I squint into the horizon, following the tracks. They go on into the distance as far as I can see. No one else would be crazy enough to venture out alone, not when we’re due to leave any minute.
“Dammit, Julie,” I bite out.
There’s no way in hell Avrell will let me take out another rover to try and track her down. He’d say there’s no time. We have to get these people on the ship. The Facility needs us. Julie knew that. That’s probably why her dumb ass waited until the last minute to check out knowing I’d have no time to go find her and drag her butt back to sensibility.
I growl underneath my breath and spin around. That’s when I see the note attached to the door with a hasty piece of tape. I recognize the handwriting right away.
Dear Zoe,
I’m sorry to leave this way, but we both know you’d try to stop me if I said this in person. I hate to leave you at a time like this. I hate myself. But if the world is ending, I want to explore it first. Don’t try to find me. Please.
Take care of yourself. I hope it all works out and that I can find you again someday.
With all my love,
Julie
Tears come and I don’t try to fight them back. They roll down my cheeks as I turn around and slam the door behind me. Choked sobs erupt from my chest and I give in to them as I navigate the catacombs back up to the main hallway.
I can’t believe she’s gone. We’d become so close since the others left. She was like a sister to me. Was. I cry harder, rubbing at my face with my sleeve. Maybe when everything’s over, I can try to find her.
Stumbling through the hallways, I attempt to regain control of myself. I can’t let the others see me like this. I don’t want them to panic when we’ve finally gotten control of things—at least somewhat gotten control of things.
“Zoe!” The voice stops me in my tracks.
I wipe my face hastily and try to paste on a casual smile. Everything is going to be okay. Turning, I find Avrell jogging to me.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you—Are you okay, my mate? Have you been crying?”
He folds me into his arms, and I break down again, soaking his shirt with my tears. Avrell’s hands rub in gentle strokes over my back. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay. Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
When I manage to get ahold of myself, I pull back enough to wipe my face again. Having him hold me is enough to give me a little sense of inner peace. “It’s Julie. I couldn’t find her, so I went to go look for her. I checked everywhere, and then I found this.” I hand him the note, which is crinkled and stained with my tears. “She’s gone. She left.”
Avrell reads the note quickly, then caresses my face with one claw. “I can do a scout. Maybe she didn’t get too far.”
“Won’t that waste time?”
He thinks for a minute. “We can do a flyover of the area before we leave. We’ll cover more ground more quickly that way. If she’s close, we’ll find her, stormy one. I promise.”
He holds my hand firmly in his all the way back to the ship, where everyone is waiting for us. They’re all loaded and ready to go. Even Kevin is belted into a seat and beams at us as we board. I take a seat next to him. Soon, the craft lifts up and my stomach plummets. The nausea from earlier returns with a vengeance. I bolt from my seat and barely make it to the small bathroom cabinet before I lose my meager lunch in the toilet.
Avrell sends me a concerned look as he navigates in gradually bigger circles over the prison. I flash him a small smile that doesn’t seem to lessen his worry, but he doesn’t say anything and turns back to scanning the terrain below.
“Try at the exit to the tunnels. That’s where I saw the tracks,” I tell Avrell. “It’s as good a place to start as any.”
“She took one of the Earth II vehicles?” he asks.
“I think so. I saw the tire tracks for one leading away from the prison.”
He doesn’t say it, but I know he’s probably thinking that she could be far, far away from the prison by now. He’s a good man because he dutifully goes to the tunnel exit and we follow the tracks until they disappear into a windstorm.
She could be anywhere.
“Stop,” I say when he reaches the ocean side of the prison. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to find her from here. Thank you for trying.”
“Are you certain?” he asks.
“Yes. We have to go. We can’t waste any more time.”
“We can fly up the coastline to see if she’s there. Maybe the vehicle will break down. She can’t drive forever without fuel.”
I shake my head solemnly. My tears are gone. “Thank you, but no. We need to go home. They’re waiting for us. Take us home, Av.”
Getting to my feet, I go back to the bathroom to wash my face and close the door behind me for privacy. My stomach is still churning, so I wet a paper towel and press it to my forehead. Get it together, Zoe. There’s still so much left to do.
So much.
So many people counting on us.
The morts, their mates. Those still healing from The Rades. Kevin, who may as well be our child.
My breath catches in my throat and my eyes dart up to my face in the mirror.
Our child.
I press a shaking hand to my stomach. No, it can’t be. It’s been such a short time, there’s no way I can be pregnant already.
Except, I remember a conversation with Lyric in the beginning. How mortling pregnancies progress so much faster than human ones. Could I be pregnant with Avrell’s baby?
14
Avrell
“How do you know how to fly this?” Kevin asks, twitching in his seat. “You’re a doctor not a pilot.”
“Just wait until you meet our commander, Breccan. You’ll learn that he likes it when we all know a little of everything. Before the females arrived, we were all alone. Just the ten of us morts. You have to know how to do all sorts of things when there are only a few of you.”
Kevin considers my answer. “Will I learn how to fly too?”
“I’m certain you will. Theron is a brilliant captain. He’d be great to teach you. I know the basics and that’s it.”
“Hmmm.”
Zoe snickers from beside me. “He sounds just like you when he does that.”
I let my gaze roam over her, appreciating all her beauty. Her hair is as wild as her spirit today. If we didn’t have a mortling present, I’d pull her into my lap and grab onto her silky tresses while I kissed her madly.
“How much longer?” Eleanor asks. “Is it a long trip?”
“It took four days when we traveled in the Mayvina, but this vessel seems to fly at an accelerated rate.” I point to the radar. “See that giant formation with the dark squares?”
Eleanor leans in and nods. “What is it?”
“That’s the Facility.”
“Seems close,” Kevin says.
“It’s an illusion because that monitor is scaled down for our viewing. I’d say another solar.” I mash a button to take the vessel off autopilot and motion for Kevin. “Come stand here, mort. I’ll show you some things.”