The Girl in the Wilderness (Leah King Book 2)

by Harris, Philip

  “Yes.”

  Leah opened the book to a random page. As before, the text was so small she could barely read it. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because the writing on the page made no sense. The words were just seemingly random jumbles of letters. There was no punctuation, no paragraphs—just a solid block of nonsensical text. And the contents kept changing. Every few seconds the letters distorted and new words took their place. A dull ache formed in Leah’s head as she tried to focus on the constantly shifting letters.

  “How do I know this is it? You might be a Transport agent or something.”

  The man smiled. “Yes, I might.” His voice shifted up and down in pitch as he spoke. “You’ll just have to trust me. Take it back to Alice. She’ll know what to do with it.”

  Leah looked down at the book in her hand. “Do you have access to other information?”

  “Some, yes.”

  “I’m trying to find a woman, her name’s Katherine. She works for Transport and—”

  “I’m sorry, Leah. We don’t have time right now.” He glanced past her shoulder. “You need to go, now.”

  Leah turned around. Two men, Transport officers, were striding across the square toward them.

  “I’ll stall them,” said the man. “Go through the gate, now!”

  The urgency in the man’s voice cut through Leah’s reluctance. She stepped around the man. She couldn’t remember whether the gate was open when she’d arrived, but it was now. She could see the grass of the wilderness beyond.

  Leah risked another look over her shoulder. The Transport officers were much closer now, but they were focused on the man who looked like Isaac.

  “Thank you,” she said, and ran through the gate.

  28

  This time, Leah was expecting the darkness, but the sudden shift from the bright light of Columbia to pitch black and finally to the library was still disorientating. She stumbled slightly as she took her first step back up the staircase and realized she was still holding the black book the man had given her.

  “Careful!” said Alice.

  She was standing at the top of the stairs, her face twisted with worry. Leah carefully made her way up. Beneath her, the carpet of fire still flickered and boiled, but it held no fear for her now, although she wasn’t sure what would happen if she jumped off the walkway and fell through the flames. Not that she was about to try that.

  Alice helped Leah up the last step. She eyed the book in Leah’s hand. “What happened?”

  “I met someone, a man, on the other side of the fire. He read my memories and created a fake version of the City. He looked like a friend of mine, a man called Isaac.”

  Alice’s eyes grew wide. “What? Who was he? Really.”

  “I don’t know; he wouldn’t say.” Leah raised the book. “He gave me this.”

  Alice reached out, but Leah pulled the book away. “I can’t read it; it’s gibberish. The words are just random letters and they keep changing, but the man said it was the data we need. He said you’d know what to do with it.”

  “It’s encrypted. That could be the data we need, but…” Alice let out an exasperated sigh. “It could be a trap. The man you spoke to could be a Transport agent. If it’s some sort of virus…”

  Leah stared down at the book. “There must be another way to get the data we need?”

  “No, we’ve got one shot at this, and time’s running out.”

  Alice pressed her hands together and tapped them against her mouth. It made it look as though she was praying.

  “We’ve got to risk it,” said Alice. She held out her hand. “Give me the book, and I’ll pull the data.”

  Leah started to give Alice the book, then stopped. Alice had said all she needed to do was find the data. Surely that meant it had already been transferred to the memory module.

  “Why did you come into the system?” said Leah.

  Alice frowned. “What do you mean? I was worried about you.”

  “Then you could have just pulled me out.”

  Alice stretched her hand out farther. “We don’t have time for this; you need to give me the book.”

  Leah took a step backward. “You said all I needed to do was find the information. I’ve done that.”

  Anger flared in Alice’s eyes. “Leah…”

  The malice in that single word told Leah all she needed to know. She turned and ran.

  29

  Alice screamed, the sound rising in pitch before it cracked, turning into a digital screech. Leah looked over her shoulder. Alice was running after her, but she’d changed. She was taller, thinner. Her face rippled and shifted, pixelating and breaking apart for a moment before reforming into a screaming visage that sent a wave of ice through Leah’s limbs. The Alice-thing reached for her, its skeletal arms stretching impossibly toward Leah.

  Leah reached the next staircase and leaped onto it. Alice’s hand slammed into the wall of books beside her, and they dissolved into millions of glowing red blocks. They fell away, bouncing off each other as they tumbled to the floor. The blocks spread, racing across the shelves beside Leah as she ran.

  She tripped on the last stair, crashing into the metal walkway. Pain shot from her knee, up her leg. The wall beside her broke apart, scattering the red blocks over her. One landed on her outstretched hand. It burned. She screamed and shook it away. A red welt marred her skin, like a brand. Another block caught her behind her neck. Heat burned her skin, and she cried out again. Behind her, the Alice-thing echoed the sound. The walkway shook. Metal groaned.

  Leah forced herself to her feet and set off toward the next set of stairs. All of the books on this level were gone now, the shelves and their contents replaced by a starless night. The floors below were gone too, swallowed up by the unending blackness.

  Raw panic drove Leah forward. Something tugged at the book in her hand, almost pulling it free. She clutched it to her chest, knuckles white. By the time she reached the top of the next staircase, her legs were burning and she struggled to drag each ragged breath into her lungs.

  Except she knew those weren’t her lungs, her legs. She wasn’t running anywhere. This was a construct, an illusion. Her real body was standing in an underground data facility. Safe. Leah just had to get back there. The wall beside her exploded, showering her with red blocks that burned her flesh and scorched her clothes. Leah batted them away, willing her brain to ignore the imaginary pain. It didn’t work. If anything, the pain intensified.

  Leah pictured the red door from her dollhouse, imagined it hanging in the air before her—the way home. The air shimmered, but no door appeared. A chunk of metal walkway clanged off the floor near Leah. It spun away into the darkness below, winking out of existence.

  The next staircase twisted and buckled. Leah blinked away tears. Above her, the bookshelves were already gone, and the walkway was tearing itself apart. There was nowhere left to run. The staircase exploded into more of the blocks, these ones blue. They bounced and rolled across the floor, tumbling toward Leah and blocking her escape.

  The Alice-thing advanced toward Leah. It had abandoned all pretense of humanity now. Its face was a twisted, elongated mass, its mouth open in a soundless scream. The thing’s body was gnarled and bent, like an ugly, rotting tree. Its arms dragged along the walkway, showering sparks where they touched the metal. A line of footprints stretched out behind the Alice-thing, glowing red. The creature cried out, an ear-rending screech that was answered by another.

  Leah turned. A second creature, the mirror image of the first, rose up, formed from the blue blocks littering the floor. Its mouth dropped open revealing a writhing mass of blue fire. The thing reached toward Leah, hooked fingers grasping. She stepped back. Her heels teetered at the edge of the abyss beyond the library. The creatures advanced toward her in long, loping steps. They’d be on her in seconds.

  Still clutching the book to her chest, Leah let herself fall backward and tumbled into the blackness. The dark wrapped itself around her. The walkwa
y and the remnants of the library evaporated. The creatures lunged at her then exploded, scattering into a billion motes of red and blue dust. There was a cry—her father’s voice calling out to her, and then that too was swallowed up by the nothingness.

  Leah fell.

  30

  Light flared. It pierced Leah’s skull, boring deep into her brain where it throbbed and burned. Her breath caught in her throat, iron bands wrapped around her lungs. Her eyes flared wide as she fought against the terror threatening to overwhelm her.

  Something thumped against her chest, hard. The impact broke apart the bands, and she gasped, drawing in one desperate breath after another.

  Shapes formed in the light. Shadows faded into view, bringing detail and recognition with them. She felt hands on her shoulders, heard muffled words. Leah blinked, squeezing her eyes closed. When she opened them again, the light had faded enough for her to see she was back in the real world.

  Alice touched her cheek. “You’re out; try to relax.”

  Blood dripped from Leah’s nose and splattered against the concrete floor. Her head was still pounding; her vision was blurred. Every time she tried to focus on the console or the desk or Alice, her stomach churned and twisted. The weight of her limbs seemed to be constantly changing. One moment her arms were as light as air and she felt as though she was about to float up to the ceiling. The next they were leaden, immovable. And when she did move, it took a second for her limbs to actually respond.

  Alice pulled the VRI from Leah’s neck. Needlepoints of pain shot down Leah’s arm, and she hissed in pain.

  “Sorry,” said Alice, “but we don’t have much time.”

  Leah sniffed, and blood trickled down her throat. She pressed the sleeve of her jacket against her nose. It came away stained with blood.

  Gleeson was lying against the wall, his head tipped forward.

  “Is he…?” said Leah.

  “He’ll be fine.”

  Alice ran to the door and cracked it open. She swore and ducked back into the room. “Drone.”

  Alice checked her gun and pressed her back against the wall beside the door. She motioned for Leah to get behind her. The whine of the drone grew louder, and Leah found herself holding her breath.

  The edge of the drone drifted into view just above head height. Alice kicked the door open. The drone darted forward, the weapon mounted below it swiveling.

  Alice fired—two quick shots at point blank range. The noise sent pain reverberating through Leah’s skull, and she staggered sideways.

  One bullet skimmed off the underside of the drone with a dull clang. The second hit the drone’s gun, shattering the mount. The drone fired, and the front of one of the computers exploded in a cloud of sparks. Alice stepped forward and fired again.

  The drone twitched with the impact, and the sound of its engine rose in pitch, but it stayed in the air. It turned to point its gun at Alice. Leah cried out, imagining bullets peppering Alice’s body, but the gun hung limply from its mounting. There was a sharp clicking sound, and then the drone backed away into the corridor.

  Alice followed it, gun raised but not firing.

  The drone reached the end of the corridor and rose up to the ceiling before disappearing into a circular opening.

  Leah leaned against the wall beside Alice. “Why didn’t you stop it?”

  “I need to conserve the ammo. Transport will already know we’re here.”

  A klaxon began to wail. Leah covered her ears, but still the noise sent a wave of nausea flooding through her.

  “Come on!” said Alice. She ran off down the corridor, toward the door they’d come through. She twisted the handle and threw her weight against the door. It didn’t move.

  “Dammit!”

  Alice tapped her earpiece.

  “Come in, Doukas.”

  “We’re here, Sarge.”

  “We’ve hit a snag. Transport knows we’re here, and things are about to get very hot.”

  “Understood,” said Doukas. “What do you need?”

  “Where are you?”

  “We’re at rendezvous C.”

  Alice checked her tablet for a few seconds before replying. “We’re going to try to get out through the west entrance. Anything you can do to draw them to the east side would be appreciated.”

  “Got it,” said Doukas.

  “Thanks, Doukas. If you don’t hear from us in the next ten minutes, assume we didn’t make it.”

  “You’ll make it. I still owe you money.”

  “Yeah, and don’t you forget it. Out.”

  Alice showed Leah the tablet. Leah’s vision swam for a moment, then the lines on the screen coalesced into a map, blueprints of the base. A flashing green dot marked their current location.

  A red marker blinked by an external doorway. “We’re going here. It’s a warehouse. It’s not used much, but it will be guarded. You ready?”

  Leah nodded with a confidence she didn’t feel. She still felt unsteady, like her legs would betray her at any moment.

  They ran back down the corridor, Alice leading the way. Leah gripped her gun tightly. This time, if she needed to, she was determined to use it.

  The door at the other end of the corridor was unlocked. It led to a stairwell and a set of concrete stairs leading upward. The klaxon was even louder here, and it tore into Leah’s skull. The only good thing was it would cover the sound of their escape.

  “Two floors,” said Alice.

  Adrenaline pumped through Leah’s body as they climbed the stairs. Every step they took seemed to be moving them toward danger, not away from it. She kept expecting a swarm of drones to descend on them, weapons blazing, but they made it to the top floor.

  As Alice directed Leah to an unassuming brown door, the sound of gunfire reverberated off the walls, cutting through the klaxon. Concrete exploded from the wall beside them. Alice fired blindly down the stairwell and then pulled open the door. They charged through and slammed it behind them.

  They found themselves in a long, rectangular room filled with machinery. Pipes ran along the ceiling between huge generators flanked by consoles covered with dials and red, yellow and green lights. Leah could almost taste the oil in the air. Mercifully, there was no klaxon in the room, but the noise was still audible through the walls. There was no sign of any workers or guards, no drones.

  Leah’s stomach heaved, and she let out a gasp. She pressed her hand against her chest. The skin on her face felt tight and hot.

  Alice touched Leah’s shoulder.

  Leah raised her hand. “I-I’m fine.”

  Alice looked at her skeptically.

  A heavy metal clang came from the opposite end of the room, followed by the whine of a turbine starting up. The floor beneath their feet began to vibrate.

  Guided by Alice’s tablet, they squeezed between a pair of consoles and hurried across the room. They found the exit, a narrow doorway, behind a complicated-looking, rust-streaked machine fed by half a dozen wide steel tubes that disappeared into the floor. The thick stench of sewage hung in the air around it. As they slipped through the door, they heard voices calling out orders to search the room.

  Alice quietly pulled the door closed behind them. They were in a narrow corridor. Loops of cable and piping hung loosely from the ceiling like a spider’s web, forcing them to duck as they moved past. The only light came from Alice’s tablet.

  The pounding in Leah’s skull had turned to a dull, rhythmic thump that sapped her energy with each beat. Every few seconds, ripples of electricity ran down her arm, like dozens of static shocks.

  Leah’s foot caught something, sending it clattering across the floor. She winced. Her shoulder bumped against a length of plastic tubing hanging from the ceiling, dislodging a cloud of dust. She pressed her hand against her mouth to stifle a cough.

  Ahead, Leah could see the blue-white glow of Alice’s tablet, but the light was fading. The darkness around her grew, spreading across her vision like an oil slick on water.
Leah could sense the walls around her closing in. They pressed against her, crushing the air from her body. She opened her mouth to call out, and the blackness rushed in, filling her throat, drowning her.

  Hands grabbed Leah, pulling her forward out of the dark. A light sputtered to life, illuminating the corridor and Alice’s concerned face. Leah took a slow, ragged breath as the last shreds of blackness fell away.

  Alice waited until Leah nodded that she was okay, then tapped the screen on her tablet. They’d reached the end of the maintenance tunnel. A door led out to a large open space beyond.

  Alice pointed at the screen. “This is the warehouse. If we’re lucky Doukas’s distraction will have drawn everyone away.”

  “If we’re not?”

  “Then you keep moving, no matter what.”

  Leah nodded.

  Alice opened the door just wide enough for them to squeeze through and led Leah into the warehouse.

  31

  Long dust-covered skylights in the roof provided just enough light for them see around the warehouse. It was mostly empty. A cluster of wooden packing crates on the left and a large forklift parked near the middle of the room provided the only cover. A large rolling door dominated the opposite wall, a smaller one beside it. A cracked green fire exit sign hung on the wall, glowing feebly. A metal balcony ran along three sides of the warehouse. Two sets of metal stairs led up to it from the ground level. There was no sign of any Transport soldiers.

  Alice and Leah ran to the crates, crouched in an instinctive effort to stay concealed. A brief wave of dizziness hit Leah as she ducked down behind them. There was a dull thump, the sound of an explosion far off in the distance.

  The crates were filled with brown packing material, bits of it poking out between the slats, but Leah could see the white body of a drone inside.

  Somewhere across the other side of the warehouse, a door opened. The sound of the klaxon grew louder, then faded again, replaced by the clomping of boots on concrete. There was a click, and a series of lights flickered to life, illuminating the warehouse.