Fugitive X (18 page)

Witt raised an eyebrow at Nick. “Sounds like a true believer to me,” he said.

“You’re lucky Ro just gave her a stun collar instead of an execution,” Jackie said.

Nick clenched his fists and bit back an angry reply. Farryn shouldered past him and got into Jackie’s face. “You’re the one who has to figure out whose side you’re on,” he said. “You happy killing people just like the bots?”

“True believers aren’t people,” Jackie said, grabbing Farryn’s shirt with her good arm. She pushed him back roughly, then pressed a trigger on her comm bracelet. Cass gave a short, choking scream, then fell to the ground, clutching at her neck and kicking her legs spastically.

Lexi ran to Cass, while Nick and Farryn lunged toward Jackie. Witt stepped in front of Jackie, a burst pistol in his hands. “Stop!” he said. Nick and Farryn skidded to a stop. Cass continued to kick and choke in the dirt next to the fire pit, while Lexi knelt next to her, powerless to help. If he moved fast enough, maybe he could disarm Witt before he had a chance to fire . . .

“Jackie, turn off the damned collar!” said Witt.

Jackie reached down to her wrist, slowly, theatrically, and thumbed her bracelet. Cass’s legs stopped kicking and she took in a deep sucking breath. She pushed herself up to her knees, retching. Both Farryn and Nick rushed past Witt to Cass. “Are you okay?” said Nick to Cass, holding her shoulder. Farryn stood over them, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Cass stayed on her hands and knees a few more moments,
her ragged breath slowly returning to normal. Then she pushed Nick’s hand away and stood. “You brought me here,” she said, her voice raspy. “This is your fault.”

Nick shook his head but didn’t know what to say. He fought back angry tears. She wasn’t wrong. He had rescued her, but now here she was, collared and tortured. He turned and walked over to Jackie, who folded her arms over her chest and smirked at him.

“Do that again and I will kill you,” he said quietly. “Take her collar off.”

Jackie laughed, then shook her head. “That’s not gonna happen,” she said.

“Take it off,” he repeated.

“That’s enough,” Witt said, grabbing Nick’s arm. Nick spun, fist clenched, ready to throw a punch.

Witt stepped back, apparently reading the intent in Nick’s eyes, and raised his gun, and Erica, who had been gathering water at the stream, was suddenly there, slipping behind Witt, unsheathing her hunting knife. There was a grinding roar from the south that staggered everyone, followed a moment later by a fireball that rose up over the tree line about a half mile to the south.

“What the . . . ?” said Witt. He pulled an earbud from his pocket and jammed it in his ear, then tapped on his comm bracelet. “Hello? Hello?”

“Don’t be an idiot, Witt,” said Jackie. “You know they’re
on comm lockdown until after the raid tomorrow.” She rushed into a nearby tent and came out a few moments later with a burst pistol holstered at her waist. “I’ll check it out. Stay here.” Jackie ran off into the woods to the south, moving awkwardly because of her arm sling.

Erica looked at Nick and gave a small enigmatic smile, then a nod, and then she took off after Jackie.

“Wait!” said Witt, but he didn’t raise his gun, and she quickly disappeared into the trees. Nick could see black smoke rising from the site of the fireball. He took a step toward the woods.

“No,” said Witt, raising his weapon. “Stay put.”

“If it’s a fight, I can help,” Nick said. “Let me go. Or shoot me in the back, like a bot would.”

Witt hesitated, then nodded and lowered his pistol.

Nick looked at Lexi and Farryn. “Watch my sister,” he said.

“Don’t be an idiot,” said Lexi.

Nick smiled. “It’s way too late for that,” he said.

Lexi gave him a small smile in return. “Yeah, true,” she said.

Nick turned and ran after Jackie and Erica. He headed south at a quick jog, following a game path. His heart was pounding, more from adrenaline and nerves than exertion. The game path ended abruptly and Nick ducked into the trees. His right foot hit a muddy patch of grass and he skidded and almost fell, catching himself on a tree trunk. A blast from nearby to the south rocked him backward, almost knocking
him onto the ground. It was followed by a faint scream and then the crackle of burst rifles. Nick hesitated a moment, then ran toward the noise.

Quickly the gunfire grew louder, and Nick slowed to a crouching walk, not wanting to blunder right into the middle of the battle. Ahead, among the trees, he saw smoke and the orange glow of fire and the bright flashes of burst rifles. He dropped to the ground, moving forward on his hands and knees, and then he saw three figures coming toward him out of the smoke and he quickly crawled behind a tree. When the figures grew clearer, he realized it was Erica and a man holding up a third person between them. He was unconscious or dead, his legs dragging uselessly along the ground as Erica and the man struggled to move him away from the fight.

Nick rushed over to the trio. It took him a moment to recognize the third man, because his injuries were so bad. It was Marco. His shirt was soaked with blood and his face and hands had been burned. The skin was raw, red and blistered and peeling, and his eyebrows and most of his hair was gone. “What’s happening?” Nick said to Erica, having to yell to be heard over the blast crackles.

“Get out of here!” said the man to Marco’s right. They were dragging Marco again, and Nick jogged alongside them. “It’s all gone to hell! Stumbled across a group of damned bots, no comm signals, no warnings. Weren’t supposed to see any bots for two days!”

Two more men appeared out of the trees, hurrying past them. “Back to camp!” one said as he rushed past.

The man dragging Marco, Nick realized, had two burst rifles slung over his shoulder—one must have been Marco’s. “Give me a rifle!” Nick said.

The man unslung one of the rifles and tossed it to Nick without slowing down.

“Keep your head down!” Erica said. “This isn’t target practice.”

Nick nodded and then ran, crouching, to the south, flicking off the safety of the rifle as he ran and setting the burst to medium. Enough to take down a bot, hopefully, without draining his weapon too quickly.

Nick saw that the smoke in the distance glowed with energy bursts. He recognized the crackling hum of lase blasts.
Peteys
. He couldn’t see them through the smoke, but he knew they were nearby. He dropped to the ground. Rifle bursts returned fire from low and to the right, and he saw three rebels tucked down behind two trees, their camo gear blending with the grass and underbrush. He sprinted over in a crouch and dove down next to them. Ro was the man on the far left. “What the hell you doing here?” he said.

“Came to help!” said Nick.

“Get the hell out of here!” Ro growled. “Rendezvous back at the camp!” The air crackled, and a tree limb ten feet to their left exploded and flew backward. Nick flinched
instinctively. Ro and the others shot bursts into the smoke, although there were no discernible targets. Another burst came, striking the ground ten feet in front of them, sending dirt flying and making the ground shudder. Nick sighted down the scope of Marco’s rifle. At first he saw only smoke and vague darting shadows. Then he felt something shift in his robotic eye and he almost reflexively took a hand off his gun to touch his face. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it felt odd, like something crawling over his eyeball, and then the smoke was somehow transparent. He still knew it was there, but he could see through it clearly, even though that shouldn’t have been possible.

In the distance, barely visible, he saw the darting spherical shape of a scout hovering among the trees. It vanished behind tree cover, and he waited. When it reappeared, he tracked it, squeezed the trigger, and watched as an instant later it erupted into flaming shrapnel.

“Yes!” he yelled.

“What the hell?” said Ro. Nick didn’t answer. A Petey had appeared from behind tree cover off in the distance, near where the wrecked sphere bot lay. It raised its lase arm toward their position, and Nick sighted quickly and fired, and the burst hit the Petey square in its chest. It staggered back into a tree, then raised itself back up.

“Damn!” said Nick. “Medium burst won’t take the Peteys down?”

“Need a full burst to even slow them down much,” said Ro. “But you can’t get a good shot in this smoke.”

“I can see fine,” Nick said. He squeezed off another round, tagging the Petey again, disrupting its aim as it was firing. The bot’s lase burst shot harmlessly into the air. Nick sighted another scout bot and squeezed off a burst, but the bot was weaving in and out of the trees and the shot missed. He focused on the bot, watching its flight, sensing its pattern, and he tracked in front of it, leading it, and somehow the bot’s frantic bob and weave seemed to slow way down, like it was flying through honey, and Nick released a burst that struck the bot squarely and destroyed it.
Two
, Nick thought, his fingers tingling with adrenaline.
That’s two bots down.

There was a blur of movement to his left and then Erica was sliding down beside him, her pistol in her hand, the right side of her body pressing against his leg and arm. “Still alive?” she said.

He flashed her a quick grin. “So far,” he said.

Ro triggered his comm bracelet. “Anybody else still pinned down?” he said. “Report positions.” Ro listened for a few moments, his hand over his ear to shield his earpiece from the noise. “Okay,” he said, clapping Nick on the shoulder. “Everyone alive is getting out. Let’s go.”

Ro stood, preparing to run, and then Nick saw another Petey, at the edge of his range, aim its lase arm. “Down!” he said, slamming his shoulder against Ro and knocking him
over. The Petey’s lase burst crackled overhead, through the spot where Ro had been standing. Nick took aim at the Petey and triggered three quick medium bursts, knocking the bot backward into the trees. Erica fired her pistol, four rapid shots, but her bursts were wild. She obviously couldn’t see through the smoke like Nick.

“Okay, it’s down!” said Nick.

“Come on!” said Ro. He grabbed the back of Nick’s shirt and hauled him to his feet. Nick had a wild impulse to ignore Ro, to run toward the bots to get better aim, to switch to full burst and see if he could take down one of the big Peteys, but then he thought of his sister, collared, needing him even though she hated him, and his brother, lost God knew where. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and followed Erica and the retreating rebels.

THE REBELS SCRAMBLED BACK INTO CAMP IN GROUPS OF TWO AND THREE
, many nursing wounds—everything from minor burns and cuts to one man who Cass couldn’t believe was still alive. He was unconscious, but she could see his chest rising and falling with his ragged breaths as he was carried past her by two unhurt rebels. His right arm was gone halfway up the bicep, a blackened charred stump. It looked as if the lase blast had cauterized the wound, which at least had kept him from bleeding to death.

Nick jogged into view, a rifle slung over his shoulder. He seemed unhurt, and Cass felt a huge surge of relief that caught her by surprise. How much had she actually been worrying about him, this boy who had stolen her from the City? Lexi
brushed past Cass, running over to Nick and giving him a kiss and a long hug.

“Wounded to med tent now!” bellowed Ro, striding into camp. “Everyone who can stand, break down the camp! We leave in one hour and we’re not coming back!”

Ro grabbed the medic’s arm as she rushed past him, and she spun to a halt. “Get the wounded walking,” he said to her. “We can’t stay here.”

She shrugged out of his grip. “I’ll do what I can,” she said. “But there are gonna be a few who won’t be able to leave.”

Ro shook his head. He took a deep breath, held it a few moments, then said, “Report to me in an hour. We’ll see where we stand then.” The medic nodded and ran off.

Ro walked up to Cass. As he drew closer, she could see that a line of blood had dried in a trail down the side of his face. Behind him, Cass saw Nick break away from Lexi’s hug and turn to watch Ro intently. Ro reached for his comm bracelet. Cass tensed but didn’t say a word. He could stun her if he wanted to, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying out. She’d bite off her tongue first, if she had to. He thumbed his bracelet and Cass flinched, despite her best effort, her body expecting the shock that didn’t come. She cursed herself silently for the weakness.

Ro held his hand out. “Your collar will come off now,” he said. “Snap it apart in the back.”

Nick was smiling behind him, but she didn’t smile
back—he might interpret that as gratitude, which she definitely didn’t want him to think she felt. She reached behind her neck and pulled the collar apart with a
click
. She ignored Ro’s waiting hand and tossed it onto the ground at his feet, glaring at him, then massaged the skin on her throat where the collar had been chafing. “Why?” she said.

He bent and picked up the collar, snapping it shut in his hand. “It’s a favor to your brother.” He pointed the collar at Cass. “But I still don’t trust you, and this can go right back onto your neck if it needs to.”

Cass crossed her arms over her chest and held his stare. He stared back, waiting for her to flinch. Then he actually gave her a small smile and an almost imperceptible nod. He turned to Nick. “She’s your responsibility.”

Nick nodded. “Understood,” he said.

Ro frowned. “Not that she could do much damage right now anyway,” he said. “The bots seem to know where we are.” He walked quickly away, barking orders as he headed toward his tent.

“If you’re expecting a thank-you, it’s going to be a long wait,” Cass said to Nick.

Nick smiled. “That almost sounds like the old Cass,” he said.

Cass didn’t know how to respond, so she just turned away.

“We need to be ready to hike,” Nick said. “Ro’s right, the bots are too close.” He turned to Lexi and Farryn, and Erica,
who Cass hadn’t even seen arrive. “I still think it’s best to stick with the rebels,” he said quietly, just loud enough for their small group to hear. “They’ll be our best shot at getting news about Kevin. And when they attack the City, I want to be part of it.”