Page 16 of Jude

“Stay where you are!” Octavia fired again, but the drone was out of range.

Disabled drones reported their damage to a central control. That meant militia would come out to see who was shooting at their drones. That was punishable by death.

“No, you don’t.” Octavia jumped through the hatch and slid down the ladder. Her pulse raced as she stamped on the gas. There was no way in hell she could let it get away. It had to be destroyed.

Narrowly avoiding slamming into an abandoned car on the side of the road, Octavia turned the wheel. She could still see the drone’s red light flickering. It was going slowly. There was still a chance she could catch it.

She lowered the driver’s window, grabbed the pulse laser she kept in the door compartment, and fired off several shots. It was too difficult to get an accurate aim when moving, and they went wide, skimming past the drone.

Octavia flung the weapon onto the seat and concentrated on getting closer to the drone. The music she’d been playing on the radio had ended. Listeners would be hearing nothing but static. She hated leaving people with nothing to keep them entertained. She imagined there were a lot of folk out there with nothing to cling to other than her words and music.

And that meant this drone had to die. If she didn’t stop it from returning to base, Flame radio would be over.

The drone suddenly dropped lower and skirted the tree line.

“That’s it, ground yourself, you little shit. Give me one clean shot. That’s all I need.” Octavia slowed the van, her gaze not leaving the flickering red light of the drone.

It hovered in place. Maybe it was relaying a message to the militia. Whatever the hell it was doing, Octavia would not miss this chance.

She grabbed the pulse laser from the seat and jumped out of the van. Her boots slammed along the tarmac, her gun raised. This was good enough. She could take it out from here.

Octavia planted her feet and aimed at the drone. She fired off three pulse laser shots one after the other. The drone exploded in mid-air.

“Got you,” she breathed out.

A curl of dread wrapped around Octavia’s spine. She was too exposed. She was fifty yards from the van. Anyone could get her out here. Quickly checking the ominous shadows around her, she retreated to safety. The drone was dead. And, if she was lucky, it hadn’t reported its location before she’d shot it out of the sky.

Only when she was back inside the van, her shaking hands wrapped around the steering wheel, did she let out the breath she’d been holding.

“That was too damn close,” she muttered. She sat there for another minute. This was too dangerous. It was too much of a risk.

She twisted the steering wheel, meaning to turn around and go back, find the safety of some tiny out-of-the-way town and stay there. Coming out in the open like this was too big of a gamble. That encounter with the drone had just proved that.

Octavia released the brake and turned the van around. It was better this way. She would let Jude know what had happened. He would understand. He wouldn’t want her to put her life at risk.

“Stop being a coward.” She stepped on the brake, and the van stopped. “You have to do this.” She looked at herself in the rearview mirror. Even in the shadowy light of night, she saw her scars.

Ever since she’d been disfigured, she’d felt less than whole. These scars had done more than mess with her external appearance. She couldn’t face people looking at them and judging her. They would think she wasn’t acceptable. They would reject her.

Octavia tilted her head back and closed her eyes. She’d been hiding for too long. She had to stop thinking about herself.

Slowly, she reversed the van, turned it around, and continued on her original path. She ignored the tear that slid down the damaged cheek. This was the right thing to do, no matter how painful it felt. She was more than just her scars and her hang-ups. Jude needed her.