Hunted Read Online Free PDF Page B

us?”
    “From a launcher in the front,” Cedar said.
“It appears to be some sort of crossbow-like device, loaded
with—”
    Another grenade hit the ground, this one
exploding right away.
    Kali sped behind the wall of the cabin and
yanked on the braking mechanism.
    “—multiple projectiles,” Cedar finished.
    Rifle in hand, he hopped off the SAB. Kali
hesitated, reluctant to leave her vehicle for fear it would make an
easy target if it was stationary. She probably ought to be more
worried about being a target herself, but the idea of losing such a
recent invention...
    Cedar leaned around a corner of the cabin to
fire again. Kali nudged the SAB into motion, rounded the other
corner, and found the doorway. She considered the width. Could she
fit her vehicle inside? Probably not.
    Above, the flying contraption tilted,
circling the end of the meadow to come back at them.
    Cedar grabbed Kali’s arm. “Inside!”
    “I don’t think it’ll fit,” she said.
    “I meant you!”
    The flyer flew closer, and Kali hesitated
again, fascinated by the wings, the construction, and even the
pilot. Was she the creator? Or had she merely purchased it?
    The projectile launcher fired again.
    “Kali!” Cedar pulled her toward the door.
    Kali barely had time to grab her packsack and
rifle.
    An explosion rocked the earth, and she
grabbed a log wall to keep her feet under her. Metal clanged as
shrapnel hit the SAB. She growled, her awe over the steam flyer
tamped down by her concern for her own vehicle. She dropped her
packsack and readied her rifle.
    Shadows danced on the earthen floor of the
cabin as the flyer soared overhead. Rhythmic clanks echoed from the
log walls. Though the fire-damaged roof held copious holes, the
vehicle sped past too swiftly to target.
    “We need a plan,” Kali said. “She’ll be
coming around again.” And she would probably hurl the next grenade
right in the cabin.
    Cedar loaded a fistful of bullets into his
rifle. “Yes?”
    “The wings seem a potential target, but their
surface area is great, so I doubt even a couple of dozen bullet
holes would cause them to falter. A catastrophic boiler explosion
will derail any steam engine, but engineers are well aware of that
weakness and build them soundly. I doubt a bullet would pierce the
plating, but it may be the most vulnerable part of the machine.
Perhaps we should target the boiler and hope for the best.”
    “I was just going to shoot the pilot,” Cedar
said.
    “Oh. I guess that could work too.”
    When the clanks of the flyer grew louder
again, Kali and Cedar stepped outside. She dropped to one knee and
leaned around the corner of the cabin, rifle to her shoulder. Cedar
stood above her, his weapon poised as well.
    Something that looked like glass provided
protection for the pilot, probably a deterrent to bugs and rain,
but surely it would not stop a bullet. Kali eased her rifle up and
placed the woman’s head in her sights. Her gut lurched at the idea
of shooting at someone with the intent to kill—especially if that
someone had invented that fascinated machine—but the woman was trying to blow them up.
    Her finger found the trigger, but Cedar,
doubtlessly with fewer qualms, fired first.
    The bullet struck the protective shield in
front of the woman’s eyes, and her head dropped out of view. The
flyer lurched sideways and dipped toward the trees.
    “Bulls-eye,” Cedar said with grim
satisfaction.
    But the flyer did not crash. Its nose
elevated, and the craft skimmed the treetops. It knocked branches
free with cracks that rang through the forest, but it soon flew
higher again, out of danger. The flyer banked and turned back
toward the meadow.
    The pilot’s head was visible again through
the clear shield. Concentric cracks ringed the spot where Cedar’s
bullet had struck, but it must not have penetrated.
    “Amazing,” Kali breathed. “There’s no way
that’s glass. Unless it’s extremely thick, but the weight would be
ridiculous, and a