“You ever seen anything like this?” he asked Anna.
“Yes.” Anna looked at him directly. “The primary hive. Deep in the primary hive.”
Julia stepped into the chamber, her face lit by the blue light of the Sweeper. “It’s not the route we planned, but the direction of this passage leads to the Chittrix signature.” Awe infused her voice as she peered at the organic layers surrounding them. On the ceiling, more rust-colored anemone-like plants burst like ruptured veins between the scales.
Sawyer heaved a heavy sigh. “Guess we don’t have much choice then.”
Hardy appeared, squinting into the dripping gloom.
“Scutters are agitating.” He took a step, the light from his pulse rifle scouring the scaled construction. “This the way forward?”
Sawyer directed his headlamp beam into the bowels of the tunnel where darkness absorbed the meager light. “Apparently.”
This tunnel was much smaller, enough to let a seven or eight-foot Chittrix move through the gap, but with walls narrow enough Sawyer could touch them with both hands simultaneously. He swallowed the rise of claustrophobia in his throat.
Vibrations rose under his feet, powering through the ever-present water. It was only a ticking hum, but there nonetheless. “Do you feel that?” he whispered.
Julia’s voice was hushed. “We must be close.”
Shadows grazed the periphery of his perception and he swung his rifle up and fired, realizing too late it was only rats, the pulse rifle burning their bodies into oblivion. The blast of the laser was unnaturally loud in the enclosed space, echoing painfully in his ears.
As the aftershock eased, Julia stumbled against him, gasping in big, hitching breaths. One hand abandoned the Sweeper, and she faltered against the wall, grabbing it for support.
Sawyer stepped closer, catching the tops of her arms in a firm grip. Her scent filled his brain, obliterating the funk of the sewer for a blessed moment. He bent low, whispering directly into the warm shell of her ear. “Slow down. It’s just a panic attack.”
She nodded, sucking air in through her nose.
“I know. Sorry,” she rasped. “Rats. Enclosed spaces. Water.” Her face was bloodless and tight. Shit.
Sawyer raised his head to speak to Hardy, but the words stuck in his throat as three Scutters raced through the broken tunnel entrance. They bolted along the scaly walls, armored claws vibrating in excited spasms.
“Scutters!” Bailey shouted from the rear as the aliens rushed excitedly for the small group. Julia pivoted and grabbing her SIG from its holster she discharged a full round into the scaled wall. Bailey followed suit with his pulse rifle, scorching the glossy bodies. The chitinous skeletons cracked and ruptured under the laser blast, knocking the flailing Scutters into the water in a boiling, hissing rattle.
Julia recoiled and lurched backward, colliding with Sawyer.
Damn. The Scutters were in the water, and he had no idea if they were dead or not. He fired his own pulse rifle downwards in short, controlled bursts then grabbed Julia by the arm, hustling through her resistance and dragging her further into the tunnel.
“Run,” he screamed, pushing her past where the aliens lurked in the muddy, sucking filth. Julia charged forward, holding the Sweeper aloft, shafts of light jumping as she bolted. Anna followed, Hardy covering her back, sweeping for more aliens as he retreated.
The wall was bulging and fragmenting where Julia had directed the SIG. Scales shattered from it, cascading towards the water in a splintering racket.
Sawyer’s pulse thrashed in his ears. Wall’s going to cave in.
Hardy saw it too, catching Anna’s elbow and swooping her backward off her feet, away from the disintegrating walls.
“Get out of the water!” Sawyer boosted himself onto a small ledge opposite the layered encrustations then shot out a hand to Julia and yanked with all his strength, wrenching her up in a violent tug. Her fingers gripped his forearm, and then she tumbled onto him, the Sweeper smashing painfully between their bodies. Sawyer kicked and rolled, covering Julia’s body with his own, his arms curved protectively around her head.
An ear-splitting roar blasted through the cramped space, shuddering through Sawyer’s bones. He tried not to inhale as organic matter and black soot clogged the air and spattered his back, obliterating everything. He waited, counting three complete rotations of the illuminated hands of his watch. The ticking motion kept him grounded while his heart tried to bust its way out his chest. Cramping in his ribs eased as the seconds marched on. When he could finally see the other side of the tunnel again, he released his grip and slid off Julia.
For a moment she didn’t move. Then she tilted her head in his direction, the whites of her eyes in stark contrast to her dirty face.
He nodded, gesturing for her to get up. “It’s okay now.” He sat up, wiping debris from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
As the air settled around them, there was no sign of Hardy, Anna, or Bailey. Sawyer pressed the transmission unit in his ear, but it didn’t even crackle with static. Sliding into the water, he retraced their steps to a mountain of bricks and rubble that extended to the ceiling.
The entrance was sealed off.
They were completely alone.
35
Julia stood on wobbling legs. Sawyer held out his hand to help her off the ledge, but she insisted on lowering herself under her own steam. She checked the Sweeper, running her hands over the mechanism. It was undamaged. She breathed a slow sigh of relief, looped the safety strap around her neck, and hung the weapon behind her, leaving her hands free. Air twisted slowly around her like treacle. The world was muted, the volume shunted to low. Only her own breathing was loud in her ears.
She scanned the tunnel space. What were they going to do now? Their exit was blocked by a mass of rubble, piled thick from the water to the roof. Dust swam in the tinted beam of her headlight. She rubbed her eyes with aching knuckles. There was no alternative but to go forward.
She turned. Her flashlight didn’t even begin to penetrate the darkness in the opposite direction. The tunnel continued, stretching out of sight in an ever-narrowing curve.
To the nest.
Sawyer waded to her side. “Fantastic.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
Julia rounded on him, anger pricking her skin. “What do you mean?”
Sawyer flexed his shoulders. He pointed at the rubble behind them. “You fired into the wall, triggering the collapse of the entrance.”
“There were Scutters on that wall heading right for us.”
“A different—” he paused, searching for the correct word. “A different marksman might have chosen to hit them from the side, avoiding hitting the wall of a tunnel in an enclosed, underground situation.”
Goddamit. Her vision greyed as her pulse hammered in her ears. “If I hadn’t shot them, we might be dead,” she retaliated.
Sawyer shifted, avoiding eye contact. It was too late. She saw the skepticism painted on his face.
Julia’s teeth clamped tight as her hand cracked against his jaw, the slap resounding through the stuffy atmosphere. Her palm stung instantly, and Sawyer jerked back in surprise. He grabbed her forearm, restraining her. His fingers squeezed her flesh, while his other hand dabbed the red mark on his face.
“I did what I thought was best.” She fought against his grasp, but he held her fast.
His eyes narrowed. “Well, maybe now you know what it’s like to be on the other side of the coin.”
She struggled harder, but he tightened his hold and yanked her closer, bumping her up against his unyielding body. She hit his chest with her free hand, pounding his arm in a futile attack.
“What the fuck does that mean?” she snarled, her nose only inches from his.
“Me, Julia. Me. I’ve always done what I thought was best. It’s what I did with Beth, and it’s what I did with you. I tried to tell you how I felt. I tried to tell you.”
She rammed the heel of her hand
into his abdomen, anything to try and dislodge him but she may as well have been hitting rock. “You didn’t tell me the whole truth,” she screamed, her lips peeling back from her teeth. She wanted to scratch his eyes out. How could he have done this to her? “Darr told me about Beth. Darr, not you.”
He flinched, releasing her hand, but she stayed where she was, her feet splayed wide on the tunnel floor.
“I know.” The tension in his face loosened. “I’m sorry. I thought you would hate me.”
“Why would I hate you? It was before we even met. Do you really think so little of me?”
His gaze snapped back to her and his tone was clipped. “Of course not.”
“Well why then? Why not be honest with me, damn you.” She tapped her chest, losing the battle against the thickness closing over her throat. She spread her arms wide. “I don’t expect you to be perfect but I thought we at least had honesty. It really hurt that I had to find out from Darr of all people. I can deal with what you did or didn’t do in the past but I want to hear it from you.”
Julia tried to run her hands through her hair but her stupid helmet was in the way. She fumbled with the strap and hurled it onto the ledge where it rolled with a clatter. She pushed her hair out her face, anything to occupy her hands.
His voice dropped to a wounded whisper. “Beth never forgave me, and I thought you wouldn’t either. I was wrong. I thought I could keep everything separate, but it didn’t work out like that. It all became one giant mess.” His face was so close the bands of gold in his hazel eyes shone with pain. He took her hands, turning the palms upwards. “I just couldn’t say the words. I wanted you to see the man I am now, not who I was.”
She stroked his cheek, the weighted feeling in her chest shifting. He hadn’t set out to deceive her. “Sawyer, I’d never think any less of you and I do see who you are. You’re a good man.”
He closed his eyes, dipping his head into the softness of her palm.
“I’m just as bad,” she muttered, fiddling with the collar of his armor. “I’m the one who said we should break up. Everything has been so hard lately, and I thought if I shut you out, it would be easier.” She laughed softly. “Well, you know the rest. I’m the idiot.” She stepped backward, her cheeks flushing from her admission, but he grabbed her hand, preventing her from going any further.
“It is hard,” he said.
“What’s hard?”
He looked straight at her. “When you love someone.”
She tried to draw in a breath, but her lungs weren’t working properly.
Their eyes met, and she grabbed his neck, dragging him close. She kissed him hard, her mouth devouring his. He responded instantly, kissing her back with a fevered urgency that sent her pulse skyrocketing and liquid heat between her legs. It had only been a matter of hours, but she felt like she hadn’t been in his arms for eternity.
His hands cupped her cheeks, sweeping the hair from her face. She drank the taste of him in, breathing in his scent of sweat and gun oil. Finally, he broke the kiss, resting his forehead on hers, her face still in his hands.
Her heart drummed against her ribs, so loud she was sure he must be able to hear it. He kissed her again, gently this time.
“I love you, Julia.” His eyes searched hers, full of expectant hope. One second became two and when she didn’t answer, he started to pull away.
She tightened her grip on the back of his neck, her other palm flat against the small of his back, oblivious to the Sweeper digging uncomfortably into the base of her spine. She whispered against his cheek. “Don’t. I’m just scared.”
He leaned into her and kissed her eyelids, one after the other. Then he raised his head and looked her straight in the eye. “You don’t have to be afraid. We’ll work it out together.”
He was right. She controlled everything in her life, and she’d tried to do the same crazy thing with him, making a complete mess of it. Not knowing where this was going scared the living daylights out of her. But the alternative—being without him—was scarier.
“There’s just one thing you need to know.”
She tilted her head. “What’s that?”
“If you say yes now, I’m never letting you go.”
“Yes,” she replied, without hesitation.
36
Sawyer secured the straps of Julia’s helmet under her chin and pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes were wide and her breathing shallow.
“I’ve got your back. We’re going to be fine. Just do as I say.”
She nudged him in the ribs. “Right.” But the glimmer of a smile touched her lips. She straightened her back. “I’m good.”
He checked their weapons and supplies before they continued down the rapidly narrowing tunnel. They had two packs filled with undamaged explosives. They could still do this.
Sawyer took the lead, Julia bumping on his heels but he didn’t mind. He wanted her close, where he could protect her. Claustrophobia pressed against his mind as the ceiling loomed lower and lower. Eventually, he had to bend to keep moving.
“Holy shit.” The tunnel extended forever, a relentless midnight shaft broken only by their labored breathing. The water level dropped until it was only sloshing against the soles of his boots, leaving the wet fabric of his trousers chafing his legs.
He stopped and listened, slowing his breath, one hand stretched behind him to stop Julia without words. The murmur of water was loud, but his ears had detected something else. The hairs on his forearms prickled, and he had the inexplicable sense of being observed.
“What?” she asked.
“Thought I heard something.” His headlamp beam swept over curved, swooping alien scales.
Sawyer cocked his head. He could feel it and hear it. He wasn’t sure, but it was there, the maleficent hum from earlier. Swallowing his distaste, he flattened his hand on the side of the tunnel, wanting to be wrong, but also needing to be sure. With his palm flat, it was even more obvious, a thrumming through the flesh of his hand. He turned to see Julia doing the same.
She glanced up at him and smiled, but there was a sheen of perspiration on her brow and tight tension hunching her shoulders. She licked her lips and murmured, “Nearly there.”
The tunnel widened and he was able to inch forward, Julia at his side, the Sweeper held in front of her like a protective talisman. Bright dots indicated the presence of the Chittrix, dominating more than three-quarters of the Sweeper’s monitor.
Julia inclined her head in the direction of the screen. “It’s big. They must have excavated tons of earth.” She shook her head, agitated. “I have no idea how we haven’t spotted the earth removal.”
“Maybe they dumped it in the river?” Sawyer crept forward, light from his pulse rifle dancing. He followed the beam with slow, cautious movements. Under his feet, the ground began to angle downward, subtly at first, and then his thighs were resisting the slope, straining to keep him upright. The angle urged them on as the ceiling slanted increasingly lower, forcing Sawyer to walk with his head flexed forward. His neck muscles were aching almost as much as his protesting thighs.
“Distance?”
“Less than fifty feet,” Julia answered, her own head only a few inches from the tunnel roof.
Encrustation surrounded Sawyer from all angles, permeating his pores with alien molecules. Was there ever a time before the Chittrix? It was becoming difficult to remember.
“We’ll start planting charges here and work our way forward, as close to the nest as we can get.” He rolled his backpack from his shoulders, dropped to his knees, and unpacked the top layers of TNT.
Julia hovered close by, scanning with the Sweeper as he worked quickly. He prepared the charges for detonation as Foster had shown him, before jamming them in crevices and splits in the wall.
“Sawyer, how are we getting out?” Julia asked in a small voice.
He hesitated, his hands resting on a charge as he gathered his thoughts. “Forward. If we can’t go back, we go straight thro
ugh.” He stretched and stood, ignoring his throbbing knees and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He buried his face in her soft neck. “We can do this.” She slid her hand on top of his and locked their fingers together.
The warmth of her hands focused his mind. On the fight. On protecting Julia. He knew then he was willing to sacrifice everything to make sure she survived. He released her and shot her a reassuring smile as he shouldered his pack and moved off again, deeper into the tunnel.
They continued to descend, gradually losing any sense of where they were spatially. Sawyer was completely disorientated beyond the fact that the Chittrix nest was now in their direct path, and it took him by surprise when the passageway widened into an open space. Cool air bathed his face, surprising his yammering heart. He dipped low, sliding in behind peppery-colored granite rocks, chilled sweat pooling in the small of his back.
The path they had been following fell steeply down a sheer cliff of rubble, tumbling down to a vast underwater cavern. Above, the rock curved into a vaulted ceiling of dizzying proportions, tapering to a point sixty feet above Sawyer’s head, red brick still visible in places. Shards of light splintered through hairline openings from the world above, highlighting soft winks of granite and quartz scattered through the gloom.
Julia scooted up beside him as he did a mental reconnaissance of the area.
“This cavern looks like a mix of man-made and Chittrix.”
“Just like Darr said.” Julia whispered. “Maybe he’s not all bad.”
Below them, a large underground lake extended from one side of the cavern to the other, circled by a narrow ledge of rock. A sleek Chittrix carved across the water like an alien whale, waves curling from its sides as it plunged effortlessly under the water in a hushed dive.
Sawyer wiped clammy hands on his thighs, hairs lifting on the nape of his neck. He concentrated on the sensations. Fear would keep them both alive.
Julia pointed, drawing his attention. On the lower extent of the walls, close to the waterline, Chittrix curled into crevices, their enormous, hooked talons securing them to the rock wall. Their lethal tails hung twitching, constantly swiping through the water. Sawyer was reminded of fish, fanning their eggs to supply them with fresh oxygen. He pulled his weapon sights from his belt and scanned below the ledge. The world wavered in and out of focus, water lapping at the rock wall. Finally, he spotted the top edge of ebony honeycomb, dark shapes shifting behind the faceted structures.
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