by Harper North
I can’t catch my breath. I bend over, hanging my head. Searing pain throbs through my chest with every inhale. I twist back upright and stare overhead. All around me, lines fall from the sky. One by one, like spiders, operatives drop down and return just as quickly with their prey. Emma’s troops keep firing, pushing the EHC back. Her guards have more firepower, soon forcing the ops to retreat.
Lacy yanks at my hand, unfreezing my body. “This way.”
I spin around. Everything’s a blur, but I follow her. We join a group moving swiftly through the smoke and rubble. Emma leads what remains of our resistance, and relief fills me at the sight of Drape and Elias. Several of Emma’s guards and a few Dwellers follow, too.
“Emma’s taking us to a cave until her scouts give the all clear,” Lacy tells me, out of breath.
The humming of hovercraft rotors sounds over our heads again. I glance up, but I don’t see it.
“Don’t waste your time,” Elias says. “We don’t stand a chance against them.”
We fall back deeper into the camp before we reach a crevice at least ten feet high carved out of the mountain. It’s pitch-black inside, and we stop at the entrance, turning to Emma. Without hesitation, she and her guards usher us into the cave. I turn and scan the sky again, but they’re gone, all gone.
Sky’s gone.
One of the guards cracks a lighting stick and the space dimly illuminates. Several more guards lean against the cave wall, trying to catch their breath.
Knuckles sits down alone and drops her head into her hands. Jase throws his back against the wall and pounds it with his fist. Drape sidles up to Lacy, checking on her.
“Are we safe here?” I ask Emma.
Her face twists, nostrils flaring as she turns her gaze on me. “None of us are safe.”
“We need a count!” Elias shouts before I have a chance to respond to Emma. “Who did they take?”
I go to the cave wall and press my back against it, sliding down. “Sky,” I say softly, voice cracking. “They took Sky.”
Lacy’s eyes flash to me.
“Oliver’s missing,” Jase says.
Elias nods. He turns to the few remaining Dwellers. Kate was taken, and few others were killed, along with several of Emma’s guards.
“What about everyone else?” I ask. “There are a lot of people unaccounted for.”
“It’s likely most of them escaped,” Emma says, taking a deep breath. “We prepared for this day. Some of the people from the settlement escaped down the mountain, and we have an extensive tunnel system. They’ll be safe, for now.”
I ease myself back up the wall. I want to comfort her, but my thoughts are all on Sky. I was so close. I could have saved him.
Lacy inches to my side. “We’ll find him.”
Emma steps up onto a rock, towering over us. “Do you understand now?” she asks, her voice commanding. “Taking on the EHC is no simple task. I’ve lost my settlement. We’ve lost so many.”
“No, it’s not a simple task,” Elias answers. “We never thought it was, but everything is not lost. We need to pool our resources together and take the EHC head on.”
Emma scoffs, shaking her head. “Well, we can’t stay here anymore, and what more do I have to lose?”
“It’s time to think of everyone,” I say to Emma. “This world is bigger than one little mountain, and it is broken.”
CHAPTER 9
We’re a bit deeper in the cave now, trying to regroup. The sounds of the battle outside have dulled a bit, but it’s not over yet.
“How could I let them take Sky?” I growl, angry at myself.
“He knows how to take care of himself,” Lacy says as she massages a red welt on her calf.
“She’s right,” Drape adds. “If there’s one thing I know about Sky, it’s that he’s a survivor.”
They’re both right. Still, it doesn’t hurt any less. I imagine Sky lying unconscious inside the hovercraft. What will the Leeches do to him? Will they hand him back to Yasay?
“I saw them take him.” I rub my temple. “I was almost there—”
Lacy groans. “It’s not your fault.”
I point to the welt. “That looks awful. What happened?”
Lacy winces as she tries to shift her leg. “A piece of metal hit me when the hovercraft exploded. Could have been worse, though. It’s already healing up some. My modification is speeding things up.”
“You’re right.” I help her wrap her leg and catch Drape rubbing his ears. “How about you?”
“What?” he asks.
“Can you hear me?” I ask, louder this time.
Drape points to his ears. “Ringing. Managed to get off the path before the Leeches took everyone.” He gazes at Knuckles sitting in the corner, then leans in and practically yells in my ear, “I saw them take Oliver.”
Despite the awfulness of that statement, I chuckle. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s whispering. Almost immediately after that brief flash of humor, a pit forms in my stomach again. “We should’ve known they’d follow us. How could we have not known Yasay would do something like this?”
“I think we all knew,” Lacy says. “We just underestimated how quickly he could get everything together.”
I turn my gaze to Emma. Deep lines crease her brow. Elias sits beside her, saying something I can’t make out. “We ruined her work. Thirty-five years and now it’s over.”
Gunfire erupts outside the tunnel. My spine stiffens. Elias dashes up to the cave’s entrance as Emma’s men guard the opening in case any remaining ops find their way back here. He pounds his fist on the wall. When he turns back, his jaw is clenched. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to put a bullet in Yasay’s head.”
“You’re not the only one who wants that,” Jase calls. There’s a trail of blood smeared down the side of his cheek. Knuckles still sits quietly beside him with her head in her hands.
I go to her and lean down. “You okay?”
She finally looks up, but not at me. She looks across the area where we sit, straight into Elias’ eyes. “I’m going to get Oliver back.”
I shrink back against the wall. There’s a pulsing pain in my temple.
Emma stands and dusts off her pants. “I’m sure we’ve lost many settlement people, too. We’d better find who’s survived.”
“But how?” Lacy asks. “There’s no way we can go back out there. The EHC is swarming the place.”
“We need to meet up with the others,” Emma says. “The tunnels connect down the mountainside and lead to a base camp. Whoever survived should be there.”
Elias nods. “Alright, everyone up. We’ve got to move away from the fighting and regroup.”
“But wait,” I say. “How do you know there aren’t people waiting to be rescued in the settlement?”
Emma scoffs. “The EHC don’t leave behind survivors.”
I turn back to Lacy. “What if there’s a Dweller or two we missed? They’ll have no idea where to go.”
Lacy shakes her head. “You heard Emma. If there’s anyone there, the Leeches will have taken or killed them by now.”
Drape leans forward and hands me a pouch of water. I take a long drink.
“We’ll know more when we get to base camp,” Emma says. “We have monitors there that can show us what’s going on up top.”
I nod and help Lacy stand.
“I’m fine,” she says. “It’s just bruised, not broken. It’s feeling better already.”
Emma directs us away from the cave’s entrance and deeper into the tunnel. There’s something about being back in the darkness that unsettles me. I hang my head and focus on moving my feet forward. My chest tightens with each step as I think about how desperately we wanted to leave the tunnel system forever. The air is cool though, which brings me some comfort. I try to fill my lungs with as much of it as possible.
Emma points. “Up ahead, there are other tunnels that link to this one.”
Elias moves to the head of our group
. His pace is fast and determined. With each death, it seems Elias becomes more anchored in his mission to destroy the EHC.
I squint to get a better look of what’s ahead, catching dim light and movement. When we finally get closer, I make out ten figures crouching or standing along the wall. A woman wearing a grey, tattered shirt and white fabric around her head wastes no time in coming our way.
“Emma!” she calls out. As she nears, I can make out blood on the white cloth and matted in her hair. She holds her right arm against her chest.
“How many?” Emma asks.
“Nearly half,” the woman says. “We’re missing seventy-five people from the settlement.”
Emma curses under her breath and turns away. I bite my lip, then open my mouth to say something, anything, to apologize, but what can I say? It would all be hollow.
I snap my mouth shut again as the losses pile up inside me. Even though I didn’t know these people, it still hurts.
Emma turns to Elias. “Maybe more made it down the mountain through other tunnels.”
“It’s possible,” the woman replies, but a sad glimmer in her eye says it’s more likely wishful thinking.
“We need to get these people somewhere safe,” Jase says. “Knowing the EHC, they’ll soon find this tunnel and your people.”
“Right,” Elias says. “With our twelve and whoever’s left of your group, we can still make a stand.”
“Not much of an army,” Emma murmurs.
Elias leans in. “It’s our best chance.”
She scowls and turns to her people, ordering them to move down the tunnel. “Our best hope right now is survival. That’s it. We are no good to anyone if we are dead.”
We continue forward until, again, we’re back outside in the blazing sun. Three other tunnels connect to this opening. Emma’s right. This would be the only path for the survivors to take.
A few more people with tattered clothes wait for us here. One guard has had his hand severed, the stump of his wrist half-bundled in gauze. Another’s face is blackened with burn marks. My stomach twists.
Emma moves quickly to a small station set up at the base of the side of the mountain. The building isn’t more than a few feet wide, enough to hold maybe three people, but she darts inside and returns a moment later with two handfuls of supplies. “Take these,” she orders her guards, then quickly returns inside the shed.
I grab a water bottle and a handful of packaged bars. Emma rifles through shelves and bins. She distributes drinking water to her members and several first aid kits. The guards come in and take other things stored in boxes, carrying them back out.
Beside the bins is a computer screen. Emma flicks it on as she scours for more supplies. A moment later, a staticky grey picture comes into view. Emma leans in, scanning the screen.
“What do you see?” Elias asks.
Emma sighs. “Nothing but smoldering rubble and dead bodies. The main path through the settlement is destroyed.”
My heart sinks.
“No movement on the ground,” Emma adds quietly, “but here…” She points to the lower corner. “The EHC. Now that they know about us, they’ll be sure to come after the rest of us.”
Jase cracks open a water bottle. “They’ll torture anyone who survived,” he says, taking a drink.
Of course they will.
Elias leans in closer, examining the image on the screen for himself. “We have to move. Now. They’ll find the escape tunnel in no time.”
Emma nods and steps out of the station. Her face is dark and serious as she turns to the scattered, remaining members of her settlement. A few children are crying, and a young man not far from us holds his side as if he needs a lot more than what was in those first aid kits.
Emma pulls her shoulders back, addressing the group. “We knew this day might come. Those who are injured or don’t have the strength should go to the emergency meet-up camp. You’ll continue through the tunnels and get as far away from here as you can. Stay hidden until we make further transport arrangements. No one should try to return to the settlement. It’s too dangerous.”
Most of Emma’s followers don’t need to be told twice. Those who are still strong enough to help the weaker people into the tunnel. The crowd funnels, one by one, into the darkness. A few cries echo back to where we stand, and I drag my palms down my pant legs, avoiding eye contact with those in the worst condition. Emma, Jase, and Elias hand out supplies to those who are leaving.
Once everyone who wants to leave has gone, Emma turns to Elias. “We have a few large all-terrain vehicles. We haven’t used them for a long time, but we can use one to meet up with your surface forces.”
Elias nods. “Thank you.”
Emma returns to the station and grabs several more provisions, shoving them into a bag she drapes across her chest. “My head guard, Davis, and a few of my strongest will help you fight.” She waves me closer and hands me a fistful of gel packets. “Take everything. There may not be a chance to eat or drink again for a long time.”
Drape, Lacy, and I take as much as we can, including bandages and other treatments that I shudder to think we might need in the next battle.
“We have to go,” Jase orders. “There’s no time to waste. The EHC could be here in minutes.”
I turn and follow Elias, Emma, and Jase out. If Emma’s right, the Leeches will be on our heels soon. We don’t stand a chance with our numbers thinned out like this.
Emma leads all of us back into another tunnel, a shorter one. It’s narrow, and we have to walk single file. The smell of our collective sweat overpowers me, and I pinch my nose to ward off as much of it as possible, but it’s no use. Just ahead, the light from the sun blazes into the tunnel, illuminating the shaft.
I trail behind Emma, Jase, and Elias while Lacy, Drape, Knuckles, and two Dwellers bring up the rear. There’s only nine of us, plus a handful of Emma’s guards, and after what I saw of the Leeches today, Emma’s probably right. I don’t know what hope we have. It doesn’t take a genius to know such a small group wouldn’t stand a chance against a trained army.
Once we step out of the tunnel, we’re surrounded by dry brush, rocks, and a few green trees. I gaze up the side of the mountain, but there’s nothing but granite as far as I can see. The crackling sound of gunfire bounces across the valley. I twist back to face the group, finding Elias and Jase are already far ahead. I run to keep up. My lungs ache, and I’m almost out of breath when I reach where they stand. In front of us is a large mound the size of a hovercraft.
“What is this?” Drape asks.
“A way out,” Emma replies.
She brushes off foliage, and Knuckles and Lacy help until a massive canvas sheet is revealed. “You’d never even notice this place,” Elias says.
I grab one edge of the sheet, Emma grabs the other, and together we pull off the thick cloth.
“That’s the point,” Emma says, looking over the large, high-tech vehicle we’ve revealed. “EHC research transporter. Our fastest way out of here.”
“How did you get this?” Elias asks. “I mean, they’re not just handing transporters out.”
Emma glances down. “My father procured them for me as a precaution before they took him. He thought of everything.”
“Those who decided to head to the emergency camp took the other two,” Davis says. “This is the largest of the three. Let’s pile in.”
I don’t need to be told twice. Lacy, Drape, and I hustle to the side door. I peer down the long body of the vehicle. This beast is rugged, with dark, tinted windows lining the chrome colored paneling. The black wheels are huge, reaching nearly up to my shoulders. One of Emma’s guards pulls a lever, lowering a retractable step. Elias climbs up to crack the side door open, and each of us climb inside one at a time.
Two of Emma’s guards move to the front through a narrow cabin door. Moments later, the engines rev and the huge wheels begin to move, easily making it over the larger rocks and fallen debris.
I e
ase myself into one of the comfortable chairs. Lacy sits beside me, and we both strap ourselves in. This transporter is spacious, with three rows of chairs in front of me and two more behind. Looking over my shoulder, I spot a walled off area in the back. I crane my head to get a better look, but can’t see past the wall.
My eyes move back to Lacy. She braces herself in her seat as if we’re going to be rocketed upward. Jase and Emma sit up front. Elias takes over behind the wheel, the cabin hatch now pulled open. Their voices overlap one another as they debate which direction to go.
“We need to meet up at Mason’s outpost,” Elias says.
“And, where’s that?” Emma asks, buckling herself in.
“It’s not the safest of places,” Elias says, shifting the gear forward. A deep hum vibrates below our feet. The electric pulse is intense. This thing has power.
The muscles in Emma’s neck twitch. “Well, this place is not exactly safe either.”
“We had to make an outpost where the EHC would be unlikely to look,” Elias explains, turning the wheel right.
“So, where is it?” Emma presses.
Finally, Elias admits, “It’s near a very seismically unstable region.”
She groans, and I grip my armrest tighter.
“There are fewer patrols or people around,” Elias adds. “We’ll be safer there.”
Emma laughs. “Sure we will.”
“It’s better than staying here,” Jase says, turning back to look out the rear window. “At least the Earth doesn’t want to kill us.”
Emma leans back in her seat, staring out her side window. “How long will it take?”
“Hours,” Elias tells her.
The vehicle climbs. We’re nearly vertical as it makes its way to the top of a huge mound of dirt and then back down the other side. My stomach rolls and I snap the top off one of the water bottles and drink from it. I try to close my eyes and erase the memories of what we just went through as we roll over more rocks and gravel. When I open my eyes, the trees and anything else green are gone. I squeeze my eyes shut again.
CHAPTER 10