Free Fever by Kailin Gow

It’s closer now, obviously worried by the sudden maneuvers, but we haven’t lost it yet. Instead, it slots in behind us as Jack races along the desert floor, kicking up dust with the rotor blades as we pass.
                “It isn’t working,” he says. “But we have to lose them. If they get to Location Thirteen, they’ll find every Fader who survived the apocalypse. We can’t allow that. Whatever it takes, we have to protect the others.”
                “Then let’s find out what this helicopter can do,” I suggest.
                “Are you saying we should outrun them?”
                “I’m saying we should outlast them. Are attack helicopters made for long distance work?”
                Jack shakes his head. “But when they realize what we’re doing, they might shoot us down.”
                “Then we’ll just have to make ourselves into a harder target to catch,” I suggest.
                Jack nods. “I can do that.”
                He flips a switch, and the helicopter roars forward.

 
    TEN
     
     
     
     
    “ H old on tight!” Jack calls out, before pushing the speed of our helicopter up to its maximum. I’d thought that this wouldn’t be able to go too fast, since it’s designed for long range transport, but apparently, it has some good pace too. The ground below us blurs past. And I can see the ground, because Jack plunges us towards it.
                “Jack-” I start to say, but he shakes his head.
                “The only way we’ll lose them is if we make them dodge. Trust me, Celes. I know what I’m doing. Now look back and see if you can spot them. If they aren’t following us, then I could be giving them a straight shot down at our rotor blades.”
                That sounds bad. I glance back, trying to spot Hammond’s helicopter and make sure that it isn’t doing exactly that. For a moment, I can’t see it, and I start to worry that maybe it’s doing exactly what Jack just said. I look up trying to see it above us, can’t see it there either, then glance back again.
                It’s right there behind us, closer now than it was. Worse, I can see the mini-guns on its outside rotating, spitting fire as bullets fly from them. With the noise of our rotor blades, I can’t hear their roar, but I find myself bracing for the impact of the bullets. Only when Jack pulls us sharply sideways do I breathe a sigh of relief.
                He keeps us dodging, flying dangerously low now, heading for rocky outcrops and skimming the tops of cacti as we fly past. He ducks us into a ravine, Hammond’s helicopter following us down into it with another burst of firepower. There’s less room to dodge here. There’s less room for Jack to do anything except concentrate on navigating the ravine’s twists and turns without crashing.
                I realize then that’s probably Jack’s plan. He keeps our helicopter low, almost skimming the ravine’s floor and jerking it around the tightest of corners with the kind of ease someone might get from flying them plenty of times before. Yet with Jack, that isn’t how he’s managing it. He’s picked the one environment for this chase where he knows his short term visions of the future will give him an advantage. Wilson Hammond’s helicopter has to risk crashing at every turn to keep up, and if he loses sight of us once, we’ll be away while his radar is still blocked by the walls of the canyon. It’s a clever move. Exactly the kind of move only Jac Vbehind us,k would make.
                Yet somehow, Hammond’s attack chopper is keeping up. Maybe it’s because, no matter how fast our helicopter is, it isn’t designed for flat out speed. Though it does seem to have one or two extra tricks. A warning light flashes in the cockpit, alarms sounding. I look back to see a flaming streak that