Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days 1)

Raffe watches me carefully, and I wonder how much of what Im thinking is on my face.

“Why didn’t you call out to them?” I ask.

Its his turn to shrug.

“You could be getting medical assistance by sunset,” I say.

He pushes himself off the ground and brushes off. “Yes. Or I could be delivering myself back into the hands of my enemies. ”

He starts walking roughly in the same direction as the road again. I follow on his heels.

“Did you recognize them?” I try to keep my tone casual. I wish I could just ask him directly how many of them there are, but thats not a question he could answer without betraying military secrets.

He shakes his head but doesnt elaborate.

“No, you didn’t recognize who they were? Or no, you couldnt see them well enough to recognize them?”

He pauses to dig the remaining cat food out of his pack. “Here. Please stuff this in your mouth. You can have my share. ”

So much for my information mining. I guess I’ll never be a spymaster like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

CHAPTER 26

“Can you drive one of those things?” he asks, pointing to the road.

“Yeah,” I say slowly.

“Lets go. ” He turns downhill toward the road.

“Um, wont that be dangerous?”

“Its unlikely there will be two units flying in the same direction within an hour or two of each other. Once were on the road, well be safer from the road monkeys. Theyll think were Obis people, too well armed and too well fed to attack. ”

“We’re not monkeys. ” Hadnt I just thought we were clever monkeys? So why does it sting that he just called me one?

He ignores me and keeps walking.

What did I expect? An apology? I let it drop and follow him down to the freeway.

As soon as we step onto the asphalt, Raffe grabs my arm and ducks behind a van. I crouch beside him, straining to hear what he hears. After a minute, I hear a car coming toward us. Another one? What’s the chance of another car just happening to be on the same road only ten minutes behind the first car?

This one is a black truck with a canopy over the bed. Whatever is under there is big, lumpy, and somehow intimidating. It looks a lot like the truck they were filling with explosives yesterday. It rumbles by, slow and full of purpose towards the city.

A caravan. It’s a very spread out caravan, but I’d bet the contents of my pack that there are more cars ahead and behind. They’ve spread it out to be less noticeable. The Hummer probably knew about the angels flying toward them because they got word from the cars ahead of them. Even if the first car was taken out, the rest of the caravan would be all right. My respect for Obi’s group goes up another notch.

When the sound of the engine fades, we get up from our crouch behind the van and start looking for our own ride. Id prefer to drive a low-profile, economy car that wont make much noise and wont run out of gas. But thats the last car Obis men would drive, so we start looking at the large selection of beefy SUVs on the road.

Most of the cars dont have their keys in them. Even at the end of the world when a box of crackers is worth more than a Mercedes, people still took their keys with them when they abandoned their cars. Habit, I suppose.

After looking at half a dozen, we find a black SUV with tinted windows with the keys on the drivers seat. This driver must have pulled the keys out of habit, then thought better of dragging the worthless metal with him on the road. It has a quarter tank of gas. That should at least get us into San Francisco, assuming the road is clear that far. It’s not enough to get us back though.

Back? Back where?

I quiet the voice in my head and climb in. Raffe climbs in the passenger seat. It starts on the first try and we begin weaving up 280 north.

I never thought moving 20 miles per hour could be so exciting. My heart pounds as I grip the steering wheel like its going to fly out of control any second now. I cant watch all the obstacles on the road and still be on the lookout for attackers. I throw a quick glance at Raffe. He’s scanning the surroundings, including the side mirrors, and I relax a little.

“So where are we going, exactly?” Im not an expert on the citys layout, but I have been there several times and have a general idea of where parts of the city are located.

“Financial district. ” He knows the area well enough to identify the city’s districts. I briefly wonder how but let it go. I suspect he’s been around a lot longer than I have to explore the world.

“I think the freeway goes through that, or at least near it. Thats assuming that the road is clear that far, which I doubt. ”

“There is order near the aerie. The roads should be clear. ”

I throw him a sharp look. “What do you mean, order?”

“There will be guards at the road near the aerie. Before we get there, well need to prepare. ”