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I stop and take a breath, recalculating possible actions. If it were only me, I could make it on foot and find a way to breach the wall, but Riley can’t. The journey would be too long, and she would require water and food. She isn’t fast enough.
We need the helicopter.
“Put it on,” I tell her.
“What about you?” Riley slides the straps over her arms and I make sure it’s fastened properly.
“Let me worry about that.” I’m definitely worrying, but my options are limited. I have to get us out of here and into Carson territory. If we can get across the border, we won’t be followed. It wouldn’t make sense tactically; they’d need time to strategize.
Eventually, they’ll send other specimens to retrieve us.
After helping Riley get her medical bag secured to her waist, I grab a half-full canteen and a flashlight from the back of the helicopter and shove them into pockets.
“Get in.”
Riley climbs into the helicopter, and I take the pilot’s seat. We rise gently into the air, and I check the instruments to make sure there isn’t any other air traffic near us. Looking around at the ground, I see no vehicles approaching.
Maybe we got lucky.
I can’t quite bring myself to believe that.
I see the monorail below us. There’s no train on it at the moment, but the track leads the way to Yorkstown and the border wall. As we approach, a train zips by beneath us, and a sensation ripples through me.
Isaac is on that train.
“Getting close.” I glance at Riley. She doesn’t reply, the tension in her body clearly visible. “Just over the wall and across the river.”
“We’ll never make it.”
“Trust me.”
I pull the cyclic to the side, aiming for the part of the wall that is closest to the Grey River. Monitors flash, informing me that there are two other helicopters approaching. They’re not like the medical transport I’m flying; these are heavily armed war machines. The maneuverability and speed is also much greater, and they’re approaching rapidly.
We’re still a half mile from the wall.
I twist the throttle and open it up to maximum speed, but the others are still closing on us. I won’t make it to the wall before they’re close enough to fire.
A crackling sound in my head momentarily distracts me.
“Sten? It’s Isaac.”
I don’t need to hear his name to know his voice in my head.
“What the fuck are you doing, man?”
I don’t respond. I raise the collective to take us higher.
“They fucked with your head,” Isaac says. “I know they did, but you gotta listen to Dr. Grace. You gotta listen to Riley. You know you want to obey her—just let it happen.”
He thinks Riley is my hostage. Good.
“They’re gonna shoot you out of the sky, Sten! Don’t do that to me, bro!”
“Sorry, Isaac. Someday, I hope you understand.”
“Sten? Sten!”
That’s not my name.
