Chapter 19

The line of trash cans looked horribly uninviting to Cora. Some of them were overfilled, their rotten stinking contents forcing off their lids. She avoided those and lifted the lid on one of the others that was still closed. The stench made her want to vomit, and she hurriedly closed the lid again.

As she went along lifting lids, she thought she might have to go back to the stinky can that was closed. All the others appeared to be full. She opened the last one and was relieved to find it half empty.

She checked up and down the street, and the coast was clear. Hurriedly, she climbed into the bin, forcing aside used drink cartons and vegetable peelings. She pulled the lid closed after her, plunging her world into darkness.

Once inside, she curled herself into a fetal position, hugging her knees close to her chest and squeezing her eyes tightly shut. What she was planning was risky.

"I can do this," she whispered to herself in the dark confines of the trash bin. "Levi is counting on me. I have to do it. In fact, the whole fate of the universe could be counting on me!" She felt a little bolstered by the words. She felt she could be much braver if she were fighting for a big cause.

She could hear the bins at the beginning of the line being lifted one by one into the transporter. The noise moved gradually closer to her position. No turning back now, she thought as she felt her bin begin to shift.

She held her breath as the trash can jolted and bustled and then finally dropped into the back of the transporter with the rest. As the vehicle pulled away, she could feel herself sinking lower and lower into the garbage with the vibration of the giant hover transporter.

"Ugh, this is so gross," she said under her breath, wriggling around and trying to get her feet under her. The oversized clothing wasn't helping. Eventually, she worked her way into a better position.

I hope you're right, Levi, and I'm not headed for some giant crusher! she thought as the transporter slowed down.

She wasn't sure whether to stay in the can until they stopped or to hop out of it now and hide among the bins.

The vehicle came to a standstill. Cora found she was holding her breath.

"Morning, Grath," said a male voice close by.

"Morning, Rejak," said another.

"We've just got to do a quick check in the back. There's been a couple of incidents on the base. A theft or something. Some woman the company is after is on the run," the first voice said.

"I don't know what she'd be doing in the trash," said the second. "I doubt she'd find anything to steal in there!" They both laughed.

Cora went into a panic. As quietly as she could, she hunched down among the garbage. She discovered a sheet and carefully pulled it over her head.

She heard the rattle of the grilled door at the back of the truck and the guard climbing aboard before banging as he started opening the lids. "This is ridiculous," he said as he was crashing about. "She ain't even going to fit in one of these. They're all full."

"The company's getting twitchy these days, Rejak. I reckon they're up to something," replied the driver.

"Oh, man. That's disgusting," exclaimed the guard. He must have come to the stinky bin, thought Cora. "Screw this. You're clear to go," he said.

Cora let out a breath as she heard him climb down from the truck and the door rattled closed again. That was too close.

The truck's engine rumbled back to life, and the bins started to vibrate as the truck pulled forward. Cora's heart was still beating fast as she carefully climbed out of her hiding place. She crouched down low, hidden by the surrounding trash cans.

She could see they were traveling through the factory complex, leaving the checkpoint behind them. She wanted to be ready to jump off when she had the chance.

The transporter turned a corner and came to a halt next to a line of huge dumpsters. No one seemed to be around. She crouched at the rear of the huge truck waiting for the cage-like door to roll up out of the way, every muscle tensed and ready.

As soon as the door started to roll up out of the way, she ducked underneath it.

A movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn. She was expecting to see the driver or another guard, but it was the vicious-looking hook they used for lifting the bins. She ducked hurriedly, feeling the huge lump of metal graze her shoulder.

She scurried hurriedly over to the line of big bins and ducked behind them. "Shit," she hissed through gritted teeth. Her shoulder was a little sore, but the thing could have killed her. She needed to pay more attention. She scolded herself vehemently.

The line of bins made a perfect tunnel between themselves and the wall. She leaned back momentarily against its cold surface, enjoying the sensation. This place was so hot during the day, which was exacerbated by her layers of heavy clothing. Still, they provided her with at least some anonymity at a glance.

So the "company" was looking for her. Were they? Well, the quicker she could get Levi out and be gone, the better then.

The bin transporter guys had gotten out of the cab and were starting to load the bins into the back of the hover truck. One by one they clamped the great hook onto the bins and lifted them onto the truck. Once they had one loaded, the huge hook would return carrying a clean empty bin, which it would sit on the ground nearby.

Every time they lifted a bin, Cora hid behind the next one. The problem was, there was a large gap between the line of full bins she was hiding behind and the line of clean bins they were unloading.

She watched the sanitation workers, one the boss and the other his assistant, as they were doing their work. She waited for the chance to make a dash out of their grasp, to no avail.

They had the hook attached to the final bin that she was hiding behind. She was starting to panic when the driver said he was going to do the final sign-off at the office.

"Okay, Grath, I've got this," said the assistant. That just left one set of eyes she had to dodge.

The bin was already lifting from the ground when she got her chance. The assistant went to the cab of the vehicle and pulled out a smoke, leaving the bin hanging just above the ground.

Cora gathered her resolve and made a break for it. The distance seemed somehow to increase as she ran. She was so exposed, and she braced for a shout at any moment. But it never came.

She dove behind the line of clean, shiny bins just as the assistant went back to his post and continued to load the last bin.

She thought her heart was going to batter its way out of her chest as she gulped in deep breaths of air. I'm trying to save the universe. I'm trying to save the planet of the being I love, she had to remind herself over and over again.

It was the first time she thought the words, and she realized she'd never loved anyone like him, and likely never would.

Once the garbage collectors had left in their big truck, she took the opportunity to climb into one of the waiting dumpsters. It was thankfully clean and dry inside. Now all she could do was wait until someone wheeled her inside the factory.