Oz; Remake of the Tale 1.3

4. Storm rider

The storm did not come alone; it came packed with winds, rain and above all striking lightnings that streaked from the clouds to the ground. I was caught in it and it calls for skill to ride it out.

"Wind sixty clicks speed North West, Rain density thick and acidic." The helmet of mine displayed the latest data for me as I held tight to the bike. If we are go live one more day, I may need to find shelter soon. I did a mental calculation and reckon I am about five minutes to the farm.

"Whoa!" I just swerved to avoid the incoming lightning. I had this installed in recently to detect the lightnings strike area. I been relying on this gadget for the last five near misses. Despite my body suit and personal force field, I can feel the little missiles that hit me. Every time some of it hits the force field, the field would vibrate with streaks of electromagnetic lights can be seen. The force field would repel anything small but not a large boulder.

On the farm land, there are more than just the sands and pebbles; there are also the large metal scraps that could had been laid aside on the farms, but now is a wind assisted projectile.

"Metal construct at 1000hr." The bike cannon would adjust its barrel direction and released off a series of blasts which would break the metal construct into manageable components.

"Metal construct eliminated." The bike cannon barrel revets to it original firing position. Just as the bike system completed its analysis, then its give out another alarm.

"Danger!" The threat was a sharp needle piece that flew at my helmet but the force field compensate for the new threat by strengthening the possible impact area. The needle piece did pierce the field but it was stopped in the layers.

"Darned it" I looked at the needle piece held by the force field within ten centimeter from my left side. If not for the force field, I would probably be having a new pore drilled hole on my left cheek.

"Riders at close proximity," The bike alerted me.

I saw the riders. There are two of them and they seems to be part of the original ones which tried to stopped the Professor' s vehicle. They are riding parallel to me on both sides.

"Damned their intoxication." I muttered out. They may think its fun to outraced out here in the storm. They are not brave but fools to play here. I used my hands to signal them to withdraw but the duo was responding but still insist on racing me to the farm.

I gunned the bike to overtake them, and despite my best efforts; those make shift bikes are packed with powers too. Suddenly the new alert came in.

"Winds condition worsening. More debris expected. May suggest evasive moves be initiated." I hate this alert. It means the wind have picked up and there would be flying ground objects that even my force field may not be able to handle.

"Whoa!" I just evaded another lightings strike which happened so near that I could feel the heat. I kept on gunning the bike and hit the third quarter speedometer. Its a speed limit   which I used on the bike when I am on the secured race tracks but not on a farm track in the middle of a storm.

The flash of the explosion took my mind off the speedometer. One of the raiders have ended its riding career on a permanent basis. I don't know what it could hit or hit by, but its over. The other rider did not pause to looked at the fallen comrade but continued to ride on as if nothing had happened.

"Bike, plot me another course over route #4." I command the bike, but I got the warning from the bike to reconsider my choice. I pressed the override command and asked it to compute the new route. Its an shorter route but its terrain would not be conducive to travel in this weather. The bike computed the route and we proceeded on. The bike swerved to the right to take on the new route and my accompanying rider on the front made a detour to followed me.

Darned! That new route was to avoid the rider following me, but it still do.

The route would take us about ten minutes to the farm , but we got to bear the obstacles ahead. The route runs on ridge of the canyon with the steep descent on my right and the wide open plateau on the left. That means the blowing win coming at us from the right could take us off on a wrong turn.

Both of us are riding parallel with a distance separating of ten meters; a dangerous gap at the speed which we were doing. I made some adjustment to the bike weight by by hanging slightly over the right side so that the extra weight would make it harder for us to be swept off  Made more dangerous by the wind was the usual debris and this time; the cannon cannot fire directly at it. The ridge is a nice place to ride on but there are gaps on the tracks which required us to jump the bike. That makes it more dangerous as the wind could threw us over the edge. The last three jumps were completed with no mishaps except some close shavings on the bike frame in the last one of mine.

As I was doing the jump, the rear of the bike got hit by a flying debris and its disrupted my momentum in flight. I can feel the bike going flat onto a horizontal landing with my weight pulling it down. By my own reflexes, I climb back on the bike and pulled the body frame up. I landed at a gradient and almost went into a spin if not for some careful handling of uprighting it. Once I had control, I gunned the machine to make up for the lost time.

Once I caught up with the rider, I signaled the other rider that we are approaching the next jump. Its a shorter jump but the other side of the cliff is slightly higher. Hicks and myself used to called it the Humpback.

We both jumped the gap at the same time, but the lightning came down near to the other rider. A debris from the strike hit the rider's bike on its rear wheel like the earlier one on my bike. The other bike's jump was affected. It dropped in its trajectory and short dropped on the other side. I saw the bike hit the cliff side and exploded on impact.

I wanted to hold back my bike when it landed, but the farm is ahead with the main storm catching up with me.

"System Red Alert. The rear bearings registering unusual wear. Suggest to replace." I know that problem sometime back. I did not bother as it was expensive to replace. But this third alert means it go anytime. I could not stop now; the bike may not move after that. System would shutdown to await repair.

Damned, I looked at the spot where the rider crashed. It was a foreseen outcome on the other biker. I tap my helmet as a sign of respect and rode on. I hit the farm with an emergency stop. There is the main structure where Uncle Henry and the boys would be taking shelter.

I ran to the main doorway of the farm structure and found myself locked out.

I slammed the panel with my fist to force it to accept my command but nothing was happening. The comms would not work and the main storm is getting nearer. A flying debris landed near me but did do any damages.

I ran to my bike and picked it up. I gunned it up and it won't start.

"System Code Alpha Five Omega Four. I demand an override on the ignition."

"System Code acknowledged. Override sequence in five, four, three, two, one."

The bike roared on my punched on its switch. Then it went into a series of sputter as dark exhaust smoke appeared from the rear.

Damned part giving way. I rode to the nearest other shelter that can accommodate us both. With only part of the system in operation, the one ton weight of the bike is a chore to handle but I made it.

Its a workshop; an abandoned one that was here on the farm even before this farm was constructed. I reached it there just before the main storm hit it here. I shoved myself off on the bike and ran to latch the door of the workshop. It was hard to pulled the latch down but I did it. Now it was time to find cover to ride the main storm. I looked around for anything that can resembled a suitable place. I saw it; a old containment case big enough for me curled in like a child in the womb of her mother.

It was a tight fit when I closed the cover.

Now its time to wait it out. I have Toto and N1 with me.

Suddenly. I felt the vibrations and then the pounding on the case.

Next thing I knew was a hard knock on my head.

Blackness surrounded me.

I may had been dead. I recalled seeing my mother and father. Then I see them running and looking back. They keep on shouting at me but I can't hear them. Soon they were gone from my sight, and then I saw the four horseman.

"You are next, Dorothy."