Resilient - Evolution

Chapter 10: Same - Same, Different Day

Eric said, "I don't know about this, Nina. If they can shoot right through a field, then the shielding on the suit won't protect you from their bows. That's a big risk. What do you hope to gain from all this?"

"I don't know," she said. "I've just got a feeling that we need these people."

"Can your drones surround the area and keep an eye on things at least?" he asked.

"When those kids left back there, the drones lost them all in seconds," Nina said. "They just winked out on the sensors. We're dealing with forces that are outside of the tech that we've got, and the stuff we've got is more powerful than anything anybody else has. Don't you think it would be a good idea to learn more about it?"

"Nina, I just don't want you to get hurt," he said. "You take so many chances."

"I just feel like everything that's happening is for a reason," she said. "You're gonna tell me that it was all random? You just happened to be at the college when I was. We just happened to escape and find the Tollix. We just happened to make it to Fort Smith and the AeroC. We just happened to be the people that the Tollix needed to make things happen. Everything that's happened since ... that's all random? I doubt it."

"You think it's all fate?" he asked.

"No," she said. "I think we're just little pieces in a great big game being played by somebody a lot bigger than us. These people we just met are another clue we need to figure it all out. Don't be such a worrywart."

The waterfall was easy to find. It was at least two hundred feet tall and came down in a half dozen streams around a series of curves on the face of the mountain. Underneath the waterfall was a long pool that became a river to flow off to the east.

The farms that gave rise to the orchards where they picked the fruit weren't that far from here, but they were like a different world compared to the jungle they were in now. They stopped above the falls, and Nina put on the shorts and shirt she'd been saving for the beach. She still had on the riding boots that she liked to wear.

The two fighters were sitting together in the air with their opened doors pressed together. It let them interact on a more personal level instead of talking through the links.

He whistled appreciatively when she spun around to give him a look at the whole package. "You know, we could just spend the next several hours up here in the air where nobody could bother us."

She went over so she could melt into his arms for a moment, but there wasn't any need to say anything. This was already decided on. Just like what they'd been talking about before. It was like they were all just doing their little bit parts in a play. Enter to applause, say your lines, and then exit stage left.

When she let go of him again and began to pull away, Eric asked, "Did that girl down there have a name?"

"I don't know. Carlos, did anybody say anything that could be a name for the one we were talking to?"

Carlos returned, "I didn't catch any names for any of them. Something was said about the Witch, but I'm not sure if it had to do with her or somebody else."

"Guess I'm going to hang out with a witch then," Nina said. "Wish me luck."

"If they hurt you, I'll burn every tree for a hundred miles," Eric said.

"Thank you, Lover," Nina said. "I'd like to think that it's all going to go perfectly, and it won't come to any of that scorched earth stuff ... but thank you for being willing to kill everybody to avenge me. Now get back over to keep Kim company until I get back. I've got Carlos and the swarm to guard my butt."