She pulled away from him, confused. “Hear back from me?”
“After I responded that I was on my way, that I’d found the helicopter.”
“I didn’t get that message.”
He frowned. “Really?”
She pulled out her PRD, checking it. Nothing. He looked at the display too, his face laden with worry.
“What is it?” she asked.
Before he had the chance to answer, another sound drifted down the mountain, a low thrumming that was all too familiar. Her stomach dropped
“An airship,” Rowan breathed. “They must have intercepted our signal.”
The thrumming grew louder as clouds scudded away in the wind. Descending from that gray layer came a thundering metal airship, identical to the one that had wreaked havoc on the Badlander encampment.
“Maybe it’s Willoughby,” she told him. But she knew she hadn’t given him her location, and dread sank into her gut. Maybe they had tracked Rowan.
Rowan grabbed her arm. “Get to the helicopter, quick! We can try to outrun them.”
Already the pilot had restarted the helicopter, spinning the rotors to life.
“But Gordon!”
“I’ll get him. Just get to the helicopter.”
She didn’t like this, but she also knew Rowan wasn’t as exhausted or injured and would have an easier time getting Gordon to safety.
She took off for the helicopter, wincing with pain every time she tried to breathe. Rowan dashed over to Gordon. Even as the airship wheeled in the sky, spotting them, she hoped it was friendly. But if it wasn’t, there was no more time. They’d be an easy target on the ground, too easily destroyed by the airship’s tremendous firepower. Rowan wouldn’t have time to drag Gordon to safety single-handedly. Beyond where the stretcher lay stood a massive grouping of boulders. It might provide cover.
She ran back toward Rowan, stooping to grab one side of the stretcher. “We have to get to those rocks!” she shouted. He grabbed the other side of the stretcher, and together they ran for safety.
The helicopter took to the sky, banking away from the airship just as the immense ship fired its first devastating blast. A huge patch of snow and soil blazed up into the air, leaving a gaping hole where the helicopter had landed.
The pilot steered straight for the bank of gray clouds, vanishing into the mist.
H124 leaped over boulders and logs, and they reached the safety of the rocks before the airship was able to fire again. She wasn’t sure if they’d seen them. She pointed to a large crevice in the rocks. “Help me hide him in there.” Together they steered the stretcher feet first into the dark aperture, then shoved him in until he was out of view.
“We have to draw their fire, distract them,” Rowan told her.
She nodded.
“If Marlowe comes back with the helicopter, she can pick us up, and we can find a place to hide out until the airship’s gone. Then we can come back and get Gordon.”
She frowned. “I don’t like this.”
His eyes met hers. “I don’t either, but it’s the best hope we’ve got.”
Gordon stirred in the darkness. “Go!” he said. “This time you have to listen to me. I’ll be okay.”
She hated this. But if they all stayed there, the airship would find them, and they’d all be dead. “I’m coming back,” she told him.
“I know you will,” came his voice from the hole.
In the distance, they heard the thumping of helicopter rotors. The pilot hadn’t abandoned them.
“Why are they here?”
“They must have intercepted my communications. Learned your location when I sent Marlowe a message for help.”
“What will she do?”
“She’ll probably circle around to get us. Let’s keep moving downhill. Stay close to the outcrop.”
She gave another nod.
Rowan peered out. “The airship is higher up, chasing Marlowe. Let’s go!”
Gripping her hand, Rowan sped out from the rocks, and together they raced down the mountain, winding among the thickets of dead trees, leaping over logs and rocks. The snow grew more shallow, now only ankle-deep. She tried to keep up with Rowan, but her body trembled with exhaustion, and her ribs throbbed. She couldn’t get a good breath.
The airship fired another shot, blasting through the tree trunks. The cacophonous sound of splintering wood filled the air, and H124 looked up to see a mass of trees hurtling down toward them, flames licking up their sides.
“We have to get out of the open!” she shouted. Fiery limbs crashed down around them. One caught her sharply on the shoulder. She staggered forward, landing on her hands and knees. An agonizing pain erupted on her skin, so she rolled in the snow, putting out the flames. Rowan reached a hand down to her and pulled her up. They reached the edge of the trees just as the airship fired again, toppling another section. Flaming logs hit the snow with a hiss and trundled down the mountain slope.
“They’ve got infrared. It doesn’t matter if we’re in the open or not. We need something to mask our heat signature.”
H124 thought of Gordon, stashed in the rocks. She hoped the cold, snow-covered stone would mask the warmth of his body.
She looked off to the left, where a sheer rock outcrop rose out of the snow. Maybe there’d be another overhang, but if the airship saw them under it, they’d just take out the entire crag. Then she saw a deep crack in the rock, a V-shaped cleft. She could see light streaming through it from the far side. Right now the airship was thundering overhead, changing its direction to match theirs. She dove into some dense brush and crawled forward, Rowan behind her.
“I’ve got an idea,” she said.
Rowan hunkered down, lowering his back below the top of the brush. Snow rained down on them from the leaves. “Let’s hear it.” He scooped up heaps of snow and piled them on her shoulders, trying to mask her heat.
“We wait here for a few minutes, enough for the airship to move past us. Then we run for that cleft in the rock and jump in. If we can make it
