It was something personal, like a debt that had to be repaid, a vengeance that I myself had to exact.  But much as I wanted to go out and find my brother's murderer, my family was adamantly against it.  Eric left the next morning, just before my grandfather told my parents and sisters.  I expressed my wishes and my parents expressly forbid me of even thinking of such a course of action.  They said I was too young to go out into the Waste, that I didn't know anything of survival, or how to defend myself; they were right for the most part, but I didn't want to listen.  In the end I stormed off to my room and refused to come out for the rest of the day.

     I made my decision and brushed off everything they had said.  I was going to take revenge for my brother, and nothing was going to stop me.

     I waited until that evening, after everyone had fallen asleep.  My room was on the ground floor, so it was easy enough for me to climb out the window with a backpack full of food and bottles of water and quietly sneak out of town.  I didn't even bother leaving a note; my family would know where I had gone and why.

     The open desert is a quiet place at night, especially in areas where there isn't enough wildlife for coyotes to survive.  Occasionally I would hear the chittering of scorpions as they hunted the lizards and desert mice, or the death squeals of their prey, but other than that the only sounds to reach my ears were my own footsteps.  Judging by the position of the moon and the fact that the few streetlamps in town had left my range of vision half an hour before, I was making good progress.  I had always been very alert and aware of my surroundings, so when a dark shape rose out of the desert in front of me I was so startled I couldn't help but let out a shor shriek of fear and alarm.

     The scream was cut short, barely more than a squeak before the shape enveloped me and a hand clamped down over my mouth.  "Quiet!" a familiar voice hissed.  "You were about to stumble into a Gila nest, and the last thing we want is for your screams to wake the whole pack!"

     I was lifted off the ground by a pair of strong arms, the hand leaving my mouth to scoop my feet out from under me, and I was carried silently off a good hundred yards before the figure set me down.

     "I knew you'd run away," Eric said, turning on a lightglobe that illuminated us both in a pale yellow light.  "My sister tried that once when Rikki was captured by raiders; Vol and I hunted her down in the desert and had to have Mera keep guard over her while we rescued your grandfather."

     "So what?  You're going to take me home and set someone to make sure I don't try to run off again?" I asked him angrily.

     "I would, but you aren't your grandmother," Eric replied.  "You remind me too much of myself when Rikki and I first started our careers as tekkers.  I think you're better suited to the Waste than the rest of the family believes; besides, I plan on teaching you everything I know along the way."

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

     We spent the rest of the night just ravelling to where Eric had stashed his vehicle, arriving at its hiding place just as dawn broke.  As soon as I laid my eyes upon it in the morning light I realized why Eric had chosen to come into town on foot.  Eric's transportaion was not an animal-drawn cart or even a solar car like we occasionally saw pass through town.  This was a prewar military vehicle, a humvee with heavy armor plating.  Eric explained that it ran on a modified hydrogen engine, running on water and practically 100% fuel efficient.

     "Where did you find this?" I asked, running my hands over the vehicle just to make sure it was real.

     "That's... not a pleasant memory," Eric said after a heavy pause.  "Suffice to say it's in full working order and I know how to repair it if anything goes wrong.  Climb in."

     "Where are we going?  What are we going to do first?  Do you have any leads on who killed my brother?" I asked rapid fire.

     Eric held up his hand to ward off the questions.  "We're heading to visit Vol fist," he said.  "I think your brother and aunt were on their way to see him when they were killed.  We'll start there."