping the EMTs to be safe.

Peter had his gun out but hadn’t left their vicinity. As an operator, he probably wanted to chase the shooter with the cops. But his loyalty to Vanguard came before anything, and he’d promised the Famous Ones that he would protect her and Violet.

“We need to get out of here.” The first time she said it, it was just a thought forming. Then she patted Jasper’s arm and said it loud enough for Peter to hear. “We need to get out of here. To the car so that we can leave.”

Maybe the tendency to freeze was, this time, a need to flee, but best to avoid a gunman firing bullets. There had been entirely enough of that in the last few days. Jasper had been shot. His mother and George Anderson were in the hospital.

Peter glanced over, a dark determination in his eyes. “Let’s go.” He tugged open the back door, stayed low, and pulled the driver’s door open. “Violet, climb into the front from here. Blake, Jasper, and Destiny in the back. Keep your heads low.”

Jasper grunted.

“You’re hurt.”

He ignored her obvious statement and stayed between her and the direction the shots had come from as they crawled over the sidewalk to the back door. Blake was already in, bent over with his face nearly between his knees.

Jasper climbed in behind her.

Peter hit the gas, and they weaved between emergency vehicles. Once he got them clear, he pressed the pedal again, saying a prayer aloud for anyone still in the line of fire.

Two streets away, he said, “Okay, we’re clear.”

“Amen.” Destiny straightened, wincing at how it felt now to bend forward. Probably not something she’d be able to do for much longer. “Everyone okay?”

Violet turned in the front. “Blake, eyes to me.”

He lifted up, slower than she had. Jasper stared forward, kind of loopy. A little like he had been since he came out of that house. “They’ve both been dosed with something serious.”

“They might need a counteracting agent, or they might just need time.”