AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, man. That’s disgusting,” exclaimed the guard. He must have come to the stinky bin, thought Cora. “Screw this. You’re clear to go,” he said.
Cora let out a breath as she heard him climb down from the truck and the door rattled closed again. That was too close.
The truck’s engine rumbled back to life, and the bins started to vibrate as the truck pulled forward. Cora’s heart was still beating fast as she carefully climbed out of her hiding place. She crouched down low, hidden by the surrounding trash cans.
She could see they were traveling through the factory complex, leaving the checkpoint behind them. She wanted to be ready to jump off when she had the chance.
The transporter turned a corner and came to a halt next to a line of huge dumpsters. No one seemed to be around. She crouched at the rear of the huge truck waiting for the cage-like door to roll up out of the way, every muscle tensed and ready.
As soon as the door started to roll up out of the way, she ducked underneath it.
A movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn. She was expecting to see the driver or another guard, but it was the vicious-looking hook they used for lifting the bins. She ducked hurriedly, feeling the huge lump of metal graze her shoulder.
She scurried hurriedly over to the line of big bins and ducked behind them. “Shit,” she hissed through gritted teeth. Her shoulder was a little sore, but the thing could have killed her. She needed to pay more attention. She scolded herself vehemently.
The line of bins made a perfect tunnel between themselves and the wall. She leaned back momentarily against its cold surface, enjoying the sensation. This place was so hot during the day, which was exacerbated by her layers of heavy clothing. Still, they provided her with at least some anonymity at a glance.
So the “company” was looking for her. Were they? Well, the quicker she could get Levi out and be gone, the better then.
The bin transporter guys had gotten out of the cab and were starting to load the bins into the back of the hover truck. One by one they clamped the great hook onto the bins and lifted them onto the truck. Once they had one loaded, the huge hook would return carrying a clean empty bin, which it would sit on the ground nearby.
Every time they lifted a bin, Cora hid behind the next one. The problem was, there was a large gap between the line of full bins she was hiding behind and the line of clean bins they were unloading.
She watched the sanitation workers, one the boss and the other his assistant, as they were doing their work. She waited for the chance to make a dash out of their grasp, to no avail.
They had the hook attached to the final bin that she was hiding behind. She was starting to panic when the driver said he was going to do the final sign-off at the office.
“Okay, Grath, I’ve got this,” said the assistant. That just left one set of eyes she had to dodge.
The bin was already lifting from the ground when she got her chance. The assistant went to the cab of the vehicle and pulled out a smoke, leaving the bin hanging just above the ground.
Cora gathered her resolve and made a break for it. The distance seemed somehow to increase as she ran. She was so exposed, and she braced for a shout at any moment. But it never came.
She dove behind the line of clean, shiny bins just as the assistant went back to his post and continued to load the last bin.
She thought her heart was going to batter its way out of her chest as she gulped in deep breaths of air. I’m trying to save the universe. I’m trying to save the planet of the being I love, she had to remind herself over and over again.
It was the first time she thought the words, and she realized she’d never loved anyone like him, and likely never would.
Once the garbage collectors had left in their big truck, she took the opportunity to climb into one of the waiting dumpsters. It was thankfully clean and dry inside. Now all she could do was wait until someone wheeled her inside the factory.
Chapter 20
Cora was bounced and jostled along inside the huge dumpster as it was wheeled through the factory. She had no idea where she was or where she was going. She only hoped she would have an opportunity to sneak out once she reached her destination.
Her bin came to a rest with a jolt, and the world went silent. Cora risked lifting the lid a fraction to try and get a sense of her surroundings. She was in a long wide corridor that had several doors coming off it on either side.
The corridor was empty, and Cora seized the opportunity to climb nimbly out of her place of concealment. She was only just in time as a door at the far end of the corridor opened and two tall Jorvlens walked through.
She had nowhere to hide. She was caught out in the open. Time to test this disguise, she thought and walked purposefully down the corridor away from them.
“Hey!” one of them called.
Her first instinct was to run, but that would have given her away for sure. They weren’t actually chasing her yet. So instead, she half-turned to face them.
“Where’s your high-visibility suit?” the worker called.
She looked down at her stolen clothes and shrugged. She didn’t want to give herself away by speaking.
