RUN

Tally¹ had never ridden a hoverboard barefoot before. YoungSmokies had all kinds of competitions, carrying weights orriding double, but no one was ever that stupid.
She almost fell off on the first turn, zooming² down anew path they’d spiked³ with scrap⁴ metal only a few daysbefore. The moment the board banked, her dirty feet skiddedacross the surface, spinning her halfway⁶ around. Herarms flailed⁷ wildly, but somehow Tally kept her footing,shooting across the compound and over the rabbit pen.
A ragged⁸ cheer rose up below as the captives belowsaw her fly past and realized that someone was making anescape. Tally was too busy staying on board to glancedown.
Regaining⁹ her balance, Tally realized she wasn’t wearingcrash bracelets¹⁰. Any fall would be for real. Her toes grippedthe board, and she vowed¹¹ to take the next turn more slowly.
If the sky had been cloudy this morning, the sun wouldn’thave burned the dew off Croy’s board yet. She’d be lying ina crumpled¹² heap in the pen, probably with a broken neck.
It was lucky she, like most young Smokies, slept with herbelly sensor¹³ on.
Already, the whine¹⁴ of hovercars taking off came frombehind.
Tally knew only two ways out of the Smoke by hoverboard.
Instinctively¹⁵, she headed for the railroad tracks whereshe worked every day. The valley dropped behind her, andshe managed to make the tight turn onto the white-waterstream without falling off. With no knapsack and her heavycrash bracelets missing, Tally felt practically naked.
Croy’s board wasn’t as fast as hers, and it didn’t knowher style. Riding it was like breaking in new shoes—whilerunning for your life.
Over the water, spray struck her face, hands, and feet.
Tally knelt, grasping the edge of the board with wet hands,flying as low as she dared. Down here, the spray mightmake it even harder to ride, but the barrier of the trees kepther invisible. She dared a glance backward. No hovercarshad appeared yet.
As she shot down the winding¹⁶ stream, swerving¹⁷ throughthe familiar hard turns, Tally thought of all the times she andDavid and Shay had raced each other to the work site. Shewondered where David was. Back in camp, bound and readyto be taken to a city he’d never seen before? Would he havehis face filed down and replaced by a pretty mask, his brainturned into whatever mush the authorities decided¹⁸ would beacceptable for a former renegade raised in the wild?
314 Scott WesterfeldShe shook her head, forcing the image from her mind.
David hadn’t been among the captured resistors. If he’dbeen caught, he definitely would have put up a fight. Hemust have escaped.
The roar of a hovercar passed overhead, the shock waveof its passage almost throwing Tally from the board. A fewseconds later, she knew it had spotted¹⁹ her, its screamingturn echoing through the forest as it cut back to the river.
Shadows passed over Tally, and she glanced up to seetwo hovercars following her, their blades shimmering²⁰ asbright as knives in the midmorning sun. The hovercarscould go anywhere, but Tally was limited by her magneticlifters. She was trapped on the route to the railroad.
Tally remembered her first ride out to Dr. Cable’s office,the violent agility²¹ of the hovercar with its cruel prettydriver. In a straight line, they were much faster than anyboard. Her only advantage was that she knew this pathbackward and forward.
Fortunately, it was hardly a straight line.
Tally gripped the board with both hands and jumpedfrom the river to the ridge²² line. The cars disappeared intothe distance, overshooting as she skimmed the iron vein²³.
But Tally was out in the open now, the plains spreading outbelow her as huge as ever.
She noticed fleetingly²⁴ that it was a perfect day, not acloud in the sky.
Tally lay almost flat to cut down wind resistance,UGLIES 315coaxing every ounce of speed from Croy’s board. It didn’tlook like she’d make it to the next cover before the two carshad swung around.
She wondered how they planned to capture her. Use astunner? Throw a net? Simply bowl her over with theirshock waves? At this speed and without crash bracelets,anything that knocked Tally off the board would kill her.
Maybe that was just fine with them.
The scream of their blades came from her right, louderand louder.
Just before the sound reached her, Tally dragged herselfinto a full hoverskid, her momentum²⁵ crushing her downinto the board. The two hovercars shot past ahead, missingby a mile, but the wind of their passage spun²⁶ her around incircles. The board flipped²⁷ over and then back upright, Tallyhanging on with both arms as the world spun wildlyaround her.
She regained²⁸ control and urged it forward again, bringingit back to full speed before the hovercars could turnback around. The Specials might be faster, but her hoverboardwas more maneuverable.
As the next turn drew near, the hovercars were headedstraight for her, moving slower now, their pilots realizingthat at top speed they would overshoot her every time.
Let them try to fly below tree level, though.
Now riding on her knees, gripping the board with bothhands, Tally twisted into the next turn, dropping to skim316 Scott Westerfeldjust above the cracked dirt of the dry creek²⁹ bed. She heardthe whine of the hovercars steadily³⁰ build.
They were tracking her too easily, probably using herbody heat to pick her out among the trees, like the mindersback home. Tally remembered the little portable heatershe’d used to sneak³¹ out of the dorm so many times. If onlyshe had it now.
Then Tally remembered the caves that David hadshown her on her first day in the Smoke. Under the coldstones of the mountain, her body heat would disappear.
She ignored the sound of her pursuers, shooting downthe creek bed and across a spur of ore, then onto the riverthat led to the railroad. She careened along above the water,and the hovercars stayed above tree height, patiently waitingfor her to run out of cover.
As the turnoff to the railroad approached, Tallyincreased her speed, skimming the water as fast as shedared. She took the turn at full skid⁵ and hurtled down thetrack.
The cars swept away down the river. The Specials mighthave expected her to turn off on another river, but thesudden appearance of an old railroad track had surprisedthem. If she could make it to the mountain before the hovercarscompleted their slow turns, she would be safe.
Just in time, Tally remembered the spot where they hadpulled up the track for scrap metal, and angled her boardfor a stomach-wrenching moment of freefall, soaring overUGLIES 317the gap in a high arc. The lifters found metal again, andthirty seconds later she came to a skidding³² halt at the endof the line.
Tally jumped from the hoverboard, turned it around,and gave it a shove back toward the river. Without hercrash bracelets to pull it back, the board would drift alongthe straight line of the railroad until it reached the break,where it would drop to the ground.
Hopefully, the Specials would think she’d fallen off, andstart their search back there.
Tally crawled up the boulders³³ and into the cave, scramblingback into the darkness. She pulled herself as far as shecould go, hoping that the tons of stone overhead would beenough to hide her from the Specials. When the tiny apertureof light at the mouth of the cave had shrunk to the sizeof an eye, Tally dropped to the stone, panting, her handsstill shaking from the flight, telling herself again and againthat she’d made it.
But what had she made it to? She had no shoes, nohoverboard, no friends, not even a water purifier or a packetof SpagBol. No home to go back to.
Tally was completely alone. “I’m so dead,” she saidaloud.
A voice came out of the dark.
“Tally? Is that you?”

1 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

2 zooming   

adj.快速上升的v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去分词 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Zooming and panning are navigational tools for exploring 2D and 3D information. 缩放和平移是浏览二维和三维信息的导航工具。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Panning and zooming, especially when paired together, create navigation difficulties for users. 对于用户来说，平移和缩放一起使用时，产生了更多的导航困难。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

4 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

5 skid   

v.打滑 n.滑向一侧；滑道 ，滑轨

参考例句：

• He braked suddenly,causing the front wheels to skid.他突然剎车，使得前轮打了滑。
• The police examined the skid marks to see how fast the car had been travelling.警察检查了车轮滑行痕迹，以判断汽车当时开得有多快。

6 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

7 flailed   

v.鞭打( flail的过去式和过去分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克

参考例句：

• The boys flailed around on the floor. 男孩子们在地板上任意地动来动去。
• The prisoner's limbs flailed violently because of the pain. 那囚犯因为疼痛，四肢剧烈地抖动着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

9 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

10 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

13 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

14 whine   

v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣

参考例句：

• You are getting paid to think,not to whine.支付给你工资是让你思考而不是哀怨的。
• The bullet hit a rock and rocketed with a sharp whine.子弹打在一块岩石上，一声尖厉的呼啸，跳飞开去。

15 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

17 swerving   

v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• It may stand as an example of the fitful swerving of his passion. 这是一个例子，说明他的情绪往往变化不定，忽冷忽热。 来自辞典例句
• Mrs Merkel would be foolish to placate her base by swerving right. 默克尔夫人如果为了安抚她的根基所在而转到右翼就太愚蠢了。 来自互联网

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

20 shimmering   

v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The sea was shimmering in the sunlight. 阳光下海水波光闪烁。
• The colours are delicate and shimmering. 这些颜色柔和且闪烁微光。 来自辞典例句

21 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

22 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

23 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

24 fleetingly   

adv.飞快地，疾驰地

参考例句：

• The quarks and gluons indeed break out of confinement and behave collectively, if only fleetingly. 夸克与胶子确实打破牢笼而表现出集体行为，虽然这种状态转瞬即逝。 来自互联网

25 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

26 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

27 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

28 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

29 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

30 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

31 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

32 skidding   

n.曳出，集材v.（通常指车辆） 侧滑( skid的现在分词 )；打滑；滑行；（住在）贫民区

参考例句：

• All the wheels of the truck were tied up with iron chains to avoid skidding on the ice road. 大卡车的所有轮子上都捆上了铁链，以防止在结冰的路面上打滑。 来自《用法词典》
• I saw the motorcycle skidding and its rider spilling in dust. 我看到摩托车打滑，骑车人跌落在地。 来自互联网

33 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》