There shall be no strict rules or code of conduct displayed on any Affinity properties. Our members are here by choice.
—Internal memorandum from Affinity
Mia slowed the vehicle down. She didn’t stop completely but was sure they were coming up on the break in the trees. She tried to look at the ground ahead for the broken auto-drive.
“Affinity doesn’t use the auto-drive feature?” Mia asked.
“That uses satellites,” Zack said. “A lot of these roads are unmarked; it wouldn’t do much good up here.”
Mia had no clue what a satellite was but felt like she had learned enough new information for today. Then she spotted the broken piece of equipment in the road. She looked to her left and saw the break in the jungle.
“It’s up there,” Mia said.
She pulled the car over to the side and killed the engine.
“Sarah, you guard the car,” Zack said.
All three stepped out. Sarah stayed by the vehicle and Mia walked Zack toward the trees. The sun was starting to set, lighting the greens with an iridescent glow. Mia walked down the path and it wasn’t long before Rex’s truck came into view, or at least what was left of it.
The windows were smashed in, pieces of paneling were missing, the hood was popped open, and the insides were gone. It was destroyed.
“Someone beat us here,” Zack said.
Mia ignored him. She walked over toward the cliff; the tire tracks were still visible. She closed her eyes and saw Rex crouched down and the militiaman reaching for his gun. Mia heard a weapon cock. Her eyes flew open. That was a real sound. She turned to see Zack holding his hands in the air, backing away from the truck. Three men came out from the trees; they were wearing a familiar uniform.
“Where is our vehicle?” the man asked.
Zack stood next to Mia now.
“Wherever you left it,” Zack said.
The three men were far more interested in Zack; no eyes were on her. The men kept moving closer and Mia stopped backing up. One was right next to her now. She knew this was her chance. She took a moment and worked out a strategy, like Riley had trained her to do.
Mia leaned forward and stomped on the back of the man’s heel. He let out a wail and Mia jumped behind him. Some gunshots went off and she felt his body move, like he was a human shield. Zack got his chance and Mia saw him bring out his gun and fire two quick shots.
“Run!” Zack said.
Mia let the man’s body drop to the ground and didn’t look back to see whether the other two were dead. Zack moved fast and Mia struggled to keep up. Sarah was standing in the back of her car with her gun drawn. Zack ran to the passenger side.
“You want me to drive?” Mia yelled.
“You’re unarmed,” he said. “There might be more of them.”
Mia turned the car on and started back toward Affinity. She didn’t waste any time driving slow. They sped up the hills, but one glance in the rearview mirror showed a car coming up to the spot they had just left.
“Sarah, stay down,” Zack said.
He stood up and aimed his gun behind them. More death was coming. Mia felt her fingers going numb. These people chasing her had gone through the same training as Carter and Andrew; she didn’t think they deserved to die.
“Are you going to kill them?” Mia yelled.
“Not unless I have to,” Zack said.
Mia tried to look in her mirror, but the car wasn’t behind them yet. She pushed the accelerator down and they started going faster.
“Don’t let us fall off the road,” Sarah said.
“I know what I’m doing,” Mia said.
She hoped she could outrun whoever was trying to tail them. It didn’t take long until they were on the main road back toward Affinity. She couldn’t hear anything over the wind. Zack turned around and sat back down. He didn’t put his gun away.
“Did we lose them?” Mia asked.
“I’m not sure they were ever after us,” Zack said. “That was a poor job of keeping up.”
“Did you kill those men?” Mia asked.
Zack didn’t respond. Mia took that as a yes.
“Slow down,” Zack said. “Pull over.”
Mia slammed on the brakes and they all went forward. Then the car was still. Her fingernails were digging into the bottom of her palm from gripping the wheel too hard.
“Friends of yours?” Zack asked. “They had matching uniforms.”
“The militia,” Mia said. “What were they doing there?”
“It looked like a trap to me,” he said. “Waiting for someone to come back for Rex’s belongings.”
“Are you two all right?” Sarah asked.
Mia nodded.
“That was an impressive move,” Zack said. “Where did you learn how to do that? And how did you know I’d fire?”
“You’re a trained gunman,” Mia said. “I knew you needed a window.”
Zack’s breathing slowed down and he closed his mouth.
“Keep this between us,” Zack said. “I need to bring it up to ET before we alert everyone.”
Sarah nodded.
“Try to look calm,” Zack said.
Mia took a few breaths before starting the car again. She didn’t know what would be worse, keeping the militia’s presence hidden from Andrew and Carter or what would happen once the two of them found out about it. Mia had a feeling this wasn’t the last time she’d have a run-in with this group.