Keah wasn’t surprised or angry at the sudden turn of events. Just resigned to the realities of the Reclaim Zone. Betrayal had become a chore like any other in this world and acting like this was different was foolish. In a mere instant, the warehouse had become a thunderstorm of burnt propellant and lead, spent shells clattering against the floor like raindrops. He was frozen, affixed, unsure of what to do now. Petrukov was the one who came up with the plans. He was great at following plans. Not so good at making them up on the fly. He needed more time to think.
The tungsten-jacketed hollow-point bullet sailing towards his head at Mach 1 wasn’t patient enough for him.
For Keah, it was like intimately kissing a Tokyo auto-shinkansen with his forehead. His neck cracked, his head snapped back, every molecule in his body was a part of the brain-jostling experience. His hand reflexively grasped the front of his helmet whilst he stumbled back like a moon-walking drunkard. Managing to find cover beneath the drinks table, he breathed in and out. With a sense of wonder, he slid his finger where the bullet had left its mark, a wicked ravine of melted, rent poly-steel that tapered off towards the back.
He had to give credit to Engitech. Sure, their chrome wasn’t flowery but it was functional. However, he wasn’t that keen on stress-testing their product again with a second bullet or more.
Well, it was just a good thing he planned for an alternative route in mind. Lifting two fingers to the side of his helmet, Keah whispered three words.
“ On your marks….”
>://RECEIVING COMMAND>://PROCESSING COMMAND……..>://SPEED REQUIRED.>://ACTIVATING COMBUSTION ENGINES>://ROTATING DRIVE TRAIN>://SHIFTING GEAR>://SPEED ACQUIRED
You hear it. Everyone in the warehouse heard it above the bullet-fire. Underneath his helmet, Keah grinned,eyes focused on one blinking dot in his helmet GPS that was coming towards him.
It was a primal sound, a prehistoric roar that slowly grew in intensity and volume, from a mere buzz in your ears to a head-splitting din of grinding gears and screeching rubber. 3 tons of boron-carbon alloy with the soul of 500 horsepower torque came swerving into the complex, bullets bouncing off the Jury Rigg’s frame as its wheels turned towards its master. Sliding in a pendulum drift towards him, Keah jumped in through the open window, face planting against the
wheel.One hand on the wheel, he turned it to the right and pumped down on the brakes, taking control of his mechanical monster and zooming past the enraged gun-men, all of whom were firing at him.
He came to a stop in front of both Johnny who was holding Serena, the backdoors automatically opening for them to enter.
“ You can get in or get out." He glanced waitingly towards the both of them and then, nodded towards the Lords of War shooting towards them both. "Your choice.”