Klaxons began to wail in the corridors as Ash and I bolted from the vault with the stolen unit. Ash hefted it again, adrenaline lending him extra strength.
We hurried back the way we came, trying to remain as silent as possible while half‑carrying, half‑dragging the heavy tech. Gizmo led the way, but I could already hear thudding footsteps echoing in the halls behind us.
So much for a quiet exit.
"There's a side exit down the hall to your right, fifteen meters. I'm unlocking it now go, go!" Nyra's voice crackled in my ear, tight with worry.
Ash and I veered right at the next junction. Behind us, a shout rang out, Hive guards, maybe two, had spotted either the open vault or our trail.
"Contact made! Intruders in the vault hall!" an authoritative voice barked.
"Shit," I hissed. Up ahead I spotted the green‑lit sign of an emergency exit. Gizmo was already there, pawing at the door and meowing urgently.
We barreled forward. Ash's breath came in ragged pants from hauling the device; I kept a grip on the strap and held my pistol in my free hand. I'd hoped not to use it, but hope was a luxury.
A sharp bang sounded and something whizzed past my shoulder, sparking off the wall. a gunshot. They were shooting.
Without thinking, I spun and fired two blind shots down the corridor. A figure ducked back maybe I hit nothing, but it bought us a moment.
"Door's unlocked, go!" Nyra shouted.
We crashed through the exit into the night. An alarm began blaring behind us, someone must have manually triggered it.
Outside, we found ourselves on the far side of the depot, near a loading dock leading to the main road. An armored HiveTech security vehicle was parked not far off, likely the backup arriving as the system rebooted.
Ash staggered under the weight he carried. Gizmo and I moved to help, getting the unit to the fence line opposite the incoming guards.
Shots rang out; two bullets pinged off the metal loading dock behind us. I pivoted and fired wildly in return, forcing the pursuing guards to dive behind a dumpster. The mechanical device was slowing us down, but Ash and I refused to abandon it now.
"Almost… there…" Ash huffed.
The fence at the back of the lot was just ahead, chained shut. Ash didn't slow. With a tremendous crash, he barreled straight into the gate with the heavy device like a battering ram.
The chain snapped. The gate burst open. Ash stumbled through, somehow keeping his feet. Gizmo and I dashed after him, metal shards clinking around us.
We hit the street, a narrow side road flanked by silent warehouses. Behind us, Hive guards poured through the busted gate, shouting. A sleek security drone whirred into the air from the Hive vehicle, its spotlight cutting through the dark.
"This way!" I shouted, tugging Ash toward an alley between two empty buildings.
He followed, breath ragged. We slipped into the alley's cover as the drone's spotlight swept past our hiding spot.
Nyra's voice crackled back. "I'm dark on your position. Did you get out?"
"We're out," I panted. "But it's hot. Very hot."
Ash carefully set the device down behind a large garbage skip. His face glistened with sweat. "They'll swarm the area in minutes."
I peeked around the alley corner. The drone was circling but hadn't pinpointed us. The guards were splitting up, two checking the broken gate, one sweeping along the fence.
Think, think.
"I'm cycling their alarms to cause confusion, but that'll only buy a little time… Maybe ditch the package and run?" Nyra suggested.
"No," Ash and I said in unison.
Ash looked at me, eyes fierce. "We stick to the plan. Rendezvous two blocks north."
I nodded. The abandoned construction yard where we'd parked a getaway bike was our only shot to vanish into the city maze. I quickly scanned Ash and the device. "You good to carry?"
He rolled his shoulders and hefted the console again, wincing but determined. "I'll manage."
I turned to Gizmo. "Distraction time, buddy. Keep them off us."
His green eyes brightened. The cat gave a quick nod and darted back out of the alley.
Moments later, a brilliant flash and shower of sparks erupted at the alley mouth, my emergency flare, timed perfectly. It drew the drone's spotlight and a guard's startled shout.
Gizmo capitalized. He zipped across the open road just outside the fence, deliberately catching the drone's attention with a loud, simulated yowl. The drone, registering movement, swung its beam and gave chase as Gizmo led it toward a row of crumbling sheds across the street.
"Attaboy," I muttered as Ash and I took off down the alley, the heavy unit between us. In the distance, angry shouts echoed, and the depot's alarm klaxon kept wailing.
We emerged on the next street over. The rendezvous yard was one more block. Sirens wailed now, Ironbound police, belatedly responding to gunfire.
Ash grunted under the weight. I kept one hand on the device and one on my pistol. Ahead, the skeleton of the unfinished building marked the construction yard.
We ducked into the frame and hurried behind a mound of concrete rubble. Parked there was the beat‑up hover bike with its flatbed trailer.
We practically fell against it. Ash coughed, trying to catch his breath. Together we heaved the stolen console onto the trailer bed and secured it with ratchet straps.
"It looks like you lost them for now. That was some fireworks show," Nyra's voice said, anxious.
I allowed a shaky laugh of relief. "We aim to please."
A small shape suddenly scurried in through a gap in the fence. Gizmo, skidding to a halt at my boots. He was scuffed, one ear antenna chipped, but otherwise intact. The drone was nowhere in sight.
"You made it," I whispered, scooping him up and hugging him. He purred weakly, job done.
Ash swung a leg over the bike's seat and fired up the engine. The bike hummed low; it was old and relatively quiet. "All aboard," he said.
I climbed on behind him, arms around his waist. Gizmo clamped onto the bike frame between us with his tiny magnets.
I tugged out my comm earpiece and dropped it, crushing it under my boot. "Nyra, we're dusting off. Thank you."
"Just come back safe, alright? They're trying to trace this channel so I'm bailing. Go fast, Riv."
"See you soon," I said softly, uncertain but hopeful.
Ash revved gently. "Hang on."
The hover bike lifted and sped off into the night, leaving the sounds of Hive alarms and sirens fading behind. We had done it. We had the prize.
I should have felt elated. And yet, as the city lights blurred by and Ash guided us toward a safehouse, an uneasy weight settled in my gut. It couldn't really be this easy. And in Ironbound, when things seemed too good… they usually were.