My eyes are drawn to the daunting vertical wall on the far side, divided by a magnificent waterfall. I have only seen waterfalls during my internet musings and some of my more pleasant dreams, certainly never before in person. The water forms a stream that continues on through a fissure in the lateral wall, leading out of the chamber. The enclosed surroundings intensify the soothing rumble of the falls. Merrick watches the stunned contortions of our faces with a smug smile.
“Ok Merrick, you win. This is our best find yet,” I admit while giving him a firm push on his shoulder.
I can hardly believe the fortune of finding this area. The excitement makes me want to run around like a schoolboy. Luckily, I am able to restrain my enthusiasm before embarrassing myself. Hadwin does that well enough, so there is no reason to make myself an easier target for him. As we walk through the cavern, my eyes absorb the unique formations we pass. There are mineral deposits that look as if they were bubbling out of the ground, now frozen in mid drip. Other spires have box-like pieces stacked upon each other, reaching impressive heights. On the other side of the cavern, stone flowers and draping mineral leaves protrude from the rocky walls. Even the moist air in here soothes my lungs with each deep breath.
“Let’s rest up a little before we tackle that beast,” I suggest to the others. We find a suitably flat area to relax in. I nearly fall asleep while enjoying the continuous murmur of the falls. Moments like these are both a joy and torture to me. While it is stimulating to have these intricate caverns to explore, doing so is only a temporary reprieve. Escaping the steel cage we live in reminds me of what could have been if the wars never broke out, if mankind had only been able to resist its compulsion for self-destruction that led to the release of The Agent nearly one hundred years ago. In the end, we always have to return to the claustrophobic and drab surroundings consuming our existence in Securus. Even so, we enjoy the moment for what it is, knowing it will not last.
While I relax, Talia remains alert, constantly finding new features in the chamber to grab her curiosity. Sayda and Merrick both spend their time keeping an eye on Hadwin, who seems to be waiting for one of us to fall asleep so he can play a prank on them. Aamon does not speak much, though his dark eyes dart around, inspecting our surroundings. He looks even more uncomfortable in this cavern than he did in the others.
Time moves quickly while we are out here, making it easy to overstay our permit. Thankfully, Leadership is typically not rigid with the curfew as long as we do not disturb others and maintain our daily production. Even so, there are limits to their leniency and we are starting to push it. Especially given Mr. Vaden’s warning during the announcements.
“It’s getting really late guys. Should we climb or save it for next time?” I ask the group.
“I can cover for us,” Talia volunteers. “I’ll tell Leadership you were helping me collect samples. I’m not a good climber, so I’ll hang around here and fill my sample containers until you guys get back.”
When Talia glances at the rock wall, her eyes momentarily widened. If I did not know better, I would think she was afraid of the climb.
“I’ll keep you company,” Aamon quickly interjects. His eagerness to keep her company is not surprising. He has been closely shadowing Talia the entire trip. As soon as he spoke Talia let out a subtle sigh. It appears she was hoping he would join us on the climb. Even so, it is probably best he does not come with us. He does not look to be the most agile climber and would probably be a liability for us to keep him from falling.
“Afraid to get beat by a girl, Aamon?” Sayda quips before turning to the rest of us, not waiting for his answer.
“Okay, let’s make it fast,” I tell the others before raising an eyebrow at Merrick. “Are you up for the challenge?”
“Merrick’s coming in last this time,” Hadwin proclaims.
“We’ll see about that,” Merrick says with a confident smile. He turns to face to wall. “Look over to the left of the falls, there’s a plateau up there we can climb to.”
The plateau he points at is twice as high as we have ever climbed before. Seeing the height if the wall sends a tingling though me. I feel both excitement and apprehension at once. This will be an intimidating climb, but the challenge is too enticing to pass up. We head over to the rock face to study its surface and plan our route to the ledge high above us. Mercifully, the section we plan to climb is not completely vertical. It has a slope along with numerous ledges for us to rest on if needed.
Intent on beating the rest of us to the top, Merrick starts first. I hesitate only long enough to be sure of my path before joining the race. Hadwin may be strong, but climbing is definitely not one of his more accomplished skills. I quickly overtake him and close in on Sayda.
“Don’t look back, I’m coming for you!” I shout to the others.
“Never gonna happen,” mocks Merrick.
I make good progress despite the fatigue starting to burn in my muscles. With only Merrick left to catch, I push harder, concentrating on my hand and footholds while making sure to regulate my breathing. As I get close to Merrick, my concentration is shattered by a sound that instantly halts my movement, and elicits a hallow fear in the pit of my stomach. The distinctive crash of falling rocks comes from the right of me. I turn to look for Sayda, worried she could have been hit by the debris. My glance brings the realization that she was not in the path of the falling rocks, but was the cause of them. She had veered over to a completely vertical section in an attempt to catch back up with us. I see the newly broken rocks on the tip of a ledge that gave way. Sayda has fallen below my line of sight.
“Sayda!” I call out, holding my breath while waiting for her reply. My heart sinks when none comes. I cannot believe we were so reckless to let this happen. I hastily descend toward the ledge, hoping to find her.
“I see her!” shouts Hadwin from the opposite side of the ledge. Luckily, he was not beneath Sayda when the rocks fell. “Hold on, Sayda. We’re coming!”
“Is she hurt?” I ask Hadwin, involuntarily cringing in anticipation of the answer.
“She hit the wall hard. I think the blow knocked her breath out, but she’s hanging on like a little spider monkey!” Hadwin chuckles.
With his words, my fear eases, giving my tiring muscles renewed strength. Hadwin may have an odd sense of humor, but he would never joke if he thought Sayda was in any real danger. I exhale, now understanding why she had not screamed. Sayda only fell a short distance. She had her wind knocked out in the process, robbing her of her voice. I maneuver myself down onto the ledge she dangles beneath, looking past it to find her. She has become stuck in an awkward position, unable to climb up or down. She hangs too far below the ledge for me to pull her up on my own, so I guide Hadwin up and around the other side of the ledge to help me. While Hadwin makes his way up, Merrick finds his way down to the ledge. We all position ourselves and together lift Sayda up onto the ledge.
“Are you okay? Any injuries?” I ask while looking her over. Some minor abrasions and bruising stands out against her fair skin, but she has no signs of any broken bones. I am momentarily taken aback when seeing the slight tremor in her hands from the shock of the near fall. This is the first time I have ever seen Sayda seem fragile.
“I’m alright. Just give me a minute to catch my breath,” she replies gruffly, becoming annoyed by our concerned for her.
“Now that’s the Sayda we know.” Merrick smiles, relieved by her return to form. “You always were a tough one!”
With this unexpected change in events, we lose our enthusiasm for racing up the wall. We are ready to head back down, but Sayda insists we continue on. She already feels embarrassed by her misstep, and turning back would make her feel even worse. So we decide to finish the climb. I call out to Talia and Aamon to let them know we are all okay. They do not respond. Being this close to the falls, the roar of the water drowns out our voices. They are unaware anything has happened at all.
With Sayda safely recovering on the
ledge, Merrick and I turn back to the wall to finish the climb. Hadwin ignores her protest, insisting on waiting with Sayda on the ledge while she continues to recover. Merrick will go first and I will follow. We tell Sayda and Hadwin that after we reach the top we will let them know if it is worth the effort for them to join us. The words are more for her sake, because we have no intention to have them follow us, even if the view is impressive. We do not want Sayda risking a climb with any physical or emotional impairment.
I let Merrick get far enough away so there will not be any danger of falling rocks before following him up the wall. The remaining section feels stable, making the climb easier. Merrick reaches the top of the wall while I am still far from it. He disappears from my view as he walks onto the ledge. When I do reach the summit, somehow it is empty. In the back of the landing is a dark tunnel. Merrick must have gone in there. Before following him, I glance back toward the others. Hadwin and Sayda are resting comfortably on their ledge while Talia and Aamon’s lights move far off in the distance continuing Talia’s ‘research.’
I enter the tunnel and follow the tortuous path, looking for Merrick. Deeper in, the sounds of the waterfall become muffled and eventually go silent. I tilt my head, straining to hear anything besides my own breath. No sign of Merrick appears. Suddenly, the silence is disturbed by another low rumbling. It seems to be coming from all around me. My hand reaches out to the wall, feeling the vibrations pulsing through the rocks. The intensity of the rumble increases. Now the ground beneath me trembles. It is an earthquake. My muscles tense and my eyes search for an escape. These tremors are dangerous even when in the relative safety of Securus, but here in decrepit tunnels, they can rapidly turn lethal.
Above me, large rocks and pointed stalactites threaten to shake loose. I shout for Merrick but he does not respond. The intensity of the earthquake increases, making the ground churn beneath my feet. I need to get out of here. I turn back to the entrance of the tunnel, stumbling from the shaking in the ground. My foot trips on a loose rock, sending me crashing to the floor. As I turn to get up, a spear-like deposit the size of my leg brakes free from the ceiling, falling straight at me. I roll to the side just in time to avoid being gored by the spear as it strikes the ground. Now back on my feet, I run for the exit. After only a few strides, the earthquake stops as abruptly as it begun. I stop running and catch breath while checking the ceiling above me. The tunnel has shed many rocks but the main structure of it appears to be intact. This is the best I could hope for because it gives me a chance to go find Merrick.
“Merrick, are you okay?” I call out, moving deeper into the passage. This time, I hear a muffled reply. After turning the corner in the passage, the reason behind his muted voice is revealed. A complete collapse in the path blocks the way. The wall of rubble is so thick the light from his illuminator barely penetrates it. Luckily, there are a few cracks large enough to see through if I position myself close enough to get a proper vantage point.
“Did any rocks hit you?” I ask, pressing my head against a small portal.
“No, I’m okay, just trapped,” he replies. “I’m gonna look around and see if there’s another way out.”
I survey the structure of the collapse, hoping to find a way to break through. The rubble is too solid and the individual rocks are too large. Even if Hadwin were here to help, we would not be able to move the debris. Hoping he has found another passage, I again peer through the small portal to check his progress.
The scene on the other side of the wall instantly freezes me in place. Merrick stands with his hands raised in the air. He looks to be in a surrendering pose while his eyes are fixed on something beyond my field of vision. Beads of sweat gather on his dark skin, dripping down from his forehead. Something is making him nervous, but he remains motionless. His agitation spreads to me, sending shivers down my spine. Why is he standing like that? I ask myself before realizing an external light shines on him. He is not alone.
I immediately turn off my illuminator so it will not give me away. Carefully, I shift to another crack in the rubble. I nearly jump from the shock of seeing two dark figures standing before Merrick, with frightening assault rifles trained on him. It’s the shadow-men. They’re real! The terrifying realization stuns me. More questions race through my mind. Where did they come from? Who are they?
The two shadow- men wear pitch black uniforms with a rigid form that looks to be armored plating. Their faces are concealed behind helmets connected to tinted visors and a filtered breathing apparatus. The glare from the light they have pointed on Merrick makes it difficult to see more detail on the soldiers. I do manage to see a brief reflection from something on one of their breast plates. It looks like an insignia made of an eight pointed sun. The symbol is not the one used by our Leadership, but the similarity is disturbing.
The shadow-men appear to be soldiers. They are nothing like the people from Securus, but how could that be? No one else is left. Everyone else died many years ago when The Agent was released and spread across the surface of the planet. Ours was the only underground facility operational in time to escape the deadly biological weapon.
Behind these menacing figures, where there had only been the darkness of the tunnel before, a glow of light reveals a distinctly man-made tunnel. The view of the tunnel is limited, obscuring most of the details except for the metallic shine of railway tracks on the floor.
“Who else is here?” demands the shadowy figure to the left in a low growling voice.
“It was just me and a friend, but he already left to get help. The earthquake blocked the tunnel, so we thought I was trapped.” Merrick keeps his voice low and steady as he slowly backs away from the men. Despite his fear and confusion, he is trying to keep the rest of us safe.
The figures position themselves so he cannot pass, giving him nowhere to go but back against the rocks behind him. My mind races, desperately searching for anything to help Merrick. Without warning, an intense flash of light erupts from the barrel of the gun on the right. Almost no sound comes from the weapon. I watch in horror as Merrick collapses to the ground. I nearly yell out as it happens, feeling the burn in my chest as if I was the one shot. Even from my position behind the rubble, I see the blast through his ribs and instantly know the injury is fatal. We have nothing in Securus capable of repairing the damage.
My body remains anchored in place while I struggle against the desperate urge to break through the wall in the vain hope of comforting Merrick in his last moments. Only, deep down, I know he is already gone. My entire body trembles from the overwhelming rage and sorrow threatening to consume me. I am an instant away from losing reason and giving in to panic. The only thing that stops me is the faces of the others flashing through my mind. I need to stay calm to get them out of here alive. If these soldiers killed Merrick so callously, there is no doubt they would do the same to the rest of us. I need to save the rest of my friends.
I tear myself away from the sight of my fallen friend and silently maneuver out of the tunnel. Fear and anger cloud my thoughts so much, I do not even realize my body is descending the rock wall until I make it halfway down. Only then does the presence of Sayda and Hadwin coax me back to reality.
“Where’s Merrick? Is he okay?” Sayda asks warily while rising to her feet.
“He went into a passage behind the top ledge. There was a cave-in during the earthquake.” I pause before telling the rest. If I do, they will heedlessly rush to Merrick, only to share his fate. I cannot tell them the truth. Withholding it is the only way to get them to safety.
“He’s walled in. I tried to get to him, but it’s impossible. I couldn’t even hear him through the rocks. We need to go get help now.” The words are like poison in my mouth. I hate the deception but have no better option. Only when they are safe can I divulge the terrible secret that already eats away at me from the inside.
“One of us should wait in the passage with him,” Hadwin insists, not wanting to abandon our friend.
“Tha
t tunnel is not safe,” I tell him, straining to keep my voice from trembling.
This at least is true. I think they sense my desperation and decide to trust my judgment despite their hesitation in leaving Merrick in there alone. We descend the rest of the wall and rush over to where Talia and Aamon wait for us. I repeat my putrid tale of what happened and reiterate the need to get others to help rescue Merrick.
The group remains silent as we run through the tunnels as quickly as we can. Even though Talia does not know Merrick well, she is obviously just as concerned as the others are for him. Aamon, on the other hand, has stopped shadowing Talia. Every time the terrain slows us, he seems to be more interested in watching my reactions as he repeatedly asks me about what happened. I ignore his questions and the suspicious stare he gives me, focusing on getting everyone back to safety.
We cross one more collapsed passage, blocking our return. Thankfully, the rubble of this second collapse is much smaller than the first. We are able to quickly clear a path wide enough to pass and continue back to Securus.
As soon as we reach the initial chamber of The Caves, we rush over to the Leadership Guard. I mentally compare his uniform to that of the soldiers’, but there is no similarity between them. This Guard wears the same basic uniform as those in Leadership. The crimson trim lining his uniform indicates his occupation as an armed member of the Leadership Guard. He has no armor and his helmet does nothing to hide his face like the soldiers’ helmets do. The small pistol protruding from the holster on his right hip seems laughable when compared to the terrifying weaponry the soldiers carried. Even the bright insignia on the Guard’s chest looks different. I must have been mistaken about the symbol on the soldiers’ uniforms. They couldn’t have been part of Leadership, could they? I ask myself, searching in vain for another explanation.
The Death Detail (The Securus Trilogy Book 1) Page 3