As evening approached, we found a secluded spot to camp. The Decimator stood close to the Wulf like a silent guardian. Without Lux at the helm, the Warbot seemed less lethal. In Autonomous mode, it was still very capable, and in a pinch, Ada could also override the control systems, but seeing that empty cockpit was heartbreaking. It just fueled the rage inside of me. I knew it was Hinge that had orchestrated all this, just to delay us getting out of this wilderness.

  As we set up a perimeter. The camp was a quiet affair; each of us was lost in our thoughts, the weight of Lux’s absence heavy on our minds. I wanted to keep pursuing, but the group was exhausted, even Eira seemed to be sleeping soundly.

  I took a moment to step away, needing space to gather my thoughts. I looked up at the star-filled sky, a vast expanse that seemed both comforting and indifferent to our plight. Lumia’s advice resonated with me again. Trust—it was a simple concept, yet so hard to hold onto in times of crisis.

  “Trust yourself, trust the team, and trust Eira,” I murmured to myself. It was a mantra that I would need to embrace fully. In this world of uncertainties and dangers, trust was perhaps the strongest weapon we had.

  “Ada, best analysis on who or what took him?” I watched as high overhead another meteor streaked across the starry sky. Not just a shooting star, I felt the impact several minutes later. Either the space jockeys have lost our position, or they are getting worse with their aim, I thought.

  "Was it The Order?" I asked my A.I.

  “Or more raiders?” I amended.

  “It is unknown, but seems likely it was a raiding party, although the presence of Acevedo in the complex suggests possible collusion. We know he worked with Solomon so may still have assets in the raiding parties.”

  “And if they saw us come out but not the assassin, they may have taken Lux as leverage,” I offered. But leverage for what?

  “Or as part of a plan to lure you somewhere specific.”

  “Anything out there ahead of us, any other facilities?”

  “No, Joe, we are heading deep into one of the nation’s largest wilderness areas. No obvious threats or indications of potential danger other than the environment itself.”

  Returning slowly to the camp, I saw the rest of my team preparing for the night, each person doing their part. There was strength in this unity, a resilience that had seen us through countless challenges. Still, my soul was unhinged, I felt a disconnect that I hadn’t known before. I was failing someone who had become very special to me.

  CHAPTER

  FORTY-EIGHT

  The relentless pursuit for Lux continued, each passing hour intensifying the urgency of our mission. As we followed the beacon's signal, the terrain became increasingly treacherous, forcing us to reroute multiple times. The wastelands were living up to their reputation, throwing one obstacle after another in our path.

  Amidst the challenging landscape, a call chime came through—it was from Pops. I hesitated for a moment, considering the timing, but I knew any information he might have could be crucial. “Hey, Pops,” I answered, keeping my voice steady despite the turmoil inside.

  “How’s it hanging in the fun zone?” Pops' voice boomed through, tinged with his characteristic blend of mockery and concern.

  “Pops, we’re not exactly on vacation here,” I replied, casting a glance at the treacherous terrain ahead.

  “Ah, so it’s more like a wilderness retreat, huh? Did they teach you to make fire by rubbing two sticks together yet, or are you still at the ‘how to not wipe your ass with poison oak’ stage?”

  I couldn’t help but crack a smile, even in the midst of our dire situation. “We’re past the poison oak stage, moving on to advanced survival skills and ass-kicking now.”

  “Good to hear,” Pops continued, his tone shifting to a more serious note, but still laced with his characteristic gruffness. “Watch your back with those impactor strikes, kid. Heard they’re just tossing rocks from orbit like a kid skipping stones. Not exactly precision work.”

  “Yeah, we’ve noticed. Thanks for the heads up, Dad.”

  “Yeah, yeah…whatever, kid. And Joe,” he added, “remember to keep your pants on this time. Can't keep hanging your willy out every time a female needs a ride."

  I looked at Eira sleeping again and shook my head. I had figured out that my dad could normally pinpoint my location, but increasingly, I wondered if he also had access to data coming through my ocular feed. Could he see what I was seeing? Pull up a chair for that thought to sit in. What if your dad could literally see everything you were doing whenever he wanted…yeah.

  "I met one of your old friends, Pops."

  "Oh? I thought they were all dead."

  "Not this one, not by a long shot."

  I heard him make a sound.

  "Lumia.”

  The line went dead silent for so long I thought I had lost him.

  “And you survived?” he asked with genuine respect.

  “She was very…” I couldn’t quite come up with the right word.

  “She’s the devil," my father said, interrupting me. "And she’s a goddess. Sometimes at the same time. Goddamn, son, never, ever cross her, Joe, she is not any enemy you want to have. Hell, I thought she would be gone by now."

  It was rare to hear my father speak like this. Rare to the point of I couldn’t even recall it ever happening.

  “I believe we are very much on the same side, Pops. I would like to know, can I trust her?"

  This time the response was immediate, "Without hesitation, son. She will never betray you."

  I appreciated the earlier warning, though it did little to ease the knot of worry in my stomach. “Thanks, Pops. We’re doing our best out here, but I could use a ride out of this campground. You should stop by, we’re building birdhouses next, and you know how bad I am with sharp tools."

  His words, brief as they were, offered a small measure of comfort. As usual, he ended the call abruptly, and I refocused on the task at hand. I marked that one down as an almost normal sounding call between father and son. I don’t even think he called me a dickhead that time.

  "Comms back up, Ada?" I subvocalized.

  “Intermittently, yes. The dampening field is no longer the problem. It appears the meteor impacts are creating too much local interference.”

  Naturally. "Just keep trying to raise Dami, Hauk, or the Stone Mountain. Hell, anyone else that can give us an assist.”

  Our journey was not just a physical one; it was a battle against time and the uncertainty of what we might find. Priest and Sumo, leading the tracking effort, moved with determined focus, their senses attuned to any sign of Lux.

  As we navigated a particularly dense area. I had to park, and we exited the transport to scout ahead. Eira suddenly stopped, her posture tense. She gestured for silence, her eyes scanning the surroundings. We all halted, weapons ready, sensing the imminent danger.

  Without warning, a group of pregnant Furies burst from the underbrush, their grotesque forms a horrifying sight. These were not ordinary Furies; their swollen bodies suggested they were near birthing, making them even more unpredictable and dangerous. We’d already learned how hard the pregnant females were to kill up on the Stone Mountain.

  Eira stepped forward, head lowered, raising her hands in a calming gesture, trying to communicate with the frenzied creatures. But her pleas fell on deaf ears as the Furies, driven by instinct and aggression, launched their attack. Eira looked at me with sad acceptance and nodded.

  The attack was brutal and sudden. These creatures were bad enough normally, but amp them up on whatever hormone cocktail they were generating now, and …well, fuck! We fought back with everything we had, but the Furies’ sheer numbers and ferocity were overwhelming. Their attacks were relentless, each strike filled with savage desperation.

  I found myself back-to-back with Koog, our weapons blazing as we tried to hold off the onslaught. “We need to push through!” I shouted over the din of battle. "Aim for the thigh muscles."

  "Hard to do while I’m trying to keep that goddamn claw from slicing me in half," Priest yelled through gritted teeth.

  Amidst the chaos, I could see Eira continuing her attempts to communicate with the Furies, her words lost in the violence of the moment. It was a futile effort; the creatures were beyond reason.

  The battle raged, a maelstrom of fury and survival instincts. There must have been an inexhaustible supply of the Furies because they just didn’t stop coming at us. We were being pushed to our limits, our ammunition dwindling, our energy flagging. The creatures came at us like tropical storms, wave after relentless wave.

  In the heat of the fight, I caught a glimpse of Priest and Sumo, battling fiercely on the other side of the clearing. We were a team, each member fighting not just for their survival, but for each other.

  The Furies’ numbers finally began to dwindle, their attacks lessening as their ranks thinned. We pushed forward, exploiting the weakening in their assault, determined to break free from the trap.

  As the last of the Furies fell, we regrouped, panting and covered in the remnants of the battle. The encounter had taken a toll on us, both physically and mentally. But there was no time to rest; Lux’s life hung in the balance.

  "Ada, can you operate the Warbot remotely?" We had attached it multiple ways to try and even out the weight, but the damn thing was so large and heavy even the Wulf had a hard time hauling it.

  "I think we need to have it walk point," I added.

  "I can do that, but the telepresence is not as fast as Lux has been. The reactions will be slowed."

  "Do it!" I ordered. We might need more firepower, and with the Decimator now detached, the Wulf rode much higher.

  As we navigated through the treacherous terrain, the rumbling sounds of distant impacts continued to regularly reverberate through the air. It was a constant reminder of the ongoing chaos, the unseen threat from above that loomed over our mission.

  Ada shared her analysis. “The pattern of these asteroid strikes suggests they’re not well targeted. If The Order had precision control, they would have hit the High Mountain complex directly. It seems all they can do is launch larger asteroids and hope for a hit, or enough collateral damage to affect us.”

  Her words were a small comfort but did little to diminish the unease that came with each distant rumble. The random nature of the strikes made them no less terrifying—if anything, it added an element of unpredictability that kept us on edge.

  As we advanced, the terrain became increasingly difficult, forcing us to take detours and find new paths. Each deviation from our planned route was a frustrating setback, but we had no choice. The landscape of the Red Zone was as much an adversary as any enemy we faced.

  Despite the challenges, we were closing in on Lux’s beacon. The signal was now steady and strong, guiding us like a north star through the chaos. The team moved with a renewed sense of purpose, each step bringing us closer to our goal.

  The journey was taxing, both physically and mentally. Our bodies were weary from the constant vigilance and combat, our minds strained from the relentless pressure of the mission. Yet, there was no room for doubt or hesitation – Lux’s life depended on us.

  As night began to fall, we found a relatively secure area to set up a temporary camp. The darkness of the Red Zone was all-encompassing, the stars above obscured by the lingering dust and debris from the asteroid strikes. I hated to stop the pursuit, but the fatigue was making everyone a bit crazy.

  Around the campfire, the team was quiet, each lost in their thoughts. The day's events had taken a toll, and the constant threat of another impact strike loomed over us like a dark cloud.

  "What a fucking day!" Priest said.

  “We’re close,” I said, breaking the silence. “Tomorrow, we find the boy.”

  "Then what, Boss?" Koog asked.

  I got where he was going. More of the same did none of us any good.

  "We're getting out of here," I stated flatly. "Enough of the wastelands, enough of these motherfucking monsters, and enough of assholes in space throwing shit at us."

  "Oorah the fuck out of that, Master Sergeant!" Koog yelled.

  CHAPTER

  FORTY-NINE

  After a few hours’ sleep, in the dim light of early dawn, with Wyoming’s rugged landscape stretching out before us, I made a difficult decision. It was one that would split our team, but it felt like the only viable option to safely expedite Lux’s rescue. His beacon had slowed significantly through the night. His captors had been moving almost as fast as us, but now were in the rugged backcountry. One man alone might be able to catch up.

  I stood before Priest, Koog, and Eira, my resolve firm. “I’m going on foot with Sumo to find Lux. We can move faster and cover more ground over this terrain.”

  Priest started to protest, “Joe, that’s a solo mission in some of the most dangerous…”

  I cut him off, “I know, but it’s our best shot. Lux’s signal is moving again, and we can’t keep pace with the Wulf and the Decimator. I need to do this.”

  They knew arguing was futile; they saw the determination in my eyes. Koog nodded reluctantly. “Shit, okay. Just...be careful, man.”

  "Hell, man, I was made for this," I grinned. "No…literally, I was, really."

  "We get it," both said, slapping me on the back.

  "Monitor comms and my beacon. If you see me coming back running…"

  "Yeah, yeah, Kovach's first rule of battle," they both echoed. "We'll try and keep up."

  With a quick check of my gear and a pack for Sumo, who wagged his tail in readiness, we set off into the wilderness. The journey that lay ahead was going to be zero fun, a trek through some of the most inhospitable parts of the Red Zone.

  Even in the first hours, the landscape became a relentless adversary. Mountains rose like giant monoliths, their peaks shrouded in mist and their slopes steep and treacherous. Vast cliffs presented sheer drops that required careful navigation, their rocky faces offering little in the way of handholds.

  Raging rivers cut through the valleys, their waters swollen from recent rains, making crossings an even more dangerous endeavor. More than once, I found myself chest-deep in churning cold water, clinging to rocks to avoid being swept away, hanging on to Sumo's drag handles to keep him beside me.

  The physical exertion was grueling, pushing my enhanced body to its limits. My muscles ached with the effort of the constant climb and descent, but the thought of Lux, alone and in unknown hands, drove me forward.

  We ran, climbed, swam, and jumped for twelve hours straight, halving the distance to the boy's beacon. As night began to fall, I found a secluded spot to rest. The exhaustion was overwhelming, but sleep was elusive, my mind racing with thoughts of what Lux might be enduring.

  Sumo stayed close, his senses alert to any danger as I tried to gather my strength for the next day’s journey. The trek was indeed an endurance course from hell, but it was one I had to complete. Lux’s safety depended on it, and I wasn’t about to let him down.

  Lying there, under the vast canopy of stars, I realized how unprepared we all had been for all of this. I was career military, supposedly the pointy-end of the spear, and now, I was barely hanging on. I now felt sure the enemy was using a kid as bait and asteroids as weapons. The end of the world wasn't enough for these fucks—they still had more shit in mind for the survivors. What level of goddamn crazy had come up with all this shit?

  Navigating through the treacherous terrain, I paused briefly to consult Ada. "Pull up Lux's beacon. I need to plot the quickest route to him."

  Ada's interface flickered to life, displaying the beacon's location on a digital map. Lux was close, possibly just a few hours away. But as I zoomed out on the map, a wave of alarm washed over me. We were on the outer edge of the Grand Tetons, dangerously close to the Yellowstone caldera.

  "Ada," I said, a sense of rapidly growing urgency in my voice, "umm…what happens if an asteroid were to strike here?"

  Ada's response was as calculated as it was chilling. "Most likely, Joe, you would die, possibly followed by much of the rest of the world."

  "Well, fuck!" I said to myself. "So, now, give me the bad news," I muttered sarcastically.

  She continued on unbothered, "The impact in this region could potentially trigger seismic activity, leading to an eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano caldera. The result would be catastrophic, not just here locally, but globally."

  Like the old Star Wars movie my dad made us watch repeatedly. It's a trap! It was the only explanation I could see, and it fit. The Order was herding us into one of the most volatile geological zones on the planet. They hadn't been able to successfully target us with an asteroid, but I bet they could successfully target Yellowstone. Helpfully, Ada had the size of the caldera in my HUD. God Almighty, forty-three miles long and twenty-eight miles wide—yeah, they could hit that. I quickened my pace, the gravity of the situation lending speed to my steps. I had to reach Lux before it was too late.

  As I neared the kid’s beacon location, my worst fears were confirmed. Lux was there alright, but he wasn't alone. A group of Cyborgs surrounded him, their menacing forms a stark contrast against the beautiful, natural backdrop. Lux was suspended by his arms, a look of pain and defiance on his young face.

  Then, through the comm link, Lux's voice came, weak but steady. "I see you, Joe, and I have an idea." He obviously had not been wasting his time with these goons, the kid laid out his plan.

  What he suggested was basically a frontal assault, but I agreed, it might be our best and fastest chance. With precise timing and a bit of luck, we might just pull it off.

  Just as I was about to charge the creatures, a deafening roar filled the air. Streaking overhead way too close, as I had feared, they'd aimed an asteroid deep in Yellowstone Park at tremendous speed. I was lifted several meters off the ground by the impact. The ejecta thrown up was mountainous and tinged with fire. The ground didn’t just shake, it had massive waves. Whole trees were thrown like matchsticks. Several of the Cyborgs went down. One was crushed by an enormous boulder.