Iron Circle by Justin Joschko

Author:Justin Joschko
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA, dystopian, action, adventure, United States
Publisher: Month9Books
Published: 2019-03-26T07:00:00+00:00

23: Entropy’s Clutches

A cold wind descended from the mountains. Acrid dust filled Simon’s lungs, bringing every breath to the cusp of a cough without quite nudging it over. He itched his eyes and straddled the peculiar device they’d taken from the canyon vault. Mechanically, he understood it well enough—he’d gotten it running, after all—but when it came to actually using it, the thing might as well have plummeted to earth from a distant galaxy. Why had its designer given it only two wheels? It was sleek enough but lacked any inherent stability. He hauled it upright until the seat pressed snug against his thighs, his tiptoes barely scraping the ground.

“Okay,” said Emily. “Now lift up your feet and turn the handle a bit.”

“If I lift up my feet, I’ll fall.”

“You won’t once the engine kicks in. It’s only hard to balance when you’re not moving.”

With a final sigh, Simon lifted his feet and hit the throttle. The machine listed right and chewed up the gravel with a scream of its tires. Simon felt his equilibrium topple and hurled himself free, hitting the ground with a jolt and skittering across the hardpan for several feet. A splash of heat rent his elbow. Hissing, he cradled his arm to his chest and observed the injury. A patch of skin over the joint hung raw and tattered, studded with stony grit.

“This thing’s impossible!” he cried.

“Here. Let me give it another try.”

Simon relinquished the machine. Emily righted it and mounted the seat with a graceful swing of her leg. She stood astride it effortlessly, a feat Simon couldn’t manage despite being two inches taller than her. She pushed off with her foot and gunned the throttle. The engine whirred, and she took off, legs tucked nimbly against the footholds near the rear wheel. She glided over the hardpan, a wheeled chimera, and described a quick loop of the saltpan they’d chosen as their testing ground. Her hair whipped behind her in a hundred black streamers.

She came to a stop next to Simon and dismounted. Her smile receded as she noticed Simon’s dejection. She tugged a wrinkle from her jeans. “It’s not so tough when you get used to it. You just need a bit more practice.”

“I don’t think there’s enough time left in the world for me to get all the practice I need on that thing.” He kicked a pebble across the hardpan, hands stuffed in his pockets. How on earth was he going to manage to ride that thing all the way to Juarez? He couldn’t make it ten feet without falling over.

The plan had seemed so simple: jaunt down to Juarez, find Selena, and scoot away before anyone could stop them. The machine gave them a tremendous advantage in terms of speed—that is, if the driver didn’t fall on his ass every thirty seconds. He could try using one of the bigger vehicles instead, but they’d take weeks to fix yet. And how was he supposed to hide it once he

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