“I’ll come back for you, little viper,” I’d said over and over, holding her close. “I’ll never abandon you.”
“I know, Max.” She’d sniffled into my shoulder. “Promise you won’t get a boyfriend and forget about me.”
I’d laughed and cried with her, tapping her nose. “Never. Not even after you get yourself a nice boyfriend someday.”
She’d giggled.
I drew a sharp breath, forcing my mind back to the present. “We leave at dawn tomorrow. During first shift. That puts us a day ahead before the overseers and guards even realize we’re missing.”
“They’re pushing us over fourteen hours now.” Kaid’s face tightened with resentment. “They won’t notice until second shift, when we don’t come back up.”
My friends nodded, determination settling on their bony faces.
“Let’s go through the plan one last time.” I tapped Utah twice, where our mining district sat. “Common knowledge says going west and deep into the White Witch’s territory is the easiest path.”
The Rupture had changed everything—globalgeography, power structures. Old powers fell. New ones rose from the ashes.
North America had split into four kingdoms, though the major cities kept their old names. Four heirs ruled the Zodiac Covenant in the Midwest, their base in Denver, Colorado. The White Witch had formed the Pallid Court in San Francisco. The South—Texas, part of New Mexico—belonged to the Collector. His followers called him the Saint. He named his kingdom the Haven.
After the White Witch seized power, the former federal government retreated north. Frozen lands. Washington, parts of Montana, regions of Canada. They called themselves New Columbia.
“That was the mistake all the freedom seekers made,” I continued. “They went west because there are no barbed-wire fences. They thought if they reached Nevada, they could pass through Oregon and go north to New Columbia. They thought the former federal government would be kinder to folks like them. Like us.”
“Would they?” Kaid asked. “They don’t approve of slavery, right? Didn’t their ancestor, President Lincoln, abolish it?”
“Max can’t know either.” Desta rolled her eyes. “He’s spent more time in the bowels of the tunnels than any of us.”
“We don’t know much about the surface except what Missy scraped together for us,” I admitted. “But I know this: if we go west, we won’t make it. All the forces will focus on hunting deserters going west. It’s the obvious route. The only way through is east.”
That was what my parents had told me:Go east, Max.Always east.And somehow, in my bones, it felt right. So when I’d dug the new tunnel for our escape, I’d chosen that direction, even though it was harder, even though it took longer.
“But are we sure it’s safer in the Zodiac Covenant?” Kaid asked. “I’ve heard the heirs are all monsters.”
If you got more than three people together, they’d never agree on anything. That was why I always decided and let them choose whether to follow.
I threw up my hands. “We’re not wasting time arguing about people we don’t know being assholes or not. We’re not marching up to their military fortress. We just need to blend into the satellite suburbs in their outer territory, then figure out our next move.”
“We can be farmers. Builders,” Rogue chimed in, ever supportive. “We’ve got the skills. We’re hard workers. We’ll prove ourselves.”
None of us wanted to be miners again.
Kaid nodded, looking more hopeful now, less afraid.
“I wasn’t challenging you, Max,” he said quickly. “I just…that’s what everyone’s thinking, right?”
I moved my finger to the eastern region on the map. “This is our destination: Ashford, Wyoming. Neither the White Witch nor the heirs have firm control up north. It’s one of the frontier towns. If we get separated, we head there. That’s where we find each other. Agreed?”
They all nodded.
“No one’s ever breached the mine from the east. The guards won’t expect us to try. When we come out of the tunnel, we’ll be past the military outposts, past the warded barbed-wire fences. But we still have to cross theScorched Wastes—former east Utah and Arizona—and then the land of the mutant cannibals. There’s no avoiding it.”
All three of my friends held their breath.
“We have weapons.” I gestured to the crude knives and tools we’d stockpiled for months. “I’ll lead you. But if you still want to bail?—”
“It’s a slow death staying here anyway.” Desta’s voice carried resignation.
“At least out there, we have a chance.” Kaid echoed her.