HEART OF ICE

CHAPTER 27

The plan changed, but only a little. The green double doors were kicked open with a whoosh. Sizzling pellets bit into the rolling rack that had been shoved onto the sales floor. Alejandra and Moe opened fire on the two closest troopers who had taken the bait. I watched their names move frantically as they ducked for cover. Without looking back at the rest of us, Moe and Alejandra sprinted away to the left.

"Now," Orion said to Gerald who heaved his weight into the heavy wagon.

It rolled forward across the smooth floor, quickly picking up speed as it passed between the double doors just starting to close. Orion was kneeling on top of the cart, the cradle of his slingshot loaded and pulled taut. He fired the brightly glowing disc as soon as he had cleared the doorway. I saw the flash it made when it struck armor, making the Legion warrior crouching nearby cry out.

I nodded at Baron in the next second. He pushed off, steering the second wagon through the doorway. The double doors bounced off it, swinging back open. A disc of golden light found the other armored warrior hiding around the corner of the closest aisle. Huron looked over Baron's shoulder, nodding at me once.

I raced onto the sales floor, leaving the bakery of the grocery store behind me. Daniel Morgan was on the floor of the first aisle. He laid against the base of a freezer case, clutching his smoldering shoulder. He didn't look at me as I ran past. I glimpsed the name of another familiar member of Chase's personal army: Kenny Green. His name hovered motionless behind me. He was the one that had been hiding near the stockroom. At the front of the store were Victor Hall and Jeremy Tepp. They were trying to win the battle against Moe and Alejandra. The pair of bullies had abandoned the frightened crowd to chase my friends instead. Looking quickly to my left, I saw Jeremey Elms getting closer to Orion and Gerald.

I looked forward in time to see Baron veer the bulky wagon suddenly to the left. Casey Minster stepped around a corner, firing his Legion gun wildly. I jumped to the right, sprinting down an empty aisle. I wasn't going to be able to avoid the emboldened goons for long. My path crossed with Jeremey Elms as soon as I passed the end of the aisle. He had stepped forward, taking aim at Orion when he noticed me too late. We collided. His armor hurt. I had turned my torso, putting my shoulder into his chest. He stumbled a few steps, opening a gap between us. He couldn't close it. Gerald had charged forward, guiding the cart with the dwarf on top right into the armored bully.

I didn't stay for the fight. I rounded the corner onto the next aisle, two away from Chase, Garrig, and the center of the store. I slowed my pace only enough to quiet my steps. The valley of pasta, tomato sauce and countless tomato products, pizza crusts, and canned goods of all kinds, was divided into two halves and separated by an empty track leading toward the outside of the small cafe at the grocery store's center. I could smell coffee as I hurriedly crossed the narrow gap and crept closer. I could smell something else, just then, too. It was a strange combination of sweat and slightly fruity shampoo.

A strange sensation sent a cold shiver down my back. Something was wrong. Someone that should have been here was missing. I should have been paying more attention as I moved closer to the aisle's edge. I was watching the names of Huron and Baron getting closer. I had to wait for them. I should have been looking behind me.

Strong, thin fingers grabbed a handful of my hair. I winced in pain as my head was jerked backwards then pushed forward. My face crashed into a shelf full of macaroni shell boxes. I felt the warm metal of the fixture more than the cardboard containers of curved pasta. I tried to recover my senses surprised by the attack. I felt the fingers tightening their grip on my hair. I braced against the shelf then heaved backward. My shoulder blades met armor and the bottom of a helmet. I heard the hiss of a girl when we crashed against the shelves behind us. She retaliated in the next instant, yanking on my hair and making my eyes water.