Metal in the Blood (The Mechanicals Book 1) by Nicola S Dorrington

Author:Nicola S Dorrington [Dorrington, Nicola S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-03T22:00:00+00:00

Ten

I had never felt so exposed and edgy as I did in the early hours of that morning as we crept through the dark city streets. We were hardly inconspicuous, with Daniel carrying a limp body over his shoulder, and a half functioning Mechanical who could never pass as human.

Against all odds we made it to the suburbs without being seen, and then it was only a matter of making a run for the forest.

I expected we would stop as soon as we were within the safety of the trees, but Daniel insisted we keep going. He didn’t seemed winded carrying Robert, but I could tell he was nervous, glancing back over his shoulder, watching the forest around us with a sharp eye.

“What’s wrong? We need to stop.” I huffed eventually. It was midday and we hadn’t stopped, not even for a short break. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep going.

Daniel hesitated, glancing back at me. “Yes, all right.” He lowered Robert to the ground, propping him against a tree. “But only for a moment. I don’t think my trackers can be that far behind us.”

I sunk down onto a fallen log. My feet were aching, and my head felt fuzzy from lack of sleep. The last week I’d barely slept more than a couple of hours straight. I was used to a good, solid eight hours in a comfortable bed. My new lifestyle was catching up with me.

As Sarah crossed over to check on Robert, Daniel crouched down beside me.

“Are you all right?” He reached out his hand but stopped his fingers millimetres from my shoulder. His fingertips twitched.

“I will be. I’m just exhausted. How far do we need to go before we’ll be safe?”

The look in Daniel’s eyes chilled me far more than the cool breeze.

“Will we ever be safe?” I asked, interpreting the pained expression when he didn’t reply.

“I don’t know. I like to think that the refuge would be safe. But if I’m honest, I don’t see how it could be. They can track us anywhere.”

“Not there.”

Sarah’s voice was soft but Daniel and I both turned towards her. She crouched down beside Robert, her fingers stroking his hair back from his face, but her eyes were fixed on us.

“What do you mean? When I spoke to you the other night you said you didn’t know anything about it.”

She dismissed that with a wave of one hand. “I lied. My programming doesn’t prevent that. I hoped – I hoped you wouldn’t go.”

“You thought that if you were vague enough about it I would chose to stay in relative safety with you and Robert instead?”

“Something like that.” She sighed theatrically. “But yes, I’ve heard a few things over the last few years. About the Sanctuary, and the Mechanicals that built it. They were the best, the strongest of the first generation. The whole camp is surrounded by a magnetic field. It plays havoc with the tracking devices. That’s the only reason it’s survived this long.”

I glanced towards Daniel, and I knew we were thinking the same thing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.