The guards let me through instantly.
The whisper of swords being drawn echoed behind me. My father’s soldiers took offense seeing a Corporate Army guard chasing after me.
Right before I rushed into my quarters, I peered over my right shoulder. Jonathan had his hands up in the air, not fighting with the guards as they questioned him, but he glared daggers in my direction. I quickly shut my door behind me, locking it with a simple command.
I grabbed my bag out of my room, no time for a shower now with my father’s interference. I pulled the tablet from the side of my bag, and left it near the refrigerator. It was for my father. He would find it tomorrow when he woke, my reason for leaving clearly written on the screen.
I ambled around our cozy quarters, touching objects that were memories to me. I pulled my ball cap lower over my suddenly wet and burning eyes, and whispered, “Goodbye, Father.”
I left through the back exit.
I had a train to catch.
CHAPTERTEN
I tipped my head down against the whipping wind that blew dust into my eyes. The pavement was cracked with grass growing in sporadic spots in this part of the decimated old city. History books explained it was once called Norfolk, Virginia. The new world called it Port because of its easy access to the harbors on the Atlantic Ocean for shipping goods around the world. Occasional storms would hammer the docks, but Port was still the largest city for shipping in the King Western Province—ruled by none other than Godric.
Certain territories in the world still didn’t have a designation after stupid ass people tore our planet apart. War had been a powerful and destructive tool a hundred and fifty years ago. The King Western Province included the entire continent of North America. South America was still dark, only renegades and criminals living there. However, from what my father expressed recently, Mr. King—Godric—was readying his troops to change that soon with the influence and money of the corporations backing him.
I jogged down another demolished street with my bag slapping against my right side. The prime sectors of Port, near the Liberated Army’s base, were new and pristine. This section wasn’t one of them. I regulated my breathing and kept my head down in case a drone flew by searching the area for lawbreakers.
My train wasn’t in the common district of Port’s transport dockyards. My father knew all the mainstream trains leaving from those docks. I couldn’t take the chance of one of his soldiers catching me there, either. They all knew me. So most of my savings I spent on securing discrete transportation to New City, a train my father would never find.
The leaves on the trees growing up through the destroyed houses rustled as the wind picked up; the scent of salt lingered in the air. The ride to New City would be bumpy if the wind continued to batter the shoreline. I was not excited to travel alone on the ocean, but the train ride would afford my weary body a few hours of sleep.
I stopped behind a rusted red truck with no tires or doors and sat down on the concrete pebbles and bits of sand. The breeze quieted, but the waves of the ocean nearby were loud. I listened closely in the murkiness as I waited for my contact.
An animal nearby lurked, his silver eyes staring from his crouched position in the shadows of stacked debris. The animal was slight, but I knew better than to test boundaries with the wildlife. They could be rabid, and then you were dead if you scuffled with them. Many had died a gruesome death by contracting rabies from an animal they thought sweet and defenseless.
A shooting star traced the night sky.
“I wish my ride would hurry the hell up,” I grumbled, keeping a suspicious eye on the critter.
A skittering on the pavement to my left.
My muscles tensed.
Then a sheep ambled in front of me in the dark.
It didn’t look my way as it carefully chose where to place its cloven hooves on the cracked concrete. The white fur was gray with dust, and an old scar ran down its ribs. One leg had fresh blood trailing down its fur from a gruesome cut.
The animal hidden in the debris didn’t even turn its silver eyes to the easy target. It kept watching me. I was the better meal, apparently.
A low whistle eventually captured my attention.
I squinted to the right, only the full moon above veiled by the rolling cloud cover.
Two blinks of light on the beach.
My ride was here.
CHAPTERELEVEN
Half my attention rested on the lurking animal and the other half on my contact. He was short and stout, his scruffy beard dark brown. I knew his head was bald, but tonight he wore a stocking cap over his skin to fight against the chill in the air. When I was far enough away from the stalking eyes of the animal, I turned completely on the sand and waved.
I called, “Hi, James. Thank you for coming on short notice.”
He smiled in greeting, showing his missing front tooth. “Anything for you, Poppy.”
