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When the sound of the machine approaching became audible, Kurt left his covered spot and rushed to the stairs. He bounded up the first flight as the warbot entered the building at the front of the structure and began scanning.
He’d noisily climbed four flights of stairs before slowing down. There, he found an opening that had once been a window and glanced out into the dark. He could see other machines heading their way.
The plan was working—except for one thing. The first machine was moving faster than Kurt had expected. Much faster. It was already on the stairs two flights below him.
Kurt took off and raced up the next few flights. There were no doors to shut, no obstacles to create, nothing he could find that would slow the machine down. Then again, it was probably pointless; he’d seen them batter through plenty of doors in the simulation.
Passing the seventh floor, he could hear Joe and Nagano banging against something up above. “How are we doing?” he shouted.
“First miscalculation,” Joe shouted. “Roof door is padlocked. We’re trying to break it down. But, hey, there was bound to be at least one problem with the plan.”
“One problem would be fine,” Kurt shouted, “but we have two. The lead warbot isn’t waiting for backup.”
“So slow it down,” Joe shouted.
Easier said than done, Kurt thought. He considered the sword in his hand. “Too bad Masamune didn’t make rocket launchers.”
“Should we look for another way up?” Joe asked.
Looking around, Kurt spotted something that might be of use. “No,” he shouted. “Keep working on the door.”
“What are you going to do?”
“My best exterminator routine.”
While Joe and Nagano continued to batter the door two flights above him, Kurt swung the Masamune at the dilapidated railing along the edge of the stairwell. After hacking through the rusted metal at the bottom, he wrenched the obstruction out of his way.
That done, he rushed to a pile of rubble, where part of the wall had collapsed. He found a sizable wedge of concrete lying on the floor. It was too heavy to lift, but getting low and pushing with both legs, he was able to slide it across the floor. He pushed it to the edge of the stairwell and waited.
The robot was two flights down now, moving and scanning and moving again; it had an almost alien style of locomotion. It paused on each landing, scanning the area for any heat signatures.
Just a little farther.
Finally, it made the turn. Appearing out in the open ten feet below Kurt.
With a mighty shove, Kurt pushed the two-hundred-pound chunk of cement over the edge. It dropped straight down, hitting the robot just off center, crushing several of its appendages and literally flattening it.
Its six legs splayed out in all directions and for a second Kurt thought he’d destroyed it. But the robot began to move and the slab of concrete slid off of it and onto the floor. Freed of the weight, the machine sprang back up to its feet.
“And I thought roaches were hard to kill.”
Back in action, the machine tilted upward, locked onto Kurt with the targeting laser and opened fire.
Kurt dove out of the way, but he needn’t have bothered. Down below, an explosion rocked the stairwell.
Kurt risked a glance. The barrel of the weapon was sheared off and what remained was splayed out. It had blown itself apart when the warbot opened fire.
“The concrete slab must have bent the barrel,” Kurt said. “Just as I planned.”
The robot was not destroyed, but at least it was neutered.
Kurt took off, charging back up the stairs. “Back in the lead,” he shouted. “Humans: two. Robots: one.”
He reached the top floor and found the door open where Joe and Nagano had finished breaking it down. Stepping through and wedging it shut again, he stepped out into the rain. Joe and Nagano were standing at the edge of the roof, staring at a gap between the building and its neighbor.
Joe gave him the bad news. “Hate to tell you, amigo. But the bridge is out.”
“The brace should be here,” Kurt said.
