Rev's Odyssey by R. R. Kaufman (the reading list .txt) 📕

Razor called a time out. The next goal would win the match. Stike was elated but was happy for a break. He didn’t want to get reckless and over confident at this point in the game.

He looked way down the stadium at Razor in her control room. She was talking to Vice and pointing to someone in the audience. The stadium lights went on full blast. She yelled at her patrol unit of drokes.

Stike stood up and stared at where she was pointing. His heart sunk. It was Rev.

 

Chapter 18

 

 

Instinctively Rev bolted out of her seat and turned around. The crowd cleared a path for her as she leaped up the benches to the top of the arena. An open window caught Rev’s attention. She flipped it open wider and slid through. She held on to the top ledge with her hands as she tried to secure a foot holding below. There was a small brick edging about below her that she could almost reach with her toes. She let go with her hands and tried to land on the overhang below.

Her feet slipped off and she plummeted downwards.

Rev desperately grabbed the narrow overhang with her hands and managed to break her fall for a few seconds. Her fingers gave out on her grip.

She plunged rapidly down before a branch from a small tree broke her fall.

Rev clung to the branch and weighted it down as she fell to the ground. Paying no attention to her pain from falling, Rev sprinted in the direction of the town square. She didn’t have to look behind her. She knew the drokes were on her heels.

Breathing hard, Rev reached the edge of town. Most of the drokes that usually patrol the town were stationed at the arena and would be here soon, thought Rev. She couldn’t go to the professor’s shop. That would give Stike away.

Where to hide? Where to go? The cliff dive off point for her return to Genus was quite the distance and risky. Wolfie’s place was closer. She had to make her way to his home on the rocky terrain above the forest. But how to get there?

The drokes searching lights pierced the darkness crossing each other’s beams in the sky. Rev quietly slinked along the shadows of the buildings. The two moons illuminated the tall smokestacks of the factories high on the surrounding hill. This was her destination.

Suddenly a bright light revealed Rev’s hiding place. Nasty droke. She wished that they could all be plowed into the sea. She escaped down a narrow alley before the others showed up.

She grabbed hold of the rung of a steel ladder and climbed as fast as she could. The droke nipped her heels as she climbed. Rev clung to the top rung and was about to hoist herself on to the roof when a droke standing above her tried to crush her hand.

Her adrenaline kicked in and she lifted her hand just in time and grabbed the thin tubular leg of the droke and fell backwards. She had to gamble. As Rev clutched both her hands around the droke’s one leg and used gravity as leverage, she fell downwards taking the droke with her.

Knowing her fall would be broken by the droke on the ladder below her, she just hoped for the best. As she collided with the lower droke she released her grip on the top droke and grabbed hold of the lower droke.

She twirled it around and smashed the second droke into the brick wall to the right of the ladder. Rev fell a distance and landed on a doorway awning and tumbled deftly to the ground. Within a second both drokes slammed to the dirt, narrowly missing her. She enjoyed the sound of metal clanging and smashing against each other.

One of the drokes tried to grab her but both of its legs were mangled. The other lay lifeless with its head partially buried.

Rev wanted to pry open its head and retrieve another gold chip but there was no time. More menacing drokes were approaching rapidly. She bounced up and headed towards the hill. A narrow path led under the train’s bridge towards the factories. She continued to climb. No drokes were in sight.

Feeling exhausted Rev reached the train cars. She needed a break to catch her breath and also plan her next direction. A ladder on the side of the train car took her to the top. She lay flat on the roof and looked up at the stars. Her mind drifted. She wanted to just lie there and go to sleep and wake up hoping it was just a bad nightmare.

Out of nowhere she heard a crunching of stones below her. She didn’t know how many drokes were below her. She had positioned herself in the middle of the railway car’s roof.

Suddenly a glaring beam of light from below narrowly missed her. Then on the other side another beam flashed by above her. The two rays intersected above her forming a letter x.

Rev anticipated her next move if the drokes climbed up. But there were several more train cars and they slowly moved along down the tracks swinging the lights on their head back and forth.

Then she heard the roar of the crowd from the stadium. It was for Stike. He must have beat Razor. A surge of energy flowed throughout Rev. She wanted to jump up and dance right on top of the rail car. There would be time for that later. She remained frozen.

After a long wait Rev ventured down and carefully made her way towards the factories. A disgusting odor filled the air. Soon she was on top of the hill. She looked down towards the town and noticed flickering lights everywhere. She knew there was no time to waste.

She looked up at the massive factory. Solid brick and lofty. The tall smokestacks on top spitting out black soot dwarfed everything in its presence. She walked between the two factories. She planned to keep hiking towards the river and cross upstream. Then go through the woods in the direction of the caves that Stike had told her where Wolfie lived. It was dark but the two moons helped guide her.

She was almost at the end of the factory when she took a deep breath and started to cough uncontrollable. A sudden movement to the right raised the hairs on Rev’s neck. She swiftly ran to some stairs that descended to a door on the factory building. The door was locked as she quietly pushed down on the handle. She hid in the dark stairwell several steps below the pathway.

She saw a droke slowly approaching her hiding spot. It’s head beam shone straight down at the door just missing her. It moved on. Rev breathed a sigh of relief. But that urge to cough again swelled up in her lungs and throat. She muffled it with her hands. No use. It erupted in a full blast of noise. She was paralyzed. Did the droke hear her? Nothing happened. Good.

Suddenly three lights came out of nowhere and blinded Rev. She stumbled against the door. Fear infiltrated Rev’s veins. She tried to chase it away with anger and adrenaline. But the situation felt dire.

 

Chapter 19

 

 

Razor sat quietly in the dark control room. The arena had spilled out the entire crowd. The only light came from the red exit signs. One flickered across from her under the room that Stike had just used to defeat her. Every few seconds it highlighted her face in red.

Razor could still hear the crowd celebrating in the distance.

She was not about to admit defeat. Razor never loses. Nobody can beat her at anything. She was all-powerful. Somebody or something was to blame for her loss. But not her. She never loses.

Three knocks on the door interrupted Razor’s thoughts. Her assistant and bodyguard, Klutch, entered.

 

Klutch

I’ve locked up the place. Anything else ma’am?

 

Razor

Yes, set Brixwrecker loose. I want three cottages flattened. These Brix people will learn not to cheat me out of my victory. I despise cheaters and liars! This game was fixed! Rigged! Somebody gained entrance to my control room before the game and messed with the control sticks. Probably that professor Mars wherever he is. He knew beforehand which control room Stike would pick. So he fixed mine to underperform. Clever evil people. They’re disgusting. You play fair with them and this is how they repay me. I want a complete investigation. Post notices throughout the town. Everyone must know that I won the match.

 

Klutch

As you wish ma’am. There’s also the matter about the shoe, ma’am. The test results have come back.

 

Razor

Give me some good news, Klutch.

 

Klutch

The DNA from the shoe matches perfectly with the DNA from the control sticks that Stike used.

 

Razor

Excellent work. Stike is responsible for wrecking my drokes the other night. He’s also to blame for rigging the match. Tear his father’s shop apart and find the matching shoe. These village idiots don’t understand what DNA is all about. I need that shoe to prove that he is a traitor and stop his insurrection. Have the drokes tag him. I want to know everyone he’s involved with. After that, arrest him.

 

Klutch

As you wish ma’am.

 

As Klutch exited the room Vice entered.

 

Vice

I’m sorry about you losing the match, mom.

 

Razor

Don’t be so stupid. I never lost. I just got done explaining to Klutch that it was rigged. Stike and his father tampered with my control sticks. Somehow they slowed the power and timing transmitting to my droke. I’ve got an important job for you and don’t mess it up. I want you to get all the video of the drokes who chased this girl called Rev. Where was she last seen? After that I want you to find her and get my chip back. If you can hold her until the drokes arrive so much the better. I told you before. One person who defies authority and gets away with it can spread to everybody. This is how revolutions start.

 

Vice

Can’t Klutch do it?

 

Razor

No, Klutch can’t do it! He’s busy! Now get your butt in gear and do as I say. It’s a team effort.

 

Vice

Gotcha mom.

 

Vice left the room as Razor shook her head.

 

Chapter 20

 

 

Rev fell backwards. The door opened. A strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. The door slammed shut on a droke’s head. A small overhanging light showed a short stocky man with a beard. Rev took a quick glance around to capture her surroundings. She was inside the basement of one of the factories.

 

Bearded Man

Who are you?

 

Rev

My name is Rev.

 

Bearded Man

You sure are causing a commotion. There’s an army of drokes out there. I’m surprised you got this far. Are you hurt?

 

Rev

No. Thanks for saving my life. What’s your name?

 

Bearded Man

No names here please. The less Razor finds out the better for both of us. So you’re Rev. I’m quite impressed. I’ve heard a lot about you.

 

Rev

I’ve only been here a day.

 

Bearded Man

Brix is a tight community. Everyone knows who you are. You are Cyna’s daughter. And you’ve created quite a lot of trouble for Razor. We in Brix like that.

 

Rev

You know my mother?

 

Bearded Man

Yes, many years