Earthbound (39 page)

But my words aren’t getting through to Pace.
I speak so seldom that my words always get through to Pace. I’m
getting a little concerned.

“Pace? You hearin’ me?” He’s not talking.
Pace is never not talking. This can’t be good. I put my hand on
Pace’s shoulder. “Let’s turn him in if you want. That lawman out in
Augusta’s an honest man. He’ll dispose of him proper.” Pace
responds by pulling back the hammer of the revolver. “Pace? I don’t
want you to do anything you’ll regret. Killing weighs on a man. You
won’t wear it well.”

My eyes go to Pace’s trigger finger. He’s
squeezing. There’s nothing I can do.

The bullet flies out of the gun and down
Boze’s throat. Boze collapses backwards in a heap.

I’m stunned. I never though he’d do it. I’ve
learned how to tame my darker instincts, and it seems Pace has
learned the exact opposite. Boze had it comin’ – I don’t quarrel
with that. But it’s Pace I worry about. Can’t walk something like
that back.

I look down. Blood and brains are sprayed all
over us. Pace notices it too. Doesn’t seem too upset about it
though.

Pace drops the gun. Then he removes his pure
white hat – and tosses it on top of Boze’s body. Guess he won't be
needing that anymore. He turns around and walks away.

I turn to Becca. Her eyes are fixated on the
horror. I pry the shotgun out of her hands, turn her head away.

Lister’s staring too, but I can tell he’ll be
no more trouble to us. I pull Becca away.

I walk her around the house toward the
transport. We’re walking slow. I give Pace a minute to collect his
thoughts.

We walk past Birkin’s body.

“Did you kill him?” Becca asks.

“He’s alive,” I say. “He’s not worth it.”

I feel Becca slip her arm around mine.

Then she sees the transport.

“What the eff is that?” she says. I laugh.
She’s not one to curse.

Pace is waiting in the passenger’s seat of
the transport. He’s twirling his mother’s wedding ring in his
fingers. I have Becca sit in the middle and I get in the driver’s
seat and start up the engine. I’m not asking what’s next. I’m just
doing it.

I drive pretty recklessly through the
settlement, attracting lots of attention of course. I think I hear
a siren going off. Hope that’s not gonna bring out the robots. It
takes a few minutes but we make it to Becca’s house. We’re making
such a ruckus that they hear us comin’. Becca’s parents are
standing on their front porch, glaring with shock at the transport.
And when Becca and I step out, all covered in blood and guts, well…
let’s just say they never liked me anyway.

Becca’s father shouts at us. “Rebecca! Ash!
What in the hell!” If he had access to a gun he’d be shooting at us
right about now. But I don’t pay him no mind.

Rebecca’s mother gets a good look at her
daughter. “What on earth is all over you? Blood? Are you all
right?”

“I’m fine mom,” Becca responds
reassuringly.

Her father continues shouting. “Rebecca! Tell
this hoodlum to get his… whatever it is… off our yard. He’s a
wanted man! If we had a lawman worth his salt around here…”

“Dad,” Becca says, silencing him with a
word.

“I aim to leave,” I say. “Won’t be seeing me
again. The only question is whether me and Pace are going alone.”
Becca’s father makes a sour face but doesn’t say anything, probably
fearful Becca will silence him again. Her mother hides her eyes
behind a bunch of tears. She’s smart like her daughter. She knows
what’s coming. I turn to Becca. “Can’t go without you.” Probably
the most romantic thing I ever said. Or will ever say.

“There’s nowhere you can hide,” she says
pointedly.

“We hope there is,” I reply. “We’ll forge our
own trail. It’s not quite the same as Pace’s dream of going to the
stars but at least we’ll see sights that none of us have ever seen.
Maybe New York, London, Egypt.”

Becca’s eyes widened with both surprise and
emotion. “That far?”

“We’ve got a transport and not a lot of
time,” I say, “before there’s a whole shitstorm falling on us. Will
you come with us?”

Becca can’t speak. She’s too much in
shock.

I get down on one knee. “I don’t have much to
offer,” I say. “I couldn’t even think of proposing. I know all
you’ve ever wanted was to be safe, and I can’t offer you that. I
can’t promise to keep you safe. Although I’ll try ‘til my last
breath. But I can promise you’ll be free, and that’s worth a
helluva lot too.”

Everyone seems kinda shocked I could put a
sentence together.

Becca’s overwhelmed, I can tell. Tears start
flowing out of her eyes.

“Maybe that’s really what I’ve been wanting
all along,” she says.

Then, miraculously, she starts nodding her
head

“Yes,” she says. “If you’re leaving the
effing Great Plains, I’m coming with you!”

Her father is staring at Becca like she’s
insane. “Rebecca, get inside the house,” he orders.

“Quiet dad,” she responds. Becca takes my
hands, pulls me off the ground and hugs me. I can just hug her all
day. But that’s not meant to be. I ease up.

“We gotta go,” I say.

Her father is about to protest mightily but
her mother interferes. “It’s time to let her go,” she says.

I stand by as long as I can while they have
their tearful goodbyes, but I’m worrying about those Mankins and
Bions. Not sure how far away they might be.

“Sorry there’s no time!” I say, grabbing
Becca and pulling her into the cab of the transport. I jump into
the driver’s seat and gun it. It almost feels like a kidnapping.
But she’s willing. As I drive, she slips an arm around each of
ours. Tears are still flowing, but she’s also laughing.

“Oh my God!” she yells. “We’re in a car!”

I’m going as fast as we can down Main Street.
I see the entrance to the settlement up ahead.

“What’s that?” Becca yells.

Uh oh. They’re small. Metal. And they’re
firing at us.

“Mankins!” I yell. And then I run over their
little bodies. As if they can block a transport. I turn a hard left
and head toward Rainbow Falls. I figure that’s our best escape
route. Head back toward Billings. Connect with route 90. And just
keep going east.

“There’s more of them!” Becca says. She’s
right. There’s thousands of ‘em. More than we’ve ever seen before.
I’m running over them but it’s more bumpy than I’d like. I’m
getting concerned one of ‘em might pop a tire or something. So I
use my head for a change. I lower the razor sharp edge in the front
of the transport, and that cleanly slices those Mankins apart
before we even get to run them over. Becca seems pleased. She
squeezes my arm tightly.

An explosion blasts a gaping hole in the
ground in front of us. I swerve to miss it. It’s Persuader fire.
I’d recognize it anywhere.

“Bions!” I shout, pointing to the right.
There they are, rows of ‘em. Not feeling good about their weapons
fire. That’s likely powerful enough to blow a gaping hole in the
side of the transport.

“This is gonna be difficated,” I say.

Becca looks at me all scolding. “That’s not a
word. Something can be difficult or complicated, but not
difficated!”

“Is now really the time to scold me over my
vocabulary?” She kinda smiles at me.

I turn to Pace. He’s still kinda out of it.
But there’s no more time for that. “Pace, I need you!” I say. “Got
any good ideas?”

Pace looks up from that wedding ring and
slips it into his pocket. “Sideswipe them,” he suggests matter of
factly.

Great idea. I swerve toward them and let the
side of the transport smack into them before they can shoot at us
again. But there’s more of them dead ahead. Let’s see if the blades
in the front of this thing will do their trick. I feel bad though.
There’s people in there. Probably innocent victims of Shādo Shay.
But what can I do. They’re being ordered to shoot us. And they
can’t disobey that order. So what choice do I have? The blades work
too well. It’s kinda horrifying if you really think about it. So
instead I just keep driving.

We’re clear for a mile or so, but as we come
up against Rainbow Falls there’s another wall of ‘em. Both Mankins
and Bions this time, side by side. I don’t like the odds ramming
directly into them, so I swerve and try to drive around them. I’m
doing it, but as I swerve back around I hear an explosion. Pace and
Becca look back.

“Big hole in the transport,” Pace says.

“Should I-”

Pace interrupts me. “Just keep driving. You
don’t want to know.”

Seems like we still have four tires working
so I keep driving. I see Rainbow Falls up ahead. And no robots.
That’s a good sign. I decide to take the railway bridge. That
didn’t work out too good for the other bridge an hour ago. This
might not be the smartest move I’ve ever made, but if we make it
across maybe no robots will be able to follow us. The transport
hits the bridge at full speed. It’s holding our weight. I think
we’re gonna make it.

Then I hear another explosion coming from
behind us. It’s not coming from inside the transport though. I look
over my shoulder. Yeah, that previous blast did crack our transport
wide open. Gives me a good view though. I see a lone Bion on the
northern shore, shooting at us. Then everything goes wobbly. He’s
hit the rear tires. I control the transport as best I can, slamming
on the brakes. We stop with a wild jerk and we all lurch
forward.

“Climb out fast and run!” I say. Pace and
Becca don’t argue. We climb out and I see the Bion aiming his
Persuader at us. Correction – he’s not aiming at us. He’s aiming at
the bridge.

“That effing robot is gonna collapse the
bridge!”

All three of us run as fast as we can toward
the other side. I hear a blast and the structure beneath us lurches
backward. That blast isn’t
gonna
collapse
the bridge. It’s already doing it.

We’re running as fast as I can but I don’t
think it’s fast enough. The bridge is starting to fall apart. We’re
running up at a forty degree angle. Then it all collapses under our
feet. I’m falling. Next thing I know, I feel wetness. I look around
and all I see is water. The force of the current is propelling me
eastward. My body falls downward. Feels like forever but I know
it’s only forty-five feet. Then my body gets jerked around and I
feel a rush of water shoving me down deeper and deeper into the
Missouri. I’m gonna drown. If I don’t breathe my lungs will burst.
I gotta open my mouth. I gotta breathe. Gotta fight that urge or my
lungs will fill with water. But I can’t fight. It might feel so
good. My mother. This must’ve been what it felt like for her. No
wonder she jumped. It’s so seductive. I want to give up. Allow
myself to drown. Death feels so easy.

The water suddenly becomes still. I’m done.
But… no. My mother wouldn’t want this for me. I open my eyes. I’m
not dead yet. But where’s the current? I’ve gone past the falls and
the current is much lighter. I look up and it doesn’t look that
deep. I swim up as fast as I can. Air! I gasp in as much air as my
lungs can handle. I never thought I’d breathe again. I look around.
Immediately I see Becca. She’s swimming herself to shore. She’s all
right. If anything happened to her…

But where’s Pace? I don’t see him. I take a
deep breath and go underwater again, looking for him. Nothing. I
come back up.

“Pace!” I shout.

Becca’s got a hand on the grassy shoreline.
She points downstream. I look where she’s pointing. I see him. Pace
is lying face down in the water. I swim over to him as fast as I
can. I’m thankful I’m a powerful swimmer. I grab hold of him and
flip him over. He’s looking blue. I put his arm around my neck and
swim him to shore. Becca’s waiting for me and helps me get his body
on the ground. She’s on top of him immediately, performing first
aid. I’m so grateful she learned all that. Comes in handy in a
settlement with one doc who’s kind of a joke.

Becca’s pushing down on his chest with two
hands. Then she lifts up his head and breathes into his mouth.
Looks like kissing – but for once I’m okay with it. Kiss him as
much as you want. So long as it saves him.

Pace comes around. Water spurts out of his
mouth and gurgles down his chin. Color starts coming back into his
cheeks. Then he starts coughing. He’s gonna be fine.

We help him to sit upright as he catches his
breath.

“You okay?” Becca asks.

“Not much of a swimmer,” Pace says
guiltily.

“It’s okay,” I say. “At least you’re good at
drowning.”

That gets a laugh out of him. Probably would
be good to rest him but we can’t. I suspect those robots won’t be
giving up until they drain us outta the Missouri and stomp on our
corpses. We help Pace to his feet. He’s wobbly but fine. He
suggests we go to the air force base. What better place to hide out
for a while. So we start running toward Malmstrom.

We race through the open field with weeds
going halfway up our bodies. Past those giant ancient electrical
towers. Past the row of old houses. Through the cut open gate into
Malmstrom. So far no robots.

We weave through the barracks, looking around
each corner before we bolt in between them. One wrong move and
we’re gutted. We make it past the office structure and the old
tower. Then we hide behind that old plane that Pace had tried to
repair, all those months ago. Kinda wish he’d fixed that plane back
then. Coulda been a different ride.

“Look,” Pace whispers.

There’s a massive airplane, maybe a hundred
feet away. The thing is huge. Dwarfs Pace’s little airplane that
we’re hiding behind. It goes up I dunno ten stories or something
like that. Can’t even imagine something this big can be
airborne.

“I don’t think it just flies in the air,”
Pace says. “I think that’s one of the space carriers they used in
the Exodus.”