The God Codex

5. Wounded

BOOK OF MIA: 2081

Chapter 5: Wounded

I wheeze like an asthmatic carrying a ton of weight or climbing a steep hill. A very steep hill. Neither of which is true. I'm running through a fairly flat ground, albeit in a forest, struggling to see the dark figures in their nightshades hurtling ahead of me. Now and then, Nate's disembodied voice coaxes me to be faster, be quieter, and to keep up. All of which I'm trying to do, but failing. I am probably scaring the life out of the critters and animals nearby.

"How much further?" I huff, knowing we've barely travelled more than a click. I never thought I would regret bunking Health & Fitness classes, but right now, I feel like a lump of dough. A lump of dough that's too soggy. Man, I'm out of shape.

Before I get an irritating answer back for my stupid question, like a child asking 'Are we there yet?' something disturbs the surrounding air. It flicks my hair and splinters the tree trunk ahead of me.

"What was that?" I manage as another whistling sound passes me, too close to my hurt ear for my liking. Soon, distinct sounds of multiple guns firing fill the air — their bullets singing — around us.

"Run!" Gems yells to my right as he weaves around trees, his legs faster than I can keep up with. A blur in the night. To my left, Nate's invisible; too quick for my eyes. I struggle. My calves burn in protest, not used to the activity demanded of them.

"Mia!" Nate's voice reaches me as bullets whistle past in the night; a scary serenade that increases rapidly. It sounds like a machine gun, but I know that's not true. It's countless Sentries, ghosts in the forest, in hot pursuit.

How do the Sentries know where we were? I try to locate Gems to my right, but it's hard to monitor a camouflaged target while trying to dodge bullets and splintered barks flying around me. I am so close to calling out for Mum — it's not even funny. The boys are way ahead of me. Their codex, in tune with their need for flight. Mine? Well, I can't really tell why mine is taking so long to reboot. Gems shot me with a taser more than an hour ago. Something is wrong with my tech, and for the first time panic wells in my throat, clamping down hard as a bullet grazes my thigh. I drop like a log to the damp forest floor and excited shouts ring around me.

"We got one!"

"Find the others. They can't be far ahead!"

"Alpha group take left. Delta, go right. The group's using nightshade."

Keeping as low to the ground as possible, I scramble to my elbow and crawl to the nearest tree. I don't know what I'll do. Outrunning them is impossible, and I am not dumb enough to try it. It'd be like tempting a lion with fresh meat. I hug my legs to my chest as close as I can, and keep my back to the tree, trying to control the rasping sound of my breath. Perhaps, if I stay still, they will walk past me, the three Sentries that are approaching. But then again, I am just a lump of flesh leaking infrared. The heat radiating off my body is easily detectable to the infrared night vision the Sentries use.

"Sentry 176 is still pinging," someone yells out.

"Two Sentries after 176! We'll get the girl. Go!"

I can hear the leaves and debris crunch underneath the approaching footsteps. Their flashlights scoop around the brush, searching for me. They know where I fell. I know this from their approach. They are zeroing in to the longitude and latitude of where their advanced tracking bullet hit a target — me. For the moment, that's where they will go. I know this from the countless War & World games I played with Nate, so I'm familiar with military workings, but I'm not as good as Nate is. He beats me with a clean sweep every time. His dad's a high-ranking official in the Coalition Army, so high-up no one knows his official title. Or at least Nate doesn't. And what Nate doesn't know, I don't know.