Makara opened the driver’s door and hopped in. The Recon started with a roar that faded into a low hum. The hum came from behind the cab, where the hydrogen fuel tank was building pressure.
Samuel and I unlatched the garage door, pulling it up to reveal the outside. Light flooded the garage, blinding me for a moment. The cold mountain air rushed in, stinging my face with cold.
When my eyes adjusted, I was startled to see the sky above, not a dull red, but a blue violet. We were above the low hanging clouds.
Right above, I saw the sun for the first time in my life.
I didn’t have time to enjoy it, though. Samuel hit me on the shoulder. He pointed down the disused road curving down the mountain through rock and red-tinged snow. My eyes narrowed.
Walking up the path were five men, maybe two hundred yards away. They stopped, clearly seeing us.
“Inside the Recon,” Samuel said. “Now.”
We ran into the garage as the first shots fired.
I had no idea how, but Brux had found us.
Chapter 23
We piled in the Recon. Makara turned on us.
“What the hell are they doing here?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Just drive!”
Makara shifted into drive and floored it. The engine roared and the pressure tank behind us hummed. The tires squealed on the pavement as the Recon roared onto the dirt road covered with snow.
“Careful,” Samuel said. “This road is narrow.”
“They’re straight ahead,” I said. “Makara, I don’t think you should…”
“Get down,” she said.
The raiders opened fire on us. I heard bullets ding off the hood and hit the windshield. Three bullets cracked the glass.
“Here we go,” she said.
I heard men yelling from the sides of the vehicle, but no telltale squishy bumps.
The guns fired a few more times, but we were in the clear. We sped past them.
“Next stop, Bunker One,” Makara said.
“Makara,” I said, “don’t ever try that again.”
She cracked a smile. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, but you could’ve been shot.”
She shrugged. “Are you really complaining here?”
I sighed. “I guess you have a point.”
We rounded a bend. Below I could see red clouds spread out like a blanket over the land, and mountaintops poking through them. We would be entering those clouds soon. Already, they were closer.
A few minutes later, we were in the dense, red fog. Makara turned on the headlights, but we could only see a few yards in front of us.
“I don’t see how they found us,” I said.
“Maybe they weren’t trying,” Makara said. “They’re hurting for loot to take back. Now that Bunker 114 is gone, maybe they thought it would be easy pickings.” She shook her head. “Idiots.”
Makara slowed down. The entire right side was sheer cliff, and falling off would mean death.
It was after we had gone down several switchbacks that I noticed two pairs of headlights above us.
“Shit,” I said. “They followed us!”
I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten about those other two vehicles. Of course this wasn’t over yet.
“I’m afraid you will have to drive fast now, Makara,” Samuel said. “I’m going in the back to man the turret.”
“Get back there, then,” Makara said. “Be careful.”
Samuel disappeared into the back. A few seconds later, he had started firing.
A spray of bullets showered the road ahead of us from above. We took a tight turn, forcing everyone to the left. The entire Recon shook with the effort.
I got out my Beretta, not knowing what good it would do me in this vehicle. The other Recons were two switchbacks above us.
“Can’t we go faster?” I asked.
Makara’s look was venomous. “If you want to slip on the ice and snow and fall to our deaths, then yeah…we can go faster.”
“Good point.”
Then, the first Recon rounded the bend right behind us. Samuel fired. I could see the hood of the other vehicle become riddled with bullets. A raider leaned out the passenger’s window and fired toward us.
Makara swerved around a tight bend, and the back tires lost traction. We were heading toward the cliff. At the last moment, Makara floored it, and we were surging ahead onto the next downward slope. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.
The next Recon tried the same thing, only it was going too fast. As it fishtailed, the back tires fell off the slope. The entire vehicle slid backward, its front tires squealing like some dying thing.
As we rounded the next bend, we could see the Recon toppling over the road ahead of us.
Makara slammed on the brakes as Samuel fired a hail of bullets at the other Recon, just one switchback above us. The downed Recon crashed into the road ahead, did a half flip, and continued to roll down the mountainside.
“They’re done,” I said.
A moment later, the vehicle exploded in a violent plume of fire, crashing into a giant rock jutting out from the mountain.
“Let’s hope Brux was in there,” Makara said.
That was not to be. The other Recon swerved around the corner. In the passenger’s seat, I could see the man with the blond crew cut and a long scar, even from the side mirror. The driver’s eyes were wide and fearful. Brux looked murderous.
We exited the layer of red fog, finding ourselves very close to the desert floor. The snow petered out, replaced by red rock, dirt, and barren Waste. We made one final turn, and it was a straight stretch to the desert flatland.
Then, I heard a popping noise. I turned, and the low hum of the pressure chamber became a high whir. The pressure needle on the fuel gauge swerved down.
“They must have hit something,” Makara said. “We’re losing pressure.”
“What does that mean?
“It means we’re going nowhere.”
Behind us, after another round of shooting, I heard the tires of Brux’s Recon squeal. Samuel had blown out one of the tires. The vehicle swerved, and flipped on its side. It slid down the hill, past us, even as our Recon slowed to a halt and the electronics powered down.
Makara braked, bringing our Recon to a halt. She hopped out of the vehicle, pointing her pistol at Brux’s vehicle, the bottom of which now faced us.
I got out on my side, and followed Makara’s example, pointing my gun at the raiders’ crashed vehicle. Samuel faced the turret toward the downed Recon.
It was time to meet Brux.
Chapter 24
Nothing happened for a full minute. We just stood there, pointing our guns, waiting for anyone to come out. The wind blew, blowing dust across the scene.
After waiting a while, I was beginning to think they might be dead.
But quick as a flash, Brux showed himself and fired a few shots. Above us, we heard Samuel give a loud yell.
Brux slipped behind the downed Recon, a smile on his lips.
“Samuel!” Makara said.
Samuel grabbed his shoulder and dropped inside the cargo bay. Makara and I jumped inside. He was sitting in the corner next to some supplies, holding his right shoulder and grimacing.
“Oh my God,” Makara said.
She ripped down the first aid kit hanging on the wall.
Samuel winced. “Pressure… put pressure on the wound…”
Makara ripped open her bag, taking out a shirt. She placed it on the wound, where blood gushed out at an alarming rate. Makara put her full weight on it. Samuel groaned.
“Alex, find the congealing agent,” she said.
I opened the first aid kid, digging through it. I found a tube of liquid that had the word “congealer” on it.
“This it?”
Makara snatched it from me. She took off the shirt, and squeezed the clear jelly onto the wound. Samuel hissed with pain. She put pressure back on the wound.