Chapter 28 · Iron Gate Holds

The flare was still burning in the sky when we hit the gate.

I could hear the armor before I saw it—treads grinding over broken asphalt, the whine of hydraulics, the low rumble of diesel engines that hadn't been maintained in years. Hammer's crew had rolled up fast. Too fast. They'd been waiting for us to run.

Cole was still on my shoulder, half-conscious, blood soaking through the field dressing Leah had slapped on him in the warehouse. He kept trying to say something, but I didn't have time to listen. The gate was fifty meters ahead. Our people were on the wall, rifles up, but they looked scared. They'd never seen armor this close.

"Get him inside," I said, shoving Cole at two of the younger recruits. They grabbed him and pulled him through the gap in the gate. I turned back to the street.

Three APCs, maybe four. Old military surplus, repainted red. Hammer's colors. They were fanning out across the plaza, blocking every exit. Behind them, at least sixty fighters on foot, spread in a loose skirmish line. They weren't charging yet. They were waiting.

Leah came up beside me, breathing hard. "We can't hold this.