We crossed back to the other side of the valley into the tree line. We wanted to stay covered for as long as possible. I longed to see the spruce trees of Maine. I never thought I would be looking forward to trees in my life.
Suddenly, Loki dashed off. All of us grabbed our weapons and went back to back, expecting an ambush.
I stared dully as he trotted back over to us, carrying a dead rabbit. He wagged his black tail happily.
"If you ever do something sudden like that again, I will cattle prod your brain," Leader said in a rough tone.
His ears flattened and he dropped the rabbit on the ground. "Sorry."
Cairo narrowed his eyes. "We don't have any time for screwing around, we need to get across shore and into cover before dusk."
I watched as Loki's jaw seemed to unhinge like an anaconda and he ate the rabbit with a single bite. It was a little unnerving, it reminded me how many rows of razor teeth he possessed.
Leader shoved Loki forward with the handle of his axe. The Cynoid continued to trot onward to the shore. I walked beside Cairo as I stared at the city, looking for any signs of movement.
We reached the edge of the tree line. I could see the shore, a rocky bluff sheltered it from sight of the city. With any luck, the Cynoid supposedly guarding wouldn't detect us. We would have to remain quite and hope that it didn't have its thermal vision on.
I quickly scanned around, making sure we weren't followed. "I'll go first, I'll buzz the watch if its safe. You coming Loki?"
The Cynoid nodded eagerly.
Leader grabbed my shoulder just as I was about to leave. "Watch your back around the Cynoid, don't stop for anything, and be safe."
"I'll be fine," I assured. My blue eyes trailed down to Loki. "Let's go."
Me and Loki sprinted as fast as we could for the shore. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his head swiveling back and forth. His yellow irises were now red, I assumed he was using his thermal vision. Now I was really glad we recruited him.
We had about a hundred more yards to go. Loki was trying to slow down his pace for me, I knew he could keep up with a car if he tried. I could see the rocky bluffs that separated the sandy shore from the hill. "Cynoids fear water, Loki is really proving to be a vital asset to our group. I hope that Leader's suspicions are wrong and that Loki really is just trying to escape like us."
We both made it to the edge. Sand sprayed against the bluffs as I skidded to a halt. "See anything?"
Loki looked at the forest, then towards the valley, then towards the city. "I can faintly see the heat of a Cynoid. I have my body on cool-down mode, so my body heat is the same as the temperature around us. I recommend rolling in some water to get your heat down as well."
I splashed around in the waves for a few seconds before clicking the button on my watch twice. The little red bulb blinked twice, relaying the message to my friends on the other side. The three of them started running towards us.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know if Cairo will let me take you with us to our destination," I said wringing some water from my shirt.
He tilted his head, not seeming to mind. "It's fine, I don't expect you to be all accepting after what my kind has done. I just need a purpose for a while, then I'll come back here and try to save Zeta. Its better if Alpha thinks I'm dead so I have the element of surprise."
"If you want to run some through some ideas, come talk to me," I said. "Maybe we can work something out in exchange for you escorting us."
"Thanks, but if the 5% supercomputer in my brain can't think of anything, I doubt you can," Loki sighed. "No offense."
Cairo, Ray, and Roselyn finally arrived. Rose was panting with exhaustion and grumbling about hating running.
"You three are radiating heat, roll around in the water," Loki said in a suggestive tone. He didn't want to sound too commanding, he knew what Cairo would do if he overstep his boundaries.
When Loki gave them the all clear for their temperatures, we continued along the beach.
Cairo kept giving uneasy glances at the bluff. "I don't like this, we could be ambushed from above."
Loki's eyes flashed red again as he stared in the direction of the city. "The Cynoid hasn't moved."
"Yes, but if it sees us it will be here in five minutes," he argued.
"They we just jump into the ocean, there aren't any of the dogfish nearby right?" Ray questioned.
"No, they don't go into water in these parts unless they have too. Its colder up here, being submerged to long makes them sluggish," Loki barked.
As we continued along shore, I watched intrigued as Loki jumped on a rock jutting out of the ocean. I watched his jaw unhinge again, he reached down for something. I saw the orange leg of a crab snap off and fall into the ocean.
"What are you doing?" I called.
"Getting food whenever I can, there aren't many safe places to hunt when you're a wanted Cynoid," he called back.
"Better the crabs than us," Ray muttered under his breath.
We were about half way on the shore now. We could see a belt of trees up ahead. Everyone was starting to relax until Loki stopped dead in his tracks. His black pupil shrunk and he stared ahead blankly.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
His ears were perked up, his yellow eyes now wide with fear. "We need to get out of here, now. Alpha sent a Miner to collect my corpse. He just sent out a signal to all nearby cities to look out for me."
Leader cursed, kicking sand into the ebbing waves. "I knew we shouldn't have taken you with us!"
"Hey they would be searching around here, with or without me!" Loki whined. "At least with me you have a warning."
"He's right, we have the upper hand this time," I said. "Where would your pack least expect us to be?"
His head looked back and forth quickly for the least likely option. "He would probably expect me into the nearest forest where I wouldn't be discovered. But he will most likely check the cities first, we need to get all the way through that forest."
We all sprinted for the forest now. It was our only hope. Loki kept his eyes on thermal vision mode. A yelp escaped the Cynoid. In a crackly voice he said, "I see my pack approaching near the city! The guard must have seen us coming!"
I heard a small whimper escape Rose as we desperately dashed for the end of the bluffs. They would see us in a matter of minutes and catch up with us in no time.
Large rocks were jutted out of the sand. This was the final stretch until we got to the woods, it looked like a maze. If we got lost, we were as good as dead.
"Maybe they haven't-"
I turned around and saw two canine figures jump off of the bluff around fifty yards behind us. They were on the sand, pelting after us. "Run!" I screeched shoving Rose forward.
I could hear mad, robotic barking, like a rapid dog chasing a squirrel. All of us maneuvered through the rocks as best as we could, but we have no way of knowing what way was the quickest. Thankfully the bluffs and sand prevented the Cynoids from reaching top speed.
"We're coming for you Road Kill! And this time I'll rip your precious brain from your skull and eat it!" a deep voice howled.
Three Cynoids were now feet away from us, their steel razors glinting in the sunlight. One lunged for Cairo, he spun around and smashed his axe into its face, not stopping to see the damage he had dealt.
Another Cynoid lunged for Ray. It was a boxer, its jaws unhinged like Loki's when he fed. I grabbed my electric hiking pole and smacked right behind its neck. I pressed the button, sending watts of electricity coursing through it's circuits.
The Cynoid was stunned. I started running full speed against until I saw Rose. One of the killing machines had it's fangs on her leg.
Rose cried in agony, her leg drenched in blood as the Cynoid tried to drag her down. Cairo lunged for her, slamming his axe into its neck. The robot only tightened its grip, I nearly fainted at the sight of its two-inch fangs sinking all the way into her leg.
I rushed to aid her, but Loki beat me too it. He threw himself at the Cynoid, sending both of them barreling onto the beach. More barks could be heard in the distance. Ray ran over and quickly picked Rose up, running towards the end of the shore.
I slammed my pole on the side of the Cynoid's neck and pressed the button. It howled in pain, twitching madly. Loki jumped up and began running with me.
"You're too slow! Put her on my back I'll carry her!" Loki ordered running up to Ray.
He looked at Leader, confused and cautious.
"Do it! He is the one who saved her, trust him!" I assured.
Ray draped Roselyn over Loki's back. I could see the fear in his brown eyes as blood trickled onto the sand. I was trying not to panic myself, panic would only get us killed.
"Try to hold onto my neck," Loki barked. He dashed forward with incredible speed despite Rose's extra weight.
The three of us ran after Loki. The Cynoid seemed to navigate through the rocks with ease. I made the mistake of looking at the water. I saw three black dorsal fins swimming along the shore. "Those most be the dogfish."
Suddenly, another Cynoid appeared. I was about to charge at it with my pole, but Loki's bark stopped me.
"Zeta!" he exclaimed.
"Follow me," the white Cynoid ordered. She had a calming voice, she sounded way to elegant for a machine that was built to kill. Her eyes were blue like the sky, not bright yellow like most Cynoid's.
I looked back, barely seeing to see the shadows of more Cynoids on the bluffs. I picked up the pace to catch up with the others.
Zeta led us around the final rock. There were two paths, one was a cave that had a very thin entrance. The other was a slope that led into the forest. She nudged me towards the cave. "Hide in there."
"But-"
Before I could argue, Zeta shoved me inside. Ray and Cairo took Rose from Loki and crawled inside the tiny cave. Ray could barely fit in, we had to pull him from the inside.
Loki stared at Zeta with a worried expression. "Hurry, get in."
"I can't, but I will lead them away. My father has a tracking chip on me, I will only bring you trouble. Be safe, Loki, I hope we meet again." The white wolf Cynoid shoved Loki in with the rest of us. I could only see her white fur for a second before she darted towards the slope.
"This way! They ran into the city!" Zeta's howl rang through the cave.
The five of us laid low as a horde of Cynoids passed. I had my hand on Rose's mouth, trying to keep her from crying out in pain. The sand around her leg was turning crimson with blood. I wanted to get her medical attention right away, but we couldn't risk the Cynoids seeing us. We had no where to run in this cave, we could only hide.
I looked into Loki's eyes and swore I could see emotion. I could tell, Loki wasn't like them. He wasn't a heartless killer, a mindless robot. He had emotions, feelings, and most importantly for us, the ability to rebel.