“Who is this she?”
“Laura… Doctor Solomon. She said they can turn Unchipped into Chipped. That’s when they drugged me. Next thing I knew I was lying on an operating table, staring at a drill.”
The Yeti shakes his head. Not a trace of amusement remains on his face. “What kind of an assbrain trusts anything the Chipped have to say? And why the hell would you even consider becoming one of them? To live in some make-believe world, staring at things that don’t exist for the rest of your life? As far as I can tell, whenever I have to visit the city, those suckers seem depressed as fuck. I would chop my hands off before I’d ever let them get their filthy hands on my brain again.”
Shame washes over her. Why did she want to become Chipped so badly? After everything she had already seen in the city?
Raino, giving up on life, full of regret and sorrow.
The blue suits at the pharmacy, desperately seeking comfort from things like rabbit feet and happiness pills.
Markus, lonely and tormented by a promise of materialism.
How would her life be any better if she was Chipped? She’d be drugged every night, brainwashed to work for things she doesn’t really need. Then she’d be drugged some more, so her numb brain could manage to believe she’s happy and content with life.
“I’m not going to say I told you so.”
After ignoring Bill and turning her face away from the Yeti’s stern stare, Kaarina takes another shot at walking. The power being shut down means war. A whole new kind of witch hunt. She needs to get back to the barn. Find a weapon. No matter what her old morals and rules say about it.
Three steps forward. She stumbles on a rock, falls face down on the pine needles that cover the path.
“Just let me carry you to the barn.”
“No. Don’t touch me.”
She tries to shoo him away, but the Yeti dodges her hand. “Stop that. Just let me get you up before—”
“Back off. I don’t need your help.”
He huffs but stands still, watching Kaarina crawl slowly forward on the path. “Clearly.”
His comment gets through to her. She lets her body fall limp on the forest floor. “Even if I would be willing to accept your help… I lied. I don’t have anything at the barn to pay you with. You should go back to your people and hide until the guards are back in the city and the power’s turned on again.”
This gets his attention. In two long strides, he’s by her side. Like he’s picking up a ragdoll, he lifts her up and holds her steady. “What if the power doesn’t come back on? How are we supposed to live in the suburbs without electricity? We’ll freeze to death.”
Unsure what to tell him, she stares into his startled eyes, wondering why she was once so intimidated by this man. Sure, he’s big and strong, kind of a creep. Yes, he’s the leader of a black market gang… but suddenly it seems unlikely that this man would ever hurt her.
“Wait!”
The shout carries through the woods. The Yeti suddenly shoves her back behind him. Embarrassed to touch him but without much of a choice, Kaarina holds onto the man by his waist. Even with his support, her legs shake and totter beneath her weight.
“Oh, it’s this doofus again.”
Markus’s blue suit flickers between the pine trees, as he runs toward them—two black backpacks swinging from his back.
***
The Yeti walks in circles around the dimly lit barnyard. A flashlight beam shines on the gravel, bouncing around in the man’s grip. He’s in the middle of a conversation with the rest of his gang, his mouth pressed into a hard, stern line.
Kaarina rummages through her things up in the hayloft. She packs what she can fit in the new backpack Markus handed her in the woods. The Yeti hasn’t claimed it—at least not yet. She zips it up, then stares off into space for a moment. Where she’s about to go next, she has no idea.
Rocky’s nowhere to be seen, which makes her happy and relieved. Now healthy and strong, the gelding has rejoined the herd that roams around in the nearby woods. The horses will look for her to check for food. They’ll be confused when they don’t find any, but they won’t starve without her here. There is plenty of food around for them to eat—hay, grass, and plants. These days the winters are too short to kill it all off. They’ll learn to survive without human help.
A careful knock on the door draws her attention. Markus walks in, wearing a black and purple women’s winter jacket and matching snow pants. He spreads his hands and laughs a little. “Got a matching knit hat to go with this?” It’s weird to see him without a blue suit on.
The Yeti’s voice rumbles from the barnyard. “Okay you two, quit your crossdressing and come downstairs. I’ve talked to my people. At least a dozen Chipped are making their way through the woods. They’re definitely coming for you, Kid.”
She grabs her bag and flashlight, points the light beam down the hayloft stairs that lead them back down to the barnyard.
The Yeti has fallen silent again by the time they get to him. He stands still, staring into nothingness. Then he nods and brings his focus back to this place and moment. Kaarina reads his expression: calm, cool, collected. Why wouldn’t he be? He doesn’t care what happens to her, whether she’s dragged back onto that operating table or not.
But he also hasn’t tried to steal her black backpack, or anything else of hers. He seems uninterested in the animals around the barn, except Ässä whom he must shoo away every other minute. The dog has changed his opinion about the big man. The terrier now eagerly jumps against his leg, doing all he can to get the Yeti’s attention.
The Unchipped leader hasn’t harmed any of them in any way. Instead, he’s
