“Get! Get! You little shit…” Yeti’s voice booms somewhere nearby. She’s unsure if the man has spoken the words out loud or if he’s still tapping her.
Ässä trots along but keeps his distance. The terrier is clearly wary of the strange man who is carrying his friend through the woods. He might turn around and try to launch a kick. It’s possible he already has, but Ässä is a nimble little dog. Any attempt to boot him would probably have missed, making Ässä even more determined to harass the man carrying his friend.
Arms pushing against Yeti’s wide and muscular back, Kaarina tries to free herself from his grip. “Okay, you can put me down now. I can walk from here.”
Yeti’s laughter rumbles through his upper body. Hands wrapped tight around Kaarina’s legs, the man keeps his steady pace through the woods.
They pass a rock Kaarina recognizes. A scrap of silver tape still rests on the ground, next to Euros and other debris.
“I said, put me… down!”
Kaarina’s fist strikes his lower spine, but there’s no hint that it causes him any pain. He walks along without a word.
At her second punch, he stops.
After the third one, he lets go of her legs.
Kaarina falls to the hard ground.
Ässä stops barking as soon as he reaches Kaarina. A small wet snout investigates her face, licking and puffing. A sharp pain burns in her ribcage. She must have bruised something when she fell from the wall.
The Yeti leans against a tree and crosses his arms. After giving her a few seconds to lift her bruised body from the ground, his interrogation of her begins. “The Yankee said you’d have a black backpack with you, stuffed with goodies. Said that I could keep what’s inside if I helped you out. Seems to me that we have a problem.”
She crashes down on all fours, then sits down on the frozen path. Ässä jumps and circles around her bruised and exhausted body, his tail wagging wildly. Kaarina pets the dog halfheartedly. The pain in her chest worsens.
“And what kind of problem is that?”
His deep laughter sounds more amused than anything else. “Well, I don’t see you carrying any bags and I’m pretty sure that hospital gown won’t fit me.”
“So what? Why’d you help me, then? You could see I didn’t have a bag with me.”
“So, I don’t work for free. How are you going to pay for my rescue services?”
Face flushed dark pink, she makes two fists and stares at the Yeti’s amused eyes. “Are you really going to stand there and give me that rapey shit again?”
Surprise flashes in his eyes and his grin widens. “What? I’m rapey?” He stands tall now, his humongous arms hanging long by his wide frame.
“Jesus this Moose is big. No wonder he’s after your antibiotics. He must need the same dosage your horses do.”
“Not now, Bill.”
Her legs are still wobbly, and her upper body twitches with pain. She manages to stand for two seconds, just to crash back down on the ground.
The Yeti takes a step toward her. When Kaarina crawls onto her knees and raises her fists, he spreads his hands as if asking for a truce. “Easy now. I was just going to help you up.” As she lowers her hands again to support her body, he walks over and grabs her by the shoulders. In what seems like a split second, she’s standing upright, holding onto the Unchipped man who’s come to her rescue.
He lets her hold onto his bicep while he continues with his questions. “You were talking to someone called Bill. Is that the Yankee?”
“Don’t let that beefcake call me that.”
“Yeah, that’s him. You can just keep calling him a Yankee.”
“Oh that’s nice, Kay. Real classy. And you’re welcome by the way. That’s the last time I’m going to be saving your ungrateful ass.”
She lets go of Yeti’s arm to stand uncertainly on her own feet. A careful step—an attempt to walk—sends a riot of pain through her ribcage.
“Listen, I just want to go home and stuff my face with whatever moldy breadcrumbs I can find. Forget that this nightmare ever happened. I’ll never visit the city again. Your suburbs and your food don’t interest me. I’d much rather starve to death than see anyone, with or without a chip, ever again. And you can go. I don’t need a babysitter. Just come by tomorrow and I’ll pay—”
Her voice fades out as the street lights down by the tree line all die at once. The familiar hum is abruptly silent. The utility poles are dead.
“Did they just…” she takes a careful step, then another. The panic about to take control of her makes it easier for her to ignore the pain.
“Holy shit. Shit shit shit, Kid! What have you done?”
“They cut the electricity?”
The Yeti focuses on whoever talks inside his head. “The suburbs are dark too, including the camp. Some of my guys are heading out to see why, but I bet you already know the answer to that question. What the actual fuck happened in there? Why did you run?”
“They tried to drill into my brain and turn me off.”
He just stares at her for a moment like he doesn’t understand what she’s saying. “You need to be more specific than that,” he says. She feels compelled to continue.
“They turn off old people too. Store them away.”
“They kidnap them?”
“I don’t know! I mean, have any of your people ever gone missing?”
The horror in his eyes is the only answer she needs.
“Yeah, I bet that’s where they are. At the Chip-Center,” she continues, shaking her head, rush of horror taking her over. “She promised me she could fix my chip. That’s why I went in…If Markus hadn’t been
