1 Life 2 Die 4 (17 page)

It took me a second or two to come back to
earth. Veronica had assured me Sahissi was out of energy. Which
meant this guy was most likely just a surveyor using something like
a laser alidade, perhaps to help map the area in preparation for
future road works. Our science or math teacher – I couldn’t
remember which – had told us about them, though I wasn’t sure
exactly how they worked. Anyway, if it had been anything sinister,
I’d probably be watching the guy launch a missile at me right
now!

I really needed to chill
.

Smiling wryly to myself, I peered more
closely at the guy as we drew nearer … and frowned when I noticed
he was dressed entirely in black and that his lips were moving as
if he was talking to someone on a phone. As we cruised closer
still, then beneath him and onto the bridge, I felt the hairs on
the back of my neck prick up – was it just my imagination, or did
he look one hell of a lot like Snake Eyes?

Nervously reassuring myself that I’d seen
that particular scumbag lying dead back inside the Myer Centre, I
glanced ahead, once more scanning the area for signs of trouble -
right at the exact moment that two enormous tanks appeared out of
nowhere, crouched side-by-side across the far end of the
bridge!

*****

3

At the same time, a different guy in black with a
massive tripod-mounted cannon appeared up on the balcony of the
southern living quarters, directly above the row of tanks. My
heart-rate went through the roof as the cars ahead of us squealed
to a halt. Alarm bells were blaring crazily in my head as I whipped
my head round, terrified of what I’d find. Sure enough, behind us
two more massive tanks were now crouched across the entrance to the
bridge, blocking our retreat! The sound of screeching tyres carried
from behind the pair of huge war machines, while up on the balcony
above them, a second gunner was swinging his massive tripod-mounted
gun towards us! I didn't need to look to know the first one would
be doing the same thing.

We were trapped on the bridge … and about to
be blown to hell in a devastating cross-fire!

My mind raced. For some reason, despite what
Veronica had told me, Sahissi’s energy supply was obviously in
fantastic shape! Hell … he’d probably just sent through more heavy
firepower than I’d seen during the entire day up to that point! And
with a flash of despair, I realised this was a completely new game
for another very important reason. Beside me, Veronica was now
little more than a girl, and obviously had no idea what was even
going on. Last time she’d saved my life so many times I’d lost
count. This time I was pretty certain she’d have trouble looking
after herself, let alone me!

I drew a deep breath and tried to ignore the
way most of my body seemed to be shaking.
If we were going to
get out of here alive, it was going to be up to me.

The realisation hit hard. I had no weapon and
I’d never even learned karate or boxing! How could I possibly beat
even a single unarmed man, let alone two trained assassins with
cannons? And that wasn’t even factoring in the four wicked-looking
mega-tanks that had me suddenly wondering if a closer inspection of
the ones we’d fled from earlier that day might have revealed the
word ‘Matchbox' engraved into their chassis.

As Veronica’s mum hit the brakes hard and the
gunners lined us up, I knew we had absolutely no chance.

But I wasn’t about to just lie down and
take what these mongrels were dishing out
.

“OUT, OUT, OUT!” I screamed as I unclipped my
seatbelt and reached across Vee’s lap to grab the door handle while
my other hand unclipped her belt too. Throwing the door open, I
shoved her roughly out ahead of me and we tumbled awkwardly onto
the road beside the car.

"
Stay low
," I told her as I scrambled
up into a crouch, glancing back through the side window just in
time to catch a glimpse of some guy wrenching open the
passenger-side front door. My eyes flicked to the left and I felt
my stomach churn - Veronica’s mum was still in her seat!

I felt like throwing up. There was no way I
could get Mrs Kale out and away before that guy put a bullet in her
… or one of those huge guns obliterated the entire car with her
still inside it. I’d just end up getting Vee and myself killed as
well.

I’d only known Veronica’s mum for perhaps
twenty minutes, yet the realisation gutted me as much as when I’d
sat in the safe-room cradling Veronica’s dead body.

But I had no time for sentiment now
. I
knew that if she could speak to me, she’d beg me to just get her
daughter to safety.

And that’s what I intended to do
.

Yanking the terrified girl to her feet, I
started dragging her towards the side of the bridge. At least if we
jumped we’d have a slim chance of survival – which was a lot better
than our chances if we hung around here.

I was still accelerating when we reached the
railing that separated the footpath from the road, my mind set on
trying to launch the two of us up and over both it and the one a
metre further on at the edge of the bridge. Just as it occurred to
me I might be being a little ambitious, a volley of cannon fire
erupted from either end of the bridge. The air around us shook
violently with a massive explosion and Veronica dragged me to
sudden a halt.

I turned to see what was left of the car
ablaze, dark smoke and long, wicked tongues of orange and red
flames billowing up through a jagged hole in its roof.

“MUUUMMMM!” Veronica screamed, and her
shrill, terrified cry sent a deathly chill up my spine. I knew the
sound would haunt me forever. Just as I knew there’d be no way to
reason with Veronica right now. A minute ago, she’d been relaxing
in the back of her family car listening to some idiot her mother
had picked up in the city. Now the woman she cared most about in
the whole world had just died in a flaming inferno right before her
eyes!

I peered miserably across at the trembling,
distraught girl and abruptly recalled my bewilderment earlier today
when people had first started shooting at me for no apparent
reason. And, I also thought of the devastated sensation I’d felt
when I’d discovered the woman I cared most about in the world was
dead. Now poor Vee was struggling to come to terms with both of
these situations simultaneously, and as I peered at her wide,
disbelieving eyes, I felt my heart melt.

But I had a job to do
.

“It’s okay, Vee – I saw her get out and climb
over the far side of the bridge,” I lied, barely meeting Veronica’s
eyes before I spun back to the railing. “Now we’ve got to go too or
we’re both dead!”

I knew she’d be sceptical; but I also knew
she’d desperately want to believe me.

“Come on!” I urged as I threw a leg up over
the first railing and scrambled over, painfully aware that the
thick smoke which had temporarily screened us from our enemies was
rapidly dissipating.

When I glanced down over the second railing,
I breathed a sigh of relief – at least our luck hadn’t entirely
deserted us. Almost directly below the spot where we stood, a
ladder ran down the side of the bridge! Perhaps we could avoid
jumping after all.

Spinning back, I helped Veronica up over the
first railing, thankful that despite her shock she came willingly.
Then we both scurried over the second railing and I directed her
down the ladder ahead of me. Just as my head sank below the level
of the road, I glanced between the rails and through the clearing
smoke I saw the eastern gunner aiming directly at us. A moment
later, the entire bridge shook as a shell hit the surface just
above us, blasting heavy chunks of bitumen and concrete out through
the air above us.

A second later, I was standing beside
Veronica on a small platform at the base of the ladder while we
stared in surprise at a rope which hung over a hook protruding from
the ladder. Bizarrely, attached to one of two loops which were
knotted into the end was a small piece of paper with some writing
on it. When I bent closer to read it, my eyes widened in
surprise:

“
Swing or die!
”

*****

About the Author

Dean Waite is a teacher from Brisbane, Australia.
Like many authors, he is forced to write in spare snippets of time
while spending most of his time doing a job that pays a regular
income. Fortunately, he also enjoys teaching. Like almost every
other author, however, he would love more time to create new
stories for others who love losing themselves in intriguing
imaginary worlds.

Dean has also written the first book in another
series for young readers, but hopes to find time to write book 2 in
the series before publishing.

Connect with Dean
Waite

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