The Street Survivors (The Guild Wars Book 12) by Ian Malone (great books of all time TXT) 📕

the intersection at the same time as Haju and swerved to the right to avoid him—putting him right in front of Taylor.

Taylor swerved to the left to avoid the truck and caught a passing view of several KzSha in the back of the truck as it whipped in front of him a few feet away. They looked as shocked as he was sure he felt.

The truck driver steered to the left to chase Haju, and the truck went up on two wheels.

“Jack—”

“On it,” the cowboy said. He was already aiming his laser, and he fired. The front wheel of the truck blew out, and the truck rolled over twice, then slammed into—and through—one of the buildings along the road.

A second truck screamed into the intersection behind them, a little slower than the first, and was able to negotiate the turn. The mercs took it under fire, and someone from Torrio’s vehicle shot the truck’s driver from beside it. The truck careened sideways and crashed into a building.

The front windshield exploded, and Taylor flinched away from the flying debris.

“Ya gotta be kidding me!” Taylor yelled when he could see again. “We’re still two blocks from the gate!”

“Lucky shot,” Jack said with a huff. “Tuck in behind Haju…but not too close, in case…”

“Got it,” Taylor replied. He worked his way to the right, and the fire coming toward him slackened. The other vehicles lined up behind him in the rear view mirror.

Which left Haju’s vehicle as the only one the KzSha could shoot at. Haju ducked beneath the piece of garage door on the front of his vehicle. Pieces flew off as the KzSha’s weapons tore into it.

“Shoot back!” Taylor shouted. “Keep their heads down!”

“How can he see from there?” Frank asked.

“Maybe through the slits,” Jack replied. “Beats getting shot in the face.” He leaned out and fired off another battery of shots, then slid back into his seat to slap in another charge.

Haju sped up slightly and charged forward, but Taylor was able to keep up with him.

Why wasn’t he at max the whole time? Taylor shook his head. One block to go.

They began taking fire again, although Taylor couldn’t tell if it was directed at them or just errant shots at Haju.

“Ouch!” Frank flapped a wing. “I’m hit!”

“That’s nothing!” House said. “It’s just a singe.”

“It still hurts!” Frank cried.

“Focus!” Taylor yelled. “Keep shooting!”

A rocket exploded on the right side of Haju’s vehicle, and the section of garage door shattered into a million pieces, like a shotgun blast into Taylor and Jack’s faces.

Taylor ducked away, but several pieces hit him on the cheek and neck. “Son of a—no!”

Haju’s car swerved to the left, overcorrected back to the right, then settled down on target again with the gate. The engine was now screaming, and Taylor could hear a grinding sound in his own motor. Something in the blast got it.

The enemy fire intensified, then they were at the gate. The tow tractors were heavy and packed a lot of momentum, especially when driven by a six-ton Sumatozou, and Haju’s vehicle crashed through the gate. The chain holding the gate closed exploded, and the gate doors blew off their hinges.

Several more shots slammed into Taylor’s vehicle as he passed the guards, then they were out into the open snow.

* * *

The vehicles made it half a mile outside the dome—almost to the narrow passage through the rocks where they’d caught their rides into it—before Haju’s quit entirely. Taylor’s and the one carrying some of Torrio’s men didn’t sound like they’d go much further, either. Taylor risked a glance behind them while Haju extracted himself from the vehicle, and Taylor’s stomach sank. A group of about forty KzSha came through the gates of the dome, led by a squad in their KzSha CASPers.

“What do you think?” Torrio asked. “Keep running for the hills?”

Taylor looked at Haju as he stumbled up to them. The Sumatozou was a mess. The left side of his body had stopped a couple of lasers, and the right side was bleeding in a score of places.

“Haju ain’t gonna make it much farther without serious medical treatment,” Taylor said. “He certainly ain’t gonna be able to run alongside the vehicles.”

“Go on…without me…” Haju gasped.

“Not happenin’,” Taylor replied. “Hey, House, see if any of the vehicles have a medkit or two, and give Haju a hand, would ya?” He looked back to Torrio “We’ll meet them here. If we can turn the vehicles on their sides, we can use them as cover to fight behind.”

“Circle the wagons?” Torrio asked.

“Somethin’ like that, yeah,” Taylor said. “This is as good a spot as any; at least we have a little terrain we can use in our favor.” He arched an eyebrow. “Had any luck raisin’ anyone on the radio?”

“No. You?”

Taylor shook his head. “Doesn’t appear the cavalry’s comin’. I had hoped to make it to the APCs—or at least get to where we could call them—but I can’t get them on the horn. No response from the Osyrys, either.”

“Looks like they outnumber us four to one,” Torrio said, looking at the group of KzSha at the gate as they moved forward, “and about a quarter of them are in CASPers.”

“Ever wanted to fight a desperate battle against incredible odds?” Taylor asked. “Now’s the time.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Torrio said. “You keep trying to call the cavalry; I’ll work on the defenses.”

Taylor nodded. “You got it.” He called Sergeant Ballou with the APCs and Lieutenant Ruiz on the Osyrys, but once again had no luck. They were still within the effective zone of the jammer.

Meanwhile, the River Hawks maneuvered the five tow vehicles into a “U” shape and flipped them on their sides for maximum protection.

“There was only one medkit,”