Wonder Woman: Warbringer (DC Icons #1)(112)

“Stay close,” she said, and yanked open the driver’s door.

Before the stunned soldier could say a word, she’d pulled him from the vehicle and slammed him against the Humvee’s side. He dropped to the pavement.

“Hey!” said the soldier in the passenger’s seat, his hand on his radio. She slid into the car, seized the scruff of his shirt, and cracked his head against the dashboard. He slumped forward.

Diana looked behind her. The rear of the Humvee held two large cages. Pinon lay in one, curled on her side and snoring.

She picked up the handheld radio and slipped back out of the Humvee. Nim and Theo were rolling the driver’s unconscious body beneath the vehicle.

“Nim,” said Diana. “Get us to the lab truck.”

In a few quick steps, they were there. Diana threw the back doors open and leapt inside.

The man at the computer station scrambled away, fumbling for the gun at his hip.

Diana yanked it from its holster and held it easily out of his reach.

He raised his hands. “Please. I’m a scientist.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.” She saw his hand creeping toward a yellow panic switch and brought the butt of the pistol down on his head. “Much.”

She waved Theo and Nim inside and shut the doors behind them.

“Keep an eye on him,” she said. “If anyone realizes you’re here—”

Nim snatched a semiautomatic rifle from the wall. “We’ll be ready.”

Theo was already bent over the computer, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

A machine was whirring at the workstation, row after row of glass test tubes filling with dark red blood, then shifting left so another row could be filled.

“Oh hell,” said Nim. “Is that your blood?”

Diana narrowed her eyes. She scanned the mini armory in the truck and pointed to a row of incendiary grenades. “When Theo is done, I want you to get clear, then blow this truck and the vehicle with Pinon in it. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” said Nim.

Her answer was a little too quick and a little too confident for Diana’s liking. “Without blowing yourselves up?”

“Possibly,” said Theo.

The radio crackled. “We are ready to move out. Collins, remain in position until the site has been cleared, over.” They stared at the black box. The voice sounded again. “Collins, do you copy?”

Theo snatched up the radio, fumbling it clumsily, then pressed a button and said, “Copy that…pal.”

“See you back at base, over.”

Theo put the radio aside and returned to his work. Diana grabbed a short sword and a shield from the racks.

“I don’t understand,” said Nim. “All the swords and stuff. Are Jason’s soldiers really tough enough to go up against bullets and bombs?”

“He’s going to deploy EMPs,” said Theo. He pointed to the screen, where a long string of text scrolled by. Diana’s confusion must have shown, because he continued. “An electromagnetic pulse. It’s not much different from lightning, just a lot bigger. It will disable all major weapons systems. No nukes, no missiles, no access to weapons stockpiles.”

“A fair fight,” murmured Diana. I wanted to remake the world.

“Sure,” said Theo. “If you’ve been taking your hero-blood vitamins. The Keralis Foundation has footholds all over the world. He’s going to throw us back to the Stone Age.”

“The Bronze Age,” corrected Nim.

“Was dying once today not enough for you?” said Theo.

Diana touched each of them on the shoulder, hoping they could get along well enough to manage this task.

“Stay quiet and stay safe,” she whispered, heading for the doors. “And lock up behind me.”

“Diana,” said Nim. “Kick Jason’s ass.”

She frowned, confused. “Specifically his ass?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Without looking up from the keys, Theo said, “New York tradition.”

Diana nodded and cracked the doors. She edged outside. The last of the day’s sunlight cast long shadows across the road. She’d hoped to be able to sneak up on Jason’s vehicle, but there was no time for stealth. The caravan was already moving.

Diana broke into a run. Instantly, she heard gunfire. She kept her shield up, hearing bullets ping against the metal. She sprinted ahead, slipping alongside the last truck in the caravan, keeping pace with it and using it for cover. She heard voices shouting and saw the lead cars put on speed as the truck beside her screeched to a halt.

She couldn’t afford to wait to see what emerged from it. She raced ahead and dove for the back of the Humvee, seizing the base of its metal bumper, using one hand to keep her shield above her, and the other to lift the vehicle’s back end off the ground.

The Humvee’s front wheels spun as it tried to surge forward. Diana gave a grunt of effort and planted her feet. A bullet struck her left thigh; another struck her calf, the pain coming in bright shocks that jolted through her body. She glanced behind her and saw soldiers pouring out of the other truck, racing toward her with guns drawn. They were far enough away that their weapons weren’t doing much damage, but she couldn’t maintain this position.