with the snatchers. It made for a more exciting chase for the viewers. As long as Joan could see just one drone, she knew Nox was not close.
She kept jogging at an easy—but quick—pace. The sparse foliage offered limited cover from the drone. She tried to stay under the trees, but it stayed with her. Thirst overpowered her. She stopped under a tree and pulled out a bottle of water from her pack. She took a long drink, savoring it and listening to the incessant buzz of the drone. It saw her and stopped, hovering just above the tree under which she rested.
She stared at the drone, knowing the citizens watching their tele-screens stared back at her. Replacing the water bottle and zipping up her backpack, she spotted a rock on the ground.She picked it up and toyed with it, while she looked through the branches at the drone above. Her breathing slowed, as she took deep, measured breaths. Then she ran into the open and heaved the rock at the hovering drone.
In a control room filled with tele-screens, one screen went fuzzy and then blank. An officer wearing a headphone asked incredulously, “Did we lose drone one? Did she
throw
something at it? Have the other drone stay higher. Don’t let it get too close to her.” He shook his head. “This is a first.”
Nox and the officers drove to Area Six and waited at the top of the cliff, right where Joan had climbed up, half an hour before. His wrist phone vibrated. He answered.
“What the hell is going on?” his division commander demanded. “Do you know who I just got off the phone with? Our Governor. I was talking to Our Governor himself. He’s pissed. He’s watching this girl make a fool of us on the tele-screen. Do you know what’ll happen when people find out she’s Our Governor’s donor and that she escaped the ghetto walls? The drone is down. Down! We think she hit it—threw something at it!”
Looking at a drone above him, Nox tried to calm the man down, “I know who she is, sir. Don’t worry. I’m at Area Six right now, and I’ll get a dog team. We’ll pick her up soon.”
Nox motioned to an officer to get the dogs. He looked down the cliff. Duncan and another officer hiked around the bottom near the stream. They picked up an item from the water.
“Find something?” Nox shouted.
“It’s a wrist phone, sir,” the officer yelled.
Duncan hollered, “Did 23 own a wrist phone, sir?”
“Bring it up.”
Like Joan, Duncan climbed easily up the cliff.
He handed the device to Nox, “It’s all banged up and damaged from the water, sir.”
“The tech group may be able to get something from it.”
Nox looked down the cliff, where the other officer struggled to climb up. Shaking his head, he said, “Can you help him up? Get a rope or something.”
Just then, the truck with the dogs pulled up.
Joan detected the sound of dogs baying in the distance. Dogs. They tracked her with dogs. She started running again, picking up the pace. But no matter how fast she ran, the dogs kept getting louder.
All of a sudden, she was out in the open. Ahead of her dropped another cliff. It was unmistakably the gorge her father told her about. Standing at the precipice, she gasped at the deep, sheer drop. On the other side swelled a dense forest. The Outside. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, thinking about it. The gorge stretched wide across, too wide for her to jump.
She darted along the edge of it, hoping to find a narrow section. About a hundred yards ahead rose a small hill. The top of the hill offered her a better view of the gorge. She surveyed it all, as it wound its way through the countryside, like a river through a valley. She spied a location a mile farther, where it narrowed. Maybe there she could jump it. She took off, with dogs barking in the background. She couldn’t run near the precipice. It was too overgrown, so she cut inland, away from the gorge.
Governor Gates looked at the tele-screen. The single drone broadcast the snatchers
She kept jogging at an easy—but quick—pace. The sparse foliage offered limited cover from the drone. She tried to stay under the trees, but it stayed with her. Thirst overpowered her. She stopped under a tree and pulled out a bottle of water from her pack. She took a long drink, savoring it and listening to the incessant buzz of the drone. It saw her and stopped, hovering just above the tree under which she rested.
She stared at the drone, knowing the citizens watching their tele-screens stared back at her. Replacing the water bottle and zipping up her backpack, she spotted a rock on the ground.She picked it up and toyed with it, while she looked through the branches at the drone above. Her breathing slowed, as she took deep, measured breaths. Then she ran into the open and heaved the rock at the hovering drone.
In a control room filled with tele-screens, one screen went fuzzy and then blank. An officer wearing a headphone asked incredulously, “Did we lose drone one? Did she
throw
something at it? Have the other drone stay higher. Don’t let it get too close to her.” He shook his head. “This is a first.”
Nox and the officers drove to Area Six and waited at the top of the cliff, right where Joan had climbed up, half an hour before. His wrist phone vibrated. He answered.
“What the hell is going on?” his division commander demanded. “Do you know who I just got off the phone with? Our Governor. I was talking to Our Governor himself. He’s pissed. He’s watching this girl make a fool of us on the tele-screen. Do you know what’ll happen when people find out she’s Our Governor’s donor and that she escaped the ghetto walls? The drone is down. Down! We think she hit it—threw something at it!”
Looking at a drone above him, Nox tried to calm the man down, “I know who she is, sir. Don’t worry. I’m at Area Six right now, and I’ll get a dog team. We’ll pick her up soon.”
Nox motioned to an officer to get the dogs. He looked down the cliff. Duncan and another officer hiked around the bottom near the stream. They picked up an item from the water.
“Find something?” Nox shouted.
“It’s a wrist phone, sir,” the officer yelled.
Duncan hollered, “Did 23 own a wrist phone, sir?”
“Bring it up.”
Like Joan, Duncan climbed easily up the cliff.
He handed the device to Nox, “It’s all banged up and damaged from the water, sir.”
“The tech group may be able to get something from it.”
Nox looked down the cliff, where the other officer struggled to climb up. Shaking his head, he said, “Can you help him up? Get a rope or something.”
Just then, the truck with the dogs pulled up.
Joan detected the sound of dogs baying in the distance. Dogs. They tracked her with dogs. She started running again, picking up the pace. But no matter how fast she ran, the dogs kept getting louder.
All of a sudden, she was out in the open. Ahead of her dropped another cliff. It was unmistakably the gorge her father told her about. Standing at the precipice, she gasped at the deep, sheer drop. On the other side swelled a dense forest. The Outside. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, thinking about it. The gorge stretched wide across, too wide for her to jump.
She darted along the edge of it, hoping to find a narrow section. About a hundred yards ahead rose a small hill. The top of the hill offered her a better view of the gorge. She surveyed it all, as it wound its way through the countryside, like a river through a valley. She spied a location a mile farther, where it narrowed. Maybe there she could jump it. She took off, with dogs barking in the background. She couldn’t run near the precipice. It was too overgrown, so she cut inland, away from the gorge.
Governor Gates looked at the tele-screen. The single drone broadcast the snatchers
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