Gyaros Book One: The Mice Eat Iron (YA 17+ Sci Fi Adventure) (46 page)

“What the hell is he doing?!” Miles said loudly as he watched the madness unfold. Maxen soon emerged with the skateboard held tightly under his mechanical arm, pushing away a number of disappointed spectators, and gl
aring at anyone who came close.

“Here you go, kid
,” he said with a grin, handing the board to Lucy who could barely contain herself.

“Awesome! Thank you so much Uncle Max!”
she scuffled down from Miles’ shoulders and squeezed Maxen around his waist, he laughed and ruffled her hair in return.

The rest of the day seemed to go by surpr
isingly quickly and before long the daylight faded and the parking lot began to empty as the swathes of patrons left the stadium to return home for the night. Miles, Maxen and Lucy exhaustedly made their way back to the blue truck for another early, uncomfortable sleep, they would need all the energy they could get if they were to help Mesa successfully usurp Taggart’s control of the Arena for The Machine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 28

A loud knock at the truck window forced Miles awake early
the next morning and he turned to see Mesa standing outside, looking mildly displeased, her hands on her hips.

“Get out here
,” she said, her voice muffled by the glass of the window. Miles nudged Maxen and Lucy awake before opening his door and stepping outside, “I told you not to sleep in,” added Mesa, Maxen looked down at the digital clock on his right arm as he climbed out of the vehicle.

“It’s six in the
God damn morning!” he said in manner that suggested to Mesa that their definitions of early were very different.

“I know
,” replied Mesa, unfolding a large sheet of laminated paper and laying it flat on the hood of the pickup, “now, if you're ready, we can start talkin' business.” Miles, Maxen and Lucy all gathered around Mesa, shivering in the cold morning air, to examine what looked like a top down map of Titans Arena.

“It's a simple job, pretty hard to fuck up if everyone knows what they’re doing
,” Mesa began, “right here's where we gotta get to,” she pointed to a room at the eastern part of the stadium, “that's Ransom's private box overlooking the arena. If we can get up there and kill the son of a bitch, the stadium's basically ours.”

“I'm guessin' the guy's got a lotta guards
,” said Maxen.

“At least a few hundred,” Mesa replied
, “we kill anyone in our way and spare whoever surrenders, could use 'em later on.”

“How do we get there?”
asked Miles, his voice the only sound in the eerily quiet parking lot.

“When you guys were lead down to the pit, did you see certain tunnels blocked off by armed guards?” Miles though back to the dimly lit tunnels that ran beneath the stadium stands. At the time, his mind was so focused on surviving the battles that he took in very little of his surroundings but he could vaguely recall seeing one or two men armed with assault rifles as they made their way to and from the arena pit.

“I think so,” Miles answered.

“I saw them too
,” added Lucy.

“Well,” Mesa explained
, “those tunnels loop around the stadium, follow any of 'em and eventually you’ll find an elevator. That elevator takes you up to Taggart's quarters and the announcer's booth.”

“They got security cameras in those tunnels?”
asked Maxen.

“Of course. A
s soon as we start killin' guards we gotta be ready for a shitstorm, and there's no cover in there so make sure you always shoot first.”

“Okay, after we get to the elevator, then what?” Miles inquired
trying to move the subject away from killing people.

“It'll take us straight to where we wanna be, we waste Taggart and any other guards up there then that's it, mission accomplished. As long as you three just stay close and don't do anything stupid, we'll be fine.”

“Us
three
?” Miles said, shocked, “you don't expect Lucy to come with us?”

“Why not? I saw what she did to that guy in the arena the other day
,” replied Mesa, looking down at Lucy.

“But she can't control that!” Miles protested, and Lucy looked puzzled. She knew she became violent when she los
t control, she remembered Miles choking for breath on the floor of Guppy’s diner, but she had no idea just how destructive she truly was.

“It would be safer for all of us if she stay
ed here, trust me” continued Miles quietly, as concerned for Lucy’s wellbeing as he was for theirs. Mesa frowned in frustration, considering Miles' suggestion before replying.

“Well...alright, she stays. You guys'll have to do.” Miles felt relieved,
Lucy had already been exposed to more than enough danger and violence over the past few days.

“So when do we do this thing?” Maxen asked.

“Wait until the fights start. The distraction will provide some cover,” said Mesa as she folded the map and put it in her back pocket, “I'll meet you back here when it's time to move, I gotta get back before they notice I’m out here.” Mesa left once again for the stadium, jogging across the desolate parking lot, leaving the rest to think the plan over and prepare themselves for action. It was still quite a while before the first arena battles began so they had plenty of time to discuss strategy.

“What do you think about all this, Miles?” Maxen asked once Mesa was out of earshot.

“I think she knows what she's doing,” replied Miles, “as long as we do what she says, I think we should be okay. Besides we never did get that money for winning the fight, but if Mesa can set us up with The Machine we’re sure to get work with them right away, right?”

“If you say so, man.”

Miles, Maxen and Lucy waited anxiously in the truck until the stadium opened and the food vendors returned to the parking lot before forcing down a breakfast of cheap, greasy fast food. More and more beat up old cars, trucks and bikes began to arrive at the arena as the sun rose higher in the sky and, after what seemed like forever, Mesa returned ready for action. ‘This is it!’

“Alright Lucy,” said Miles as Mesa
and Maxen waited outside the truck, “we won't be gone for long, just stay in here and don't open the doors for anyone, understand?” she threw her arms around Miles and put her lips to his ear.

“Papa please don’t go, I don’t want to be left alone,” she whispered, her voice cracking a little.

“It’s going to be okay Lucy,” Miles whispered back, Maxen and Mesa began to walk toward the stadium, giving them some privacy, “you be a brave girl now okay? Once we help Mesa everything is going to be a whole lot easier, I promise,” Miles took Lucy’s head in his hands and made eye contact with her to show he was serious, “besides, Uncle Max will take good care of me,” he smiled and Lucy chuckled, she held him tight again.

“Okay, just hurry up, I don’t like it when you go away.”

“We’ll be as fast as we can, now you keep those doors locked and don’t be afraid to send a warning shot with your cannon if anyone gives you trouble.”

“Mm hm
,” Lucy nodded sullenly and Miles hopped out of the truck. She locked the doors and gave a thumbs up. Miles smiled and waved before jogging across the packed parking lot to catch up with Maxen and Mesa at the entrance to the arena, tucking his trusty revolver into his trousers.

The three of them remained silent as they entered the stadium alongside hundreds of eager spectators
, before splitting from the crowd suddenly and proceeding down one of the narrower tunnels. Miles remained on edge, preparing himself for the inevitable chaos that was soon to ensue, once gain checking his weapon.

“Stay close
,” Mesa reminded the other two as they wandered deeper into the stadium. Before long, they turned a corner to see two guards dressed in black body armour, carrying intimidating assault rifles and blocking one of the paths of a three way intersection.

“You guys ready for this?”
asked Mesa quietly, Miles and Maxen both looked at each other briefly before nodding.

“Let's do it
,” Maxen said, preparing his arm for combat, emitting that signature whirring, signifying that the attack was ready to commence.

“Hey!”
said one of the guards, raising his hand as the three approached, “you know you're not supposed to be back here, miss.”

“Oh, I know
,” replied Mesa, and without warning, she thrust the long blade of her knife into the man's neck, the other guard raised his weapon to fire but was quickly knocked back by a powerful kick to the groin, Mesa removed her knife from the neck of the gurgling first guard and plunged it through the second man's armour and into his heart. His eyes bulged as blood poured from the wound and dribbled from his mouth.

“C'mon, let's move!”
she said, quickly making her way down the previously blocked tunnel as Miles and Maxen followed. ‘Holy shit!’ thought Miles as he stepped over the two blood soaked bodies slumped pathetically in the tunnel, he was still not accustomed to such brutality. Loud footsteps resounded from all directions as the three intruders quickly approached the next intersection.

“Watch our asses!”
commanded Mesa and the other two obliged, turning to cover their six o’clock. The footsteps drew closer and before long, two more guards approached from behind, rifles raised. Before they had time to shoot, Maxen took aim and launched a projectile in their direction, making contact with one of the guards, and coating the walls of the tunnel in thick, red blood before slamming into the curved, concrete wall. Miles lifted his revolver and fired two shots at the remaining guard, the first missing the target by about an inch, the second, a well-placed headshot, instantly killing the unfortunate fellow. ‘Fuck, what the hell am I doing?’ thought Miles as he took another life but there was no time for moral discourse, not now. Mesa reached the next turn, poking her head around the corner before quickly pulling it back as a flurry of assault rifle bullets struck the wall behind her. She pulled a blue grenade from her belt and tossed it around the corner, waiting for the loud *BANG* before rushing out to fight the enemy head on. Miles peered down the hall at Mesa who was swiftly annihilating a squad of five blind and bewildered guards with her trusty combat knife, slicing through the men, one by one, in a single fluid motion. After she dealt with the last of the guards, Miles and Maxen followed her down the next hallway, for about twenty meters or so, which lead into a larger area.

“We're close, stay focused!” Mesa called out, reaching the end of the tunnel and waiting for the others to catch up
, “the elevator's right there, stay on me,” she said, pointing towards a large silver door in the next room. They cautiously stepped out into the wide area which connected to two other tunnels and noticing that there were no guards nearby, Mesa rushed over to the elevator.

“Shit!” Mesa exclaimed as she examined the digital button panel.

“What's up?” asked Maxen, keeping an eye on the hallways.

“They've locked the fuckin' controls! I can hack this thing but it could take so
me time, just watch the tunnels!” Miles took position at one of the entrances and Maxen covered the other two as Mesa pulled out a small electronic device from her pocket and plugged it into the elevator panel. It wasn't long before more reinforcements showed up, first on Maxen's end. Miles could hear shots being fired behind him but he didn't take his eyes off the tunnel he was guarding. The pained screams of arena guards told him that Maxen had everything under control at his end. Soon enough a squad of three heavily armed men came into Miles' view, he took a shot, hitting and injuring one of the guards and causing the others to scramble for cover back around the corner. Miles stood beside the tunnel entrance terrified, as bullets sprayed out from the hallway, he took a deep breath and returned fire, also failing to hit his target. As he struggled with the guards on his side, Miles could hear a cacophony of vicious growls and roars from behind. He turned briefly to see Maxen now taking on an assortment of wild creatures as they charged down one of the tunnels, 'Shit, they've let the animals out too?!'

“Got it, come on!” Mesa yelled over the loud gunfire
and bestial howls as the elevator doors slid open. Maxen started to back up, firing off one final energy projectile at a formidable, oversized tiger, tearing it in half, while Miles shot a further two rounds down the hallway before joining the others in the elevator. Mesa slammed her palm on the controls and the doors began to slowly close as several more guards swarmed the room, firing relentlessly at the closing elevator.

“Fuck!” Miles quickly turned to Mesa who was now bleeding heavily from her left shoulder, one of the many assault rifle bullets had made its way through the narrow gap of the closing doors

“Shit! Are you alright?!” Miles asked panicking.

“I'm fine!” Mesa said
, shrugging off Miles’ assistance as the elevator began to rise. She used her knife to cut a strip of black denim from the bottom of her jeans and wrapped it tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Stay low
,” she advised keeping a close eye on the digital display showing where the elevator was currently located. She hovered one hand over the large, red emergency brake button and took another grenade from her belt with the other. She waited until only the top half of the elevator had reached the upper floor before manually bringing it to a halt and opening the doors with the help of Maxen’s considerable strength. Mesa pulled the pin from the grenade with her teeth and tossed it through the opening as the three of them ducked behind the top of the elevator shaft, avoiding the heavy spray of bullets from the waiting guards. After three seconds and an eruption of panicked screams and shouts, the grenade exploded with a deafening *BOOM* sending small pieces of debris into the elevator and bringing the shooting to a sudden and complete stop. Mesa quickly scrambled out of the elevator, followed by Miles and Maxen. Taggart Ransom's private quarters, looking much like an expensive hotel room covered in sumptuous red carpet with red velvet furniture and trimmings complete with bar, billiard table and a giant window overlooking the arena pit below, were now heavily burned and scattered with the dismembered remains of several of Taggart’s private guards. Mesa briefly searched the area for Taggart before rushing to an open door on the opposite side of the room that lead to a metallic walkway.