The noise ceased.
Bryan held his weapon, aiming it at the middle of the doors, where no men stood.
The clatter came again. Harder this time.
The people in the room jolted once again.
It wasn’t until they heard a thin voice on the other side of the door that a few in the room exhaled.
“Bryan? Louie? Are you there?”
The survivors looked from the door, to Bryan, and back again. The bang came again—not the shudder of an incoming monster, but the bang of a person.
Making a decision, Bryan raised his chin. “Open the doors.”
Two of his Watchers lifted away the braces, carrying them a few steps back, while others slowly opened them. Dust floated near the entrance, shrouding the person who stood there in the dying light, panting.
Raj’s face was cut up and scratched; his clothes were torn. He reached out, stumbling for someone to support him.
Bryan traded a look with Louie, before directing The Watchers. “Help him inside. Quickly.”
Chapter 17: Neena
Neena walked aimlessly through a long cave, feeling her way through the infinite blackness. Voices surrounded her, speaking quiet, indecipherable words. Sometimes she recognized Samel. Other times she recognized Amos, or Samara. No matter how far she traveled, it seemed she could never reach them. Every so often, she bumped a jagged wall, injuring a hidden bruise. Her head throbbed. Occasionally she collapsed, before finding her footing again.
She was doomed to wander her lightless prison, a prisoner of the darkness.
She followed the cave for what felt like an eternity, fearing monsters at every crevice, until the wall disappeared underneath her touch. Neena reached and grabbed, but found nothing.
The tunnel around her spun, so fast and so wildly that she almost fell.
And then she was awake from her confusing dream.
Neena’s gaze solidified on a face. Amos stood above her bedroll with worry.
“Neena?” he asked, seemingly not for the first time. “Can you hear me?”
Neena tried to answer, but her lips were dry, stuck together. He offered her the flask of water in his hands. She gripped it, but her fingers were stiff and sore, and her head hurt even worse.
“Let me help,” he said, assisting her.
Water dribbled down her chin and onto her neck. With a cloth, Amos wiped it away.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better,” she said, reflexively.
A spear of guilt worked through her. She wanted to sit up, shake off her injuries, and resume her life, even though she could barely keep her eyes open.
“Take it easy,” Amos said. “You need your rest.”
“I—”
“Neena, please.”
All at once, she remembered waking up several other times and asking Amos the same question. He’d given her herbs and drink. She’d tried getting up, but he’d stopped her, saying that she needed to take it easy. Light flashed behind her eyes, making her dizzy again.
“How long have I been out?”
“A few days,” Amos said. “Your head was injured. I think you’ll be all right, but you need to rest, or you’ll never recover.”
Hearing his voice reminded her of the others.
“Where are Kai, Raj and Samel?”
“Samel’s across the cave. And Kai has been here most of the time, keeping watch over you.”
“Raj?”
Amos didn’t answer.
“I’m not resting, if he’s not here,” Neena refused. “I’m getting up and I’m—”
She sat up quickly—too quickly—and the room spun. Her vertigo reminded her of that dark tunnel where she was endlessly walking, and then she was back in it.
Chapter 18: Kai
Days after the brutal attack on the cliffs, Kai huddled in the back of the Right Cave on his haunches, sharpening his spear. Every so often, he turned the weapon, working on a new side. He paid little attention to the sharp edge, or the rock he slid it against.
The bruises on his arms and legs were a constant reminder of the attack he and Neena had suffered. Every ache and scab reminded him that the culprits had suffered no consequence.
They also reminded him of Neena’s condition. While Neena had been rendered unconscious, he’d awoken the next night, injured and angry. For the past few days, he’d kept an eye over her, along with Amos.
Now he was taking a rare moment alone.
He couldn’t stop thinking of Neena, Darius, and Raj.
Every so often, Kai glanced down the long tunnel he guarded. The light of several torches beat back the shadows, but too much of the area beyond them was as dark as his thoughts.
He was nervous, and he was angry.
He wanted revenge for everything that was done to him, and his comrades. He wanted to charge down to the Left Cave—or to the colony—and pay Bryan’s people back for what they did.
Footsteps from behind ripped him from his thoughts.
“Are you okay?” Samara asked, approaching him.
The question was rhetorical.
“I’m tired of feeling angry,” Kai spat. “I’m tired of feeling like we failed.”
Samara sighed, sinking down to the floor next to him. “I understand.”
“I want to take revenge on those pieces of waste.”
Samara bit her lip, feeling similar frustration. “I know you feel guilty for not finding Raj.”
Kai lowered his head to the bloodied bag by his feet. Shortly after he’d woken up—against the other Right Cavers’ warnings—Kai had slipped down to the colony alone, searching for the missing boy. At the time, he had insisted the others stayed put and safe. Even if he had a larger group with him, it wouldn’t have mattered. All he had found were bodies.
Bodies, and the bloodied bag by his feet.
Raj’s bag.
Noticing his gaze, Samara reached over and touched his arm. “I’m sorry.”
“For all we know, he’s alive,” Kai insisted.
Samara was quiet a long moment, before she spoke. “We all saw the devastation from the monster’s attack. Too many on the ledges saw the horn blowers fall. And you said you saw Raj carrying one of the horns, when he marched down from the cliffs.”
He didn’t need her to make the logical assumption.
Kai gritted his teeth. He’d already heard about how the monster had savaged the people by the spires, killing the horn blowers and others. He’d heard about the people fleeing through the desert, seeking shelter.
All that had happened after he was attacked and unconscious.
The Right Cavers had seen nearly two-dozen people die before Samara had ushered them inside, and of course, he’d seen the bodies, when he’d been down there. The guards had kept an eye out for Raj and reported back to him, but they’d been preoccupied. They couldn’t have seen everything.
“Someone’s in that Comm Building. I saw some people going in and out when I was down there,” Kai said. “There are people who escaped the monster’s attack.”
“But even more people could’ve been eaten without a trace…” Samara said, trailing off.
“I won’t believe Raj is dead until I have proof. And neither will Neena, when she wakes up. I won’t give up on him.”
Samara sighed. “So what are you proposing? Even if you convince more people to go down there with you, the Left and Center Cavers outnumber us. I said I’d go with you, and I will, if that’s what you want, but there needs to be a reason.”
“Isn’t Darius’s death enough?” Kai threw down his spear and knife. “We haven’t even buried him. We put his body in a crevice several tunnels away, afraid that someone might creep up and attack us. He deserves better. No one gave him a ceremony. And Neena had no time to grieve.”
“Maybe when things settle down, we’ll give him a proper burial…” Samara touched his arm.
“I don’t want a meaningless procession,” Kai argued. “I want Raj back, and I want to pay Br
yan back for what he’s done.” He ripped his arm away from her and slammed his fist on the cave floor.
Samara fell silent. For a long while, they sat without speaking, until Kai turned toward her, ashamed.
“I’m sorry, Samara,” he apologized, reaching for her. “It’s not your fault.”
“I understand how you feel, because I feel the same way, too.” Samara shook her head. “I want to charge down there myself and pay them back for the hurt they caused. I want to teach them that they can’t get away with this. I want to make sure they never do it again.”
Kai’s eyes blazed. “Every time I check on Neena, I get furious all over again. I can’t take another day of looking at her like that. We should’ve been ready for Sherry’s attack.”
“You were focused on Raj,” Samara reminded him. “The attack was underhanded.”
“And yet it doesn’t matter, because now we’re trapped in here, and Raj is missing or dead, and Darius’s body is stuffed in a crevice in a cave.” Kai clenched and unclenched his hands. “Maybe Bryan was right. If I’d never come back here, all of this could’ve been avoided.”
Another silence fell over them. This time it was Samara’s turn to break it. “You helped all of us, when we needed it. No one has forgotten what you, Neena, and Darius did.”
“But we couldn’t help Raj.”
“Maybe you still can.”
Kai turned toward her, feeling a glimmer of hope in his dark mood.
Samara looked as if she was working through a suggestion. “Let’s say you are right, and Raj is alive. If so, he’s in no immediate danger. He’s safe in the Comm Building, along with the others.”
“With Bryan, you mean,” Kai said angrily.
Samara considered that. “If Bryan didn’t hurt him before, there’s no reason to think he’d hurt him now. Raj marched down with Bryan and his men of his own volition. That means we still have time. Maybe we can still get him back safely.”
Kai picked up his knife and his spear and stood up, ready to turn hope into action.
“Wait,” Samara said, stopping him with her hand. “Not now.”
“When, then?”
Kai took a step away, but Samara leapt up and elaborated. “Let’s plan something better than charging down there. Let’s figure out a way to determine the truth without throwing our lives away.”
Kai shook her off, but she watched him in earnest.
“Neena would want both you and Raj to be safe. She wouldn’t want you to end up like Darius.”
Kai opened and closed his eyes. He sighed.
“Give us some time to think of a better plan,” Samara pleaded. “Together, we’ll come up with something.”
Reluctantly, Kai settled back down. “Okay, but I’m not waiting much longer.”
Chapter 19: Neena
“Neena?”
Neena’s eyes fluttered and came into focus. Slowly, she processed the person leaning over her.
Kai.
Kai’s eyes were filled with concern as he bent down and asked, “Are you okay?”
He reached over, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Perspiration dotted the strange markings on his forehead. Those once-foreign marks gave her a familiar sense of home.
“Kai?” she whispered.
“Yes, it’s me.” His concern turned into a smile, when he heard her recognition.
“Are we still in the caves?” Neena asked.
It felt like she’d been underwater, and was just surfacing.
“Yes, we’re still here,” Kai confirmed.
“Why do I feel so tired, even though I just woke up?”
“It’s because of the medicines Amos has been giving you,” Kai explained. “That, and the head injury you sustained.”
“They pelted me with rocks…” Neena’s confusion found its way to anger, as she looked around at the groups of people sitting near the middle of the cave. “They pelted you, too.”
“I’m fine,” Kai assured her, waving a hand up and down his body to prove it. “But I was worried about you. You took the brunt of the attack. For a while, I thought you might be…”
“Dead?” Neena asked, sitting up. “I’m fine.”
“Careful,” Kai warned, gently settling her back down. “You don’t want to rush things. The last thing you need is to aggravate your injuries.”
Slowly, Neena moved her arms and legs. They were stiff, but not broken. That gave her the resolve to sit up again. A sudden, dull ache in her side made her reconsider.
“It’s your rib,” Kai said, noticing her wincing. “I think it’s bruised. Amos has been watching you carefully. Can you breathe all right?”
Neena tested a breath. The sensation was a little shallower than normal, but she could take air. Telling another lie, she said, “I’m fine.”
Neena gently removed the blanket from her body, looking down at her ripped clothes. Holes in her shirt and pants revealed the scabs and bruises she’d felt, but hadn’t seen, until now. Her pain reminded her of the conversation she’d had with Amos, during her lucid moments.
“Where’s Samel?” she said, looking around for him.
“He’s with Adriana, across the cave.” Kai motioned to a circle of people about fifty feet away. “He’s safe.”
“But Raj is gone,” she remembered.
Kai didn’t answer. His expression jarred her fully awake.
“I tried to find him, Neena,” he said. “I searched for him, after the monster attacked. I didn’t find him, not yet.”
Neena refused to believe those words. “Where is he?”
“My hope is that he’s in the Comm Building.”
“The Comm Building?”
“That’s where Bryan and most of his followers ended up,” Kai said. “I’m sorry, Neena.”
In a gentle voice, Kai explained the events that had happened while she was out. Neena listened with growing concern as Kai told of the Abomination’s appearance, Bryan’s men scattering, and how they’d sequestered in the Comm Building. He elaborated on his attempts to find Raj.
When he was finished, he went quiet.
“Raj is still with Bryan,” Neena repeated blankly.
“That’s what we hope,” Kai said, looking away. His expression gave her more worry, instead of reassuring her.
“Do you believe that?”
“I want to,” Kai said, clenching and unclenching his fists. “I feel awful that I didn’t find him, Neena. But if he’s alive, we’re going to get him back. I swear by the twin moons.”
“You’re damn right we are,” Neena said, pulling past her pain. “And we’re going to do it now.”
Chapter 20: Neena
“Neena, wait!” Kai called, trying to stop her from standing.
Instead of listening, she rose, scanning the cave floor next to her blanket. On the ground were her bag, her flask, and her spear. Ignoring Kai’s protests, she bent down and retrieved her things. She’d been lying down for too long.
“What are you doing?” Kai asked.
“What do you think I’m doing?”
A few of the Right Cavers looked up from the circles where they stood or sat, startled to see her on her feet.
Maybe they’d counted her dead.
It felt as if she had been dead.
But now she was alive, and she was going to make everything right. She was going to find Raj and pay these people back for what they’d done. Ripping open her bag angrily, Neena searched for her knife, which was no longer at her side, and had presumably been taken off her while she healed.
“You can’t do this,” Kai protested.
“Why not?” Neena asked, eyes blazing. “Am I supposed to leave Raj down there to die?”
“Of course not,” Kai said, battling his own emotions.
“Should I wait until they stab my brother and leave him in the desert for us to find, along with the rest of the bodies? Just like they did to Darius?”
“No, but we’re in the middle of coming up with a pla
n,” Kai said.
Neena looked up to find Samara coming toward her, an empathetic expression on her face.
“Neena!” she exclaimed. “You’re awake!”
“I am,” Neena said, “and I’m going to get my brother. Are you going with me, or are you staying here?”
A voice from across the cave interrupted her. She looked up to find Samel rushing toward her, his eyes wide with disbelief. Without a word, he crashed into her, squeezing her tightly. His quiet crying dampened some of her anger, but not enough of it. Behind him, Amos was already shuffling as fast as his old legs would allow, narrowing the gap. Looking at his creased, worried face, Neena remembered his vigil over her.
Slowly, more people in the Right Cave surrounded her. Some people patted her back gently, or said encouraging words. Their expressions showed their relief. A few women whispered to one another, thanking the heavens that she was alert and alive.
“Samara and I have been working on a plan,” Kai said, taking her arm again. “Let’s figure this out, before we rush to our deaths. These people need us. All of them.”
Neena opened and closed her eyes.
“Okay,” she said. “But I don’t want to waste any time.”
Chapter 21: Sherry
Sherry stared at the circle of dirty-faced women who sat on their haunches, untangling the snarls from their hair, or picking the grime from beneath their fingernails. A few sipped gently from their flasks, while others looked at the ground.
Studying their faces, she recalled how some of them had fled, after that first altercation. Their weakness sickened her.
Sherry was tired of feeling as if she’d performed half a job. Every night when she closed her eyes, she saw the wrinkled smile on Gideon’s face, after she’d told him what they’d done to Neena and Kai. Despite his satisfaction, he’d told her to leave the fighting to the men.
That inflamed her.
Unable to contain her anger any longer, Sherry said, “For the past few days, we’ve wasted time in our cave, when we should be acting. We need to show our men that we can take care of our duties. We need to make them proud.”
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