by Laura Martin
“There,” she said with a satisfied nod. “That should do it.”
“It’s, um, interesting,” Todd said.
Chaz shrugged. “I used to have to do this every time I went in the pterosaurs’ cage. They confused a good head of hair with prey a little too often. Eventually I just cut it,” she said with a gesture at her head. “It simplified things.” I nodded, grateful for her ingenuity. It wasn’t perfect, but it would work.
“Time to go,” I said. “Everything we brought from topside stays in here.” Todd looked about to protest, but must have seen something in my face that made him reconsider. Instead, he grudgingly took his bow off and emptied his pockets. Once Chaz had done the same, we were ready.
“You need to follow my lead out there,” I said. “And it might be best if you didn’t talk at all,” I told Todd. “Our cover will be blown in seconds.”
“Thanks for the confidence,” he grumbled.
“Remember when you made me carry my bow around for an entire day before you taught me to shoot?” I asked. He nodded. “This is a lot like that,” I said. “Compound life is different to topside life.”
“Does Chaz get to talk?” he asked.
“She does,” I said. “Lab life is close enough to compound life that she’ll be OK.” Chaz grinned smugly at Todd, who scowled. “Are we ready?” I asked.
“As we’ll ever be.” Chaz nodded, her grin of moments before nowhere to be seen. I pressed my ear to the door, as I’d seen Ivan do that morning. Hearing nothing, I put my hand on the handle, ignoring the slight tremor of nerves, and pressed down.
“Then here we go,” I said as I opened the door and stepped out into East Compound.
I quickly shut the door behind us. Disembodied voices drifted from either end of the immense tunnel, but no one was in sight.
“Look here,” I said, quickly pointing down at a distinctive scratch in the concrete floor. “Remember that. I almost couldn’t find the door last time.” I gave them a second to look and then turned and walked briskly down the tunnel in the direction of the bathroom Ivan and I had visited that morning. Todd and Chaz hurried to follow me.
“Look like you are going somewhere,” I whispered, flashing a quick smile at a group of men who had come around the curve of the tunnel. “There is very little downtime in a compound,” I went on as soon as they had passed us.
“Got it,” Chaz said. Todd just nodded, his eyes flicking nervously from the dim lights above us to the worn concrete below. The tunnel got busier and busier as we walked. People went about their business, chatting to one another about work schedules and the meal menu for the week. I even heard a few people discussing Ivan’s arrest, and it took everything in me not to stiffen as they gossiped about how the criminal should be punished for attempting to steal. Thankfully, no one’s gazes lingered on us for more than a second. We made it past the bathrooms, and I saw that they still had two marines posted out front, not letting anyone in. A few people grumbled about this, complaining that the next bathroom was over a half mile away. We walked on by. Every nerve in my body buzzed; any second someone could realise that we didn’t belong and sound the alarm. But no one did.
“This is so weird,” Todd said, looking up and down the tunnel. I looked too, on high alert, but nothing was out of place.
“What’s weird?” I asked.
“This!” Todd said, gesturing around himself. “Everyone is walking around unarmed, relaxed.”
Chaz wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “It was like this at the lab too?”
“Sort of,” Todd said. “But not really. For one thing, you had those giant swimming dinosaurs outside the window, and who can relax with those things inches away? Plus, there were still dinosaurs on almost every level. There was a certain degree of awareness, of caution. Everyone down here just seems so … so …” He shrugged helplessly. “It feels like one of my senses has gone dead or something.”
I nodded. He was describing the exact opposite of what I’d experienced going topside for the first time. The world had suddenly contained too many sounds, smells, colours, and tastes. I’d almost forgotten what it was like in the compound: the recirculated scentless air, and the calm feeling of safety.
“It’s why people moved underground in the first place,” I explained. “So they could live without fear.”
“Dumbest idea ever,” Todd muttered. “What this place needs is a good dinosaur infestation.”
I snorted, but before I could reply we came around a corner, and entered what had to be one of the old subway stops where people had been able to get on and off the trains. To our right were stairs leading up to a long narrow platform. The words “Canal Street” were spelled out in chipped yellow and orange tile up and down the tunnel wall. All along the platform, people sat leaning against the thick metal support beams that held up the ceiling, eating from compound-issued grey trays. The familiar smell of roasted potatoes filled the air, and my stomach rumbled. It was breakfast time, I realised, and this must be where people could come to get their meal allotments.
“Any chance we could get something to eat?” Todd whispered in my ear.
I shook my head. “We don’t have the proper meal tickets.”
“Well,” he said, “how do we get those? I’m starving.”
“Just keep walking,” I growled.
“Really?” Todd groaned. It was only then that I noticed that Chaz was no longer near us. I whipped my head around in a panic before I saw her standing underneath the platform, where a long narrow shelf had been built into the wall of concrete. A few people were standing around chatting while they waited for their port to charge in one of the many electrical outlets located in a special strip along the wall. And there was Chaz, standing shoulder to shoulder with them as though she did this every day, turning her head this way and that as she studied the charging ports with interest.
“Chaz,” I hissed, not wanting to draw too much attention to ourselves. She jumped guiltily, turned quickly away from the shelf, and hurried back over to us, her hands jammed in the pockets of her uniform. “Stick with me,” I admonished. “You’re worse than Todd.”
“Hey,” Todd started to protest, but when he saw the look on my face, his jaw snapped shut. The people standing along the charging bar were starting to give us odd looks, so I hurried my friends down the tunnel again. We’d barely made it twenty steps when a high-pitched beeping noise rang out. I froze, glancing around me in terror as I tried to figure out what was happening. Was it some kind of alarm? Had we been spotted?
Up and down the tunnel people were stopping as they each produced a port screen, staring down at it as though waiting for something.
“What is this?” Todd asked. “It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I think it’s a compound-wide announcement,” I whispered under my breath.
“Hey,” Todd said, interrupting my thoughts. “Where did you get that?”
“Get what?” I asked distractedly as I tried to catch a glimpse of what was on the port screen of a woman a few yards to my right.
“Not you; Chaz,” Todd said, pointing to where Chaz stood with, of all things, a port screen in her hands. Peering over her shoulder, I saw the words COMPOUND ANNOUNCEMENT in large bold letters flashing on the screen, along with a small digital timer busily counting down the seconds until the announcement. We had only thirty left to wait.
“It would be really great if you could explain what in the world is going on,” Todd hissed in my ear as he craned his head to see the screen.
“It’s a way to get information out quickly. North did this sometimes if they needed to tell us something before an assembly.” I elbowed Chaz in the ribs. “Where did you get the port?”
“There were a bunch of them charging on that platform we just passed,” she murmured without taking her eyes off the screen. “I swiped one. I thought it might come in handy.”
“You thought right,” I said. Before I could say anything else, the face of the
Noah flashed onto the screen and my blood ran cold. We’d had compound-wide announcements at North Compound before, but never directly from the Noah. Nervous murmurs reverberated up and down the tunnel, letting me know that this wasn’t the norm here either.
“Good morning, citizens of East,” the Noah said, his face serious, pale eyes concerned. “As many of you have heard, an intruder was apprehended and arrested this morning in the southern wing as he attempted to steal from compound residents. I know this alarmed many of you. And while this issue will be more formally addressed in this week’s assembly, I want to make you aware of a few things. The first is that this intruder is a criminal who snuck aboard a shipment of grow lights from North Compound.”
A picture of Ivan flashed on the screen, and I sucked in a breath. He was barely recognizable as the man I’d followed to the compound bathrooms just that morning. Both eyes showcased large purple bruises, and his nose was dripping blood and obviously broken. His white beard had been brutally hacked off, and his shoulder sported a bloody bandage. I wondered for a second why the Noah was claiming Ivan was from North Compound before I remembered that no one in the compounds knew anyone lived topside. Ivan’s image disappeared and the Noah’s face filled the screen again.
“Because of his dangerous nature and the threat to our people, our marines took swift action. They are to be commended for bringing him in so quickly and efficiently.” The Noah cleared his throat and glanced down as though reading something. “While I do not want to alarm you, I do want to make you aware that we have had recent intelligence that this criminal may not have entered our compound alone. There is a strong possibility that three young juveniles accompanied him.”
Todd made a strangled choking noise beside me, and I dug my elbow into his ribs, unable to take my eyes off the port screen.
“These children, also criminals escaped from North Compound, are extremely dangerous and are not to be approached. You cannot believe anything they tell you. If you see them, alert the nearest marine using the emergency locator link on your port screen. I repeat, do not approach them. We are searching our security footage, and our technology specialists assure me that if they are here, we will have images of these juveniles for you within the hour. We believe that they are between the ages of ten and fifteen. One of them, a girl, has red hair. Please be on high alert if you see any children who you don’t immediately recognise.” My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes flashed up to the tunnel, but luckily, the citizens of East Compound were still too engrossed in their port screens to notice that the children in question were standing only a few feet away.
“Our marines are being mobilised as we speak, working to locate these young criminals,” the Noah said. “I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power to keep you safe. Thank you, citizens.”
“We have to run,” Todd whispered, eyes wide as everyone around us looked up from their ports and began muttering worriedly to one another. A man to our left was staring at us suspiciously. A moment later he was walking directly towards us, a wary look on his face.
Before I could stop him, Todd took off, sprinting at full speed back down the tunnel. I cursed under my breath; he’d just blown any chance we had of playing it cool and staying undetected. Chaz and I had no choice but to whirl and follow his retreating form. A few people yelled in surprise, but I didn’t glance back. Any second now, they were going to push the alert button on their ports, signaling our exact location. Our only hope was to reach our hiding spot before that happened. The cool tunnel air pumped in and out of my lungs, and before I realised it, my makeshift turban flew off. I skidded to a stop to retrieve it, but not before an elderly lady spotted me and let out a shriek of alarm. I left the turban behind and tore off after Chaz and Todd, who were now a good ten feet in front of me. We were almost there. But the angry shouts echoing down the tunnel behind us were getting louder and louder. It was going to be close.
I came around one last curve of the tunnel, and spotted the scratch in the floor. Chaz and Todd were nowhere in sight. I hurtled towards the hidden doorway, and it opened two seconds before I was about to throw my shoulder into it. I flew headlong into the now-familiar circular room. Todd shut the door behind me, and Chaz appeared with a broken rung of the ladder that she thrust through the door handle, successfully locking us in.
“Did anyone see you come in here?” Todd panted.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.” Bending over, I propped my hands on wobbly knees as sweat poured off me. A moment later, my question was answered as the sound of heavy boots reverberated in the tunnel outside, followed by loud voices calling out orders. The marines had arrived. We froze, staring at the door. Seconds ticked by, and the sounds outside the door got louder and louder, until, by some miracle, they started to fade. I glanced at Todd and Chaz in disbelief. Was it possible? Were we safe?
Todd flopped down onto the concrete floor. I let my shaky knees give way and sprawled beside him. A soft thump let me know Chaz had taken our lead. We lay there, staring at the ceiling as our breathing slowed from ragged gasps and our thundering heartbeats faded from our ears. We were alive and, for the moment, safe.
The marines searched for us for the rest of the day without success. Our relief over our near miss wore away quickly as we realised we were trapped. Above us was a nest of very temperamental and territorial dinosaurs. And outside our door was a fleet of marines intent on bringing us directly to the Noah.
“If we step outside that door, we’re caught,” I said as I picked at the crumbling concrete under my feet. We’d been over this same topic dozens of times already, but it was the only topic worth talking about. I sat with my back against the wall farthest from the door, my shoulder propped against the rusted ladder. Todd was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. In sharp contrast to Todd, Chaz lay on her stomach, perusing her stolen port as though she had all the time in the world. And I guess, in some ways, she did. We had nowhere to go. No plan. And, as far as I could tell, no way out of this mess.
“And if we go up, we’re dead,” Todd pointed out as he made another sharp turn to pace back the other way.
“You’re making me dizzy,” I said, shutting my eyes and leaning my head back against the hard stone. Some of it crumbled, and bits of dust and gravel rained down into my hair. I didn’t even bother to brush them away.
“Going up isn’t an option,” Chaz said absentmindedly as she stared at the port, sliding her finger across the screen, brow furrowed.
“Well, going out isn’t an option either,” Todd snapped. “Those marines have nothing better to do than walk up and down this tunnel looking for us.”
“Shhhhh,” I cautioned. “Keep your voice down.”
He stood still, fury rolling off him in waves for another minute before his shoulders slumped in defeat. He sank down against the wall to my right and tipped his head back to join me in staring at the ceiling. Above us the square metal hatch that separated our world from the dinosaurs was surrounded by crumbling concrete. A large crack wound its way across the entire length of the ceiling before breaking off into a spider web of finer fractures around the metal plate. It was kind of amazing that it hadn’t collapsed after all these years.
“Do you know what this compound’s problem is?” Todd asked after a minute of silence.
“Other than the fact that it’s being led by a man whose grand plan to free us from the dinosaurs is going to make the topside world uninhabitable?” I asked.
Todd snorted. “Yeah, other than that.”
“What?” I asked, deciding to play along.
“Everyone feels too safe,” Todd said. “I’m telling you, walking around those tunnels was so weird. I felt like I was on another planet. It’s why those marines have nothing better to do than look for us. If they were topside, they’d be too worried about protecting their own skin to worry about a couple of kids.” His words were a bolt of lightning straight to my brain. I jerked upright, my thoughts tumbling over one another a
s I rolled this new idea around in my head. Was it possible? It was crazy. But what if it actually worked?
“Todd,” I said, jumping to my feet. “You’re brilliant.” Craning my head back, I stared up at the metal plate fifteen feet above me, trying to do some fast mental maths.
“Thanks,” he said, glancing at Chaz in confusion and then back at me. “Um. Why am I brilliant?”
I tore my gaze from the entrance above my head to grin at him. “Remember what you said when we were in the tunnels this morning?” I asked. “What you said this compound needed?”
“I wasn’t allowed to talk in the tunnels, remember?” Todd asked.
I flapped a hand at him dismissively. “Right. Like that really stopped you. You mentioned you felt like you’d lost one of your senses being down here? Remember? And then you said that what this compound needed was a good dinosaur infestation?”
“Yeah,” Todd said slowly, still not seeing the genius in that simple statement.
“Well,” I said. “You were right. That’s exactly what this compound needs. Dinosaurs!”
“What are you saying?” Chaz asked, getting to her feet and brushing herself off.
“I’m saying that we need something to distract the marines from us. Right?” They both nodded. “So we give them a distraction. A ten-ton distraction! We let dinosaurs loose in the tunnels. Everyone will be so terrified they’ll be hiding out in their apartments, and the marines will be too busy to worry about a couple of kids. We’ll be able to search the compound for the Noah’s headquarters and everyone from the Oaks!”
I decided to ignore for a moment the fact that East Compound was absolutely huge and that even if the marines were distracted for a week, we probably couldn’t search the whole thing. Somehow that detail seemed trivial now. I felt certain that if we could just get out of this little room, we’d find the Noah’s headquarters, or at least something large enough for Boz’s plug to do some significant damage. I started pacing the same path Todd had taken earlier, my mind whirling. Of course, I reasoned, we would also have the dinosaurs to contend with, but given the choice between Kennedy and his marines, I think I’d take the dinosaurs.