Out of the Black (Odyssey One, Book 4) Read Free

else, but it was a weak claim of victory.
    She was winded, tired, and her strength was flagging, but she kept pumping her legs and ran toward Central Park West. Luckily, she supposed, she had one hell of a path to follow. The big ass cylinder that fell out of the sky had wiped out a few acres of trees, giving her room to run with some cover when she needed it.
    She broke out of said cover, however, and into the street, somewhat to her surprise. The area was strewn with rubble, a few shattered cars, and almost completely gridlocked, but there was something very good to see as well. Lyssa bolted with one last burst of speed and ducked behind the NYPD SWAT vehicle, collapsing to her knees under cover as a familiar figure grinned down at her.
    “You’re late, Myriano.”
    “Oh, shut the fuck up, Paul. You try getting those bastards to chase you all the way across the damned park!”
    Lyssa got her breathing under control as she accepted a police issue assault rifle and checked the mag.
    “They’re not fast,” John told her from where he was standing over her.
    “With firepower like that, they can afford to take their damned time,” she griped. “Almost fried me three times across the park, and I’m not even sure they were aiming at me. Where the fuck is the National Guard?”
    “Whole city is in gridlock,” John told her with a shrug. “They have to check every car before they run their tanks over them.”
    “Run their . . . are you
shitting
me?” Lyssa asked, wide-eyed.
    “Would take a
lot
longer to move all the cars, trust me.”
    Lyssa scowled, but couldn’t say much against that. With the streets gridlocked as far as she could see, the big lumbering insect things certainly had the mobility advantage. Nothing quite like being able to walk
over
cars, or stomp them into the ground, she supposed. The Guard would have a harder time with their tanks, especially since she was well aware that they still used some antiquated chassis to supplement their forces.
    Of course, I’m here with a friggin’ M-4C in my hand, so who am I to talk about someone else using outdated gear?
    Less than a handful of NYPD officers, all SWAT certified, were issued MilSpec weapons. Modern military battlefield gear was
far
too destructive to deploy in a city under normal circumstances and, honestly, MilSpec urban warfare gear hadn’t changed a ton over a hundred years. It got more sophisticated in terms of optics, communications, and computational capacities, but a bullet was a bullet, and most policeforces still used calibers comparable to what their great grandparents packed.
    It was just cost effective.
    “Here it comes! Hold your fire until we’ve got them in the kill box!” John called, resting his rifle on the armored surface of the SWAT APC.
    Lyssa scrambled to her feet, taking up position beside him as she too looked through the optics of her M-4C rifle. The enemy wasn’t exactly trying to sneak up on them—the insects were actually shoving trees out of their way as they approached—so drawing a good sight picture was far from difficult. She just hoped that they were packing enough firepower to do the job.
    “Steady! Aim!” John called as the first of the alien beasties stepped out onto Central Park West. “FIRE!”
    The air was rent with the staccato bursts of automatic fire, fifteen cops opening up with everything they had.



NATIONAL GUARD COMMAND POST,
INTREPID
SEA, AIR, & SPACE MUSEUM

    “WE’VE GOT REPORTS of fighting all through the city, sir. Most of it involving civilians or police at this point.”
    “Why are my squads not in position yet, Lieutenant?” Potts growled.
    “The city is gridlocked, sir. Opening a path through that mess is taking time.”
    The general growled, but it was more of a frustrated sound than anything else. He knew how hard it was to move military vehicles through a city at the best of times, and what was going on in New York was far from those. The aliens had slammed into the city