by Kelli Kimble
This time, I left the door closed a lot longer—maybe ten minutes. Finally, Leif was subdued, and one of the remaining guards came over to see what was going on. He commanded me to open the door. I opened it. The chamber was empty. Even the guns were gone.
The guard growled, poking me with the muzzle of his gun.
“What?”
“He wants to know where the other door is. He says when the people were taken from here, he knows they didn’t come out this door,” Tabby translated.
Crap. He’d been here before.
“All right,” I said. “I figured that door would be bolted from the inside, but I’ll take you to it.”
I led him up the path—nearly hidden at the base of the mountain—and up to the other door. Please, I thought, please, let Tennie stay out of sight while he’s going in. “Have you got a light?” I asked. “You don’t want to go in there without one. You’ll never find your way out to that other door.”
He shrugged.
I didn’t mention that the other door was on a different level in the internal structure of the mountain, and that he’d have to find his way to a stairwell, then down the stairs, then through a maze of hallways and more. I just nodded and tried the door handle. I hoped that if Tennie were near enough, she’d hear me rattling it and know to take cover.
The guard pushed me away and yanked at the handle, and it opened. He gave me a half-snarl, half-grin. He pulled the door open, then wedged his foot against the bottom so that he could lean in and look around. He was turning back to look at me when there was a loud cracking sound—so loud, I felt it deep in my chest. The guard staggered backward against the door, then started to raise his gun. But, there was a second, even louder boom. He dropped to his knees and fell face-forward. The door closed against his legs, his feet hanging out, almost comically resisting the closure.
The shock of the sound in the confined hallway had me reeling. My ears rang, and my head felt like I’d bashed it against a wall, even though I hadn’t moved. The door swung open a little. Tennie popped her head out. She was saying something, but I couldn’t understand her. Everything sounded the way it had back in the tank: Muted and warped.
Finally, I realized she was calling me to her, and I stepped over the feet and into the darkness inside the door. She put her mouth next to my ear. “Take his gun. Get ready. If they heard my shots, they’ll be here soon.” At least, that’s what I thought she said.
I picked up the guard’s gun, then dragged him inside and let the door shut. We’d have the outside light to help us aim. Tennie crouched to one side of the door, and I stood a few feet away, facing it, with the gun pointed squarely where I thought the door was. The location of the door was questionable, since I couldn’t see even my own hands.
It wasn’t long before the door opened, but it wasn’t one of the four remaining guards. “Um, hello?” called out one of my nameless siblings. “Silver? Are you in here?”
I lowered the gun and moved backward, away from the light cast on the ground through the door. There was someone behind my sibling—a guard. But, he was shielded too well for any shot I could make, even at such a short distance.
“The guards want you to come out.” Her voice trembled. “They say, if you don’t come out, they’ll kill us one by one.” She sniffled and shuffled a single step inside. The guard stayed glued to her back. “Silver? Did you hear me?”
I looked to where Tennie was, crouched beside the door. I couldn’t make her out. Was she going to make a move?
The guard shook the sibling, and she cried out, “Please, Silver! I don’t want to die!”
I didn’t know what to do. I could shoot at them both, but I didn’t want to hurt the girl—even if I didn’t care enough about her to know her name.
The light from the door shrank a little. They were moving inside. If they’d move just a little more, maybe I could . . .
But, I didn’t have to do anything. There was a heavy thumping sound, and a groan. The sibling yelped and jumped aside, and the door closed, leaving us in darkness. Tennie pushed it open, so we could see. The guard was on the ground. His head was bleeding profusely, and his eyes were rolling around, as if he was struggling to maintain consciousness. My sibling snatched his gun and promptly began beating him with the butt of it, until his head looked more like a rotten watermelon than a person.
“Easy, easy,” Tennie said. “I think he’s probably dead.”
She collapsed on the floor in tears. “If we don’t go back out in a few minutes, they’re gonna kill someone.”
“All right,” I said. “Calm down. There’s only three left, right? We can take care of three with the guns we have.”
“We’re not going to get anywhere near them,” Tennie said. “They’re not stupid. They’ve got hostages.”
I could have debated with her about the stupid part. We’d managed to take out more than half of their numbers, and they likely hadn’t yet realized the extent of their losses. “Okay,” I said. “The other door. They aren’t watching that, right?”
“You left it closed?” Tennie asked.
“No. Sorry. I left it open,” I said.
“Then, we can’t get out that door. Not without them noticing.”
I began walking in a tight circle. We had to take out the other guards, and they had to be surprised. The sibling was squatting on her haunches, sniveling into her elbow. Tennie was looking out the door for any movement in the outer hallway. She must have felt my eyes on her, and she turned to look at me. “What?” she asked.
That’s when I knew what I had to do. “What did you do with the other guns?” I asked.
She pointed to the side of the door, where she’d left them before shooting the first guard.
“You each take two. Stick one in your waistband, if you want. But, one for each hand. Then, you’re going to go back out that way. You’re going to wait five minutes, and then you’re going to get out there and kill them. They’ll be out in the open; I’m sure of it.”
Tennie cocked her head. “How can you be sure?”
Before I could answer, the sibling wrinkled up her nose. “But, where will you be?” she asked.
“I’m going out the old door. When they see it close, they’ll come see why it’s doing that on its own. Then, I’ll be able to go inside the inner door, close it, and open the outer door. They’ll have all eyes on me.”
“Why would they come to see that? They don’t know anything about the door; they’re probably scared of it,” Tennie said.
I shrugged. “I’m hoping they’ll think it’s the guards the nanobots killed. They don’t know they’re dead; maybe they think they all got lost inside somehow.”
“This sounds kind of thin, Silver,” Tennie said. “They’re not going to go for it.”
“Then, when I open the door, I’ll be yelling and shooting, and they’ll have no choice but to come forward and subdue me,” I said.
“That could work,” the sibling said.
“Shut up,” Tennie said. “They’ll kill him.”
“Then, I’ll get what I deserve, Tennie. None of this would’ve happened if I’d stayed in the mountain. I can’t keep letting everyone else pay the price for my mistakes. This time, it’s got to be me.”
She stood and stared at me, the soft light from the doorway only partially illuminating her face. I watched as a sequence of emotions flitted across her features: Anger, disbelief, and horror. But, eventually, she settled. “I can’t stop you from doing this, can I?”
I shook my head.
“All right. We’ll wait here for five minutes. Then, we’re going out shooting, whether you’ve got your distraction in order or not. Got it?”
I pulled her to me and buried my face in her hair. “I love you, Tennessee. You’re the best sister anyone could ever ask for.”
She squeezed me back, but only for a moment. Then, she pushed me away with her palms. “We don’t have time for this, and anyway, you’ll be fine, right? We’ll take out the
guards before they can do any damage.” She nodded to our sibling, who perked up and smiled—though I had the feeling she wasn’t entirely sure what she was signing up for.
I put a hand on her shoulder and started to say thank you but hesitated. “Um, what’s your name again?”
“Denali,” she said.
“Thanks, Denali.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Okay.”
I really hoped Tennie was going to be a good shot, because I wasn’t too sure about Denali.
“All right, let’s move,” Tennie said. I pecked her on the cheek and headed into the mountain to find my way to the outer door. Just like I’d told the guard, it wasn’t an easy trip, and I hadn’t been there in months. I used the light of my tablet to find the way, and miraculously, I made it back to the old door in only a few minutes. I linked my tablet up again and closed the outer door so that I could open the inner one and enter the chamber.
I set the tablet on the floor and brought up a map of the mountain. I activated the 3D view, and it projected upwards. Then, I opened the door and flung myself into the corner. I still had one gun, and if I could, I was going to use it on a guard.
As the door slid open, I heard commotion outside.
Somehow, they stood there—out of my sight—for a minute or two.
It was just long enough.
Suddenly, there were shouts and loud bangs as Tennie and Denali came out of their hiding spot. Confused, the guards turned their backs to me to defend themselves. But, none of them realized I was there. They backed into the chamber with me, their guns up and ready to fire. Without thinking, I dove for the tablet and closed the door.
As it slid shut, I saw Tennie’s face swim in front of the crowd, her gun still aiming ahead of her, her expression horrified, her mouth formed into the word, No.
Then, the guards blocked my view of her, and gunshots rang out as she mowed them down. It was too late; the door was nearly shut.
All four guards had come in. My siblings, Tabby, and Fiona would be free to go. An enormous weight lifted from me, and I fell to my knees. Gratitude flooded me. I’d never have to be the monster Preia wanted to make me into. I’d never have to watch as my siblings were sacrificed one by one, for the greater good of a community that would never fully accept them, and I’d never have to watch as they struggled to find their place in a hostile world after I’d ousted them from the safety of the mountain.
Tears ran down my face, and I closed my eyes. I could hear the hum of the nanobots, and I tensed, waiting to feel them peel me away, layer by layer.
But, nothing happened. The hum became more of a whine, and I opened my eyes.
One of the guards Tennie had shot lay in the path of the door, and it couldn’t close. Tabby was at the door, trying to claw it open with her bare hands, and the sound of her screaming at me, “Do something!” came into sharp focus.
I grabbed the tablet and opened the door. It halted its whining, and for several long moments, it didn’t move at all. Then, it opened, and I ran outside, straight into Tabby’s arms. Her knees buckled below her, and my own weakened knees couldn’t hold us up. We tumbled to the ground, clinging to each other, and I laughed. I pressed my cheek against hers, and I laughed. Pretty soon, everyone was laughing and celebrating, jumping around and whooping.
When I couldn’t laugh anymore, I pulled away from Tabby and kissed her. A hand reached down to me, and I looked up to see that it belonged to Leif. He pulled first Tabby, and then me, to a stand and threw his arms around me. “We did it,” he said.
Fiona horned in and took her turn squeezing me. “We’re free,” she said. “You’re free.”
I knew then that she was right. No longer would I be the different sibling. Instead, I’d be the one they looked to, the one they knew would do what was needed to keep everyone safe.
I’d be the ambitious one. The leader.
And I didn’t have to sacrifice anyone to become it.
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About Kelli Kimble
I live and work in Northeast Ohio with my husband, two kids, and two dogs. When I’m not writing, I enjoy all kinds of nerdy things including quilting, reading, cooking, coding, running and most certainly not cleaning.
I welcome questions and comments from readers. If you would like to contact me directly, you can send an email to [email protected]. To learn more about my writing, please visit KelliKimble.com.