Reckoners 01 - Steelheart

said. “Not right. That’s—”
    A motorcycle followed us into the alleyway. Bullets hit the wall just above my head. And right in front of us the alley ended in a wall. Megan tried to brake.
    I didn’t think. I grabbed the gun with both hands, leaned back, and raised the barrel right over Megan’s shoulder.
    Then I fired at the wall.

29
    THE wall before us went up in a flash of green energy. Megan tried to turn the cycle and stop. We skidded through the churning green smoke, pebbles scattering under our tires, and slid out onto the street on the other side, where we came to a halt. Megan’s body was braced for impact. She seemed stunned.
    The Enforcement cyclist burst from the smoke. I swung the gauss gun and blasted his cycle out from underneath him. The shot turned the whole motorcycle into a flash of green energy, vaporizing it and part of the officer on it. His body went rolling.
    The gun was amazing—there was no recoil, and the shots
vaporized
instead of really
exploding
. That left little debris, but gave a great light show and a lot of smoke.
    Megan turned toward me, a grin splitting her lips. “About time you started doing something useful back there.”
    “Go,” I said. The sound of more cycles was coming from the alley way.
    Megan revved our motorcycle, then led us in a darting, stomach-churning pattern through the narrow streets of the slum. I couldn’t turn to fire the gun behind us as we drove, so instead I clung to her waist with one hand and settled the gun on her shoulder to steady it, using the iron sights, scope folded down to the side.
    We roared out of an alleyway and skidded toward a blockade. I blasted a hole through a truck for us, then for good measure hit the armored unit with a shot to the leg. Soldiers scattered, yelling, some trying to fire as we sped through the opening I’d made. The armor unit collapsed and Megan dodged to the side, down a dark alley. Shouts and curses sounded behind as some of the cycles chasing us got caught up in the confusion.
    “Nice work,” Tia said in our ears, her voice calm again. “I think I can get you to the understreets. There’s an old tunnel up ahead at the bottom of a flood gulley. You might have to blast your way through some walls, though.”
    “I think I can hit a wall or two,” I said. “So long as they aren’t good at dodging.”
    “Be careful,” Prof said. “That gun drinks energy like Tia with a six-pack of cola. That power cell could run a small city, but it will give you only a dozen shots at best. Abraham, you still with us?”
    “I’m here.”
    “You in the bolt-hole?”
    “Yes. Bandaging my wound. It’s not too bad.”
    “I’ll be the judge of that. I’m almost to you. Cody, status?”
    “I can see the limo,” Cody said in my ear as Megan took another corner. “I’ve mostly shaken pursuit. I’ve got a tensor; I’ll hit the limo with a grenade, then use the tensor to drill myself down to the understreets.”
    “Not an option,” Prof said. “It’ll take you too long to drill down that far.”
    “Wall!” Tia said.
    “Got it,” I said, blasting a hole through a wall at the end of an alleyway. We roared out into a backyard, and I blasted a hole in another wall, letting us cut into the next yard. Megan turned us to the right, then drove us through a very narrow slot between two houses.
    “Go left,” Tia said as we reached the street.
    “Prof,” Cody said. “I can
see
the limo. I can hit it.”
    “Cody, I don’t—”
    “I’m taking the shot, Prof,” Cody said. “Abraham’s right. Steelheart’s going to come for us after this. We need to hurt him as much as we can, while we can.”
    “All right.”
    “Turn right,” Tia said.
    We turned.
    “I’m sending you through a large building,” Tia said. “Can you handle that?”
    Gunfire sprayed against the wall beside us, and Megan cursed, hunkering down farther. I held the gauss gun in a sweaty grip, feeling terribly exposed with my back to the enemy. I could hear the cycles back there.
    “They
really
seem to want you two,” Tia said softly. “They’re pulling a lot of resources toward you, and … Calamity!”
    “What?” I said.
    “My video feed just went out,” Tia said. “Something’s wrong. Cody?”
    “Little busy,” he grunted.
    More gunfire sounded from behind. Something hit the cycle, jarring us, and Megan cursed.
    “The building, Tia!” I said. “How do we find that building? We’ll lose them inside.”
    “Second