I spent most of my formative years without touch. Without love. So, when I stumbled upon Helios in the desert and he was so sweet and full of smiles, I latched onto him like a leech. I fed on his kindness, his affection, his tolerance…
Jude gapes. “And your father?”
“I don’t think he cared at first. He thought it would only make me stronger.”
“You never electrocuted him before that day with Aurora?”
“I did. A few times. But one time, I got really close to killing him. And when he came back to himself, he shot me in the leg.” I lift the blanket and show him the bullet wound scar on my thigh. “To teach me a lesson.”
“Jesus…” breathes Jude. “And I thought my parents were bad. At least they didn’t try to maim me. But my brothers tied me to a pole in the middle of the wastelands once.”
It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Why?”
He shrugs. “I think they hoped I wouldn’t survive the night. That some old god would find me. Or the coyotes might eat me. Too bad for them; I was still alive by morning.”
“Was Malcolm one of them?” I ask.
Jude sighs. “He was.”
“Then I’m glad I killed him.”
“And I’m glad you made him suffer. It’s just too fucking bad I wasn’t the one to do it.”
“Most of your siblings are still alive, aren’t they?” I say.
Jude smiles. “Indeed, they are.”
Later, Jude ties me to theFireflyagain. He knows that I’ll still take any chances I get to steal back the aircraft. But this time, he doesn’t mock me. He just secures my hands and feet, then throws another blanket over me. He falls asleep near the fire, his back to me.
By morning, our clothes are dry. Jude unlocks the shackles around my feet to allow me to put them on. But instead of locking me up again, he throws the shackles inside theFirefly. For the first time since he dragged me out of Bunkertown, I’m free to move as I please. He says nothing, and I don’t either. This truce between us feels fragile.
We drink our coffee around the fire.
When Jude finally breaks the silence, I already know what he’s going to say.
“We’re going to rescue Marika. She’s a friend of mine, and I won’t leave her in that mutant’s hands. Her life in Hell suited her, but I don’t know if she enjoys her stay with her new master. And we need her to hack into theFirefly. Then we can both be free of each other.”
My attention catches on to his wording. He said,‘we can be free of each other’, and not, ‘so I can put a bullet through your brain’.
But for a reason that escapes me, he looks angry.
“To the Hoover Dam,” I say.
He nods. “To the Hoover Dam.”
10
The old merchant.
“The mutants aren’t inherently bad, as many people like to think. The King is an example of that. Alastair was raised in the market. He’s the product of his time, definitely. He can seem cruel in his choices, especially when it concerns the safety of his people. But never truly heartless. His love for the kingdom his fathers left to him is what motivates every action. The mutants are powerful, but they’re also inherently humans. Who they have become depends entirely on their upbringing and what life has dealt them. And let’s be honest, their start in life was already a bumpy ride. You throw gifted children to the caprice of the world, and you’re surprised when they turn into monsters. Humanity owes them an apology. Or, at least, a place among us.”
Extract of a handwritten journal, by Thomas MacKoy, 2056.
The Hoover Dam is less than a thirty-minute flight from the hot spring, so we wait for nightfall before leaving. But barely ten minutes into our journey, Jude points to a vehicle making its way through the dark wastelands. It’s a massive RV built on giant wheels, pulling a trailer that was made for livestock before the Rise. And there is someone inside, gesturing frantically to the sky—to us—with a lamp.
A red flag flaps in the dry wind.Highwaymengoing back to their new base.
“Dumdumb, land in front of that RV,” says Jude.
