Free Extinction Game by Gary Gibson Page B

the radio. ‘Pull forward – but don’t take any chances, Jerry. Don’t hang around one second longer than you have to.’
    I eased down on the accelerator and rolled the EV forwards as tentatively as I could manage.
    The vehicle trundled a foot or so forward, and then the engine whined as the slack was taken up on the cable. My heart thudded at the sight of the fiery tide spreading towards me. How long
before the lava reached the EV? One minute? Or less?
    ‘Floor it,’ Nadia yelled. ‘She’s moving, but she’s still not out of that hole.’
    ‘If I floor it,’ I said through gritted teeth, ‘I’ll drive straight into the fucking lava.’
    ‘No, you won’t,’ Nadia yelled, with what struck me as a remarkable lack of conviction.
    I floored it and felt the rumble of the engine through the soles of my boots. The EV trembled around me and then, suddenly, slipped forward a couple of inches.
    ‘That’s it, Jerry!’ Nadia yelled, sounding as if she was on the verge of hysteria. ‘She’s moving! Keep at it!’
    I half-stood in the driver’s seat, staring with clenched teeth through the windscreen at the lava. It was right in front of the EV now, and getting closer . . .
    . . . Closer . . .
    The EV surged forwards, and into the lava. Flames shot up around the windscreen as the tyres were instantly burned to a crisp.
    Nadia was yelling something, but I wasn’t paying attention. The floor shuddered beneath me, and the whole EV listed to one side. Flames were rushing up the front of the vehicle, and I saw
the glass of the windscreen blacken and crack as I ran to the rear, where the airlock door was mounted.
    I tried to open it, but it was stuck.
    ‘Jesus Christ!’ I screamed. ‘I’m stuck in here! Nadia, get me out!’
    ‘I’m trying!’ she yelled back. ‘Goddam son of a bitch . . .’
    The airlock opened suddenly, and I fell out and on the ground. I looked around and saw a wall of lava come rolling towards me, barely metres away.
    A pair of gloved hands grabbed hold of me and I stumbled to my feet. ‘Run, you idiot!’ she screamed. ‘Just fucking run!’
    I ran. We both did, regardless of how hard it was in the suits we wore. I glanced back in time to see the EV sinking into the lava, surrounded by great gouts of flame that rose towards the vault
ceiling. When I heard – no, felt – the ground shudder beneath my feet with extraordinary violence, I at first thought something on board the EV had exploded.
    Except that didn’t make sense, I realized, as we ran towards the forest of girders between us and the next vault. There was nothing inside the EV that could possibly have triggered a
ground shock of that nature.
    I made the mistake of looking over my shoulder a second time as we made our way through the maze of girders blocking the tunnel. One entire wall of the first vault had come crumbling down, a
veritable ocean of white-hot magma spilling through the rent and swamping almost the entire vault in seconds.
    ‘Get on board!’ I heard Rozalia yell. ‘Nadia, are you there, sweetheart?’
    The second EV was out of its hole, and waiting ready to carry us away. The others had had the same thought, depressurizing the interior of their EV so they didn’t need to waste too much
time cycling everyone through one at a time. Gloved hands reached down and hauled us up and inside as the airlock door swung open, and by the time I was fully inside the vehicle it was already
moving at a fair clip.
    ‘What just happened back there?’ a voice asked from up front. I looked over at the driver, a thin, dark-skinned woman, her helmet propped up on the dashboard before her, and
recognized her voice as Rozalia’s. ‘That’s the biggest tremor yet.’
    ‘Just drive,’ gasped Nadia. ‘As fast as you can, and don’t stop.’
    I heard a hiss as the vehicle repressurized, the sound growing louder at first before quickly fading away. I pulled my helmet off, and the rest followed suit. The two Authority