Future Threat

27

“Seriously? I didn’t know they had a presence in LA.”

“They’re a lot more powerful in this future than in our time. Now they control this whole area.”

At the top of the stairs, I hold out a hand to block her from running out. “I’ll go first. Stay close.”

I raise the gun and slowly ease open the door, peeking out with one eye, ready to pull the door shut at the first hint we’re not alone. I don’t see anything, and we emerge into a dark alley behind the row of shops.

A bullet slams into the door, and we duck behind a nearby car. Bullets thunk against the side, but we’re safe behind it. Of course, we’re also trapped again.

“Any more genius plans?” I ask.

She scowls at me. “I got us out. I can’t do everything around here.”

“If I remember, I was the one who saved your ass back there.”

“I didn’t need saving! All you did was get us shot at.”

I grit my teeth, but before I can respond, a guy with a knife rushes us from the side. I swing the gun toward him, but he knocks it out of my hand. He throws a punch at me, but I dodge it and disarm him with a move I learned from my kickboxing teacher, who was big on women knowing how to defend themselves. Now it’s just us, without any weapons. I like those odds a lot better.

Another guy tackles me from behind, while the first guy slams his fist into my gut, making me double over in pain. They ignore Zahra, so they must have realized I’m the threat here, not her. I struggle against the guy holding me from behind and stomp on his foot, but he doesn’t let go. Another hard punch to my stomach makes the world go red. Large hands wrap around my throat, squeezing hard, cutting off my air. The man choking me says, “Die, bitch.”

Suddenly the guy behind me howls and releases my arms. I throw a quick punch into the guy trying to choke me, and his hands fall away enough for me to jerk back. I suck in a huge gulp of air, coughing painfully, and my vision returns to normal. I grab the neutralizer, and when he lunges for me, I stab his arm with it. He collapses.

Behind me, Zahra has stabbed the other guy with the knife that was dropped, but he’s already getting up again. He rips the knife out of his thigh and steps toward her. She looks pale, the whites of her eyes showing, and she backs up slowly. But there’s nowhere for her to go.

I rush him from behind and try to touch the neutralizer to his skin, but he’s more covered up than the other guy was. We wrestle, and the knife slashes my side and up my shirt, sending hot, wet pain through me. Zahra grabs the gun off the ground and bashes him over the head with it. He sinks to the ground, and I use the neutralizer on him too, just in case. Does this thing have charges? Will it run out? I have no idea. Hopefully I won’t have to use it again.

“Zahra.” The words come out as a croak. My throat aches, and I’m sure I’ll have bruises tomorrow. I rub my neck and try again. “You okay?”

Zahra shakes herself out of whatever shock she’s in and nods. “Yeah.”

“Where’s your car?”

“Not mine. My mom’s. Gone now.”

“Mine should be nearby.” I open up the car app in my flexi and order it to come find us. Three minutes estimated arrival time. Not acceptable!

Zahra hands me the gun, and I aim it over the top of the car we’re hiding behind. I pause and wait for more bullets to fire, but it’s eerily quiet now in the alley. No signs of movement.

Police sirens sound in the distance. I gesture for Zahra to follow me, and we sneak down the alley, sticking to walls and ducking behind dumpsters and whatever else we can. Hopefully, if we get back to the main part of the street, we’ll be in less danger.

Before we can turn the corner, shouts ring out behind us, along with more plink plink plink from silenced gunfire. We take off with a burst of adrenaline-fueled speed, but I know my car will never make it in time. One of us is going to get shot.

A huge fire truck flies through the air over us, siren blaring, lights flashing. It drops to the ground quickly, and men in fire-protective gear rush out toward the building we were in. Two police cars arrive next. I glance back, but there’s no sign of the guys behind us. They must have bolted when the authorities showed up.

I wipe the fingerprints off the gun and drop it in the nearest dumpster—I don’t want to get caught with it. Zahra and I keep walking, directionless, stumbling along down the main street past the clothing and rug shops. My throat burns, my head pounds, and my side throbs. Plus, my ears are still ringing like crazy from the alarm.

Zahra and I reach an Aid-Mart, a huge drugstore I remember from the other future, and stop in front of it to wait for the car. People go in and out of it in a steady stream, so I figure no one will shoot us here. Or so I hope.

While we pause outside the store to catch our breath, I send a quick message to Chris and Adam: I’ve got Zahra. You guys have any luck?

Adam messages back: The police arrested someone for breaking into the congressman’s office. I figure it has to be Paige, so I’m on my way to the police station now.

Probably. Her profile did mention she’d been caught stealing before. Need help?

I think I’ve got it covered, but I’ll let you know.

There’s no response from Chris, so I ask, Chris, you there?