[3] The Road

[Piper Juunanagou]

Over the last couple of minutes, the situation in the car had gone from uncomfortable to nearly unbearable. Both Zena and the adolescent Dimitri were now partially alert, having begun the process of shaking off the sedatives that had been forcibly injected into them by the Orion. Ever since that point, the one-eyed man had watched his two captives like a hawk stalking its next meal.

I don’t like him. Piper contemplated as she stared at the man’s reflection in the car’s rear-view mirror. Why am I helping this man? He seems like such a heartless bastard… As if he could feel the woman’s accusatory glare, Orion moved his attention from his semi-conscious victims and up to the woman’s reflection. Piper feigned a heartfelt smile and moved her eyes back to the ‘road’ in front of her. Although a voice in the back of her head pointed out that she might be misjudging the man, the redhead just couldn’t shake the uneasiness she felt when Orion looked at her.

In an effort to prevent herself from getting lost in her random musings, she tried to focus once again on her driving. Over the last few miles, the once seemingly endless desert had begun to thin out—slowly giving way to the plains and forests that surrounded Kai’s mansion.

I can’t do this to them. Piper deliberated as she glanced over her shoulder toward the battered Zena. Although the woman had been rather standoffish, the redhead didn’t blame her. She probably thinks that I’m in leagues with those two in the back… Piper frowned as the thought ran through her head. Looking up into the rear-view mirror, the redhead changed its angle so she could look at Zena.

Don’t be frightened by this. Piper conveyed telepathically to the fellow female. Almost immediately, Zena’s head lifted up off the back of the seat, but the sedated woman didn’t say a word. In fact, she turned her partially glazed-over eyes toward Piper. I’m not in leagues with those two… I won’t let them hurt you again.

Clearing her throat, the redhead changed the angle of the mirror so it was back to its originally spot. When she cast a glance back toward the rear end of the vehicle, she was mildly taken aback to see that Orion was staring at her. Without a reaction, Piper simply turned her eyes back to the flat path through the dunes that served as their road.

“How much longer until we get to Kai’s?” Orion asked from the back of the jeep. For a moment, the woman fought the urge to lash out with something dry and sardonic, but before she had a chance to think up something, Kaden replied.

“It shouldn’t be too far from here,” he answered as he turned around to face the hunter.

Do something. Piper shouted to herself as Kaden and Orion began to half-discuss, half-argue what the group’s next move was, Piper turned over the car’s ignition and kept it there as she pressed down on the gas.

The jeep’s engine let out single, ear-splitting screech as the starter gave out and the car began to slow down. With a fabricated scream, the woman let go of the key and moved her hand back up to the wheel. From the edges of the car’s hood, smoke started to seep out as the vehicle came to a puttering stop in the middle of the deserts ‘road.’

“What the hell happened?” Orion shouted as Piper began to smack the wheel of the car in faux frustration.

“Must be something with the engine,” the woman shot back as she unbuckled her seat belt and popped the hood of the car. Without allowing anyone the time to throw another question at her, Piper hopped out of the car and made her way around to the front end of the car. The smoke had already dissipated, so the woman had some more time to analyze the inner workings of the jeep’s engine.

“Don’t need you,” she whispered as she pointed her hand toward the fan belt. As she focused her thoughts, the belt slowly split apart. Before Kaden and Orion had made it out of the vehicle, Piper had already broken the majority of the jeep’s sparkplugs and completely ruined its radiator, causing fresh smoke to billow up into their faces. By the time they joined her at the front of the vehicle, Piper had already ensured that the jeep was a derelict. Putting on a frown, she took a step away from the broken engine and sagged her shoulders in defeat.

“What happened?” Kaden asked, his eyes wide as he looked down at the broken engine.

“I think the heat got to it,” Piper sighed as she frowned and turned to face the blonde courier. “And I think that tussle with the scorpions wasn’t too good for her,” she added as she slammed her hands down on the front end of the car.

“Damn it,” Orion growled as he crossed his arms over his broad chest and took a step away from Piper’s subversive handiwork. Before the one-eyed man could add anything, his younger associate joined them.

“What do we do with them?” He asked, gesturing back toward the jeep. “They’re not going to be so out-of-it for much longer,” he continued as a tense scowl spread across his youthful features. Turning her attention back to Kaden, Piper frowned softly.

Sorry. She projected into his head as she walked passed him and over to the side door of the car. Looking through the window, she saw that the still mildly unconscious Zena was staring right at her. After a slight pause, the sedated woman flashed Piper a brief smile before turning her attention to her bottled water. Hoping that she had bought the two captives a little more time, Piper collected her gun from her seat and rejoined the others to contemplate their next move.