I had been trying to work on a plan to get us all out even before Oz had told me what fate had been planned for them.
At the time, I hadn’t known if the rebellion would be any better, but I had tossed my lot in with them because I had nothing left to lose.
No one was selling my cyborgs…unless it was over my dead body. Before Brone tossed me over his shoulder and carried me out, I had planned to end my life once my cyborgs were gone. I would take any knowledge I had to my grave ensuring the rebooted cyborg program would die with me.
I moved down the tunnels, following the rest of the rebellion, praying my cyborgs and I would get out of this alive. Core, Caliber, and Chaos were right on my heels, their frames pressed together tightly as they moved in unison.
From the moment they had come out of the vat they had been inseparable. Another reason the Global Allegiance couldn’t get their hands on them. If they did, they would be ripped away from each other before they were ready, before they felt safe enough to explore the world on their own.
I had hope they would get there eventually. But for now, they were better off staying together. They had only been free of the vat for about six months. The lab had been all they’d known. Despite their superior processors they had no life experience, nothing to understand how the world worked or how cruel people could be.
Suddenly, the ceiling shook above me and I lost my balance. A silver arm caught me, keeping me from falling.
I looked back. “Thank you, Caliber.”
“Anytime, Nara.” He let go and stepped back to rejoin Core and Chaos, maneuvering his frame until he was once again pressed next to his brothers.
“We need to move faster!” Reaper barked the order and everyone’s footsteps picked up speed, mine included.
How were any of us getting out of this alive? My mind drifted to thoughts of a certain annoying Tank Class. I really hoped he survived, even with his fascination toward me. I had no plans to entertain it. But that didn’t mean I wanted him to die.
Stay safe, my brain whispered right before I heard a loud crash and the world around me went black.
Brone
Fuse, Torque, and I raced to where the weapons were stored and armed ourselves to the teeth. This would be a fight to the death. I wasn’t sure any of us would get out alive.
I looked at the two of them. “I go first.” They both nodded. Stepping into the hall we moved quickly and quietly, scanning for threats.
The hallway had an eerie glow, the emergency lights activated, a red hue that warned of impending danger.
One of the explosions must have taken out the main power grid. The emergency lights were on the backup generator. Shit was worse than I’d thought. I hoped Reaper and the rest of the rebellion were deep into the escape tunnels by now.
The sound of heavy boots landing above made me throw up my hand, giving the signal for Fuse and Torque to halt. “Incoming. Get ready.” I held my gun steady, aiming for whatever or whoever greeted us.
I had not been prepared for the sight of a lone robot rolling my way. It was the same as the ones that had attacked us at the lab. My hand went to squeeze the trigger, wanting to blow that thing apart when a familiar voice came out of it.
“Don’t shoot! I sent Bob to help!”
I cocked my head, my finger moving off the trigger. “Oz? What the hell? You brought one of those things back with us?”
“What?” Reaper’s roar shot out from the robot.
“Kind of running for our lives here. Talk later! It will follow your commands, Brone. Use it to kick some ass!” A huge crash sounded through the speaker. “Fuck, what’s happening? Viper!” Oz shouted, the fear clear in her voice. Then there was nothing but silence.
Dread pooled in my gut. “Oz? Oz?” Nothing.
“Fuck!” Every instinct screamed that I needed to get to them. That something awful had just happened, and my family needed me. Right when I twisted on my boot heel, the sound of plasma fire rang out.
“Bob! Stealth mode and open fire!” I shouted as the three of us hit the ground. Bullets flew over our heads. The robot had spun around at the sound of the shots, its form shimmering, just as a Global Allegiance strike team rounded the corner, weapons hot.
Bullets flew from Bob, spraying the hallway in a hail of plasma fire, screams bouncing off the walls as the strike team was hit repeatedly.
That thing meant business.
When the hall went silent, I jumped to my feet. Bodies were piled at the end of the hallway, unmoving.
There was another shimmer, and Bob reappeared in front of me. I clapped the robot on the back. “Good job! Move ahead of us and if anything moves, shoot it.”