Disclaimer: The following chapter is the non-edited draft of what was written during NaNoWriMo 2018. My apologies in advance for plot holes and other inconsistencies. I know they're there.

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It was the silence that finally woke Lincoln up. When they had settled in during the storm, there had been a constant buffeting of the structure, creaking and moaning all around them. In its own way, it had been nature's sound machine that soothed them both to sleep. Now, the absence of it woke Lincoln up.

As soon as he started stirring, so did Marie and moments later, they were both sitting up, stretching and yawning.

"Looks like it died down," Marie said in between yawns.

Lincoln nodded and opened the door. "I'm going to check the outside."

"All right," Marie said and reached for a bottle of water from their supplies and threw it towards Lincoln, who barely caught it. "Here, take this, you need to stay hydrated."

"Thanks." Lincoln closed the door and unscrewed the cap of the bottle as he glanced out the window. The dirty glass made it difficult to see so he pushed the box that had blocked the man door to the side and pulled the door open. Outside, sand had been deposited in drifts against walls and other remaining structures. He stepped over a foot high dune that had formed against the man door and stepped outside. A haze still hung in the air but otherwise, the storm had subsided and everything was calm.

Marie joined him and chugged a bottle of water as she gazed at the ruins of the houses around them.

"It's really quiet," she said.

"Yeah, it's eerie."

"No birds or animals, no honking horns or yelling neighbors. It's almost peaceful."

Lincoln looked at Marie and laughed. "Peaceful? Well, if you like it that much, I'm sure I can arrange for a more permanent residency here."

Marie slapped his arm and smirked. "That's not what I meant. Compared to home, you know, it's just different. Really, it's kind of sad. All those things we don't hear, they're gone."

They walked out on the street to get a better feel for the surroundings. The street they had entered the subdivision on continued further in, dead tree stumps still sticking up from the center median where they once provided a lush canopy and plenty of shadow for the residents. A few homes were still standing, like the one they had sheltered in.

"I wonder what it was like here," Lincoln said.

"Looks like a typical family subdivision to me. A family, with an average of 1.5 children, a dog and two cars. Both parents working or one staying at home while the other one is busy with their fast-paced career. It would have been a great place to raise a family."

"And now it's all gone. To think, I didn't even know this was all down here until yesterday."

Marie looked at Lincoln, her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? You saw my Earth, right? It's not like it all disappeared? I mean, if I was in the right place, I'm sure I could find my way around."

"What I mean is that I was raised only knowing our orbital habitats. Our whole lives are lived in space. We're taught that Earth is a dirty, abandoned place where there is no life."

"Well, looks like they were right about that lost point, at least," Marie said and made a sweeping gesture.

"My point is, what else were we not told, you know? Finding you've been living a lie, that's an uncomfortable feeling. You don't really know what's right and what's wrong anymore."

"So now what?" Marie said after a uncomfortable moment of silence. "We head back towards the base?"

"Yeah, if that is what it is. Look," Lincoln said and turned to face the direction they had arrived from. "We came from this direction so-" Lincoln froze mid-sentence, his hand still in the air pointing towards the guard shack at the entrance to the subdivision. In the distance, a dust cloud rose into the air, moving slowly at an angle.

"What is that?" Marie said, concern in her voice.

"It's them. It's got to be them."

"Them who?" Marie said and looked at Lincoln.

"The reinforcements."

Marie grabbed Lincoln's arm. "I thought you said the were going to the landing facility."

"They were, yes, but their mission doesn't change just because we're not there."

"So they're-"

"They're coming for us."

"How do they know where we are?"

"No idea, no idea. It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here. Now!" Lincoln said said, turned and ran back towards the house with Marie close behind. "Get in, get in," he shouted as they ran into the garage. Lincoln pulled open the garage as Marie climbed into the passenger seat, then he jumped into his seat and turned the ignition. The engine roared to life and Lincoln wasted little time and reversed out of the garage immediately, throwing up dust and sand around them as he swung the truck around in the cul-de-sac and raced towards the guard shack.

"We need to go west," he said as the truck rushed across the remnants of the speed bump.

"The base isn't west, Lincoln," Marie said and started fiddling with the nav computer.

"We can't go north right now. They'll see our dust cloud just as we can see theirs. We just need to put distance between us and them. We're in one vehicle, they have many. We'll be able to travel faster. I just need a destination, quickly."

"Ok, ok, I'm working on it," she said.

Lincoln backtracked a few miles until they were back at the highway they had arrived on before. He knew it was a risky move since it was likely that Hastings was following the same route they had. Yet, it was the quickest way out of there and there was no time to wait for Marie to find an alternative route. With nighttime coming, it wouldn't be long before any dust cloud they created would be invisible to Hastings and his soldiers anyway.

"Any luck?" he asked as he sped up the ramp.

"Yeah, yeah, just a sec," Marie said as she continued manipulating the controls on the screen in front of her. Lincoln continued forward, one eye on the road ahead, another on the rearview mirror.

"Ok, I think I've got something," Marie said and sat up straight in her seat. "I recognize the area to the west of us."

"You do?" Lincoln said, his eyebrows raised.

"Yep. The family of a friend of mine lives...lived there."

Lincoln looked over at Marie and noticed her gaze was fixed on some distant point and she had a barely visible smile on her face. "Oh, must have been someone special," he said and laughed.

"Someone spe-" Marie turned and gave Lincoln and dirty look. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"All right, all right, if you say so." Lincoln laughed and slapped the steering wheel with his hand, then looked at Marie out of the corner of his eye. "Boyfriend?"

Marie hit him hard on his shoulder, then crossed her arms. "None of your business."

Lincoln laughed and rubbed the impact spot with his hand. "Ok, ok, sorry, I couldn't help it. It's just that you never-"

"Stop." Marie held up a finger in the air. "Not another word."

"Ok, I'll shut up." He shook his head and held back a chuckle. "So, where's this place?"

"It's due west, along this highway actually. Well, for the most part anyway."

"Is it? What's so special about this place?"

"Nothing, Lincoln, ok? Drop it! It's just the first place on the map I saw and it just happened to be a place I've been."

"Ok, set the navigation. How far?"

Marie hesitated and looked out the back window.

"Don't worry about them," Lincoln said. "It'll be dark soon and then we'll be able to get ahead. They won't be able to see us."

"Will we be able to see them?"

"No, not really, but it won't matter. We'll find somewhere to hide for the night and then we'll just wait them out before we circle back and head to the base, as planned."

"How soon is it going to be dark?" Marie said and looked out her window towards the sky.

"The sun is already setting. It's hard to see with the lingering dust in the air but it'll be dark in just over an hour. The extra hours of travel after that is just a bonus that gives us cover to hide. Relax, I've got it under control."

Marie nodded and leaned back. As they continued west, the dust cloud of those in pursuit of them remained visible on the horizon as a constant reminder that they were not just out for a cross-country drive. They were running, potentially for their lives. As dusk settled onto the landscape, Lincoln switched on the headlights as well as the bank of lights on the roof of the truck, lighting up the road ahead of them. All they had to do now was stay ahead of them, not get into any kind of accidents and with any luck, they'd be in some sort of shelter before midnight.

-=#=-

Colonel Hastings stared at the darkening sky through the windshield of his command vehicle, then glanced down at the red, flashing dot on the screen in front of him. They'd been following that dot for hours. At first, he had been convinced they'd be able to catch up and take them by surprise but it was not meant to be. Hastings cursed the dust and sand that had been deposited everywhere and the dust cloud it generated as the convoy of vehicles trekked eastward. It was likely what had given them away.

Fortunately, the dust also helped Hastings and his team. As the red dot began moving, a dust cloud in the distance became visible. Although still far away, it was large enough that it would be easy enough to follow. Not that they needed it, of course. The tracking device in Graber's truck did the trick, as long as the weather held and there were no other dust storms. His engineer had given him the thumbs up on that front.

He glanced at his watch and sighed. They'd have to stop momentarily before it became too dark. Although he desperately wanted to continue the pursuit, he knew it wasn't advisable to travel in the dark, not to mention that it was also against regulations. They'd set up a basic camp, get some food and sleep and continue at dawn. It would also give him a chance to update Commander Hamil about the progress. He had a feeling Hamil wouldn't be pleased that Graber and the prisoner were still on the loose but at least he was making progress. The traitor would be apprehended soon enough.

Hastings smiled. With any luck, by this time tomorrow, he'd be preparing his thank-you speech for the medal and promotion that surely would be forthcoming. He reached for the radio.

"All right, gentlemen, let's wrap it up for today. Make camp and secure the perimeter. We'll continue tomorrow.

~~~

Lincoln and Marie are on the run. Will they be able to escape? As always, let me know what you think and hit that vote button if you like what you're reading so far.