Another scream left Oni which he considered unmanly. He couldn't see behind him. He told himself that was why he panicked with every drop. There was no way of knowing how long they'd fall. Once they recovered and the orb ascended again, his panic spiked, because what went up....

Which was where he looked and beheld something far beyond him. Nothing. No dome, no shielding, no...Outerlimits.

At Dev's back, building after building shrunk away. The green that took its place meant no protections. Oni tried to focus on her and not the open, empty sky spreading in all directions. One branch broke against the orb, then a second.

The open sky fell away, consumed by green in all directions.

Tingles spread across Oni's goosebumped skin. For every tree that zip past, he gripped the crisscross seat-belt across his chest even stronger.

He must have made a sound, something, because the orb slowed.

Whenever Dev leaned forward in her chair, the orb would speed up. But now, she leaned back.

It slowed until it finally came to a stop. Silver tracks stretched out above, on the right, and on the left as well. Other orbs continued to zip past.

One orb, however, traveled on their track, and wasn't slowing. If not for his confidence in his vision, he would have doubted what he saw.

Pleasant sat at the helm, the calm frame of Sen sitting in the same direction as Oni—a passenger. The wild panic in her eyes faded with Sen's chair zipping around to take the place of hers. He gave the top lever one tug and the orb shot overhead. It landed on the other side of Oni and Dev's orb without trouble, raddling the tracks. Then it stopped then rolled back.

Sen's chair swiveled yet again, no one facing forward or back. The new positioning afforded both Sen and Pleasant a clear view of Dev. Oni had to look back over his chair.

No one moved. Not Sen or Pleasant, and certainly not Dev. Oni wondered what all of them were waiting for. He assumed Sen meant to force Oni out of that orb with Dev and put Pleasant in. As unappealing as the thought, Oni knew this was the right thing to do. He wasn't built of steady stuff.

But the prospect of traveling all the way back under Sen's cold disapproval wasn't something Oni relished. That concerned him even more so than being forced out into the open and dirty air to make that switch.

Dev was fair-minded, so when her chair zipped around, forcing Oni to face forward where she once was, her back to her cousin and crewmen, all the hairs along the back of Oni's neck stood in alarm.

She was snubbing them.

Sen, still sitting with his arms folded, stared them down then shifted his body weight. Pleasant returned to the helm. Sen's cold, disapproving gaze started moving away, slowly at first then gained speed.

Once it was too far to see, Dev shifted her weight again and the plate holding their chairs spun around to allow her the helm. A vibration below them intensified. Oni couldn't find the cause until something shot overhead then landed on the opposite side of them. Sen and Pleasant. And they were headed back.

Dev met eyes with Oni finally. He waited for her to suggest the same. Surely this was Sen's way of signaling that they should as well.

"You feeling sick?" Dev asked.

Oni was, but he'd die before admitting it.

"My father said his biggest regret was being too frightened to watch the world unfold on his first run. He said it frightened him to be without the dome. The trees looked like they had faces and that the sky looked ready to swallow him up. Do...you feel something similar?"

It was exactly how Oni felt. But as he stared at her, his erratic heart could beat a bit calmer.

When he glanced to the right, it was in an effort to assure her that he was indeed appreciative of this experience. The jungle from the Outerlimits to the Inner City was days long. And as dangerous as it was without any way to cross it on foot, no Vagrant could even reach it without going through the Volunteer facilities. This was a once-in-a-lifetime shot. Here he was, on the other side of freedom, as far away from home as he'd ever get, staring out at the last threshold before reaching the Inner City. Him, Sonini Owens, a nobody. And all he could do was grip the safety harness securing him into his chair for dear life.

"You're supposed to drive us back," Dev began, not at all confident in him.

The way she left the words to linger meant she waited for him to accept the challenge.

A glance from left and right of the orb had Oni's chest tightening yet again. The trees. He was panicking. And the more he told himself not to panic, the faster it came. He was panicking.

Eventually, Dev sighed. "I'll drive us back."

"No." Oni had to close his eyes to keep the forest around them from rushing at him in all directions. It didn't help. "Let me do it. I can do it."

While they remained there, a number of orbs zipped past only to return full force yet again. Oni took little comfort in the fact that any orb on their track simply hopped them.

Shame took him in time.

"This is one of my favorite places," Dev muttered.

Oni forced himself to pick his head up. She stared off in the distance behind him. Oni didn't know how to at first but a few attempts at shifting his body weight had the chairs moving. When they could both see the world beyond that little clearing, his breath caught.

To say there was a massive drop was an understatement.

"The trick is to gain speed when you're in the curve," Dev told him, "but one wrong move, one hesitation, and you fall." Her eyes held pride when they met his. "My father let me steer the first time. He had to put weights on my seat to compensate for our uneven body weight. Isn't that insane?"

Oni blinked at her. It was more than insane.

"He said he trusted me. And I was never afraid. My mother was a wreck. When we made it back, I don't think she spoke to him for a month." Dev stared out at the curved track which stretched into the sky and followed a steep incline into the great beyond. "I never understood why she always reacted that way because I asked him once why he always treated me like I could do no wrong."

When she quieted, Oni asked, "What'd he say?"

Dev smiled then gave off a scoff as she met his gaze. "He said he trusted me because my mother was the best Volunteer alive and it was in my blood."

The way she quieted this time spoke of sadness.

"So why didn't he love her? He gushed about her whenever she wasn't around. He'd tell me all her stats. Everything about her. How she broke the five hundred block shooting record to win her number when it was challenged."

Oni didn't really have an answer. In this moment, he took Dev in. She stayed close to him at least, but the more time they spent together, the less he wanted to confess his feelings. She was oblivious, utterly so. Her father claimed her as his own child and even went so far as to gift her with the truth before his passing.

Sonini Owens was named after three districts, Dev's father two. And in all honesty, as of now, Oni was more than certain that Dev's father wasn't the problem. Maybe this would be Oni's life one day, caring for Dev's and Bray's kid, never being able to articulate the truth. Till now, Dev's mother remained a mystery. Dev rarely spoke of the woman, didn't hold any memorabilia, and certainly had few words of wisdom to impart on her behalf. Oni could picture it, a steadfast, fearless Volunteer tearing through the ranks, Dev's lovesick eventual adopted father on her heels, and her being totally clueless of the fact.

He didn't know if that was what he wanted.

She watched the tracks, but Oni watched her.

No.

That wasn't what he wanted but it would be where he ended up if he didn't man up and take a few chances.

"I'll do the curve," Oni announced.

Dev laughed. "Absolutely not." When she met eyes with him, whatever she found there had her being gentler. "I'd practiced for months before attempting it. It's not a fall you can come back from and it's a guaranteed fall for anyone who doesn't know what they're doing." The long curve drew her focus again. "It's the last line of defense to ensure that anyone reaching the Inner City belongs there."

Embarrassed, Oni nodded.

She surprised him by saying, "But the first time we go, you'll drive us."

Oni's body warmed. His chest swelled and he smiled. They shared a few minutes more together before she swiveled them back around and started to familiarize him to the machine for their short trip home.