Year 2160 (Airborne) by Amanda J. Smith

Author:Amanda J. Smith [Smith, Amanda J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Year 2160

I continued to perch silently, the rise and fall of my chest the only movement I was awarded. I questioned if what I heard was not the buzzing from an electrical source but rather movement through deadened leaves when I locked eyes with Fly and knew it wasn’t the mind playing tricks. Fly slowly grasped for his backpack, eyes set towards the unidentified sound. He removed his stars as he motioned for me to stay put. He slowly moved back the direction we came, weapons raised and at the ready. I hesitated, unsure if it was wise to leave him alone. I had to trust in his judgement, and as I did, his shoulder disappeared behind the crisp junipers down the southern path.

Time passed slowly.

The wind nudged my cheek as my breath became known to me, a marker of time. The minutes lengthened and I began to wonder what would happen if he never returned, a masked man vanished in the woods leaving little plan to move forward, no water or food stores for the partner he left behind. Could I accomplish this task alone? Would I have ever been able to?

A crunch.

Fly appeared through the brush with a line of worry splashed across his brow. He indicated for me to continue walking and after a few anxious minutes finally spoke.

“I heard it twice more, I believe I caught sight of it for a moment but I’m not sure. It was certainly a slug. I would guess mid-sized and one that was manned, no luck with an auto-pilot.” That startled me, a man-made slug meant more serious implications and they were generally fewer and far between, especially so far from any established community.

I said, “if it is manned that means all of Authority knows where we are.”

“If they think us a risk and worth noting. They monitor a lot of area. And who knows, perhaps they missed us.” He retorted.

“No one comes out this far. We’re at most a worried suspicion if they did catch a glance.”

“That’s true, however, they have thousands of slugs in operation, we are only two people, clearly not as advanced as a grouping from STL hoarding weaponry and more advanced technology. Depending on what is happening at STL after that slug we may be in the clear.”

“It worries me, still.” I felt paranoid, my ears reaching the far depths of my surroundings to find any sound worth noting, wondering if it’s our death sentence or a small animal scavenging their next meal. I recalled the dying man near STL and what we had left in our journey, I felt raw and exposed outside of his storage shed.

In response, Fly uncharacteristically placed his hand on my shoulder and gave a small squeeze; he seemed fully aware of my anxieties without any outward expression. The touch felt familiar and homey. I often withheld memories of those left behind as being riddled with grief or fear hardly aided in our goal. However, his kind touch reminded me of my life there, in a world of the sick yet dangerously hopeful.

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