by Lisa Lace
“Tie their hands but leave their feet free. We’re taking them with us.” Wrath shifted his gaze before Rachel could catch his eye.
Green Squad had been trained to work fast. Every scrap of edible food and all weapons were quickly gathered from the cave and packed for carrying. The hostages watched helplessly as the evidence of the cyborgs began to disappear. When the military contingent arrived, they would know that someone had been in the location, but they wouldn’t be able to tell if they were cyborgs or not.
The cyborgs fell into a defensible formation, herding the hostages into the middle of the arrangement so they could protect them from all sides. When Wrath believed everything was ready, he summoned the cyborgs on guard duty back into the cave and inspected his men from the front.
It had been a long time since he had ordered Green Squad to explore the tunnels. The first pair that stepped into the murky darkness at the back of the structure was gone for days, making wrong turns and recording the routes to different caverns. When they finally returned, they had mapped out the entire cave system and stored it in their memory banks. Due to the biochip malfunction affecting shared files, they had been unable to distribute the information to the rest of the squad. Instead, the two explorers had taken groups of soldiers through the tunnels until the paths were firmly imprinted in everyone’s brains. Wrath had believed the passageways would be useful but hadn’t wanted to use them unless it became imperative.
Today they needed to use them.
Wrath stood at the head of the double row of soldiers and descended into the rocky depths.
Chapter Fourteen
Rachel had never been fond of being underground. As soon as she saw the thick stone roof of the cave, she had felt uneasy and imagined it crashing down on her. Burrowing down into some tunnels to escape a swiftly approaching military force was going to be worse.
Of course, the cyborgs didn’t care about the feelings of their weak human counterparts. The soldiers weren’t interested in either comfort or luxury. They slept on the floor of the cave, ate their food raw, and were immune to both heat and cold. Even the darkness in the rock passageways didn’t bother them. They marched forward as though they were on flat ground in broad daylight.
It wasn’t as easy for Rachel as it was for the cyborgs. She knew she was directly behind Clayton and in front of Weapon, but she didn’t know anything else. The small amount of starlight that lit the cave disappeared as soon as they descended into the mountain. Rachel kept her bound hands out in front of her as she felt around tentatively with her feet. She took exaggerated steps, lifting her front foot high and setting it down carefully. She wanted to make sure the ground was steady before she put her weight on it. Her imagination ran wild with the kinds of things they might run into here: vast caverns, deep rivers of water, or drop-offs without a bottom.
“Oof! I’m sorry!” She had run into Clayton, her hands smashing into the center of his back. He stumbled forward but didn’t fall. Rachel expected the cyborgs behind her to trip as well and create a pileup in the tunnel, but they didn’t miss a step. Somehow they were able to see when she couldn’t.
“I thought you had to have a little light for night vision to work,” she muttered grumpily, wishing she had military goggles or enhanced vision like Green Squad.
The cyborgs behind her didn’t say anything, but Clayton did. “It doesn’t take much light, but yes, you’re right. These units can access electromagnetic waves that we can’t see, though. Even if the area is pitch-black for us, the cyborgs will find a way to see what they’re doing.”
“You would think they would have given us a flashlight or something.” Rachel’s right foot slipped on a round rock on the floor of the tunnel, and she fell, landing on one knee. Weapon reached out his hand, grabbed her by the armpit, and hauled her to her feet. She didn’t bother to thank him.
“I don’t think cyborgs have concierge service programmed into them. Haven’t you figured out that they don’t care?” Clayton was trying to keep his voice to a quiet whisper, but it echoed through the cramped space. “If it were convenient for them, they would throw us off a cliff and continue on their merry way.”
“Be quiet back there!” called a voice from the front. Rachel didn’t need her eyes to know who it was. She could tell from the tone and content that Wrath was speaking. She shot a dirty look in his vague direction, uncertain if he could see her face through the horde of cyborg bodies standing between them. “We have a long way to go. No one has enough energy to listen to your whining the entire way.”
The tunnel seemed like it would never end. Sometimes the floor tipped up and other times it sloped down. It felt round at the bottom, as though someone had bored into the passageway with a giant drill. The curve made it harder for Rachel to walk because her feet didn’t feel flat on the ground. After a few minutes, she realized she would never be able to find her way back even if she managed to escape and had a light. Fortunately, she happened to be wearing a pair of lightweight hiking boots that were more appropriate than the heels she typically wore on assignments.
Clayton cried out in pain. Rachel had stepped on the back of Clayton’s feet again. Even though she was having a difficult time adjusting to the darkness, it seemed like he was doing worse. Rachel was continually running into him. After nearly twisting her ankle falling onto a small stalagmite, she addressed the vicious cyborg behind her. “Can you untie my hands? I can’t see anything, and I keep tripping.”
“No. You have to deal with it.” Weapon didn’t even take a moment to think about her request. Rachel guessed he would have been happy to drag her along the ground by her hair if she broke her leg and couldn’t walk under her own power any longer.
As they continued their journey, Rachel started having another problem. She began to have trouble breathing. The air seemed thicker down here than on the surface, where the sun removed all the humidity out of the environment. As she struggled to fill her lungs, she began to wonder how much oxygen was available at this depth and how much of it was being used by the beefy cyborgs. Were they leaving enough air for her to breathe, or would she suffocate to death deep below ground level?
The stars dancing in front of her eyes were almost a welcome sight compared to the complete blackness she had come to know too well. Rachel gasped as her lungs burned and her throat tightened in her quest for oxygen.
“What’s the matter with you?” Weapon growled. “Keep going.”
Rachel shook her head, uselessly grabbing at her throat as she bent over at the waist. She wanted to reach inside her body and rip her throat open. “I can’t move. I can’t breathe.”
“You’re fine. Let’s go.”
All the energy was slowly draining from her body. Her muscles relaxed against her will and refused to support her weight. Rachel fell to her knees on the sharp rocks of the tunnel floor. She felt like the shaft had already collapsed and crushed her.
She was vaguely aware of Weapon calling to Wrath and the formation of cyborgs stopping around her. For once, the reporter was grateful that she couldn’t see anything. It spared her from seeing any angry looks. The cloud that was beginning to fog her mind muffled their voices as well.
“She says she can’t breathe. She’s probably faking it. It’s part of their plan.” Rachel knew Weapon was speaking. He hadn’t even bothered to help her back onto her feet.
“Did you check her pulse? Does she have clammy skin? Our medic would know more. Too bad he’s dead.” Rachel could feel Wrath’s rough hands probe her body as he felt her wrist, pulled back her eyelids, and listened to her lungs. Though his skin was coarse, he handled her carefully.
In the darkness, it was easy for Rachel to imagine he was not a cyborg at all. Instead, she envisioned him as Robert, grown into a gentleman. In her delirium, Robert briefly checked her over before lifting her into his arms and carrying her through the cave until they emerged on the surface. There, he told her about his true feelings for her. She would escape with Robert into the deser
t, putting their pasts behind them and living their lives together.
Instead, water splashed over her face, dripping into her nostrils and mouth and making her choke. Wrath let her recuperate for a moment before pulling her upright. “She’s going to be okay. She’s just panicking. Carry her if you have to, but keep moving.”
His hands vanished as he left her and squeezed his way back to the point position. Weapon prodded her impatiently, and she stumbled forward again. It was harder to walk now that she had succumbed to her fear and anxiety. Completely exhausted, Rachel no longer stepped carefully or worried about falling. She didn’t have the energy to do anything other than make forward progress. Even that was proving to be a challenge.
The impatient sounds from the cyborg behind her grew louder each time she paused or fell. Weapon became increasingly violent the more he pulled Rachel to her feet. She felt like a rag doll in his hands, propped up and only able to stay that way for a limited time before her soft insides collapsed on themselves again.
With a grunt of frustration, Weapon grabbed the girl’s elbow and spun her around, forcing her to look at his face. He slung her over his shoulder, leaving her arms and legs dangling as he trudged forward through the tunnel. Unlike the reporter, he had no problem finding his way or keeping stable footing.
Rachel could feel tight muscles through the cyborg’s clothes. He held her in place with a tight grip around her thigh. “You don’t have to do this. I can walk,” Rachel mumbled.
“I’m tired of tripping over you.” His fingers dug into her flesh a little more.
Rachel bit back a yelp, knowing that acknowledging her fear might encourage him. The scarred soldier had even less regard for humans than Wrath. She relaxed her body as much as possible and tried to be grateful for a break.
Chapter Fifteen
Rachel was ecstatic when Wrath finally brought the formation to a halt by announcing, “We’ll stop here.” She had felt like extra baggage while Weapon carried her. The trip had lasted forever and the cyborg had not made the journey pleasant. There had been no attempts to be gentle or polite. Once Rachel had recovered from her panic attack, she began to worry about hitting her head while riding over the shoulder of the scarred cyborg.
Though she appreciated the break, Rachel wished they had already emerged on the other side of the wretched tunnels. She didn’t know precisely where they were, but it couldn’t be anywhere near the surface. Pitch-black darkness surrounded her. She wished she had asked Wrath how long they would be underground, but she wasn’t confident he would have answered her. He had been avoiding her since their last conversation over the rattlesnake meat. Wrath had refused to glance at her.
Without warning, a blinding flash of light illuminated the room. Rachel blinked her eyes rapidly to see that the cyborgs had lit a few torches. The company was in a large rocky cavern with reddish-brown walls. She had never been good at estimating measurements, but she thought there would be enough room for everyone to stretch out and rest.
The small lights Green Squad had activated were sufficient to light up the floor and the walls, but the light wasn’t able to penetrate the cloak of darkness hiding the ceiling. The floor was level here but still rocky. She had imagined they were heading to a grand cyborg throne room. It looked like just another cave, but it was wider than the tunnels.
Wrath pointed to a smaller cavern off to the side. “Put the humans in there.”
Weapon didn’t give Rachel the opportunity to get up and walk into the other room by herself. He snatched her by the waist and carried her to the cavern under his arm. Wire violently pushed on Clayton’s shoulder, forcing him to stumble along. Another cyborg materialized and stood guard at the entrance to the humans’ makeshift prison cell.
Weapon cut through the bindings around their wrists with a large knife and gave them a single light. They were then left alone while the cyborgs prepared food. Rachel wasn’t sure if the meal was breakfast or dinner, but at this point, she didn’t care as long as she ate. The little bit of rattlesnake hadn’t settled well in her stomach, and she was willing to eat anything, even if it was raw.
As she waited, Rachel studied the room. She could see all the way to the ceiling because it was only about eight feet high. The room was round and big enough for both of them to relax without disturbing each other. She was happy to stretch her cramped muscles; Rachel had been bending over or stumbling for a long time.
“I want you to know that I’m sorry for everything,” Clayton whispered as he slowly sank to the cave floor. The purple swelling on the side of his face was starkly visible even in the dim light. “It’s my fault that we’re in this situation.”
Rachel shook her head. The slight motion was enough to make her dizzy after the forced march on no food. She lay down, putting her arms under her head to keep the rocks from digging into her skin. “There was no way you could have known what would happen here.”
She tried to sound generous, but Clayton didn’t deserve forgiveness. Rachel couldn’t deny that she was only here because Clayton had insisted on continuing the mission after the cyborgs obliterated the vans. Then again, she didn’t have to follow him up the hill to the cyborgs’ den. “We still have a chance of making it out of here alive, unlike everyone else.”
The consultant nodded sadly. “I’ve only been with Cyborg Sector for six months and never made an effort to get to know anybody. I thought the assignment was temporary, so there was no point in making lifelong friends. I didn’t realize how short life was. Everyone was kind to me and much nicer than I deserved.”
“Why do you say that?” Rachel had already taken a measure of Clayton and knew he fell below her personal standards, but it felt nice to have an ordinary conversation with another human that didn’t necessarily have a point. She had expended too much energy trying to convince Wrath about their identities. Talking wouldn’t be an effort with Clayton. Rachel lifted her head off her hands and rubbed the sore spots where the rope had chafed her skin.
Clayton tipped his head back against the stone wall as he spoke. “I was there to eliminate their jobs. Everyone knew that. If I saw work being done by two people that could have been done by one, someone got laid off that day. They had every right to hate me. Somehow they managed to accept how things were.”
Rachel shifted on the floor as she tried to get into a more comfortable position before she sat on the ground again. “I heard they got great severance packages,” she volunteered, “and a lot of them ended up working in rehabilitation. Weren’t they all scientists? I’m sure they were logical. They knew things weren’t your fault.”
Clayton nodded but didn’t seem convinced. He stared at the floor, but it looked like his mind was back in Cyborg Sector. “Dr. Green was unbelievable. That man knew things that made me feel like my work was pointless and I had wasted my life with my job. I just went to school and got a degree like everyone else. My big accomplishment was shutting down corporations all over the country. Dr. Green was producing things and trying to solve problems. Wrath was right. I’m completely useless.”
“Don’t say that.” Rachel didn’t feel particularly close to Clayton, but she knew any negative talk would just bring them both down. She wanted to keep alive a secret hope that they would escape from the cyborgs. Clayton’s despair wasn’t going to help either of them. If she saw a chance to flee, she was going to need help. “I’m sure you’ve accomplished plenty in the past. You’ll do more in the future.”
Clayton looked at her curiously, his pale green eyes suddenly back in the present. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re a beautiful woman. You don’t have to do a single thing. Everyone will still praise you. Even so, being a reporter means you get information to people and make sure they know about important things. That’s still helping the public and means you have a legacy to leave behind, unlike me.”
Rachel wasn’t sure if she should take his words as a compliment or an insult, so she decided to change the topic of conversation. “I was nothing li
ke the other reporters. What about Samantha Houston? She was a serious journalist and also practically a celebrity. She had done overseas reporting in hot war zones. I’ve never done anything like that, but I don’t regret it.” She gave Donnie the cameraman a quick thought. He was now nothing more than a piece of meat somewhere in the desert. She should have been nicer to him.
“Samantha was beautiful,” Clayton agreed, “but don’t sell yourself short. You’ve got something that she could never have.” He pushed himself to his knees and crawled over to Rachel’s side of the cave. “She was hot, but a guy could tell that she was cold on the inside. Not like you. You’re warm and inviting. You have a girl-next-door vibe.”
Rachel suddenly became uncomfortable under his gaze and struggled to sit up. She couldn’t have a serious discussion with Clayton with him looking down at her lustfully. But as she braced herself up on her elbows, he reached out and put a hand over her shoulder.
“No, don’t get up. You look great where you are with your hair falling all over the ground. You know, I’ve never been into art, but I can appreciate beauty wherever I see it. We’re both going to die soon, you know. If my end is near, I ought to go out on a high note. What better way than by being with a woman so attractive that a cyborg can’t resist her?” Clayton bent his head forward, moving to kiss her lips.
“Stop!” Clayton’s grip on her shoulder was surprisingly powerful, but Rachel managed to shove him away. “I’m very flattered, I assure you, but I’m not interested.”
Clayton sat up and could barely suppress a sneer on his lip. “Are you kidding me? We’re the last two people around, and I’m not good enough for you? You’d rather go fuck a cyborg? Well, let me tell you something. Those robot men have tiny little dicks. I guarantee it.”
Rachel began to wonder how hard Wrath had hit Clayton. He seemed to be losing his mind. “I’m not interested in any of that with anyone. All I want is to get out of here alive. I’m sure you want the same thing. They’ll bring us food, and we can get some rest. Everything will look different in the morning.” She wondered if it was even nighttime right now. She supposed the time of day was irrelevant. Rachel would get no rest being so close to Clayton.