19 – Hell to PayPurple and green lightning danced through the stormy sky, arcing in hundred-pronged forks, illuminating the many layers of cloud cover. Some of those clouds looked almost white in the sudden light, but the deeper layers hardly went from black to deep gray. Hector looked over his shoulder, watching as the heavy rain sheeted down on the other survivors climbing the ridge behind him.Paige and Bobby had been given resource maps of the rift area, bought at a dear price by Mathews from the IG. Using those maps, Hector had chosen a rocky ridge of small but steep mountains for a place to hole up. It wasn’t the high ground that he was after, but the cave system Bobby’s geological survey showed there. If they could find a decent cave to set up a secure base in, Hector felt confident he could range out, scouting the area and, hopefully, finding the rift in time to make their exit in a few days.The mules whirred and clunked, trundling along in the middle of the column. Ling, the tech with the severed left leg, was strapped across the lead one. It had a smoother gait, being that all its limbs still worked; the other one had two joints so badly bent that they’d become unusable. It listed to the side, whirring and clicking as its four other legs worked double-time to compensate.Bobby and Paige, both injured, walked with the lead mule, leaning on it for support. Not far in front of them were the other two surviving techs—Willa and Simo. Both were up and moving thanks to nanites and powerful stimulants. As for Perry, Kristy, and Frederick, the three of them were in the rear, occasionally firing shots at the big, prowling flayer cats that stalked them through the dark.Even as he looked back there, marking their progress, Freddy waved his hand and jogged forward, skirting the mules and the rest of the loose column. Hector waited for him, watching as he leaped over a sharp boulder. Kid’s got plenty of energy, at least. (...)