Luca (22 page)

Ricky and Qaara look at him from the edge of the pavement on the other side, thirty meters away.

“It’s easy!” Jedd yells. “These are deluxe edition gyropods. Made for jumping and tricks. Just get it up to 80 and hold on. The sensors will keep you steady in the air and take care of the landing.”

Qaara nods, then disappears to make a run.

Thirty seconds later, she launches off the bank and arcs high over Jedd’s head, landing twenty meters past him down the road. Her cycle screeches to a stop.

“I put it on 100 to make sure I’d clear the gap. But you’re right. It
is
easy with these g-pods.” Qaara dismounts and walks toward Jedd. Her shoulder brushes his.

A jolt runs through his body.

She turns back to stare west, in the direction of the sun, now low in the sky. “Only a couple more hours of daylight. The road is all but gone.”

“That’s how we know we’re in the Zone. I don’t remember seeing
any
paved roads when I was a kid. All we ever had were lines and scratches in the dirt. We didn’t even use them to get around most of the time. Just went cross-country. The first real pavement I remember seeing was when Ricky and I got through the Divide close to the Fringe. That’s how we knew we were moving in the right direction.”

Jedd’s scans the area in a full circle. Trees have thinned out. The only ones left are scrubby old oaks with roots deep enough to reach what water is left. The ground is covered in six inches of dust. Rain probably hasn’t fallen for weeks.

Closing his eyes, he finds an old image of the landscape when he was a kid. He’s been through this area before, back when he was with Moses and the Family. Nothing has changed. The ground is still barren of grass, devoid of almost any landmarks except for the dips and rises of hills. It’s the kind of place that could put you to sleep. Cause you to let down your guard.

The perfect place to attack unwary travelers.

That’s what Moses used to say, and that’s how the Family made its living.

Old memories of the Zone flood his mind. Jedd shudders and tries to ignore them. His gaze sweeps past Qaara. She’s stunning, even after ten hours of nonstop riding. Flecks of dust cling to her black hair and leather bodysuit. Her lush eyelashes and genetically enhanced brown eyes blend in with the desolate landscape.

How did he ever agree to bring her here?

Warmth blossoms in his chest. It takes his breath away and throbs in waves into his face, finding a focal point in his eyes. They glisten, and he blinks wildly to keep the moisture from rolling down his cheeks. Out of nowhere, a massive lump forms in his throat as he thinks about Qaara’s narrow escape from the minefield.

And the truth hits him.

Now that they are in the Zone, she is an exotic jewel, fragile and precious beyond compare, cast into a violent sea of dirt, danger and blood. A world without laws. A Darwinian paradise where the strong prey on the weak and power is its own justification.

He will protect her from harm at any cost.

“Are you OK?” she asks.

Suddenly aware that Qaara is staring at him, Jedd turns away and points at the setting sun. “The deeper into the Zone we go, the more dangerous it gets. My guess is that the main roads, if you can call them that, are constantly being watched by bandits and scavengers.”

“Good thing we have this.” Qaara walks to Jedd’s gyropod and touches a rectangular compartment on the side. It pops open, revealing a light pulse rifle with a telescoping barrel. A smaller pair of pistols hangs by its side. “And this helps as well.” Her fingers brush along a long cylindrical container running across the belly of the cycle from the front tires to the rear axle. “Emergency supplies.”

Jedd purses his lips, grateful for the change in conversation that helps him hide his tears.

“The survival gear is great,” he says. “Almost like someone helped us pack for our trip. But the weapons present a unique problem. Best to keep them hidden. Weapons are objects of worship in these lands. If word gets out that we have them, hordes will materialize from out of nowhere. We may kill a few dozen, or even a hundred, but eventually we’ll run out of ammo, and they’ll overrun us.”

Qaara casts a glance back across the river at Ricky standing on the other side. “What about him? Is he coming or not?”

Ricky paces back and forth across the road where the edge of the pavement drops off, now and then peering over the side.

“He’s not much for stunts. But don’t worry.” Jedd rubs his chin with an index finger and thumb. “I can handle my old friend Ricky.”

Walking to the edge of the road, Jedd cups his hands to his mouth. “Hey Ricky!”

On the opposite side, Ricky stops pacing, hands on hips, yelling back. “I don’t think I can make it. There has to be another road where the bridge isn’t out."

“There aren’t any more roads or bridges. This is the Zone, remember?”

“Can’t you be a little more encouraging?” Qaara whispers.

“I’m going back to the Fringe,” Ricky says. “I suggest you both come with me. We can hide out. I have friends that can help us.”

Jedd shakes his head. “Ricky, listen to me. We’ve already been over this. I know your friends. I’m one of them. That’s the first place Mercer will look to find us. Qaara was right.” He carefully slips his arm around her and pulls her closer. “The Zone is the only place we can hide. All we have to do is make it through to the other side.”

“Where are you going?” Ricky says.

“The Free City of Denver,” Jedd says.

Ricky shakes his head. “You’ll never make it. Even if the gyropods hold out, you won’t get that far.”

“Let me talk to him.” Qaara takes a step to the edge of the road. “Ricky, we need you for when we get to Denver. OK,
if
we get to Denver. Your technical skills will help us get the word out on Mercer. Stop him from what he’s about to do.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Ricky stands still, staring down into the river, hands in pockets. “Besides, I’m sure you can handle it without me.”

Jedd cups his hands around his mouth. “We need your help, Ricky. Get over here so we can move on. We’ll give you the details later.”

“Why am I always the last one to know?” Ricky shakes his head and walks away without a word.

Leaning back against his g-pod, Jedd folds his arms across his chest and takes a deep breath. “We’re in too deep to turn around now, no doubt about it.”

“He’s still watching us, you know.” Qaara says.

“Ricky? Don’t worry about him. He’ll eventually get up the nerve to—”

“No, I’m talking about Mercer.”

Jedd scratches his chin. “Any idea why he let us go?” He pats the gyropod on the side. “Why he set us up with all this equipment to get through the Zone?"

“An idea, but that’s all.” Qaara walks closer to Jedd and leans against his pod, as their shoulders touch again. “The first thing you have to understand is that Mercer is strange. He doesn’t have a single friend, as far as I know. He trusts no one. Only child. Raised in a bubble of perfection. He inherited the entire Genesis organization from his father, who died under suspicious circumstances, by the way.”

“Mercer killed his own father?”

“He might have. He could have easily gotten away with it. There wasn’t much love between them, from what I hear.”

Letting his eyes wander over the rolling hills of dirt and dead trees, Jedd takes a deep inhale and tastes the fragrance of Qaara’s hair. He still can’t believe she’s standing beside him. His arm slips around her, and she doesn’t pull away.

“So why do you think he let us go?” Jedd relaxes in bliss.

“Because he’s in love with me.”

A jolt runs through Jedd’s body. Taking a step away, he avoids Qaara’s eyes. “In love with you? How do you know?”

“He tried to hide it from me.” Qaara’s hand pulls Jedd’s chin up so he’s looking squarely at her. “But I know that look.”

“I’m sure you get it a lot.” Jedd folds his arms across his chest, trying to quell the anger slowly rising in his belly.

Qaara smiles. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

“The curse of beauty?”

“Call it whatever you want.” Qaara pushes off the cycle and walks to the edge of the road, staring down into the filthy waters of the river. “I've been nothing more than an object to men my entire life. Something to be pursued and conquered. Used. I’ve grown tired of it.”

“So Mercer let us go because he wants to keep you alive.” Jedd mulls this over in his mind.

“You saw how the soldiers kept shooting over our heads. And the g-pods. It all makes sense.”

“Why didn’t they kill Ricky and me? Mercer certainly tried to have us killed out in the Fringe the other night.”

Qaara folds her arms. “I think he changed his mind after I took off. Once I turned against him, he decided he wanted me out of the City, out of sight. But I think he still wants me to be part of his plans, to go with him voluntarily.”

“To his secret bunkers in Japan?”

“Right.” Qaara bends down, picks up a rock and tosses it into the river. “He’s hoping that once I’m in the Zone, I’ll feel vulnerable. Shaken up. Scared. He’s hoping it will change my mind about joining him."

“Will it?” The words slip out.

Qaara’s eyes narrow. “Do you really think I’d ever go with him and let the rest of the world die? We’ve got to get to Denver and let everyone know.”

“He’s probably listening to our conversation right now.” Jedd walks back to the gyropod, bends down and starts to pour over its surface, looking for tracking dots and data sniffers.

“Probably. But I really don’t care.” Qaara turns back to face Jedd. “Be careful with the g-pod. It
is
our only way out of the Zone.”

Jedd stands up. “It’s all starting to make sense. Mercer changed his mind and used Ricky and me to get you out of the City, away from prying eyes, away from the datasphere. To a place where he could do what he wanted.”

“And now that you’ve done that for him, he has no more use for you. Or Ricky.”

“Which means?”

“Which means he’s going to kill you both. Soon.”

A distant rumble rises from the other side of the riverbank. At first, it’s just a barely audible vibration in the air. After a few seconds, it becomes more clear.

Thump, thump, thump.

Heli-ship.

Jedd visually scans the area. Nothing but low hills of desert and barren dirt as far as he can see. Nowhere to run. Or hide.

A yell rises from the road on the other side of the river. Jedd and Qaara turn their heads in unison.

Ricky launches off the edge and goes airborne, hugging his gyropod like a lover, making a slow arc in the sky. They follow his line as he crosses above them and lands ten meters down the road.

Jedd jumps on his pod. Qaara lands on the seat behind him. Soft wheels give way under their weight. Jedd guns the throttle and they shoot forward, clearing the distance to Ricky in seconds, screeching to a stop beside him.

“We have to go!” Ricky says. “A heli-ship’s on the horizon, coming this way.”

“Heard it,” Jedd says.

Qaara slips off the back of Jedd’s pod and runs to her own. “Any ideas?”

Thump, thump, thump.

It’s close enough now to vibrate in Jedd’s chest.

“I have an idea,” Jedd says, “but you’re not going to like it." His hand drops down to the glass screen on his cycle. “Find the motor tones on your bikes. No more running silent. Turn them up. Loud. I want everyone within fifty klicks to know we’re here."

“But what about Moses? He used to hang out around here. If he’s anywhere close, he’ll hear us and—" Ricky’s face goes pale.

Jedd nods. “That’s the idea.”

29

TOXIC DUMP

Luca runs up the hill ahead of the group.

Her hair floats behind, lifted by the wind, as a symphony of voices from every plant, animal and insect plays through her mind. For the first time since before she came to the Institution, she’s fully a part of the world, connected to it, able to move and think and respond as she pleases. She finds the voices of the other girls in her mind and sends them a message.

Race you to the top!

She bursts onto the summit of the hill, anticipating a view of a town where they can live and work and play. Where they can show the people how to listen. Or maybe just have a view of the ocean.

But her joy is cut short.

A wall of pain slams into her mind. What she sees with her eyes is a desolate landscape of twisted trees and open pools of dark water. Closing her eyes, black splotches cover the afterimage of the valley below.

A half dozen other girls reach the top and squeal with anticipation. Like Luca, they react to the pain, hands reaching to their foreheads.

The whole group gathers around her, staring down.

“Toxic dumps.” Zero raises his finger and points.

“What happened?” Luca says.

“Haven’t you heard the stories? The earthquake and tsunami destroyed the reactors a long time ago. The people were forced out. The government took their land and turned it into a dumping ground for radiation and toxic waste. It's everywhere. We have to find another way.”

Through the pain, Luca strains to hear any voices in the valley.

But all she hears is silence.

Beyond the valley, how far away she doesn’t know, Luca hears the other voices she heard before. Human voices.

“This way.” Luca turns, and the rest follow.

30

KILL ORDER

Mercer chews lemons. Darkness bathes his eyes.

A voice interrupts the rendition of Wagner’s
The Ride of the Valkyries
playing inside his head.

“We have them, sir.”

A full color hologram of the speaker’s head pops above Mercer’s jax on the table next to him.

“Already?” Mercer says. “Where are you?”

“Bio-scans indicate they made it through the Divide and crossed into the Zone. We’ll have a visual in less than a minute.”

“Do you remember my orders?”

“Yes, sir.”

Mercer spits a lemon seed across the room into a round container. “Repeat them to me. I want to make sure you understand.”