The Last Humans by Dima Zales

Author:Dima Zales [Zales, Dima]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mozaika Publications

16

“It’s worse than you think,” Phoe whispers. “It’s not a wall. It’s a half-sphere. There are Guards above and below. And before you suggest we head back, they’re doing the same thing on the other side.”

I scan the scene and confirm Phoe’s words. We’re surrounded, and the Guards in front of us are readying their Stun Sticks.

“You might want to close your eyes,” Phoe says. “I’m about to try something that’s a little more extreme.”

As tempting as it is, I don’t dare close my eyes. She’s never labeled any of her crazy stunts ‘extreme’ before.

The Guards move toward me. The helmet’s radio comes alive, and a soothing voice says, “Relax, Noah. You’re having some kind of episode. We’re trying to help—”

I don’t hear the rest because Phoe begins her ‘extreme’ moves. Or more accurately, I execute the moves Phoe wants me to make—moves so insane they leave no doubt about who’s in charge of my body.

The first maneuver starts innocuously enough. I touch my right fingers together.

“That undoes the magnetic pull of the disk,” Phoe explains.

Then the insanity starts. Squatting on the disk, I grab its edge and give it a violent pull. I fall instantly, clutching the disk against my chest like a medieval shield.

If it isn’t clear, I fall because there’s no longer a disk under my feet.

As I’m plummeting toward the Guards below me, time slows. I have a chance to reflect on Phoe’s plan, or the lack of it. Is she hoping the Guards, fearing the impact, will allow me to keep falling to my death, or is she hoping I won’t break my legs on the Guards’ helmets if they don’t move?

In a spinning wrist-wrenching motion, I throw the disk under my feet. The magnets do their job, and I’m once again attached to the disk. The disk comes alive and slows my frantic descent. The Guards below me don’t fly apart as I thought they might, and I’m two feet above their heads.

I grab the disk by the edge again and land on their slippery helmets. The slowing maneuver I executed makes this landing only mildly uncomfortable. As soon as I can, I run across people’s shoulders and heads, dodging their Stun Sticks.

My speed increases as I run forward. I think I understand Phoe’s plan. The Guards aren’t forming a perfect half-sphere. There are Guards on the bottom and Guards to the side, but the place where they meet is a weak point. One Guard recognizes our plan and hurries to get in my way. I keep running across the Guards, dodging their hands and Sticks as I go. The clever Guard flies at me on his disk.

When the collision seems inevitable, I nearly close my eyes. My body twists at the last moment, and I swing the disk at his legs like a blunt weapon.

The disk connects with a hard thwack, and the Guard swerves, clutching his legs. Getting hit on the shin with a metal disk must really hurt.

His trajectory takes him into the swirling mass of Guards below.

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