Free Web NovelChapter 181: Chapter 181 - Get Out of Hyde Town
Iyisha pulled the strap of her bag tighter across her chest.
The packs had been unbearably heavy when they first started traveling together. Now the weight sat differently on her shoulders. Still heavy, but easier to carry.
Was it the mutation?
She still didn’t know what her body could actually do.
"Come on," Marybeth whispered.
She moved ahead first.
Malcolm followed close behind her, and Iyisha fell in behind him.
They kept to the shadows, staying close to the walls and dark corners as they moved through Hyde. No lights. No talking. Just the soft scrape of boots against dirt.
If anyone was watching from outside the town, they needed to look like nothing more than shadows.
The night air was cold, the wind brushing against Iyisha’s skin and making the hairs along her arms rise.
Soon the first inner fence came into view.
Hyde Town was surrounded by three defensive fences. Layers built over the years with whatever materials they could find.
The first one was easy.
They slipped through a narrow opening in the wire and kept moving.
A few minutes later they reached the second fence where the small service gate waited.
Two guards stood there.
When they saw the three approaching figures, the men deliberately turned their backs and began talking to each other as if nothing was happening.
Marybeth pushed the gate open quietly.
No one said a word.
Iyisha slipped through after Malcolm, her legs already beginning to ache from the weight of the pack and the tension in her body. Sweat gathered along the back of her neck.
So much for the mutation making her stronger.
The gate closed softly behind them.
Beyond the second fence stretched rows of vegetables and scattered fruit trees. Hyde’s farmland.
The ground here was uneven and soft. Dirt, roots, and patches of grass made every step careful and slow.
Somewhere nearby an animal shifted in its pen, the rustle loud in the quiet night.
They moved along the fields, crouching low as they crossed the open space.
Soon the final barrier appeared ahead of them.
The outer gate.
It towered above the fields, a massive wall of scrap steel, old car doors, engine blocks, and welded metal plates stacked together into something that looked more like a fortress than a fence.
Malcolm slowed.
Beyond that gate was open land.
And somewhere out there, the military patrols searching for them.
They reached the covered shed just inside the outer gate.
The roof was made from patched sheets of metal, the walls half open to the fields. A Land Rover sat waiting in the shadows beneath it.
Iyisha dropped her bag for a moment and stretched her back, feeling the tight pull in her shoulders. Marybeth did the same beside her, rolling her neck once before letting out a slow breath.
Abuela and Tía Julieta were already there.
The two older women stepped forward as soon as they saw them.
Marybeth moved first, wrapping her arms around Abuela. The old woman held her tightly, one hand pressing against the back of her head the way she used to when Marybeth was younger.
Tía Julieta watched them for a moment, then pulled Marybeth into her arms as well.
"You stubborn girl," she murmured.
Marybeth laughed softly, though her eyes were already wet.
A sudden crackle broke the quiet.
Everyone turned.
One of the guards near the shed lifted the radio closer to his ear.
Static burst from the speaker.
Then a voice.
"...ERF convoy approaching sector perimeter..."
The words came through broken but clear enough.
Another engine roared faintly somewhere beyond the hills.
Abuela’s expression changed.
She looked at Iyisha and Marybeth and stepped closer to them both.
"God will keep you safe," she said softly.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out two rosaries. One she placed in Marybeth’s hand, the other in Iyisha’s.
Then she kissed each of them on the forehead.
When she turned to Malcolm, her voice grew firmer.
"Keep them safe."
Malcolm met her gaze and nodded once.
"You need to go," Tía Julieta added quietly.
Malcolm turned without another word and climbed into the driver’s seat of the Land Rover.
Iyisha picked up her bag and hesitated for a moment. She looked at the two women standing there in the dim light of the shed.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "For everything."
Abuela nodded.
"Go."
Iyisha climbed into the passenger seat.
Behind her Marybeth hugged the two women once more, pressing quick kisses to their cheeks.
"I’ll come back," Marybeth said.
Then she pointed a finger at Abuela.
"You better still be alive by then."
Abuela swatted the back of her head.
"¡Malcriada!" she snapped.
Marybeth laughed, rubbing the spot as she stepped back.
"See? You’re still strong enough to hit me."
Tía Julieta shook her head but couldn’t hide her smile.
"Go," she said, waving her toward the vehicle. "Before I change my mind and lock you inside."
Marybeth grinned one last time, then turned and jogged to the Land Rover, climbing into the back seat as the engine rumbled low.
The back gate creaked open just enough for the Land Rover to slip through.
Malcolm eased the vehicle forward.
The heavy bridge lowered over the deep pit outside Hyde’s outer wall. Metal groaned under the weight as the tires rolled across it.
Iyisha leaned forward in the passenger seat, trying to see into the darkness beyond the gate.
There was nothing.
Just thick black night and the faint outline of the wall behind them.
Her heart pounded harder with every slow turn of the wheels.
She glanced sideways at Malcolm.
Green light reflected faintly across his face.
Night goggles.
The ones Cyborg had given them.
Iyisha let out a quiet breath.
Marybeth leaned forward from the back seat and shoved another pair into her hand.
"Put them on," she whispered.
Iyisha pulled the goggles over her eyes.
The darkness shattered.
The world flooded into shades of pale green.
Fields stretched out ahead of them, flat and open. Patches of dirt roads cut through the land like scars.
Beyond the fields stood scattered buildings.
Not many.
Just a handful of structures that looked half alive, half abandoned.
Some houses still stood, their frames leaning slightly but intact.
Others were hollow shells.
Wood planks had been ripped from walls and roofs, leaving the skeletons of the buildings exposed to the wind.
Hyde had stripped them over the years for materials.
Iyisha could see where entire sides of houses had been torn away. Window frames empty. Roof beams exposed like broken ribs.
The open land around them suddenly felt too wide.
Too empty.
Out here there were no walls.
No fences.
No places to hide.
Just open ground stretching into the dark.
Iyisha swallowed.
They were completely exposed now.
"Oh fuck," Marybeth muttered.
Through the night goggles she saw it.
A dark armored pickup sat just off the road, its bulky frame barely visible against the trees. A long radio antenna rose from the back.
Iyisha frowned.
"Are you sure?" she whispered.
Marybeth leaned forward between the seats and looked through her goggles.
"That’s not ours," she said immediately.
Iyisha looked again.
"Every working vehicle in Hyde was welded into the outer wall years ago," Marybeth muttered.
"Shit," Iyisha breathed.
The moment Malcolm saw it, his foot slammed down on the gas.
The Land Rover surged forward.
The vehicle’s headlights snapped on behind them, cutting through the darkness as the engine roared to life.
The pickup lunged toward the road, trying to cut them off.
Malcolm swerved hard.
The Land Rover shot past the front of the pickup, missing it by what felt like inches.
Iyisha grabbed the edge of the seat as the sudden turn threw her sideways. The night goggles slipped down her face and she yanked them back into place.
The engine screamed as Malcolm pushed the vehicle faster.
"They’re fast," Iyisha said, glancing into the side mirror.
The pickup was already behind them.
Too close.
Then she saw movement.
A figure leaned halfway out of the passenger window.
The flash of metal caught in the green glow of her goggles.
A rifle.
"Gun!" Iyisha shouted.
The shot never came.
Malcolm jerked the wheel hard.
The Land Rover swerved off the road and plunged into the trees.
Branches slammed against the sides of the vehicle.
Iyisha grabbed the dash as the tires bounced violently over uneven ground. The forest floor was rough and slanted, but the Land Rover held steady as Malcolm pushed it deeper into the woods.
Behind them the headlights crashed through the trees, trying to follow.
The engine of the pursuing car roared.
Then struggled.
The vehicle was too heavy for the terrain.
Iyisha twisted in her seat, watching through the goggles.
The headlights jerked once more between the trunks, then slowed near the edge of the forest.
Malcolm didn’t slow.
He drove another minute through the rough terrain before steering them back toward the road.
The tires finally hit pavement again.
The Land Rover lurched forward as Malcolm pressed the gas harder.
No one spoke.
Iyisha kept scanning the darkness ahead while Marybeth watched the rear through her goggles.
Malcolm’s hands stayed tight on the wheel as the speed climbed.
The empty road stretched out in pale green under the night goggles.
Every shadow along the roadside made Iyisha’s chest tighten.
They had lost the military.
But none of them believed the chase was over yet.
