Steel Horizon

Chapter Five

Two Scrappers blocked our only escape, the same ones who caught me the first time. We were in the building's courtyard, closing us in and giving them another chance to recapture and drag us back into the building that meant only death. Over their shoulders was a truck, the same one they had the night they'd caught me.

The boy asked, "What's your name?" His voice was fast and frantic, and I can't believe he chose now to ask that question.

"What?" I shivered against the cruel wind and watched the Scrappers come closer.

The Scrappers were closing in. The blond-haired one pulled out his launcher, ready to entangle one of us in another metal net. Under the daylight, his hair was more silver than blond—wrong.

"Just tell me!" He sidestepped and snatched a short piece of a pipe that was half buried in the snow. "If we don't make it out of this, at least we knew each other's names in the end.

"Morgan," I answered.

He nodded once. "Jude."

The Scrappers stopped and one said, "Do not try to run from us." His gleaming eye gazed over us, his long silvery hair moving with the wind. "We have no desire to harm either of you."

"Then just let us go." Jude tightened his grip around the pipe, using his metal hand to secure the weapon.

The Scrapper with the mechanical arm, almost identical to Jude's, looked over him with appraising eyes, slight disbelief to flickering across his face at the fact he was standing before him . . . alive. There were reasons why the humans they took disappeared, and this had to be it.

"Drop your weapon," the Scrapper warned.

Jude's chest rose and fell deeply before he said, "No."

The two Scrappers shared a quick glance and came forward before I could look for a weapon of my own.

Jude darted forwarded towards the other male Scrapper. The female's fingers were slowly curling around the trigger, ready to rope me to the ground within seconds.

She fired.

I dove right. The net spun past and caught around my ankle, bringing me to the ground hard. The air rushed from my lungs, leaving me breathless and slightly nauseated. I flipped over on my back and pulled my leg in a useless attempt. I needed a knife or at least more time to untangle my foot. The net had imbedded itself into the ground, keeping me in place.

"Morgan!"

I turned my head just in time to see the metal pipe flying through the air towards me, and Jude quickly turning back to the other Scrapper with clenched fists. I reached out for the pipe and it fell just out of reach. The snow numbed my skin and clung to my hands as I reached for it, my fingers stretching as far as they would go. It wasn't enough.

A figure loomed over me. "Stay still and this will not hurt as much."

I clenched my jaw and quickly made the decision to try one last time for the pipe, hoping I wouldn't break my ankle in the process. I had to do something. I couldn't sit here and let them take me again.

Just as the Scrapper started reaching into her pocket, I roughly jerked my leg to the side, loosening the drills imbedded in the ground, and lunged again, reaching as far as I could. It was enough. I turned, pipe already swinging, and hit her hard in the leg.

But what I wasn't expecting was the metal clang sounding through the air when the pipe made contact, and the vibration stinging my hand. Her leg was steel too. She stumbled back a fraction and that was it—like she'd barely felt anything.

She lunged toward me and in a blink held both my wrists above my head. She was quick as she was strong. I tried to twist away, to buck and jerk, but she came down on me, straddling my hips with her legs so I couldn't move.

"I said hold still."

Her free hand reached around behind her and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, opening them in one swift movement. I pulled my wrists again in panic and her fingers tightened around them, clicking the handcuffs in place with finality. Sealing my fate. My stomach was doing somersaults knowing I would have to go back into that building, to be chained to the wall, only to wait for them to bring me to my death.

The Scrapper started for Jude, ready to help her partner now she was finished with me, and I felt a pang in my heart, knowing I failed to do my part in the fight. Now Jude was going have to take the fall.

When I sat up, looking at my cuffed hands, I realized I might actually have another chance to free myself. Maybe she thought the netting could hold me here, and maybe it could, but I grabbed the wiring around my ankle and tried to untangle it with numb fingers. I didn't look up, too scared to see something I didn't want to, and hoped Jude was still fighting.

My hands shook while fingering the sharp wires. But against all odds, I did it.

I scrambled away from the netting and got to my feet, the wind biting my sweating skin and clothes. The second Scrapper was nearing Jude, who was quickly losing ground to her partner. Just a few more steps and she would be there, then neither of us would have a chance.

I ran towards them. Before I thought about it, I plowed into the Scrapper's body, both of us falling to the ground with a rush of cold air and snow.

I heard Jude yell something inaudible—his voice too muffled by the wind and snow around me. I rolled away and sat up. The Scrapper was motionless in the snow. Maybe she hit her head on something?

Hands grabbed my arm and I jerked away, ready to fight the other Scrapper. But when I looked up, it was Jude.

He helped pull me up. I looked down at his metal hand on my skin and had to suppress a shiver. He's human, I reminded myself. Jude dropped them both and stepped away, like he was reading my thoughts.

He said, "We have to get out of here before more of them come."

I nodded and bent down, stuffing my hand into the Scrapper's coat pocket.

"What are you looking for?" he asked, glancing around again.

"Keys," I reminded him, showing my hands. "The keys to the truck, too, if they have them."

He looked towards the door one last time before helping me search their pockets. My heart kept jumping, thinking one of them would wake up at any minute and attack us again. It was hard to knock them out, and even harder to kill them. I wasn't sure how we got so lucky.

"Found them!" I stood up the same moment the building door bursted open, and more Scrappers poured out.

"Go!" Jude and I ran for the truck. I could already hear their footsteps, coming up quick with their machine body parts helping them every step of the way. Jude slid to a stop and pulled the driver side door open. I scrambled inside, pushing myself over to the next seat as Jude jumped in right after me and shut the door, blocking out the wind and sound of running feet.

I quickly gave him the keys, my hands still shaking, from the cold or fear, I wasn't sure. Jude shoved them into the ignition. The truck smoothly came to life but my eyes were glued to the nearing Scrappers, running towards us too fast.

"Jude." My voice was barely audible but he heard it.

"I know!" He slammed his foot down and tires grabbed onto the snow covered asphalt, taking us away from the Scrappers. Away from that building in which we had almost died.

Somehow, against all odds, we escaped.