Page 15 of Hollow Code
"Yeah, sorry. He works for Hyperion, and I have no desire to?—"
"You must not watch the news," she said. "He’s no longer there, and if we don’t leave, more men like this one will start dropping from the helicopter and we won’t stand a chance because they’ve all been enhanced." She cocked her head. "Trust me when I say we got lucky this time."
"Enhanced?" His brain ran through a million possibilities, and he didn’t like a single one. "I’ve got a vehicle sixteen miles south?—"
"You're going to have to ditch it. I've got a side by side less than a mile. Let’s go."
He glanced over his shoulder. The chopper was coming in low and fast. "Lead the way." Of all the people Gideon thought he’d seen again from Hyperion, Darwin wasn’t one of them.
Chapter Three
Zadie had never understood people who ran for fun. Exercise was one thing, but running for any other reason didn’t make sense.
Right now, moving her legs as fast as they could take her made her wish she’d been a runner. Maybe then she could keep up with Gideon.
"When you hit the tree line, go right," she managed through ragged breath. "And you’re going to need to slow down and let me take the lead."
"It would be better if you moved quicker." He glanced over his shoulder and pointed behind him. "They won’t be stationary for long."
"My legs are half the size of yours."
She crashed through brush, branches whipping her face and arms, the relay station still too close behind them, and the chopper sounded like it was getting louder. But, at least, they had cover, and Gideon had slowed the pace.
"Our ride is twenty meters ahead."
Gideon fell in line next to her. His long legs appeared to be in slow motion. "You okay?" he asked.
"Peachy."
Deep in the tree line, the SxS lay hidden beneath a tarp stretched over its roll cage. She ripped the cover free and balled it into the cargo bed.
"You remember how to use this?" She pulled her rifle off her shoulder.
"Been a few years, but yeah." Gideon reached for it. "What has Darwin told you about me?"
"No time for chit chat." She ripped off the tarp off and threw herself into the driver's seat.
"No helmets?" Gideon asked as he climbed in and yanked the safety harness, keeping the weapon across his lap.
She ignored the question, turned the key, and the engine coughed to life. Always a good sign. She glanced toward the sky. "Do you see them?"
"No, but I hear them." He twisted his body. "Access road won’t offer enough cover. But I’m sure we can follow it close enough to get to where we need to go and still stay hidden."
"Sounds like a plan." She punched the gas, and the SxS lurched forward.
"Go north."
"Bunker’s south." She pointed the SxS west, deeper into the brush, away from the relay station and toward the access road. Every couple of seconds, she glanced toward the sky.
"Bunker?"
"I’ll explain later."
"Okay, but I need you to take me to my campsite to get my gear and to a diner."
"Not going to happen." No way was she going to risk stopping anywhere except deep in the woods, and not until she knew the helicopter was long gone.
"There are things I’m not leaving behind," Gideon said. "And I need to do something at the diner."
