Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius (best ereader for comics txt) 📕

I can blink, my body gets thrown back as a missile slams into the drones in front of us. I jump back to my feet as fast as I can and run to the point of impact. The explosion of the missile has left a ringing in my ear.

I reach the drones at the same time as Titan and K. Most of them have been blown to pieces, but there are three who I can see are picking themselves up. Sil’s screams draw my attention to the ground to my left. Titan and K get to him before I do.

They are rolling him onto his back as I arrive. His body is covered with scattered cuts, including his face. It looks he was showered with shrapnel.

“I can’t see!” Sil yells.

I inspect his face again and see that there are cuts from shrapnel around his eyes. Dr. Metzger arrives and kneels by my side.

She inspects Sil’s eyes carefully. “They should heal fine once you get into the hyperbaric chamber at your bunker. Don’t rub them or touch them.”

Another explosion goes off behind us, near the library again. The Genesys are back on their feet and walk over to us, some of them rubbing the ringing out of their ears. I notice mine still have a faint ring, but I ignore it.

“We need to keep moving,” one of the remaining drones says.

I look at K. “Will you guide Sil and make sure he’s protected?”

“Yeah,” she says without hesitation. We help Sil stand. He groans in pain as he gets to his feet. K takes his hand and places it on her shoulder. “Don’t let go.”

“I won’t,” Sil says with a shaking fear in his voice.

We press on as fast as the group can, which is just a hair quicker than a walk. A few more missiles explode around us, but none close enough to do more than spray us with dirt. We stay as close to the building as we can to at least have some cover.

As we inch closer and closer to the end of the scientists’ quarters, the screams, shots, and other sounds of fighting grow louder. I’m worried that we are missing Fe by traveling outside the buildings.

We arrive at a part of the compound where the building connects to the exterior wall, and we have no other option than to reenter. The drones lead the way through a door to make sure the coast is clear. After firing a few shots, they wave us in.

“Keep Ox, Mag, and Sil in the middle,” I shout to the other Genesys. “We need to protect them and make sure we all make it to the Flyz.”

We all reorganize to make sure that those three are in the middle. Dr. Metzger joins them and grabs the rifle from Sil.

“What are you doing?” Sil calls out.

“You can’t see,” she answers back.

“Do you even know how to shoot?” Sodi mocks her.

“About as well as you know how to practice medicine.” Dr. Metzger raises her gun and aims it down the hallway.

We continue forward and turn at the end of the hallway. As we walk, I look into an open door on the right and instantly recognize the room. It’s the surveillance room. There is no one in there, but the monitors are all functioning and show various images of the outsiders’ city. It’s quiet, except for a few people walking around as if it were just another day. It appears, though, that the majority of the outsiders are here, fighting.

As we press on, the two Genesys at the end of the pack, Ev and Al, fire their guns. I look back and see a couple of outsiders, a couple of drones, and a scientist on the ground. I don’t recognize the scientist, but he must have been one of the Mutineers.

When we reach the end of this hallway, the drones stop. Titan and I jog up to the drones.

“What is it?” Titan asks.

One of the drones holds a finger to his mouth and points around the corner. Titan and I peek around. Halfway down the hall is an open double door. There is a consistent stream of outsiders and drones running into the room empty-handed. When they exit the room, they are all carrying a weapon. Most of them are rifles.

I look at Titan. “What do you think?”

He shrugs. “That must be the real weapons cache.”

“It is,” one of the drones speaks up. “We will run at them and take out as many as we can—try to thin the herd.”

“Shoot the ones coming out with the weapons,” I say. “We will shoot the ones running into the room.”

Titan and I move back to let the three drones step up to the corner. My shoulder gets bumped from behind, and when I look, I see Dr. Metzger standing next to me.

“I’ll go with you,” she says to the drones.

“No,” I hear Ev say behind us.

“We need to make sure you guys make it,” Dr. Metzger says forcefully.

“Wait.” I look at the drones. “Where do we go from here?”

“At the end of this hallway, there is a double door that leads to the hangar that holds the rollpods,” he answers.

“Is that where all the people are coming from?” I ask.

“Yes. That is also where the major battle is happening, but it’s the only way to get to the hangar with the Flyz,” he says as he looks back around the corner. “We should go.”

In an instant, the three drones turn the corner and run toward the weapons cache, firing their guns. Dr. Metzger runs behind them. She’s shooting as well, but struggling. They kill about a dozen before the outsiders and other drones return fire.

Titan and I shoot from our covered position around the corner and manage to hit a few ourselves. One of the drones protecting us gets hit, and then another.

I look back at the other Genesys. “Sodi. Come shoot!”

She happily takes my place, and I turn to the others. “K, stay here with