As soon as I open the pod, blaring heat hits me. My skin is immediately clammy and sweaty.
My glasses darken automatically to protect my eyes from the UV onslaught, and my mask whirrs crazily with my rapid breaths.
Lukas whizzes up beside me and scans the terrain for any threats. It flashes a green light symbolizing that the immediate vicinity is safe.
Had I known this would shut you up I would've come out here again sooner.
"I was being quiet to allow you to appreciate your first time outside in 4 years and 8 months," the AI says matter-of-factly.
I shoot Lukas a look and feel my boots adjust to the terrain underneath them. My feet shift when more arch support and rubber like material sprouts from the bottom from in between the rivets to offer more grip on the slick but broken road.
A gust of wind shoves me to the side a little bit and hits my face so hard I fear I might have wind burn.
I exhale and then begin walking.
"Show me the route in my glasses please, Lukas," I say.
Right on command, a holographic display of my location apeares in the right upper corner.
A little yellow dot blinks right above me, symbolizing movement. Suddenly, the view shifts upwards and shows me the full trail. The map takes up the entirety of my goggles now.
It's seems endless and moves in between the glowing blue buildings and under overpasses on a blacked-out background.
It weaves between buildings and waterways and even moves over a bridge. I look at it skeptically.
"Lukas, you're sure this is the right route? Liv said it was only 1.2 miles away," I say worriedly.
"Well, this is why you should listen to me," Lukas remarks," your map was referring to a straight route. Not the old roadways. Not the safe way."
"What do you mean to safe way? There is no safe way! It's the freaking apocalypse, Lukas," I growl.
"We could always go that way and allow you to most likely die on the way to scavenge."
"Because your life is definitely less important than the items in that building," it says, mocking my exaggerated tone.
I sigh.
"How far is your Safe Way," I press.
"Approximately 4.8 miles," Lukas announces.
My jaw drops.
"How long will that take, be honest," I whisper.
Lukas doesn't answer. I stop walking and turn to look at the little levitating box.
"Lukas," I warn.
"At our current pace including scans, potential detours, and so on... Around 3 hours," Lukas tells me.
3 hours? No way.
"I'm afraid so, Alexi," Lukas responds.
I grind my teeth together in a mixture of irritation and shock.
"Why the heck did you not tell me, Lukas," I ask with annoyance in my voice.
"I tried to. Your Brit cut me off with her false information and then you declared you were going. So I decided to come with to ensure you don't die," it says.
"We could always turn back," Lukas continues.
"No," I say. I begin walking again as I wave my hand through the air in a sweeping gesture, taking the foolish suggestion with it.
"I need more supplies and there's no telling what stuff we could find out here," I inform my friend.
"Yeah, no telling what we'll find," Lukas says with sarcasm surely learned from me.
~~~~~~~~~~
There was no author's note here originally :(
But I fixed it! :D
Oh, do keep in mind most of these were written while I was still writing the chapters, and the book wasn't complete.
So, what do you think so far about the story? Are you hooked? Are you ? Tell me about it!
Thank you for reading ♥️