Driving in broad daylight was a lot easier than at night time. As much as they had to be careful back when they were on their way to pick Diana and Howard up, now they could floor it without hesitation.
Noelani's loud SUV lead the way, Blaise's rusty Jeep close behind, while Wake and his old van were at the back. At first glance, their vehicles looked rickety at best, hazardous at worst. Both the SUV and Jeep were a faded black, their sides riddled with bullet holes. Wake's van that used to be white was now copper-colored.
All three vehicles had belonged to the CS before the Freakshow had claimed them. Snatching them from underneath their noses had been a piece of cake for Gale, who only had to snap his fingers for any piece of technology to bend to his will. He had thought it amusing to steal them with their drivers still within, much to his teammates' consternation. Disabling the tracking devices hadn't posed more of a challenge either. CS vehicles were solid and well-equipped, which was why they had stolen them in the first place.
The SUV was fast and powerful, the Jeep adapted to any sort of terrain – including certain ability modified ones –and the van's back was specially designed to contain their kind.
"Remodeling" them to look worn and battered had been done in order to avoid attention. Gale had tinkered with them, swearing up and down about how much more efficient they would be. That had been mostly true, though they sometimes acted up when they were too far out of his range – as was currently the case with the SUV, the engine roaring like an enraged grizzly.
The inside of the van was unusually quiet and a quick glance told Wake it was because Diana had dozed off. Her head was tipped back against the headrest, swinging left and right with every turn of the car. Her window was pulled down halfway, the wind messing with her strawberry-blonde locks. The sound of tires speeding over rocky roads filled the narrow compartment.
That none of this pulled her from her slumber was an indication of just how exhausted Diana was. It didn't come as a surprise, considering she had used her ability half a dozen times in less than twenty-four hours – four instances in which she had to tunnel two vehicles, not only people.
Wake also felt the telltale signs of fatigue, his eyes prickling from lack of sleep while another yawn escaped him. He was ashamed to admit it, but they had grown complacent over the years.
There had been a time when they would go for days without sleep, surviving on adrenalin, terror and sheer willpower. Back when the camp had been in its nascent stages, they would pile on mission after mission – be it guerrilla attacks on CS bases, rescue missions or retrievals. As the camp's population grew, the abilities diversified, allowing them to implement multiple layers of protection.
Ever since its establishment, "Camp Freak" as Gale – master of terrible names that seem to stick for some reason – had christened it had never been attacked. Consequently, it had allowed them to gain some assurance which, as time passed, evolved into overconfidence.
That meant they were prone to making more mistakes, such as botching up a simple and straightforward rescue mission, subsequently allowing two dangerous individuals to roam free and wreak havoc.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened, veering right after the Jeep. The movement caused Diana's head to loll forward.
Wake blamed himself for what happened. Brad had held him back before they left, the warmth of his hand seeping through his clothes, and told him that it was nobody's fault.
Their hacking knowledge was mostly non-existent, so Noelani managing to get into their system and temporarily shutting off their security was miraculous. Wake didn't hold her accountable for disabling the whole building.
He, however, should have realized something was wrong when the psychic ability wielding Ochers appeared or when the morphed Umbers stampeded by, as he had been aware they were imprisoned on the lower levels. He was the most experienced field agent in Freakshow, he should have known something was bound to go awry.
Noelani made another unannounced, sharp turn, Blaise hot on her tail. In his haste to keep up, Wake almost lost control of the vehicle, the rear swaying dangerously. The brunette drove without sparing a thought to those following her, while the fire-wielder seemed to consider every drive a race. Wake hated following either one of them.
Diana's head lolled back with a light snore, unconcerned with what had just transpired. The comm nudged inside his ear came to life, Brad's smooth voice sending a shiver down his spine. No matter how long they've known each other and how often they communicated through comms, hearing Brad's deep baritone so close always elicited the same response.
"Titan here," Brad said, capturing all of their attention, including Diana's, who stirred sleepily. "Gremlin has a visual. He's sending it now."
"It's Eros," Gale corrected, ignoring the fact that none of them would ever call him by that code name. "And you can check your specs, ladies."
The dark tinted glasses they wore weren't merely to hide their faces, they were another creation of their resident Technopath. They had small ingrained cameras that recorded everything, delivering the live feed back to one of the many screens Gale used. They could also receive whatever data the ginger chose to send them and view them on the inside of the glass.
Brad had decreed early on in an authoritarian tone that only information of the official kind may be delivered through the specs, effectively halting whatever practical jokes had been running through Gale's head when he smugly presented them with his new invention.
Wake left Diana to check the data they were sent, as all of his attention was taken up by his companion's reckless driving. She pursed her lips and scrunched up her nose in the particular grimace she made whenever she was deeply focused on something.
"Got it. Thanks, Boss, thanks G," she said, tapping on the frame of her glasses to clear the info away. "Raijû, slow down a bit, I'm opening a tunnel."
Noelani did as she was instructed and soon enough, all three vehicles were smoothly passing through the white-edged circle. The scenery on the other side was much the same: a barely visible dirt road, rocky slopes and the odd outcropping here and there, the brownish scenery peppered with drying shrubbery.
"Oh, shit," Noelani cursed over the comm.
They had all spotted the rusty green vehicle in the distance that they assumed was their target. They had also taken note of the four black SUVs following closely behind in perfect formation. Apparently, the Civilian Security was as eager to get the fugitives back as they were. Shit, indeed.
* * * * *
Billie cursed softly, hurriedly wiping sweat from her brow. Mara – her Rover/RV hybrid child – was an old model, much, much slower than the four CS SUVs currently catching up to them. She shot a swift glance at her passengers. They were both securely strapped in, the boy tightly grasping the pouch wrapped around his small frame.
He seemed to be around ten years old, sickly thin and pallid with colorless lips and sunken cheeks. He had pale blond, buzzed hair and barely visible eyebrows hung over slim, green eyes. They were very expressive, betraying every emotion he felt.
His clothes hung from his sickly thin frame and a mask covered the lower half of his face. Billie assumed his ability was related to his mouth, though she wasn't sure what covering it accomplished.
The girl beside him was leaning against the door to keep herself from being thrown around, hands tightly clasped and wedged between her thighs. Unease crept over Billie as she realized the fugitive had no control over her destructive ability. The girl had long white hair that framed a face that was all angles and bones with thin, pale lips and a small, crooked nose.
Her wide gray eyes were constantly aflame with a mix of anger and loathing. She was even thinner than the boy and less expressive, her features set in a permanent scowl. Though she never touched the boy, there was no mistaking the protectiveness emanating from her.
Billie turned her attention back ahead. They had followed the well-trodden dirt road for a while after exiting Carytown, then she had veered off in order to try and lose their tail. The ground beneath them was now rocky and unstable, the reason why they were roughly thrown around inside the car.
Billie hadn't gotten around to fixing the AC yet and since they couldn't roll the windows down without filling the cabin with dust and dirt, they were boiling inside the spacious cabin. She could feel rivulets of sweat running down her back and tickling her sides.
She swiped an impatient hand over her brow again, growing frustrated with the droplets trickling into her eyes. Mara was huffing and puffing as she clambered over rocks and slipped into crevices, but Billie was confident she would last. She was more worried about the vehicles behind her who seemed to be gaining on them every time she glanced into the side-view mirror.
The older woman ran through her options in case the CS caught up. Each one of those vehicles held six people – driver included – and one of them was equipped with an amplified suppressor wave device. The girl's ability apparently required physical contact, so no matter how eager and bloodthirsty she was, Billie couldn't rely on her. Nor did she want to, as the main reason she had picked them up was to be taken away from this kind of life.
Billie had an entire armory stowed underneath their seats, including some powerful explosives. Would she have enough time to get to them if she pulled over?
She was confident in her skills with firearms and had enough experience to back it up, but she was severely outnumbered. And as much as she hated to admit it, the Intervention Squad members were far better trained and equipped than she was. She might've been able to get rid of one vehicle with the element of surprise on her side, but four was impossible.
"Freakshow," Billie finally said, garnering the attention of her passengers. "If they catch up, I'll hold them back and you guys run. Head west towards Redwood Forest. There's a community with people like you there called Freakshow."
Billie jerked the steering wheel to the side in order to avoid a sharp rock jutting out of the ground. She gritted her teeth as she realized the CS had gotten even closer because of that action.
"Ask for Brad or Blaise and tell them Billie sent you. They'll protect you."
The boy's eyes were filled with worry while the girl's scowl deepened. Billie could imagine how they felt; every time they thought they finally managed to escape, the CS caught up. Which was why the older woman was hell-bent on taking down as many of their pursuers as she could, allowing the pair to run as far as possible.
She gripped the steering wheel with one clammy hand, while she used the other to rummage under the seats. She was still deciding which piece of her arsenal would be the most useful in their current predicament when she glimpsed a circle of light in the distance.
At first, she thought it was her slowly cooking brain playing tricks on her, but the circle expanded until it was wide enough for a tall person to fit. What passed through it, however, were three rusted vehicles with chipped painting. They charged towards them and Billie realized who they were mere seconds after the SUVs interrupted their pursuit to intercept the newcomers.
For an instant, Billie hesitated about whether or not to stop. If they turned around, she could provide additional firepower. Then again, if it was who she thought it was, they probably wouldn't need it. Heck, the three of them might actually turn into a liability if they were captured, so she floored it instead, speeding away from the impending conflict.
She had a job and she would stick to it. If the Freakshow were indeed here for her two passengers, they would come to get them after the fight. They succeeded once in finding them so they could manage a second time as well.
Billie kept an eye on the road and the other on the melee that was growing smaller with distance, her newfound companions stiff with nerves beside her.