“We won’t be able to communicate at that distance.”
“Jared, we will make it. Down here, there is nothing the cities can do to harm us. If they sent people or robots to kill us, they would not stand a chance.”
“We’ve no idea what they are capable of. We already underestimated one of their people and he almost—”
“To get down here, they must take the tunnel. We will not risk a confrontation and will take them out before they ever get close enough to use a weapon.”
“All right. I know you can handle it, but I’m still worried. You can’t just fly out of here if you get in trouble.”
“We will get away from here and move far from any city’s influence. Then we will have our freedom.”
“It’s a two hour hike to the place we stopped yesterday if we hurry. If you wait at least three, that will give us enough time to get there in the event we encounter any trouble. If I can find a way topside for everyone before you get there, I’ll take it.”
Touching as they were, he didn’t need to search hard to get a lock on Scarlet’s feelings. She put on a good front, but fear bubbled beneath the surface, and she understood the danger. Jared’s heart clenched. There was nothing he could do differently that would keep her safer. This plan would work. It had to work.
“If there’s anything you can do to delay the cities finding us, please do so.”
“We will collapse tunnels as we go. Now get going.” Scarlet nudged Jared away with her head.
Jared slung the extra bag of weapons and batteries over Scarlet’s back, making sure to secure it firmly so it didn’t impede her running. After he’d finished, he turned back to the waiting group.
“Everyone ready?” A chorus of voices affirmed their readiness, and Jared led them into the tunnel. “Kitty and Elle, please take point. Oh, wait…Elle, Carla, have you checked to see if you got the new ability?”
Several people around them looked on curiously, wondering what he was talking about. Not wanting to spend the time to explain, Jared ignored the few questions directed his way.
“I not try yet.” Elle shook her head.
“Same, I haven’t tried,” echoed Carla.
“Okay, please give it a shot before we get moving. It may take time to get used to it, but it’ll be invaluable on this trip.”
“How use it?”
Jared looked at Elle, trying to figure out the best way to instruct them. Rather than wax eloquent, he kept it basic.
“When I got my other visions, I only had to think about an ability to let me see farther or see the heat spectrum and it activated. To turn it off, just think about turning it off.”
“Whoa.” Carla stumbled back a step.
“Wow! I see everything!” Elle danced around happily. “Kitty, I see like you!”
Jared chuckled at her childish delight. Though already a teenager, she often acted many years younger. She’d had to grow up much too fast, and he found it enjoyable to watch her act like this.
“Take a few minutes to get used to seeing like this. It’s disorienting at first. Once you’re confident in the ability, I want you to place your hand on the ground and try to understand the impressions you’re getting from vibrations.”
Fifteen minutes later they were ready to move. Both of the girls darted their eyes around like they were seeing the world for the first time. Jared supposed that was truer for Carla since she’d had terrible eyesight before. Elle hadn’t experienced the same debilitating condition, but even so she usually relied on Kitty to navigate through dark places. Jared would need to check with Carla later to see if the new ability helped her see farther, or just see more.
One of the water folk shined their flashlight at them, and Jared did a double-take. Their eyes flashed a bright green when the light passed over them.
Another side-effect of the changes?
It looked creepy cool. Creepy like something possessed them, but cool because they were like spotlights in the dark. Obviously, Jared couldn’t see his own eyes, but no doubt his mirrored theirs. Whatever spider netted him the ability to see like this and transform his eyes was handy. Maybe once he’d sat with Scarlet long enough, she could help him root around in his memories for something he’d learned in school. He’d tuned out any mention of spiders in his education and without spending time to drill into his memories, he couldn’t recall much about them.
“Elle? Carla? Are you both ready?”
“I’m ready. It’s incredible. I know exactly how many of us there are. I can even feel the dragons in the other room, the dripping of water on the ground, and the way the water moves across the bottom of the stream. It’s beautiful.”
“I see and feel too.” Elle nodded, confirming Carla’s description.
“All right, let’s move. Formation remains the same. Elle, you take point with Kitty. Carla, you and I will take the rear. Keep your new vision ability active at all times. I’ll stop occasionally to feel the ground and see if there’s anything we can’t see.”
Jared turned to the rest of the group and raised his voice. “Everyone else, please stay together. If you need to rest, you can drop back with me and let me know. Otherwise, I expect everyone to keep up with Elle. Elle, please set a decent pace. We need to at least reach the spot we stopped at yesterday in two hours, which means we’ve got to move. Let’s go.”
The hike was entirely uneventful. Boring, even. Jared had already seen everything there was to see the first time. The occasional stops to check any vibrations from other creatures revealed much the same. There were a few more small creatures that seemed curious about their party, but nothing that could cause them harm. Jared suspected the spiders had scared away or killed anything worth killing long ago. It was impossible to tell how far they’d ranged from their den.
A little over two hours later, they arrived at the same location as the day before. Jared guessed they had about forty minutes before Scarlet and her brothers cleared the tunnel.
“Vanessa, I want you to wait here with Carla and the others. Elle, Kitty, and I will head farther down to see if we can find a way out. We’ll head that way for another twenty minutes and then double back. If you see anything, or something comes at you, scream out with your thoughts. I should be able to hear you as long as we don’t go too far.”
“Okay, be safe.”
“We will.” Jared gave her a quick peck on the cheek, which brought a slight blush to her face. “We’ll be back. Rest and be ready to move quickly.”
Jared set out down the tunnel, taking point while Kitty took the rear.
The walk revealed no further signs of life or an exit to the surface. They were already beyond the edge of the forest. The entire journey was at a slight decline, and Jared believed they were a good distance beneath the surface.
“Let’s head back. It doesn’t look like there’s anything down here. We may as well just have Scarlet and the others drill a hole to the surface from the last stopping point.”
They were nearly back to the group when Jared heard a distant roar echoing down the tunnel. It sounded very far away, and Jared guessed it was the dragons making their way toward them. The sound cut off, but a moment later a cacophony of enraged snarls sounded down the tunnel.
“Something’s wrong.” Jared’s heart thudded in his chest. The dragons were in trouble. Scarlet needed him. “Get on Kitty’s back. We’ve got to move!”
Jared tore off down the tunnel, quickly overtaking the group he’d left. They were all standing, looking back the way they’d come. The growling and roars grew louder followed by massive crashes that sent vibrations up his legs. The intense nature of them allowed a picture to form in his mind of the dragons rampaging down the tunnel while the ceiling collapsed.
“No!”
Jared increased his speed, literally flying over the ground, but the next sound brought him to a halt. An explosi
on followed by a massive shifting of the earth that sent a wave of nausea through him.
Oh no.
The image that came to his mind petrified him.
“Run,” Jared whispered. Then louder, he shouted, “Run!”
He sprinted back the other way, yelling at everyone to get moving.
“Kitty, get in front. Don’t stop, just keep running. I don’t care if there’s something in the way, just keep going, we’ll take it out along the way.”
The crashing grew louder and louder. The ground bucked beneath him as the dragons came at them like an avalanche. Jared herded everyone forward as fast as they could move. It wasn’t even half as fast as he wanted them to go, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Soon the sound echoed so loudly Jared thought they’d get trampled at any moment, but when he glanced over his shoulder, he still couldn’t see Scarlet. However, a distant point of light announced the dragons’ arrival as they used flames to take out the various stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
“Jared, they’re coming,” Scarlet finally reached out.
“I know, I saw.”
“How did you—”
“My new senses. Everyone needs to move faster, but I don’t think I can push them any harder.”
“I think—” Scarlet paused, the feelings across their bond one of contemplation. “I think it will be okay. We are far enough below the surface that their phase rounds can no longer penetrate.”
Jared sighed in relief. The images he’d gotten from the vibrations showed massive impacts from above, punching right through the rock and earth into the tunnel below and sending tons of rock and debris down around the dragons.
“Did everyone make it?”
“Yes, but Ballog took a phase cannon round to his back. He will heal, but his wings need time before he can fly. Wherever we are going, I hope this tunnel continues for a while or we may be in trouble when they find a way down here.”
“Kitty is out front. I told her not to stop for anything.”
“We will take point, but please have everyone stand to the side as we pass. Keep everyone moving and we will make sure the path is clear.”
“Everyone listen up!” Jared shouted. “Scarlet and her brothers are about to come running past us. Take cover along the wall and do your best to stay out of the way.”
“Kitty! Move to the side of the tunnel. Scarlet and her brothers are about to run past.”
The stampeding dragons rocketed down the tunnel so fast they were a blur. In only a few moments they whipped past everyone with a wave of heat that burned Jared’s exposed skin. Even an injured Ballog moved so fast it was difficult to track him.
Everyone watched in awe as the dragons were literally there one second and gone the next. The only evidence of their passing, the fallen rock formations and displaced water from the stream. Looking in the direction they traveled, Jared saw brief flashes of light down the tunnel as they cleared any obstacles in their path.
A few moments later, Kitty rejoined them, and they set out after the dragons. The sounds of the explosions from the drop ships diminished slightly, but he could tell the occasional round still peppered the area as they searched for the tunnel and whatever was inside. He doubted they knew it was dragons, but there’s no doubt in his mind they knew whatever was down here was likely part of the threat posed to the city.
“Carla, make sure you’re trying to reach out to Attis constantly. He’ll be waiting for us around here, but we must keep going down the tunnel. Let him know to keep heading west. If he can’t hear you, we’ll double back for him after we’re certain it’s safe to do so.”
“Okay.” Carla sounded distraught, and Jared didn’t blame her.
It was clear she was barely holding her emotions in check, and Jared applauded her composure. Given the severity of their threat, she had every right to be an emotional wreck at the thought of losing her companion. It hadn’t taken Jared long at all to establish a close, unbreakable bond with Scarlet. Something about the bond drew them closer extremely fast. He’d never had time to reflect on it, but he and Scarlet had fallen into a close relationship almost immediately after their bond. Jared wondered if it had to do with the fact she’d lost her mother so suddenly, but it was impossible to say for sure.
Jared shook his head to clear it. He’d have time to dig into his thoughts at another time. For now, they needed to keep moving. The cities could send robots and probes into the tunnel, and they needed to be far from here when that happened. Somehow they’d followed Jared’s path in New York City, so it stood to reason they could also follow them down here. At least in parts where the tunnel hadn’t collapsed.
Before they made their escape back up to the surface, he’d ask Scarlet to further collapse the tunnel to prevent anyone from following.
Collecting everyone from where they’d watched the dragons pass, Jared ushered everyone onward. Still, they moved much too slowly, but he’d have to make the best of it. There were no sounds coming from up the tunnel, and the few times he stopped to feel the ground proved nothing followed them, or if they had, they were far behind.
“Carla, were you able to reach Attis?”
“Yes, but I don’t know if he understands. I told him to go that way, but…” Carla pointed west and shrugged.
“It’s okay. No matter what happens, we’ll make sure we find him.”
“Thanks.”
They hiked for hours, the passage occasionally marked by charred bodies of indistinguishable creatures. True to her word, Scarlet cleared the path. They’d walked for five hours when Jared called everyone to a halt. If the cities were coming, they didn’t seem in a hurry, and everyone could use a little rest.
“I’ll run ahead for a little ways and see if Scarlet stopped yet. I don’t know how far underground we are, but I need to make sure we aren’t going too far, or the heat will get unbearable. Everyone else, please wait here.”
They plopped to the ground, exhausted. Jared had set a grueling pace for many miles. The upside was the terrain moved downhill. If they’d had to go the other way, there’s no way they’d have made it more than a few hours at that pace.
“Elle, Carla, Kitty, please take up positions around the group and keep your senses open for any threats. Everyone else, keep your weapons accessible and ready to use if the time comes. I’ll be back in a little while.”
With that, Jared sprinted down the tunnel. He would run for a half hour. If he didn’t see Scarlet by then, he’d double back and pick up the group to resume their march. Close to the turnaround point he’d set for him, Jared found Ballog waiting around the bend at an intersection. The cavern he sat in was huge and branched in four different directions.
“Ballog! Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” Ballog’s voice thundered in Jared’s head.
Jared winced at the volume and closed his eyes.
“My apologies.”
“It’s okay. It hurts, but it’s not unbearable as it used to be for me.”
“I offered to remain behind to show you the way and to cover our tracks. Scarlet mentioned that the people tracking us have a way to follow our path long after we’ve passed through.”
Jared smiled. He should’ve known Scarlet would think of everything.
“Yes, they use electronic probes that can detect where we’ve been many days later.”
“I will collapse all of these tunnels before we move on. Scarlet went this way.”
Ballog raised a clawed hand and pointed.
“All right, I’ll run back and collect everyone. It will take us an hour or more to get back here.”
“I will remain here and rest.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? The phase round that penetrated—”
“I will be fine,” Ballog cut him off. “It will heal, given time. It is just slowing me down right n
ow. Offering to stay and wait for you made the most sense.”
“Thanks, Ballog. I’ll be back. Take no chances. If you need to leave ahead of us, do it. We can find another way to collapse the tunnel ourselves.”
Ballog dipped his head in acknowledgment and Jared set off at a sprint toward the group and found half of them sleeping. He felt bad waking them after the harrowing flight they’d just endured, but the threat wasn’t over.
“Get up, please. We’ve got to move. There’s a cavern about another hour’s hike away. Ballog is waiting for us. He’ll help collapse the tunnels to keep the machines from tracking us. I know you’re tired and we’ll rest soon, but right now we must go.”
Jared’s assessment proved accurate as they stumbled into the intersection where Ballog waited an hour later.
“Listen up, everyone. We need to fool the people tracking us. They’ve a way to follow our tracks, so let’s do our best to confuse them.” Jared looked around the cavern at the four tunnels splitting off from the main cavern. “It’ll take work, but let’s move as a group down each of these tunnels. Then, one person at a time will break off and go down the correct tunnel there.” He pointed down the tunnel noted by Ballog.
“Just make sure you stick to the same paths that the whole group treads. We need to make this as confusing as possible and make sure the cities spends a lot of time trying to figure out our real path. Ballog, I’ll need you to do the same thing.”
In the same formation they’d used so far, Kitty and Elle led them through each of the tunnels. They walked a short distance before turning around. They did this to each of the tunnels twice while Vanessa randomly tagged someone to go back to the correct tunnel and wait a short distance away. Ballog followed along in their wake, further confusing their passage.
Satisfied they’d done all they could, Jared instructed the rest of the group to go down the right tunnel and keep walking. He dropped back to speak with Ballog.
“Let’s wait until they’ve gone a short distance before you collapse the tunnels. I don’t want the ceiling collapsing too close to them. The same goes for you. Please take no chances. If we end up having to dig you out, we may not make it in time before someone from the city catches up to us.”
Radioactive Revolution: A Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Page 22