The Red line.
698 Words
The crawler jolted over the broken pavement, the engine screaming as Jax pushed it to the limit. In the back, Cameron was pinned against the metal wall, trying to keep Brittany steady as the vehicle swerved through the narrow backstreets of the Neon District.
"Jax, we need a specialist! Now!" Cameron yelled over the roar of the Humvee.
"A specialist? Cam, we're being hunted by the most powerful man on the planet! Nobody is going to touch her!"
"Sloane will!" Cameron barked. "She was a Solaris engineer before they kicked her down here. If anyone knows how to disarm a human sun, it’s her."
"Sloane? She’ll kill us just for showing up at her door!"
"Better her than the explosion! Just drive!"
Cameron turned his attention back to Brittany. She was drifting in and out of consciousness, her skin so hot it was starting to blister his own arms where he held her. The red light in her chest was pulsing faster now—a steady, rhythmic thump-thump-thump that matched the sound of a ticking clock.
"Cameron..." she whispered, her eyes fluttering open. "Why? Why are you doing this?"
"I told you. You’re the receipt for my ticket out of here."
"Liar," she coughed, a small spark of gold escaping her lips. "You could have left. You could have taken the credits Vane offered. You’re just as stubborn as my father said the Shallows-dwellers were."
"Don't compare me to that snake," Cameron grumbled. He reached out, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. He flinched at the heat, but he didn't pull away. "I don't like people telling me what to do. And I don't like seeing things in cages."
"It's getting... so heavy," she murmured, her head falling back against the seat. "The light... it wants to get out."
"Hold it in, Brittany. Just a little longer. We’re almost there."
Suddenly, the crawler slammed into something hard. Cameron was thrown forward, his head hitting the partition.
"Jax! What was that?"
"Shadow-Sentinels!" Jax yelled, his voice cracking with terror. "They’re dropping from the sky! They’ve got the road blocked!"
Cameron looked out the small, reinforced window. Three massive, black-armored droids were standing in the middle of the street, their Gatling guns already spinning. Beyond them, a wall of energy shields blocked the only path to Sloane’s workshop.
"We can't go through them!" Jax cried. "We’re trapped!"
Cameron looked at Brittany. The red light in her chest was now a solid, angry glow. The whining sound was so high-pitched it was making his ears bleed.
"Jax, give me the manual override for the trunk," Cameron said, his voice eerily calm.
"What? Cam, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to give them exactly what they want," Cameron said, grabbing Brittany’s hand. He looked her in the eyes, seeing the fear and the fading light. "Trust me?"
"I don't have anyone else," she whispered.
"Good enough."
Cameron kicked the back door open, the freezing air of the Shallows rushing in. He stood on the edge of the bumper, holding the glowing girl in his arms, facing down the barrels of the three Sentinels.
"Hey, you metal piles of scrap!" Cameron roared, his voice echoing off the canyon-like walls of the district. "You want the Sun-Child? Come and get her!"
The Sentinels paused, their sensors locking onto the massive energy signature coming from Brittany. They began to step forward, their weapons lowering as they prepared for retrieval.
Cameron leaned down, whispering into Brittany’s ear. "Now, Brittany. Give them everything. Don't hold back. Just… don't let go of my hand."
As the machines reached for them, Brittany let out a scream that shook the very foundations of the city. A pillar of pure, blinding gold and angry red light erupted from her, a localised supernova that turned the night into day.
Cameron felt his skin burning, felt the air disappearing from his lungs, but he squeezed her hand tighter, refusing to let go as the world disappeared into a roar of white fire.
- Writer
