Chapter Seventy-Seven – Anticlimax

We crossed the barricaded street and moved through a crowd of wide-eyed idiots who didn’t seem to understand the concept of not standing right next to the incursion zone.

It was probably not that big a deal, but I imagined one of those bigger flying bastards showing up. There would probably be more deaths to trampling than anything the xeno could do.

The mobile base came to a rolling stop next to the temporary forward base I’d visited just a few hours ago. Hours that felt like weeks.

“Where will you be going now?” Gomorrah asked.

I looked over at the nun. “I… I think I’m going to go check on my family,” I said. “They were caught in the middle of all that and…”

She nodded. “That’s fine. You go see if they’re safe. I think I’m going to stick to the edges for a while. I doubt there will be much work for me to do, but I’ll be around if I’m needed.”

“Cool,” I said. “Keep in touch?” I asked before extending a closed fist towards her.

She bumped it after a moment’s hesitation. “Likewise.”

I grinned at her before stepping off the side of the mobile base. Or at least, over the railing, then down along one of the sloped sides and onto one of the tires. The drop from there was a bit lower and a whole lot more manageable. The two Dumbasses clattered along after me with robot-cat-like grace.

It earned me a few looks, but the pervasive ‘don’t fuck with a Samurai’ field kept people off my back. “You got the kitten’s address?” I asked.

I do. The rooms they’re in have cameras. I can confirm that they’re in good health and somewhat safe.

“Somewhat?” I asked.

They’re within five kilometers of the edge of an incursion.

That was… a fair point. I was going to comment on it when I saw a familiar soldier moving by. “Monroe!” I called out.

The man stopped and turned my way. “Ma’am?” he asked.

“Hey, you think I can borrow a car?” I asked. “And, uh, someone to drive it?”

“Are you returning into the incursion zone?” he asked. “I’m afraid that, per corporate regulations, our squadron won’t be able to return for another few hours, but I can find another to accompany you.”

“Nah,” I said. “I just need someone to drive me out into the city. Uh, the part of the city not filled with aliens.”

“Oh,” he said. “One moment then.” The soldier turned away while bringing a hand up to the side of his head. I could hear a faint murmur as he spoke at someone, but his helmet insulated me from most of it. “Speedy is free,” he said. “You can meet her over by the hovercarpool. That’s just over there. We appropriated a parking garage.”

“Thanks Monroe,” I said.

“No problem ma’am. And good work out there. We did good.”

I gave him a thumb’s up before he went on his way, then I took off in the direction he’d pointed me in.

The parking garage was a few floors up, but the power was still on and the elevator I called down cleared up real fast when the people within took a look at me. I was a bit… bloody looking. My pants had a few tears and my hair was a bit wild. I tried to fix myself up using the reflection on the inside of the stainless steel door.

When I stepped out of the elevator–having given up on cleaning myself–it was to find Speedy waiting for me leaning against the far wall. “Heya boss,” she said before flashing me a gap-toothed grin. The meds I’d given her were supposed to grow her missing teeth back, but that still left her looking like a meth addict for a bit.

“Heya Speedy,” I said.

“I requisitioned one of the faster cars,” she said while pointing over her shoulder with a thumb.

The ‘faster car’ turned out to be some sort of muscle car, all squarish and brutal, with armored plates riveted to its sides and a light bar across the roof. It even had additional lights at the front; the super-bright sort that could blind a person in mid-day if they annoyed the driver.

Speedy was giggling to herself as she slid into the driver’s seat. I was tempted to maybe call up an Uber instead of riding with her, but the extra effort that would demand–and the charge on my rather pitiful credit account–lead me to folding.

“Where to?” Speedy asked as she settled into her seat.

I started looking for the belts before we took off. “Myalis can give you the address. It’s… some hotel somewhere.”

“Nice!” Speedy said. A moment later one of the screens on the dashboard switched over to a map and Speedy floored it. “So,” she said as she ducked us under a lorry. “Heading to your friends?”

“More like my family,” I said.

“You’ve got kids?” she asked.

“Nine of them.”

We almost met a grisly end into the side of a skyscraper as Speedy whipped her head around.

“Orphans!” I said. “Orphans. Just a big bunch of brats.”

“Oh, oh that makes more sense,” she said. “Just a group of kids you’re keeping safe, eh?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Me and Lucy watch over them.”

“Ohh,” Speedy said, drawing it out long and low. “You and Lucy huh?”

I grinned. “Yeah. I miss her.”

“I’m sure she’ll be real… excited when her hero comes back.”

“I sure hope so,” I said. “I could use a bit of relaxing.”

Speedy lived up to her name, because a minute later, after a dozen harrowingly close calls, we were pulling to a stop before the front lobby of a hotel. Not one of those pod places, but an honest to god high-rise hotel with an entrance lobby filled with marble and statues and art pieces that were probably worth more than what most people made in a lifetime.

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The moment the car stopped a pair of valets ran out of the entrance, neither of them looking terribly happy.

“I’m off,” I told Speedy as I unbuckled myself. “You have fun Speedy, and try not to run into a building.”