“Think you can make it?” I asked Donut. She would have to shoot over these idiots in front of us.
The womantaur team was in a convertible sitting right in front of the guck elementals. The two women sat there, ignoring the argument behind them. I couldn’t see the half-mantaur.
Donut’s target was Rapture, the driver.
Her weapon mount, the Scorpion’s Bite, formed on Donut’s back, along with Katia’s crossbow. The glowing Danforth bolt locked into place on its own with an ominousclick. The bolt glowed. Hopefully we’d be able to retrieve it, as we only had ten of them.
We’d debated putting Donut on the roof of the truck for this. But in the end, we decided against it. I didn’t want her sitting out there as a prime target for others.
The moment the light turned green, I’d break the window and Donut would hit the womantaur driver with her Danforth bolt, which would root her in place. If they tried to drive off, or if they’d already started moving, it would go badly for Rapture. Assoon as the driver was hit, Chiyome’s mount, which was a giant bear, would smash the car to the side. The driver would remain in place, and the car moving underneath her would hopefully end up cutting her in half. Either Chiyome or one of the bugbears would take out the driver if she was still alive, and we would, if we could, take out the second womantaur and Corcunda as we passed. I had a Molotov cocktail ready to go.
After that, we would try to all stay alive for the rest of the race.
We didn’t know what upgrade the Lady Dominators had picked, but if it was a shield, it likely didn’t stop both magical attacks, which was what Donut’s bolt would be, and physical attacks, which was what the bear attack would be, so we were covering all of our bases.
I spent a moment trying to examine the vehicle in front of the womantaurs, the vehicle currently in the first spot. Team One Fine Pig. It was a big military vehicle similar to what I imagined Imani and Elle had. To the right of them in position number two stood the large black dog of the Jugglers. The creepy masked riders sat in a row on its back. The razor foxes’ bear was about the same size and was currently sniffing at the butt of the dog.
Donut glared at the giant dog, muttering.
“Donut,” I said, “do you have a shot on the womantaur?”
She gave one last derisive snort and turned her attention to the Lady Dominators.
The unicorn and the guck elemental continued to squeal at each other.
“You wanna go! You wanna go right now?” Dwight shrieked. “Imma fuck you up!”
“Imma have a go with your donkey of a mother,” Masterplan shouted back. “I’m gonna ride her like I just got my stimulus check.”
“I have a shot, no problem,” Donut said. “Right over the slime guy’s car and right into the back of that one’s head. But you’ll have to crouch further down because that stupid tommy gun is in the way.”
The GPS beeped.
Green light in thirty seconds. Environmental hazards starting.
New note has just been added to the hazards database. The hail is light at the beginning, but it increases in intensity as the timer increases.
I pulled the special banger sphere out. If it worked as intended, it would destroy the entire windshield in one hit, not just poke a hole in it.
Crash!The entire ground shook. It was like a bomb had just gone off. Next to me, Bucket Boy let out a shriek and hit the horn.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
Crash!A second detonation came, this time right behind us. The back of the truck bucked as if we’d been rear-ended.
“Carl, what’s happening?” Donut shouted.
Dr. Metcalf beeped.
I’m pretty sure that’s the hail.
“That’slighthail?” Donut shrieked. “What’s considered heavy?”
Boom!The entire awning over our heads exploded. Bits of ice and snow and metal crackled across the roof of the truck. The rain started pounding the windshield. In a second, I couldn’t see anything through the ice and water. I couldn’t even see the lights above us indicating when it was time to go.
Race starts in ten seconds. We are so fucking dead.
“Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods,” Bucket Boy said.