Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) by Milo Fowler (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📕

of course I'm not going to take a swing at him. And even if he stopped the truck so we could step outside and duke it out, I would destroy him with a single punch. He'd have to be a complete moron not to realize that.

"I'll zip it." That should be enough to make him think he's won. For the time being, anyway.

He stares my way without saying anything else, his cocky posture doing the talking for him: Yeah, I thought so. Then he returns to his seat, and I pretend to doze off. Checking my eyelids for holes, as my grandfather used to say. But the lurching motion of the truck doesn't lend itself to actual snoozing.

I'm resigned to the fact that we won't be escaping while en route. We're actually going to Eden. Three and a half years is way too soon when you think you're never going to see certain people ever again.

Perch, in particular. The man who took my limbs.

I shouldn't worry about Daiyna's thirst for revenge. I'll have plenty to occupy me, keeping a lid on my own. Can't do anything that will jeopardize Shechara's safety. Once we arrive, we'll let the raiders take the lead while we fade into the distance, as far away from any crazies as possible. Where? Doesn't matter much, as long as we're together.

Cracking open one eye, I watch Shechara until she notices. Difficult to tell if she smiles at me, with her head covering in place. But I smile at her.

We're gonna be all right. We've gotten through worse.

I hope that's what my expression conveys. She gives me a little nod and looks down, keeping her eyes to herself.

"You'll want to have your driver pull into the east end of the city ruins," Daiyna speaks up. "No way this rig will fit inside the parking structure, so we'll either have to take these—" She slaps one of the Wastelanders' dirt bikes parked beside her. "—or go on foot. Five levels down."

She has the attention of my sadistic friend. His face shield turns her way and stays there. "Then what?"

"We take a tunnel straight to their front door." She shrugs. "Giant airlock, big enough to drive a jeep through."

"That's where we claim the bounty."

She nods. "They'll open the door as soon as they see you've got me. We won't even have to knock."

"Dead or alive." He raises the Tavor, his gloved finger curled around the trigger.

She doesn't blink. Doesn't cringe, either. I've never known anything to frighten Daiyna. She's seen much worse than this guy.

"They'll be more enthusiastic about opening up the airlock if they're the ones who get to end me. Your call, but I'm thinking you could use that enthusiasm as a distraction while you invade their subterranean sanctuary." She leans forward and lowers her voice. "That's where the babies were made, you know. Eurasia's hope for a bright future, right there in Eden's sublevels. I'll take you on a tour." She chuckles to herself. "Hell, I should sell tickets..."

The raider eases his weapon back onto his lap, finger off the trigger. "You're not exactly right in the head, are you."

"I've been told that before." She gives him a wink.

Shechara looks concerned. Not the first time since reuniting with Daiyna, probably won't be the last.

By the time we reach the ruins, it's mid-morning. The driver parks the rig where Daiyna suggested, and the raiders who followed in our jeep open up the shipping container with jarring metallic shrieks. We're expected to exit one by one, the raiders keeping their rifles trained on us the entire time.

They don't like the idea of riding down into the parking structure on motorbikes, so we hoof it. Daiyna and three raiders in front, followed by the Wastelanders and Cain, then a couple raiders, then Shechara and me, with the last two raiders bringing up the rear. Cain's ankles are unshackled, but his arms remain bound, hands behind his back, and the gag is still right where it should be.

Anytime I make eye contact with the oaf, he gives me a maniacal stare with plenty of bloodshot white around the dark irises. Like he wants me to know he's not through with any of us. That his current situation doesn't define him. That he'll have his revenge. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

We make our way down into the lower levels of the parking garage, the high-powered flashlights attached to the raiders' rifles cutting a white swath through the darkness and throwing the abandoned automobiles into stark relief against the surrounding concrete. I keep an eye out for cameras mounted along the ceiling but don't catch sight of any. Perch has really dropped the ball. Willard was always so proud of his surveillance tech down here.

The only sound is our footfalls as we descend the ramp into the lowest level and head straight for the tunnel's open mouth at the far end. We're thirty meters away from it when shots explode, fired from somewhere off to the left.

"Shechara!" my voice booms, lost beneath the barrage as raiders crouch and return fire.

Shechara and Daiyna scramble for cover behind one of the abandoned cars. I hold my metal arms up to shield my head and torso and hunker down. My mechanical legs scrape across the concrete floor as I advance, taking cover behind support pillars and autos along the way.

During a brief lull in the shooting, an unfamiliar voice screams, "You did this to me! You!" Followed by more shots fired in Daiyna and Shechara's direction. "You left me out there to die!"

I stay low and continue to move toward the shooter. The raiders take cover and hold their positions. The one who suggested removing my limbs earlier doesn't like the fact that I'm not staying put.

"Get back here, cyborg!" he shouts, mostly drowned out by the weapons fire.

"Not my name." I keep moving. So far, I seem to be off the shooter's radar. He's concentrating all his rage elsewhere.

"You knew they wouldn't