James Axler – The Mars Arena

Wags had been blown haphazardly around, tumbling over one another. Even rusted ones showed new scratches and dents, whole patches of oxidized metal rubbed raw again.

On the other side of the garage, Jak had stopped the extra horse for Doc. The old man appeared shaken up but whole. Jak had to assist him in getting a boot into the stirrup, then reached down and grabbed Doc’s waistband, helping pull him into the saddle.

Krysty navigated the stairway leading to the upper floors. The horses’ hooves rang on the stone, echoing hollowly in the cavernous vault. Mildred was behind her, trailed by Thompson, Conor, Perry and Dean.

Coming up behind Doc, Ryan looked down and saw Bernsen’s body nearly buried in refuse that had tumbled from the ceiling. His throat was cut, clots of crimson covering the front of his shirt.

“What happened to him?” Ryan asked.

Doc grabbed the reins from Jak. “Thank you, my dear boy. I fear I am somewhat shaken about, and my equestrian skills are not as sharp as we would prefer.” He shifted his attention to Ryan. “He suggested, very strongly, that I be remiss in my friendship. I corrected his oversight.”

“For once and for all, it looks to me,” J.B. noted.

“Yes.”

Ryan slapped Doc’s mount on the flank and got it moving. Doc guided it up the stairs, the horse’s breath blowing out in steamy clouds as it clopped up the steps.

Glancing out the hole made by the plas ex, Ryan spotted the sec wags only a few yards away.

“They might get them in here if they’re lucky,” J.B. said, clamping down his fedora more tightly. “But even if they get them through that maze of wrecked wags, there’s no way they’re going to get them up these stairs.”

Ryan nodded, glancing up. Jak was already navigating the landing. “Mebbe some waiting outside.” He waited expectantly for blasterfire, but none came.

“Had wags outside,” Jak called down. “Took coil wires.” He held them up. “Got time, we make them ours.”

Following J.B., Ryan urged his horse up the stairs. The saddle rocked violently under him as the animal found a gait that would allow it to climb the incline. Passing through the landing required a little more skill.

He caught the door at the top of the stairs as J.B. passed through, then the next one that opened up onto the main lobby. The horse’s breath was loud in his ears, rasping back and forth like a bellows.

Dust filled the lobby, swirling in gusts that were lit up by the lanterns hanging on the walls. The horses’ hooves striking the concrete under the tattered carpet made the building sound hollow, empty.

The smack of a bullet hitting flesh and the vibration under his thigh was the only warning Ryan had about snipers in the room. He wheeled his mount to the right, felt it stumble for a moment under him and spotted three men firing from entranceways across the foyer.

Over half the horses were already out the door. Ryan glimpsed the night sky beyond, filled with bright, dazzling stars.

Facing the men head-on to present a smaller target with the horse, Ryan lifted the SIG-Sauer and squeezed off rounds. Bullets plucked at his clothing, one of them burning a furrow across his temple above his left ear.

He put the sights over the lantern on the wall by the man on the right. Squeezing off a pair of rounds, he watched he lantern come apart, drenching the sec man in oil. The burning wick fell more slowly, but when it touched the man, it wreathed him in flames.

The man started to scream, distracting the other two gunners nearby.

Maintaining his stance, Ryan shot the next man in the head, then fired the blaster’s magazine dry, hitting the last man in the chest and the throat, knocking him down.

J.B. held the door for him.

Ryan kicked his mount and ducked under the door frame. It was immediately cooler outside. In the moonlight he could see the blood dripping from his horse’s nostrils, letting him know at least one of the bullets that had hit the animal had cored through one or both lungs. It was dying beneath him. He took the empty magazine from the SIG-Sauer and rammed a fresh one home, thumbing the slide release so it snapped closed.