Renegade Runner by Nicole Conway (e books free to read txt) 📕

Or rather, the quiet battlefield of smoking wreckage and death where the starting line had been.

I bit back a gasp, my gaze drawn across the hulls of hundreds of other runner crafts scattered as far as I could see in every direction, glinting in the scarlet alien sunlight. Many of them sent up plumes of black smoke, and the pungent stench of burning fuel made my throat seize and my eyes sting. Looking closer, I tried not to focus too long on the dark shapes of bodies lying amidst the wreckage. How many had died here in a matter of minutes? Thousands?

And for what? A race? Some shitty entertainment?

“We need to assume we aren’t the only ones with this plan,” Phox muttered as he sank down into a crouch, his eyes darting at the crumpled runner ships all around. “There might be others looking to do the same thing. Technically, we’re still active racers, even without a working ship, and they might try to kill us for points. So you’re gonna stay here. Got me?”

My hands curled into fists. “Okay. How long until sunrise?”

He glanced to the horizon opposite of the swollen red sun. There, a new light was dawning beyond the mountains, turning the skyline bright violet. “I’m thinking ten minutes max. But I don’t know for sure, so I’m gonna have to move fast. If I can find a ship with sufficient shielding and power to run it, I’ll come back for you.”

My breathing stammered, my heart twisting deep in my chest as I kept my gaze focused straight ahead. He was really going to risk that? Coming back to get me even after he’d found a safe place to ride out the sunrise and maybe even make a run for it? Why? Why did he care what happened to me? We weren’t friends. We weren’t even acquaintances, really. I’d known him for less than an hour.

Granted, it had been a very eventful hour. But still.

“You’re not going to leave me behind to roast, then?” I dared to question him. “I’m just a human, right? You’d probably do better without dragging me along like dead weight.”

I didn’t have to look. I could feel his strange gaze on me again. For an uncomfortable moment, he didn’t say anything. Then his voice came like a low, forced whisper. “Yeah. I’m coming back. So be ready to move.”

Phox didn’t stick around to explain himself. He bolted through the open door, stopping only long enough to drag it closed and seal me safely inside with a THUD. That was it. If he didn’t come back, I was doomed. Even if there was a ship directly next to ours with everything I needed to survive onboard, it wouldn’t matter. I couldn’t get that door open.

I had no choice but to stand here, wait, and hope he kept his word.

I tried my hardest not to think too hard about that. My life hung on a stranger’s promise. A stranger who thought I was disgusting and basically useless. Unfortunately, he was kind of right about that last part. I had no idea what to do. I had no skills that would help us. I really was dead weight.

Realizing that lit a fire in my gut as I sank down to sit. I hated it—feeling useless. Knowing I was completely dependent on someone else for, well, anything was nearly more than I could stand. It couldn’t continue. I was better than this.

Right? Maybe. Honestly, I couldn’t remember. My life before was still a hazy mess. Maybe I’d been a huge coward.

I tried passing the time by forcing my mind to bring those memories back to the surface. Focusing on the things I did remember—running, Mom, and our house in Florida—helped a little. I’d been training for the Olympic qualifying trials. I’d gone to high school and graduated … Wow. It was only six months ago. Visions of the ceremony flashed through my brain. Mom taking my picture, teary-eyed and beaming, while I pretended not to notice how all my peers were standing with both their parents for photographs.

Ah. That’s right. Dad was …

Minutes ticked by. I strained to hear anything from the other side of that door. Gunfire. Explosions. Engines. I’d have settled for any of that. But there was nothing. Only silence.

Silence.

And heat.

With every passing second, the temperature inside the crumpled ship rose. It settled like an oppressive weight over my body, making it harder and harder to breathe. Sweat rolled down my face, stinging in my open wound and dripping from my chin. I unzipped the front of my black-and-purple suit just to try to get some air moving against my skin. It didn’t help much, though.

My hair grew damp. Then it was soaked. My pulse started to spike and panic made my muscles twitch.

I was going to die here, wasn’t I? How much more could my body even take before I started to—

The door flew off the side of the ship with a sudden screech and clash of metal.

I screamed and floundered back, tripping over my own feet as I tried to stand. My knees shook and my head spun, dizzy from the heat as I peered into the blinding light of four alien suns.

A dark silhouette stood in the doorway, filling it with the familiar shape of wide shoulders, narrow waistline, and long corded limbs.

He … he’d come back for me.

“We’ve gotta hurry!” he shouted as he lunged forward and grabbed my arm to drag me out of the depths of our ruined ship.

Yeah. No kidding.

I tried staggering after him, but every step made my legs feel like gelatinous goo. My knees buckled and I hit the ground in a panting, sweating, dizzy heap. But I couldn’t stay here. The touch of the stony, gritty soil made me yelp and draw back. It was like lying on a stovetop with all the burners on full blast.

“Shit,” Phox thundered over me. “Did you hear me? Run! Now!”

Run?