"Not bad!" Taylor smiled.
Jafar went on to the next target without responding. As they passed through another layer of the city’s defences, they could see they were now heading for the final barrier, and the open area between them was awash with burning vehicles and debris.
"Almost there!" he added.
Parker turned and began to fire rapidly towards a group of Mechs landing nearby while Jafar fired in the opposing direction. Taylor could see that several Mechs were coming down on the convoy ahead of them. He raised his rifle to fire single-handed, but before he could, one of the creatures fired. The pulse struck a soldier in the vehicle ahead of him. The impact went down his helmet and into the neck, killing him instantly.
The body fell off the vehicle and to the ground ahead of them. Taylor wanted to swerve, but there was no room to manoeuvre. They hit the body square on and could hear the gut wrenching sounds of the body striking the axles and wheels as they ramped over part of the body. Another Mech suddenly dropped onto the vehicle in front and bounced off the cage so that it was thrown into their path.
Taylor fired a burst as it hurtled towards them, but there was no way to avoid it, whether it was dead or alive. The creature’s arms stretched into the crew compartment, but the middle bar of the cage stopped it dead. It quickly tried to reach for Taylor, but Jafar kicked its faceplate. It shattered and was driven back. Jafar put the barrel of his weapon to its head and fired a burst at point blank range.
Blue blood spurted out over the cockpit in the moment of overkill, forcing Taylor to lean out over the side to see where they were going. Jafar stood up, grabbed hold of the dead body with both hands, and shoved it off the vehicle.
"What I wouldn't give for a roof!" Taylor hollered and sat back in his seat properly. As he said it, they burst out of the final wall and into the open plain to the west.
"On the home run now!"
He could see dozens of vehicles in front of them, and a dust cloud beyond where others were ahead. Just as he spoke, a friendly copter plunged into the ground twenty metres from them and slid to a halt before catching fire. He didn't want to think of how many souls were aboard. The gun above him opened fire again, and he saw Parker firing at an incoming ship. Several of the shots ripped holes in its underbelly, forcing it to bank sharply.
"How long have we got?" she shouted out.
"Soon as the last vehicle hits the three klick marker!" he replied.
"Three klicks? Cutting it a bit fine, don't you think?"
He simply nodded in response. He looked down at the speedo, and they were doing sixty kilometres an hour, the most they could manage and stay in a straight line over rough ground. Taylor looked back at the few dozen or so vehicles behind him and many more on their flanks. They appeared to be close to the rear.
"Masks on, suit up, and buckle up!" he ordered.
He knew they didn't have long now. He slid the visor shut on his helmet and pulled the harnesses across from his seat. The vehicle was fortunately designed for high-speed off-road work and was equipped as such. He sure was glad not to be in the back of one of the trucks.
"Think Heath will really push the button?"
"Bet your ass he will, Parker. Look at it, wouldn't you?"
"What are our chances of survival from a nuclear blast at three kilometres?" Jafar asked.
Taylor shrugged. "It's the minimum distance at which survival is a possibility."
"Oh, great!" Parker sighed.
With that, he put his foot down a little further on the accelerator. He could feel the steering was incredibly light, and they were more skimming over the surface than actually gripping it. The slightest of impacts could send them into a spin, but he hoped for the best, noticing all those around him were doing likewise. Parker looked back through a scope on her rifle at the enemy ships swarming over the city.
"We could never have held it, never should have been there to begin with."
"Easy to say now," Taylor added quietly.
He could see they had easily gone past the marker and were still storming west, but he did not lift off the pedal. He was counting seconds in his head now, trying to calculate how far from the marker they had got. But as he reached forty-four seconds, a quick flash lit up the skies, and he knew it could only be one thing.
Oh shit!
He looked back for just a moment and watched the fireball rise into the sky. He noticed how Parker was frozen solid and staring at it. He could see the shockwave advancing rapidly towards them and looked back at the road ahead, still hoping for the best. He saw Jafar duck and brace for impact. It was a few seconds later the impact struck, and their jeep immediately turned and went into a spin before hitting an embankment and flipping over. They rolled countless times until finally coming to a standstill on the roof of the roll cage.
No one moved for a moment. They were all stunned by the impact. None of them knew what to do, as they tried to work out if they were still alive. Taylor finally reached down for his harness strap and released it. He dropped onto the ground with no finesse at all. He went straight for Parker without any care for his surroundings. She was motionless, but as he climbed into the back of the vehicle, he could see her eyes were wide open and she was frozen in shock.
Taylor tapped on her mask a few times, and her eyes eventually turned to the sound of the impact and then to him, but they were still wide and her face was pale.
"We made it," he said.
She didn't respond. He unclipped her belt and supported her weight. She fell into his arms, and he lifted her out from the overturned jeep. Jafar began climbing out. Taylor laid Parker down beside the vehicle before turning to look back at the city. A vast mushroom cloud engulfed it. It was all he could make out. Before him lay dozens of vehicles which had been halted by the blast. Many were overturned, and several had collided with each other. A few bodies lay strewn around where occupants had been thrown from the vehicles, although most had been saved by their equipment and were being helped to their feet. Jafar stood next to Taylor, staring at the desolate scene.
"The gloves are off now," Taylor said, "Pride may have stopped Erdogan from ending us in the city, but now we've used a nuke against him, God knows what he'll throw at us."
"Not if he wants you."
Taylor thought about it for a moment.
The prospect of Erdogan hunting me down to end my life is terrifying, but is it saving the lives of hundreds of thousands, maybe millions? Is the alien’s pride buying us time? Taylor wondered.
Jafar turned and walked to the vehicle. He placed his hands on the roll cage and shoved it over. The lightweight vehicle sprung over and landed hard on its wheels.
"Time we got out of here," said Taylor.
He could see troops scrambling to get back on the road, and numerous vehicles were already in motion. Many had soldiers piled high as they abandoned their wrecks. Two approached, and Taylor quickly recognised one as Rains and the other as Lang.
"Come on, jump in!"
As they piled in, another two soldiers he did not recognise clambered onto the side and squeezed into the only gaps they could find. Taylor pulled away but without the same sense of urgency they’d had previously.
They carried on at a comparatively casual pace, compared to the frantic rush they had experienced before. He could see the radiation warnings flashing in the display of his visor, but he had to keep faith in his suit to protect him from the radiation, for nothing else would.
They travelled all the way to Pittsburgh without another word between them. Not even the strangers who had jumped aboard muttered anything at all. They were shocked by what they had seen. They all understood it was the beginning of a new phase in humanity. Taylor knew that having to use a nuclear weapon to cover their retreat left them all feeling empty.