by L. S. O'Dea
“Stay away from the walls,” he warned.
“Why?” Tim stepped toward the center of the tunnel.
“Who knows what else the professor has been experimenting on?” He aimed the light at the fuzzy, dark green walls.
Laddie placed his hand under Scar’s arm and helped her move away from the side. She was tiring quickly. They’d have to carry her soon.
“Turn off that flashlight,” repeated Tim.
“No. I can’t see at all without it,” he said. “I’ll aim it down, but I refuse to be totally blind in here.”
“I’m right in front of you. All you have to do is follow me,” said Tim.
There was no way he was shutting off the light.
“And what if your battery runs out?” asked Tim smugly.
“I have plenty, thanks to Buddy.” He patted his backpack.
Tim groaned but continued walking, the others following closely behind.
“Take a right up there,” said Laddie.
That path led downward at a slight slant. They were going farther underground. Scar kept slipping, her disproportionate arms making her top heavy.
“Laddie, give me your shirt,” said Hugh, stopping.
“I really don’t need to look like the two of you.” Laddie winked at Scar and they both chuckled.
“Very funny.” He held out his hand. That’s all he needed. Two wise-cracking Guards. He already had an annoying House Servant.
Laddie grudgingly took off his shirt. Hugh cut one of the straps off the backpack, unclasping the buckle and extending it as far as possible. Next, he combined it with the shirt, creating a sort of sling. Finally, he attached it over Laddie’s back and then he and Tim lifted Scar in order to tuck her into the contraption.
“Shit, she’s heavy,” said Tim. “Hurry up.”
“Keep her steady,” he said, panting. Scar was very heavy for as skinny as she was. It wasn’t normal but neither were the claws for hands.
“I’m not going to be able to hold her much longer.” Tim’s voice was strained and Scar began to wobble on Laddie’s back.
“One…more…minute.” The buckle clicked into place. “You can let go a little.”
Tim dropped his hold on Scar and stepped back. Laddie’s back straightened with the added weight but the harness held.
Hugh let go too. “How’s that, Laddie? Scar?”
“Good,” said Scar.
“Better. I’ll be able to carry her for a while like this.” Laddie rolled his shoulders.
Hugh breathed deeply and then coughed. He’d forgotten about the dank, dead smell of the sewer. They started forward, when Tim abruptly stopped.
“What is it?” he whispered, turning off his flashlight just in case there was something up ahead.
“Water,” said Tim.
“Deep?” That could be a problem with Scar.
“Shouldn’t be.” Laddie stepped around Tim and into the water. It came up a little past his ankles. He continued on.
Tim didn’t budge, so Hugh gave him a slight shove.
Tim held his ground. “I hate water. Is there another way?”
“No,” said Laddie as he continued moving ahead.
“Get moving.” He pushed Tim again.
“Knock it off.” Tim shoved him.
“House Servants,” he said disgustedly as he stepped around Tim and into the water. He turned on his flashlight and quickened his pace to catch up with Laddie. “Stay if you want.”
There was a splash and then Tim caught up with them. “Shit. It smells like shit and it’s slimy. I hate water.”
The water continued to get deeper as they traveled downward. It was soon lapping at their knees.
“Water,” mumbled Scar.
“What?” Laddie stopped.
“Water,” repeated Scar.
She wasn’t looking too well and her voice was becoming weaker. “Are you thirsty?” He dug in his backpack and pulled out a couple of bottles. He handed one to Scar.
She shook her head. “Put me down.”
“This is pretty nasty stuff,” said Laddie.
“Please,” she begged. “I…I need it. I don’t know why but I do.”
“What do you think?” Laddie’s eyes were uncertain as he looked to Hugh.
“It probably won’t hurt,” he said.
After unhooking her, he and Tim helped her off Laddie’s back. She sank into the water, groaning in pleasure. Tim’s face wrinkled in disgust. She began splashing water all over herself.
“Hey, watch it.” Tim stepped away from her, wiping moisture off his face.
Hugh and Laddie also moved a couple of steps back. They let her soak for several minutes.
“Sorry, Scar, but we really should get going,” said Laddie.
“That’s okay. I think I can walk for a while now. I feel better.” She slipped as she tried to stand.
He and Laddie reached out to catch her but they were a moment too late. She fell back with a huge splash, soaking all three of the others.
Tim stared down at his drenched frame as Hugh and Laddie helped Scar to stand, both of them as wet as the House Servant.
“This is disgusting,” said Tim. “I smell like shit and death.”
“Drop it, Tim.” He was trying to brush the sewage off his jacket. He loved this jacket. Now, he was going to have to throw it away. Burn it. “She didn’t do it on purpose. I’m full of the crap too.”
“Yeah? Well, at least you have a jacket. It is all over my skin,” snapped Tim.
“Well, my jacket is ruined.”
Tim walked up to him until they were face to face. “You have shoes. I’m walking in this slimy crap.”
That was it. He’d had enough of Tim’s whining. “At least you have something covering your feet. If it weren’t for me giving you my shirt, I wouldn’t have this shit on my skin!”
“At least you don’t have claws for hands,” said Scar.
They all turned to stare at Scar, who once again sat surrounded by sewage with her claws in the air and clacked them together. The sound reverberated through the tunnels. Tim burst out laughing.
It really wasn’t funny. He looked at Laddie, whose lips were twitching. He closed his eyes for a moment but the absurdity of the situation was too much. He joined in the laughter, followed by Laddie and Scar. After several moments they brought themselves under control. Silence once again ensconced them.
“Scar, you always knew how to break the tension.” He wiped at his eyes.
She nodded, still smiling. Laddie lifted her from the water and helped her to balance.
Suddenly, there was a sound, very similar to the one that Scar had made. They all looked at her. She shook her head. The four glanced at each other and without a word hurried down the hall, away from the answering clack.
They traveled through the sewer for what seemed like hours but he was sure that it had only been fifteen or twenty minutes. The dark and dank seemed to expand time. Luckily, they had not heard any more unusual sounds, just the squeaks and chatter of rats.
“Hugh?” asked Tim. “Did we do the right thing?”
“About what?” He trudged along. The quicker they moved the sooner they’d be out of here.
“Trinity. Not notifying anyone when she took off into the forest. I’ve never seen anything dangerous in the woods but she’s so young and so alone out there.” Tim paused. “She could be dead.”
Oh crap. He’d completely forgotten about Trinity. “She’s not dead. I’m sorry. In all the excitement, I didn’t think to tell you.”
Tim stopped, grabbing his arm. “She’s alive?” His eyes glowed, shining like emeralds in the dark.
“Yes. She’ll be delivered to me shortly.” He smiled. His brother’s daughter was alive. His niece was alive.
“Where is she now? Is she safe?” Tim dropped his hand.
This wasn’t going to go over well. “She was with Benedictine.” Since Jethro was in surgery, Trinity should be on her way to his house.
“It’s okay. He won’t hurt her.” He explained the situation with Conguise, Benedictine and Jackson.
“Thank Araldo,” said Tim.
They started walking again.
“Millie will be so happy.” Tim laughed. “I can’t stop smiling. Even down here.”
After a few moments, he said, “And yes, Tim, you did the right thing.”
“What do they do to the Producers when they take them?” asked Tim.
He could tell by the tone that Tim had stopped smiling. “Didn’t Millie tell you?”
“She told me what Benedictine did to Remy, but that was because he thought Remy had helped Trinity escape, right?”
Tim deserved to know, but he didn’t want to be the one to tell him. He could delay, but the truth had been hidden for too long. “They kill them and eat them. We eat them.”
Tim stumbled. Laddie and Scar halted. Wait until they found out that they were closer genetically than anyone expected. Then they’d really be shocked.
“I…I don’t eat Producers,” said Tim.
“You eat meat. Meat is Producer.” He placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“That’s not possible.” Tim backed away. “We had other children.” He staggered to the wall and leaned his shoulder against it. A moment later he retched, the sound echoing through the tunnel.
Hugh nodded at Laddie and Scar and they all walked several feet ahead to give Tim some privacy. A few minutes later, Tim wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“We should keep moving. Buddy is only going to wait so long and we need someone to unlock the grate to let us out,” he said.
“I’ve got a set of keys. There was no way I was getting trapped down here.” Laddie patted his pocket.
That was a relief. It would be bad enough to be locked in the sewer but with Conguise’s creations wandering around, it would be deadly. They began walking again, Tim trailing several paces behind.
“I thought that they took them to another camp or something. Millie knew. She kept telling me that it wasn’t good when no one was ever heard from again, but I…well, I thought it was like me.” Tim caught up with them. “They don’t eat House Servants, do they?”
Tim needed to quit asking questions. “Well…”
“Are you serious? You can’t be serious,” said Tim.
“Yes. I mean, it’s uncommon but it does happen in certain sects.”
“So, my brothers and sisters, my parents could have been eaten like my children?”
“It’s unlikely.” He couldn’t be sure about Barney’s other children, but Sarah’s definitely weren’t eaten. However, this was not the time to tell Tim about his parentage. “Why don’t we talk about this later?”
“What aren’t you telling me?” Tim grasped Hugh’s arm, claws out.
“We have to keep moving.” He jerked away and rubbed his arm where the claws had pressed. Tim hadn’t cut him, but it had hurt nonetheless.
“Tell me.” Tim grabbed him again, this time sinking his claws in a bit more.
He pulled away, his jacket ripping. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his temper. Tim was rightfully upset. “As we walk,” he said, his jaw clenched.
“Fine,” said Tim.
“I didn’t know this until a few hours ago, so don’t get pissed at me.”
Tim snorted, his disbelief obvious.
“You know what happened to your parents and your brother. One of your brothers. Half-brother. I don’t know about your other half-siblings. Well, I do know about a half-sister but I don’t look forward to telling her.” Little Sarah was going to have a conniption when she found out that they had a House Servant in the family. “Actually, now that I think about it, I do look forward to telling her.”
“What are you talking about? I was taken from my family when I was a baby.”
“No, that’s what they told you. Barney was your father and…”
“Go on,” said Tim, suspiciously.
“Sarah was your mother. I’m your half-brother. You’re half Almighty.”
“That’s…that’s impossible.” Tim tripped and gracefully righted himself.
“Really, and offspring between House Servant and Producer isn’t?”
“We are closer…Almightys are different,” said Tim.
Was that a hint of prejudice in Tim’s tone? The other classes didn’t revere the Almighys like most Almightys thought, but he hadn’t realized that the other groups disliked them that much. “No. We only believe we are. Genetically speaking we are all pretty close.”
“What?” Laddie halted.
“No one knows that yet. I just found out. I have proof and I’ll be taking it to the Supreme Almighty as soon as I get a little more data. The results that I have are from old equipment—”
“Sarah was my mother? Did she know?”
“What kind of idiotic question is that?”
Laddie laughed. Scar continued to walk, her pace getting slower now that they were out of the water.
“That was stupid. Of course, she knew.” Tim ran his hand through his hair. “I…this is just…”
“That was how I knew you were here,” he said. “Barney helped me get inside the lab. If we had made it out through the office he would have been there.”
“Conguise will kill him,” said Tim.
“He’ll be fine. He’s a canny old one. He’ll know something went wrong and escape,” he said
They fell into silence as they marched onward. At one point they stopped and strapped Scar onto Laddie’s back and then continued. It was lucky that Laddie was such a tank of a Guard. Otherwise, they may not have made it through with Scar.
He plodded forward and tripped over a small rock. He reached out to catch himself and his hand rested on the wall. It wasn’t slimy. He looked and it was less crusted with gunk. He could see. “Light. There’s moonlight.”
Tim sniffed. “Fresh air.”
“Yeah,” said Laddie.
He inhaled deeply and gagged. “All I smell is sewage.”
“The great Almighty nose for you.” Tim slapped him on the back.
Scar and Laddie chuckled.
He glared at them, but they didn’t notice as they quickened their pace. Suddenly, there was the grate. He raced forward and pushed on it but it was locked. He had to get out of here. Now, that he was this close he would go insane if he had to spend another minute down here.
Laddie dug in his pocket, pulling out a key.
“Quick, open it.” He flashed the light three times toward the forest.
Laddie pushed him out of the way and tried to reach the lock through the grate, but his hand was too large.
“Let me try.” Tim wriggled in between the grate and Laddie.
The Guard stepped back and Tim barely slid his arm through one of the holes. He was trying to maneuver the key into the lock when Buddy popped into view.
“Glad to see you.” Buddy held his own key and unlatched the lock.
Tim slipped his key in his pants pocket and backed away as Buddy opened the grate. Buddy helped pull them all out of the sewer and then shut it once more.
“Make sure to lock that,” he said. “Not sure exactly what’s down there, but I am sure that I don’t want it out.”
Buddy glanced at Scar and nodded as he secured the lock.
CHAPTER 40
HUGH AND THE OTHERS followed Buddy into the forest. It wasn’t long before Laddie began falling behind due to the burden of carrying Scar on his back.
Buddy stopped. “Up ahead. The carriage is hidden in the brush. Keep going. We’ll catch up.”
“No. We should all stay together,” said Hugh, halting.
Tim continued moving forward, ignoring him.
He shook his head and followed Buddy back to meet Laddie and Scar.
“I’ll take her for a while.” Buddy was not as solidly built as Laddie, but he was rested.
“Are you sure?” asked Laddie, panting.
Scar’s eyes were drooping and drool was running from her mouth. She was barely conscious.
Buddy cringed, but nodded. “If it’s all right with her.”
“I don’t think she’ll mind.” He helped Buddy unhook and then lift Scar off Laddie’s back. “How much farther? Do you want to carry her, or should we strap her to your back.”
“Back,” said Buddy. “We don’t have that far to go but that’ll leave my hands free if we meet any of Conguise’s Guards.”
After Scar was secured on Buddy’s back, they continued through the forest. It was dark, lit only by the soft moonlight, but the Guards and Tim didn’t have any trouble maneuvering. He was no longer sure what benefit there was to being an Almighty. He couldn’t see well in the dark, hear well, and his sense of smell was non-existent compared to the other classes. They also ran faster and were stronger. No wonder the Almightys force-fed the idea that they were superior to everyone else. If they didn’t, they would be at the bottom of the class system.
His life was going to change once his findings became common knowledge. For one thing, no one would want tracking devices, except maybe as a way to monitor their wayward spouses. That market was not nearly as profitable as the current one.
The Guards stopped.
“What?” He followed their gaze.
“Guards.” Tim sat high up in a tree. “Four of them. Coming this way.”
“How long?” asked Buddy.
“You have about five minutes or so.” Tim, legs around a branch, hung halfway down the tree face first, using his claws and the weight of his body for balance. “They don’t seem to be hunting, just walking casually.”
“Probably securing the area. They do this all the time, but would have stopped while the power was out. They’re running regular duties,” explained Laddie.
“If you get up here, they may not catch your scent,” said Tim.
“We’re not really very good at climbing trees,” said Buddy.
“I’d try if I were you. Hugh, can you get to that branch?” Tim pointed to a limb.
“How in the name of Araldo do you think I can reach that? Jump?” It was several feet above his head.