“I hope he doesn’t have a family waiting around here.” Allana stepped aside to let him pass. “Are you sure we can’t have our Lancers?”
“They won’t survive being submerged.” He moved around her and farther into the smaller tunnel. “Besides, ricochet in here would kill us both. Glad you’ve got kicking skills.”
“Hurray. Verity didn’t teach me to kick rats.”
The tunnel narrowed and Maddox had to stoop a little to walk upright. He didn’t have the heart to tell Allana what was coming up ahead. He could already hear how heavily she breathed. Ever since the kiss, he seemed more aware of her every action. Maybe it was just the stimshot, but he didn’t think so. He knew he shouldn’t get closer to her, let his guard down. One way or another she’d be out of his life soon, so what was the real harm? The whole thing was a ticking time bomb no matter what happened, so why not enjoy the time together?
He heard her sharp intake of breath.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just want this over with.”
Truth be told, his worry about her was real. Since she hated small spaces, she might flip out when she saw what was up ahead. One more change of tunnels and they’d be almost out, so maybe that would be enough to keep her moving. He glanced at his wrist screen out of habit. Dark except for his biometric watch. Twenty more minutes, tops, and they’d reach the next junction. And that’s where things got really small. He didn’t mind enclosed areas, but even he felt a little odd in the tiny tunnel that led to the outside.
He put his hands on the wall and steadied himself as he crouched. Walking along the wet concrete made him uneasy. Falling could prove to be a fatal mistake if he broke his leg or got washed away by the current into a recycling tank. Allana mirrored his actions and placed her hands on the wall and moved silently beside him.
After several minutes, he couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “So, I know we’re not supposed to talk about the job, but maybe you can tell me why you decided to become an assassin? It’s an odd choice.”
She jumped at the sound of his voice, then stared. “For a woman? Don’t tell me you’re a dickhead who thinks women can’t do these jobs as well as men. I’ll fucking flip you over my head and into the water and escape on my own.” Her hands coiled into fists on the concrete wall.
Maddox smiled. Better than having her afraid. “Of course not. It’s just that being an assassin is a pretty serious job choice.” One I could never do. He paused to step over a piece of jagged biolumen strip that had fallen from its mounting on the wall. “And it’s not a guaranteed job, either. Most don’t make it out of training, so I hear.”
He held out his hand and Allana took it and stepped over the debris.
She shrugged. “My family, except my father, was executed for supposedly selling secrets.”
“Wow.”
“They didn’t. He did. When the police came, he blamed my mother and brother. They were executed.”
“That’s horrible!” He didn’t have the heart to ask why she wasn’t blamed.
“He was my first mark once I became an assassin.”
Maddox swallowed and gripped the slippery wall. He’d asked and she’d answered. He couldn’t really complain that he’d gotten answers he didn’t want. “So you went into training at how old?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Wow, didn’t take you long to make it. You got the number one job at Verity. Now, you’ll retire in luxury, I guess, and at a young age.” He ducked even more under a low ledge that spanned the narrow tunnel.
“I guess. As long as we make it to safety. I need to get this information in the right hands so Verity can regain control of the city. After that, I don’t know what I’ll do. There won’t be much need of an assassin in a peaceful city.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“Yes, but I need to make it happen. Otherwise, the job is only half done. And I need to finish what I start. Always.”
Maddox stopped and studied her face, wishing he could smooth out the lines of worry that formed there. “We’ll finish it together.”
Chapter Three
MADDOX PERCHED on the edge of the platform and peered at the dark water below. The last sewer junction before they were out of the city was barely a five-by-five square of concrete with four smaller passageways feeding from the center. The roof hung low and pipes ran overhead in a crisscross of diverging flows, liquid gurgling and sputtering as it tricked through the conduits. Thankfully, the water was barely a few inches deep in the center, as most of it channeled into the one larger tunnel that led off the intersection headed to recycling. He stared at the small side-tunnel they’d have to crawl through for the remaining distance. Number sixty-four twelve.
A shaft mainly used for easing overflow would now serve as their escape from the city.
“Let’s go.” Would he be able to coach Allana through the tight space? He had to.
“You’re kidding.” Allana bit her lower lip. “We have to crawl through that?” She clutched her hands together, her knuckles going white.
He shook his head. “No. I’m not kidding. It’s not as small as it looks.”
“I can’t. Not a chance.” She shook her head and turned to go back through the larger tunnel. “We have to find another way out.”
Maddox grabbed her by the shoulder and twirled her to face him. “Yes, you can, Allana. You have to. It’s the only way out. The only way to freedom.”
“You don’t understand…”
“No, you don’t. It is the only tunnel that will put us anywhere near the rendezvous point. All the other paths to the outside are the same size, and they come out farther away. This is the one we have to go through. You have to trust me, trust Verity.”
“But it’s so small.” Her shoulder quivered under his touch.
“There’s plenty of room for us.” He squeezed her shoulder, then dropped his hand. “And we have no choice.”
“I know.”
“And you’ve worked hard for this.”
“I know.”
“And you have a duty…”
She sighed and stared at the ground. “Yes, I know.”
He placed his hand under her chin and tipped it up. Her eyes filled with tears. He shouldn’t be doing this. Every fiber of his being told him he was making a mistake. He kissed her on the forehead, feeling her tension soften under his lips. If they had more time, he’d kiss her more. Put her at ease. Show her that she really could trust him. “I know you can do this. You have to. This is what you’ve been training for.” He smiled.
“I failed this part. Small spaces. Someone covered for me.”
“You won’t fail today. I’ll help you.”
Her tears flowed freely, sliding down her face. He wiped them away, the dirt on his finger leaving muddy track marks down her cheeks.
“My father…” She stiffened and looked down. “He locked me in a box. He did…things, to me.”
He pulled her close, feeling her body melt into him. “Your father is dead. And you’re stronger than he ever was.”
She nodded against his chest. “I know.”
“You can do this.” He savored her small warmth against his chest and slid his hand up to her neck and kneaded. If only they had more time…
She jerked her head up. “What’s that noise?”
Maddox listened, adrenaline freezing his veins. The unmistakable rhythmic tromping of boots, far away but coming closer, echoed through the pipes. “Oh, fuck! Sentinels.”
“They’ll catch us.” Allana backed away until she bumped against the wall. “We’ll never escape.”
“The hell we can’t! Go! They won’t know which tunnel we’re taking.”
Allana scooted into the small corridor and started crawling ahead through the trickle of water. Maddox looked back, the beams of the incoming Sentinels burning a pinpoint of light through the mist in the big tunnel. How many were coming? Probably a whole company. They’d split into every tunnel under the city and not sto
p looking till they’d caught both he and Allana. Methodical and murderous, the Sentinels never gave up. He dove into the tunnel and began crawling, the water rushing over his fingertips and sending chills down his back.
They’d crawled till his hands and knees ached from cold and exertion and they still crawled.
“If we make it out of this,” Allana huffed as she crawled. “You’re going to have to tell me why you chose this job. No way I could do it.”
“You’ve got a deal.”
From his training, he knew the tunnel was about five hundred yards long, and then they’d reach the end and have to remove the last grate and dive about twelve feet into the small lake the water emptied into. Surely they’d made it at least halfway by now, but there was no way to check. The cold trickle of water numbed his hands and knees and the backpack scraped the roof of the tunnel.
“Are they behind us?” Allana asked. She didn’t slow down. “I’m afraid to look.”
“I don’t hear them.”
“Are we almost out?”
“I hope so.”
Suddenly the tunnel went black. Allana’s muffled protestation filled his ears.
“Allana?” He looked down the tunnel the way they’d come. All the biolumen strips were dark. How was that possible? All he could see was the Sentinel’s light far back but growing closer.
“We’ve got to move,” she whispered. “They’re getting closer. Oh, my god, it’s so dark.”
“We should almost be to the grate at the end of the tunnel. It can’t be far. Keep going. Hurry.” He started crawling, the cold water sloshing against his hands and knees. If the Sentinels had listening devices on, they’d surely be able to figure out which tunnel he and Allana were in. With only a few routes leading out of the city, there weren’t too many to explore anyway.
Allana stopped and he bumped into her, the backpack straining against his shoulders.
“Look!”
He tried to peer around her, but she took up most of the tunnel. “What?”
“I think I see the end, but it’s night outside, so it’s hard to tell. But it looks different. Blue, instead of black.”
“Should be it. Crawl!”
A couple of minutes and they reached the grate. Maddox maneuvered around Allana and pulled the tools to release the grate from his backpack. He worked as quickly as he could in the dark, feeling for the right tool. Good thing his training had been so thorough. The Sentinels were bound to be close and at least one was likely in the same tunnel. Maybe he should get out one of the Lancers, but then it would be ruined when they jumped into the lake.
“I hear them!” Allana whispered. “Hurry! They’re close.”
Sure enough, sloshing, though distant, echoed through the tunnel.
“Shhh! I’m almost done. Get ready to jump.”
The final plug popped loose and Maddox braced against the wall and kicked at the grate. It fell away into the water below. Maddox dropped the tools and grabbed his pack. “Let’s go.”
Allana jumped first, her splash a small sound below the pipe out of the tunnel. Maddox closed his eyes and hurtled into the lake. The cold water washed over his head and he struggled to move in the dark, get to the surface. He kicked, propelling himself upward through the silent world. He popped up and gasped for a breath, his boots and heavy clothing making him feel like he weighed ten times more than he did. He kicked slowly to conserve energy.
Allana swam closer to him, her face barely visible in the half-light. She smiled. “We made it out of the city!”
“Well, we made it out of the tunnel.” He coughed and treaded water. “We still have to get out of this lake and get you to Verity.”
“Yeah, but we’re out of those tunnels. No more tight spaces. Let’s get to shore.” Raindrops splashed and made concentric circles on the dark water and Allana lay back and swam next to Maddox. She smiled and put her arms around his neck, and he tried to stay afloat with her weight and the backpack on top of him.
“Yeah, let’s get to shore.” He hugged her to him. “I knew you could make it through the tunnels.”
“Nothing like a Sentinel lighting a fire under me to get me to move.” She pushed his hair off his forehead. “I hope I never see another one. Ever.”
“You could’ve done it without all the excitement. The Sentinels just made you move faster.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I needed your support.”
Green beams of light split off the surface of the water, snapping into angles as they hit. The firepower whizzed and bleated as it echoed through the darkness.
Lancers!
“They’ve spotted us!” Maddox looked up to the pipe’s edge. “We’ve got to get out of the water. Hurry. This way.” He spied a Sentinel peering from the pipe. “I don’t think they can see us very well, even with their superior vision. Otherwise, we’d be dead already.”
“Go. I’ll follow.”
He swam with all the energy he had left, hoping Allana was keeping up. Lancer fire played around them as the Sentinels shot from the tunnel. If the guards jumped to the water and hunted them on land, he and Allana would never escape.
Maddox swam, hoping the darkness and rain provided enough cover to keep them from being detected. Allana stayed alongside him, her swimming prowess far greater than his own, her deft strokes cutting through the water with seemingly little effort.
He fought the urge to cough, but tucked his chin and kept swimming. How much farther? Good thing he’d taken that stimshot.
A Lancer blast struck the water within a foot of his shoulder and the smell of ozone hit his nose like a burnt soufflé. Could’ve been my head.
He pushed harder, kicking his boots against the exhaustion that built in his muscles. He and Allana had come this far; they had to make it now.
By the time they dragged themselves on shore, his breath came in gasps and his limbs felt like heavy stones in wet sacks. If he never had to swim again, it would be okay with him. The Lancer fire had dwindled to a shot or two every thirty seconds. Maybe the Sentinels were giving up. But that didn’t make sense. They never gave up. Maybe they were waiting on reinforcements.
Allana leaned on him. “I’m beat. Where to now?”
“We aren’t going to be able to hike to the rendezvous point tonight, that’s for sure. I’m exhausted and it’s so dark, I don’t think we’d find it easily. I’ll send a message that we’ll meet up tomorrow. Verity knew it was possible we wouldn’t make it tonight.”
“Agreed.”
“Let’s move away from this area and see if we can find shelter in the lower cliffs somewhere, or the forest. If those Sentinels do come looking, I don’t want to be an easy target.”
“I thought they didn’t leave the city.”
“That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Better be true.” Allana rubbed her arms and shivered.
“I hope so. Are you cold?”
“Yes.” Her teeth chattered and she sucked in a breath. “You have a blanket in that pack?”
“I do. And some biolumen sticks, once we get away from shore.” Pulling her to him would be the quickest way to warm her up, but they really needed to get away from the shoreline. As much as he trusted the information he’d been given, if the Sentinels did leave the pipes, he and Allana were as good as dead.
“Good.”
Maddox looked up at the city on the mountain above him, pipes jutting out at odd intervals and draining the rainwater away like the city was bleeding out. The fractured skyscrapers silhouetted against the sky like a broken crown—the wall blocked most of the view. The perimeter fence on top of the wall blinked red dots of light.
Guarded. No one leaves. And yet, he and Allana had. Meera hadn’t lived to see it, but she would’ve been proud of him.
“If we don’t find a place to sleep soon, I’m going to pass out standing up.” Allana stomped her feet. “And I’m freezing.”
“Come on. Let’s find a place to camp. You’ll feel better when we’re moving
.” He headed to into the thicket of trees opposite the city’s mountain. In the forest, it barely felt like it was raining at all, though it smelled like rainfall was at home in the deep recesses of rotting wood and wet leaves. The dense tree canopy blocked out most light, too. He pulled out the biolumen sticks and clasped them to his belt then took Allana’s hand and they walked.
“Maddox?”
“Yes?”
“What made you join Verity? I mean, I know I had reasons, and I guess you do too.” She squeezed his hand.
“Several things, I guess.” He took a deep breath. Should he tell her about Meera? “For one thing, I didn’t know much about them till they came to me to see if I would join.”
“Yeah, same here.”
Maddox stopped. “They promised to help my sister if I helped them. I was just a chemist working in pharmaceuticals, nothing special. I guess they figured I was smart enough to hire as a guide out of the city.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes. “But I do believe in Verity’s mission to bring the city back to its pre-war days where everyone has choices. What they do. How they live.”
“And your sister?”
“She’s dead.” He looked away. He really shouldn’t be getting into all the details. For someone who wouldn’t share information with him, she sure was interested in his secrets.
“Oh!” She stepped closer and put her arms around his neck and hugged him.
He pulled her close, burying his face in her hair, and whispering, “It’s not your fault. It’s not even Verity’s fault. Meena was a Koo addict.”
She let out a breath. “I’m so sorry.”
He pulled back and tipped her chin up. In the near darkness he could barely make out the concern on her face, her eyebrows drawn together into a partial scowl. “I guess we’ve both lost family members to the war’s aftermath.”
She nodded. “Guess so. But Verity is going to make things better for us and the other citizens.”
“Yes. They promised. We’re fortunate they wanted both of us to help.”
He closed his eyes and leaned in, his lips brushing against Allana’s. She kissed him back, softly. Not a passionate kiss, but one of understanding and care. After a few moments, she pulled back and laid her head on his chest.
Come Undone: Romance Stories Inspired by the Music of Duran Duran Page 26