Took Me Yesterday (book 2 of The Tomo Trilogy)

Keep Her Away

Since our twenty-minute trek away from the dog-obsessed militia, Pierson hadn't said a word. He'd only led us into the nearest forest and kept walking, my eyes on his back, Argos at my side, Lily and Tasia switching positions next to me. Currently, Tasia was the closest.

"Are either of you going to explain who GI Joe is, or am I going to have to figure it out on my own?" Tasia asked, irritation lining every vowel. Darkness masked her expression as Lily filled her in, somehow finding a way to sum up Pierson in one breath. The double spy, she called him. Still, Tasia huffed, "Doesn't explain why he's here." She squinted at Pierson's back like a target just out of reach. "I don't like boys with secrets."

"Everyone has secrets," Lily chirped. Apparently, she reveled in arguing with Tasia. I had to dissolve the situation.

"We don't really have a choice, Tasia," I said.

Tasia frowned.. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"There are a lot worse things out here to fear than me," Pierson called over his shoulder, making it clear he'd heard everything we'd said, but no one had a chance to get embarrassed. He stopped. When he turned on his heel, he faced me first. "You sure you want to see this?"

I swallowed and, without answering his question, Pierson nodded for me. He pulled back a branch in the brush, and the night wind whistled through the leaves. It sounded like the ghost of the forest was screaming, and it took everything in me to step forward to see what lay ahead.

At first, I saw nothing. Just a plain black field of shadows and grass, but then the clouds released the moonlight.

Train tracks slid through a clearing, but when my eyes followed the track, the metal melted, destroyed. Surrounding it, the nearby trees had cracked in half, the ground torn up around them. Destruction had left deep trenches behind. And a train. Or what was left of one.

The machine, a heap of broken metal now, still pulled at my mind, aching my memories. The rust. The graffiti. The hard angles of the leftover rubble.

I recognized it. I'd been on this train before, with Noah and Rinley.

They had been on this train.

I didn't think. I just ran toward it.

Someone shouted my name, but I didn't care. I didn't get anywhere by listening before, and I may not have gotten anywhere by ignoring others, but trying something new was my only option. My gut said to run, so I did. I leapt over the first trench and broke out in a sprint. My ankle burned the moment I saw the broken crates inside. Ones that had been carrying weapons. There was no doubt in my mind now.

This was Noah's train. And Noah's train was destroyed.

I didn't make it the rest of the way. Despite being fast, Pierson was faster. He had his hand wrapped around my wrist in a few horrible moments. He only let go when Argos threatened him with a growl.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Pierson's hands twitched like he wanted to drag me back himself, but his eyes stayed on my dog. "There could be bombs in there. Cameras. Traps. You have no idea—"

"Then why'd you bring me out here?" The question tore out of my throat, just as Tasia caught up and jumped in between us. Lily jogged around to my side. Silence lingered between us until Tasia gave up looking tough.

She put her hands on her knees as she gasped for breath. "You really could've given me a signal or something, Sophia."

I glared. "Running was the signal."