Were both machine-heads, said Megan. That means we can talk privately via our implants. Like you did back there with Bash, right?

Gabrielle thought for a moment. Before we came here, Tarrant shot something into my neck, some kind of machine. He called it

An inhibitor? Megan interrupted.

Gabrielle nodded. How did you know?

There are ways of telling, said Megan. Like the bruise on the back of your neck. And the fact I just tried and failed to communicate with you through my implants.

Oh. Gabrielle instinctively reached up to touch her skin there.

Soon as we find a medbox, well make getting rid of that thing a priority. She glanced up towards the horizon. Sunset is still a couple of hours away, and that settlement we were aiming for is a good twenty kilometres from here. We should try and cover as much ground as we can before then. We dont want to stick around here one second longer than we have to.

Gabrielle nodded. Sure. She stepped over and touched her fingers to Bashs elbow. Megan watched, astonished, as Bash followed her lead with surprisingly little prompting.

Has he spoken to you again since you came looking for me? asked Megan, sensing a touch of bitterness in her tone.

Gabrielle appeared not to notice it. Not a peep, she replied.

Megan nodded and swiftly stepped over to take Bashs other arm. You up for a long walk? she asked.

Sure, said Gabrielle. Beats getting shot at.

An hour later, they could still see the same dark plume of smoke spiralling high into the evening sky behind them.

For a while, they followed what looked like an animal trail, exhaustion reducing both women to silence. The land on one side of them dropped away into a deep crevasse, at the bottom of which Megan could see a river churning. There were hills up ahead that looked likely to prove a challenge, but a cluster of canopy trees stood closer, just a few kilometres away and rising tall above the surrounding landscape. If they became too exhausted, or the weather deteriorated, they could at least shelter there for a while.

The sight of these trees reminded Megan of the first time she had ever met Bash, and she glanced sideways at his broad features, wishing she could share this same memory with him. Somehow it felt almost as if shed come full circle.

She ignored the tiny voice in the back of her head that was whispering how they could get to the settlement so much quicker if they just left him behind.

In fact it took nearly six hours of walking, including a number of detours, to reach the nearest of those canopy trees. In the meantime, they had covered seven or eight kilometres at most.