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Duncan watched Owen fall to the ground, his right arm cut up and bleeding bad. But the screams and curses from inside the darkening grid told their own tale.
Duncan was officially out of ammo and called out to Endelle. Because he was shielded, he was pretty sure no one else could hear him.
Endelle shouted for an additional weapon for him.
Owen, all the way across the room, alerted Endelle, then tossed the gun to her in a high arc to avoid the constant crossfire. She caught it easily in her hand. A second one followed.
Endelle slung each of them in turn to Rachel, who passed one to Duncan. Each commenced firing again.
Then suddenly, all activity from the grid ceased.
“A new set of wreckers is coming in to replace this crew,” Merl shouted. “Everyone lie flat and get ready. Endelle, let Rachel and Duncan know.”
Endelle responded, “They can hear and see everything.”
“Okay. Good to know.”
Duncan dropped to the floor and Rachel quickly stretched out beside him. Like him, she held her gun at her shoulder, ready to fire. She was trembling, but composed.
Another group of wreckers appeared, six shotguns exploding. If any of the palace group had been standing, they would have been hit.
Duncan fired his weapon quickly, reloading in between as fast as he could. Rachel continued to fold ammo in from Endelle’s suite, loading and firing as though she’d been doing it forever.
Duncan saw that a new arrival had a tight bead on their position. The wrecker was aiming for what he couldn’t see but clearly knew to be there. In a swift movement, Duncan pulled Rachel close, then rolled them both swiftly to the right at least ten feet.
The wrecker fired, blasting a hole in the marble floor where they’d just been.
Rachel started to reload her weapon, but came up empty when she tried to fold shells from Endelle’s suite.
“We need more ammo,” Rachel called out.
Endelle reached for the box next to her then slid it in Rachel’s direction, but it got stuck on torn up pieces of the marble tile.
Endelle cursed, but went right back to firing her weapon. Wreckers dropped one after the other.
Rachel left Duncan, but thinned the shield out a little too far and became visible. She grabbed the ammo and slid it the rest of the way to Duncan.
“Rachel! Your shield.”
Endelle called her name and tossed Rachel a gun.
As two more wreckers appeared in the grid opening, Duncan turned his attention to the battle. Both faced in Rachel’s direction.
He heard her get off a shot as he lifted his shotgun and fired at almost the same time. Both wreckers also got off shots before they fell dead.
Then everything turned unearthly quiet.
Smoke once more filled the space.
Endelle called for Jeannie’s assistance again. After another count-down and closing of eyes, the dead wreckers disappeared.
Merl’s voice this time. “That’s it. Battle’s over.”
“How do you know?” Duncan called out rising to his feet. Parts of the room were hard to see because of the smoke.
Merl responded. “It’s a lack of vibration. You get really familiar with it in the grid. But hey, I’m going to grab their guns before the grid closes up.”
Through the veil of smoke, he watched Merl step into the grid and begin tossing out shotguns and belts as well as several metal boxes of ordnance.
