Shock and fear thundered through her. They were no longer hidden.
Selena watched the raptors explode into action. Poison sprayed around them, and she ducked behind some equipment. Tane slid in beside her.
She reached down and touched the antidote containers attached to her belt. They were safe. But she felt the weight of them, of the responsibility. They needed to get to the bomb.
“Come on, you scaly assholes.” Hemi’s booming voice.
Selena peeked around and saw the berserkers advancing, Hemi in the lead.
“I’m borrowing Hell Squad’s battle cry,” Hemi yelled. “You devils need a damn ass-kicking.”
Griff threw a grenade. The device sailed through the air and exploded. He tossed another one, and this one was cineole. The sharp scent of it filled the air.
A monster-raptor charged with an ear-splitting roar.
“Come on,” Tane said. “While my squad keeps them busy.”
She took his hand and they leaped up, running toward the bomb.
Two raptors sprinted right at them.
Tane launched into a brutal attack. The aliens towered over him, but the exoskeleton in his armor increased his strength and speed. He fired his carbine, then lunged and ducked. He whirled, his combat knife in hand. He stabbed the second raptor in the side.
He was rising when a canid leaped over a crate right at him.
Gasping, Selena darted forward. She threw her hand out. Bright light flashed from her palm. Blinded, the canid landed badly, then stumbled and shook its head.
She lifted both her arms up, drawing whatever power she could. A stream of water flew through the air toward her. She moved her hands, the water forming a huge ball between her fingers.
She threw it at the canid.
The water engulfed the alien dog’s head. It jerked and shuddered as it drowned.
“Remind me to really not piss you off, Butterfly.” Tane wrapped an arm around her and urged her toward the bomb.
Energy hit her senses, like an itch over her skin. Oh, no.
“Tane, I can sense more raptors flooding into the base. Hundreds of them.”
He closed his eyes for a second. There was no way out. He knew it, and she knew it.
“We complete the mission,” he said.
The berserkers were still fighting ferociously and laughing. They showed no fear. They lived their lives flat-out, with everything they had.
They had to make this count.
Selena and Tane sprinted to the bomb. Tane shouldered into a raptor and kicked it.
She would never get tired of watching him move. He fought with a ferocity that made her breathless.
As they approached the bomb, she yanked one of the antidote containers off her belt. They were almost there.
She just needed to get up—
Something dived at her from above.
Selena screamed and dodged, glancing upward. One of the scaled birds was flying back toward the ceiling, while another one arrowed down toward her. She ducked, trying to evade it.
“Selena!” Tane yelled.
Bent over, she darted toward the bomb. So close…
A bird hit her head, its beak stabbing at her face.
Ahh. She threw an arm up. The bird’s heavy body crashed against her. The antidote flew out of her hand, hit the ground, and rolled.
No. No. No.
She shoved at the bird. She threw a flash of energy at it and it flew off, squawking angrily.
Pain throbbed in her head and she felt wetness sliding down her face. She couldn’t see out of one eye. She swiped her hand across her face and saw blood on her fingers.
“Selena.” Tane appeared, firing up at the birds.
“I’m okay. Just scratches. The antidote.”
They both spun…just in time to see a raptor step on the antidote. The container cracked under his boot and broke.
“No!” she cried.
Tane fired, unloading a barrage of laser fire into the raptor. More raptor soldiers appeared from around the other side of the bomb, their weapons up.
“Fall back!” Tane roared.
“We need to get the antidote in there.” Selena fingered the last vial. “We can still—”
A monster-raptor charged toward them, knocking equipment out of the way. Now that she was closer to it, she saw that it had a long tail behind it, with a sharp spike on the end.
“We can’t help anyone if we’re dead,” Tane barked. “Come on.”
Together, they ran toward the berserkers.
The monster-raptor gave chase, its steps making the ground vibrate.
Her breath hitched. It was gaining on them. Tane turned, firing behind them.
“Keep running.” He stopped, continuing to fire on the incoming raptor.
“No.” She wasn’t going to leave him.
He scowled “Selena—”
“Hey, butt-face!”
Hemi stood nearby, standing up atop some crates. He fired a deadly-looking shotgun.
Boom.
The monster-raptor stopped and roared.
Hemi roared back, then leaped off the crates. He fired again. “Go!”
Tane picked Selena up and ran.
Hemi walked backward, still firing his shotgun. The monster-raptor lowered its head, its tentacles waving madly. Then it charged.
“Hemi!” Tane yelled.
Hemi spun and ran, but he wasn’t going to be fast enough. The monster-raptor bore down on him.
Selena’s throat closed. She’d fallen for Hemi’s rough charm and sense of humor, and she knew how much Tane loved his brother. She lifted her hand and focused.
The monster-raptor stopped like it had hit a wall. It tried to move its arms and legs but was stuck.
Tane set her down, keeping his arms around her.
“Can’t…hold it…long,” she said through gritted teeth. She’d already used too much energy, and her abilities were flagging.
“Hemi!” Tane roared. “Retreat. Now!”
Hemi shot a finger at the monster-raptor and turned, running toward them.
Suddenly, the monster-raptor’s tail whipped around. Selena saw it coming and she felt Tane tense.
The sharp tip of the tail speared into Hemi’s side. Blood spurted.
“No!”
Selena fought to hold the Gizzida. Hemi fell backward, clutching his bleeding stomach and side.
“Get him,” she whispered.
She had to hold the monster-raptor back. She had to buy them time to get Hemi.
Tane sprinted forward, and Griff bolted to join him. Together, the two men pulled the injured berserker away.
“Fuck…hurts,” Hemi groaned.
“I can’t h-hold it much longer,” Selena gasped.
Tane and Griff hefted Hemi up between them, his arms slung around their shoulders.
Dom took Selena’s arm. “Let’s go, cara.”
They turned and ran. Selena dropped the flow of energy. Behind them, she heard the monster-raptor roar.
Tane gritted his teeth together so hard his jaw hurt. “We need somewhere to hide, or we’re going to have raptors all over us.” He hefted Hemi higher. “You hanging in there, bro?”
“Hell, yeah.”
But his brother’s voice was weak and laced with pain.
“I know a place,” Levi said. “Ventilation ducts off the lower maintenance area.” The berserker lifted a shoulder. “Fucked a maintenance engineer a few times way back. She showed me.”
They followed Levi deeper into the bowels of the abandoned base. Every now and then, they heard the distant roar of a monster-raptor.
“They’re coming,” Selena said. “They’ll keep hunting us.”
“Fuck ’em,” Hemi grunted.
Finally, they burst through the door into the maintenance area. All the ventilation equipment was quiet, and covered with dust.
“Dom, hide our footprints,” Tane ordered.
“On it.”
“Here.” Levi rounded some equipment and Tane spotted the large, mesh grate set into the wall.
He nodded at Levi, and Ash joined the other man. The two of them grunted and growled, and pulled the grate off.
They all ducked into the ventilation tunnel, which was not quite high enough for them to stand in. Once they were all inside, Ash turned and set the grate back in place.
They laid Hemi out on the concrete, and Tane clicked on the flashlight attached to his shoulder.
His gut clenched. There was so much blood, and Hemi’s face was pale behind his beard.
“Just a tiny scratch,” Hemi said, weakly. “Once I get my breath back, I’ll be fine.”
“Let me.” Selena moved closer and Tane felt a punch of relief.
When she saw Tane’s face, she cupped his cheek for a second, offering him comfort. Damn, Tane was in love with this small, alien woman.
“Get his armor off,” she said.
Griff reached out and helped. Hemi hissed out a breath. Selena gasped, and Tane gritted his teeth.
The alien spike had made a mess, tearing up Hemi’s gut and side.
She put her hands over the injury, and Hemi groaned.
“I know,” she murmured. “It won’t hurt for long, I promise.”
Her hands glowed, lighting up the narrow tunnel. Hemi grunted.
Tane moved closer, pressing his palm to his brother’s shoulder. Hemi would be okay. He had to be.
Slowly, the tension in Hemi’s body drained away. Relief shuddered through Tane, but when he looked at Selena, he saw she was trembling. Lines of strain bracketed her mouth.
“Selena?”
“Low…on energy.” Her voice was slurred. “Almost there.”
She’d used up too much energy in the fight, and she’d already healed him earlier.
“Enough,” he said.
“Just…a bit more.”
Hemi sucked in a deep breath and Selena grimaced.
“Enough.” Tane pulled her away.
She slumped against him, shivering. Hemi’s injury was still red and raw, but the skin had started to knit, and it was no longer bleeding.
“Patch him up,” Tane said.
Ash grabbed his medic bag and opened a small field kit. “I could give him a dose of nanomeds.”
“No,” Hemi growled. “That’ll put me out of action for a while and you’ll need to monitor me. I’m feeling much better.”
“Got most of the deeper damage.” Selena’s voice was soft, weak.
Tane pressed her face to his chest. “Rest now.”
Suddenly, they heard a clunking noise out in the maintenance area. They all froze and Tane clicked his flashlight off.
In the dark, his pulse hammered. He felt Selena’s fingers bite into his arm, and they heard guttural speech, followed by heavy footsteps.
The raptors were searching for them.
Selena gripped Tane’s arm and he slid his hand up and tangled their fingers. He saw the shadow of a raptor move past the grate.
Keep moving, assholes.
The berserkers waited, tense, all of them clutching their weapons. They all knew they were in the worst possible position if they were discovered.
Moments later, there was silence.
They were gone.
Everyone relaxed and blew out a sharp breath.
“That was fun,” Levi muttered darkly.
Hemi sat up. “I’m already feeling better. Thanks, Selena.”
She nodded, still slumped against Tane.
“You need to eat something.” Tane pulled a granola bar out of his emergency rations.
She broke a chunk off, and chewed robotically.
“Right, we get one more chance to get the antidote into the bomb,” Tane said.
His squad looked at him, faces grim but determined.
They all knew the odds weren’t great that they’d survive this mission, but it would be their most important one.
“We won’t be able to get across the main floor to the bomb again. There are just too many aliens and we have no idea if our illusion systems will work again.”
Everyone nodded.
“We can try to get to the bomb from above,” Tane suggested.
Selena tilted her head. “And drop the antidote down?”
He nodded.
“That’s risky,” she said. “If anything goes wrong…”
“It’s the best option we have.”
She nodded.
“While Selena and I deliver the antidote, I need you guys to make the biggest diversion you’ve ever done in your entire lives.”
The berserkers broke out in grins.
“Now you’re talking,” Levi drawled.
“We’re fighting for humanity’s survival. The survival of all the people we know and love.” Tane looked down at Selena. “And for our planet. These bastards do not get to take it.”
“Hell, yeah,” Hemi said.
“Watch out, motherfuckers,” Griff muttered.
“Hemi, you ready to roll?” Tane asked.
“Yeah. Ready to show some raptors the business end of my carbine.”
They waited a bit longer, then they crawled out of the vent and carefully back into the tunnels. He saw a child’s discarded teddy bear, stained and torn, shoved against the wall. He spotted a pretty, pink shoe. A book lay open on the concrete floor, pages torn and damp. Signs of life. Once, Blue Mountain Base had been a sanctuary and home for them. Now, it was in ruins, desecrated by the Gizzida.
Just another thing to make the aliens pay for.
After having to hide several times, and a tense moment where a canid almost found them, they were back at the central core.
Somewhere, a monster-raptor roared. Its cry echoed through the tunnels.
“Selena and I will head up those stairs.” Tane jerked his head.
Hemi held up a grenade. “We’ll move to the other side and make a little mess.”
Tane pulled Hemi in for a one-armed hug. All the berserkers hugged Selena and slapped Tane’s back.
“Let’s make it count,” Tane said.
“Beers are on me when we get back.” Levi smiled, the expression not quite reaching his eyes.
There was a tightly wound thread of tension in the air. Each of them knew the odds were well against them having those beers.
They had to make this last attempt worth it.
Tane took Selena’s hand. He took one last look at his brother and friends, then headed up the stairs.
He kept his voice low. “We’ll wait for the diversion to start—”
A raptor rounded the landing.
Fuck. Its red eyes widened, and Tane threw himself forward. They crashed together.
Grunting and straining, they shoved against each other. Tane took a hit to the gut that made him stagger. The raptor’s red eyes zeroed in on Selena.
Hell, no. Tane yanked his knife off his belt and stabbed the raptor in the chest. The alien swung and Tane ducked, then stabbed again. He kept stabbing, doing whatever he had to in order to protect his woman.
The raptor slumped against the wall, leaving a smear of blood down the concrete.
“Come on.” They ran upstairs.
They broke out onto the level above and moved to the edge. The concrete was jagged from where the walls had been blown up. They peered down.
They were positioned almost directly over the bomb.
Explosions started on the far side of the space, and Tane heard Hemi’s wild laugh. Damn, his brother was a rough, crazy bastard. He’d never once let Tane down.
Raptors were tossed through the air, and a monster-raptor fell, equipment crashing on top of it.
But Tane spotted some movement in another area of the cavern. Several raptors were lifting what looked like some sort of Gizzida rocket launcher.
Tane touched his ear. “Hemi, watch out. They have an RPG—”
Boom.
The missile launched. The explosion rocked the entire base, parts of the roof caving in from above. Giant chunks of concrete rained down, smashing into equipment and raptors.
Selena lost her balance and threw her arms out. She screamed and tumbled over the edge.
“Selena!”
He lunged for her and managed to grab her hand before she was completely gone.
Crouching on the edge, he looked down into her panicked face as she dangled over the dangerous drop.