Page 103 of Red Zone Awakened

CHAPTER44

Buffalo Bayou Park

Houston, Northern Territory

“I’m taking the chopper down.”Striker spoke into his comm as he watched the shuttle hit Waugh Bridge.

The blast waves made the chopper dance on his way down into the park.Striker fought with the controls, taking the helicopter into a steep descent, aiming for the side of the bayou where he could see Mace lying on the bank, Ignacio leaning over him, checking the field dressing on his chest.A field dressing that looked suspiciously like red lingerie.

A dark cloud caught his attention, and his heart jerked in his chest.

When the shuttle crashed into the bridge, it disturbed the bats living under it, and they’d taken to the sky in one great chaotic cloud.There was no time to lose.He had to set the chopper down before they swarmed his craft and he plummeted to the ground.

“I’m coming in hard,” he told Hunter back at their mobile base.He wished he could tell Sandi the same, but her comms had been washed out.“We’ve got bats in the air.”

“Damn,” was all Hunter said.

Striker didn’t so much land the chopper as drop it out of the sky.He struck the ground with a thump and a shudder.

“I’m down,” he told Hunter.“But there’s no way I can take off again.The sky’s black with bats.”

“Already on it.I’ve got Gray and Zane on their way.They’ll take you out by road.”

“What’s the ETA on Enforcement?”

“They’ve been delayed.”There was a grin in Hunter’s voice.“I got in contact with our hacker friend, and he’s infected the Enforcement grid with a new virus he wrote.It won’t stall them for long—five, ten minutes at most—but it’s something.It cost us, though.”

“Whatever you had to pay, it’s worth double.”Striker powered down the chopper before climbing out.“Medical assistance?”

“On standby.Gray’s got the coordinates.I’ve hacked the city’s camera network, and it’s gone black.That’ll buy you a window to get out of there.I also made sure to delete all footage I could find of the shuttle descending toward the bayou.No one will know the people on board managed to evacuate before it blew.”

“Good job.”Striker ran over to his teammates and crouched beside them.“How’s he doing?”he asked Ignacio.

“Still breathing.Heartbeat’s weak.He’s losing blood, internally as well as through that.”He pointed to the metal tube poking out of Mace’s chest.

Striker waved a hand to ward off some stray bats spiraling around them.“Sandi?Keiko?”

Ignacio nodded toward the bridge, where the two women were climbing out of the bayou.Sandi had an arm supporting Keiko, who looked weak and was clearly struggling to stand on her own.Her eyes shot straight to Mace, and her strength seemed to return.She rushed forward, limping on a foot that’d lost its shoe.There was blood on her ankle and hands, bruises everywhere else.Her hair was wet and matted, her clothes torn, but she was alive.

She stumbled over the rocky ground and fell to her knees beside Mace.“Is he still alive?”she asked Ignacio, her voice trembling.With hesitation, as though afraid of what she’d find, she reached for Mace and took his hand in hers.

“He’s alive,” Ignacio said.“He’s too stubborn to die.”

Keiko leaned over and pressed her ear to Mace’s chest, right above his heart.

“No trust,” Ignacio grumbled as her whole body sagged with relief.

Two bats swooped in, dancing around their heads, and Keiko’s eyes went wide.With a start, she jerked away from Mace and stared up at the cloud of bats swarming above.Before anyone could say anything, she was on her feet, her focus on the cloud.

“Bat,” she shouted.“Bat!”

“Calm down.”Striker stood and placed a hand on each of her arms.

Keiko shook him off.“Baaaat!”

“She’s losing it,” he told Ignacio.“We need to get out of here before she goes into shock.”

“I’m not losing anything.I’m trying to find Mace’s bat.It has to be with them.Right?I mean, instinct would tell it to find other bats.”She took a deep breath and screeched, “Bat!”