by Holly Hook
But I have no way to get to him. I have to get out of here and go get help. It's the best chance any of us have.
“Elaine! Get out of here!” He's faint. Almost gone.
And then, nothing. Silence falls.
Shawn's gone. He's gone, right along with Talia. Travis, too. I want to scream. They're gone and they might never come back.
“Girl. Where are you?” The old man asks. “Roger—find her.”
Footfalls rush towards me. It must be the fat man. I dodge out of the way. The air moves. He's close. If I don't escape, they're going to deal with me and I'll be no help to Shawn and Travis then. I have to get out of here. Go for help. Tell the police that these freaks have my boyfriend and my best friend and they're forcing them to work in these mines with little gnome guys for overlords.
I reach out, searching for a wall. It takes me everything I have to turn away from where I heard Shawn's voice. From where I know he and Talia have gone.
“Where are you?” the old man asks.
I hold my breath. Back up, praying I don't run into Roger. His confused footsteps are feet away. I still have my phone and a flashlight app on it. I should be able to use it to find my way out of here if I can get away from these guys first.
There's a stray skitter, like one of the Dwellers is late to the party. It runs over my shoe and I hold in a cry. I use the cover of its noise to step back. I hit a stone wall and slide along it, quiet as I can. I wait for a hand to close around my arm or for another round of skittering to go up. The Dwellers can probably see where I am. The only reason I'm not caught yet is that they've taken Travis and Shawn.
My hand falls into an opening. It's might be shaft, leading somewhere in the earth. I don't know where it goes, but I have to try for it. I turn the corner and brush another cobweb, but I ignore the horrible feeling and go further in. I brush up against a wooden beam. Scoot around it, holding my breath.
Footsteps grow closer. “Girl, I know you're around here somewhere. Roger and I need to get you out of here.” It's the old man.
It's a trap. They have no intention of letting me out of here alive. I'm not going to make a good worker. I'll tell about them as soon as I'm out.
“Girl, stop messing around. We're not going to hurt you.”
I hold my breath. The air around me grows thicker, like it's full of dust. I'm stirring it up. My hearing kicks into high gear. I detect every drip of water. Every creak of the support beams. Every little scuffle that's a footstep. Larconi and his partner are still out in that large chamber. They're maybe twenty feet away from me.
"Get the lantern lit," Larconi orders Roger. "You have a lighter--right?"
"I have to find it first." More footsteps.
Those things will return as soon as they have Shawn and Travis in a jail cell or in some mine.
I have to keep moving before that happens. If the Dwellers come back, it's over.
Farther.
Farther.
I nearly trip on a dip in the stone.
Another corner. I grab at emptiness and I know I've found another intersection. I turn, keeping my fingers on rough stone. At least the two men no longer have a straight shot at me. Where is Shawn now? I want to cry with his absence. I can't leave without him, but what else can I do?
He wanted me to go.
I know that when I get out of here, I'm going to scream. I keep it bottled up. My heart races. I can't let my emotions get out of control here. I'm getting farther away from them.
I almost trip over something on the floor, something that might be a stick. I don't dare stop. I don't want to know what it is. I stumble and my foot lands on something that crunches.
I suck in air.
“Hello?” Larconi calls.
They heard it.
Footfalls draw closer. “This tunnel,” Roger says. “She went down this one.”
I have to get my phone out after all. My heart pounds as I pull it out and touch it. The screen lights just enough to illuminate the stone walls around me, my prison. I look down to see what my foot has crushed.
A ribcage.
A human ribcage. And next to it, there's an old axe that might have been used to cut out some of the wooden supports.
I have no time to freak out. I grab the axe. I need a weapon. The handle holds, even though it's so dusty it's almost slimy. It's heavy in my hands, but it's better than nothing.
And I run. My footfalls echo off the walls.
“This way!” Roger shouts. They've given up looking for the lantern.
I keep my phone in my hand. Blue light bobs up and down. They must be able to see it, but I can't afford to stop and turn it off. They'll catch up. Huge shadows dance on the walls and the darkness plows forward into eternity. Support beams cast shadows. My backpack bounces on my back. I'm a tiny pinprick of light in the dark. The footfalls grow into screams in my ears. I can't trip. If that happens, it's all over.
The ground slopes downward, then up. There has to be an exit somewhere. There can't be just one entrance to this mine. The workers had to get the support beams down somehow.
“Girl!” Larconi's voice is getting fainter. I can run faster than an old man and a fat man. I'm leaving them in the dark. If I'm lucky they'll stay here, lost without any light. Or if I'm unlucky the crowd of Dwellers will come back.
“Girl!”
Keep running.
I'll get help and come back for Shawn. And Travis. And Talia, if she hasn't been worked to death.
“You're not going to survive out there!” the second man calls. He's really faint now, like he's several hundred feet behind me.
Out there. I can handle that neighborhood. Especially if I can get to Shawn's car. But does he still have the keys? I don't know how to hot wire a car or if you can even do that anymore. I might have to knock on doors and pray.
The ground's getting higher. I'm running up an incline now. I sweep the dim light of my phone, scared I'm going to see a bunch of Dwellers and those eyes that make you sick. There's nothing. A real mouse darts across the floor, but there's nothing else.
I slow to a fast walk.
Help. It's out there.
I go up another incline, and another. The air's growing fresher. Breezier. Less damp and terrible. Maybe I'm getting close to the surface. A small draft blows against my face. Either there's an underground river around here somewhere or there's an opening that goes right back up to that subdivision. I take a breath. The air coming down is very fresh. I check the ceiling, but the stone remains as solid as ever.
I slow to a walk. Keep my ears on alert.
Thee footfalls have stopped behind me. Larconi and the fat man, Roger—they've given up the chase for now. I wonder why. They're letting me get away too easily. It doesn't make any sense since I just found out about the Flamestone Society and its plans to enslave foster kids. And kids who know too much.
Higher. The mine splits into two again here and I shine my phone on each opening. I can barely see. It's time to get out the flashlight app, as much as I know that's going to drain the battery.
I stop and catch my breath. This must be a newer part of the mine, since there aren't many cobwebs here and I don't see any bones on the floor. The Dwellers must work their slaves to death down here until they drop dead from exhaustion, toxic fumes, or both. Somewhere, something skitters again and my heart leaps. I check my bars, but I have no reception down here. That's no surprise. How far down did they take us? We must have gone a quarter mile down that spiral stairway to begin with.
The phone shakes in my hands as I turn on the flashlight app.
My phone blazes to life and I'm glad that I charged it this morning. I should have at least twenty minutes of good light before I need to turn it off. It's a risk I need to take if I'm going to get out of here.
The mine lights up. The wooden supports here are newer and less dusty. The breeze blows against my face again, bringing with it the warm scent of spring. Outside. It's close. It seems to be coming from the t
unnel on my left.
I turn. The skittering behind me grows a bit louder, like an army of rats coming for me from below.
Panic seizes my limbs.
The Dwellers are back from taking Shawn and Travis to their new prison, wherever that is. Larconi and Roger are having them come for me. Do Dwellers have to worry about old age and getting out of breath? Judging from the sound down there, the answer is no. I can hold them back with the light of the flashlight app, but that won't last long.
I break into a run again.
The stampede's getting closer. They can sense me up here or hear my footfalls.
Louder.
“God,” I breathe. I can't break down here. My heart pumps and adrenaline races through me, giving my muscles the energy they need. The tunnel heads upwards again and forks at the end. Four supports hold up the corner. Another crossroads. The skittering's so loud that I'm sure the Dwellers will jump on me any second and make me pass out with those eyes. It's all over if that happens.
I stop. There's a whistle of wind, coming from my right this time.
I pump my legs. The tunnel slopes downwards, then up again. I run over something that looks like an old, rusted set of train tracks and dodge around a metal box that must be a cart. It's full of an orange, sparkling substance that looks like flaky stone. I search the tunnel to see if there's anyone here mining or doing work, but this place is still abandoned. I'm running through an older part of the mine. The workers must all be on levels below me, digging into new earth.
The skittering grows closer. It sounds like an army of beetles on my feet. Something brushes my pant leg. They're here. I know what I have to do.
I turn and close my eyes.
Hold up my phone and aim the flashlight at my pursuers.
I'm rewarded with squeals and squeaks. The trampling stops and I take advantage of the shock I must have caused the Dwellers. I turn and break into run again. My sides scream with the effort of running uphill. My breath comes in gasps. I have to make it. I must.
I dare to open my eyes, looking up and ahead to avoid any view of the floor. The Dwellers behind me continue to squeak from the shock and pain. It must be like looking into the sun for them.
The breeze turns to a wind and I see something.
More mine cart tracks. The rock, mixing with dirt ahead. I'm close to the surface.
And there's light that's not mine.
I'm almost out.
The thought gives me the strength to continue running. I pump my legs in one final push. If I get outside, the Dwellers won't follow in the light. Provided it's still light enough to repel them. It must be after sunset by now. Or morning, if the three of us were knocked out long enough.
I struggle up another hill.
It's daylight.
It pours down through an opening in the ceiling about fifty feet ahead. Dust swirls through sunlight. On the dirt wall, there's a ladder. It's the end of the tunnel. If I can get into that light, I'm free from the Dwellers, at least. Larconi and Roger are probably coming up behind them, letting them do the dirty work.
I reach the ladder. The light almost hurts my eyes, but I adjust. The skittering comes and stops again behind me. I don't dare glance back. The light must be holding them away.
I grab the ladder. It's wooden and old. Will it stay together? I glance at the sky. It's blue, with some high, wispy clouds overhead. And the air is warm. I don't remember the weather being like this, but I don't care. I have to get out.
I grab the ladder and shove my phone in my pocket. I hold the axe under my armpit. It pokes into the dirt and sends some of it tumbling down, but I hold tight. The ladder creaks. The opening to the surface must be ten feet above.
I climb.
It holds.
And then, one of the wooden rungs breaks.
I curse and my foot dangles over the pit. I drop the axe, but it hooks onto a rung by the blade and I grab it again. My legs burn and I swing my leg up to the next rung. I raise the axe and throw it up over the edge of the hole. My thigh cramps and something pulls in my groin, but I barely feel it. I'm almost out.
“Girl!” Larconi calls from far below.
I grab onto grass.
Life.
Heat and light.
And pull myself into freedom.
Chapter Three
Silence
I'm alive.
Out.
Back in the real world where there are police who can go down and save Shawn and Talia and Travis.
“Help!” I stand up and green grass, green trees and stony cliffs meet my eyes.
This isn't Badwater.
This is some pristine national park or something.
I'm in a field, a lush, green field that spreads out ahead of me. About a mile away, there's a grayish-white wall of cliffs that encircle a small army of giant pines.
“Girl!” Larconi isn't giving up. Just below and out of sight, the Dwellers squeal again.
I don't have time to stand here and admire the view, or wonder how far I've traveled underground or why I've never seen a landscape like this in my area. Those two still have guns and the sun won't stop them. There's an outcrop of rocks across the field that I've got to get to before Larconi and Roger climb out of this pit. If they can.
The axe.
I need to keep it with me. There's no one else in this area.
I grab it and bolt across grass. It's slippery under my feet, slippery with dew. It's morning. We were knocked out for some time. I catch my breath. My throat burns and I keep the axe in one hand. I hold it away from me, scared I'm going to fall and cut myself. The huge boulders that make up the outcrop grow closer and along with them, the enormous trees. There has to be a place to hide, a place where they won't think the look for me. A place where they won't be able to follow. A place where they won't have a clear shot.
My lungs burn and I gasp for every breath. Why didn't I try out for track like Garrett and Mom wanted me to? I'm cursing my decision now. I'm going to be sore tomorrow.
The rocks get bigger. They're each the size of a two story house. They're almost white with little highlights of gray. I duck behind them and stop. Face where I ran from. I can barely make out the pit from here, but I see the indent in the ground and the brown earth where the hole begins. There's no movement. No sound. Somewhere, birds chirp and fly out of a tree. I'm in the shade.
When Larconi and Roger come out, they'll expect to find me hiding back here.
I can't stop. I have to keep moving. Somewhere, there has to be someone. I can't be too far from Badwater...right? How far did we travel? Maybe those guys dragged us out of that first mine, stuffed us in a car, and took us to a second one while we were out. But that doesn't make a lot of sense. This landscape looks nothing like home. Nothing. This whole valley's surrounded by tall, whitish mountains and the field I just left looks like a lake of green with a stone ring around it. Pine trees hang onto the edges of cliffs like they're not sure if they want to jump and end it all. I've never seen a place like this before. If I didn't know better, I'd say I've stepped into another world.
“Elaine, stop it,” I say. I'm hoarse. I have to move.
I leave the outcrop behind me. Roger and Larconi have guns. They'll shoot as soon as they get close enough. I can outrun them, but I'm not going to do that by staying here.
I move deeper into the trees. I'm in a small forest, one closed in by cliffs on all sides. The trees tower over me, two hundred feet high. Their trunks are so big it would take me, Shawn and Travis combined to wrap our arms around them. There are smaller ones, too, and stumps where some of those have been cut down. I'm heading right into a dead end that looks like it might be a mile away, but what if there's a spot inside one of these cliffs I can hide? I search the rock faces. There are little spots of bright, glittering orange in the stone, like that stuff I saw back in the mine cart, but nothing else. No openings. Zip. Nada.
I look back and my heart stops.
Movement.
; Two dark shapes struggle out of the pit I left far behind me.
I turn and pump my legs, forcing them to go, forcing them to work. They're rubber. I have to hide. But they'll know that I came this way. What other way could I have gone?
There's a fallen giant ahead. Its roots jut out of the ground, leaving an open maw of darkness. The opening's mostly hidden by tall grass and weeds.
I shudder at the sight of it. I blink and thousands of green eyes stare back at me, merciless and making me sick. I shake my head to clear the image from my mind. I don't want to go back into the dark, but I have to before those two spot me. It's my only hope. Once the men get here, it'll only be a matter of them finding me and making their kill. Then Shawn and Travis and Talia will be trapped under this ground for the rest of their lives, which might not be that long.
I take off my backpack and slip it under the roots of the ancient tree I keep the axe close to my side and poke it in, making sure I don't hear any skittering. Good. The axe blade only slides against dirt. I might have this, but it won't do any good against guns.
I slide under the roots. They brush my hair like the fingers of a giant, wooden troll. The smell of earth overtakes me again and panic rises. Shadows swallow me. There's a small cave under here, just big enough for me to curl up in a ball. Grass blocks most of my view of the surrounding forest. I hope it hides me. It had better. Otherwise, I'm dead.
I hold my breath.
And wait.
And wait.
A distant shout echoes off the surrounding cliffs. I lean forward and peek through weeds, but find no movement except for a bird taking off into flight. It flies up to a tiny crack about halfway up a cliff, disappearing between one of the orange patches and an outcrop of gray stone.
“Girl!”
They're getting closer.
And then Roger walks into view.
The sun shines off his bald head. He's perspiring with the effort to come after me. Roger isn't used to so much physical activity. He can't rely on his Dwellers to cart him around up here. He has one hand cupped around his mouth and a pistol in the other.
I tense. He's facing the cliffs, but if he turns, he might notice my hiding place. I have nowhere to go.