“Hold!”
I should run, but I can already hear them closing the distance. I raise my hands and shout, “I’m a representative of Unity! This… this is a crime!”
They come closer, their flashlights casting shifting shadows all around me. When I hear the cock of a rifle, I shut my eyes and brace myself for certain death. Something crashes into me from the side. Right as I’m about to hit the ground, firm hands hold me tightly and soften the fall.
Gunshots erupt, smashing into trees and sending wood chips flying. I cover my head as I’m dragged between the nearby bushes.
“Stay here,” River hisses. I open my eyes to catch him sprinting into the night.
I stay on the ground for the next few minutes, listening to the death cries of those who came here to hunt me. I feel no joy hearing them brought down one by one. We should be on the same side instead of killing each other.
When the world finally goes quiet, I sit up. “River?”
He crouches next to me, his pale face and red hair barely visible. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Thank you. Where’s Timothy?”
“Coming!” He runs toward us, emerging from the low vegetation. “I thought we lost you.”
“A bullet hit my jetpack. I aimed for the water.”
“You’re freezing,” River says and stands up. “I’ll bring you dry clothes.”
I wait with Timothy, who rubs my back with two of his palms. My teeth chatter, but I’m no longer worried about making noise. I just want to get warm and find somewhere to rest. Everything aches now that the adrenaline is slipping out of my system.
River returns with a pile of clothes and weapons. He helps me take off my wet clothes because it’s hard for me to close my fingers. The new clothes are too big, but at least they’re dry.
“It will be morning soon,” Timothy says. “We need to find a place to rest and gather supplies for the road.”
“The road to where?” I ask.
“Denver.” River sounds as if the answer is obvious, but I’m not sure it is.
“Denver has thousands of armed Raiders, River.”
“And one Josh.”
I remind myself that he’s upset and scared, so it must fall on me to be the annoying voice of reason, even though I want nothing more than to find Caden and Josh as fast as possible. “Getting killed because we’re reckless won’t set them free. We don’t even know for sure where they are—the Raiders have outposts all over the place.”
River crosses his arms. “Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Is Helena still trying to track them down?”
“Yes, but she can’t see everything.”
“Then I suggest we head north where both Unity and Denver are.”
“I’m not going back to the Hive. They hate me there.”
“Nobody hates you, and I need to find a place where I can send Dino a message about what happened.”
River nods. “I can find us somewhere.”
“Okay, then we’re on the same page.”
“We also need to find supplies and gather our strength,” Timothy says.
He’s talking about me, since he doesn’t eat or sleep, and River can go on for days with barely any rest.
