Read Online Cates 05 - The Final Evolution by Jeff Somers - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jeff Somers
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the crowd.
Everyone stopped moving. I looked down at my feet and cursed; I’d tried for his shoulder. There was no such thing as a safe place to shoot someone—odds were I’d nick an artery—but when it was you versus a table leg you had to at least try .
“Hey, Avery,” Remy shouted from inside the car, “you don’t have to kill everyone . You know that, right?”
Clenching my teeth, I swallowed my urge to pinch the kid’s nose. I looked back up and scanned the scene. The crowd was hovering, terrified but aware on some elemental level that if they all stuck together there was nothing I could do but run.
“Repeat what I say,” I said to Adora without looking at her, and then raised the gun up over my head, firing one more precious bullet into the air. Behind me, I heard Remy crawling from the wreckage, and based on the anxious ripple that went through the crowd, I assumed he had his ridiculously large gun in hand.
“I’m looking for a hospital,” I shouted, and Adora shouted it in Spanish a moment later. “An old man is staying there. Rich.”
A few seconds stole by, and then a handful of arms raised up and pointed to our left, where a huge two-story building stretched the incredible length of the square. The tense energy of the crowd faded away, and suddenly it was just a sagging group of people. I turned and looked the building over: red brick and tiny blown-out windows, squat peaked towers at each end and in the middle. The entrance was tiny, a single doorway in which a single figure stood, gaping at us.
I nodded and scanned the crowd again. I considered offering them something in return for their ruined merchandise and injuries, but decided against it. It would just encourage them.
“Come on,” I said to Remy. “Let’s go find my old friend Wallace.”
He nodded and let me step in front of him, his sunglasses hiding his eyes as he watched the crowd. I had to admit, Remy looked fucking badass.
“What the fuck ?” Adora shouted, and in a flash she was in front of me, all wide eyes and hands. I kept moving, forcing her to stumble backward. I was all momentum. The moment I stopped, these assholes were going to do some math and come at my back. “My vehicle !”
“We’re done,” I said, checking the Roon and letting the slide snap back into place. Adora kept tripping over herself as she squawked in front of me, but she didn’t give up. I liked that. “You’ll get your yen as soon as I finish here.” I didn’t have time. If this wasn’t a setup, if Belling was really in this ancient hunk of building, he would know already I was here and be making his own preparations, and Belling was a fucking master . Belling had made me look stupid too often to take chances. He would expect me to creep about, to make plans and scout out the area, find allies. He would expect me to be careful, so I’d decided to just crash in, gun blazing, see what happened. I was excited; I struggled to keep an appropriately grim expression on my face.
Adora couldn’t form words; she just made outraged noises as she struggled to walk backward at my pace. Just as she hit the slight lip in front of the doors and fell on her ass, hard, Remy spoke up behind me.
“We’re not going to observe, map the exterior, find someone who knows what it’s like in there?” he asked mildly from behind. “We’re going in blind? I think that violates at least three of Avery Cates’s Rules of Successful Murder, doesn’t it?”
The kid was enjoying himself, but I was all momentum: I didn’t slow down. I pushed past Adora and leveled the gun on the mystery man who stood gaping at us in the shadowed doorway. He was tall and thin, not very old, but had the smooth look of someone who’d been sitting on top of the pyramid back in The Day, back when the System still existed and yen meant something.
“Move,” I said, “or I’ll shoot you in the chest.”
He put his hands up automatically, and then he started walking backward as
Everyone stopped moving. I looked down at my feet and cursed; I’d tried for his shoulder. There was no such thing as a safe place to shoot someone—odds were I’d nick an artery—but when it was you versus a table leg you had to at least try .
“Hey, Avery,” Remy shouted from inside the car, “you don’t have to kill everyone . You know that, right?”
Clenching my teeth, I swallowed my urge to pinch the kid’s nose. I looked back up and scanned the scene. The crowd was hovering, terrified but aware on some elemental level that if they all stuck together there was nothing I could do but run.
“Repeat what I say,” I said to Adora without looking at her, and then raised the gun up over my head, firing one more precious bullet into the air. Behind me, I heard Remy crawling from the wreckage, and based on the anxious ripple that went through the crowd, I assumed he had his ridiculously large gun in hand.
“I’m looking for a hospital,” I shouted, and Adora shouted it in Spanish a moment later. “An old man is staying there. Rich.”
A few seconds stole by, and then a handful of arms raised up and pointed to our left, where a huge two-story building stretched the incredible length of the square. The tense energy of the crowd faded away, and suddenly it was just a sagging group of people. I turned and looked the building over: red brick and tiny blown-out windows, squat peaked towers at each end and in the middle. The entrance was tiny, a single doorway in which a single figure stood, gaping at us.
I nodded and scanned the crowd again. I considered offering them something in return for their ruined merchandise and injuries, but decided against it. It would just encourage them.
“Come on,” I said to Remy. “Let’s go find my old friend Wallace.”
He nodded and let me step in front of him, his sunglasses hiding his eyes as he watched the crowd. I had to admit, Remy looked fucking badass.
“What the fuck ?” Adora shouted, and in a flash she was in front of me, all wide eyes and hands. I kept moving, forcing her to stumble backward. I was all momentum. The moment I stopped, these assholes were going to do some math and come at my back. “My vehicle !”
“We’re done,” I said, checking the Roon and letting the slide snap back into place. Adora kept tripping over herself as she squawked in front of me, but she didn’t give up. I liked that. “You’ll get your yen as soon as I finish here.” I didn’t have time. If this wasn’t a setup, if Belling was really in this ancient hunk of building, he would know already I was here and be making his own preparations, and Belling was a fucking master . Belling had made me look stupid too often to take chances. He would expect me to creep about, to make plans and scout out the area, find allies. He would expect me to be careful, so I’d decided to just crash in, gun blazing, see what happened. I was excited; I struggled to keep an appropriately grim expression on my face.
Adora couldn’t form words; she just made outraged noises as she struggled to walk backward at my pace. Just as she hit the slight lip in front of the doors and fell on her ass, hard, Remy spoke up behind me.
“We’re not going to observe, map the exterior, find someone who knows what it’s like in there?” he asked mildly from behind. “We’re going in blind? I think that violates at least three of Avery Cates’s Rules of Successful Murder, doesn’t it?”
The kid was enjoying himself, but I was all momentum: I didn’t slow down. I pushed past Adora and leveled the gun on the mystery man who stood gaping at us in the shadowed doorway. He was tall and thin, not very old, but had the smooth look of someone who’d been sitting on top of the pyramid back in The Day, back when the System still existed and yen meant something.
“Move,” I said, “or I’ll shoot you in the chest.”
He put his hands up automatically, and then he started walking backward as
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