James Axler – Zero City

GRABBING THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER from the wall niche, Krysty sprayed carbon dioxide foam over the whole expanse of the material. The canister died quickly, but all of the hot spots were quenched. However, more and more embers were drifting downward. Already the woman could see huge sections of bare wire above, the strands snapping from the accumulated heat. The next Molotov would drop through, falling straight to the basement, and she had nothing but blasters to stop the advance of the deadly fire.

“THEY’RE NOT TRYING for a capture anymore,” Ryan snarled, coughing from the thick clouds of smoke blowing in over the barricade. It reeked of the drain cleaner, and he tried his best not to breathe any of the bluish smoke directly. Who knew what it would do to his lungs.

Fanning himself with the fedora, J.B. said, “How about we make a run for it? Try and lure them to the library and set the muties free?”

“Too far,” Jak said, slapping shut the cylinder of his reloaded blaster.

The temperature was rising fast from the two fires. Ryan wiped the sweat off his brow with a sleeve and glanced around the building, counting their options. They were low on ammo, with no more bombs, missiles or grenades. The building was on fire, and surrounded by the enemy who wouldn’t consider a surrender. The stairs were clear. They could reach the roof easily and jump to the pawnshop, but then what? There was no way across that street without the sec men seeing them, and night was hours away.

“Can’t sit here,” Jak drawled, brushing an ember off his sleeve. The crackling of the fire was getting louder, as the flames found new fuel in the floor tiles and wall paneling.

“What do you want to do, charge them?” Jak hawked and spit to clear his throat. “Element surprise.”

“Sure as shit would surprise me,” J.B. agreed angrily.

“J.B., what did you mean nothing was ready?” Ryan asked brusquely.

The Armorer took a moment to mentally shift gears. “You mean the stuff downstairs? Well, I have some poison-gas bombs cooking, but they’re still green. Wouldn’t make a kitten ill. Tomorrow, they will be lethal as a nuke.”

“Tomorrow isn’t today. Would they smoke much?”

“You mean now? Sure. But it’s just smoke.” Jak barked a laugh. “Once burned, twice shy.” Sidestepping some embers, J.B. grinned. “They’ll think it’s another sandstorm gag, us attacking under cover of the smoke.”

“Work?” Jak asked pointedly.

“Better,” Ryan said, starting for the stairs.

MINUTES PASSED as Leonard watched the fire spread throughout the building, a thick plume of smoke rising into the sky. Then he gasped as a barrage of glass bottles came hurtling from the roof to loudly crash on the street. He flinched, expecting gouts of flame from Molotovs to erupt at each impact. But instead, volumes of grayish-green smoke flowed from the puddles. Billowing clouds of smoke filled the street, flooding into the alleyway and stores. Suddenly, a volley of blasterfire erupted from the defenders. In horror, the young baron realized it was a deadly repeat of the fight at the bank. Visibility dropped to zero, and the sec men started to pull back, unwilling to chance contact with the dense smoke.

“Attack!” Leonard shouted, pounding on the garbage bin. “Attack now, you stinking cowards!”

The desert breeze was already starting to thin the chem fog, and so the sec men slowly began to advance into the dark clouds, disappearing from view. Drawing his own blaster, the baron waited impatiently for the sounds of combat to renew when somebody coughed a few more times in the alleyway behind him.

“Shut up, fools,” he snapped irritably. “It’s only smoke.” But then something hot and hard pressed painfully against the back of his head.

“Freeze,” Ryan ordered, grabbing a fistful of hair to hold the youth motionless. “Tell your men to stop attacking and start shoveling sand.”

“What?”

“Put out the fire!”

Breathing hard, Leonard glanced down and through the thinning clouds of smoke. He could see the still forms of his bodyguards lying on the ground, most of their heads missing.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked through clenched teeth.