Chapter 24 · Borrowed Armor

The armor wasn't mine.

I knew that the second I strapped into the driver's seat. The belt had been sized for someone wider—Hammer's crew kept heavies on gun runs—and the pedals felt too close. The ignition chip fit, though. Kid's blood was still on it, dark streaks across the contact strip.

I didn't wipe it off.

The engine turned over with a diesel growl that rattled the whole cabin. Through the cracked windshield I could see the yard behind me, half our people hauling crates into the tunnel while the other half covered the ridgeline. Cole was at the edge of the loading zone, waving someone forward. He glanced back once. I saw his mouth move—something short, probably my name—but the engine drowned it out.

Leah's voice crackled through the headset I'd pulled off the dead gunner.

"Evie, artillery's got range on the main gate. You need to move."

"Copy." I shifted into first. The transmission clunked like it had taken shrapnel. Maybe it had. "How many guns?"

"Two confirmed. Maybe a spotter. They're dug in on the north access road, right where the supply line forks."

I knew the spot.