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IS THAT SUNLIGHT UP ahead? Aubrey’s hopes soared as Garr led them up a rusty set of stairs and out of the abandoned subway tunnel. She was too exhausted to ask the question out loud. I’ve done a decent job getting my muscles into shape, but my wind is shot.
She’d ridden a wave of excitement when they’d first set out, eager to prove she was ready to join them in the field.
Her initial enthusiasm waned as their progress was hindered—far too many times—by the treacherous rubble littering the tunnels. The sporadic lighting was no help in spotting potential tripping hazards or holes.
Aubrey eyed the electrical cables dangling from the ceiling with wariness, remembering what she’d been told about her injuries. I still can’t remember. It’s like a part of my mind has been wiped clean. My last memory is Snake Lady pulling a gun on me, and even that one’s fuzzy.
The light at the top of the stairs was too bright to be artificial. Aubrey felt a strange mixture of relief and apprehension. Sunlight means street level.
Garr slowed as he approached the exit door, holding out one hand, palm down, in a cautionary gesture. Sheila and Aubrey caught up to him, pausing a couple of steps below for a brief respite.
“We’re near the City’s downtown,” he said, wiping sweat from his face on his sleeve. He pushed the door open a crack, and sunlight washed over him. “This exit just flat-out opens into an alley. Lucky for us, the area is more-or-less deserted.”
Sheila crouched, peering past Garr into the alley beyond. “After all the damage done by looters, any attempts at disguising this doorway would be moot anyway. We’re not far from the financial district, but you’d never know it. It’s just an abandoned ruin now.”
“Hidden in plain sight?” Aubrey panted, leaning hard on her knees as she caught her breath. She grinned at them despite their dicey surroundings. “How does that apply once we step into the alley?”
Garr seemed pleased she’d thought to ask. “No change. We’re just simple City dwellers, minding our own business. We don’t run, we don’t hide. We just act like everything’s normal.”
He eased the door open, glancing back with a small grin of his own. “After we’re out of the tunnel, that is. Don’t follow until I give the all-clear. Like I said, not many people live here anymore, and the ones who do, we’d best avoid.”
Aubrey glanced down at her knife, sheathed next to the prod on her belt.
Hard to be hidden in plain sight when you’re wearing weapons. She un-tucked her shirt, hoping it was long enough to conceal them. This isn’t going to work.
“Hold on a minute.” Sheila opened her rucksack, pulling out a light jacket and a small cloth-wrapped package. She squirmed into the jacket, despite the summer heat. “You should have a jacket, too.”
Aubrey struggled out of her rucksack and found a similar jacket inside, next to some trail rations and a lukewarm canteen. She pulled the jacket on, hiding her belted weapons from view.
Garr remained by the half-open door, surveying them with a critical eye. Sheila transferred the small package into one of her jacket’s wide pockets.
Satisfied, Garr shoved the door open and strode confidently into the sunlit alley. Sheila and Aubrey moved to the exit, not crossing the threshold until Garr’s signal.
Aubrey’s pulse quickened as she waited beside Sheila. Easy, Aubs, you can do this. You’re a survivor, remember?
She heard Garr’s hushed voice calling to them. She stepped into the sunlight, ignoring her unease, and dodged to the left as the Colonel had moments earlier.
Sheila closed in behind her, tapping her on the shoulder. Aubrey caught her meaning, and straightened to match Sheila’s confident posture. Hidden in plain sight means walking tall, Aubs. Not hunched over like a fugitive.
They were in a narrow alleyway. It reminded her of her first foray into the City. Except this time, it wasn’t pouring rain, there were no clumps of humanity huddled around barrel fires, and she wasn’t alone.
A lot has changed. She flexed her scarred fingers as they sidled up to Garr, near the mouth of the alley. A lot more than I expected.
Garr slouched against the crumbling yellow brick, his nonchalant position giving him an unobstructed view of the street. As they caught up to him, he lowered his voice, looking at the road beyond. “Is it on?”
“Give me a second.” Sheila retrieved the small package from her pocket. Aubrey watched with curiosity as Sheila unwrapped the bundle and stuffed the cloth back into her pocket.
Even before Sheila activated the device, Aubrey recognized it. The short metallic tube—she’d last seen it in Doc’s hands. She swallowed convulsively, averting her eyes. C’mon, Aubs, you’ve got to be stronger than this.
Sheila was intuitive as always, guessing the reason behind her reaction.
“We’ve got to locate the Runners before the Trackers do, Aubrey,” she said, eyes intent on the device in her hand. “We’re just using the Hoarders’ technology against them.”
Garr glanced at Aubrey, his expression sympathetic as he indicated the scanner with his chin. “It’s how Jane identified you as the Runner she was sent to intercept. We borrowed a scanner from another Hub. She didn’t mention it?”
Aubrey shook her head. “We were a little rushed after the Soul-less showed up.” And it never occurred to me to ask.
She forced herself to look at the faint glow of the device in Sheila’s hand. It’s just a scanner—a tool. It’s not the Soul-less itself.
Sheila fiddled with the tube’s connection to the small box. The device was dominated by a view-screen, which was overlaid with grid markings.
“You never met Dave, the café owner, did you?” Sheila asked as she worked. Aubrey shook her head. “He was brilliant. He and Doc cobbled stolen Hoarder tech together and came up with this ‘reader’, so we could adapt the scanner for our purposes.”
She finished connecting the two devices, and stowed them gingerly in her jacket pocket. “Okay, we’re ready.”
Garr glanced down the street, his slouching detachment unchanged as he issued their instructions. “Stick close, but keep it casual. Sheila stays between us, so she can use the scanner without drawing too much attention. Anything yet?”
His last question was directed to Sheila.
“That way,” Sheila said confidently, indicating the direction with a subtle incline of her head. “It’s faint, but not too far ahead.”
Garr and Aubrey closed ranks on either side, and they left the relative anonymity of the alley. Aubrey glanced at Sheila as they walked, unable to stifle her curiosity.
Sheila kept her hand inside her wide pocket, holding it open enough to see inside. A faint red glow betrayed the scanner hidden within.
There’s another Runner—another me—somewhere nearby. All we have to do is find them, and short out their Implant before they turn on us. Or before a Tracker kills us all.
Sheila slowed without warning, frowning into her pocket. Garr and Aubrey adjusted their pace to match hers.
“What is it?” Garr kept his voice low, feigning indifference. “What do you see?”
Sheila shook her head, concentrating on her pocket. Aubrey moved closer to her, guiding her as she walked.
“It’s gone erratic,” Sheila complained, her brow furrowed. “It’s like the Runner is close, then all of a sudden, somehow farther away. Then back again—back and forth, moving fast.”
She raised her head, her expression filled with horror as she deciphered the meaning of the conflicting signals. “Something’s chasing the Runner.”
Garr closed in on Sheila’s other side, urging them forward. “The hunt is on. We’ve got to find the Runner, quick.”
Aubrey lengthened her stride, doing her best to keep up. Let’s hope he or she doesn’t kill us first.