“Because I thought our paths might have crossed for a reason. Because I thought you had the potential to become one of us. But that doesn’t matter now. Get your bag. We’re leaving.”
“It’s a tough break, Handsome,” Stefani said. “I was hoping you’d stick around for a while. I like you more than the others.”
“Others?” Jeff asked. He didn’t feel like talking, especially with Carlee in the transport with him, but he didn’t want to ruin what small friendship he had started to form with Stefani even if it were doomed to end when they arrived in Dallas.
“We help people,” Stefani said. “You’re not the first, and you’re not the last. Most of the time that doesn’t involve bringing them with us halfway across the continent, but sometimes it does.”
“Do you call them all Handsome?”
“Only the handsome ones.”
“Carlee seems to think that I had the potential to become a vagrant,” Jeff said. “Does she say that about all of them?”
“You can ask her—she’s sitting right there.”
Jeff looked over to her. She was calm now, but Jeff sensed residue from their fight. Carlee shifted on her bench and looked him in the eyes.
“No, I do not say that about everyone we help.”
“But some of the people you find get to stay. They get to become vagrants.”
“Everyone can press,” Stefani said. “To a certain extent anyway. Most people don’t even know they are doing it. But only certain people can do it well enough to have it be of any use. Carl thinks that you might be one of the few who can do it well enough to help.”
The answer caused him more frustration, but he kept his cool. Getting upset with them wasn’t going to change Jane’s decision. But nothing would change his goals now. If pressing could be learned, he’d figure it out on his own. His brother’s death demanded it.
“In your experience,” Jeff said, trying to make himself sound as objective and studious as possible, “if someone were to have this potential you speak of, why would they be turned away?”
“You sound really stupid when you’re trying to sound smart,” Stefani said. She was cleaning her giant gun while the transport sped across the landscape.
“There’s more to being a vagrant than just knowing how to press. In the end, we’re just people, and that makes things complicated,” Carlee said. “It makes things especially complicated when you factor everything into the equation. One member making a bad decision can get the rest of us killed. One person learning to press could draw an Apostle down on all of us.”
“Does that mean—”
“Don’t try to understand it,” Stefani said. “Trust me. You’ll be happier in the long run.”
He’d only be happy with Dane, Sean, the mayor, Horus, and the white Apostle dead at his feet. In a way, they had all done what Jeff hated the most—they had picked on the weak, and that was something that Jeff couldn’t forgive. His entire career as a fighter was based on standing up to bullies, and he wasn’t going to let those bullies run free.
“Brace yourselves,” Jeff said. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew something was going to happen. He looked over, but Carlee had already started to move before he spoke.
An explosion sent their antigravity vehicle flipping through the air. The force-field cover above their heads kept debris and shrapnel from tearing into them as they twirled around. Jeff wasn’t able to hold himself in place with just one arm, and he smashed into the force field, then the floor, and finally into a crate of supplies.
The transport dug into the ground upside down as it shuddered to a halt. He thought he was going to pass out for a moment, but he was able to retain consciousness even if his head was reeling.
Stefani’s cursing was the first thing he remembered hearing after the crash. The second was Carlee pulling his arm across the floor of the transport. The force field had deactivated as smoke starting pluming from the vehicle.
“What was that?” Jeff asked as he struggled to escape the burning antigravity vehicle.
Stefani was coughing as she stumbled in front of them and dropped a knee, holding her gun up, ready for use. Jeff looked around to see a similar scene involving a larger transport a few yards away, but it was the only other piece of the caravan in sight.
“Great,” Stefani mumbled. “Class B, leech coming in hot, Carl.”
“I see it,” Carlee said. Her voice was nearly serene, but a thread of worry crept through.
“We’re going to need some shields,” Stefani shouted.
A cloud of dust rose just above the hill they were at the bottom of. The desert had given way to a more varied environment, but visibility was not great. The air above them filled with hundreds of balls of molten energy. But instead of following a straight line, they arched downward, accelerating in speed as they came hurtling toward them.
Jeff shied away and tried to cover his head with his one hand, despite the fact that it was enough firepower to level half a community. Deafening recoiling noises filled the air, but Jeff didn’t die. He looked up again to see that a powerful force field had materialized above them at the last moment.
“Here it comes,” Stefani said.
From over the hill, a giant spinning wheel of death rocketed forth; it hung in the air, discharging hundreds of scorching energy blasts. Jeff could do nothing but stare in awe and horror at the spectacle.
“Light it up!” Carlee shouted. And Stefani gladly obliged. Streams of brilliant light shot from her gun and hurtled toward the leech.
Carlee raised her arms in front of him, and the air twisted around them. A moment later, dozens of force-field generators surrounded her feet. They popped online a split second later, encasing their small party in bubble after bubble of translucent force fields, just in time to absorb the barrage of deadly energy from the leech.
The generators burned out under the onslaught, and layers of bubbles dissipated at the tremendous amount of energy exploding on their surfaces. Jeff trembled because he wasn’t sure they were going to hold, but the air cleared, and they were still alive.
The leech landed on the ground, sending torrents of dirt and grass flying into the air behind it. Stefani’s blasts hit the back of the wheel, tearing into its massive frame, knocking the leech off course. Stefani continued to fire at it as it circled around them, its giant teeth eating into the earth. It continued to exchange fire with Stefani as it lined itself up with them directly.
“Problem!” Stefani shouted.
“Keep shooting,” Carlee said. Her voice was difficult to hear over the chaotic sounds of the battle.
Razor-sharp force-field blades extended from the sides of the leech. There were ten on each side, extending for ten yards each. It would be impossible to dodge them if it got close.
He felt completely helpless. And worthless. The leech in front of him couldn’t think for itself, but its programming was still incredibly sophisticated. Leeches like the one heading for them did the Apostles’ dirty work, mindlessly leveling whatever they were pointed at.
“You got that, Carl?”
“Aim up!” Carlee shouted.
Jeff stumbled backward into the wreckage of their antigravity vehicle while the roller dug a ten-foot trench into the burning surroundings as it plowed toward them. Carlee stepped forward, placing herself between them and the roller. Her dark gray cloak riffled in the wind as the leech bore down on them.
“Carl!” Even Stefani was concerned with how close the roller had come.
The air rippled in front of Carlee, and a series of force fields snapped into existence, forming a ramp above them. The roller’s momentum carried it above them, where it slammed into more force fields. Stefani was directly below the roller; its giant metal teeth spun in place, creating a blustering wind inside of their force-field cage.