Free New Title 1 by Andersen Prunty Page A

HERE.” It was probably even more intimidating since I assumed they couldn’t see the bullhorn.
    Baxter popped up from the attic window and shot my wrist. The bullhorn went flying and clattered onto the road. The crowd dispersed. My hand was barely hanging on to the wrist. I thought about picking up the bullhorn and commencing my count. Probably wouldn’t do a lot of good. With my good hand, I grabbed one of the grenades from my pocket, pulled the pin with my teeth and tossed it toward the window. It didn’t come anywhere close. It clanked off the aluminum siding, hit the grass and began rolling back toward me. I ran behind the trunk. The grenade went off and blew up the front of the truck, dirt and metal raining down. I grabbed the gun from the waistband of pants and fired a couple of shots at the window. At least one of them went into the house, the other one only creating a steel blossom in the siding.
    Baxter appeared again and fired off two more rounds. The first took off my left ear. The other one hit just above my right eye, knocking it loose and sending my vision all skewed. It took me a moment to realize it, but this was serious. If he knocked out both my eyes then I was pretty much done for. It was time for the robot.
    “ Robot! Open fire!”
    Immediately, things became very confusing and very loud.

 
    Thirty-four
     
    I ducked behind the back of the truck and the robot moved to the forefront. I saw it raise both arms—one with a rocket launcher and the other with a semi-automatic assault rifle—and commence firing at the house. I trained my weapon on the attic window and fired continuously.
    There was smoke and fire everywhere.
    Baxter fought back with equal wrath, chucking grenades between volleys of machinegun fire.
    Holes opened up in the house and it was only after a few seconds that what I was fighting for was completely useless but I continued anyway.
    Baxter appeared on the top of the burning house. My injured eye had healed somewhat and I could tell he was missing an arm and only had half his head. His clothes were burning, hunks of his flesh melting and sliding off the bone.
    Fuck.
    Of course, why hadn’t I thought of that? Baxter knew about that underground spring. He knew about whatever it was that made me invincible. He was invincible too.
    Then I had another terrifying thought. Probably my most terrifying yet. If Baxter knew about it then wasn’t it possible the whole fucking army knew about it? That would certainly explain how the United States of Few became the United States of Everything.
    He would never give up.
    He would never surrender.
    He continued raining down bullets and grenades.
    I almost quit. I almost told the robot to stop. I almost hopped on and asked him to fly me anywhere that wasn’t loud and wasn’t exploding and wasn’t on fire.
    But Baxter was still in my house. He was on my house, standing there like some conquering demon god and I didn’t want to let him win.
    That was what it came down to.
    I didn’t want to let him win.
    “ Robot!”
    The robot ceased firing and looked me. A grenade explosion took off his leg. It didn’t seem to bother him. He hopped over.
    “ We need to push this truck into the house.”
    Dutifully, the robot picked up the trailer of the truck and hurled it at the house. The explosion was immense, blowing out dirt and smoke and fire. I hid behind the towering robot and when I looked toward my house, through the smoke, nearly a minute later, there was nothing except a hole. Beyond the intense ringing in my ears, there was silence.
    The silence was broken by a hum and then a rumbling and then the sky and the whole street lit up.

 
    Thirty-five
     
    Through the swirling confusion and the riot of sound I had a moment of clarity. Or maybe it was a vision, stark and real. Between the crowded houses on the streets, tanks and army jeeps rolled. Choppers flew just over the roofs. Planes circled the outskirts of the city, ready to swoop in and drop