Partials

They ran quickly, making up for lost time; the highway was raised, with extra layers of asphalt between it and the dirt below, and nothing had managed to grow through. No one crossed their path, ahead or behind them. Soon the road began to rise, and Kira realized with shock that the rest of the country wasn’t rising with it—it wasn’t a hill, just an elevated road. Smaller roads began passing underneath it.

“Stop,” she said. “We may have already missed them.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“We need to find them.”

“We’re almost to the base now,” said Samm, shaking his head. “We should go straight there and then send out a search party—they’ll find your friends better than we can.”

“Unless someone else finds them first,” said Kira. She looked out from the elevated road, trying to see through the gaps in the trees below. “We can’t just leave them out here for the rebels to find.”

“I don’t think they will,” said Samm, tapping his face mask. The link.

“Then you go,” said Kira, “and I’ll look for Marcus. Your search-and-rescue team can find me just as easily as they can find them.”

“We can’t split up again,” Samm insisted. His voice was low, barely audible through his makeshift mask. He seemed jumpy for the first time, and Kira felt herself grow nervous at the sight of it.

“What’s wrong?”

She heard the roar of an engine, a distant echo through the trees, and she went pale.

“You use cars, too?”

“Electric, mostly, but yes. There’s an oil refinery farther north.”

Kira glanced up and down the highway, trying to pinpoint the sound. “Behind us?”

“I think so.” He started jogging forward. “We have to run.”

“We don’t have time,” said Kira, peering over the edge of the sidewall. It was at least twenty feet down, but the trees were crowded close, and she thought she could reach one. “We need to climb down.”

“We can’t go down,” said Samm fiercely, rushing back to grab her arm. “We have to move forward.”

“The engines are getting closer, we don’t have time to—”

“There are rebels down there,” he whispered urgently.

Kira dropped to her knees, crouching behind the wall. “You’re linking with them?”

“I can’t help it.”

Which means they know we’re here. Kira stared at him, studying his eyes. We don’t have weapons. We can’t fight. The enemy already knows we’re here.

Do they know my friends are here as well?

“How close?” Kira whispered.

Samm grimaced. “It’s not that precise when it’s muffled like this, but I can tell they’re close. Seventy, eighty yards.”

“That’s pretty precise,” said Kira. “You think they heard us talking?”

Sam shook his head. “They’re on alert, but it might not be for us. We have no way of knowing until they’re closer, and then if we’re wrong, it’s too late.”

Kira punched the concrete with the side of her hand, swearing under her breath. I’m not going to let them get captured. She took a deep breath, shaking her head at her own stupidity, and stood up. “We’re going down.”

“We can’t go down.”

She jogged to the spot with the closest tree, looked at the underbrush two stories below, and clambered onto the sidewall. Samm pulled her back, and she shook him off. “I’m not leaving my friends,” she said firmly. “You can either come with me or go for help.” She climbed back up, balancing carefully, and tried to gauge the distance. Seven feet. Maybe ten. That’s long for a standing jump, but I’ll get extra distance as I fall.

Which is not very encouraging.

“Don’t do it, Kira.”

She jumped.

She kept her hands wide and wrapped her arms around the biggest branch she could, catching it with her elbows and swinging wildly beneath it. The tree caught her as she caught it, and the rough branches dug sharply into her skin and clothes. The tree shook with a second shudder, and she saw that Samm had followed her. She smiled. “Thanks.”

“You’re crazy,” he muttered.

“That’s what everyone keeps saying.”

They climbed down quickly, hearing the roar of the engine grow louder and louder. The sound split as it neared, becoming two engines, then three, then four. Kira dropped the last few feet to the ground and raced into the underpass, crouching in the shadow of a thick concrete pillar. Samm threw himself down beside her, and they listened as the cars rumbled overhead, streaking away to the east and slowly fading into the distance.

Kira whistled. “That was close.”

“Not as close as it’s going to be,” said Samm. His voice was stiff and strained.

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” he grunted, “just … what’s your plan?”

“They can’t sense me coming, right? So I’m going to jump one from behind and take his gun.”

“They can’t sense you on the link, Kira, but that doesn’t mean you’re invisible.”

“How much can they sense from you?” she asked. “Thoughts? Motive?”