see if they were following, just in time to see Jules clutching Maverick and Jacob in a group hug. She was whispering in Jacob’s ear, and I wanted to yank her snake-like fingers off of him, but I knew that now wasn’t the right time for jealousy. Regardless of the pain bound to their relationship, there was still history between all of them and Jules. We had a mission to fine tune, but still, the foolish agony I saw when they were together made my heart squeeze with tension.
We crammed into the small transport after careful maneuvering and losing one of Mia’s three bags of weapons. Maverick typed in our coordinates on the transport’s dash, and we jolted forward with ease.
“We’ll have to pass through the capital to get to Galla,” he said with a sigh. I was worried about traveling through Lackley’s domain.
“Can we go around?” I asked, already fearing the answer.
“Not without adding another day to our trip,” Kemper answered. “The Capital is the halfway point between here and Galla. We’ll just have to be sure and slip through unnoticed.”
“Don’t they have checkpoints?” I asked, wondering how we would get through without Lackley noticing .
“I know a way through the Capital that’ll keep us off their radar,” Tallis said. He put his arms behind his head and stretched out in the cramped space for a nap. I noticed the eerily calm way he approached all of this with scrutiny.
What kind of person could be so nonchalant about all of this?
“Just wake me up when we’re about an hour outside of the gates,” he added with a yawn, ending the conversation.
I grabbed Maverick’s rough hand and gripped it anxiously. I knew that we still had unresolved tension to settle between us thanks to Cyler’s democratic trade deal decision with Ethros, but I craved his contact and reassurance. As Maverick settled into his leather bucket seat, Huxley’s eyes focused on my and Maverick’s enclosed hands, and I cringed at the hostility reflected in his stare.
Huxley crossed his arms across his broad chest and scowled as he bit the corner of his lip in frustration. “Can we get this fucking transport to move faster please?”
Mia observed us all with a grin and rolled her eyes before inconspicuously holding up six fingers with a wink. I blushed.
“How are we going to cause a riot in the Walker Zone?” I asked. I felt the compulsive desire to define every aspect of this mission and prepare. I felt out of control and the uncertainty of it all made me want to scream.
“I packed a lovely little makeshift bomb. It’s a bit temperamental, but will do the job,” Mia said with a shrug. For a brief moment, we all paused in shocked disbelief, but soon everyone immediately began talking at once.
“You brought a BOMB aboard the transport?” Maverick gasped while releasing my hand. He started rummaging through bags on the floorboard until he found one with dynamite and wires. He snapped back into his seat with his hands in the air once he found it.
“A temperamental bomb?” Jacob added with equal shock.
“Will you all please keep it down, I’m trying to rest. It’s just a little bomb, nothing to lose sleep over,” Tallis said while readjusting his arms to get more comfortable. “In fact, it was Jules that suggested it. She fetched it from my tent for me,” he added in a wistful tone that hinted he admired Jules for more than just her ability to come up with a good plan. I wondered how well they knew one another. They were such opposites.
Maverick gave me a small half-smile then began flipping through his tablet, watching and re-watching the security footage and trying to make sense of it all. I wanted to comfort him. I wanted to resolve the pain and hurt between us, but I bit my tongue and let him work, while silently agonizing over what the next few days would bring.
The transport remained in eloquent silence aside from the occasional question and Tallis’ light snores. Hours passed, and the surmounting anxiety within me caused my flinching fingers to continuously pinch my thigh.
Occasionally, I looked outside at the abandoned buildings and wasted cities. I catalogued the images in my mind’s eye as we passed all the emptiness of the Empire that echoed how my heart currently felt.
Cyler and Patrick’s lingering absence was like an uncomfortable itch. I couldn’t relax my mind long enough to sleep, and I felt rigid next to Maverick. I