“Can you take him?” I ask Marduke, not because my arms are too sore to hold him any longer, but because Marduke is taller.
“Sure.” As he nods, holding out his hands, I move Logan across to Marduke, mid jog, and tell him to sit Logan across his shoulders.
“I’m scared, Mattie,” Logan cries, gripping Marduke’s face and almost poking out his eye.
“It’s going to be okay. Do you remember when I was teaching you how to swim? This is just another swimming lesson,” I huff out, already losing my breath.
Lisa overtakes us, her energy and determination motivating me to keep pushing forward. I reach out and take Hannah’s hand since she is lagging behind. She’s never been one for exercise. When she decided to join in on a run or go to the gym with me in the past, she was always the first to give up.
I can’t give her the chance to give up today.
When the water reaches my waist, I find it hard to move faster than a brisk walk. My calf muscles ache while the speed of the water is trying its hardest to push me backwards. Why couldn’t we be moving with the current? Why must everything go wrong for us?
“Mattie, I can’t go on,” Hannah cries, trying to pull her hand from my grip. I only grip harder.
“Yes, you can. Don’t make me carry you!” I scream at her.
“No, I really can’t.” She pulls on her hand harder, and I lose her grip.
I stop moving, knowing I could never leave her behind, as Marduke and Logan keep moving forward, having no idea we’ve stopped.
“Hannah, get your ass moving, now!” I hiss, grabbing her arm and squeezing it tightly.
“I can’t. I’m too tired, Mattie. I can’t…” she cries.
“We’re almost there. Don’t give up now. Remember Mum and Dad are gone now, so we are all the family that is left. You are my only family left.”
She shakes her head, the familiar stubborn expression crossing her features as she crosses her arms over her chest. The water is midway up my stomach now.
“If you don’t go, then I’m not going anywhere, either,” I threaten.
“Don’t do this, just leave me!” Hannah screams at me, tears falling faster down her face.
“I’m not ever going to leave you, and if you don’t move, not only will we drown, but Riley will, too.”
“Who?” She stares at me in confusion.
“I’m pregnant, Hannah,” I say, not caring at this moment if it’s the right thing to admit. If it gets her moving, whatever consequences happen afterwards won’t matter.
“What?” Her despair and surrender falter as her expression changes to one of shock.
“Marduke and I are going to have a baby and decided on the name Riley. So you’re going to be an auntie, although you have to move if you want it to happen.”
“Mattie, are you… Oh, my God!” She leaps forward, hugging me tightly and sloshing water around us. She touches her lips by my ear and speaks loudly just to be heard properly over the rushing water. “When we get out of here, I want every piece of detail you have. I want to know what alien sex exactly entails.”
Before I can blush or get the chance to feel embarrassed by her words, she takes her renewed motivation, grabs my hand, and pulls me forward. With a speed we haven’t shown in a long time, we rush back towards the others.
Our determination isn’t enough against the strong current that is bashing into us, though. It tries to hold us back and occasionally take us with it. It’s only when the water is up to my neck that I see Marduke and Logan ahead. As Lisa and Hope struggle, I see Marduke take hold of Hope and hold her high in the air so she and Logan are almost touching the ceiling. Lisa is shorter than me, and once her feet can’t touch the ground, she’s hopeless against the current. She crashes into Marduke, and he uses his body to keep hold of them all.
“Mattie!” Logan cries out my name, his arm reaching out for me even though I’m still several feet away from them, but then Hannah’s hand slips from mine and she is carried away by the current, heading back the way we came.
“No!” I cry, looking back one last time at Marduke and Logan before I let the current push me away, too.
It’s disheartening to see all the ground we’ve covered fly past us. Every step has been an accomplishment, and now it is rushing us by.
“Hannah!” I scream out her name, watching as she dips under the water but quickly pushes her way back up again, her head bobbing up and down. When the water rises even higher, I even lose my own footing, falling under the water. Thankfully, I don’t get turned around, and I know which way to push upwards.
Gasping for breath, I hate that there is only a headspace between the top of the water and the ceiling now.
My heart pounds heavily in my chest while I acknowledge this might be it. We might all be about to die. Although I know this is better than the horror and terror of dying by one of those machines or creatures, it doesn’t lessen my devastation any.
I’m angry that, after all we’ve been through, after all the fighting back we’ve done, it was all for nothing. We’re all about to die pointlessly. We haven’t accomplished anything we wanted to do. Earth is still not ours, Marduke’s people are still under attack, and humans are scattered amongst planets that we will never be able to get to. Our bravery has caused us nothing other than an anonymous death.
And Riley…
I hug my stomach, letting my head dip back under the water. I can’t believe this child won’t even be given a chance at life.
How can everything be so unfair? Why can’t we simply catch a break?
As I kick back up, my head hitting the ceiling, I move my mouth to the small gap between the water and the ceiling, having to lay flat to catch any oxygen. My nose grazes the ceiling.
This is it, my one last breath.
The water flows even higher then, and there is nothing left. I hold my breath, keeping my eyes open, even though the water is mostly dark and murky. I can’t see Hannah, and Marduke and Logan won’t be close any longer. I’m all alone, and I know I don’t want to die. Not alone and not now.
In fact, I refuse to give up.
I kick upwards again, hoping that perhaps the ceiling isn’t even and there are points that are higher where the water won’t have reached yet. When my hand touches the ceiling and the water bobs by my wrist, I rush to gasp the air that is there. After a few gasps, I find that I can lift my head out of the water then eventually, my shoulders, too.
The water level is receding!
A few long, torturous minutes later, the water has shifted down to below my shoulders.
“Hannah!” I call out her name, fearful she might not have made it.
“Mattie!” she croaks out, her voice hitting the walls and moving back to me.
I swim her way, my body aching from the effort, but I keep going. When I reach her, I am able to put my feet on the ground. I grab a hold of her, wrapping my arms around her and keeping us still. The current has already backed off and the pressure is slowing down.
While Hannah cries into my shoulder, the shock of what nearly happened to us hitting her, I stay holding her, my neck craning to the side to see if I can catch a glimpse of anyone else.
By the time the water is only around my ankles, Hannah’s legs give out and I move us both into a sitting position. My own legs are shaking, and I think we could both use the rest.
She cries herself out, her head resting over my shoulder as I pat her back gently.
“Remember when Mum used to braid our hair when we were younger and we both hated it?” I whisper, pulling a random memory forward. I brush her soaking hair away from her neck and tug on it gently to get her attention. I can see her drifting into shock, and I don’t want to lose her.
“Yeah, we would run away screaming from her,” she hoarsely replies.
“She used to pull my hair so hard that I swear clumps of it would come out at once,” I recall.
“I screamed at her so loudly once that I lost my voice.” Hannah smiles at
me. “Why do you think she wanted to put our hair up like that?”
“I think because we both had such long hair that it was constantly knotty. We both didn’t like getting our hair brushed, so it would have been horrible by the time Mum got to it with a brush.”
She nods, her body shaking from the now chilled clothes.
“I can’t believe you’re pregnant. I thought Dad would give alien boy a hard time before, but he’d probably kill him.”
“I think he’d get over it,” I say, half believing she might actually be right about Dad’s reaction.
“Yeah, right, you’re his golden child. He’d probably want to kill you, too. He knew you’d do well at basketball and make an awesome career out of it.”
“Not much of a career to be had of that now,” I say sadly. Basketball has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember, although since the invasion, I’ve barely even thought about it. I’ve only held a basketball once, and that was back when Hank and I were on our own before we found Logan’s dad dying in the street.
“I think, for now, we need to just worry about getting out of here,” she says, her head not lifting off my shoulder. “Then we need to have a talk about the name Riley. I’m not sure I love it.”
“Why, what do you think would be a better name?” I ask, feeling slightly offended. Riley is already set in stone. This baby won’t ever have another name.
“I don’t know, maybe Hannah Jr?” she teases.
“And if it is a boy?”
“Ew, don’t have a boy. I want a niece,” she mock cries.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I roll my eyes, but in my mind, I’m suddenly curious as to what this baby might be. Do I have a preference? Would I care either way?
“Do you think it’ll come out green and have five legs?” Hannah asks, sounding completely serious.
“Well, considering Marduke isn’t green and he has two legs, I’d hope not. I’m just terrified it’ll come ripping out of my stomach,” I admit. That image that came when I first found out I was pregnant is still fresh in my mind.
“Ew! Although, it may be better for it to rip through your stomach then the alternative of it ripping through your va—”
“Mattie?” Marduke’s voice booms down the long tunnel, his voice echoing loudly off the walls.
The water is almost completely gone now, and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m freezing right now and exhausted, I might actually be able to feel relieved and happy that we’re not going to be drowning today.
“We’re here!” I yell back, letting Hannah sit up away from me, then we both struggle to our feet.
I’m barely standing before Marduke is hugging me to his chest, his hands roaming over me, checking again for any injuries. This is becoming a regular thing for us.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt? Is Riley fine?” he bombards me, pulling me away in order to check me over with his gaze. Deciding after a moment that I’m okay, he pulls me back against his chest.
“I’m fine, the baby is fine. I’m just cold,” I admit. “Where is Logan?”
“I left him with Lisa when I came searching for you. I wasn’t sure if…” His voice hitches. “I wasn’t sure if I’d find you alive, and I didn’t want him to see that.”
I feel him shiver in my arms, therefore I tighten my arms around him.
“I’m okay, I promise. That was a close call.”
“I know. Ival must have made it back in time, which means we must not have been too far when the water hit. Unfortunately, you guys travelled back a fair distance. It’s going to be another long walk.”
I groan, wanting to never have to walk another step ever again.
“Are you okay?” he asks Hannah.
Even though I’m freezing, his words bring warmth to me. I absolutely love the fact that he is concerned about Hannah, too.
“Yeah, I’d been dying for a wash, but almost drowning hadn’t been exactly what I’d hoped for,” she jokes, yet we both hear the slight shake in her voice.
He releases one hand from around me and holds it out to Hannah, gripping her shoulder and squeezing it, offering her some comfort.
That small gesture completely melts my heart, and I use precious energy to lift myself up straight and kiss Marduke on the lips. The intimate touch lights a fire inside me, one that I know won’t be put out for too long. He steps into me, wrapping both arms around me as he dominates me, taking control and consuming my lips and mouth. His touch takes the chill out of my body and replaces it with warmth and a burning need for him.
I grip at his wet shirt, my hands almost moving without thought as they pull his shirt upwards, baring his stomach before Hannah clearing her throat slowly filters through to my foggy brain.
“Get a room, dorks.” As Hannah rolls her eyes, unenthusiastically moving past us, Marduke’s longing gaze makes it so much harder to follow her lead.
***
We eventually make it back to Logan, Lisa, and Hope where there are more tears and hugs. Everyone is feeling scared and no one more than the kids.
Logan won’t leave my arms again, his body shaking as he cries into my shoulder. I fear he’s been put through too much and the young boy he was before so much happened to him won’t ever get the chance to return. There has to be a breaking point somewhere, and I hope he hasn’t reached his.
This is almost over for him. If what Marduke and Ival were saying about the tunnels under their home is correct, then there are rooms set up there. It was created years ago as a hiding place for the leader and his family to go if they ever needed the sanctuary. He’s not sure if there will be any food, but there are bathroom facilities and a tap that will have running water. Perhaps even better than that, there will be a bed and blankets.
I might never want to leave.
When the ground begins to shift upwards at an angle, I feel excited that we might almost be there. We’re led up a ramp, which above has a large oval grate and a seal over it.
“That is where the water comes in from,” Marduke explains, his gaze following mine.
“Why is it even there?”
“I don’t know. I suppose as a way to keep the tunnels clean and maybe even a defence mechanism in case anything ever happened and a threat to us discovers them.”
I nod, shifting Logan’s heavy weight in my arms, and stare ahead to what looks like a dead end. I know better than that now.
I watch Marduke hold his hand to the wall, and after a moment, a door that looks solid and sturdy appears before it swings ajar. Marduke opens it fully and we all step in.
There is a large puddle of water along the ground, no doubt from when Ival had to open the door while the water was piling high out here. Other than that, the walls appear untouched. Marduke leaves the door open and the water slowly begins to trickle down the ramp.
“Ival?” Marduke calls out, only to get no response. He turns to me, his hands gripping onto mine. “I’m going to go and find Ival. There are rooms that run along this passage, and eventually, an open area where there will hopefully be some food. Your touch will be enough to open the doors. We don’t have a monit for this area.”
I nod that I understand, and after a quick kiss, he leaves me to search for Ival. Right now, my priority is to get everyone out of these wet clothes and maybe try to find some food and water.
I walk along the hallway and hold my hands out to reach either side of me, scraping my hands along the walls. Invisible doors light up and open as I move along and I peek inside each one. A light turns on as I walk in, and when I leave the room, the light shuts off with it. Thankfully, the one in the hallway doesn’t appear to need me to be there for it to stay on.
All the rooms so far seem to be bedrooms, although there is only ever a single sized mattress in there along with shelves that have towels, blankets, and clothing on them. The rooms radiate heat. When I step into one, I feel heat emanating from the walls. It’s not hot enough to be uncomfortable, but in our chilled states, it is ver
y noticeable.
I find clothing that are all too big for us, and practically blankets over Logan and Hope. They definitely look like they were all made for well-built men.
When we change out of our damp clothes, the new material feeling thin, I wonder if we should consider putting on several layers to keep warm. My vest appears to keep my chest area warm at all times, but the chill in my arms and legs is still dominating. Consequently, the others must feel worse.
I give Lisa and Hannah extra clothes and then give Lisa another set to try to figure out how to work them for Hope. For Logan, I use the shirt as an almost dress, rolling the arms up until his hands are seen, and then do the same for the pants. There is no way to keep them on, but I lay him down in the single bed and tuck him under the sheets.
Lisa moves into the room opposite and does the same for Hope. We’re incredibly quiet, probably because of how exhausted and overwhelmed we all are.
Hannah leaves the room to use the attached bathroom. When she asks for my help, I leave a sleeping Logan to find a bathroom that doesn’t look very familiar to our own back on Earth. Mercifully, the toilet is mostly the same, just nothing else is.
There is a tube shower, the same that Marduke and I hid in to survive his spaceship plummeting to Roth. There doesn’t appear to be a sink to wash your hands except when I step into a tiled area and suddenly water pools in front of me. There is no visible sink or reason for the water to not be falling everywhere, but it doesn’t. It just stays in front and I dip my hands in, testing it out. The water instantly whitens and bubbles. It doesn’t hurt, but it freaks me out. I quickly remove my hands, watching as the water moves back towards the wall and disappears just as a warm breeze hits my hands. Within seconds, they are dry.
“That is so weird,” Hannah murmurs.
“Tell me about it.”
“Back where we were before, they had rooms that looked like this in the houses they stuck us in, but they had built bathrooms and showers like what we had on Earth.”
Marduke said he was on Earth for six months before he attacked. If they knew they’d be taking people, then they might have been able to begin setting up part of Oden to accommodate for them.
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