Part 96
I ran to the primary control console,
reversing the rail cart's destination and overriding the safety speed limitations on the track.
The small vehicle shot forward into the darkness,
its electric motor whining as it raced toward the burning heart of New Hope.
"Get Eli to the safe room beneath the cellar,"
I ordered Khloe,
my hands moving fast to unlock our personal inventory of defensive tech.
"And activate the external perimeter fields to maximum overload;
if they follow the rails,
we need our exit point completely secured."
She nodded,
running back up the stairs to protect our son,
while I prepared for a confrontation I hoped would never come.
I strapped on a lightweight ballistic vest and grabbed a high-frequency pulse rifle,
a weapon I hadn't touched since the day we escaped the city.
The dog stood by my side,
his body tense,
his intelligent eyes understanding the gravity of the situation perfectly.
For ten agonizing minutes,
the tunnel was silent,
save for the distant,
muffled thuds of explosions vibrating through miles of rock.
Then,
the sound of the approaching rail cart echoed through the passage,
moving at a dangerously high velocity.
As it burst into our loading bay,
the brakes screeching violently,
I saw that it was packed with people,
mostly children and elderly residents from the colony.
They were terrified,
covered in gray dust and soot,
clutching each other in absolute silent horror.
Marcus was among them,
his uniform torn,
his shoulder bleeding from a shrapnel wound,
but his weapon still held firmly in his good hand.
"This is the last group we could get to the cart,"
he panted,
stumbling off the vehicle as the colony engineers helped the civilians off.
"The system drones have breached the main plaza;
they are using heavy thermal drills to collapse the upper tiers."
"Where are the others?"
I asked,
helping an old woman down from the metal frame,
her hands shaking uncontrollably.
"Scattered into the mountain passes,"
Marcus replied,
wincing as he leaned against the concrete wall.
"But the blizzard is returning,
and if they stay out there,
the cold will finish what the machines started."
"We need to go back for them,"
I stated,
looking at the dark tunnel,
knowing that every second we delayed was a death sentence for someone out there.
Marcus looked at me,
his eyes filled with a mixture of sorrow and admiration,
seeing the comfortable farmer turn back into a warrior.
"It's a suicide mission,
Leo,"
he warned softly,
even as he checked the magazine of his rifle with practiced ease.
"The machines have no mercy,
and they know the layout of the colony now."
"They don't know the layout of these tunnels,"
I countered,
reloading my pulse rifle,
feeling a cold,
May you like
unshakeable resolve take over my entire being.
"And they don't know what happens when you threaten our home."
