Mia stood up and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders. She tiptoed through the room, doing her best not to disturb those lucky enough to be asleep. A peek out into the main corridor revealed other restless strollers. Mia recognized Sara and the two locked eyes. The older woman smiled a sad recognition and waved Mia over.
“We have to stop meeting like this,” Mia said.
“My mind has turned against me,” Sara admitted then smiled slyly. “I would guess your heart is your biggest foe.”
Mia eyed her cautiously. Sara had become her most trusted advisor in all things, even her emotional distress. Mia guessed Sara wasn’t acknowledging the anguish of not knowing where Jonah and his friends were, but more so the heartache over the duo that went to find them. Mia had opened up on more than one occasion about the tug of war going on between her, Rowan, and Asher.
“Sometimes I wonder if I would be better off on my own,” Mia said. “It would certainly allow me to focus on more important matters. I’m sure the survival of Canaan would be better for it.” Even as she said it, the notion felt ridiculous. Mia knew she alone could not save the tribe.
“Is that so?”
Sara motioned for the end of the corridor. They walked together, each wrapped up so tight that only their eyes and rosy cheeks were exposed to the wind. Sara kept quiet until they passed through the main opening and started up the makeshift stairs toward ground level. The climb was slow going with Sara needing considerable assistance to reach the top.
The horizon was covered in a beautiful swath of color. The early morning light merged with the night’s sky creating a murky blend of orange and violet. The vision was another reminder of how long Rowan and Asher had been down in the hive. Mia’s eyes heated up with a tinge of pain. She hadn’t slept well in quite a while.
Sara took a hold of her arm and they started off in the snow. They aimed for a small gathering of people at the edge of the gorge. The snow was thick, but the path was well traveled. Mia was lost in her thoughts when Sara spoke.
“Love is a strange thing,” she said.
Mia hadn’t thought about love for a long time. She felt embarrassed even to consider such a thing with so many imminent problems at hand. She guessed that Sara was attempting to pull her free from the all-consuming fear if only for a moment.
“It wasn’t that long ago when I knew that Rowan and I were going to be together forever,” Mia said. “Rowan was so sure he could prove his worth to my father.” She laughed at the idea. “It was my only problem in the world.”
“Life has a way of quickly changing things.”
Mia smiled.
“Isn’t that the truth.”
The small group of onlookers acknowledged their arrival, but continued a conversation among themselves. Mia looked down at the ropes dangling off the side of the massive gorge. The light was beginning to push its way down along the far side of the opening. She found the landing Rowan and Asher used for an entry point. The metal platform was still and lifeless.
“You have grown beyond my expectations.”
The odd compliment surprised Mia.
“How’s that?” she asked.
Sara squeezed her arm.
“I had no hope at all of seeing the world again before we found one another,” Sara said. “I had convinced myself that I would die a slave.” She kicked a chunk of snow off the side of the gorge and watched it plunge down in the darkness. “I would die down there in that horrible place.” She looked at Mia. “You changed all that.”
Mia was quick to correct her.
“We changed all that.”
Sara beamed a wide smile.
“Yes, yes,” she said. “But our freedom would not have come had it not been for you.” She continued before Mia could interrupt. “I didn’t know what to expect after we took control of this place, but the tribal council, all of it was built on your encouragement.”
Mia thought she was giving her far too much credit.
“I had a great deal of help,” Mia said.
Sara patted her hand.
“The work is not done.”
The comment was a stiff reminder of the decisions that lay ahead. The scout’s report was clear. The zombie horde was moving closer with every passing day. The infected that led them had evolved into something no one could quite comprehend. The foul things were coordinating their moves and using the undead as pawns. Rowan had relayed the news on what he saw down in the valley beyond the outlands during his escape from Cheyenne. The infected were gathering the living, herding them like cattle to feed on as they saw fit.
“If we cannot get the power on,” Mia said, “then we must retreat to Cheyenne.” Even as she said it, Mia knew the decision was far more complicated than she made it sound. There was no guarantee of safety in the city. “We should begin making repairs to the gardens so that we can defend ourselves.”
“Time is short.”
“Which is why we should stop wasting it with petty arguments,” Mia countered. “Rowan is right about that.”
“The council needs a leader.”
Mia shook her head.
“It shouldn’t have to always be me,” she insisted.
“You can’t allow your personal concerns to affect the safety of the entire tribe.”
The elder woman’s advice got under Mia’s skin. She didn’t respond right away. Her brother was lost and Rowan and Asher were down there risking their lives to find him and the others. Mia’s aggravation quickly bubbled to the surface.
“I didn’t ask for this,” she said much louder than she’d intended to. The outburst caught the attention of the onlookers. All eyes turned toward her. “Sorry.” She waited for the others to go back to their conversation before continuing. “I don’t have an answer. Asher still believes we can get the power on and now that we can get down to the generators, we have to give him a chance.”
“I’m not asking you to do this alone,” Sara said. “Remember, we’ve only opened up a way into the hive. That doesn’t mean we’ll be able to get down to the generators.”
“We have to try, don’t we?”
“Yes, of course,” Sara said. “We have to be smart about it.”
A slow breath calmed Mia’s flaring emotions. The clarity pointed her mind back in the direction she’d originally settled on. The choices ahead of them were not mutually exclusive.
“We should send out an advance group to Cheyenne, something small enough to not draw a lot of attention, but big enough to protect themselves,” she reasoned. “And we’ll gather the engineers and ask them to start planning a way to get the power back on while we send a well-armed group down into hive five to find a safe way to reach the generators.”
Sara rubbed her arm again.
“You see,” she said, “this is why so many turn to you.”
“You could have come up with the same plan,” Mia countered.
“But I didn’t,” Sara said then looked out at the horizon. “Let’s go and gather the council. We’ll have everything in motion before Rowan and Asher return with the children.”
The thought brought a smile to Mia’s face. They turned to leave when something on the wind caught her attention. A faint sound broke away from the surrounding noise and Sara’s sudden pause told Mia she’d heard it too. One of the others was the first to acknowledge it.
“Did you hear that?”
Mia and Sara spun around, letting go of one another. Mia took two steps and stopped directly on the edge of the gorge. She paid little attention to the dizzying drop. The sound came again, and this time, Mia identified it at once, she mouthed the word before repeating it.
“Help.”
♦
“Help.”
The sudden burst of sound sent a chill down Rowan’s spine. It took him a moment to realize that he recognized the voice. Fear drove him to shimmy forward as fast as he could, ignoring the pain of the debris scratching his sides. He nearly reached the opening on the other side of the mound when he dis
covered the figure rushing toward him was being followed.
Rowan spit out of the hole and fell several feet. He managed to flip over and take the impact with the ground on his back instead of his head. He rolled up onto his feet and pulled his gun in one quick motion. The distant light revealed at least three more figures chasing after the first.
“Rowan!”
Bree’s terrified call reached him the moment he stood up. He recognized Bale’s wider physique directly behind her. The erratic twitching limbs of their pursuers gave them away at once. There was little time to consider options. Rowan yelled back at the burrow to Asher.
“Get over here.”
Asher was already in the hole and working his way across. It was obvious that he wouldn’t reach the other side in time to be of any use. Rowan had half a mind to tell him to go back. He might be able to get the kids up and in the hole before the infected got a hold of them. Another look at the procession rushing toward him confirmed that he was out of options.
Asher was yelling something at him, but Rowan didn’t have time to process it. He slipped his knife out with his free hand as Bree came into perfect view. Her panic-stricken face rushed by and he felt her slide in behind him. Bale’s expression wasn’t any calmer, but the boy spun around at Rowan’s side and prepared to fight.
The pair of infected came at once, slamming into one another as they shifted their profane focus to Rowan at the last moment. Rowan waited until he could see the golden hue in their eyes before he pulled the trigger. Two shots echoed through the hall. The first round struck a man in the cheek, blowing out the side of his face. The second shot caught him in the center of the forehead and the impact flung his head backwards, sending his body to the ground.
Rowan had enough time to lift his knife before the second infected man slammed into him. The tip of the knife pierced the man’s skin below the sternum and the force of the collision buried the blade up to the hilt. The infected man’s momentum carried him into Rowan with a ferocious blow. Rowan hit the pile of rocks behind him and the two flipped over one another as they fell to the ground. The crash knocked Bree out of the way.
Rowan’s arms were pinned underneath his foe. He jabbed his blade as best he could as the man clawed at his face and tried to position himself for a bite. Bale stood over them and his hands wrapped around the man’s throat was the only thing keeping him from wrenching a chunk out of Rowan’s face.
A yell from Bree pierced the sounds of the chaos and the shock caused everyone, including the infected man to pause. Rowan and Bale quickly regained their senses, but the infected man never moved again. Bale pulled him back and Rowan took in the view of Bree standing beside them, her knife buried deep into the back of the infected man’s head. Bale extended his hand and Rowan took it. He got to his feet as Asher slipped out of the hole behind them.
“Where’s Jonah and Tate?” Rowan asked. He had to grab Bree to get her to look at him. “Where’s Jonah and Tate?” he repeated.
“We lost them,” she said.
“We got separated,” Bale explained. “There’s people down there.”
Asher joined them and they closed in on one another. Something caught Rowan’s eye from the far end of the passage. The faint morning light revealed the outline of a man, standing still as a statue. Rowan focused on him, but the distance was too great. The man held still for a heartbeat longer then slipped out of view.
“Did you see–?” Rowan stopped when realized no one else was looking.
“What people?” Asher cut in, centering on Bree. “Our people?”
She shook her head.
“They were looking for something.”
“It looked like they came in through an underground tunnel,” Bale added.
The description jogged Rowan’s memory.
“Was the room filled with cages?”
Both Bree and Bale’s brows wrinkled at the sound of the question.
“Yes,” Bree confirmed. “You’ve been there?”
Rowan nodded his head slowly.
“I don’t know how the hell to get there from here,” he said. “Do you think you could find your way–?”
Bale blurted out his response before Rowan finished the question.
“They brought the dead with them.”
Rowan let the news sink in. He wasn’t certain on the best way forward. Part of him thought he should send Bree and Bale back with Asher the way they came then go on by himself. He knew there was a good chance that the dead they’d encountered on the floor above were still lurking in the halls. There was no way to tell how many more would join the shambling mass. He settled his mind on the other available option.
“You lead the way.”
Bree nodded and her expression hardened as if mentally confirming her courage to herself. Bale stepped over the dead bodies and went after her. Rowan had to sprint to catch up. He peeked back at Asher.
“You take up the rear,” he said “We don’t want anything getting in behind us.”
Bree moved quickly, turning off the main passage before they reached the source of the light. Selections of the walls lay in ruin at every turn. Some places were easy enough to step over, but others were as difficult to pass as the debris Rowan and Asher were forced to crawl through. They didn’t use the elevator shaft or even a set of stairs on their descent, instead crawling down through gaps in the floor.
Bree paused at every turn, before sprinting off in a new direction. The familiar moans of the dead were a constant background noise. Rowan held them up at an entrance leading to a wide corridor. An opening in the wall midway down the passage was oddly familiar. Rowan settled his sights on the top of a wide set of stairs and a sudden recognition filled in the memory.
“This is where I found Mia.”
“When?” Asher whispered.
“During our escape,” he said. “Garret was with me and we came from down there.” He pointed at the stairs. “Mia and Jonah were leading the tribes in a fight with the compound’s soldiers in the storage area on the other side of this blockage.” He motioned at the blocked entrance across from the stairs.
“Who’s Garret?” Bale asked.
“He was a part of the Cheyenne Tribe,” Rowan said. “He helped me find Jonah and Mia.”
“What happened to him?” Bree asked.
Rowan shook his head.
“He didn’t make it out of here.”
The answer was enough to quell the curiosity. Rowan motioned at the stairs again.
“Is that where you two came from?” Bree nodded. “And the room with the cages, it’s at the end of the hallway at the bottom of the stairs?” She nodded again.
Rowan knew the place all too well. It was the last time he saw Dr. Olric and the undead boy they called the nexus. If there were people still loyal to Canaan’s former commission, Rowan was pretty sure he knew what they were looking for. The nexus was a prize like no other. Dr. Olric and his people believed that the undead boy was the key to finding a cure for the infection. The real problem for Rowan was that there was no other way out of the passage at the bottom of the stairs.
“Let’s take a look.”
The sound of the dead grew with every step, echoing up the stairs from the floor below. A putrid odor greeted them in a burst that nearly knocked them over. Rowan slowed, coming to a stop mid-way between the floors. The death groans washed over the living in a constant wave. Rowan knew what they would have to do in order to get into the room at the end of the passage, but it took several moments to set his mind to it and face the others.
“We’re going to have to draw them out.”
10
“And then what?”
Walker’s question brought the ongoing debate to a halt. Hive three’s representative had a way of injecting himself into a conversation at the perfect time. Mia felt his approach was too calculated to be sincere. He always waited until he had the upper hand.
“Once we scout out the safest way into Cheyenne,” he continued, “a
nd we ensure the gardens can be fortified, then what?”
The question had already been raised a number of times, but something about his insistence made it feel like he was smarter than everyone else. The full tribal council had gathered early. The gossip of Rowan and Asher’s descent put everyone in a frenzy. The weight of it pressed down on Mia enough to make the simplest tasks feel impossible.
The scream for help echoing up out of the gorge shook her to the core. The gunshots that trailed the screams made it even worse. Neither of the sounds affected her as much as the silence that followed. Sara stood by her, looking over the side of the gorge as the sun rose in the sky. The men and women providing overwatch for the site had to persuade her they would come find her if anything changed before she would report back to the tribal council.
Mia kept one eye on the conference room entrance at all times. The entire situation was emotionally draining. She’d had little sleep over the past few days and exhaustion was tugging at the edges of her mind. She wasn’t sure how she was going to keep it all up for much longer.
“We don’t need to leave.”
Walker’s assertion pertained to the people of the safe sector in hive three. Their standalone power provided them ample protection. They could close themselves off permanently. The horde of undead and their infected leaders could wipe out everyone else. The constant reminder annoyed Mia, today more so than ever before. She wasn’t certain if it was the exhaustion setting in, but she decided it was time to get something off her chest.
“And then what?”
Her contemptuous query was enough to wipe the self-assured grin off Walker’s face.
“Pardon me?” he asked.
Mia stood up from her chair.
“You lock yourselves away,” she said, “and the dead feast on all of us until they’re fat and happy.” Mia felt Sara tap on her leg, but she was too far out there to pull back now. “Will your food last forever?” She continued before Walker could come up with a response. “Will your power last forever?”
The Decaying World Saga (Book 2): Season of Decay Page 8