The next day, Russell met Highshot up on the shelf again.
"You like to run right?" asked Russell.
"Yeah", said Highshot, "I remember racing my friends in the streets before the war making bots angry."
"How long has it been since you raced someone?" asked Russell.
"A long time", Highshot said.
"I bet Sideswipe would be up for race", said Russell.
"You think so?"
"Yeah. Let's go ask him."
They hopped down from the shelf and went to find Sideswipe. They found him by the Alchemore fidgeting with something.
"Hey, Sideswipe", Highshot said, "How fast are you?"
"Pretty fast", said Sideswipe, "Why? You challenging me?"
"Maybe..."
"You're on!"
Soon they reached a secluded area with enough space for Sideswipe.
Highshot was in her beast mode with Russell on her back.
"3...2...1...GO!"
Highshot took off, weaving through the trees. Sideswipe was running and using trees to launch himself.
They were nose-to-nose.
They reached an old dirt path. Sideswipe transformed.
"Try to keep up!" Sideswipe called to Highshot.
There was a boulder coming up on the side of the path. She pushed her legs harder to catch up.
She jumped onto the boulder, and launched herself off, landing in front of Sideswipe.
"Eat our dust!" Russell called back.
"Hey, no fair!"
There were a lot more boulders on the path farther up, forcing Sideswipe to transform again.
Russell had good balance, making it easier to maneuver around. Highshot hopped from one to another with ease, so did Sideswipe, or so she thought.
When he jumped onto slick boulder covered in moss, he lost his footing and landed hard.
She struggled to stop on the slippery boulders, trying not to slip herself.
When she looked behind her, he was in a very awkward position. He had fallen on his right side, his right leg got stuck in crevice and his left leg was propped up on a boulder. His left arm was stretched out in front of him and his right arm was pinned under him.
"A little help?" said Swideswipe.
"Hang on. We're coming", Russell said as Highshot carefully climbed down, using her claws to grip the rock.
Once they were on a flat surface, Russell hopped down and Highshot transformed.
Highshot carefully lowered Russell down to where Sideswipe was stuck. When his feet touched down he slipped a little but Highshot caught him.
"Careful", warned Highshot.
When they reached Sideswipe they got his arm out from under him.
Sometime later they got him out.
They left all the boulders behind and continued running through the forest.
As they were racing Fixit came on the comm.
"We picked up a signal", Fixit said, "We'll need everyone, even Highshot."
Wow Highshot thought Do they consider me to be part of the team now? Did I do something to please them? Doubtful, but whatever.
"Race back to the scrapyard?" Sideswipe said.
Highshot smirked and nodded.
And he was off. Highshot growled in disapproval as she ran after him.
~~~~~~~~~
Sideswipe won that race. She just wasn't feeling it that day. Usually when she raced someone she felt amazing, but this time she didn't.
"Hey Highshot", said Russell as she transformed, "Are you alright? I thought you would've won that race."
"I'm just not feeling it today", said Highshot, "I'm not a much of a fighter, maybe I shouldn't come on this mission."
"Ok, I'll talk to Optimus."
She climbed to the top of a shelf and sat down.
She was so used to being alone all the time that it felt strange to have someone who understood her. She appreciated that Russell really cared but it was just...strange. She hadn't done anything to gain his trust but he did.
She sighed, thinking about Wildfire.
She remembered that day, when everything spiraled down into a pit of darkness.
She stared at her body lying there, lifeless and dull and broken.
Highshot was shaking so much she could barely see. She panicked so much that she couldn't here the sounds of the war.
She sat in her hole, rocking back and forth sobbing for hours.
At night, when no one was around, she ran to Wildfire's body.
"Wildfire!" she shouted, "Wake up! Please! Wake up wake up wake up!"
Nothing happened.
"No", she said softly, "You can't go. We still have so many races. We can survive this. We'll get out of this mess. We can run."
She felt a hand on her arm, she saw Russell with a worried expression.
"Flashback?" Russell asked.
"Yeah", Highshot answered softly as she tried control her trembling.
"Optimus said you can stay, but the rest of us have to go."
"Ok, be careful."
"Of course", Russell said as he started to climb down.
As soon as they all left the scrapyard, she ran into the woods.
Eventually she came to clearing with something in the center.
It was tall with a dome on top. It was stuck in the ground. There were a couple of blinking lights on the dome part of it.
There was a loud high pitched sound. She pricked her at first then as it grew louder it hurt.
She crouched low on the ground, roaring in pain. She thrashed and tried to block out the sound.
It was deafening, it was affecting all her other senses.
She couldn't think straight. Her vision started to fade. Everything was blurr.
She collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
The last thing she saw before she blacked out were masked men.
Then she was out cold.
~~~~~~
Sorry this one took so long guys. I promise the chapters will start coming out a little faster. In the meantime go check out my new series, Learning to Fly. Cya later!