They had been running for several hours. Logan had kept steady pace, choosing paths that were almost invisible to Marie’s eyes. She was out of breath, exhausted. Backpack weighed her down and her knees were trembling. Soon after they had left she had heard explosions from the direction of the bunker. Logan had flinched slightly.
“Easy come, easy go…” She had heard him grunt with a bitter voice. He had blown up his home.
Terrain around them changed abruptly. First she was running through a thicket, avoiding small branches and trying to stay on her feet. Then suddenly she was running on soft sand, open desert around her. She couldn’t see Logan anywhere. Just few minutes ago he had been rustling in front of her in the bushes. She slowed down and threw a quick glance over her shoulder. Thick, almost impenetrable barrier of thorny bushes. Her own footsteps over the sand. No Logan. She stopped running. Should she wait? Should she go back and look for him? Or should she keep running? And where the hell would she run? She was saved from making a decision when Logan stumbled out from the woods, followed by a feral looking man wearing a black uniform of a Destroyer.
Man crouched to a fighting stance in front of Logan, long metal claws sliding out from the tips of his fingers. She half expected Logan to mirror his actions. Instead Logan pulled a gun and shot the man. Then he holstered the gun and jogged to Marie.
“We can rest for a while. He was alone. There’s some food and water in your backpack. Don’t eat too much.”
She sat down, shrugged the backpack off from her shoulders and opened it. Clothes, few bottles of water and a selection of energy bars. She took out a bottle of water and two bars, offering the other to Logan. He shook his head, pacing restlessly back and forth, sweeping their surroundings with his gaze.
“I’ll eat later.”
If there was such thing as later. Remains of the bunker were probably already crawling with Destroyers and Hunters. Ready to tear him and Marie to shreds. Every Destroyer was linked to other Destroyers with a silicon chip that was implanted somewhere in their body, usually close to the brain. Chip triggered and started to send out a signal when Destroyer died, informing other Destroyers about a possible breach on the line, drawing them to close the gap before the enemy got through. Now he had triggered two chips. They were screwed.
“Half of the Army will be coming this way. We have to get to the settlement before they reach us. Out here we’re just two muties. Very expendable. In settlement they have to work more carefully, watch out for other people. Real people. We can hide there until they give up.” Logan spoke. He was still pacing, every muscle coiled, and ready to bounce. He was clenching and unclenching his fists.
“With the truck we would have been there by nightfall. Now… I could make it, be there tomorrow morning. With you… We move slower. Two days. It might be enough. Better be enough…” He was mumbling more to himself than to her.
“What if I stay here? Hide, and you go to settlement, find a new car and come to get me?” Marie suggested.
“No. And we have to get moving. Now,” Logan said, pulling her on her feet. She stumbled a little, trying to sort straps of the backpack.
“Forget it. Run,” Logan said, taking the backpack from her and pushing her to the right direction. She heard rustle of a Velcro, then a click. She turned to look. Logan was crouching on the ground, gun pointed towards the edge of the woods. He tilted his head slightly; keeping his eyes trained to the bushes and spoke with a quiet voice.
“Run.” Now she heard it too. Dry branches snapping. Shouted commands. Inhumane growls. Half of the Army had arrived.
She was running, dry, and hot wind blowing against her face. She had been running quite some time now. Long enough that the sound of guns behind her had quieted. Setting sun was coloring the sand and sky blood red. She could only hope it wasn’t an omen of things to come.
There had been ten of them. Two Destroyers escorted with eight Guards. He had shot Guards before they had the time to react. Then he had to discard his gun. Destroyers had closed in on him. Fresh from assembly line, he noticed. Either of them got real experience or knowledge, but their eagerness and bloodlust matched with his. One of them had nasty looking circular blades attached to its hands. The other was wearing a some sort of visor over its eyes.
The one with the blades attacked first, charging towards Logan blades spinning. He dodged it easily, but when he moved the other Destroyer sent a scorching hot beam towards him from the visor. It grazed his side, eating away skin and muscle, revealing his metal-coated ribs. Pain of it forced the claws out from his knuckles. The one with the blades took another attempt, lingering bit too long close to Logan, and he managed to lop off its hands. One threat taken care of. Visored one was trickier. It kept out of his reach, blasting him with rays every time he tried to attack.
“Fucking idiot. That’s what I am…” He muttered when they danced around each other. He reached for the gun strapped to his thigh. Took it and shot his assailant. Then turned and finished the other Destroyer that was writhing on the ground, cradling the stubs of its hands against its chest.
For a moment he had gotten lost to the heat of the battle. Field units rarely carried guns. They usually relied fully to their personal weaponry. It wasn’t before after his escape that he acquired firearms, and skill to use them.
“And two more alarms… Have to remember to leave next ones alive…” He holstered the gun, then picked up the one he had thrown away when Destroyers had attacked, putting it to a holster strapped to his lower back. It would be useless until he cleaned the sand out of it.
For a moment he just stood there, listening. Usual sounds of the forest, small animals scurrying around, leaves rustling in the wind. No incoming enemies. He turned and started to jog to the direction he had urged Marie to run. He could see her in the distance, small shimmering form, outlined by the setting sun.
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