Enders(65)

I realized we were missing something important. “We have no phones.”

“They’re all back at Dawson’s.” Hyden motioned with his head. “Wanna go back?” He grinned.

I grabbed a bottle of water from the car’s cooler and handed one to Michael. Behind him, I saw a looming shape following us on the lonely road. A massive SUV.

Its headlights were off.

“We’re not alone,” I said.

Michael turned around to look. The hulking SUV drew closer.

Hyden squinted in his rearview mirror. “How long has he been behind us?”

“Just saw him,” I said.

“It could just be a guy who forgot to turn his lights on,” Michael said.

“I don’t think so,” Hyden said.

“One of Brockman’s?” I asked.

Hyden nodded. “I shouldn’t have done the test outside. He scanned us.” He slapped the wheel. “Hold on. I’m going to lose him.”

He sped up and did a fast turn down a small street in this mixed industrial area. A cat darted out in front of our car.

“Watch out!” I said.

“I see it,” Hyden said.

He swerved and hit a trash can, knocking it into the street. The SUV behind us just plowed through it, sending garbage flying.

I turned around. “Michael, is that a Starter driving?”

He looked. “Sure is. A guy.”

I squinted. “And he looks jacked. Do you know where you’re going?”

“No! I’m just trying to lose him,” Hyden said as he held on to the wheel.

I pulled up the airscreen nav and saw a dead end ahead.

“This road is blocked,” I said. “There’s no way out.”

“Good,” Hyden said.

“Good?” Michael shouted.

Hyden went faster. The jacked Starter was right on our tail. I could see a tall concrete wall at the end of the street.

“We’re heading for that wall!” I shouted.

“I know.” Hyden gripped the wheel. “We’re not going to hit it.” The wall was coming up fast. “We’re going to hit him. Get ready.” He slammed on his brakes and jammed into reverse.

The SUV rammed into our vehicle with a horrible, earsplitting metallic crunch. Our airbags deployed, cushioning us from all angles.

We all caught our breath.

“You two all right?” Hyden pressed a button; our airbags deflated and seat belts released.

“I guess,” I said. My body was shaking from the impact. “Michael?”

“I’m a lot better than that guy.” Michael stared at the SUV behind us.

Hyden grabbed a gun—so did I—and got out of the car. “You stay,” he said to Michael.

Hyden’s vehicle was essentially a tank, but I hadn’t expected we’d come out of that without a dent. The front of the other guy’s SUV had accordioned against our rear, a mess of metal, but Hyden’s ride was as solid as ever.

We approached slowly. Hyden aimed his gun, looked in the driver’s side, then opened the door.

The Metal fell out.

“No seat belt,” Hyden said. “He’s dead.”

He was bleeding from the head and his eyes were open in a frozen last stare.

Hyden checked his pockets and came up empty. I checked the SUV to make sure no one else was inside. I opened the passenger’s-side door and looked around. There were no papers to tell us where he was from.

Hyden stepped over the body and reached in the driver’s seat, calling up information from the nav airscreen. “I want to find out the last place this thing has been.”

A moment later, he found it.

“Joshua Tree,” he said. “Used to be a national park in the desert.”

Brockman’s place.



Two hours later, we roared through the desert in the darkness of night, the moon backlighting the cacti. The wind howled outside our SUV, blowing the scent of sweet desert grass through our vents, making me shiver with fear and anticipation. The desert frightened me. A harsh climate that would freeze you to death at night and burn you to a crisp in the day, with no shelter or water for miles.

It wasn’t my kind of place, but one that I could appreciate, the way I liked seeing scary holos on Halloween. It was the middle of the night, but I wasn’t tired. I felt exhilarated.

“What are we going to do once we get there?” Michael asked.

Hyden glanced at me and then back to the road. “Guess we’ll storm the place,” he said with a half smile.

“Maybe we should wait until morning. Get an Ender like Lauren to alert the marshals or something,” Michael said.

Hyden turned to me. “Do you want to wait?”

All I could see was my father’s weary face in that video. “No. We’re so close now. What if they run and we lose them?”