Nina again changed her focus just in time to ward off the second attacker as it cut across the lanes and tried to side swipe the BMW. One of her bullets hit the flank of the creature where a splash of crimson liquid squirted forth, but either the damage did not hurt the thing or the impulse to pursue and kill overrode any pain. Nonetheless, its swipe at the BWM's side was temporarily chased off.
When Nina pulled the trigger again, she heard a depressing 'click' from an empty magazine. Standing there in the roaring wind and taking pot shots at beasts that ran like race cars had caused her mind to lose track of munitions. However, Interstate 95 entered another cloverleaf and a mass of additional vehicles joined the northbound parade. The new traffic forced the Speed-Lions to adjust their course, buying her a few seconds respite
Nina descended into the cabin of the car and secured a fresh clip. Gordon's hands gripped the steering wheel tight but his expression remained almost child-like in its fascination. She figured him to be 'high' on the adrenaline of the situation, having seen similar looks in the eyes of her men during firefights.
Amidst the roaring engine, the shifts from third to fourth gear and down again, and the squeal-inducing lane changes, Gordon found time to speak.
"Well, looks like we know how high up this goes."
Nina spoke in a melodramatic voice, "You mean, like all the way up to Evan?"
"Oh now honey, if you're just figuring out that Evan is involved, you're way behind. The question has never been if Evan is involved," he rocked the car to the left to pass a station wagon full of day laborers. "The question has been, who's in it with him? I think it's safe to say that Dante Jones, the Witiko, and Internal Security are up to their eyeballs."
"Internal Security?" Nina pushed a fresh magazine into her rifle.
"Oh c'mon. Here we are in the largest city in The Empire on the busiest road around in broad daylight. Where are the choppers? Where are the patrols? Where is Internal Sec-"
The steering wheel spun in Gordon's hands as the entire vehicle was shoved to the right by one of the Speed-Lions nudging the rear quarter panel as if to say 'don't forget about us.' Nina shouted anxiously while Gordon struggled to regain control. They skidded across four lanes of traffic heading hard toward a concrete retaining wall.
He pointed the wheel in the direction of the slide and lifted his foot from the accelerator. At the same time Nina watched the wall grow bigger… harder, the smell of frying rubber shot in through the air vents, the out-of-control sedan cut off two half-ton trucks that blared air horns then slammed into one-another Gordon caught the slide, the rear-drive car fishtailed as he pointed north again and hammered the gas with a fury, throwing Nina back into the passenger's seat.
Nothing more needed to be said. As the car straightened…as the scenery around the freeway again turned into one big blurred tapestry…Nina climbed her way to a stand with her top half sticking out the sunroof and her gun sights searching for targets. The car crossed lanes again-this time in a controlled fashion-and took station in the center of the highway as the road cleared of traffic for a stretch.
Nina spotted the creature that had hit them, ten yards behind. She unloaded burst after three-round burst at the beast. It seemed to shrug its shoulders so as to increase the protection of its armored mane. Then it hopped straight up and over a slower-moving gold and silver Rolls Royce. The shots Nina fired at the Speed-Lion hit, instead, the windshield and front hood of the luxury car. A red splash from the driver's seat exploded onto the inside of the Royce's shattered glass and the vehicle spun round and round like a top, seeming to fall away from her as the chase continued forward at break neck speed.
The four-legged hunter landed on its feet in full stride. Nina did not have time to weep for the innocent killed by the crossfire. She fired again at the same enemy as her ride turned hard to the right, following the bend in the road as they traversed through another cluttered combination of on and off ramps. She hit the Speed-Lion in the face but, once more, only managed to annoy it. However, it did retreat with a jump across the center concrete barrier into the oncoming southbound lanes as if searching for shelter from the pestering bullets.
Meanwhile, Gordon realized they had long since passed the exit for Miami Shores, but that did not matter. There would be no going to Ernie's house. He needed no more evidence than the Witiko Skytroops he spied shadowing them and the creatures pursuing that Ernie had been compromised. Suddenly Miami burned too hot even for him.
Nonetheless, before he could do anything about that, he had to get them out of their current situation. No small task but- — he swerved into the far right lane to bypass a pair of motor coaches then maneuvered the crisp-handling sedan to the center of the road again.
No small task but he figured he could turn this problem into an opportunity; the type of thing he always did either for Trevor Stone or for his masters in the old world. The little piece of insurance he took from Omar before saying goodbye to Pennsylvania would give him-if it worked-the one ace he needed.
In the driver's side mirror he saw one of the creatures move off to the southbound lanes. Nina's shots did not damage the monsters but the creatures did not enjoy being shot, either.
Gordon glanced to the passenger's side exterior mirror.
Oh shit.
The second attacker had avoided Nina's watch and neared for the kill. It raced alongside the sedan bounding forward with its iron-ish head and ruby eyes bobbing up and down like a galloping race horse. Gordon thought fast. He turned a problem into an opportunity.
Knox jogged the wheel to the right as if threatening the beast with a collision. This encouraged the Speed-Lion to instinctively move…just enough.
The monster that could run as fast as a Ferrari slammed into the rear end of an 18-wheeler full of foodstuffs. The trailer crumpled and the cab jackknifed. As the mess faded quickly from view, Gordon saw the truck topple over but no sign of that attacker.
One down.
Nina admired Knox's handiwork from her view in the sunroof. On the other side of the highway, the remaining Speed-Lion sped along pre-occupied with dodging oncoming traffic and considering a new avenue of attack.
Above the honk of horns, the gush of wind, and the constant race-car growl of the BMW's engine, Nina heard a noise. A hiss, maybe.
She glanced around until finding the source of the new sound. It came from an object several hundred feet above and behind. There against the backdrop of a beautiful blue sky she spied a light. No, not a light, a flash. A silvery flash reflecting the south Florida sun.
The Witiko Skytroop's jetpack roared at full throttle to keep pace with the pursuit…then he stopped and hovered in mid-air and took aim with his one-shot rocket launcher. The alien's hovering body wobbled as the projectile fired. A plume of gray smoke spat from the orange flames at the tail of the missile as it swept down, locked on the speeding car.
Nina's eyes widened and her pulse quickened but she could offer no defense against the descending rocket. Like all such Witiko weapons, this one moved relatively slow, lumbering through the air. But she also knew it to be very precise. Despite the weave and bobs of the car between traffic, the guidance system in the nose of the thing remained focused on its target while the igniting liquid fuel caused it to dive bomb on perfect course for her destruction.
Her mouth hung open.
This is it.