She climbs down.
The second her head disappears beneath the floor, the room loses light.
I back toward the opening, firing as Sentinel pours through the broken door.
Black armor.
Red lasers.
No voices.
No mercy.
Russ drops down after Hannah.
“Clay!” he shouts from below.
I fire again.
Again.
Again.
Then my rifle clicks empty.
A Sentinel operative steps through the smoke.
Weapon rising.
Too close.
I reach for my sidearm.
Too slow.
The shot cracks.
But it doesn’t hit me.
Gabriel is halfway up the ladder beneath me, arm extended, pistol smoking.
The Sentinel operative falls backward.
Gabriel looks at me.
“Don’t make me regret saving you.”
I bare my teeth. “Get in line.”
Then I drop into the dark.
The tunnel swallows me whole.
Cold water splashes around my boots when I land.
Hannah is there instantly.
Hands on my chest.
