Destiny: Quantic Dreams Book 3 by Elizabeth McLaughlin (dark books to read txt) 📕

Vehicles barreled down the passages, androids sweeping their gazes back and forth against the buildings. More than once I was convinced they had our exact position and were just screwing with us, like a predator toying with its prey.

Robotic animals scattered in our path. I briefly wondered if their presence would alert our pursuers but the search continued on everywhere we weren’t. Before long we came to the outskirts of the city. Patrol vehicles ran a circuit back and forth along the city’s perimeter. “Three, four, five. It looks like they pass every minute and a half.” Marcus raised the single pair of night-vision goggles to his eyes. “They’ve got two to a vehicle. Looks like they’ve got guns, but I don’t see any mounted weapons. The suckers who got stuck with border duty. The androids must still think we’re in the city. These guys are only here to cover their asses. We get past them, we’re golden.”

The night sky sparkled in front of us and the scent of earth wafted into my nostrils. Freedom was a mere hundred meters in front of me but with it came the reality that I was leaving my father behind forever.

“We’ll go one at a time,” Eliza whispered. “Present a smaller target. If one of us goes down, the ones who remain can find another way out.” That didn’t set well with me. No way in hell that I was going to lose Eliza, not this close to getting out of this place.

“We go together, or not at all.” They looked at me like I had two heads.

“They’re going to notice three humans sprinting across their path.” Marcus pursed his lips. “Our chances of getting shot go up exponentially if we go together.”

“Honey, I know you’re scared.” Eliza took my hands in hers and squeezed. “Look, I’m scared too. This is a severely fucked situation. So here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to send Marcus first. Our big, strong, fast son is going to sprint across that line and then he’s going to cover us while you run to him, okay? Then once you’re over there, you’re going to count down those seconds and then you’re going to see my face sprinting toward you as fast as I can.”

“Okay.” Her certainty in direction was calming.

“Okay, tell me again what we’re going to do.” My beautiful wife. My mind wandered back to Marcus’s first fever. I had just finished playing with him and was putting him down for a nap when I heard the crying. Our son had gone from a perfectly happy infant to a red and screaming creature in seconds. Eliza was still at work and I had absolutely no idea what do. I ran to the sink and soaked cloths to bring his temperature down, all the while enduring the screams of my child in pain. Just as I was getting ready to hit the emergency alarm on my tablet when Eliza burst through the door, a syringe of anti-phyretic in hand. Half an hour later I had a tired but content baby in my arms. This wasn’t any different. I had to trust that she would see me through.

“Marcus is going to run across the line when the next vehicle passes. Then he’s going to signal to me to come across. I’m going to run like hell and make it across. Then I’m going to raise my gun and shoot any mechanical fuckhead who comes within a hundred feet of you. Then we’re going to book it into the forest and leave this place in the past.” I repeated the instructions in my mind again and again like a mantra.

“That’s right. And then we’re going home. And when we get home, everything’s going to be all right.” Like she knew. It was all I had to hold on to, so it was good enough for now.

“Great. Okay. Marcus, all you. I’ll cover you as best I can.” The two of us raised our guns and waited.

Chapter Twenty-One

I measured the seconds by my breath. When the time came, Marcus sprinted across the tracks made by the patrol vehicles. Every footfall matched my heartbeat that seemed to race faster with every second. The roar of the patrolling vehicles seemed to be close-too close. Every fiber of my body was tense, waiting for the inevitable gunshot, but none came. The second that Marcus had cleared the wheel tracks he lit straight for the forest. The light was too dark to see much detail, but I caught the reflection of Marcus’s suit as he waved from the tree line. Seconds later the muzzle of his gun poked through the cover.

“Okay darling. I’m going to count you down and then you run like hell, all right?” Eliza stepped behind me and put a hand on my shoulder blade. Time slowed to a crawl as I concentrated on the feel of my wife’s fingertips over the fabric. This could be the last time I ever felt her touch. “Three, two...go.” She pushed me forward and I ran. Though I wasn’t in the best of shape, the surge of adrenaline lent fuel to my muscles and I barely felt the ground under my feet. The vibration of the machines and the shouts of our pursuers were the only sensations I felt. When my feet hit grass, I almost went down, the soles of my boots sliding on the evening dew of the grass. I made it to the tree line where I crashed into the brush, coming to a stop on the ground. Marcus swore and pressed a hand to my back.

“Stay down, Mom. They definitely heard that. Stay still for a couple of minutes.”

As he spoke I saw flashlight beams sweep over our hiding spot. I was desperate to turn around, to reassure myself that Eliza was still hidden, still safe. The cost of sprinting across the divide made itself known in my legs and my calf muscles cramped.

“Shit. They’ve stopped. Don’t worry, I