"About time," Uncle Robbie grunts when I finally rejoin him. He adjusts the rifle on his back. "Once we're outside, stay close, and keep low." He removes the two-way radio from his belt. "This is King, coming out with the package. Knight, keep an eye out for further movement. Bishop, maintain cover. Queen, with me. Over."

Three sets of "copy that" sound over the radio. Satisfied, he holsters it and heads to the back of the house.

"Uh, the front door is that way." I jerk a thumb over my shoulder.

He doesn't stop walking. "I collapsed it after they took your parents. To keep them from coming back and searching more thoroughly. Just in case."

"Then where—"

"Air vent."

"Oh."

With the help of ropes and harnesses, we shimmy up the duct. It gets brighter and brighter as we ascend, until I have to blink and squint against the sunlight streaming in. I don't remember it being this bright outside. Then again, there's no way that light bulbs—no matter how fancy—can compete against the sun.

My uncle is below me, urging me forward. As I crest the opening, a strong hand grabs my arm and hauls me out. The dazzling sunlight blinds me, preventing me from seeing who offered the assist. I shade my eyes with a lifted hand and blink until I can see again.

The woman standing before me is intimidating, to say the least. Her black hair is pulled back into a severe ponytail. Various scars mar her brown skin, but nothing hides the muscles rippling underneath. By far the scariest part of her is the dark stare she gives me.

"You better be worth all the trouble," she growls before hoisting Uncle Robbie out of the shaft after me. She has a mild accent like maybe she's from a Latin American country.

"Queen," he says once he's shed his harness. "This is Elara, my niece."

"Pleasure," she says coldly.

I glance from her to my uncle. "If you're King, and she's Queen, does that mean—"

"No," he answers quickly. "We're not together. We just use chess pieces for field names."

Queen's lip curls but she says nothing, choosing to shoulder some kind of specialized pack instead.

"She's not Queen because she's female. She's Queen because she's the heavy gunner, and even without it she could still kick our asses."

My eyes widen as she lifts an enormous machine gun into her arms. A strand of huge bullets connects the gun to the special pack behind her.

"You've played chess, haven't you?" Uncle Robbie asks.

"Y-yeah. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board." I cast her a nervous glance before facing him again. "But the king is..." I don't want to finish that sentence. The king is the slowest, lamest piece in the game.

"Without the king, it's game over," Queen reminds me with a sneer.

"R-right. Yeah. Okay." I'm not sure what I did to get on this lady's bad side, but I scoot closer to my uncle.

"We're about strategy," he says as he packs the rest of the gear. "Just like chess."

I nod. It's kind of cliché, but it's kind of cool too.

He speaks into his radio, "This is King, moving out. Back to camp, everyone. Over and out."

***

The sun hangs low in the sky, but it's still a resplendent ball of warmth. I lift my face toward it, eyes closed against the brightness. Its glow is unparalleled to anything I had in the bunker. I can't believe I haven't felt the sun on my skin since I was little. An energizing euphoria comes over me as I stand there, facing the sun like a flower. I decide it's my new favorite feeling.

"Hey," my uncle says gently. "We need to keep moving."

I open my eyes and resume tromping behind him through the low brush. The hills around us are drying out, with patches of green yielding to yellow and brown. A few straggling, yellow wildflowers wave to the sun. And even though it's not springtime, the scenery is still the most vivid, beautiful thing in memory. My new legs feel strong. Whole. Perfect.

I feel amazing.

To my astonishment, after hiking what seems like a mile or two on uneven ground and through light woods, I still feel amazing. No trembling muscles. No fatigue. I could keep going for another two miles. Probably more. And everything is so beautiful! Weeds, twigs, lizards. All the things I never got to experience while living in the self-contained vault that was my home.

"How are you holding up?" my uncle asks.

"Good," I say, unable to hold back a grin. "Like, great, actually."

"Good." His eyes return to scanning the trees around us. "We're almost there."

'Camp' turns out to be a narrow opening through some rocks, which opens up to a shallow cave that probably used to be a bear's house.

Before I can observe anything else, an enormous mountain of a man steps out of nowhere. He's completely bald, and his skin is so dark he nearly blends with the shadows.

He sticks out a meaty hand. "I'm Rook." His voice is impossibly deep.

I hesitate, half wondering if maybe he's going to crush all the bones in my hand. But his eyes are kind and his smile engaging, so I grasp his proffered hand. "Elara."

"Welcome to our humble abode," he says, sweeping a wide arc with his beefy arm.

"Rook here is our self-appointed den mother," Uncle Robbie explains.

The big man grins broadly. "My mama always taught me if you can't offer hospitality, you might as well be a crocodile."

"My mama taught me it was better to be the crocodile than the goat." Queen sets her enormous gun on the ground and the pack down next to it. "You don't fuck with crocodiles."

"Word." Rook salutes her with a bottle of water and takes a swig. Then he offers it to me. "Thirsty?"

"No, I'm all right."

"You don't wanna share a bottle with a big, scary Black man?"

My eyes get huge. "What? No! I'm not—"

"I'm just messin' with ya," he says with a chuckle. "We're all a bit antsy, ready to get back to fightin' Eagles."

I seize the opportunity to change the subject. "Why are they called Eagles?"

"Nothing bad has ever happened to Sleeping Beauty here," Queen snorts.

I do my best to ignore her.

Uncle Robbie casts her a dirty look. She backs away and begins stowing equipment into duffel bags.

"Back in the day," Rook begins, "the U.S. Government created the Automated Defense Network. You had your missiles, your satellites, your shield barriers, all set up to activate when a threat was detected."

Sensing a long story, I shrug out of my backpack and set it on the ground.

"When automatons were created, the government started adding some to their military units. Branded them with a stamp of the American eagle crest to separate them from non-military units. These need to be commanded by a central operator, to coordinate their actions. You following?"

I nod again. That part I'm familiar with thanks to Dad's teachings.

"So some genius comes up with the idea to hook all the systems together to one central supercomputer."

"The AI," I supply.

"Artificial intelligence, my ass," Queen mutters and spits on the ground.

"So the government teams up with the corporation developing a military AI," he continues, "and they come up with the Fully Automated Defense Enterprise."

"Fade," I murmur.

"Exactly. Next thing we know, Fade decided he was better than humans and started turning our own defense network against us."

I think back to what Dad taught me about computer programming and artificial intelligence. "But... doesn't it have directives? Didn't they build in fail-safes to keep this from happening?"

He shrugs. "Above my pay grade."

Queen shoves the last duffel bag against the wall. "As far as I'm concerned, all this shit's gone down thanks to pencil-necks like your father."

"Hey!" I jump to my feet, fists clenched. "My father had nothing to do with any of this! He warned them! He—"

Queen doesn't bother listening. She grabs a fancy compound bow and a quiver of arrows and stalks out of the cave. Before she's out of earshot, I hear her bark into her radio, "Queen to Bishop. We've got an extra mouth to feed. Meet me at the river to scare up some grub."

Rook shakes his head, but I can't tell if it's with disapproval or understanding.

"What's her problem?" I demand.

Uncle Robbie sighs. "Most of her extended family worked in the automaton assembly plant in Mexico. They were all killed in the first wave of attacks. I'd say that gives her a lot to be angry about."

"Oh." I get it now. I mean, it's not cool that Queen takes every chance to snipe at me, but I get it.

The cave echoes with a voice on multiple radios. "Knight to King. I'm gonna trail behind this Eagle patrol. See what they're up to. Over."

Uncle Robbie frowns and picks up his radio. "You sure that's a good idea? Over."

"We'll find out soon enough. Over and out."

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "That boy is going to be the death of me."

"He's got good instincts," Rook says, patting the other man's shoulder. "Let him do his thing."

Uncle Robbie's mouth twists with disapproval, but he doesn't reply. Turns his attention to me instead. "So, Elara. How are you feeling?"

It's such a vague question, I'm not sure how to answer. "Um... good?"

"Any sore joints, twitchy movements, distorted vision, anything like that?"

I look down at my legs and back up at him. "Why would I have distorted vision?"

He shifts uncomfortably for a moment before busying himself with removing the rifle from his back. "Just stuff your dad told me to ask you."

"Did you have distorted vision when you got your leg?"

"No. But mine was a prototype." He rubs his thigh. "Still feels sore sometimes."

Uncle Robbie glares at Rook, who has been standing there listening. "Don't you have a truck to check on?"

Rook gives him a knowing grin. "On it, boss." He picks up a toolbox and dutifully marches outside with it.

Uncle Robbie wanders over to a cot in the back and sits on it. He pats the space beside him. "We've got some important matters to discuss, Elara."

His tone sounds ominous, but I sit next to him anyway. "What is it?"

"Your dad said he was replacing both your legs, right?"

"Yeah..." I answer slowly. Why is he asking me that?

"Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. "What would you say if he replaced more than just your legs?"

Uh oh... how much more? We need to know! Also, why are there only four chapters?? This book is available for sale as a paperback on Amazon and is also in the Kindle Unlimited subscription program. Due to exclusivity requirements, I can only offer these four chapters for free as a preview. The link to the complete book is in the comments. https://amzn.to/3ZxQ831

As always, thank you, reader, for your enthusiasm and love of good stories. <3