Page 122 of Jump or Fall
This was it. It would end tonight.
She would kill him.
And then, she could finally move on.
Gordon slipped ahead, clearing the way. Two shots rang out, then he turned back, nodding.
Mara exhaled a long, unsteady breath.
Then, she stepped inside.
Chapter 41
Mara
Thick smoke obscured the way, but she moved from memory. Cracks of bullets drowned out the sound of their footsteps.
Clack. Clack.
It reminded her of Karena’s heels on the tile.
By the console table near the stairs, a body sprawled motionless in a slick, dark pool. Blood snaked between the grout lines like crimson tendrils. The widening pool gripped her chest like a vise, dragging her back in time to the memory of Karena’s screams.
Focus.
Since it was a Silver, she attempted to take control of the suit, but it wouldn’t connect.
Low power. Damn it.
Controlling the suits drained so much more power than the other synth-mind functions. If they weren’t careful, they would lose their edge.
With weapons raised, they moved through the entryway, slipping past the large staircase.
A thick ball of smoke rolled into their path. Gordon kicked it aside, sending it spinning across the floor. Mara checked her heads-up display and breathed a sigh of relief. The smoke was non-toxic. The filters in their helmets could handle it, but corrosive smoke could burn exposed skin and weaken their Araflex.
They reached the kitchen. Her pulse kicked up at the sight of the once-immaculate space in ruins. Blood was smeared across the cabinets and shattered glass littered the floor.
Gordon’s voice came through the private channel. “Where’s his office?”
She pointed to the right.
They moved down the hall, stopping at a door half-blown apart. The wood had peeled back, exposing the thick steel core beneath. Holes in the walls showed they were reinforced in the same way.
Mara pressed her remote against the wall, searching for a signal. But she found nothing.
“Any sign of him?” Millon asked.
She moved the remote along the wall. For a brief moment, a suit flickered on the screen once she reached the door jamb. Another pass confirmed it, but the connection was too choppy to go through.
“He’s in his office,” she confirmed. “But I can’t get a connection.”
“Does it have a window?” Gordon asked.
She shook her head. “There’s another way in. We need to go upstairs.”
They had almost made it back to the staircase when two Silvers burst through the shattered remains of the front door and opened fire.
Gordon kicked a table over, using it for cover. Mara aimed her Basilisk and unleashed a barrage of bullets. Her shots cut through their opponents until there was nothing but shattered plates and gore.
