Page 12 of Trigger Discipline
Tommy stepped over him, leveling a little black remote at the thing. Two wires shot out, embedding between its neck and curved back. Electricity arced from the taser, and the monster shrieked, a shrill whistling that made Blake wince.
His partner dropped the taser and grabbed Blake under the arms, yanking him to his feet and leading him away.
“Your mom?” he wheezed.
“Yeah, she gave it to me for muggers.”
They limped to the back of the ambulance where several of the people they had found alive were huddled. Tears streaked down their faces. Tracks of skin between the mud and blood. They looked painfully average—a woman in athleisure wear, a man in a ragged suit, another woman in skinny jeans and a t-shirt that might have been ripped when she bought it.
“You’ve got to get out of the city,” Tommy told them, letting Blake support himself on the back of the ambulance. He was trying to convince his lungs they needed to inflate.
“Where?” the woman in jeans asked, her thick eyeliner smudged across her face. Or maybe it was just a black eye.
“Anywhere rural,” Blake answered, his breath coming back. “Secluded. Head for a military base or something.”
“What about you?” the man asked. He was missing three teeth, and his arm was mangled. Probably beyond repair.
Blake huffed, gingerly standing. Everything hurt. The thing was gone. They apparently didn’t like to be shocked.
“Buddy, you got bigger problems than us. Just go. Stay low, steal a vehicle, and get the fuck out of the city. Don’t walk, don’t fight, run.”
“What about?—”
Blake shoved him. The man was so injured he couldn’t hold himself up, and he fell back onto the pavement.
“The fuck you think this is? Hero time? This is get your ass out of here time. Now, go!”
He didn’t wait for their response, rounding the truck to get in. Tommy didn’t say anything when he climbed in, pulling it into gear and edging along the ruined road. They couldn’t afford to blow out a tire.
“Are they robots?”
Blake shook his head, leaning to look over the dash. His vision was still blurry, and he could feel his muscles stiffening up.
Sunshine was beginning to peek through the clouds. In the distance, he could see a particularly dark cloud. It was weirdly shaped and stagnant. Almost like it was hovering rather than flowing with the rest of the clouds. Was it a storm cloud? Rain might help with the fires.
Tommy’s teeth were chattering, but he was looking straight ahead. His hair was singed on one side, and he looked paler than normal.
“I don’t know,” Blake forced himself to say. “But I’m sure the cavalry will be here any minute.”
Tommy glanced over at him. “You think they can beat them?”
“Hell, Tofu, you took one on with a taser.”
His lips quirked in a humorless smile. Tightening his grip on the wheel, he continued easing their way through the city.
Most of the ugly smoke from fires seemed to be comingfrom the north. They were going east. He could only hope they were avoiding most of the fighting that way.
Blake had been born and raised in DC. He knew these streets, but right now he didn’t recognize them. It was like looking at the world through a mirror; everything was similar butwrong.
He tried not to, but he couldn’t help but think about his parents. They’d retired last year and moved to Florida. Said they were tired of shoveling snow. They bought a little condo in a 55+ community where everyone drove golf carts, and the HOA was up your ass about every little blade of grass. It was hard to picture his type A mother as happy there, but she seemed content enough with their infrequent phone calls.
They didn’t talk often, not that it was much different from when she lived in the same city. It wasn’t that they didn’t love each other; it was just that their love was quiet. No news is good news, kind of thing. As far as his mother was concerned, she’d birthed him, and that meant she cared about him. She’d let him know if that changed.
His father tried to breach the gap, but the man spent most of his energy on his model train collection, just trying to survive retirement. He was a good man with a good heart, but he was forgetful. He had a good heart, but most of his energy was spent on his model train collection and just trying to survive himself.
Were they alive?
He didn’t know. How would he know? If he died today, how long would it take beforetheyknew? Were they just sitting around the phone, desperate for a call?