William Dietz - A Hole in the Sky

The Marksman went over Capelli’s shoulder; he stuffed one of the candy bars into his mouth, and took hold of the flamethrower with both hands. Then, he backed away from the Airstream and turned and ran. A burst of explosive projectiles plowed through the trailer with a roar and shattered a tree beyond.

Capelli was pursuing a zigzag course by then, firing the Dragon as he ran. The wheatgrass was damp and slow to catch fire, but once aflame the stubble produced plenty of black smoke. It blew from west to east and provided Capelli with some much-needed concealment.

After ten minutes of continual use the Dragon ran out of fuel. So Capelli threw it away and continued east, knowing that every step carried him closer to his goal. He was starting to tire a bit, but knew it was important not only to keep running, but to reach the next dump. A place where he could make a momentary stand if he chose to.

As a veil of smoke blew over Capelli’s head, and the fighter strafed a spot half a mile to the south, he followed a game trail down into a gully. Rowdy came to a stop and began to bark madly as hundreds of Leapers surged up and out of the depression. Had they been sent to intercept him? There was no way to be sure, but Capelli didn’t think so. He figured it was a piece of bad luck. As was the fact that he was armed with a Marksman rather than a Rossmore. The latter being far more effective where massed targets were concerned.

But all he could do was rely on what he had. So Capelli was forced to back up towards the wall of fire he had created as he sent one of the rifle’s semiautonomous Drones out over the gully. The device immediately went to work killing the stinks, but even more boiled up out of well-hidden caves.

Fortunately, Rowdy was there to keep the scorpion-like horrors from surging in around the human. The dog was like a whirling dervish as he darted in and out with his jaws snapping. Leaper claws flashed, and potentially lethal tails whipped back and forth, as Rowdy scored kill after kill.

Thanks to the deadly turrets, plus well-aimed projectiles from the Marksman, and Rowdy’s fighting prowess, the twosome managed to stay on their feet as the fire closed in from behind. And that was when Capelli ran out of ammo. It left him with no choice but to reach for one of the four grenades he was carrying.

Rowdy snarled as he tore into a Leaper and the air-fuel grenade arced into the mass of oncoming bodies. With a loud whump the device went off; flames consumed the remaining Leapers, and they began to scream.

“Rowdy!” Capelli shouted. But only a shrill whistle could pull the dog away from the stink he was savaging. The animal’s muzzle and head were covered in gore. Capelli and Rowdy ran forward, jumping bodies whenever necessary, making for the gully and the high ground beyond. Then something hit the field fifty feet in front of them and exploded.

Capelli paused to look back and saw that a Titan and two Ravagers had managed to pass through a gap in the wall of fire. A gang of Hybrids was following along behind. Another cannon shell was on its way, and it would have scored a direct hit on both man and dog, if they hadn’t been scrambling up the bank.

With a Titan and two Ravagers on his tail, it was critical for Capelli to reach the supply dump and do so quickly. A big farmhouse appeared on the left as he topped the slope and paused to hurl his remaining grenades at the oncoming Chimera. They exploded in quick succession. The last was an air-fuel grenade that wrapped a Hybrid in a cocoon of yellow-orange flames.

Without waiting to see the results of his efforts, Capelli raced across an open area towards the southeast corner of the wraparound porch, where the stash was hidden. Pieces of lumber flew as he tossed them aside to reveal a piece of canvas and the items hidden beneath it.

The dump included two canteens of water, an M5A2 Carbine, and most important of all, a Wraith minigun. Not the faulty weapon from Haven’s original arsenal, but a brand-new unit taken off the Suzy Q and transported to the site by mule. It was a weapon Capelli carried frequently during his days with the Sentinels.

The Wraith might work on the Titan , the Hale voice observed dispassionately, but what about the Ravagers? Their shields will protect both them and the Hybrids .

Capelli knew the voice was correct but could only handle one thing at a time as he shoved M5A2 magazines into empty ammo pouches, replaced his mostly empty canteens with fresh ones, and took the minigun into his arms.

The Titan was climbing up out of the gully by then. Only his head and shoulders were visible, but it wouldn’t be long before the giant towered above Capelli, unless he could cut the stink down to size before then. Wraiths were notoriously difficult to fire, both because of their incredible weight and the fact that the rotary barrels could put out 1,200 rounds per minute. That produced a lot of recoil and caused the weapon to rise up off its target unless controlled.

But Capelli was not only strong, he was something of an artist with a minigun. He fired a tight grouping of bullets and the monster staggered. The Chimera was tough, however, and still managed to fire its cannon.

Capelli felt the heat the projectile produced as it flew past him and hit a tool shed, reducing the structure to kindling. Stay on it , the voice ordered sternly. You’ve got to kill that thing before the Ravagers arrive .

Capelli wanted to tell the voice to shut up but knew doing so would be pointless. So he kept the trigger down, walked the minigun projectiles back and forth across the Titan’s chest, and swore when the weapon clicked empty. He dropped the Wraith and was reaching for the carbine as he backed away. The Titan swayed uncertainly, seemed to steady itself, and exploded.

That was good, but not good enough, as the Ravagers topped the rise and opened fire from behind their translucent shields. Hybrids were following along behind them. Rowdy barked and Capelli fired on them, but it was a waste of bullets. The big shields were impervious to rifle fire.

Capelli was left with one option. He’d been hesitant to use it up until then, and for a very good reason. Unver claimed the system would work, but what if it didn’t? Projectiles whipped past Capelli like angry bees as he ducked down behind the concrete platform on which the old-fashioned pump sat. The remote was about the size of a pack of cigarettes, and Capelli could still hear Unver’s words. “Wait until the bastards are right on top of the charge,” the older man had instructed. “Then push the button. That’s all there is to it.”

But Capelli couldn’t see where the Ravagers were. Not without sticking his head up high enough to get it blown off. So all he could do was push the button and hope for the best.

The block of C-4 went off with a loud boom that shook the ground, threw a column of debris up into the air, and shattered windows on the south side of the farmhouse. Capelli rose up from behind the platform at that point and was thrilled to see that one Ravager and at least three Hybrids had been killed. It was difficult to determine the number, with so many body parts lying around.

Unfortunately, the second Ravager was very much alive. Rowdy dashed out into the open as it continued to advance. Capelli shouted, “No!” as projectiles pinged all around him, but the dog wasn’t listening. The Ravager swiveled a few degrees in order to fire on the animal.

Capelli saw his opening. He allowed the carbine to fall so he could grab his revolver. The moment the handgun was up and in position he fired. Due to the angle, the large-caliber slug hit the stink in the left shoulder. It rocked the beast back on its heels but wasn’t enough to bring it down.