ROADKILL

Chapter Thirteen “Oh, Road-man! I don’t think I like this!”

“Give me a break,” Roadkill chided, glancing back at the worried Maur.

“What’s with you Cats? Haven’t you ever ridden in a vehicle before? You sound just like him!” He jerked a thumb toward the grisly cargo they were towing.

Thrarc looked back at the remains of Panleuk skittering back and forth across the shattered highway, then swallowed hard and hunched even farther down in his seat. He took off the helmet Roadkill had ordered him to put on--it hurt his ears--then watched in wonder as the landscape raced past his window. He had never gone so fast in his life, though he had often wished he could. Now he was not so sure he cared for it. It made him feel sick inside, and he was certain they were going too fast for such a decrepit road anyway. But rather than antagonize the driver with his complaints, he sat silently watching Roadkill manipulate controls and actuators from the front seat.

The hellion thundered down the remains of the Lost Road. Wide cracks in the ancient pavement and shards of rock fallen from the clifffaces above littered the surface with hazards that had to be avoided or negotiated. This high in the mountains the highway was not built on an elevated dike, but constructed on rocky shelves or through winding gullies. While they made good speed for the first straight level miles of the journey, they soon had to slow down as the way became more difficult to navigate.

Now Roadkill was decelerating to a crawl. The Lost Road suddenly looped in a tight turn around a sharp crag before descending into a ravine. Big rocks littered the radius of the turn, and looked too difficult even for the formidable hellion to pass. Roadkill braked the vehicle to a full halt and let the engines whine down to standby.

“Gonna have to get out here,” he called back to his friend, “and move some of these rocks out of the way.”

“Thank goodness!” Thrarc replied and was crawling from the cockpit almost before the canopy opened fully. Roadkill just shook his head and laughed.

It was hot outside, but not unbearable as it would have been on the Jagland plains at this time of day. The hellion’s ECS system seemed to be functioning well, although the real test would not begin until they reached the desert floor. Then it would be taxed to its limits keeping the interior cool, and if it failed they would have to abandon the vehicle and strike out on foot at night. For now, however, everything was working just fine.