Earthbound
Page 28
“Big hole in the transport,” Pace says.
“Should I-”
Pace interrupts me. “Just keep driving. You don’t want to know.”
Seems like we still have four tires working so I keep driving. I see Rainbow Falls up ahead. And no robots. That’s a good sign. I decide to take the railway bridge. That didn’t work out too good for the other bridge an hour ago. This might not be the smartest move I’ve ever made, but if we make it across maybe no robots will be able to follow us. The transport hits the bridge at full speed. It’s holding our weight. I think we’re gonna make it.
Then I hear another explosion coming from behind us. It’s not coming from inside the transport though. I look over my shoulder. Yeah, that previous blast did crack our transport wide open. Gives me a good view though. I see a lone Bion on the northern shore, shooting at us. Then everything goes wobbly. He’s hit the rear tires. I control the transport as best I can, slamming on the brakes. We stop with a wild jerk and we all lurch forward.
“Climb out fast and run!” I say. Pace and Becca don’t argue. We climb out and I see the Bion aiming his Persuader at us. Correction – he’s not aiming at us. He’s aiming at the bridge.
“That effing robot is gonna collapse the bridge!”
All three of us run as fast as we can toward the other side. I hear a blast and the structure beneath us lurches backward. That blast isn’t gonna collapse the bridge. It’s already doing it.
We’re running as fast as I can but I don’t think it’s fast enough. The bridge is starting to fall apart. We’re running up at a forty degree angle. Then it all collapses under our feet. I’m falling. Next thing I know, I feel wetness. I look around and all I see is water. The force of the current is propelling me eastward. My body falls downward. Feels like forever but I know it’s only forty-five feet. Then my body gets jerked around and I feel a rush of water shoving me down deeper and deeper into the Missouri. I’m gonna drown. If I don’t breathe my lungs will burst. I gotta open my mouth. I gotta breathe. Gotta fight that urge or my lungs will fill with water. But I can’t fight. It might feel so good. My mother. This must’ve been what it felt like for her. No wonder she jumped. It’s so seductive. I want to give up. Allow myself to drown. Death feels so easy.
The water suddenly becomes still. I’m done. But… no. My mother wouldn’t want this for me. I open my eyes. I’m not dead yet. But where’s the current? I’ve gone past the falls and the current is much lighter. I look up and it doesn’t look that deep. I swim up as fast as I can. Air! I gasp in as much air as my lungs can handle. I never thought I’d breathe again. I look around. Immediately I see Becca. She’s swimming herself to shore. She’s all right. If anything happened to her…
But where’s Pace? I don’t see him. I take a deep breath and go underwater again, looking for him. Nothing. I come back up.
“Pace!” I shout.
Becca’s got a hand on the grassy shoreline. She points downstream. I look where she’s pointing. I see him. Pace is lying face down in the water. I swim over to him as fast as I can. I’m thankful I’m a powerful swimmer. I grab hold of him and flip him over. He’s looking blue. I put his arm around my neck and swim him to shore. Becca’s waiting for me and helps me get his body on the ground. She’s on top of him immediately, performing first aid. I’m so grateful she learned all that. Comes in handy in a settlement with one doc who’s kind of a joke.
Becca’s pushing down on his chest with two hands. Then she lifts up his head and breathes into his mouth. Looks like kissing – but for once I’m okay with it. Kiss him as much as you want. So long as it saves him.
Pace comes around. Water spurts out of his mouth and gurgles down his chin. Color starts coming back into his cheeks. Then he starts coughing. He’s gonna be fine.
We help him to sit upright as he catches his breath.
“You okay?” Becca asks.
“Not much of a swimmer,” Pace says guiltily.
“It’s okay,” I say. “At least you’re good at drowning.”
That gets a laugh out of him. Probably would be good to rest him but we can’t. I suspect those robots won’t be giving up until they drain us outta the Missouri and stomp on our corpses. We help Pace to his feet. He’s wobbly but fine. He suggests we go to the air force base. What better place to hide out for a while. So we start running toward Malmstrom.
We race through the open field with weeds going halfway up our bodies. Past those giant ancient electrical towers. Past the row of old houses. Through the cut open gate into Malmstrom. So far no robots.
We weave through the barracks, looking around each corner before we bolt in between them. One wrong move and we’re gutted. We make it past the office structure and the old tower. Then we hide behind that old plane that Pace had tried to repair, all those months ago. Kinda wish he’d fixed that plane back then. Coulda been a different ride.
“Look,” Pace whispers.
There’s a massive airplane, maybe a hundred feet away. The thing is huge. Dwarfs Pace’s little airplane that we’re hiding behind. It goes up I dunno ten stories or something like that. Can’t even imagine something this big can be airborne.
“I don’t think it just flies in the air,” Pace says. “I think that’s one of the space carriers they used in the Exodus.”
The only way onto it is up that abandoned loading platform I saw last time, which is now rolled up against the space carrier or whatever it is. I see the platform is actually one of those electric staircases, and it’s working! Someone’s getting on board. Not people though. It’s robots. Robots are just riding right up that platform. Thousands of Mankins and Bions are loading into that carrier.
Maybe they think we’re dead and are heading back to wherever they came from. Maybe they know Shādo Shay is dead and they’re giving up. Maybe they’re going off into outer space. Who knows?
We wait. Seems like a long time. There’s a long line of robots that just keeps goin’.
“There’s so many of them!” Becca gasps.
“Yes ma’am,” I reply.
“Wow. I’m impressed you’re still alive!”
We all laugh as loudly as we think we should.
Finally those effing robots are loaded up and the door to the carrier is closing up. The loading platform separates from the ship and whatever’s powering it shuts off. The electric stairs slow to a stop and look lifeless again. The engine of the space carrier switches on. It’s deafening. We all hold our ears, and then each other, as the wind from the turbine whips us all around. Thankfully the carrier lurches forward. It picks up speed. Lifts off the ground and rips into the sky. Never seen anything that fast!
Pace is crying. Yeah, whatever. What, never seen a spaceship fly before?
We step safely out onto the tarmac, not sure exactly what to do next. We’ve got no food, no water, no supplies, no horses, not even an electric car. And it’s too dangerous to show our faces pretty much anywhere across the Great Plains. But hey, we finally got the girl.
We start walking east. Here we are, a modern day Lewis and Clark and Sacaga-whats-her-name, setting out to discover, I dunno, whatever the eff it was they discovered.
Asher, Pace and Becca will return in Earthbound: Book Two…
About the Author
Adam Lewinson is a novelist by night and television executive by day. His experiences at movie studios and cable networks have fueled his passion for compelling storytelling. A graduate of the American Film Institute, he's written for film and television. As executive in charge of production, he has overseen Emmy award winning and popular series. His love of Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi and Westerns has resulted in his first published novel Earthbound. Adam lives in Southern California with his wife and two children.
About Earthbound: Book Two
Book Two of the Earthbound series will feature the continuing adventures of Asher and Pace and their search for their place in a world that seemingly has no place for them. Join the e-mail list for the latest info
rmation, advance chapters and sneak peeks at www.AdamLewinson.com.
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