Anthony DeCosmo - Schism

"Internal Security?" Nina pushed a fresh magazine into her rifle.

"Oh c'mon. Here we are in the largest city in The Empire on the busiest road around in broad daylight. Where are the choppers? Where are the patrols? Where is Internal Sec-"

The steering wheel spun in Gordon's hands as the entire vehicle was shoved to the right by one of the Speed-Lions nudging the rear quarter panel as if to say 'don't forget about us.' Nina shouted anxiously while Gordon struggled to regain control. They skidded across four lanes of traffic heading hard toward a concrete retaining wall.

He pointed the wheel in the direction of the slide and lifted his foot from the accelerator. At the same time Nina watched the wall grow bigger… harder, the smell of frying rubber shot in through the air vents, the out-of-control sedan cut off two half-ton trucks that blared air horns then slammed into one-another Gordon caught the slide, the rear-drive car fishtailed as he pointed north again and hammered the gas with a fury, throwing Nina back into the passenger's seat.

Nothing more needed to be said. As the car straightened…as the scenery around the freeway again turned into one big blurred tapestry…Nina climbed her way to a stand with her top half sticking out the sunroof and her gun sights searching for targets. The car crossed lanes again-this time in a controlled fashion-and took station in the center of the highway as the road cleared of traffic for a stretch.

Nina spotted the creature that had hit them, ten yards behind. She unloaded burst after three-round burst at the beast. It seemed to shrug its shoulders so as to increase the protection of its armored mane. Then it hopped straight up and over a slower-moving gold and silver Rolls Royce. The shots Nina fired at the Speed-Lion hit, instead, the windshield and front hood of the luxury car. A red splash from the driver's seat exploded onto the inside of the Royce's shattered glass and the vehicle spun round and round like a top, seeming to fall away from her as the chase continued forward at break neck speed.

The four-legged hunter landed on its feet in full stride. Nina did not have time to weep for the innocent killed by the crossfire. She fired again at the same enemy as her ride turned hard to the right, following the bend in the road as they traversed through another cluttered combination of on and off ramps. She hit the Speed-Lion in the face but, once more, only managed to annoy it. However, it did retreat with a jump across the center concrete barrier into the oncoming southbound lanes as if searching for shelter from the pestering bullets.

Meanwhile, Gordon realized they had long since passed the exit for Miami Shores, but that did not matter. There would be no going to Ernie's house. He needed no more evidence than the Witiko Skytroops he spied shadowing them and the creatures pursuing that Ernie had been compromised. Suddenly Miami burned too hot even for him.

Nonetheless, before he could do anything about that, he had to get them out of their current situation. No small task but- — he swerved into the far right lane to bypass a pair of motor coaches then maneuvered the crisp-handling sedan to the center of the road again.

No small task but he figured he could turn this problem into an opportunity; the type of thing he always did either for Trevor Stone or for his masters in the old world. The little piece of insurance he took from Omar before saying goodbye to Pennsylvania would give him-if it worked-the one ace he needed.

In the driver's side mirror he saw one of the creatures move off to the southbound lanes. Nina's shots did not damage the monsters but the creatures did not enjoy being shot, either.

Gordon glanced to the passenger's side exterior mirror.

Oh shit.

The second attacker had avoided Nina's watch and neared for the kill. It raced alongside the sedan bounding forward with its iron-ish head and ruby eyes bobbing up and down like a galloping race horse. Gordon thought fast. He turned a problem into an opportunity.

Knox jogged the wheel to the right as if threatening the beast with a collision. This encouraged the Speed-Lion to instinctively move…just enough.

The monster that could run as fast as a Ferrari slammed into the rear end of an 18-wheeler full of foodstuffs. The trailer crumpled and the cab jackknifed. As the mess faded quickly from view, Gordon saw the truck topple over but no sign of that attacker.

One down.

Nina admired Knox's handiwork from her view in the sunroof. On the other side of the highway, the remaining Speed-Lion sped along pre-occupied with dodging oncoming traffic and considering a new avenue of attack.

Above the honk of horns, the gush of wind, and the constant race-car growl of the BMW's engine, Nina heard a noise. A hiss, maybe.

She glanced around until finding the source of the new sound. It came from an object several hundred feet above and behind. There against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky she spied a light. No, not a light, a flash. A silvery flash reflecting the south Florida sun.

The Witiko Skytroop's jetpack roared at full throttle to keep pace with the pursuit…then he stopped and hovered in mid-air and took aim with his one-shot rocket launcher. The alien's hovering body wobbled as the projectile fired. A plume of gray smoke spat from the orange flames at the tail of the missile as it swept down, locked on the speeding car.

Nina's eyes widened and her pulse quickened but she could offer no defense against the descending rocket. Like all such Witiko weapons, this one moved relatively slow, lumbering through the air. But she also knew it to be very precise. Despite the weave and bobs of the car between traffic, the guidance system in the nose of the thing remained focused on its target while the igniting liquid fuel caused it to dive bomb on perfect course for her destruction.

Her mouth hung open.

This is it.

She heard the rumble of the rocket's flames, she saw the red-tipped nose where a deadly charge waited to finish its mission, she could nearly read the alien symbols on the outer casing.

The car drove faster and faster but the missile lunged for the kill and — darkness shrouded Nina and the car. She heard the clap of an explosion and felt a shake from the shockwave. Then a burst of light again as the day's brilliant sunshine enveloped them once more.

Nina saw a cloud of smoke and a sheath of concrete debris billow skywards from the pavement of the Ives Dairy Road overpass that crossed atop the Interstate at exactly the right moment. The missile-interrupted in its journey by luck-detonated there a few yards above its intended target. Instead of destroying the fleeing car it destroyed concrete.

As the life-saving overpass faded fast behind the speeding BMW, Nina stood in the open sunroof breathing out gasps of air. Her heart thudded fast and those gasps turned to a laugh of relief-not humor-as she understood she still lived for no reason other than sheer chance.

Her moment of rejoice was chased away by the zing of bullets mere inches from her nose. She turned to her right and saw a second Witiko flying parallel to her over lanes of southbound traffic some twenty yards away with his Gatling-gun whirring.

She huffed a determined grunt, raised the M-4 to her marksman's eye, and squeezed the trigger. The first round of shots went wide, but the second hit the alien's jet pack. His controlled flight turned into something akin to a pin-poked balloon. His body barrel rolled over and over while streams of hissing vapor escaped from a ruptured line in his rockets.

Gong.

The out-of-control Witiko slammed into the backside of an exit sign straddling the southbound lanes. His broken body stuck there for a second, then dropped like a dead sack to the lanes below where it crunched beneath the wheels of a garbage truck.