Read Hard Vacuum 1 for Free Online

mercs.
    They gaped at her in shock for a moment.
    Kyra whipped the chair at the mercs. "Have a seat."
    The chair arced through the air and hit one of the mercs in the face, sending him stumbling to the ground.
    Kyra turned and ran for the bar. A shot zipped by on her right, bouncing off the wall ahead of her. She dodged behind a table and kept running. Another shot went by on her left.
    "Just fucking shoot her!" someone shouted.
    Kyra dived over the bar as the two mercs opened up. They blasted the shelves behind the bar with flak. As they fired, they adjusted their aim until the flak bounced off the wall and down towards her.
    Kyra felt a piece slice her arm, searing her with heat. She looked around desperately. There were only bottles of booze and a few cabinets.
    A piece of flak hit her in the thigh. If she stayed, the mercs could just keep firing until they opened her up like a sieve.
    Kyra yanked a cupboard open, swept the bottles out of it and climbed inside. She crammed into the tiny space and closed the door.
    Flak rattled against the door of the cabinet for another two minutes. Finally, the shots dried up.
    Kyra opened the door a crack and looked out. A carpet of flak covered the floor. She rolled out onto it, crumbling it under her.
    "Do you think we got her? I can hear her moving around," a voice asked.
    "If we didn't, she's seriously fucked up. Come on, let's finish this."
    Flak had reduced the bottles around her to shards. Kyra yanked open another cabinet and looked through it. Inside, she found a small knife, a plate of lemons and a squeezable drinks bottle. Kyra twisted the top off the bottle, cut the lemons and began grinding the juice into the bottle.
    The footsteps got closer.
    "You go check," one of the mercs said. "I'll cover you."
    "Seriously?" the other asked.
    "I called it."
    There was a growl. "Fucking fine, but I'm taking all the credit for killing her."
    "Partial credit."
    Kyra heard boots getting close, crunching on the flakes of flak that had bounced further out. She rammed the top on the bottle and put her back to the bar.
    Above her, the barrel of a gun appeared.
    Kyra leapt up and sprayed the bottle of lemon juice into the wide eyes of the merc standing there. Then she turned and threw the small knife overhand at the other merc, hitting him in the throat.
    He dropped his gun and put his hands up to his neck, gurgling blood. The merc she'd sprayed stumbled backwards, holding his gun and trying to see. He fired blindly in her direction, blasting the wall above her.
    "Hey now, don't be bitter," Kyra said, ducking back behind the bar. She searched the floor around her and found the broken neck of a bottle. Holding it tight, she crawled to the end of the bar and ran out.
    The lemon merc rubbed his eyes, trying to see her. He aimed in her direction and fired, but the shot went wide.
    Kyra dropped her bottle neck and grabbed a table at the base. Heaving it up, she used it a shield, running towards the merc. Flak fire hit the wood, knocking holes through it and spraying around her.
    She ran faster. The table hit something with a whump . Kyra dropped it and looked down to see the merc lying prone.
    He glared at her with red eyes and tried to bring his gun up.
    Kyra lifted the table and rammed the edge into his stomach.
    The wind left his lungs in a rush and the gun wavered.
    Kyra grabbed the barrel and yanked it from his hands, throwing it away. She turned and spotted the other merc, still scrabbling at the knife in his throat. She dashed to him and grabbed the knife, wrenching it sideways through his jugular.
    The merc's neck sprayed blood upwards in spurting jets that rained down all around them. He fell to his knees, his hands trying to keep his lifeblood in.
    "Sorry, you didn't make the cut," Kyra said, kicking him onto his back. She turned with the knife held ready.
    The other merc struggled to his feet and staggered back a few steps. He dropped into a martial arts stance, squinting at her.