by KM Fortune
"I'll leave you to change. I need to gather a few more supplies. Be sure to wrap the scarf around your head and face," he instructed. "I can't have anyone recognizing you." Raven said nothing, obeying his earlier instructions. He smirked at her. "I see you learn quick. Good. Learn this too. If you try to escape when we are out of this room, I will kill you," he said and took the long knife Raven recognized from his attack the night before. Holding it up to catch the light, he stared at her over it. "If you die by my hand, I will no doubt be dying with you. Do not think this deters me. It will make me a martyr in my brothers' eyes, and my glory will serve The Creator. Do you understand?" Raven nodded. She most certainly did.
THERE WAS MOVEMENT around the smoldering fire leftover from the night before. Blaze opened his eyes and could see someone moving in the early morning light. The figure had his back to Blaze, but he knew it was the new guy. Kaleb. One of The Duke’s men. Or is he really? Blaze wondered. He had a sense the doctor greatly disliked Reno’s leader. There’s bad blood there. Blaze had no trouble understanding it. He hated The Duke and knew the man was trouble. The fact he trapped Raven in a promise she never intended was proof enough. Then there was the ridiculous mission he had sent Blaze and the others on. Area 51, although existing as promised, was proving to be impenetrable.
As everyone sat around the fire the night before and discussed their situation, no one had a solution to their problem or the minefield. Blaze felt Hector was especially irritating, particularly considering he needed the group's help. Hector and Helen's dilemma was a whole new mess of problems. Matthew and Kaleb had heartily agreed to help Hector take control of his kingdom. The idea the cat mutant was a prince of all things seemed ridiculous to Blaze. He rolled his eyes even now when he thought of it. There was an upside, however, if they could put Hector on the throne, he promised to send part of his army of guards to help rescue Raven from Reno. It was why Blaze reluctantly agreed. At the time anyway. Now he had reservations. Even if they could first find a way into Area 51 and find weapons, which Simon seemed convinced would be there along with possible sterility plague cure documentation, going to help Hector would take a lot of time. Blaze felt in his heart, time was not something they had on their side. If he was The Duke, Blaze knew he would marry Raven immediately and not wait to see if her friends would return. For all Blaze knew, The Duke had already forced her to go through with it. He gritted his teeth at the thought. Saving the woman he loved was Blaze's first priority. Wasting time with anything else only went against what his gut told him he had to do. I need to leave right now. Before everyone wakes up, he thought and started to slowly rise so as to not alert anyone.
He looked longingly at the vehicles parked in a loose circle around their camp. If only I could drive, he thought. The walk back would be long and dangerous, but in his heart, he knew it was worth every step to get back to Raven. Standing up from his bedroll, he quickly packed it up and gathered his weapon. The ambush by The Duke's men had provided them all with good rifles and a few handfuls of ammunition. Slinging his pack onto his back, he looked around one last time before starting to slip away. As Blaze snuck around the side of the minivan, he felt someone behind him. Whirling around, he saw Hector standing there. "Going somewhere, Red?" he asked with a grin.
"This had nothing to do with you," Blaze answered and turned to go.
"Aw, you got it bad, don't you?" Hector laughed. "Going after the beautiful Raven. Solo. You're brave, I'll give you that." Blaze ignored him and started to walk. "You'll die doing that though. We have a better chance if we work together," Hector continued. Blaze shot Hector a look over his shoulder. He knew the cat mutant was right, but considering the fact the group could not even get past the first barrier to Area 51 gave Blaze no hope they would be going to help Raven anytime soon.
"I'll take my chances," Blaze said and then faced forward again. He heard Hector laugh and start to say something more when a shout rang out from back by the fire. Blaze stopped. What was that? he thought. Are we under attack again? Before he could puzzle out what was happening, another shout sounded. This time Blaze could make out who was yelling. It was the crazy, little guy Simon. “What did he say?” Blaze asked Hector, who looked as confused as Blaze felt. Hector shook his head.
“I have no—” Hector started. His sentence was interrupted by more of Simon’s excitement.
“I know the way!” Simon cried out. Curious now, Blaze followed Hector as the two walked back into the circle of the vehicles. Simon was nearly hopping up and down.
“How?” Blaze barked. Simon stopped moving and turned to him.
“In my dream, I saw the trick. It is really quite elementary if one considers the logical—” Simon said.
Blaze heard Hector growl. “Get to the point,” Hector said. Simon nodded.
“Right, sorry,” he said. “The answer is under.”
GABRIEL WATCHED THE woman move around the fire. She scooped clean snow from just under the dirty crust of a drift and put it into a tin pot. Next, she took a small leather satchel from her pack and dropped some herbs into the snow and then placed the whole thing over the meager pit of flickering sticks which sat between them. Some sort of wilderness tea, he thought. His empty stomach rumbled and even the idea of a little hot water sounded good. He wondered if she would offer to share but then sighed. Why should she? he wondered. They were enemies, forced to work together for a common purpose, but not equals. Still, he respected Willow. She was strong, perhaps even stronger than he was although he would never admit it. The race down the mountain had been grueling and when they collapsed after night fell, Gabriel had been surprised when she still had the fortitude and patience to string a line and hang a tarp for shelter from the wind. What was most amazing though was when she waved him over to share the sheltered space. There was not much room and he hesitated. Sharing a space with a female nomad went against everything he was brought up to believe. Then a cold wind blew across his face and bit at his features. It was enough to convince him to take what was offered as a blessing. Realizing now he had not even thanked her, Gabriel cleared his throat. “I appreciate you sharing your windbreak with me overnight,” he said.
Willow looked at him and shrugged. “You do me no good frozen to death,” she said. Gabriel nodded not sure what to say next. Luckily, Willow changed the subject. “How many days will it take to get to the forbidden city?” she asked. Gabriel rubbed a gloved hand over his bearded face.
“Two days on foot? If we move fast,” he answered. “It depends a little on if the Patrols come after us and how hard we need to work to avoid them.” Willow took the melted snow off of the fire and swirled the water around in the pot. She took a sip, sighed no doubt appreciating the warmth and then held it out to Gabriel. He paused and remembered drinking out of her canteen a few days ago out of desperation from thirst, but this felt different. It was more personal and he could not understand why she was willing to share. We are enemies, he reminded himself and waved off her offering. Sharing a shelter was one thing, having to do with survival. They did not need to drink tea together. Willow tilted her head at his rejection, but then pulled the pot back and took another drink. She smacked her lips with pleasure, openly taunting him. Gabriel shook his head in amazement. The woman feared nothing, especially not him.
CHAPTER 5
The corridor glowed with subtle light. Matthew was unable to tell the exact source of it, but it gave the space an almost blue tint. He was impressed that after all this time, it was still functional. The group walked in silence, but for the sound of their foot falls tapping on the floor. Everyone was on edge, with weapons at the ready, and not sure what to expect. Simon lead the way. It seemed only fair, considering he was the one who found the passage. It had been quite remarkable and Matthew continued to be impressed by the strange little man. When Simon started shouting earlier in the morning about having figured out the way through the minefield, Matthew was skeptical. In his opinion, the best way to cross a minefield was not to cross it
at all. Unless they were able to fly somehow, he had not seen a way around it. The answer was remarkably logical. Simon’s elaborate argument stemmed from his belief that convoys of government vehicles must have come this way to access Area 51. In that case, there had to be some sort of significant corridor which they could pass through. Since nothing was evident above ground, it therefore had to be below ground. The trick was to find the access gate. When Hector and Blaze had peppered the poor man about how in the heck they were going to find the invisible gate, Simon had an answer for that too. Again using logic, Simon explained, in approximately three hundred words, any soldiers or other residents of the facility would have to be able to find the gate without obvious markers, because having a traditional sign would give it away to the average person. It all seemed plausible enough to Matthew and when Simon went and got his compass and map, he offered to help.
While the rest of the camp decided to hang out around the campfire and “wait for a boom,” as Hector put it, Matthew and Simon puzzled out that the gates would have to be along some sort of circumference which could be mapped using map coordinates. Then a truck driver would know exactly where to look. Carefully walking the perimeter while Kaleb followed a great distance behind in the minivan, Simon and Matthew started to circle what they believed was the outer boundary of the facility. Simon stopped at each tick of his compass and the two men studied the landscape. It was at the straight east-west location that Matthew saw something looking out of place. There was a rock formation, which did not appear to belong and although it was probably better camouflaged by vegetation back when Area 51 was in operation, the stacked rocks now stood out amongst the scraggly dead plants. “This must be it,” Simon had whispered. Matthew had agreed and they gingerly approached to explore the rock, until just by accident Simon leaned forward and touched the trigger. There was a sudden rumble and the earth started to sag in front of them. A large door lifted out of the sand and dirty snow to show a broad entranceway. Simon was elated.
After Kaleb fetched the others, they had all agreed to leave the vehicles behind to help mask their approach, and were now walking through the corridor. It was broad and could easily accommodate vehicles and groups of men. As he walked, Matthew could not help but think about what might lie ahead. Could there really be a cure? he thought. And how will we know when we find the information? He wondered if it would be stored in dysfunctional computer systems. It seemed too much to ask for it to be in some sort of paper format. Regardless, the entire notion made his heart beat faster. To be so close to what he had searched for his whole life was nearly overwhelming.
“How long do you think this thing goes on?” Hector asked interrupting Matthew’s thoughts. Matthew had wondered the same himself as they had been walking for at least an hour. There were no signs to let them know they were going in any particular direction and there were no doorways off the corridor. Before much longer, he knew some of the others would want to turn back, but Matthew also knew he would not join them if they did. He felt he must see what was ahead, even if it cost him his life. The idea of possibly dying before being able to save Raven sat uncomfortably on his heart, but he knew she would understand if it meant finding a cure to the horrible plague which put all of humanity at risk.
Simon, who was still leading the group, paused and turned back to address Hector. “There’s no way to know,” Simon said to his question. “However, by my estimation, as I have been counting my steps, I calculate we have traveled almost four miles underground. Considering what could be surmised as the size of this government facility, I believe we are quite close.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Hector said. “You have absolutely no idea.” Matthew watched as Simon sucked in a breath and was about to launch his rebuttal when Blaze stopped walking. Matthew could tell by the look on his face he was frustrated and about to turn around.
“We don’t have time for this,” he said. “Every minute we waste walking along this thing, which could lead to nowhere, we are not helping Raven.’
“We can’t stop now,” Kaleb said. “We've come this far and it is clear we are in some sort of an advanced facility. I have to believe something meaningful is ahead of us." Blaze opened his mouth to argue when Matthew raised his hand to stop him.
“Just a little further, Blaze,” Matthew said. “Please.” Blaze puffed out of breath, but nodded and started walking again. Thankfully, as they walked around a slow curve in the hallway, they came to a door. It was closed with two giant metal sliders.
How do we open it? Matthew thought.
“How are we going to open that?” Brody chimed in.
“Did anybody bring some keys?” Toby interjected, trying to make light of the situation.
“Very funny,” Blaze said. “I think we finally get to turn around now.”
“No,” Simon said. “I have a feeling that as we walk up to it, the doors will slide apart.”
“Or we will get electrocuted,” Hector said. Matthew saw Helen shake her head.
“Don’t be so negative,” Helen said. “Simon was right about the underground entrance and I believe him now.” It was Hector’s turn to puff out a of breath of frustration.
“Wait here,” Hector said. “There’s no sense in all of us risking it.” Matthew watched as Hector gave Helen a quick peck on the mouth and lumbered toward the double doors. Things worked exactly as Simon suggested. Once Hector got close enough and stepped on a panel in the floor, the doors opened and showed a large room with another doorway blocking the other side. This space was dimmer than the hallway and black dust covered sections of the floor. Hector turned back to look at the others. “You really think I should go in there?” Hector asked.
“I think it’s a bad idea,” Blaze said. Matthew could sense another argument was coming so he took matters into his own hands and walked past Hector and into the room, careful to avoid the messes on the floor. The rest stayed behind, but after a minute when nothing happened, everyone followed. Now all of them were facing the new door and Matthew searched for another panel which would open it. There was a diamond shape near one side and Matthew walked toward it. As he started to take a step, he heard Toby speak up.
“Hey,” he said. “These mounds of dust look weird.”
“No kidding,” Brody added. “Uh, is that a tooth?”
“Wait, Matthew!” Simon said. It was too late. Matthew was already in motion and set his foot down on the panel. As soon as he did the doors behind them slammed shut. They were trapped.
Kit was a dark spot on the high desert and nothing more. With the naked eye, she was almost invisible. Her cloak was spread out over and around her, with her hood covering all but her large dark brown eyes. All morning she watched and waited, trying to make any sense of the activity below her. The ridge where she lay prone against the cold earth overlooked a massive pit with spiral layers dug down ring after ring into the dirt. Over a hundred men and women, mostly humans from the look of it, some in shackles, but most not, worked the pit. Everyone appeared to have an assigned chore. Some dug with shovels into the frozen clay. Others pushed carts filled with dirt up the road, which zigzagged along the side of the gaping hole, and hauled the debris to a giant mound a few hundred yards from the edge of the worksite. Occasionally a boulder too large to move with shovels was uncovered. Then another group, with poles and a pulley system, would set up and hoist the rock out of where it was stuck, followed by an impressive group effort to transport the heavy object up to the surface. Kit could not figure out exactly what they were mining for as so far nothing but soil and rock was dug up and moved. The only thing which was clear was the pain and suffering being experienced by the workers.
They were the same rail thin people who lived in the tent city she escaped through the night before. Even from a distance, she could see the festering sores all of them had to one degree or another. More than one of them collapsed as Kit was watching. With the few armed guards who policed over everything, screaming at them for being lazy and worthl
ess, they were carted out along with the dirt. She did not know what to make of it other than knowing the project was somehow connected to Reno and, more specifically, The Duke. Whatever they are digging for has to benefit him somehow, she thought. But what is it? As she pondered this, a shout went up from across the pit. Something had been found and the men and women near the discovery quickly gathered around. There was some discussion too far away for Kit to hear, especially with the frigid wind blowing away from her, and it was soon followed by focused digging at the site of the discovery. The pulley team was called for as soon as the object was unburied. Kit squinted to see and was surprised all the excitement was over a metal barrel. The sides were marked with brown splotches, which Kit guessed was caked on mud. Or possibly rust, she thought. There was something else on the side of the barrel too. Not the squiggles Kit had seen places before and could not read, but a symbol. Even under the dirt and rust, the bright yellow of it was clear. Three black triangles in the middle of a circle. It meant nothing to Kit, but somehow it gave her a bad feeling. It almost appeared as a warning and Kit’s instincts told her to stay well away from it.
CHAPTER 6
Samuel stormed down the corridor. His brothers dashed out of his way, seeing the dark look on the man's face. They were wise to make a path. Samuel was in no mood for conversation or any other nonsense. He was on a mission. So far, he had been unable to find out what transpired between The Creator and the wastling girl. The Creator's escorts had almost no information other than their Lord had sent them from the room and had a quiet conversation with the child.
Even if the brothers had tried to listen to what was being said behind the closed door, they would never admit it. Not even after Samuel's threats. Frustrated with the turn of events, Samuel made up his mind to go straight to the source. Although he doubted he would be able to convince The Creator to reveal the details of the conversation, especially after the shift in their relationship, Samuel believed he would be able to make the little girl talk. An evil smile turned up the corners of his lips as he thought of the many ways he had in mind to get her to share with him and almost hoped she would be difficult. A pinch here and there, in discrete places but which would invoke the most pain, would do wonders. Rounding the corner, Samuel came to the one-way window which looked into Hannah's quarters. He immediately saw the room was empty. Frowning, Samuel let himself into the room. She was definitely missing. Where would she be? he thought. Back with The Creator? Even that did not make sense. At any moment, the bell would chime to signal afternoon prayer and The Creator would be giving a sermon. He could not be distracted by a child right now. Samuel wracked his brain. The gardens? But with what escort? It seemed unlikely, but he raced there anyway.