Blades of Winter by G. T. Almasi Read Free Book Online

part of my Squad, then turns back to me.
    “Well, at least you’re in one piece,” he rumbles,
    “Yeah, terrific. You want to take point?” I reload Li’l Bertha while we talk so I don’t have to see his face tell me what he thinks of my assault skills.
    Raj answers, “No, you’re quicker in these tight spaces, but I’ll be right behind you.”
    I slam the ammo pack into my gun and look up at him. “To keep me from fucking up again? Look, why don’t you just—”
    Cyrus comms in, “Scarlet, cut the crap. Move out!”
    Fine. I comm to Trick, “Solomon, this is Scarlet, direction.”
    “Scarlet, proceed down the hall, past the conference room.” And then he adds, “Slowly!”
    Slowly. This sucks. My mom is held hostage only two floors away, and Trick has got me in Super Slo-Mo. We ease our way down the hall and across the second floor. I monitor Li’l Bertha’s sensors while Raj shoulders his Bitchgun—a savage and unruly beast of a weapon. The 50-mm grenades it fires are just this side of mortar rounds. Only Vindicators like Raj get Bitchguns. They’re too big for any other type of Level. The kick would probably tear my whole upper body off. It’s the most destructive personal firearm in the world. Rah-Rah must have done really well in his large firearms skill test. The fact that he’s cleared to deploy with this game-changing monster lets me see him in a whole new light.
    Patrick leads us to another set of stairs. I signal Squads6 and 7 to wait here and cover our backs, then I take the rest forward.
    “Solomon, how’s the view?”
    “Like glass, Scarlet. Increase speed to the third floor. You’ve got a clear entrance, with some competition in the middle of the floor.” I run up the stairs, shoot open the door’s lock, and shove the door open. I peek around the corners to make sure it’s clear, and then I scamper through the doorway.
    Raj and I lead our guys up the passageway and around the corner to a point directly above where we got ambushed downstairs. I flash my Squad the hold signal so Patrick can thoroughly scan this area.
    “Scarlet, two hostiles in the interior space. Same as downstairs.” Another ambush.
Gotcha, fuckos
.
    Raj hand signals to me and the Squad:
Take cover
. Then he opens fire. His Bitchgun hammers the wall down in flaming six-foot chunks. Big Raj leans forward to counteract the gun’s monstrous kick. His feet skid back a few inches every time he fires, and everything in front of him turns into dust and smoke. It’s like watching Thor defend Valhalla.
    Beyond the roar of Raj’s gun, we hear a rapid series of snaps, crackles, and pops as our competitors’ ammo catches fire. Raj stops shooting, backs up to my position, and reloads from a big black canvas bag he has slung over his shoulder. We all hunker down while the dust settles. I switch to infrared and see a pile of stillwarm body parts off in the far corner of what used to be the third floor conference room.
    “Solomon, direction.”
    “Jesus, Scarlet, everybody all right?” We must have whited out Trick’s sensors.
    “Fully vertical, Solomon. Not a nick.”
    “Roger, Scarlet. Keep going. Next stairwell, straight 200.”
    We duck and cover our way down the demolished hallway. Raj and I are up front while the Squad scansthe flanks and rear, watching for surprises. Things are going much better now that we’ve slowed down a bit. I’m about to comment to Raj on this fact when I remember that we got pounced on downstairs because I was being a cherry dumbass. All this thinking cramps my concentration, so I rip the fifty-fifty mix of Madrenaline and Kalmers I’ve nicknamed the Scarlet Speedball.
    It’s hard to balance the uppers and downers. The Madrenaline makes me fast, but if I overdo it, my hands shake like the hips on a belly dancer. The Kalmers help me chill, although in excess they make me dizzy. In the correct proportion they allow me to function at a superhuman level, but the combination makes my head