Free Stranger King by Nadia Hutton Page A

sight of the two of them.
    “Got a plan, Daywalker?” Charlotte shouted back.
    Lena joined her. “Maybe. Keep on an eye on him, and cover me!”
    Lena laid Kozol by Charlotte’s feet, the man protesting at being left behind. Lena ripped off the sleeve of her shirt, balling it up and pressed it to his side. “Stay with Charlotte.”
    Lena jogged back down the road to the dead guard. She rolled the man over to get to the straps of his flamepack. She checked the canisters, relieved to find them undamaged. She hoisted the weapon onto her back. It was heavy but no worse than carrying Kozol.
    She didn’t go straight back to the fence, instead she circled around, counting on Charlotte to keep the sniper’s attention. From the corner of the next street over Lena could see Charlotte’s silhouette against the flames as she took shots at the hidden enemy.
    The flamepack had a range of fifty plus feet but the gap between any kind of cover and the edge of the tree line on the other side of the fence was nearly twice that. Unless she wanted to step into the open, she would need some height. She glanced up at the building above her. The flames had a foothold, care of its consumed neighbor, but its leading edge, the one that mattered, was untouched.
    Lena leapt for the nearest handhold and began climbing. When she reached the top, she could feel the heat on her skin and she struggled to breathe through the smoke.
    She stayed low and readied the flamepack, unhooking the nozzle from its cradle. She picked her target, angled the nozzle, and pressed the trigger. The igniter clicked and a thin stream of liquid fire arched high over the fence. In a bright flash, the trees burst, the brush taking off in flames that illuminated the uniformed snipers who fled from their posts. She ducked, hearing a bullet whizz past her. She shrugged out of the flamepack and drew her pistol, managing to shoot down a fleeing enemy and another who’d stopped to aim in her direction before she turned her attention to the climb down. The sounds of rifle shots faded to the opposite edge of the camp. Their path was clear.
    “That was your plan?” Charlotte shouted at her when she returned, “Setting our exit on fire?”
    “It got rid of them, didn’t it?” Lena yelled back, pulling Kozol across her shoulders, “You’re going to have to help me get him over the fence.”
    “What makes you think I’m helping you?”
    “You’re coming with me!”
    Charlotte scoffed, “You’re mad!”
    Lena yelled back, “And staying here is sane?”
    Charlotte swore, “Shit. Fine. I’m coming with you. But I’m not climbing that damn fence. Get out of the way.”
    Charlotte disappeared and returned a moment later behind the wheel of an ancient pickup truck that someone had lovingly restored to gas-guzzling prime. Charlotte gunned the engine and rammed the fence to the ground. Charlotte threw open the passenger door and gestured for them to hurry up and get in. Lena carried Kozol forward as refugees streamed past them to climb over the remains of the fence and run for the burning trees.
    Kozol bucked against her, “Calvin,” he moaned, “You told me we’d get him out. I need to find him.”
    Kozol’s blood ran down the side of her body as she paused to reply.
    “Hey, Daywalker,” Charlotte shouted, “If you’re crazy enough to go after him, I’ll take your friend. I have coordinates for an old bomb shelter further up the highway. We’ll meet you there.”
    “Okay,” Lena agreed, transferring Kozol to the front seat. Charlotte gave her the coordinates and she took them down on her wrist pad, “I will be back, Kozol. I promise.”
    Lena ran back into the inferno, calling Calvin’s name as she went. She rushed past other refugees, shooting one guard who tried to stand in her way. She heard her name called and she turned to see Calvin, his face and hands covered with blood.
    Then she noticed them. Five others were standing with him in a group, looking