A deafening explosion shook the world. It was loud enough that Manny didn’t even properly hear it. He felt it, hard and hot against his skin. The sheer impossible noise of it pulled the air from his lungs and the thoughts from his head.

The next instant he was flat on the ground. His eyes darted left and right for cover. He spotted something: an artificial cave, built into a corner of the main room, perhaps a hundred feet away. It looked like some sort of shrine or temple. Manny could see the walls were thick with melted candles, colorful drawings, and a variety of brass symbols.

He grabbed Reggie by the shoulder and shook, hard. The other man jerked, locked eyes with Manny, and mouthed, “What?”

The fixer pointed toward the shrine, pulled himself up, and sprinted toward it. The journalist followed, and soon both men were huddled in the little substructure, staring out at the devastation that had overtaken the RAP. They could see two holes in the roof. The huge circular kitchen/bar looked like it had taken a direct hit. Beer spurted from shattered taps, and Manny could see what looked like blood staining the white oak of the bar counter. Flames licked somewhere off in the distance, on the other side of the vast structure. The air smelled of smoke and burning grass.

More blasts sounded in the distance, including a few that were just too loud to be mortarfire. Now that he focused, Manny could also hear the chatter of machine guns. It was distant, but not nearly as distant as it should’ve been.

Manny dug into his pocket, found where the deck was clipped inside, and thumbed the power button. Static flashed at the edge of his vision as his implants started up. He nearly always ran in minimalist mode, which gave him access to his maps and his communications suite and nothing else. He selected his address book and subvocalized his cousin’s name; “Alejandro.” It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

“Hey man?” Reggie said, his voice oddly calm. “I think we might need to get the fuck out of here.”

Manny looked over at the Brit and then toward the flames. They were bigger now, and closer. He could see a dozen or so men and women fighting the fire with hoses and extinguishers. They didn’t seem to be winning. Elsewhere, he saw small groups breaking cover to run for the exits. The sound of alarm bells echoed across the big structure. Alejandro hadn’t responded, which meant he was fighting or dead. Either way, Manny and Reggie would need to find their own ride out of this mess.