Trust Issues

This is the fourth installment of Trust Issues, my futuristic tale of two lovers on the run from a faceless corporation that wants them dead. Nick is a guy who told the wrong thing to the wrong people and Kayla is the bounty hunter sent to track him down. But instead she fell in love and now they survive by staying ahead of the corporation. I haven't posted a chapter in a while and it felt like a good time to revisit Nick and Kayla.


"Clear?"
She looked again, then nodded. "Okay. Go."
Nick hurried across the open corridor and crouched on the other side, weapon at the ready. He looked back but Kayla didn't move yet. She was still peering down the corridor, with her head up display relaying all kinds of information. Infrared was showing her nothing human sized although there were plenty of other heat sources. Lord only knows what. After a moment she glanced back at Nick and then ran to meet him. Together they proceeded on their way, stopping to make a similar sweep at each T-junction. It was cool down here in the so- called steam tunnels but Nick had a sheen of sweat on his face when they finally reached the hatch.

The access panel had long since been fried and wires were hanging out but Nick had hot wired it. Once it was unlocked they were in and he locked it from the other side. Kayla tossed her pulse rifle on the ratted out couch and flopped down beside it. She was glad Nick had that kind of skill as she did not do well with electronics. She watched him as he went over to the tiny fridge to get them both a drink. They'd been down here for a week now and while it wasn't exactly home, at least they were safe. As safe as they could be.

"You okay?" Nick sat next to her and the couch sagged a bit more. Like sitting on the ground. She shrugged and leaned against him, letting the tension slowly ooze away. They sat like that for a bit after clinking glasses. The light over the hatchway blinked on and off- they had power down here but it was spotty, and she'd gotten used to the intermittent outages and strange sounds. A far cry from her apartment up in the Spire- had it been that long since she and Nick had lain in bed watching the sky traffic? Funny the difference a few weeks made.

Kayla thought back to when the shit had hit the fan. She had been out half the night, trying to track down a lead, and came home tired and pissed. Four hours wasted. All she wanted was to sleep. So when her phone went off she almost let it go to voicemail, until she saw who it was from. Her pulse kicked up as she answered. "Hello?"
"Kayla." A man's voice- someone who shouldn't be calling her. " You gotta go. Right now."
Shit.
"Who?"
"No time. You only have a few minutes. And I can't be doing this. Go NOW. And Kayla- good luck."
Click.
She had stood there for a minute, cold all over. So they knew. Panic had her, but she forced it down and made herself think. Shouldn't be a surprise really. She had prepared for this. She felt a sudden pang for Sabby who was looking at her. Hungry. She didn't have time. She went into her room, grabbed the duffel bag and went to the door. Looking both ways she could see the coast was clear. She turned back and said a silent goodbye.

Nick was looking at her. "Sorry," she said with a tired smile. "I was just thinking of Sabs. I hope she's okay."
"I'm sure she's fine. Colleen said she'd take her, right?"
"Yeah, I know. I just miss her."
"I do, too," Nick chuckled. "Funny how quickly you can get attached." He sighed and leaned back and she curled up next to him. Content for the moment. They both knew they were safe here, relatively speaking, but they couldn't stay. It was too dangerous down here, too many scavengers and muties. Kayla knew people but Nick had their lifeline- some guy who was going to get them a way out, if he came through- if he didn't, it wouldn't really matter.