punish somebody, they should be going after that informant. Or Jackson. Not us." She flashed a smile at Alec, a tight-lipped grimace. "You weren't even there."
"Well, maybe he could tell that to that bot next time it pops up," Bodi snapped. "Maybe whoever's riding it will feel sorry for him. Right after he rips monkey-boy's face off."
"Thanks for the image, Bodi." Alec leaned over to stare beneath the workstation. In the shadows, he could see Taylor crouched over his tablet. The soldier tapped it, slid out a memory key and flipped it into the tangled innards of the station. Snapping the panel back on, the old man straightened, meeting Alec's questioning eyes with a level stare.
"Did you fix it?" Lucy asked, voice threaded with hope.
"No." The bot-monkey's laugh came again, sourceless, terrifying. "We need to move."
"To where? There's only one way out of here," said Bodi.
"Somewhere more defensible."
"Defensible? You planning to fight? With what, a rolled up newspaper?" Bodi snarled a laugh. "We've got nothing down here. Soon as that guy gets bored messing with us, he's going to kill us all."
"I know. I just want to make him work for it."
"Okay," breathed Alec. He had no idea what Taylor was up to, but the man was moving. Which was better than standing still and getting slaughtered. Alec forced himself away from the wall and started to follow Taylor, but he stopped to look back at Lucy. "C'mon."
"He hates us, y'know," Lucy said. "Cause we're not real soldiers. Not like he was."
"It doesn't matter," Alec said. "We're real soldiers now."
Taylor lead them towards the mess, Alec close behind, Lucy riding his back, Bodi behind her. Eyes were focused on the ducts above, so no one caught the bot coming in low until it was too late.
Alec had just moved past the conference room, trying to ignore the thick blood smell, when Bodi howled. Alec whipped around and saw the big man falling, the bot a slashing blur around his leg. Alec froze as the thing carved Bodi's calf to ribbons, terrified it would turn and stare at him, its mouth gaping open.
But Lucy moved.
She launched herself forward, foot slamming into the drywall and propelling her body up and over the heaving battle and into the conference room. The bot paused its claws to watch her sail by, then turned back to rake bloody trails down Bodi's thigh. The maddening laughter began to spill forth again.
Through the noise, Taylor shouted, "The mouth, Bodi, the mouth!"
The chairs in the conference room were heavy, laminate things, and Alec wouldn't have guessed Lucy could have picked one up. But when she stepped back into the hall, she held one over her head and smashed it down like a baseball bat.
The fake wood slammed into the bot, smacking it down. If the strike hadn't also fallen on Bodi's kicking legs, it might have done serious damage. As it was, the bot shook itself, limping slightly as it scrabbled to the side, and lined Lucy up as she swung the broken chair at it. It ducked, spit, and a dark blossom bloomed on Lucy's chest. Without a sound she crumpled bonelessly to the floor.
"Damn you," Alec screamed, and now he could move, jerking forward to charge the thing. It turned its head towards him, and he could see the barrel of its dart gun. Alec knew he was going to die. But crimson flared, Bodi rising up, raging. Bellowing curses, the big man wrapped himself around the bot, trying to tear it apart with his hands.
"Go," Taylor grabbed Alec's collar and yanked him back. "Go!"
Alec looked from Taylor to Bodi, who was beginning to jerk and scream as the bot tore into his belly. "Now!"
Alec went, running with Taylor away from the slaughter. Away from the sight of Bodi's blood, splashing across Lucy's unblinking eyes.
The pantry was in the kitchen, a small room lined with shelves of food and cleaning supplies. Taylor slammed the door shut behind them, trapping them in its narrow confines.
"What the hell are you doing?" Alec shook with fear and adrenalin and
Joseph Vargo, Joseph Iorillo
Stephanie Hoffman McManus