Yet all through this, Tori continued a jog-walk, always keeping to the back streets, hugging buildings, and avoiding groups of people milling about. Though she glanced his way occasionally, she said nothing.
Fear was not a familiar friend to Thomas. He had always sided with those in power, with those who had the numbers and the money. He’d decided long ago that was the best way to be successful and avoid punishment of any kind, avoid running for his life as he was doing now. He’d only been this afraid one time before, and that was the day he’d watched Angelica Smoke, “Smokes,” as he’d called her, disappear before his eyes in a flash of lightning. The Rapture, Daniel had said, and that thought had scared Thomas most of all. Why? Because he’d been left behind. Or so he’d thought until the first Neflams appeared and explained things.
Slipping from an alleyway onto the sidewalk of a main street, Thomas followed Tori as she wove around piles of trash. Or was it trash? One of the piles moved. A hand reached out toward Thomas like a ghoul from the grave. He leapt aside, heart thumping.
“Food? A scrap of food?” the voice said.
Curling his nose, Thomas sped forward. He knew the city still had a homeless population. So many had suffered after the war and the economic collapse, but the NWU was doing much to improve people’s lives. It just took time.
The purr of an engine reached his ears, an unusual sound with so few cars on the streets due to the carbon restrictions. He spun around just in time to see an NWU Black Hummer speed toward him.
“They found us!” Tori said. “Crud. I should have known.”
What she should have known, Thomas didn’t know or care as he grabbed her hand and crashed through the unlocked gate of a car impound lot to their right. Together they wove around the skeletons of old, broken cars, ducking and diving to avoid being seen. Then leaping on a chain-link fence, Thomas reached down to help Tori, and together they jumped to the pavement below and took off running once again.
Twenty minutes later, unable to go any further, he stopped and leaned his hands on his knees, breath heaving. “Guess I’m out of shape.”
“Me too.” Tori grabbed his shirt and yanked him beside a brick building, out of sight. “I’ve been sitting in your prison cell far too long.”
He looked up at her, her black hair wild about her face, her chest rising and falling, her green eyes alert, scanning the area like a soldier at war. Even in the fading sunlight, she was beautiful, a wild cat prowling about the night. Yet instead of fear, there was a determination, a confidence in her expression.
Like running for her life was something she did every night.
Only then did he realize how difficult her life must have been as a hunted Deviant.
She peeked around the corner of the building, then jerked back. “Shoot! They found us again.” She glared at him. “It’s you! They are tracking you.” Without giving him a chance to think or even respond, she yelled “Run!” and sprinted toward the back of the building, turning this way and that, weaving between overflowing garbage dumpsters, taking him deeper into narrow alleyways where no cars could drive.
She was right, of course. He cursed. If only he’d thought to grab his magnetic gloves. But that was the last thing on his mind as he dashed from his home, leaving everything he knew and loved behind. They would catch him. They could track his exact location. Unless he could get rid of his chip.
The stink of rotten food and sewage saturated his lungs. Gagging, he covered his mouth, forcing down a burst of nausea. He’d never been in this part of town, never really ventured outside his neighborhood except to drive to the airport, but what he’d seen so far made him wonder why Tori was taking him through the poorest slums of the city. People—if you could call them that—lay about the filthy pavement like discarded, broken toys, most too drunk or drugged to move. Wild dogs roamed in packs, seeking meat to devour. Thankfully, Thomas's size had deterred the few they’d run across. Music thumped from inside buildings. Agonizing screams accompanied sirens. Vacant eyes followed their movement from within broken windows. Up ahead, a group of people, including a small child, surrounded a barrel where a fire blazed. One of them glanced up as they passed, but otherwise paid them no mind.
It was a vision of hell, if there was such a place.
They darted right, slamming up against a brick building. The chink and chime of machines hummed from inside. A man leapt at them from the shadows, knife in hand. The crusty grime on his face made it hard to tell his age…or his race, but the evil intent in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Gimme your money, clothes, whatever you got!”
Tori backed up, hands raised, lips moving…praying perhaps? “We have nothing to give you.” Her eyes lit as if she saw something beyond the man. Whatever it was, it must have given her courage, for she raised her chin. “All I have to offer is eternal life found only in the name of Jesus.”
Thomas growled. Now was not the time for evangelizing! Pushing Tori behind him, he stepped toward the man. “Leave now, or I’ll make you leave.”
The sirens grew louder. Pounding footsteps echoed through the darkness. NWU troops had left the vehicles and were on foot. They hadn’t much time.
The man laughed and lunged for Thomas.
Leaping backward, Thomas raised an arm against the advancing knife and kicked the man’s legs out beneath him. He toppled to the ground. Stepping on his wrist, Thomas ground it into the road. The man released the knife. Grabbing it, Thomas backed away, only then feeling pain lance across his arm. Struggling to rise, the thief uttered a nonhuman growl and dashed into the darkness.
“Very impressive,” Tori said.
Grabbing his injured arm, Thomas faced her. “Go, Tori. Run! Leave. They’re tracking me. You can save yourself.”
Commands fired through the air. Footsteps pounded closer. Soon they’d be surrounded.
She chuckled. “Duh. Why do you think I’ve been leading us through all these warehouses full of robotic machines.” She started running, gesturing for him to follow. “I was hoping it would mask your signal.” She glanced up at the murky dark sky. “At least they haven’t released the drones yet.”
Thomas had always been the smartest one in the room, but suddenly he felt like a little kid whose teacher had just embarrassed him in front of the class. Why had he not thought of the chip before, he couldn’t say, except that in the past few years it had become a part of him—a part he rarely even thought about. No time to coddle his injured pride, he caught up to Tori and pulled her beside a stack of crates. A rat crawled over his shoe. Cringing, he withheld a squeal that would only add to his embarrassment. “It won’t work,” he finally said. “It’s too strong a signal.”
He couldn’t make out her expression in the darkness, but he felt her looking at him, nonetheless. “I have something better.” She started forward. “At my house.”
