The Rider (Complete)

Chapter Fourteen

Kade was about to cross a line he hoped he wouldn't have to cross. Holding a small dose of the drug, he connected the tiny canister of ghost to his helmet and let the liquid turn to vapour. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The drug mixed with the oxygen and entered his bloodstream via his lungs. After a few deep breaths, he disconnected the empty canister and waited for the drug to take effect.

He could feel it work almost instantly. His body went numb and he stood up with confidence. With his blaster in his hand, he fought back like outlaw. He let out three shots from his supersonic weapon and hit all three targets. Dust and debris filled his field of vision and created a visual barrier.

He walked over to his bike, picked it up of the ground, and hopped on. Within seconds of taking the drug, his demeanour had changed. The euphoric feeling of invincibility was exactly what he needed in this scenario and reminded him why he became so addicted to it in the first place.

Kade took off in the direction in which he had come, navigating through the underground facility and avoiding any threats. Ducking his head and swerving around fallen objects, he sped away. The entire underground facility filled with a thick cloud of ash that had been disturbed. With a simple voice command, hidden panels on the front of his bike opened up to reveal two guns. The guns had sensors that looked for targets. When the targets were locked, Kade made the final decision to discharge the blasts. Several rounds of high-frequency sonic blasters pulsated out of the guns in a precise manner, finding their targets and taking out several scavies with non-lethal force.

Sinking down in his riding mount, Kade create a low centre of gravity, which would help him control the bike as well as make himself a smaller target. The scavies shot back and but missed. With the exit in site, Kade and his drone shot out of the parkade like a canon and took to the streets. He became momentarily airborne, and when he landed, he shifted his weight and was heavy on the throttle. The backend fished-tailed out in the loose soot-covered streets before finding traction.

Fearing his drone would be shot down, Kade instructed it to dock. It was a risk because now he was driving blindly. The sensors on the bike picked up movement and blasted automatically as Kade kept his eyes on the road.

The bike raced through the desolate streets leaving the scavies in his dust. The effects of the ghost were now fully pulsating through his bloodstream, and he was in the zone. It allowed him to dial in and make thousands of micro decisions per second. With an expressionless face, he was in a sort of trance-like state where he had no fear.

Pulling the bike into a wheelie, Kade's reckless nature took over. As his front wheel regained contact with the ground, he swiveled his head around and saw a squad of scavies flooding out of the buildings like rats. Their torn, loose-fitted clothes draped off them like dirty rags, covering their entire bodies. Goggles covered their eyes and they wore crude breathing masks, which looked like they were pieced together from scraps.

The scavies screamed in unison like warriors on a hunt, but Kade was too focused to let it faze him. Besides, seeing as the scavies were on foot and he was on a bike, he wasn't at all concerned about them catching him.

Several scavies appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and from all angles. This time they were on motorbikes and other off-roading vehicles, which appeared to be assembled in a junkyard, sharing some semblance to a scene out of Mad Max.

Kade was a far more skilled rider and was on the best bike money could buy, so he was confident he could outrun and out-manoeuver them. The only advantage they had was that they knew the streets well and had even designed it with traps.

Kade began making a series of sporadic turns in an effort to be evasive. Left and right, Kade jockeyed back and forth as his silent bike moved stealthily through the streets, sliding around corners. So far, he was doing well to avoid capture.

At one point, he made a wrong turn and was met with a roadblock. This was the first inclination that the scavies may be leading him into a trap. Like a spider catching a flying, the more the prey would struggle, the more it would seal its fate.

'Maximize your odds,' he heard Chu's voice once again. If he were to outsmart the scavies, he needed to think two steps ahead and be unpredictable. Running was the obvious choice. Fighting seemed like a death wish. That only other option was to hide.

He came to a full stop and quickly turned around to look for another street. His eyes darted around, looking for a building in which he could enter. Less than fifty feet away, he found what he was looking for and accelerated toward a building. He entered through a hollowed-out window of what was once the main lobby. He manoeuvred around some debris and made his way up a flight of stairs. Soot and ash filled the stairs making it more like a ramp. The thick-treaded tires climbed the stairs with ease. Within seconds, he was on the second floor.

Flying down one of the hallways, Kade entered a random room. The large space was filled with old desks and cubicles, covered in soot. It was most likely an office for some company back in its heyday. Now, like everything, it resembled the aftermath of Chernobyl.

Looking at his timer, the seconds and minutes counted down. He didn't have time for this, but had no other options. Within the hour, his hit of ghost would slowly begin to wane, and he would experience intense symptoms of withdrawal, which he wasn't looking forward to. But it was an unavoidable byproduct of the drug. The only way to curb those effects were to take more. But he had no regrets. Had he not taken it, he may have been captured, or worse, killed.

Kade found shelter under a forgotten piece of furniture and closed his eyes. His hope was that in a few hours, the scavies would give up looking for him and he could continue to carryout his mission. There was nothing to do now, but to sit tight and wait it out.