Destiny: Quantic Dreams Book 3 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (books for 20 year olds .txt) 📗

missing the last minutes of my wife’s life and I was stuck beholden to an android who decided it was time for a chat. My hands twitched, aching for the feel of my gun. I wanted nothing more than to put a bullet through the android’s smug face. We had been through too much to get taken out by a cocky robot.

“I told you that you didn’t have a clue about the situation you’re in,” he continued. “Your species is a stain on this planet; a fatal virus that took the most miraculous gifts evolution could give you and threw them away. It astounds even my mind how a so-called intelligent organism could possibly think they were justified in such wasteful behavior. Hey, did you find your father on the way out? Looks like he had a run-in with some of my fellow anti-human friends.” My arms shot out to hold Marcus back. He snarled at Tenzen and his feet tamped the ground, itching to rush the machine. That was how I would think of them from then on. Anyone—anything—that could take this much pleasure in death wasn’t human. “Ooh, did I strike a nerve? Oh well, no problem. Don’t worry human, you won’t be feeling that anger for much longer.”

Tenzen raised his gun and cocked it. “Who wants to go first?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and a chill ran down my spine. Behind I heard a rustle. It must be Eliza, trying to come to the rescue even as she lay dying in the dirt. I turned to tell her to stay where she was and gasped. Twin brilliant yellow eyes stared back at me. The panther hadn’t gone far. I looked down at my shirt, covered with Eliza’s blood. She must have camouflaged herself somehow. If the panther thought I was the most readily available source of food, there was no way it could smell her. The big cat let out a growl that I felt more than heard. It was hungry, and Marcus and I were two large helpings of meat ripe for the taking. Tenzen yammered on behind me in words I couldn’t understand; the only sound I heard was blood pounding in my ears.

“Marcus, tell him to come closer to us,” I muttered.

“Huh?” Marcus didn’t so much as turn his head.

“Just do it. Then when I tell you, drop.”

I heard Marcus tell Tenzen that he would go first, but he wanted the android to look into his eyes when he killed him. Tenzen laughed and agreed. I’m sure it was the same as killing an insect to him. We were insignificant animals. There was sport to be had in our deaths. I could sense the machine’s approach, his footfalls heavy on the ground. The panther could too, its large ears swinging towards the sound. Something about Tenzen didn’t agree with the predator because its attention stayed on him. Perfect.

“You sure you don’t want you mother to move out of the way? I guess its not like the mess is going to bother her for long, anyway.”

“I’m all right. Maybe you’ll lucky and not have to waste another bullet.”

“I appreciate your thinking human. Well, make your peace with your God.” Tenzen motioned for Marcus to kneel down and pressed the muzzle of the gun to his forehead. The panther’s muscles bunched up, ready for the final kill. The instant I saw the animal’s paws leave the ground I grabbed Marcus’s shoulders.

“Down!”

The panther sailed through their air, its huge front claws dangling dangerously close to us as its body cleared the space. It landed on Tenzen, snarling and hissing. The android dropped his gun and clawed at the panther, his machine strength nothing against the beast’s muscles. Marcus grabbed Tenzen’s gun and leveled it at the tangle of machine and animal. I took his offered hand and we backed up together toward the brush. Marcus kept his gun trained on Tenzen as the android shouted in his native tongue for aid. The exclamation was cut short as one of the panther’s teeth found some vital part of his housing and ripped it from the android’s body. Cooling fluid sprayed in a wide arc like arterial blood and Tenzen’s body crumpled to the ground.

We didn’t waste any more time. Eliza had managed to prop herself up on one arm, but she was weak. Marcus scooped her up in his arms and we ran.

Once we cleared the last vestiges of light from the machine city we stopped, the only sound coming from Eliza’s ragged breathing. Marcus set her on the ground as gently as he could.

“Hey, sweetheart.” I smiled down at her. “Still with us?”

“So it would seem.” She coughed and moaned when the effort stressed her wound. “Did that asshole really get killed by a fucking panther?” Marcus barked a laugh behind me.

“Yup. Life finds a way, I suppose.” Marcus handed me the meager medical supplies we had strapped to us. “I apologize in advance, beloved. This is going to suck. A lot.” I drizzled antiseptic on the wound and she howled, a string of curses spilling from her lips as the liquid cleared the wound of bacteria. “Good news, the hard part is over.” I pressed her shoulder to the ground and outlined the wound with adhesive before attaching a patch of gauze to it. “I need to turn you over to get the exit wound, all right?” She nodded and Marcus held her while I repeated the procedure on the other side. “How’s the pain?”

“I think the shot hit a nerve. I’m pretty numb from here down.” She motioned from her collarbone downwards. “I can move my fingers, though.” Move was something of an overstatement. Her fingertips twitched, but she didn’t have a full range of movement. My medical knowledge was limited but it was clear that she was going to need surgery. The AutoDocs back home would do a fine job...if we made it that far.

“I’ve got two doses of