The first shot Fernando fired, hitting the giant right in the shoulder.

  “Think that got its attention?” Fernando asked as he tipped his hat down.

  The giant turned its massive frame. Its attention shifted away from Jill and Sydney.

  “Think so…” Alice said, unamused.”

  “Heh, ho.” Cigar smoke puffed out of his mouth. “We might be in the thick of it now.”

  Alice stood straight with her sniper latched around her back. “How do you want to go about this?”

  Fernando inhaled. “Without dyin’.”

  That made Alice roll her eyes. “No shit,” she said.

  The SCAR unit slowly walked over to them, crushing everything in its path. The half–built warehouse—or whatever it was—turned into unrecognizable rubble.

  “My scanner is back at my site. I can’t scan its weakness.” Alice said, biting her lip.

  Fernando smirked, biting down on the unlit cigar between his teeth. “I got a scanner of my own.” He pointed at his eye.

  The SCAR unit approached closer. It wasn’t fast, but rather unstoppable.

  “Let's move,” Alice said while they both went in different directions.

  It lunged forward with a stomp that tore through the concrete like a sandcastle. The ground shook, and the impact was loud enough to nearly burst an eardrum.

  Fernando fired specialized rounds shot from his revolver, punching into the SCAR unit’s torso. The bullets didn’t penetrate, but they bit, embedding and detonating with force. Blue-white energy flared as the armor absorbed the impact.

  “Hardly a scratch,” Fernando said, jogging around.

  The giant responded by slamming its fist into the ground.

  The shockwave blasted outward.

  Fernando was thrown back, skidding across broken concrete. He rolled, came up on one knee as debris rained around him.

  Alice was on the other side, away from the impact.

  “Fernando!” she shouted.

  “I’m good,” he grunted. “Mostly.”

  The SCAR unit advanced again, each step cracking the ground. Energy began to pool along its forearms.

  Alice rushed over, jumping over debris and the cracks in the ground. She sprinted towards Fernando and, at the last second, threw a shield bubble at him, which activated just in time.

  The impact caused tree branches to snap due to the force it exerted. The shield bubble cracked. One more hit, and that would be it.

  “Hey!” Alice yelled, pointing her sniper at its head. She fired a shot, making the unit slowly turn. She needed to get it away from Fernando.

  “Perfect…” Fernando said, already reloading. His fingers slid a different round into the chamber. The bullet gleamed faintly, building up energy.

  He exhaled slowly. And while facing the SCAR unit’s back, he fired.

  The round cut straight through the energy buildup and slammed into the SCAR unit’s back. This time, the armor cracked. A fracture spread across the plating, blue light bleeding through the cracks.

  The unit staggered forward a single step.

  It was the first time it had moved unwillingly.

  “You got its attention!” Alice yelled.

  The ground shook again.

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  “Alright, round two!”

  The cracked plating on its back glowed brighter, the number 4 burning like a brand. The fracture Fernando had made didn’t spread further.

  Fernando was already moving again, shooting his revolver as he drew fire away from her. She tracked the unit through her scope, trying to see an opening.

  The SCAR unit advanced, each step slowly. Concrete collapsed beneath its weight, the half-built structure.

  Then the energy shifted.

  “Fernando—”

  The unit’s head snapped toward him. Sensors locked. The blue light along its arms condensed a spring of light.

  “It’s targeting you,” she said, already moving, knowing she was late.

  The blast came down like judgment.

  The ground between them collapsed. The shockwave tore through the ground, hurling debris skyward. Alice was thrown hard, slamming into a beam with enough force to rattle her vision. Pain flared across her ribs as she sucked in a sharp breath.

  She rolled onto her side, heart pounding. “Fernando!”

  He was there on one knee, breathing as though he was hurt badly. The SCAR unit didn’t rush him.

  It didn’t need to.

  It walked forward, gathering energy along its forearms as if it were charging for something worse. The number 4 pulsed brighter with every step.

  Alice forced herself up despite the pain, hands shaking as she triggered another shield bubble. It formed thinner than before.

  “I think I have one more,” she said, more to herself than him.

  Fernando glanced at her, then back at the machine. “We need to make it count.”

  The SCAR unit raised its arm.

  The building groaned. The ground trembled beneath Alice’s shoes.

  She lined up her shot, even without a weakness, knowing it might not matter. If she didn’t, Fernando wouldn’t get back up at all.

  She took a deep breath.

  And fired at its head.

  It stopped and slowly turned around.

  “Looks like you’re wanted,” Fernando said.

  “It’s not doing anything…” she said, uncertain of what’s to come.

  The giant arm came down on her.

  Alice quickly placed the shield bubble over herself. The punch hit. Not at her or the bubble, but the ground. The punch was strong enough to shatter the shield, making it completely useless.

  Concrete erupted upward. Alice felt herself lifted and weightless. She slammed down hard and landed on her shoulder, taking the breath out of her lungs. The edges of her vision smeared.

  She coughed, dragged in a breath that burned with ash. She patted her pockets for another shield. “No shields left,” she forced out, pushing herself up on shaking arms. “None.”

  The SCAR unit raised its arm again.

  “We need to move,” Fernando said. “Now.”

  Alice mustered up the strength to run.

  The remains of the warehouse were ahead. The parts that weren’t part of the cave-in. Half-collapsed walls and slabs of concrete. It wasn’t safety or cover they were looking for. It was time. And time was the only thing they had left.

  They dove inside as another blow landed behind them. The shockwave rippled through the structure, rattling Alice’s teeth. Alice slid behind a chunk of fallen wall and snapped her sniper up on instinct, hands trembling despite her grip.

  However, the SCAR unit followed them in. No, it went through the warehouse.

  It erased the wreckage. One massive arm came down and smashed a wall like it was made of cardboard. The ceiling collapsed. Concrete shattered on impact. What remained before the caved-in warehouse began to come apart around them.

  “Fernando—!” Alice shouted.

  The floor collapsed.

  She felt herself thrown again, her body slamming into rubble hard enough to rattle her head. Her rifle was torn from her hands, lost beneath rubble.

  She tried to push up. Nothing happened.

  Her limbs were uncooperative. Her world was a combination of dust and smoke. She swallowed and forced her eyes to focus.

  Through the ringing in her ears, she heard Fernando shout.

  Alice turned her head.

  He was half-buried beneath a massive slab of concrete, one leg pinned at a brutal angle. His hands clawed at the rubble, muscles straining, but the slab didn’t move. Not even a fraction.

  The SCAR unit stepped forward.

  It emerged through the settling dust like something inevitable.

  Alice tried to move. Her body refused.

  Her head spun violently, the nausea worsening as the world felt upside down. She reached out blindly for her rifle and missed. Her fingers scraped uselessly against broken concrete and dust.

  Get up, she told herself. You have to get up.

  Her arms shook and gave out.

  No shields.

  No escape.

  The SCAR unit raised its arm again.

  Alice lay there in the rubble. She heard Fernando breathing fast in pain. She stared up at something that could not be stopped.

  The SCAR unit raised its arm.

  It wasn’t a fight anymore.

  It was an execution.