AJ's head was literally missing when Laria ran to see what the hell all the racket was. The wild ticker that had apparently killed him was already going to work on one of his shoulders. Laria lifted her snub and fired. As the wild ticker exploded into gray mist, a line of bullets raked an old car beside her and she dove behind a cement block.
I should have stayed at home.
Rounds whizzed over her head while she pressed herself flat against her impromptu cover. Laria popped up and rested her arms on the block. Her pistol spat out each of the rounds in its magazine from where it rested in her tight, double-handed grip. The kantus that stood there reloading flew backwards, leaving behind a thick cloud of swirling black smoke. It was time to leave. The longer she and the others stayed here, the more of these things were liable to show up.
She was about to radio Griffin when she saw Travis on the other side of the fueling station trying to take on a mauler.