Freegans part 28

Lucy
I felt a little nervous, but figured anyone was better than the Junkmen or the Vice President. Our new friend said, "It's best if we take this way out, so there will be less bloodshed. Come on." We were about to follow, when Madiza walked right up to him, a slightly suspicious look on her face, and stared him right in the eyes. She stood like that for several seconds, as if she were looking for something. Suddenly she smiled and said, "You're a good boy." Then she stood up on tiptoe and patted him on the head.

The man, who quickly introduced himself as Kestrel, led us down a tunnel, his plasma rifle cocked and ready. Madiza skipped along, a wide grin plastered on her face, as if we were going on a picnic. Cara and Matt were slinking as quietly as you please. Seeing how well they could adjust to the situation made me feel loud and clumsy, and as stealthy as a water buffalo. Which, in fact, I probably was. And Ben? Thankfully, he stayed by me, to help me along. I felt a wave of gratitude towards him. He was so nice all the time.

Of course, our escape was slightly ruined by the fact that somehow the Junkmen found out we had escaped, and sent out robots after us. Thankfully, we now had Kestrel, so we had better chances. Instantly he fired off another round of plasma, blasting most of them into pulp. He waved us behind him, so that he wouldn't accidentally hit any of us. However, more and more robots just kept coming. We backed up slowly, moving down the tunnel. Suddenly, we couldn't go any farther. With a touch of deja vu, I saw that we had another giant pit behind us. Without wasting time, Cara clicked her heels and blasted into the air. Then she got one of the grappling hooks out of her pack, and attached it to a pipe in the ceiling.

"Come on, guys! You can swing over!" she called. While she was saying this, she walked on the air to the other side. Instantly I got a wave of vertigo. The idea of swinging over what looked like a bottomless pit made my legs go weak. However, the next thing I knew, Ben had grabbed the rope and was tying it around my waist.
"What are you doing?! I'll die! Or fall! Or something!" I shrilled, feeling terrified out of my wits.
"Relax, Luce," said Matt. "Cara will catch you. There's nothing to be afraid of." Ben reached out a hand and pushed my eyelids closed, which I interpreted as telling me to do that. I nodded, squeezing them shut. The next thing I knew, I was whooshing through the air, and suddenly Cara had me, and was untying the rope.
"See, silly?" she asked. "I knew you could do it."