Chapter 5

We kept our shields up and talked. Jess asked, "Do you know any more about your mystery man?"

I said, "We don't even know if he exists. It was only a recurring dream.

Kim said, "He does exist. I know it."

Kim was positive that this guy lived here and I hoped he wasn't a cripple or a guy ready to die. I doubted I could go through something like Tiffany had gone through. She never had the feelings we had so we were worried.

We bought sexy clothes but I was the one that was worried. I had just turned fourteen and not likely to attract a mate. A dick yes, but not someone that will say 'until death do us part'.

We shopped ourselves out and filled up the car with crap. We got a map to help us find this guy. He'd probably shit when we walked up to him and said, "Hi, I'm Piper and this is my sister Kim. We're going to be your two new wives." The guy was probably married with six kids. Hell, some could be older than me. Wouldn't that be just great. It would be better to just get back in the car and go to London.

Orillia was not that large and we searched it in detail. We drove around slowly as well as walking but found nothing. At least we didn't have that feeling that we were being watched.

That night we slept in a hotel. Kim and I cried ourselves to sleep. Jess held us and tried to give what support she could.

The next day we covered another part of the city. Jess went to see if she could find who was hurt in the accident so we could narrow the search down. Jess tried her best but nobody was going to give that information. None of them had the info in their heads for her to scoop up either.

On the third day I saw Greg but I didn't want him seeing us. I wish I could talk to him and give the description from my dreams but this would open a big can of worms, especially as Kim and I were underage.

A few times Kim or I would get a bit and we had to open our minds. This was dangerous but we were desperate. It was as if the guy knew we were after him and he didn't want to be caught.

Our hope was that the guy was single so we drove near the bars. Jess got propositioned a few times. Some people thought I was a whore but didn't come close. I still had my hymen. I protected it from Knox and I was damned if I was going to lose it to a guy that wanted to trade money for it.

We phoned Tiffany about the time she would have made the new home and found she was already there and loved it. Later calls showed that everybody was happy with the move. Days later they asked me to give up the search and try again later but this was too important to us.

It was on the ninth day that I felt something but it wasn't our man. The feeling of the watcher was coming back. They would check the hotels first if they thought we were here.

I asked Kim, "Do you want to come back later? They have to leave some time."

"We're so close. I know it."

Jess volunteered, "We'll keep our shields up and stay in the car. We may not be noticed. I want to find this man really bad myself."

During the day we collected our property from the hotel when Jess found one of her friends that would put us up for a day or two. We didn't cause any waves and Jess was not that anxious to renew old acquaintances. She slept with us and we didn't do anything but keep watch.

The next day the feeling of being hemmed in got bad and we slipped out of our search pattern. Once outside the city Jess said, "I can feel whoever it is getting closer and closer as if she's putting her hands around my throat."

"She?"

"Yes, I think we have a woman trying to catch us. She's going to call in reinforcements and we're going to be trapped. We have lots of money but not the types of contacts Knox has."

"I guess we better leave then. Let's go east. We know that area a bit better."

We had a chance to get a tank of gas and hurried out of the city. I spent my time getting the guns ready and wishing we had a slide down rear window. Kim was frightened but not quite as bad as last time.

Once over the bridge we headed north again. Jess was taking no chances and went as fast as she could. Kim and I closed our eyes to better concentrate on our other senses. We were leaving one but another was hurrying our way. It was hard to get a bearing but one was just getting stronger. I wracked my mind for the thousandth time trying to find how they were managing to track us. I had read some SciFi and one author coined the word espers for anybody that used ESP. Those tracking us would get this name, at least now.

Jess had no choice but to drive. The feeling got stronger and stronger so I knew they were going to get close enough to read our thoughts. I called out, "Hide your thoughts but read their's."

A minute later a grey car rushed by. There was a woman in it. She had her mind closed but I still found that she had orders to capture me for Knox. Knox was also sending out private detectives to capture me for a reward. I felt her trying to push into my mind. Her technique was different. I studied this as I fought her off. It took only seconds to get too far away to do much.

I said, "What did you find? Knox wants to capture me."

Jess said, "Three more are coming. It will take a while."

Kim said, "They want to torture us the way they were tortured. The monster used electrical shocks to get them to do what she wanted when she wanted. She pushes them until they're as crazy as she is."

"Any way of making a better shield?"

"Not that I can see."

The distance increased between us but probably not enough to get out of our pursuers range. I tried to sense ahead because they couldn't read my thoughts from this distance. I had just enough time to say, "Jess! Slow down!"

She did immediately and we crested a small rise to see a cop car. The cop had his hand held radar gun aimed our way. From the cop's mind I knew he was going to let us pass.

Jess slowed down enough for me to open my window and say, "Somebody's burning up the road behind us."

We hurried off perhaps too quickly but the cop was ready. In fact Jess didn't stop accelerating. Jess turned right at the next road and I wondered why. She said to my unanswered question, "The cops have another trap ahead."

The road we were now on was long enough that we didn't have to worry. Five minutes later, Kim said, "A new threat's coming our way."

This was either the other group that Knox sent or a team of normals she may have sent. We could do nothing about it and waited for the car to show up. I had my guns and the grenades ready.

The car didn't showed up but a helicopter did. Kim said, "That's it."

The occupants were in range of our minds and we read their thoughts. It was a team sent from Colins and Carstairs. The men in the helicopter radioed a team in cars our location and the location of the two cars following us. Carstairs had planted bugs like he had on our cars but on the vehicles Knox' team used.

We couldn't get away with this machine following us. I pictured the map in my mind. This time we had a topo map but we hadn't used it. For a moment I wondered if it was the memory of my need the last time or a form of precognition that caused me to buy this map. I didn't really have to study it because I could recall most of the details from memory alone.

The road climbed a tall hill and made a sharp turn at the top. I stretched out my mind to see the area. This is how talent was found, by trying hard in a stressful situation and this certainly applied. Neither of us were able to find anything.

"When we get to the top you have to slow for the turn. I'm getting out."

Kim said, "Me too. Two can put more lead in the air than one."

Jess said, "I'll continue and come back."

"It's a plan."

When we crested the hill, we found it bare but the road dipped and was hidden from view. Jess stopped quickly. There was a small rock cut to take the road past a minor rise. Kim and I bailed out and Jess surged forward in a cloud of gravel. I was in overdrive now. Kim looked to be slow and even ponderous. Focussing on my task, I started back up the road as quick as I could. I had to be careful because my actions were not the same that I had used for the last fourteen years. I had to lean forward more to get the speed but I also had to worry about strained muscles or ligaments.

I got near the crest and crouched down in the last of the rock cut. The helicopter was coming close. Instead of getting ready with the pistol I pulled out a grenade. These had a five second fuze but the fuzes weren't very accurate. I pulled a pin and released the handle. My mind had to compensate because saying 'two thousand' was not good at the rate my subjective time was passing.

I saw the copter and I had to calculate where it would be when I wanted to release the grenade. It actually passed us by when I reached back and threw the grenade. When the device left my arm, I knew I had strained my muscles. The grenade arched above the machine and came down just above the prop when it exploded.

Kim and I opened fire with our pistols even before the grenade went off. I put thirteen rounds into the body of the copter. Kim was not as fast but she put the same number of nine millimetre rounds into the machine. The grenade detonated when we were shooting. The pilot didn't have the reflexes to avoid anything thrown at him. It did jink to one side but instead of gaining altitude, it dove for the valley below.

The machine tried to pull up and managed to slow down but not enough. The tall conifers were topped by the spinning blades but a small clearing allowed the machine to come to a stop.

We could not see the machine past the trees even from our vantage point. There was no explosion or flames. There had been three people in the copter but we could only detect one now. Two had died and the last was wounded. Part of me wanted to provide first aid but we had to get out of here.

It was long minutes later that Jess raced back up the hill. We jumped inside and dumped all our shell casings and the pins from the grenade. Jess said, "Jesus, that was exciting. I wish I was as fast as you."

I was busy reloading the clip after putting the spare in the gun. I was excited and the thoughts of ending two people's lives didn't bother me very much at this point. When I found time to think, it would.

Kim was starting this process now so I said, "We're in a combat situation, Soldier. Save that bullshit for later. We have four cars chasing us."

I had pushed my thoughts into her mind to make sure my message was received. She said, "I'll be ok."

"You'd better. We're depending on you."

We headed back the way we had come and took a side road once more. Knox's people were approaching and behind them were the Carstair's people.

The road we were on got worse and worse. The maps said it went south to a regional road. I picked this way simply because it gave us a chance to get rid of those following us one way or another. The land got even more hilly. I remember the elevation lines on the map being close together.

We flashed by a large sign and Jess slammed on the brakes. We were going too fast for the road conditions. It was water washed gravel under our wheels and we slid one way then another.

The right side wheels went off the road and I hoped fervently that we wouldn't go over. The wheels caught for a second as we leaned toward the road. The car slid as rocks crumbled under the tires.

Jess climbed out her door and pulled down on the door itself to keep it balanced. Kim got out and did the same. There was a ledge we could fall onto and then there was a cliff. I threw out what we had in the back seat. The car had stabilised somewhat and I cleaned up what we would need. They were too close and we would never get the car out of this predicament in time.

I got out of the car and raced to the driver's seat and pushed the button to open the trunk. Out came out the extra weapons as well as our clothes for hiking.

The girls released the car but it stayed put now. We were all holding our breath but it didn't roll.

Jess said, "What do we do now?"

"Grab what's necessary and leave the rest." She and Kim were still stunned and I had to say, "Do it now!"

They took what they could as I sorted through the things I had to live by or die by. The bows came out with the quivers. They were intended to help us kill quietly. It was legitimate too.

I stripped off my city clothes and put on the more durable hiking garb. It was taking too long and I went into overdrive again even though I was not over the tiredness associated with the last time.

A daypack got what I couldn't carry in my hands. I kept casting my mind back down the road from where our pursuers were coming. They must know that they were catching up so they slowed down to a safe speed.

Just before we left I remembered the shell casings and the pins from the grenade. They were on the floor and I picked them up. We raced down the road to the bridge that was under repair. I threw the casings into the stream below and the girls helped me rip out the sign saying the bridge was being worked on. Maybe the car would fall through the roadway. The sign went into the stream but the cars were close.

We didn't make it over the bridge before the first car came into view and immediately followed. I waited for the car to get close before I turned and fired three rounds at the driver's head. The woman died and I considered taking her car but another car came behind but not into view. There were two people and they had been warned.

I wanted to run back and have it out with them but I could read thoughts that they were getting out assault rifles. We couldn't make it in time.

We had to slow them down and maybe there was a way. I gave orders to get to the far end of the bridge and protect me. I didn't wait to see if they would follow orders. I dropped my pack and bow then ran to the car.

The woman was dead and leaning back on the seat. I opened the door and took the keys from the ignition. The trunk opened quickly and I took out a rifle case and a pistol case. I opened the rifle case first. It was an AK-74, a good weapon. The clip was full and I saw a box of ammunition. With my hands full, I closed the case and hurried to the front of the car.

I could feel the two coming closer. One was a man and the other a women. They came into view but I was looking through Kim's eyes. They knew that we were going to kill and they fired wildly. Kim and Jess fired with deliberation.

I felt great pain and knew that Jess had been hit. I knelt and used the hood of the car and aimed at the man that felt satisfaction at hitting Jess. I squeezed off a round and the man was thrown backwards.

Bullets came my way. I ducked behind the engine but Kim was shooting now. I could read the woman's mind and popped my head up when she looked at Kim and fired. The woman pulled back and I felt her pain. I had hit her but it wasn't a killing wound. This was enough for me and I raced forward. Kim shot near the woman to keep her down.

I got within twenty metres when she got up ready to shoot me but Kim was ready and put a bullet into her head. She fell back and the threat we felt for the last few days was suddenly gone. Another threat was coming. This was Carstairs' people.

There were two cars and we could get away. I ran back and yanked out the body. It fell to the ground but not all the way out of the car. I had to back up and get in the passenger door. I was going to drive forward and the body would stay. The car wouldn't start. The starter worked but the motor wouldn't catch. I sat up as high as I could and saw the holes in the hood.

We could push it out of the way and take the second car but they were getting too close. Kim came running to me. I had somehow closed off my mind to the pain around me. Kim said, "Jess is hurt bad."

I risked a peek and saw that it was a very bad wound. It was possible that if we got her to the hospital in time she might make it. There was only us. I raced to Jess and found her smiling but her mind was locked tight. "You guys go ahead. The people following want to keep me alive and will do their best."

Tears were coming down my face as I tried to say with an upbeat sound, "You're pack and we aren't leaving you."

She used her voice because she didn't want to let us read her mind. "You won't have much choice. If you stay to protect me I'll die before you can get me to a hospital. If you run, they will try to rescue me."

Kim blurted out, "No! I want you to come with us. We have the first aid kit. We can sew you up."

Jess said, "They're almost here. Take what you want and go. Maybe you can find where they take me and rescue me."

Pack was the strongest bond I knew but logic was one of my best tools. Jess could possibly survive if we left and not if we stayed unless we surrendered. Then they wouldn't try to save Jess.

Jess was right, we had to go. I sorted through what we had and abandoned a lot. I opened the pistol case and found a gun no better than my own. I tried to make Jess comfortable and put more pads on her to slow down the bleeding. I left the bows and the extra clothes.

"Bye, Jess. I'll tell the pack all about this. We'll remember you always. My first girl is going to be called Jess."

Jess gave a smile and Kim yelled at me, "We can't leave her."

Jess said mentally, "Good luck guys. I love you. I hope your baby is going to have a better life than I had."

Kim yelled mentally, "No!"

I put my pistol in my left hand and slapped Kim hard. "Let's go, Soldier."

I had to put what I wanted Kim to carry in her arms and pull her down the road. We talked to Jess as we ran. She claimed she was happy with her life and would not have anything done different other than catching a bullet.

When we got to the top of a hill, we heard Jess say, "I have to talk later. They're here now."

We both knew her plan but there was nothing we could do. We saw through her eyes as she rolled onto her stomach. The pain was great but Jess ignored it. She sighted down her pistol and fired round after round until the connection to Jess was suddenly severed.

Kim cried out and tried to go back but I yanked hard enough to trip her.

"Jess gave her life for us. Are you going to throw that away?"

She wasn't thinking right and curled into a ball. We had no time and I reached down and pulled her hair as I slapped her face. Somehow I got her up and moving down the road.

It was hard to think of our own survival after what had happened. Knox' people were set back a pace but it was a sure bet that they were watching Carstairs' people. They were all ex-military and well able to track. All Knox had to do was tell her people to follow.