We drive for a while. I try to note all the landmarks and I think I’ve got them right, just in case. I don’t recognize the landscape, so it must be north rather than west to the Facility. Learning about the details of old Earth has always been somewhat forbidden, so I’ve never really learned what resources Earth II may have on this planet, aside from the prison.
But I can’t think about that now.
Because Felix is gunning the engine and I can see why. A building dots the horizon. Not a huge one, but the shape, like the cored-out center of the cavern, is definitely man-made, unnatural against the spearing peaks of the mountains around it.
As we get closer, I recognize the spiked thrust of an antenna like the ones on the mountain surrounding the prison. Except this one is much larger. Nearly double the size of the building in front of it. One that must be strong enough to contact Earth II.
Oh, God.
And the wind is knocked out of me as effectively as when he dropped me. He’s going to contact Earth II. To tell them what?
I feel sick.
To tell them everything.
To call down the troops.
To kill us all.
If I were in his shoes, I would do the same thing. Call for backup.
I have to do something.
Now, now, now.
We’re near enough the entirety of the antenna is out of view. Felix is directing the ATV to a designated parking spot next to the building. This is my chance. My only chance.
I leap across the small distance separating us, my reach barely enough to grasp the wheel and give it a good yank. An inhuman-like scream erupts from my throat and I pull the wheel toward me, aiming for the building, with all the strength I have left in my body.
Felix is caught off guard, but only for a moment. He grips the wheel with hands the size of dinner plates in an attempt to correct our trajectory. We fight for control until we’re mere feet away from the building.
That’s when the door opens.
My hands go a little slack on the wheel in surprise. Could Theron have beat us here? Then I realize he couldn’t know where this is. We didn’t even know there was another outbuilding.
Then out step Stella and Henry.
Right into the path of our oncoming vehicle.
I want to scream at them to move, but my voice won’t move past the lump in my throat. The next second, I can see her eyes go wide and she wraps an arm around her son and then throws the two of them out of our path. A second after that, we slam into the corner of the building, Felix having succeeded, at least in part, at pulling the wheel back in his direction.
We collide, an unstoppable force, and an immoveable object.
There’s a flash of blinding light and the scent of burned fuel. My vision goes in and out and is filmed by a red haze. It takes me a few long moments to realize it’s my own blood. My free hand goes to my head and I wipe away the crimson liquid oozing from a gash on my temple. Felix groans to my left, half slumped over the wheel.
Urgency fills me, despite the lingering confusion and chaos. Muffled shouts reach my ear and I turn to find a concerned Stella at the door. She manages to yank it open and stares at me in surprise.
“Willow?” she says, wide-eyed. Then her gaze catches on Felix, noting his guard uniform. “Are you okay?”
Felix jolts to a sitting position.
I whip around, paying as little mind as I can to the big throbbing ache my whole body has turned into. “Run, Stella. Go! Get Henry out of here.”
She freezes, as though unsure, then pauses long enough to take a knife from her pocket and cut me free from my restraint. I could kiss her. At least now I’ll have a fighting chance.
Something inside the hood begins to whine. I shove at her. “GO!”
I’m half out of the car when Felix knots a hand in my hair.
14
Theron
I run full speed ahead, uncaring if the others catch up or not. I have no plan. My only mission is to rescue my mate. Making my way back down to the door Edith and I found. With my zonnoblaster, I start shooting at the handle. The sounds are deafening as the handle glows red and eventually falls with a clatter. I throw on some zu-gear before pushing out the door that appears to lead underground. It’s dark and dank, but I move with the ease of a predator staking out his kill.
Find her.
Find her.
Find her.
Voices echo behind me, but I ignore them. It sounds like maybe Julie and Edith, but I can’t be sure. I rush down the gloomy passageway until I come to a fork in the path.