Read Firefight for Free Online

she’d be going too. Prof started giving orders to Cody and Abraham. He wanted them to stay in Newcago to watch the city.
    “Yeah,” I said. “Gather my things. Leave the city. Of course. That’s exactly what I’d been intending to do. Sounds like fun.”
    Nobody paid attention. So, blushing, I went to pack my bag. I didn’t have much. My notebooks, which Tia had copied for redundancy. Two changes of clothing. My jacket. My gun—
    My gun. I set my backpack on the floor and pulled out the broken rifle, then walked over to Abraham, offering it up like a wounded child before a surgeon.
    He inspected it, then looked up at me. “I’ll get you one of my spares.”
    “But—”
    He rested a hand on my shoulder. “It is an old weapon, and it served you well. But don’t you think you should upgrade, David?”
    I looked down at the broken gun. The P31 was a great rifle, based off the old M14, one of the best rifles ever made. Those were solid weapons, designed before things got all modern, fancy, and sterile. We’d made P31s at Steelheart’s munitions factory back when I was a kid; they were sturdy and dependable.
    But Steelheart hadn’t equipped his own soldiers with these; the P31 had been for selling to others. Steelheart hadn’t wanted to give modern equipment to potential enemies.
    “Yeah,” I said. “All right.” I set the rifle down. I mean, it’s not like I was attached to it. It was just a tool. Really.
    Abraham squeezed my shoulder in sympathy, then ledme to the equipment room, where he began hunting through boxes. “You’ll want something mid-range. A 5.56 all right?”
    “I suppose.”
    “AR-15?”
    “Ugh. AR-15? I’d rather not have my gun break down on me every second week.” Besides, every wannabe and their dog had an M16 or M4 variant these days.
    “G7.”
    “Not accurate enough.”
    “FAL?”
    “A 7.62? Maybe,” I said. “Though I hate the triggers.”
    “As picky as a woman with her shoes,” Abraham grumbled.
    “Hey,” I said. “That’s insulting.” I knew plenty of women who were pickier with their guns than they were with their shoes.
    Abraham fished in a chest and came up with a rifle. “Here. What about this?”
    “A Gottschalk?” I said skeptically.
    “Sure. It’s very modern.”
    “It’s German.”
    “Germans make very good weapons,” Abraham said. “This has everything you’ll need. Automatic, burst, or semiauto settings, remote fire, electron-compressed retractable scope, huge magazines, the ability to fire flash-shots and modern bullets. Very accurate, good sights, solid trigger without too much or too little give.”
    I took the rifle hesitantly. It was just so … black.
    I liked guns with some wood on them, a gun that felt natural. Like you could take it hunting, rather than only kill people with it. This rifle was all plastic and black metal. It was like the weapons Enforcement carried.
    Abraham slapped me on the shoulder as if the decision hadbeen made and walked out to talk to Prof. I held the rifle up by its barrel. Everything Abraham said about it was right. I knew my guns, and the Gottschalk was a fine weapon.
    “You,” I said to it, “are on probation. You’d better impress me.”
    Great. Now I was talking to guns. I sighed and slung it over my shoulder, then pocketed a few magazines.
    I stepped out of the equipment room, looking over my small pack of possessions. It hadn’t taken long at all to put together my entire life.
    “Devin’s team from St. Louis is already on its way,” Prof was saying to Abraham and Cody. “They’ll help you hold Newcago. Don’t let anyone know I’m gone, and don’t engage any Epics until the new team arrives. Keep in touch with Tia, and let her know everything that happens here.”
    Abraham and Cody nodded. They were used to teams splitting up and moving around. I still didn’t know how many people were in the Reckoners altogether. The members sometimes talked as if this were the only team, but I knew