Page 22 of A Monster's Light
I rolled to my feet and readied myself for another volley, but the world spun around me. I could barely make out Dana’s form as she struggled against the boulder. I reached for her.
Dana!
But the ground rose up to meet me, and all I saw was darkness.
Chapter 14: Dana
I shoved wildly at the boulder as the beast leaped again, its claws loosening yet another hail of gravel and sand on itself. Aided by its bionic limbs, it could leap a ridiculous height. If it hadn’t been for the lip at the very edge and the lack of purchase for its claws on the slick, crumbling rocks, the robohound would’ve made it up already.
My lungs were burning, and my eyes stung from the dust and sand, but I had to keep pushing. We’d been completely blindsided when the second one showed up. I was super lucky that this one wasn’t particularly bright.
It kept trying to scale the vertical wall despite the much easier way up just around the corner. Every time it paused in its efforts, all I had to do was stick my head over the edge, and it would see me and start climbing again.
As I heaved again, something round and shiny zoomed into my peripheral vision. Shit! A surveillance drone.
I turned my head to look for Gnnar, only to see him on the ground, unmoving.
Panic and worry rushed in, and I had to tell myself to breathe when dark spots appeared in my vision. The second robohoundwas lying on the ground as well, so Gnnar couldn’t be that hurt, right? I had to believe that much.
I refused to believe that I’d lose him when I just found him. I knew it had only been a few days, and we didn’t have our translators, but it felt as if we’d been through so much together. And I absolutely refused to let Nova Vita win. Suddenly, I was angry. No, not angry, livid.
I was done being controlled. Done being lied to. Done lying for them. Julie was alive. She didn’t go to the Utopia Project. And the Kadrixans weren’t demons. And Gnnar and I were going to make it to his stronghold. I was ready to give up all the certainties of colony life for the exciting could-bes of a life with Gnnar, and no stupid robohound was going to stop me!
I shoved again, putting every ounce of anger and hate I had into it. This time, the boulder shifted. It was working.
But now, the robohound had stopped. When it moved again, it was to turn down the narrow passageway toward the exit. Shit. The drone had relayed another way up.
I went to the edge and yelled at it, waving my arms over my head and kicking gravel down.
That caught its attention again. There was a moment of hesitation as it processed the information. The command was probably to go around the back. But I was right here, waving my arms and making a ruckus like a madwoman, not twenty feet away. I kicked some stones and sand at it, hoping there was just enough animal left in it.
It leaped for me again, and I ran back behind the boulder and slammed my body into it. The boulder moved, leaning at first slowly over the edge, before it tumbled down the side. I almost went with it. I stopped myself right at the edge.
My heart sank at the sound of movement below. The back half of the robot was stuck under the boulder, which split into several pieces, but it was still moving, Which meant it was still dangerous.
I ran to Gnnar, my eyes scanning him for any obvious reason why he was down, but found none. His wings were damaged, and there were claw marks on his back. But that wasn’t enough to take him out, was it?
The stupid drone was hovering above Gnnar’s prone form. I tried to grab it, the image of me smashing it against the ground again and again crossing my mind, but it zoomed just beyond my reach. Frustrated and angry, I grabbed the only weapon within reach, the bone club Gnnar had been keeping tucked into a strap made from plant fibers on his belt. He hadn’t used it to fight the robohound, which was completely understandable. The hound could snap it like a twig.
I flung the bone at the drone, but it dodged. I wondered if there was a real person controlling it right now. I’d never actually seen surveillance drones go off their usual programmed routes for more than a few seconds before. Usually, it was to check out an anomaly before quickly zooming back to continue their patrol.
Just in case there was someone behind those cameras, I flipped it both birds. I wanted Nova Vita to know what I really felt. I ain’t ever going back.
“Gnnar?”
I put my head on Gnnar’s chest. Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud. His heartbeat was strong.
Keeping one eye on the drone, I jogged over to see the progress the robohound was making. It was still stuck. Good. Bythe time I returned to my Kadrixan warrior’s side, the drone was back, hovering over him like a prize.
I didn’t like its interest in Gnnar. They were probably marking his location so someone could retrieve him and lock him up again.
Fuck that! Not on my watch!
I picked up my only weapon again. The bone was shaped close enough to a bat, and I needed some anger management therapy.
I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to protect Gnnar when that robohound finally freed itself, but I knew what I wanted to do with this hunk of junk.
“Get away from him!” I swung my makeshift bat hard.
