Chapters (68)
Approaching the crest of the small hill she slowed, stopped, and dismounted. The figure of the young teenage girl, diminutive in the vastness of the empty land, remained so still and quiet for so long that she disappeared into the background. While Sofia waited, and allowed her senses to flow outwards, searching for any sign of threat, a long-eared jackrabbit hopped onto the road not ten yards away from her. With its filthy, matted fur it was difficult to see at first, even with her dark adapted eyes. But she caught the movement in her peripheral vision as it hopped across the tarmac. Were she on the trail, as she had been so long ago in another life, she might have shot the rabbit, or used a hunting bow if stealth was in order, to secure her meal for the day. But she had eaten well before leaving Temple, and had no need of sustenance.
What she needed was to pass through Blackstone’s defences and into the heart of his lair.
After a few minutes, satisfied that she remained alone on the road, she pushed off, soon cresting the gentle rise and coasting down the slope on the far side. The moderate elevation provided her with a view of Fort Hood for the first time. It seemed to blaze in the night like a fierce jewel, but she knew that to be an illusion. So used was she to travelling through the haunted ruins of America that even a few hundred houses lit up, and a few streetlights strung between them, were enough to create the impression of bountiful life and energy in the midst of an almost infinite wilderness.
She slipped down towards her destination, applying the handbrakes occasionally lest she accelerate to a speed at which she could not stop in a controlled fashion whenever she wanted. Sofia tried to relate the small, sparkling jewellery box of the city ahead of her to the maps she had memorised, and which she carried in her backpack. It was not easy. Not cloaked as she was in obsidian darkness. But again, she did not allow any sense of uncertainty to undermine her determination. She had already chosen the place in which she would lay up and wait for an opportunity to present itself. She had a rough, working idea of how she might use the city’s terrain to her advantage.
And if that idea proved to be ill-founded, she would adapt.
She had learned that from her father and her friends. To survive, to get what you needed, you had to adapt.
The road levelled out and she began to pedal again.