Alex dreamt of a fast-moving pod that twisted and turned through the udder blackness of the speedway tubes deep below the ocean. It zipped at blinding speeds. She braced herself as the pod grew ever stronger around her. Her stomach churned and roiled bringing her to life in the real world with real nausea. She wiggled herself free of Lexi and Jimmy, pulled herself to the edge of the bouncing cart, and somersaulted out. She ran to the edge of the road and wretched, then heaved, then wretched some more. Someone came up behind her and patted her on the back."Are you okay?" A deep voice asked. It had that familiar ring of Jack's voice in it, but not quite the same tone."I will be," she answered in a hoarse whisper.Jimmy pulled a canteen over his shoulder from the strap then opened it and handed it to her.She accepted and drank in little sips. "Pods used to make me sick when I was little.""It's not like they're going very fast, but they are pretty bumpy."Alex took a long drink t
Three days had passed since the last attack. Tom sat in the cart while the sun beat down. Weylin and Ellie sat behind him chattering back and forth in some language that seemed familiar but was full of technical terms. The desert rolled by under the hot clouds. The solar tower dotted plains turned into golden rolling hills. The suburban houses gave way to bigger buildings. Large buildings lay ahead, giving way to an even larger city. The approach made him nervous. Images of the last big city where him, Brooke, and Ellie had escaped popped in his head. He hoped no one would get their hands broken this time. He stayed hyper-vigilant while he scoped the horizon. He searched the tall buildings and the dark shadows they cast as the carts crept along.They drew closer to the city as the sun sunk behind orange clouds. Tom continued to sweep the edges of the scope's vision until he saw small figures. Upon closer inspection, he saw snipers on the rooftops. He blasted a sharp whistle with his
Jimmy nodded. The men before him parted. Jimmy waved at the caravan to follow. Tom pressed the forward button, but the cart didn't move. The shadows from the buildings blocked the sun enough to keep them from getting charged. The other carts had the same problem. People scurried out and started pushing. Tom steered as the cart moved forward again.The white-eyed men walked to either side of the group, watching them from the corners of their eyes, or so Tom assumed. Tom directed the cart after Jimmy, who followed the leader. Alex walked at Jimmy's shoulder, her pistol still pointed at the ground a meter ahead of her. A few blocks later, a garage door opened to allow entrance to the cavern. Candles lined the edges and torches lit the center. It looked to have been a shopping mall long ago.Once the cart was parked, Tom stepped out and joined Alex and Jimmy. Both their eyes were trained on the men at the edges surrounding their people."We're like fish," Alex whispered."I'm well awar
Alex slurped the rest of her soup and set her bowl down in front of her. Lexi already finished and was sitting quietly watching the people around them. Jimmy sat across from them looking grumpy while he ate. Seana sat at his elbow carrying on about how hot it had been that day.Jimmy's eyes lifted to Alex's as he listened to Seana. His eyes squinted like he had a headache. He cut Seana off and glared at Alex. "Hey hybrid, why don't you get a haircut? I'm sick of looking at you. You look like we pulled you out of a dumpster.""You kind of did," Alex said quietly.He furrowed his brow. "If you won't, then put your hat back on. You're making me depressed."Alex rolled her eyes and caught Lexi doing the same. She smiled as she looked over to her. Lexi's own blonde hair was growing out at the roots, giving her a two-toned look. Alex flipped out her knife and handed it to Lexi. "Would you like to do the honors?"Lexi lifted her navy blue eyes to her, reading her expression, then smiled.
Alex woke to find Jimmy's arms draped around her. Her head lay on his chest. He snored softly with his head resting on hers. A blanket had been draped across them. Lexi lay curled up next to them under another. Alex's arm still hurt. She took shallow breaths to keep from aggravating her lungs. She eased away from Jimmy slowly, careful not to wake him, then tucked the blanket back around him. She checked that Lexi was snug, too, then tiptoed through the carts heading for the restroom area.The caravan had quieted down. Whispered conversations filled the open room. A few slept, probably happy to sleep without the motion of the carts beneath them. After Alex found the restroom, she came up the stairs to find one of the scaled men waiting for her. It was the leader, Gregor."You need to leave," Gregor said pointedly.Alex pointed to herself. "Me? Just me?"He shook his head. "All of you. If what your people told me is true, then the Alpha's are coming here and they won't just pass us b
They walked through the rest of the night. At sunrise, the carts started up with only a few issues which Ellie and Weylin were quick to fix. The carts rolled forward at a man's pace as they followed the road through the flat desert.By the time nightfall hit, another city lay on the horizon. This one looked much smaller than the last, but Jimmy kept them still when the carts ran out of power."Hybrid! Smart-girl!" Jimmy beckoned.Alex slid out of the cart. She joined him and Ellie at the front of the caravan."What do you think?" He asked. "Should we go around or through?"Ellie tapped her lips as she thought. "This is a pretty small town. There are no other major roads straight through it. On the other side is a bunch of mountains. I would recommend the straight approach.""Hybrid, risk assessment?" Jimmy asked.Alex looked through her scope and scouted the town ahead. "Looks dead." She turned around to look at the surrounding hills and the smooth desert behind them. I'd say mo
"Go talk to her," Jimmy said."But she already hates me. This is just going to make it worse," Alex said. "I should just wait until I know for sure."Jimmy grabbed her shoulders from behind and propelled her towards Cart Two. "It's going to be fine. Just have a nice chat with her. Besides, if you wait any longer you'll get even skinnier."Alex grumbled a few curse words as he pushed her along. It had been two days since the mountain pass. They had just stopped on the edge of the next city. They planned to eat a meal then pass through this one with guns drawn just in case it was inhabited.Brooke turned towards them as they approached. Her hazel eyes gleamed golden in the fading sunlight. Her smile tightened as she watched Jimmy pushing Alex."Can I help you?" Brooke asked."The hybrid would like to ask you a medical question," Jimmy said.Brooke bit the inside of her cheek as she waited.Alex spun on him. "Yes, it's a personal medical question, so you should go."Jimmy eyed he
Tom sat in the cart as it climbed the hills. It was supposed to take only a day if they looked at it distance-wise, but the mountains were too steep to push the carts and make much progress. The first night they pushed through for a while, but gave up and just made camp. It looked like it would be another two days of travel just to get to the next city.Ellie and Weylin spent each morning checking the motors. They had already lost one and the cart had to be towed by two others until Ellie was able to repair it. Luckily, she did get it fixed, but it was only a matter of time before they lost one for good. He hoped they would get back to the cities soon, not because it was safer, but because they held more materials to salvage.Brooke snaked her arms around his waist. "How's it going?" She asked, her breath tickling his ear."It's the same. Just more mountains and more wind turbines. Not much has changed yet.""Aren't you getting bored of this? It's always the same. Sit here, watch f