Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,44

A seat large enough to sit two, plus a rack on the back to stow gear. It rumbled and popped, but it could move, and if hopped just right, a person could pivot on a single wheel with the other three in the air. She practiced a few times, her ass coming off the seat for a second while just her hands held on.

The exhilaration had her uttering a small squeal that turned into a wince as the vehicle hit the ground hard and jostled her—and the baby. With a few tweaks, the vehicle could really be made into something extra and safe. She didn’t know how much her body and the pregnancy could handle. What she did know was she had to train herself to be tough early or she’d never make it to the day she’d give birth.

With her new wheels, it took her another day and a half to reach the outskirts of the Marsh city. At Alfred’s behest, she ditched Joe in a thicket. Joe being the name she’d given her transport. Alfred was less than impressed.

It wasn’t too difficult to find enough debris to hide Joe. As added security, she fused some wires to the foliage and tied it into a tiny repeating vibration that radiated out and would discourage things from getting near it. It wouldn’t stand up under hard scrutiny or someone determined, but it would hopefully work long enough for her to get in, find what she was looking for, and leave.

And she didn’t just mean supplies. She intended to find out if Titan survived and somehow ended up here. She had some hope given the man who’d sold her Joe spoke of a robot man winning all the fights in the arena for the last bit.

People were calling him the Tin Man.

Could it be Titan? She needed to get inside the city and find out. According to aerial maps Alfred provided, she was an hour’s walk from the city. She took off at a brisk pace, a pack slung over her shoulder. Her clothing was dusty from travel, her face and hair not much better. She’d used the portable cleansing unit to create the trap to protect Joe. Hopefully no one would get close enough to smell her before she could locate a shower. But if they did, they’d never guess she was the runaway daughter of the Emerald queen.

She followed a beaten-down road, the scrub grass mowed on either side highlighting the narrow strip of worn dirt. She watched the waving fronds for motion against the grain, usually the sign of something hungry coming to take a bite. The marshland on either side of the road seemed deceptively still, the water not rippling, and yet she wouldn’t dare set a foot in it.

Catching a glimpse of something in the sky, she shielded her eyes and glanced up at the soaring shape of a bird. She recognized Alfred, who she’d sent off with a round metal disc. Anyone looking at it would see a silver mirror, but it emitted a signal she could follow. Alfred would plant it as a beacon if he happened to locate Titan.

If.

She had to wonder, given Alfred’s previous opinion of Titan, if he’d bother to let her know or lie. She’d given the robot free will. Not always a good thing.

As she walked, the left lens in her goggles showed her the footage from Alfred’s camera. No sign of a welcoming party, as it should be. A dusty, lonely traveler didn’t merit a welcoming committee. Her right eye kept scanning the area around her. Things had a tendency of jumping out of tall grass. Those things got shot. She made it to the bridge ambush free. A good thing. Drawing attention would work against her.

She stood at the far end of the bridge and waited by the metal post. It stood about four feet out of the ground with a simple grill on the face of it. A speaker of some sort, but she didn’t see a camera.

“State your business.” The post crackled its demand.

“Just a traveler looking to visit the market.” The excuse she’d used on previous trips. Of course, she’d usually arrived, bearing the tools of her metal trade, via the guarded tunnel on the far side of the city.

“Name.”

She knew better than to use her real one. “Harley.”

“Current home address?”

That question was new. She couldn’t exactly tell them the truth. Incognito was the game. “I don’t see how you need to know.”

“Current address.”

The