Page 86 of Stray Omega

CHAPTER 31: ORWEN

The vehicle was an old military personnel transport from before the time of the Great Change. With the use of old tools and schematics, as well as a lot of help from the Outsider omegas, the machine had been restored to working order again. It did not look pretty, but its powerful and silent electric motor ran perfectly. Now it bumped and jostled over the uneven pavement of one of the many roads that led from the Quarantine Zone toward the city hive of Galadon-1. Its headlights pierced into the darkness of the night.

The interior of the vehicle had been designed for normal humans, not for alphas. Orwen barely fit into the passenger seat, and his scrunched up knees were starting to ache. Plus, he was dressed in Outsider clothing for a disguise—a pair of denim pants and an itchy sweater. It was uncomfortable as hell.

He glanced across the cab to the driver’s seat.

The alpha named Taliesin was behind the wheel. His omega mate Hines had just given birth that day. He should have been back in the Central Ruins, celebrating his first day as a new father. But he was one of only a handful of alphas who knew how to operate the Outsider machines, so he had volunteered to drive Orwen to the city hive.

And between the two alphas, seated in the middle of the bench seat, was Smoke. The gray-furred dog sat panting in the stuffy heat of the cab, ears alert, dark eyes aimed straight ahead. Despite Orwen’s protests, Smoke had insisted on tagging along for this rescue. He had barked and whined incessantly until the alpha had finally given in and allowed him to come.

They had exited the Zone about an hour ago, using an old secret mine shaft that tunneled under the Quarantine Wall. Now they were racing full speed down a disused road that led to the Outsider city.

Orwen had to admit, even though it was uncomfortable, the Outsider vehicle was incredibly fast.

But not fast enough.

Right now, time was of the essence, and with every second that passed, there was no telling what tortures the Outsiders were inflicting on Orwen’s pack brothers and the poor little omega.

Embla.

Orwen’s heart panged with guilt.

How could he have been so wrong about her? All this time, he had assumed that she was a Farlander. An enemy. But after Seraph had revealed to him the visions of the omega’s life, Orwen understood just how much he and Embla had in common.

He had been so blind, so narrow-minded. He had driven her away, and he had not been there for her when she needed his protection the most.

He was a fool.

But now he had one last chance to set everything right again.

They drove on in silence. Up ahead on the horizon, a glow of light appeared. Orwen’s first thought was sunrise, but the time was wrong, and so was the direction. Soon, he saw beams of searchlights sweeping back and forth across a sky clouded with noxious fumes of pollution. As they got closer still, the city hive began to emerge out of the murk, and Orwen’s chest tightened at the sight of it.

Source, it was huge.

Taliesin had spent a great deal of time in the city hive, and he had described its size and scale to Orwen. But now, actually witnessing it firsthand, Orwen could hardly believe his eyes. His emotions bounced back and forth between awe and repulsion.

The city hive was aptly named. A towering, multi-layered termite mound of humanity. It rose above the surrounding wasteland like a glittering pyramid formed from tens of thousands of piled up buildings. Neon signs pulsed. Refinery stacks belched flames hundreds of meters into the night sky. The upper reaches of the man-made mountain were wreathed in a thick layer of smog.

How could people ever live in a place like this?

And more important, how the hell was Orwen ever going to find his friends in all that mess?

“What do you think?” Taliesin asked.

“Big.”

“Yeah, I told you…”

From his perch in the middle of the cab, Smoke just whined nervously. It seemed like an appropriate reaction.

As they approached the city, Orwen saw that there were other roads to the left and right. Many dozens of them, all converging on the hive. But Taliesin was not driving them toward any of the main entrances into the city.

“By Outsider standards, this transport is an antique,” Taliesin explained. “We’d stick out like a sore thumb if we tried to go through the main gates. But I know another way. We’ll go in through the underhive. Nobody’s going to look at us twice down there.”

The perimeter of the city was encircled by a huge wall of steel and rockcrete that looked as though it had been built up haphazardly over many decades. The disused road they were on led to a darkened archway.

Taliesin piloted the vehicle inside.

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