Code Breakers: Beta by Colin F. Barnes

Author:Colin F. Barnes [Barnes, Colin F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Thrillers & Suspense, Technothrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Genetic Engineering, Post-Apocalyptic, Thrillers, Dystopian
ISBN: 1909628069
Amazon: B00FH5ZPRG
Barnesnoble: B00FH5ZPRG
Publisher: Anachron Press
Published: 2014-05-13T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Gerry kept moving, pulling an old rag around his head to hide his optical implant. If the Red Widows by the checkpoint spotted it, they’d have him ground to pieces in no time. He had to pass the checkpoint if he were to get to the tower where ‘the man in the box’ lived.

The sea of filthy survivors ambled onwards, the fanatics at the checkpoint laughing amongst each other as they drunk hot tea from flasks. Those who starved and were dying of thirst looked on with disgust—but not enough so as to catch their attention and receive a beating.

Just a few more feet and Gerry would pass the checkpoint, and that great spinal bridge. He tried not to stare, to blend in, but he felt like he had a giant target on his head. A red bouncing arrow saying: ‘This is your man, get him.’

The laughter stopped as he shuffled close. Had they noticed he wasn’t one of the other desperate survivors barely clinging on to life? Had they somehow noticed that he was a little too full around the body? He wanted to look up, be assured, but he gritted his teeth, stared at the ground, and huddled forward.

He let out a breath as he continued onwards and no hand gripped his shoulder, no urgent voice called out to him, but still, something behind him stirred. An animalistic panic broke out amongst the shambling horde. Someone cried out as they fell to the ground.

The guttural language of the fanatics had raised an octave.

Despite himself, Gerry turned to see what had happened, and as he did, he heard gunfire. He caught a muzzle flash from the side of his vision. He traced it up to the side of the tower looking down on the bridge, directly opposite it. It appeared the man in the box had a gun.

The skull and brain matter of a Red Widow sprayed against a bunch of Darkhan survivors. That’s when the panic kicked in. Another shot rang out taking down a second fanatic, then a third and a fourth.

Heaving bodies had trapped Gerry, tangled him in a pile of writhing meat. Arms and legs sprawled on the ground, entangling Gerry’s progress.

The last remaining checkpoint Widow lifted her shotgun and fired. The contents of the shell ricocheted against the stone of the tower uselessly. A bullet struck the ground by her feet, missing by a couple of centimetres. She dropped her gun and sprinted over the bridge.

She got less than halfway when a single shot through the back of her knee sent her sprawling to the black asphalt surface. She screamed, crawled, and dragged herself forwards when a final shot through her spine made her curl upwards like a dead fish.

That’s when Gerry saw it: a green laser.

It danced about the dirty coats and faces like a lightning bug. Gerry traced its trajectory, looked up to the tower. And there, about ten floors up, a familiar face: Liza-Marie, the woman who had accompanied Len

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