by Beth Martin
11
THE NEXT MORNING, Roemell woke up cradled in a warm burrow of hay with Leona pressed against him. A vivid dream featuring Tammy lingered in his mind, but the details quickly evaporated from his consciousness. Although he was hungry and thirsty, and every muscle in his body ached, he felt a little refreshed. Outside of his warm little bubble, the morning air inside the barn was chilly, which meant it would be even colder outside.
He looked down at Leona. Her body was lean, yet still soft. She had removed her pants at some point in the night, and her legs, a patchwork of tan and white, were intertwined with his. Even though she was self-conscious about the pale skin grafts on her legs, he thought they only made her more beautiful. Her patches of light skin were like a badge of honor, a symbol of what they had been through together and how far she had been willing to go to save him.
He kissed her forehead, then watched her sleep. Although he really needed to pee, he didn’t want to leave this spot. Not yet. He breathed in her presence for another minute before getting up and leaving the barn to relieve himself. When he came back, he carefully climbed back into the indention his body had left in the hay and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I’ve never been with a man before,” she said. Her voice startled him. He had thought she was still asleep. “Well, I haven’t been with anyone, but, you know…”
Lifting her chin with his finger, he kissed her briefly. “You don’t need to do anything until you’re ready. I won’t pressure you.”
“Thanks,” she whispered before resting her head on his chest.
He wondered for a moment what had prompted her confession. Perhaps she had woken from a strange dream. Suddenly, the details of his own dream including Tammy flooded his brain. In his mind, he could clearly remember the sound of her panting as he pinned her down and thrust into her. He shook his head, trying to push the events of his sexy dream out of his thoughts.
Here was Leona, so vulnerable and trusting, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about Tammy. He was disgusted with himself. He didn’t deserve Leona’s affection.
“We should probably get going,” Leona mumbled. He decided not to tell Leona about his steamy encounter with Tammy. They hadn’t technically had sex, but even so, it would only upset Leona. He would just deal with the guilt of keeping this secret.
“You’re right.” He hugged her close and kissed her forehead before getting up out of the hay once again.
Leona quickly pulled her pants back on and got up. “Damn, it’s cold!” She hugged her arms around her chest, then walked through the barn and out the door.
It was much colder outside. Leona shivered as they came up to the tractor. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Whispering into her hair, he said, “Why don’t we try to squeeze into the driver seat together. My body heat will keep you warm.”
She leaned into him, her body seeming to melt against his. “Okay.”
He adjusted the single seat in the tractor’s cabin, sliding it back as far as it would go. Then he climbed on and held out a hand to help her get on the vehicle as well. With his back pressed against the backrest of the seat, there was just enough room for her to perch on the edge. Holding onto her with his arms around her torso, he was able to help keep both of their bodies warm. It was a tight fit, but he preferred this to hanging off the back of the vehicle.
She pushed a few levers and the engine roared to life. After a few other adjustments, they were traveling along the dirt road once more.
They drove in silence for a while, the tractor engine drowning out the sound of the morning birds and gentle breeze. It was still chilly outside, but holding Leona close helped him stay warm as well.
Even though he was used to sporadic meals, his stomach growled. However, if he had stumbled upon a feast at that very moment, he knew he wouldn’t be able to eat it. The bumping of the tractor as they rode along the dirt path was already making him queasy. Still, he wouldn’t have minded something to drink.
They lazily bumbled along as the sun slowly climbed higher and higher in the sky. Even though the day warmed up and Roemell was beginning to sweat, he didn’t mind having Leona’s body pressed against him in their shared seat. “Where exactly are we going?” he asked, raising his voice to almost a shout in order to be heard over the engine.
“Post K!” Leona yelled while turning her head to the side so she could glance at him.
They had driven for hours the previous day. Surely they were already outside of Gerolstein Corp’s collection of fields. “And then what?”
“Uh…” She paused for a moment, lifting one lever then pulling another back. “I don’t know.”
“Stop for a moment.” She pulled the other lever toward her and the tractor idled in place, then she looked at him expectantly. “Could you kill the engine?” he yelled.
She gripped a knob and turned it hard, cutting off the engine. The droning of the tractor was replaced by a cacophony of hidden bugs calling out into the midday sun. She slouched a bit, still holding tight to one of the levers.
“We need a plan.”
She covered her face with her hands and groaned. “I know.”
“The robots expect us to leave this tractor on Gerolstein Corp’s property. We’ve still got quite a distance to travel before we reach the capital. We won’t make it in time if we don’t have a vehicle.”
“Obviously we have to steal this tractor.”
“Right. But we need to avoid the security bots. And even if we successfully evade them, they’ll quickly realize it’s missing and chase us down.”
“Well, I do know how to prevent them from finding us.” She stood up and gripped the sides of the dashboard. Her muscles strained and her jaw clenched as she pulled hard on the dash.
“You need some help with that?”
“I got it!” She continued to pry at the computer screens mounted behind the steering wheel until there was a loud pop of plastic cracking and the dashboard broke free. “There,” she said, tugging free all the wires which still connected it to the tractor. Then, she held up the panel for him to see. “This is where the tracking device is mounted.” She turned around the object and pointed to one of the parts on the back. “Without this piece, the main computer systems won’t be able to track us. Ava used this trick all the time.” With a flick of her wrist, she tossed the dash through the air. It landed softly on the tall grass which lined both sides of the dirt path. Leaning her back against the area which had been the dash, she gave him a smug smile.
“But there’s still might be bots patrolling the perimeter,” he pointed out. He rubbed the beard on his chin, which had surpassed the stubble stage and gone to scruffy.
“There might not be any security bots guarding the exits.”
“There are always bots,” he muttered. Although he had gotten pretty good at evading them, he had never tried to sneak past them while riding an incredibly noisy tractor. Just yesterday, he’d proven he couldn’t even keep the two of them safe. The thought reminded him how sore his chest was. He laid a hand over the fresh bruises, hoping he would never have to experience getting shot with a taser ever again.
He wasn’t sure how exactly robots detected people, but they didn’t need to even see or hear a person to know someone was there. He wondered if the bots would ignore sounds that they heard all the time, things they expected to hear on a farm. The noisy tractor engine wouldn’t raise any alarms, right?
Out of nowhere, an idea popped in his head. “I’ve got a plan.”
• • •
Leona’s good mood from the morning had already waned, her hunger and aching body reminding her of how poor her luck had been. She should be at the capital, taking a lunch break at a quaint café or resting her head on a luxurious hotel bed, not driving across the country on a piece of farm equipment. The gnawing feeling in her gut permeated her thoughts. She had eaten only a little in the past day, but her growing anxiety made her stomach feel even tighter. She desperately wanted
to make it to the capital in time to testify.
She was hyper-aware of Roemell’s presence since he was pressed against her back as she drove the tractor. Leaning forward slightly, she was able to get just a little space between their bodies. The act of sharing the seat felt incredibly intimate, only reinforcing in her mind that he wanted more. Any other woman would have been excited about a budding relationship, but instead Leona found her new romance as just another source of stress.
“This hard seat making your butt hurt, too?” Roemell asked from behind her. She felt his hands grip onto her shoulders, his fingertips massaging her skin. Her muscles tensed, and she tightened her grip on the steering clutches. “Is everything all right?”
She shook her head. Nothing was right. “Yeah, I’m fine. But this seat is really uncomfortable, especially since I’m sitting on just the edge.”
“Do you want me to move to the back bench?”
She slowed the tractor down to a stop. “If you don’t mind.” She stood up to give him room to climb down, and he walked around the vehicle, then strapped himself into one of the rear-facing seats. Glad to have some personal space, she settled back down into her chair and let out a heavy sigh. She held her eyes closed for a moment, then revved the tractor back up and continued forward.
Guilt overcame her. Having Roemell a little farther away shouldn’t have been such a huge source of relief. She recalled her confession that morning—of her inexperience—and cursed herself for being so stupid. There was no reason to share that sort of delicate information, and she wondered why she ever thought saying that was a good idea. She tightened her grip on the steering levers, her breathing and heart rate both starting to accelerate.
Within a few minutes, she could see the perimeter of the Gerolstein Corp land ahead. There was a chain-link fence with small signs bearing the Gerolstein Corp logo and a small structure next to an opening just big enough to let a car pass through. On the cement block structure was a large black “K” painted on the front.
She slowed down again. “We’re here,” she said, just loud enough to be heard over the tractor engine.
He jumped down, his shoes making a soft plop on the manicured grass. “You remember the plan?”
She nodded her head, not exactly thrilled about his ‘plan,’ which amounted to no more than yelling “BOO,” and then running off.
“Stay here,” he said. “Remember, start driving when I give the signal.”
“I know,” she said, her tone much more snippy than she had intended.
“All right. Let’s do this!” He gave her a wide smile and a thumbs up before walking over to the structure next to the gate.
She watched, sweat droplets forming on her brow and palms, as he approached the small building and came up to the window. An android leaned out to talk to him. Unfortunately, she couldn’t quite make out what he or the robot were saying. He had planned to convince the security bot to initiate high alert for something random. In theory, if the robots were attending to some crises, he and Leona could steal the tractor unnoticed. To be honest, she didn’t have much faith in his strategy. Nothing got by these machines, even if they were actively taking care of something else.
He held up an arm, his fingers splayed. That was the signal. She cranked the ignition, and the tractor roared back to life. Suddenly, he balled his raised hand into a fist, the signal to stop. Her heart dropped to her stomach. A raised open hand meant success, closed meant something has gone wrong.
Soon, he was running at her, yelling, “Go! Go!” She stomped her foot on the accelerator, and the vehicle lurched forward. The gate next to post K closed and was soon barred shut. As she passed beside him, he jumped onto the back bench, grasping one of the support bars that made up the frame of the cab.
“Where am I supposed to go?” she yelled back at him, her panic clear in her voice.
“Just keep going forward!”
“But the gate’s closed.” The android that had been guarding the gatehouse started jogging toward them, a second bot following close behind.
“Then aim for the fence! We’ll be safe as soon as we get out of here.”
They barreled forward, the tall metal barrier getting closer and closer. It had to be at least fifteen feet high and was capped with razor wire. Unable to watch, Leona squeezed her eyes shut right before the tractor collided with the fence. They jolted backward, and the engine started making a loud grinding noise. She pressed down harder on the gas, which made the wheels slip and screech against the soft ground. The smell of smoke invaded her senses, and she finally opened her eyes.
The tires had spun the ground below them into a puddle of mud. They’d never get out at this rate. The two bots were almost on them, tasers raised. She had to act fast. Throwing the gear into reverse, the tractor zoomed backward. Then she put the engine in second gear and pressed against the accelerator pedal with all her weight. The wheels turned, this time gripping the dewy grass instead of mud, and the vehicle sprung forward.
She steered the tractor so that it hit the fence head on. The metal barrier groaned, then a few loud snaps cracked through the air. Now broken, the wire mesh could curl back enough to let them through.
However, the security bots kept running after them, even as they drove away from the commercial farming estate. “Does this thing go any faster?” he yelled.
“Let’s find out!” She shifted to higher and higher gears until she reached the highest one. The road was simply packed down dirt, but at their top speed, each little bump and ditch felt like a landmine, jostling the tractor in every direction. She knew the bots wouldn’t follow them forever. Their primary purpose was to hold down the perimeter, and that duty would eventually override their chase protocol.
After what felt like an eternity, both robots stopped running, turned around, and jogged back toward the Gerolstein Corp farm. She kept driving for another minute before stopping for a brief break.
“Wow!” Roemell said as he released his grip of the support bar and walked around the side of the tractor to see Leona sitting in the front. “That was exhilarating.”
So much adrenaline was pumping through her body she felt jittery and had an intense desire to jump off the tractor and just run. Instead, she hung her head and began to cry.
He scaled the side of their stolen vehicle and stood next to her chair, gently placing a hand on her back. “I’m sorry.”
“Why can’t anything be easy?” she asked between sobs.
He gently tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “That’s just how life goes sometimes. But it should be a fairly smooth trip from here on out.”
She wiped away her tears and meekly nodded. She hoped he was right.
12
FOR TWO DAYS, they followed the dilapidated freeway, making their way due east. Roemell was sick of eating young corn, but on the bright side, his motion sickness seemed to have passed—probably because the road was straight and the terrain flat. They had been fortunate enough to find a number of defunct gas stations along the way, each with enough fuel to fill the tractor.
For the most part, Leona did a pretty good job navigating around the potholes. But every once in a while they would hit one, and Roemell would almost fall out of the seat. He spent most of the trip sitting on the back bench and letting his mind wander. Leona didn’t seem too keen on chatting, instead focusing on the road ahead. He had offered to drive several times, but she insisted she could do it all.
As he was thinking about how peaceful middle America was—trying to imagine what it would have been like to live here when farming was still a job done by people—the sound of splashing water seized his attention.
“There’s a lake or something ahead,” Leona declared.
“All right,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over the splashing water and noisy engine. “Is there a bridge or should we go around it?”
She cleared her throat. “I can’t see where the body of water ends. Maybe it’s a river, but the water doesn’t appear
to be flowing or moving anywhere. There are a few bridges still standing, but none of them look sturdy enough to cross.”
The tractor continued chugging forward, and the sounds of choppy waters grew louder and louder. How big was this river? Roemell craned his neck to look at her and the landscape ahead. “Shit,” he said under his breath. He had known there was a large river running through the heartland, but he could never have fathomed how huge it was.
The road they were on seemed to magically stretch upward and across the endless body of water. There was a second bridge next to them which only made it about a hundred feet over the water before abruptly ending. He could see trees on the other side, but had a hard time telling exactly how far that was.
The tractor slowed down, and Leona threw one of the levers to the side, cutting off the engine. Without the sound of their transport, the overwhelming intensity of the river ahead settled in. He jumped down from his seat and walked until he was near the edge of the bridge. He peered over the side at the churning water below, marveling at the force of nature.
A few minutes passed before he looked around for Leona. She was still firmly planted in the driver’s seat. “Come check this out!” he yelled. He glanced over the low cement wall, which was the only barrier between the bridge and a long drop down, then back at her. “It feels like you’re flying if you look just at the water. He waved a hand, beckoning her to join him before peering again over the side.
Another couple minutes passed, and he was still at the edge by himself. He was about to shout for her once more, but Leona appeared to be frozen in place. He walked back to the tractor, her pinched expression making him more and more concerned.
“Hey,” he said. “Is everything all right?”
She didn’t even look at him, instead staring off in the distance. “There’s no way to get across.”
He climbed up the side of the tractor and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Of course there is. We’re on a bridge. All we have to do is drive to the other side.”
