Page 82 of Wild Sentinel

"Targeting sequence complete,” Adam shouted over the gunfire. “Hang on. This could be a doozy."

I hoped we’d be safe in the bunker, but there was no guarantee.

48

This probably wasn't a good idea.

There was an intense flash.

The directed energy beam vaporized the area around the bunker, turning it into the surface of the sun for an instant. At thousands of degrees, it created a plasma plume that expanded with a high-pressure shockwave. The thermal pulse blasted a flood of superheated gas into the bunker.

JD and I had closed the steel doors to our respective rooms and hunkered down. And that was a good thing.

The shockwave blasted the goons near the entrance across the room. Seared by the 1,800° heat, they burst into flames.

So did everything else in the bunker.

Even in our rooms, the heat was intense. But the steel doors kept the majority of the heat and toxic fumes out. I sure as hell wouldn't touch the door handle until the damn thing cooled down.

"Do you have respirators?” I asked Adam.

He nodded. "I’ve got everything. NBC suits, medicine, iodine pills, you name it."

The main area of the bunker crackled with flames, and the place filled with noxious smoke. The concrete walls kept the fire from spreading, but smoke inhalation was a concern.

We weren’t out of this yet.

Adam moved to a storage locker and grabbed four full-face respirators.

I took one for myself and JD. "Were you able to disable the network after you sent the targeting data?"

He shook his head. "I think I figured out a way, but the satellite uplink is gone. Everything is gone.”

The despair in his eyes at the loss of his compound was evident.

We put on the respirators. I grabbed a cloth, doubled it over, and used it to twist the door handle. Thick smoke covered the ceiling, and the fire blazed in the main area.

I opened Jack's door and handed him a respirator.

He put it on.

I advanced toward the entrance, stepping over the mangled, charred bodies of the goons. Glowing flames burned anything flammable, but a clear path led to the door. I hurried through, and the others followed.

All of Adam's electronics crackled with flames. So did his TV and his couch.

I climbed the steps to the surface and couldn't believe what I saw.

The area around the bunker was scorched and charred in a perfect circle. It looked like the surface of an alien planet. Smoke lingered in the air, and a plume rose high into the sky.

The helicopters had been incinerated, and Scott along with them. Patterns on the ground indicated where they had been, but there wasn't so much as a fragment left. It was unlike anything I had ever seen.

The others followed me out of the bunker, and we hurried back toward the road.

I peeled off the respirator when I reached clear air.

The directed energy strike was surgical. One minute, we were in the circle of death. The next minute, we were back on normal terrain. A sharp line divided the two worlds.

The beam had only lasted for a fraction of a second. Blink and you’d miss it.