And saw, on the far side of the room, the main doors open, and three people fight their way through the tide of escaping civilians. One was a short, dumpy young guy; another was a thin man of medium height; and the third was a tall woman with a heavy fall of midnight-dark hair. They saw me and immediately began fighting their way in my direction.

Harry Bolt.

Toys.

And Violin.

CHAPTER 168

THE PAVILION

BLUE DIAMOND ELITE TRAINING CENTER

STEVENS COUNTY, WASHINGTON

The K-110 moved like a predatory dinosaur—a velociraptor for the techno age.

The driver shifted from the minigun to a rocket launcher and sent grenade after grenade into the trees. The forest blew apart in sheets of flame and burning gas, and the machine walked into that hell.

Andrea saw this from behind the corner of the compound’s sewage pump house. He had Lightning Bugs, but the machine was still out of range.

“Monkey balls,” he said over and over again.

There was nowhere for him to go. If he stayed where he was, the Fixers would find him in seconds. If he ran, he’d be exposed, because the next good cover was at least thirty yards away across the firing range. The irony of that was not lost on him.

His only option, then, was to wait and, in the last second before they cut him down, try to use the EMP bomb to stop the fighting machine.

“Hairy monkey balls,” he muttered and touched his chest over his heart, seeing the face of his husband and their little girl. Aching that he would never see them again. Then he set his jaw, took the Lightning Bug in his hand, put his thumb on the switch, and waited for the end.

“Vaffanculo!” he yelled as he began to rise up.

But then the wall of trees to the left of the approaching K-110 burst apart as another fighting machine slammed its way onto the road, firing grenade after grenade into the Fixers. The men in body armor were hurled through the air like straw in a stiff breeze, and the K-110 staggered and crashed onto its side.

Andrea stared in shock, and then he saw the words Hot Mama painted in big red letters on the side of the cowling.

Top Sims had joined the fight.

CHAPTER 169

EAST TEXAS CONVENTION CENTER

LABORDE, TEXAS

Violin crushed me with a quick, fierce hug.

“Thank the goddess you’re alive, Joseph.”

“Working on it,” I said. “Thank whoever that you’re all here. This is a shit storm.”

“How can we help?” asked Toys.

I quickly explained the situation. Toys and Violin nodded; Harry looked confused and a bit scared, but he gave a nod, too. They all had standard handguns as well as Snelligs.

“I need a dart gun,” I said, and Violin gave me hers. “Thanks. Look, you three do what you can out here.”

“Where are you going?” asked Violin.

“After Santoro.”