by Patti Larsen
They don’t need his guidance anymore anyway. They now take it upon themselves to split into groups to explore. Reid studies the odd exposed beam of wood, as thick through as he is, holding up the walls and ceilings. To him it seems as if the mine is getting older the deeper they go and for some reason that seems wrong to him.
“This isn’t right.” Cole is next to him, Alex on the other side still with his trusty lump of limestone. Reid isn’t the only one who noticed, it seems. “Everything should be getting newer the further we go. The outer edge should be the oldest. Shouldn’t it?”
Cole is right. “Unless we’re in the oldest part,” Alex offers in his little voice, squeaking up into the higher register, “and we’re heading toward the newer? Or will at some point.”
Cole thinks about it and then grins. “He’s right,” his blue eyes sparkle at Reid in the light of the bulb they are passing. “Which means you were right all along.”
Of course. If they are passing through an older section could they be on their way to an exit? Suddenly, Reid feels a whole lot better.
“Let’s keep this to ourselves,” he says to the boys. “Just in case. Don’t want to get hopes up if we’re wrong.”
They both nod like he’s entrusted them with his biggest and best secret and march beside him again, this time with thin shoulders back and a confidence in them that makes Reid smile.
His good humor is gone when he hears Marcus snap.
“Shut the hell up!” His arm rises, falls. Someone cries out and everyone stops in their tracks. Reid pushes his way to the front and finds Megan on her knees, clutching her face, a thin trail of blood running from the corner of her mouth.
His fury is instantaneous and as hot as the sun. In a wash of red and a surge of roaring in his head, Reid finds himself standing over Marcus, the taller boy on the ground, nose gushing, eyes huge. Reid’s hand aches, the same one that he used to pound on Joel, but he doesn’t care, can’t think, can barely speak. His words come out in a growl filling the tunnel.
“Don’t you ever touch her again.” His body is shaking. He can’t control it. Reid wants to beat Marcus’s face the way he did Joel’s, pound him into an unrecognizable pulp. He doesn’t recognize this part of him, wonders in a small part of his rational mind where this is coming from while the rest of him demands he kill this piece of trash for hurting an innocent girl.
That same girl tugs at Reid’s arm, still crying but gaining his attention.
“It’s okay,” she whispers. “It’s not his fault. He told me to be quiet and I wouldn’t.”
Reid’s rage surges and subsides. “It’s not okay,” he tells her. “Ever. You understand?” He spins on them all. “We don’t hit each other. Or hurt each other. That’s what the hunters do. What people like Joel do.” Reid throws that last at Marcus. “We’re not like them.”
“You did.” Alex is watching him, rock clutched to his skinny chest like a doll.
The last of Reid’s temper runs out of him. “I know,” he says. “I was wrong. We need to fight the hunters, not each other. But I will defend you,” he has never felt so fiercely about anything in his entire life, “and I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He turns back to Marcus. “Anyone.” Reid holds out his hand. Marcus snarls, ignoring it, dragging himself to his feet.
“Nice words,” Marcus says. “Like anyone here can trust you. If you’re not making stupid decisions that put us in danger, you’re abandoning us.” He made a face. “I thought you were going to leave us the moment you had the chance.”
Reid doesn’t look at Leila but he catches her stricken expression out of the corner of his eye and can’t believe it. She told Marcus. She told Marcus. Reid wants to hit him again but doesn’t. Instead, he rolls his shoulders forward in a shrug while everyone waits for him to tell them it isn’t true.
“I said that,” Reid admits it. The sigh of disappointment cuts him as much as any hunter’s claws could. “I meant it, too. When I said it. I just lost my best friend.” Reid feels a flash of guilt at the thought of Drew. “I didn’t want to feel responsible for any of you. Just in case.”
“Just in case you get us killed, too?” Marcus is finally in Reid’s face, as though sensing he has no will left to fight. Reid understands Marcus, now. He’s been waiting for this, for Reid to show weakness.
His hatred for Marcus shoves his grief aside and his fury comes rushing back.
Marcus immediately retreats. But Reid knows the damage has been done. He can tell as he looks at them. They don’t trust him anymore.
Reid takes his place at the end of the line again but this time Alex and Cole keep their distance. It makes Reid very sad for some reason. He’d been getting used to having them with him, enjoying their company like he never thought he’d enjoy anyone’s company again.
They march on. The ground is so uneven now Reid finds himself helping some of the kids when they slip and fall. They are exhausted and, he admits, so is he. His hand is throbbing and he wonders if he finally broke a bone. Nothing he can do about it but at least he can flex his fingers still.
When they reach the next crossing, Milo returns with news.
“I found a cave.” Everyone looks interested but just. They are too tired to care too much. “Perfect place to sleep maybe?”
That gets their attention. All eyes turn to Marcus. Reid sees it happen and feels the pain of it, even more when Marcus puffs up his chest like he made the discovery personally.
“Let’s have a look.”
They follow Milo down the tunnel and to the site. It’s dark inside but the mouth is fairly wide and the interior seems large enough to hold them all. Reid has to admit it’s a good idea for them to rest off of the path if they can but something about the darkness gives him the creeps.
Everyone surges into the space and collapses in the cool quiet. Marcus ignores them all, disappearing into his own corner of the dark. Reid waits by the entrance, unable to bring himself to enter. It’s as though his instincts are telling him something is wrong.
Since when were they so strong? And this rage of his… he doesn’t understand what is going on with him. Reid collapses in the tunnel, across from the entrance, right under the bulb. It shines a clear path just inside, enough he can see Leila and Milo talking. Milo looks angry, his whispers too low for Reid to make out what he is saying. But he can see Leila is crying and when Milo leaves her for the darkness she huddles there in the beam of light, miserable.
Reid considers comforting her but can’t bring himself to approach her. She betrayed him, told Marcus things Reid said to her in a time of grief. He can’t believe she did that to him and when she looks up and meets his eyes this time she’s the one who can’t hold his gaze at all.
He wants to stay awake, to watch over them, while he sinks further into his anger and resentment, but he is so tired and despite his feelings about Leila’s actions, it’s not a long before Reid falls asleep.
***
Reid jerks awake to the sound of slurping. It is such an odd thing to become aware of, it takes a while for his exhausted brain to even figure out where the noise is coming from. When he does, he instantly feels his anger rise.
One of the kids is stretched out near the entrance to the cave, his sneakers showing, but only his silhouette visible in the soft glow of the light bulb. He is hunched over, making soft smacks and grunts. Reid recognizes what he’s hearing at last.
Those are eating sounds.
Reid’s fury spreads through him, chasing away the last of the sleep that lingers. Someone’s been hoarding food while they are all starving? And has the nerve to eat it, whatever it is, right there in front of everyone while they sleep? Why not sneak down the tunnel and gorge on the stolen prize then? His rage builds as his anger forms a heartless plan. Reid eases himself up and slides over the dusty floor to confront the guilty party.
He plans to scare the crap out of the boy, and the rest of them at the same time. Someone should have been watching, which is a concept obviousl
y no one thought of. Even him, a private and critical part of him says. Reid slaps it aside, patience long run out.
Meanwhile, his cramping stomach hopes the kid’s horde is larger than what he’s cramming into his stupid, selfish mouth. Irrational in his anger, Reid finally reaches the boy as the disgusting sounds go on and on. Fury giving him strength, Reid reaches out with both hands and grabs the kid’s feet, pulling him into the light.
The boy slumps forward, eyes staring into Reid’s, a shocked look on his face. Reid is about to ask him where the food is when several things get through his fury. First, he knows that empty stare, has seen it before, and understands even before he looks down it’s not the boy enjoying a meal.
Second, something nestles in the hollow of the kid’s stomach, a black and furry something. It spins on Reid as he bends to look and hisses at him, all bright teeth and shining black eyes, glistening wet in the hint of light Reid’s shadow allows.
***
Chapter Four
Reid leaps back with a shout of horror, exposing the thing and hears the kids stir, voices crying out in fear. But he doesn’t have time to comfort them or even explain. The creature snarls as Reid falls away and he has one instant to take it in, the horrible stare, shining and intelligent, the flat face all teeth and gaping mouth, before the thing is screaming a high-pitched shriek, dodging for the dark.
His instincts won’t let it go, can’t. Reid goes after it with a rock he finds suddenly gripped tight in his hand. His upper body follows it into the black, weapon seeking it out, near blind as his eyes are forced to adjust to the change of light. The thing doesn’t go far, making Reid’s job easier. It simply leaves the glow of the bulb’s reach and reattaches itself to its dinner, latching onto the dead kid’s neck.
The pack of kids is slow to react, their fear deadened by their sense of safety but they are up and moving, stumbling over each other, surging toward the exit and Reid where he hovers in absolute horror.
Those sounds start up again as the thing continues to feed.
Reid’s stomach heaves with understanding, the very idea of food now the last thing he can tolerate. Kids stumble past him as he hurtles forward, swinging wildly with the rock in his fist. The creature dies with a yelp and a keening sigh.
The kids are yelling themselves, falling over Reid, over each other, tumbling into the lighted hallway in a surging tide of fear.
“Reid!”
He turns his head to look at Milo just as something clamps onto the side of his hand, the pain so intense he screams and drops the rock. He pulls back, the round ball of eating machine clinging to him, its terrible teeth locked in his flesh. Reid can feel its powerful jaw grinding back and forth. As soon as his hand is in the light, however, the creature lets go and bounces away, almost comical as it rolls off into the dark. Reid lurches at it, a new rock in his hand, and strikes at it just as it reenters the cave. Another snarl of animal anger, another piercing death rattle.
Reid manages to pull himself together long enough to haul the dead boy into the tunnel while the last of the stampede of kids pours out of the darkness, some with balls of fluff falling from them, the creatures squealing their way back to the black.
Reid tires to retrieve one of the animals from the dark but only comes up with a handful of dust. Same as the hunter Leila killed, glittering faintly in the low light. The kids don’t ask questions or hesitate, their instincts too tuned to being threatened.
They run. Reid curses, letting the powder drift from his fingers and goes after them. He hates leaving the dead boy behind but has no choice, knowing his own body will be abandoned if he is unlucky enough to die here.
Reid’s mind goes over the attack even as the kids slow and he gains ground on them. He’s sure these horrible creatures won’t come into the light. When he catches the pack at last, the lot of them panting and shaking, some of the kids crying all over again, Reid does a quick head count. Marcus is still there, damn him. Leila, Milo. Cole and Alex and little Megan. But three kids aren’t, including the one Reid pulled out of the cave.
Eighteen of them left. And now they know they aren’t alone down here after all.
“What the hell were those things?” Milo is trembling violently, face ashen, dark eyes huge and darting. “Were they eating that kid?”
No one says anything. No one can. Not while a call echoes through the tunnels to answer him.
When the sound finally fades, that all changes.
“Oh my God,” Megan’s panic shows up on her little face, so vivid she almost looks like a horrified cartoon character, “the hunters!”
“How did they get in?” “What are we going to do?” “We’re going to die!” Sobbing, wailing, cursing, crying. They crumble like a thin house of cards, collapsing in terror as their worst nightmare is made real. They are trapped underground with the hunters and there is no way out.
It would be so easy to fall apart. To just run on and not look back, to stop thinking and start reacting like he had in the forest that first night. But something inside him has hardened since then, the part that won’t believe there’s no answer, no way out. Because of it, Reid doesn’t allow himself to freeze up or fall into despair. His need to survive is so strong it’s like he’s possessed by it. He feels it surge through him, the ghost of a super power, shaking him loose of the fear embedded by the cry of the hunters.
A plan. They need to have a plan. They had one. Maybe it can still work but they have to be smarter, not take anything for granted anymore. The fact they did at all amazes Reid. That any of them had the ability after everything they’ve gone through.
Time to act. Reid turns and seizes Alex by the shoulders and shakes him, his adrenaline fed resolve making the boy shrink a little.
“Where’s the chalk?”
Alex’s sobs slow and still, eyes locked on Reid’s, either feeding from or calmed by Reid’s sense of purpose. When the boy realizes what Reid asked him, his expression crumples again. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I left it back there.” And then he sobs, deep and anguished, giving in to the moment, letting it tear his small body apart.
Reid lets him go and shouts to be heard over the din. “Listen to me! Everyone, shut the hell up and listen!”
They do finally, turning to him as they had in the past, as though nothing matters to them now, not what he said or what they did. They shudder and weep but they are paying attention and that’s all he needs.
“Those little creatures,” he shudders himself at the memory of those teeth, the gaping mouth full of red, the dead boy’s eyes, “won’t come into the light.”
“How do we know that?” Marcus has snot on his upper lip. He wipes it away, rubbing his hand on his jeans. “You don’t know that.”
“I do,” Reid says as they groan in agreement with Marcus. “I saw. They retreated from the light. And we haven’t seen them in the tunnels, only in the cave where there weren’t any bulbs. So if we stay out of the dark, we’re safe from them.”
“What about hiding from the hunters?” Milo’s turn to doubt. Reid shuts that down, too.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ve run from them before. This is no different.”
“It is,” Marcus says. “You’ve trapped us down here with them. In tunnels. With no way out. We’re screwed and it’s all your fault.”
Leila eases forward, comes to Reid’s side. She doesn’t say a word, just tears at the hem of her t-shirt and wraps the strip around his hand. He looks down, notices the blood dripping from the ends of his fingers. He forgot the bite, only now remembering he is in pain. Despite the hurt her help causes him, he is grateful but keeps his focus on the terrified pack.
“We have to run,” he says. “But we need to have a plan and stick together. Alex,” he turns on the shaking boy, “keep your eyes open for another piece of chalk.”
“The hunters will find the marks,” Marcus says. “Use them to follow us. That’s a terrible idea.”
“You’d rather get lost down here?” Reid ch
allenges him back.
“We already are,” Marcus says. “I’d rather not give the hunters a trail of breadcrumbs to follow.”
“Like all this arguing is doing?” Leila looks up from finishing with Reid’s hand and everyone suddenly falls silent, guilty. Including Reid. She squeezes his arm and leaves him, returning to the others.
“There’s only two options, here,” Reid says. “We run or we make a stand. Anyone ready to do that?”
No one is, obviously. Reid is about to go on when Cole raises his hand, tentative and slow.
“We could collapse the ceiling again.”
Groans meet that suggestion and Reid agrees with them.
“No more screwing around with the structure of this place,” he says. “It’s just not worth the risk.”
Cole nods but frowns at the same time, like he wants to argue. Reid can’t have that, shuddering at the thought of losing someone else in a cave in. His mind flickers over Drew’s death and replaces the boy with Milo. Alex. Cole. Finally, Leila, blood running from her chest, gushing from between her lips over her pale cheek and into her blonde hair. Reid shakes his head at that last image, unable to make it go away.
“We have no way of knowing where we are,” Reid tells the boy, doing his best to get his message through without letting the kids around him know how much he fears even the suggestion of a collapse. “What if taking out this tunnel cuts us off from the exit? And how do we control which way it falls? If we can make it fall at all?”
“If there is an exit,” Marcus says. “I still don’t believe you’re right.”
“Then tell me how the damned hunters got in, genius.” Reid’s at the end of his patience and that comes out far sharper than he intended. But it does the trick and shuts Marcus up.
“So we’re not in a position to stand against them,” Reid says. “That leaves running.”