USW rounds begin to flash past us, and we dive behind a parked car. I drop the LucidVision headset to the road beside me and lean around the bumper of the Eon 14. I see the four soldiers spreading out and taking tactical positions. Two are at the corner of the house we just left and two more are ducked down behind vehicles across the road.

I lean out farther and take one shot. The bullet sparks off the corner of the house, sending a cloud of debris into the air.

How many bullets is that? I think, trying to add them up.

Sam leans out and fires seven, eight rounds. Around thirty rounds come back, rocking the car on its suspension.

“Got one,” she breathes.

I slide the magazine out of the pistol and see that I have six bullets remaining, plus one in the chamber.

“Jesus, these old guns suck!” I hiss as Sam fires again.

“They’re getting closer,” she says, and leans her head against the door of the car. “Fuck it.”

Before I know what’s going on, Sam has darted to the next car. She stands up and fires, then moves again. In no time she’s twenty yards away and aiming at the soldiers from a whole new angle. She fires relentlessly, screaming as she pulls the trigger. I stand up too. Knowing that I can’t waste a single shot, I take my time, trying to ignore the blasts of energy that thump into the car and whoosh past my head. Sam kills another soldier and then ducks back down behind the solar charge panel she is using as cover.

Time seems to slow down as I fire; it’s almost as if I can see the path of the bullet as it misses to the right of the closest soldier. I adjust my aim and pull the trigger twice, but both rounds miss by centimeters. I move a millimeter to the left and fire three times, hitting the young man twice in the neck and once in the jaw. He goes down, and I fall back behind the vehicle.

The last remaining soldier has retreated behind the house. We have to get out of here right now.

“Hey, Regulars,” the final soldier calls, his voice gruff and perhaps a little panicked. “I have an offer for you. How about you put your guns down and come over here, nice and easy?”

“I didn’t hear any offers when there was four of you,” Sam calls back.

“No, but in about thirty seconds there’s going to be about a hundred soldiers backing me up. You can either wait and let them kill you, or I can arrest you right now. You get to keep your lives and I look like a hero. Everyone’s a winner.”

Sam looks over to me. I shake my head. “Fuck that,” I call back.