Page 222 of Code Bound
Havoc is already shaking his head before Locke finishes. “You don’t want to drive one of the automobiles?—”
“Why not?” Locke growls.
“It’s not easy, for one,” Havoc fires back.
“It can’t be that hard to drive one,” Locke argues. “NPCs do it.”
“Because they’reprogrammedto do it,” Havoc counters. “Trust me. It’s a bad idea to get behind the wheel.”
“That’s bullshit! Just because you’re scared of?—”
“Stop,” I growl, cutting off their argument. Stryker is sitting on the lounger nearby, watching everything in silence. He hasn’t offered any information at all, simply enjoying the show.
“Can you drive one of the moving boxes?” I ask Havoc. He shakes his head. “What about you?” I ask Stryker.
He raises his brow at me. “You want me behind the wheel of a machine that could kill you all?”
“If you can control it, yes,” I say, staring at him expectantly.
He sits up, his eyes on mine. “As much as I would like to say yes, I have never had a need to drive an automobile. So no, I have never driven one.”
I sigh. “Then Havoc is right. We’ll do the quest after we get Dox from the Harrow Gate. And we’ll walk there to avoid any issues.” Locke opens his mouth as if he’s going to argue. “We’ll try driving one of the boxes to go complete the quest,” I say, cutting him off. “So that we don’t spend as much time going from one place to the other. Is that suitable?”
He nods slowly. “Yes. We still have two days to complete the Gatsby Quest, so as long as we complete it by then, we’re good.”
An hour later, after gorging ourselves on food that we can’t take with us, we step out of the Half-Moon Hotel, and head southwest toward the Harrow Gate location. If we take the entire six hours, we’ll still be there with plenty of time before it opens. I just want to make sure that I’m the first thing Dox sees when she comes through, so she knows I’ve been waiting for her. I don’t want her to think I’m dead, or worse, that I’ve forgotten her.
The streets of The Gilded District are just as busy as ever. NPCs and players stream along the street, fighting for their own space as they walk along the sidewalks and attempt to avoid the moving boxes. It’s slow moving, both because of the foot traffic and the constant need to wait to cross the streets. At first, it’s uneventful. A slow shuffle of trying not to step on anyone’s feet. It isn’t until a few hours later that Stryker makes a sound in his throat and grabs my hand.
I look down at his hold with furrowed brows and then back up at his face. “What the fuck are you doing?”
He starts tugging me away from the street and toward a building. “We need to move.”
Locke and Havoc both notice as Stryker starts dragging me away. The Leech may be muted, but he’s clearly still got some of his strength. I tug back against his hold, but my bones pop and I realize I’m in danger of breaking my wrist if I continue to pull so hard.
“Let me go!” I growl at the Leech, hitting at him.
“Just stop it,” he growls. “Listen to me.”
Locke pulls out his battle axe and Havoc draws his sword. Stevie closes in aggressively. But it’s Svetlana running down my arm with a tiny battle cry as she swipes out at Stryker’s hand on my wrist that makes him let go.
“Ow!” Stryker snarls. “You horrible little beast!”
“That’s right,” Svetlana threatens. “Next time it’ll be your head!”
Stryker throws his hands in the air. “Fine. Don’t listen to me. Stay on the street.”
And then he disappears inside the nearest building. I stare after him, my brows furrowing in confusion.
“Stryker?”
“Come on,” Locke grunts. “Leave him. We have things to do.”
“But he’d said something about?—”
The sounds of the crowd are suddenly drowned out by the sounds of giant bells chiming. The NPCs all stop wherever they’re standing and look up, their eyes focused on the sky as the bells chime once, twice, three times, and then fall silent.
“Fuck,” Havoc groans, sheathing his sword. “Is it Fifth Week already?”
