Hope's Ruin

7 | Exodus

"Unknown," she said, dusting off the seat to her quad bike and filling the saddlebag pouches on either side with her mechanical devices, inventions, and collections of battered tech that might prove useful in a pinch. "Away from here. Any from—"

<< fisk >>

Pepper said nothing. She just cleared her workbench and loaded the quad bike with the last of her possessions. Finally, she hoisted Flake 99 onto the rear of the quad bike and secured him with rope, HDMI cables, and gaffer tape.

"You comfy?" she asked, knowing full well that the robot had no physical receptors.

<< backwards >>

"Yes. Sorry about that. Didn't fancy having your battery and power gauges digging me in the spine. I'll add a cranial rota-function to the list!"

Pepper slipped her leg over the quad bike and settled into the soft, moulded leather. The original seat had been made of vulcanised rubber, but sand and salt had worn it so thin the internal springs and cushioning had squirmed free. An old tan biker's jacket had provided the material for an excellent replacement.

Pepper fired up the power cells, punched the ignition, and the bike snorted into life. She eased the accelerator. The wheels spun. Sand blasted the side of The Kestrel.

<< stuck >>

"Nah, gimme a sec," she replied, angling the front wheels and revving the motor with more intensity. The bike jerked. Pepper almost toppled to the ground but held her nerve, balancing in a crouched position over the bike. The grooved tyres finally bit. Sand scattered in all directions. The quad bike lurched forward, though the tent, and out into Hope's Ruin.

Pepper hadn't driven the bike for at least nine months. Perhaps longer. The power cells were strictly emergency use only. They were almost impossible to get out without pulling the entire quad bike to pieces, otherwise she might have tried them on Flake.

Her skill at the wheel returned quickly, evading pedestrians hauling carts and wheelbarrows loaded with rusted scrap and defunct tech. She weaved through the dusty, run-down streets, and emerged on the central plaza where the Doctor was administering lunchtime rations. Ignoring the food lines, Pepper swept around the edge, down main street, hurtling towards the gate.

The quad bike skidded to a halt in front of a strange collection of figures hunkered beneath the shadow of the security towers. Pepper knew there were plenty of reanimates in Hope's Ruin, but never this many. There must have been five dozen. Maybe more.

They turned, as if under orders.

"You here to see us off?" one said.

"A chaperone to lead us into exile?"

"We're quite capable of making our own way out of town, missy!"

Pepper held up her hands. "Stop. Wait. You've got it all wrong."

They stared. With blank, lifeless eyes. The sensation was eerie, but Pepper didn't see them like Governor Sawyer and Fisk did.

As abominations. As demons. As something less than human.

"I'm leaving too," she told them.

They seemed to stare even harder.

"I cannot stay in Hope's Ruin after what happened. I cannot follow a woman that harbours such vicious hate towards other people. You've been treated cruelly. You've done nothing wrong. This entire nightmare is—"

"Why does this matter to you?" said a crash test dummy, elbowing his way towards Pepper. He was scuffed and damaged, and looked like the one from the fight. "You don't know any of us."