Page 96 of The Hive Queen

She twitches, and a red glow blooms to life beneath her shirt.

Straightening, I call out, “Mayn!”

When my partner appears at my side, a feral light shines in her black eyes, and her braid whips with agitation down her back.

“Pop some salt tablets and help me with the rubble.” I stride toward the pile at the center of the tower room. “If any more drones pop up, take them out.”

“Yes, sir.” She wipes a bloody hand on her pant leg before pulling out a tube of salt tablets and popping three into her mouth.

Pieces of broken brick crunch under my shoes, and I kick bigger pieces to the side as I study the pile, unsure of where to start. Moving the wrong piece could cause a shift and cause more damage to Amalia, if she really is still alive under there.

I lean forward and grasp one of the larger pieces, moving it off to the side.

Mayn takes an even larger one, easily hoisting it away.

It’s a bit like working through a giant stone puzzle as we move around, pulling off the easier pieces within reach.

An aborted cry of pain comes from the right, followed by a crash, and the floor vibrates. A moment later, O’Hara and Marc carry Troy past us. His left leg drags, and a long tear in his pain leg reveals a bloody gouge in his calf.

It’s going to be rough getting him out of here, and time-consuming while we wait for ambulances to arrive and medics to locate us in the woods.

I just hope that magical Shard had a delayed effect and the Hive Queen is dead, or will be soon, or Chief Lynch will drag me over the coals for how many officers were hurt on this mission. Not to mention the deaths of the civilians who were unwillingly drawn into the battle.

Marc and O’Hara join us, and Marc helps me lift off a larger piece of the roof. “Johannsson has the paramedics on the way. What do we do about the drones?”

With a grunt, I lift another heavy slab. “Cuff the ones we tranquilized. We’ll keep them in the Ward in the soundproof cells. The others…we’ll identify and return to their loved ones.”

As I reach for another large brick, the pile shifts and ruptures in the middle.

Mayn and Marc both haul me back, and O’Hara ducks to protect his face from flying debris.

The Hive Queen hovers in the air, the wounds we inflicted seeping golden blood. The pincers around her mouth spread wide, and a shriek pours out.

My earbuds crackle and pop, the sound-canceling noise vanishes, and the high-pitched noise pierces my ear drums.

I crash to my knees, along with everyone else in the room, and the Hive Queen zips past us, her gaze locked on Flint where he lies sprawled among the other wounded.

My muscles twitch as I try to push myself forward, but my arms and legs refuse to obey, and I watch in horror as the monster reaches for him.

Before she touches him, another figure bursts in from the side, and Flint’s zombie tackles the Hive Queen.

She shrieks again, and her stinger whips forward, stabbing into the man, but he doesn’t let up as he shoves her farther away.

The stinger stabs again at a different angle and thrusts the zombie away.

Fire flairs from where Pen rests against the wall, and she lurches up from the floor. Her baton stabs into the Hive Queen’s wasp-thin waist, releasing the full power it holds.

The blast tumbles the Hive Queen through the air, and with a last shriek, she zips out of the open hole in the ceiling, vanishing into the night.

Deafening silence follows, the weight of failure coming at a high cost.

A groan comes from the hole in the middle of the rubble, breaking everyone out of their stillness.

Marc stumbles to his feet first and pulls the broken earbuds out. “You trapped in there, kid?”

“I’m fucking bleeding,” Amalia groans.

“But are you trapped?” he repeats.

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