Rogue Star (Book 2): New Worlds (A Post-Apocalyptic Technothriller) by Jasper T. Scott

Author:Jasper T. Scott [Scott, Jasper T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Anthem Press
Published: 2018-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

We found duct tape behind the truck’s back seats, and we used it to tie up the two men who’d robbed us. We left their mouths free so they could talk and hopefully provide useful insight about what we were driving into. I was forced to sit beside them, because it had been my idea to bring them along, while Lucky perched on the storage compartment between the two front seats. OneZero hunkered down in the back of the pickup, once again utterly invisible, watching for trouble through the back window. We’d left it open a crack so that she could hear us and intervene if our prisoners tried anything.

“I don’t know how you pulled us out of that truck—” the driver said. His cheeks were scraped and crusted with blood where he’d rubbed his skin off on the snow and pavement. “—but you won’t get away with this. All you’ve done is sealed your fate. You’re all as good as dead.”

“You want to explain that?” Richard asked, looking up from the road to glance in the rear-view mirror.

“It’s simple. When a squad of guardsmen see that you’re not wearing passbands, and we’re the ones who are tied up, they’re going to blow your brains out.”

“Shit,” Richard muttered.

“You see?” Akron said. “Bringing them was a bad idea. We should ditch them while we still have a chance.”

Dexter’s eyes flew wide, and the other man’s mouth pinched into a bloodless line. “Wait,” he said. “If you cut us free—”

“No,” Akron replied.

I grimaced, not seeing any way out of this. “There has to be a way to make you cooperate with us,” I said.

“They’ll say anything to get us to release them,” Akron said, shaking his head.

“He’s right, Logan,” Richard added.

I blew out a breath.

“Look, we can help you,” the driver said, using his shoulder to scratch an itch in his shaggy gray beard.

But Akron was right. We couldn’t trust anything they said now. “What if you give us your wristbands?”

“That won’t do...” the driver trailed off suddenly, as if a thought had occurred to him. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”

“But there’s only two bands and three of us,” Akron pointed out. “Besides, any device that holds a person’s life savings and their passport will have measures against theft. For all we know tampering with them will trigger a tracking beacon that brings the authorities straight to us.”

The former driver’s eyes pinched into slits, and I realized that somehow Akron had guessed exactly what would happen. “I thought you said you’ve been in a shelter for the past six months.”

“I have,” Akron replied.

Richard glanced at him with a furrowed brow, obviously picking up on the slip as well. He probably thought it was just another gap that the Screechers had filled, but I knew better. Akron had already been briefed by the Screechers who’d sent him on this mission, and he knew exactly what was going on north of the border.

The former driver of the truck spoke again, “Look, guardsmen patrol the entrances and exits of every major city.

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