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Holy shit, Qhuinn was completely out of control

Al back and forth like it had the DTs Engine cutting in and out

And he couldn&039;t even check on Z Toohis eyes off wherever they were headed - or h he couldn&039;t see a da -

What in a ood idea?

The one thing that appeared to be working was the compass, so at least he could orientate himself to where home base was: The Brotherhood compound was due north and a little east, on the top of a mountain surrounded by the invisible, defensive boundary of V&039;sthat N-S-E-W dial was in factelse in the tin-can shit box

As he looked to his right, the unrelenting wind coh the half-shattered windshield slammed into his ear canal Out the side , he could seea whole lot of dark Which he took to h the suburbs and were out over the far hills that eventually turned into the ot his attention in a bad way - but orse?

The sudden silence that followed

No engine clatter Just the histling into the cockpit

Okay, now they were really in trouble

For a split second, he thought about deh - but he wasn&039;t leaving Z -

A strong hand landed on his shoulder, scaring the balls off hi by the expression on his face, he was having trouble staying on his feet - and not just because of the bucking and weaving

The Brother spoke up, his deep voice cutting through the din "Tio"

"Fuck that," Qhuinn hollered back Reaching forward, he went to try the ignition Couldn&039;t hurt, right?

"Don&039;t make me throw you out"

"Try it"

"Qhuinn - "

The engine kicked back on, and the din reintensified All good news The trouble was, if the bastard&039;d gone out once, it was going to go out again

Qhuinn shoved his hand into his jacket As he snagged his cell phone, he thought of everyone they were both leaving behind - and he passed the thing to the Brother

If there was a hierarchy in the reach-out-and-touch order, Z was at the top of the list He had a shellan and a daughter - and if anyone was going to make a call, it was him

"What&039;s this for?" Zsadist said darkly

"You can figure it out"

"And you can leave - "

"Not leaving - gotta fly this deathtrap until we hit so at that point, but he wasn&039;tas the Brother was under normal circumstances, Z wasn&039;t in any condition to muscle around soAfter the talk dried up, Z disappeared, no doubt ducking back into the rear so he could make that last contact with those he loved

Smart move

Left to his own devices, Qhuinn closed his eyes and threw a prayer up to anyone whoAnd then he pictured Blay&039;s face -

"Here"

He flipped open his lids His cell phone was right in front of his face, held in place by Z&039;s sturdy grip And the GPShim exactly where they were

"Another threenoise "That&039;s all we need - "

There was a boood-awful quiet Cursing, Qhuinn focused hard on the little screen all the while hoping things would restart on their own More north, obviously - but farther east A lot farther His guesstiood, but hardly spot-on

Without the phone? They&039;d be fucked

Well, that and the whole no-engine thing

Checking the precise location, he made soht, trying to get that pointed indicator on theexactly to their ain

They were losing altitude Not in that movie-spiral here there was a close-up on the alti fast as you wished the propeller was But slowly, inexorably they were drifting downand if they lost enough forwardoing to drop out of the sky like a stone

Working the ignition over and over again, he muttered, "Come on, come on, come on"

It was hard to keep the nose up with only one hand - and just as he was going to have to devote all of his attention to fighting with the steering wheel, Z&039;s arm shot forward, kicked his hand out of the way, and took over trying to restart the engine

For a split second, Qhuinn had an absurdly clear snapshot of the slave band peeking out from the cuff of the Brother&039;s leather jacket - and then it was all business

God, his shoulders were on fire fro back on the wheel shaft

And to think he was dying to hear that racket frohed back to life, and the change in their altitude was is and pistons started roaring again, the nu the throttle fully engaged, he checked the fuel gauge On E Maybe they were just out of gas, and it wasn&039;t ahairs

"Just a little farther, baby - just a little irl, you can do it"

As an endless streaement left his lips, the i that lish?

Man, it see, his brain bouncing back and forth between best- and worse-case scenarios as oddamn-slow pace

"Tell me you called your females," Qhuinn shouted

"Tell round"

"Not without lying"

"Bank us harder east"

"What?"

"East! Go east!"